American showman Buffalo Bill whose real name was William Frederick Cody (b.1846, d.1917) brought his Wild West Show to Britain and visited a great many towns including 21 in Wales. The show revolved around the concept of native American Indians being ‘bad guys’ attacking brave white folks’ wagons. Hmmmm.The show travelled by train, and on Wednesday 27th May 1903 played in Rhyl (for two performances) on a carelessly-described patch of land that I imagine to be the area that eventually became Ocean Beach car park opposite Marine Lake.
Rhyl’s intrepid film maker Arthur Cheetham was on hand to capture fleeting glimpses of Mr. Cody in High Street on his way to and from a Masonic meeting upstairs at The Lorne pub. (I wonder if pub DJ Pete McGuinness knows that Buffalo Bill went there).
The following stills from the film are in the book 'Wales And Cinema' by David Berry. Mr. Cody with stetson hat is far right:
This reference is added here for indexing purposes: T.D. Jones fruiterer and florist, High Street.
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