DIXIELAND SHOWBAR

THIS IS THE BLOG OF COLIN JONES, RHYL TOWN COUNCILLOR: BODFOR WARD
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The opinions expressed in this blog are entirely my own and not the views of the town council.
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Among recent feedback came an email from John McDonald who lived in Rhyl for 25 years as was universally known as Johnny Mac. He says: I worked for Les Hughes for 15 years, firstly as a taxi driver, then he bought a lorry for removals then another one until he had three. Also I worked as a doorman at the Dixieland Showbar. At the moment I manage a fishing park in Udon Thani, Thailand.

Thanks for your message, John. I hope that the Dixieland Showbar advert above inspires memories; it comes from Rhyl’s official 1971 guide book. In the advert is a reminder of the Golden Fry Restaurant, open all day.

Pentre Bach model village, the subject of previous posts on this blog, was reduced in size to make way for building the Dixieland Showbar, Rhyl’s first night club. At first the club was operated by Trust House Forte Leisure who had taken over Ocean Beach Fun Fair. The club went through changes and eventually it was renamed Brunel’s Discotheque and Bar.

6720. Two additional images added here in June 2020:

Above is the scene at the far end of West Parade - Dolphins then the Dixieland, and then the fun fair.
Below: Advert for 'Dixie' night club indicates an intermediate stage between being the Dixieland and becoming Brunel's.

Who could resist such stylish art work and the lure of DJ Colin Crocodile Clewes?

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A few years later, mid-1970s, came Tito's Bar operated by Robert Marton at the Marina Hotel, Marine Drive. Tito's presented big TV stars of the day including Tommy Cooper, Des O'Connor and Bob Monkhouse.
The following card autographed by Windsor Davies & Don Estelle is from their appearance at Tito's in 1977 -

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SPLASHES OF COLOUR

THIS IS THE BLOG OF COLIN JONES, RHYL TOWN COUNCILLOR: BODFOR WARD
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The opinions expressed in this blog are entirely my own and not the views of the town council.
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Today as forecast, Rhyl basked in sunshine and high temperatures. Plenty of people on the prom, kids kicking around in the paddling pool, families on the beach. Everyone seemed to be having a good time and there was a lot of colour.

New banners adorned lamp posts all along the seafront (see above). The banners are designed by Lynda Waggett of the RhylCreate design/craft consortium. Using the town’s real name ‘Y Rhyl’ is a good idea.

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QUIZ QUESTION # 3

THIS IS THE BLOG OF COLIN JONES, RHYL TOWN COUNCILLOR: BODFOR WARD
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The opinions expressed in this blog are entirely my own and not the views of the town council.
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Shown above is an emblem of The Borough of Rhuddlan, the council that administered the Rhyl, Prestatyn, and St. Asaph districts of Vale of Clwyd from 1974-96. Its motto says Rhuddlan Crud Cymru which translates as Rhuddlan, Cradle of Wales.

You can see an emblem like this in a number of places. Where in Rhyl is this particular one?

The answer will appear on this blog a week today, i.e. Wednesday 3rd June 2009.

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QUIZ ANSWER # 2

THIS IS THE BLOG OF COLIN JONES, RHYL TOWN COUNCILLOR: BODFOR WARD
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The opinions expressed in this blog are entirely my own and not the views of the town council.
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Last Wednesday on this blog I posted the photograph above (TOP) showing a gate to 'The Stable' decorated with a horseshoe, and asked where it was taken. The answer is Water Street.

On your right is the Islamic Cultural Centre and on left a derelict little shop that used to be Mac’s Discount DIY. To the left of Mac’s are: Abbey Pets, Sovereign Trophies and then – on the corner of Bedford Street – Prodotti Menswear.

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SANDS OF TIME

THIS IS THE BLOG OF COLIN JONES, RHYL TOWN COUNCILLOR: BODFOR WARD
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The opinions expressed in this blog are entirely my own and not the views of the town council.
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Here are some more stills from a home movie made in the late 1950s/early ‘60s: a couple of evocative beach scenes, the poor old pier, and a bright and breezy trio of performers from Prince’s International Circus which used to play summer seasons at the Pavilion; part of their job would be to go outside and persuade passers-by to book tickets for the show. Hard to believe that it was half a century ago . . .

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SAT 21st JUL 2018 UPDATE: Travelling circuses still come to Rhyl (Rhuddlan really). One such is Uncle Sam's Great American Circus. The following posters are from 2014.

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FRI 14th SEP 2018 UPDATE: The following poster for Circus "Petite" on same site is undated but certainly not very old:

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6720. Additional image added here in June 2020:

Billy Smart's - one of the very biggest names in circus - visited Rhyl on more than one occasion.

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FAITH IN THE RESORT # 2

THIS IS THE BLOG OF COLIN JONES, RHYL TOWN COUNCILLOR: BODFOR WARD
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The opinions expressed in this blog are entirely my own and not the views of the town council.
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Today I went in an unofficial capacity to an Open Day at the Islamic Cultural Centre (Mosque), 30 Water Street, Rhyl. The building started life as the Tabernacl Welsh Baptist Chapel in 1867. The present Cultural Centre was established in 1996 in order to benefit the community as a whole and to cater in particular for the needs of Muslims. It is a venue for prayer, education, social activities and cultural exchange.

Going there was an interesting experience. The displays were wonderful and the volunteers, who were local people, showed great hospitality and answered all my daft questions in a spirit of openness and friendship. I look forward to a return visit.

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FAITH IN THE RESORT # 1

THIS IS THE BLOG OF COLIN JONES, RHYL TOWN COUNCILLOR: BODFOR WARD
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The opinions expressed in this blog are entirely my own and not the views of the town council.
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As someone who has no religious beliefs but was raised as a Catholic, I enjoyed reading this book.

It is not just information about church buildings. Many other aspects of Catholic life in Rhyl are here including good coverage of our Catholic schools: the original St. Mary’s School and St. Mary's Convent School, Blessed Edward Jones' & Ysgol Mair.

'The Catholic Church In Rhyl 1854-2005’ was compiled by Leslie Slee and Mary Owen. It was published in 2006 by Gwasg Helygain, Rhyl, telephone (01745) 331411. The email address is: info@gwasg.com

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DANGEROUS GAMES

THIS IS THE BLOG OF COLIN JONES, RHYL TOWN COUNCILLOR: BODFOR WARD
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The opinions expressed in this blog are entirely my own and not the views of the town council.
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A couple of days ago on this blog there was a post about the pier and it put me in mind of this photograph taken on the pier. The photo is from the collection of Rhyl Library, pencilled on the back is the name of the acrobat James Evans and the date 1949.

Back in 1887 the professional swimmer Tommy Burns came to Rhyl for a season of exhibition diving. He arrived from Liverpool over-refreshed, took a celebratory dive off the pier and died in the water. The crowd give him a round of applause.

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PENTRE BACH

THIS IS THE BLOG OF COLIN JONES, RHYL TOWN COUNCILLOR: BODFOR WARD
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The opinions expressed in this blog are entirely my own and not the views of the town council.
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Here are two more pictures of Pentre Bach Welsh Model Village which used to be down the fun fair end of West Parade in the early 1970s.

The pictures were provided by David Thomas. Dave worked at the fun fair at that time and was going to let me have more information about his life and times on the Waltzer, the Triang Railway and so on, but I’ve given up waiting.

I suppose he will have the cheek to tell me that he has been too busy – just because he’s a Rhyl town councillor for the Cefndy ward, a Denbighshire county councillor for Rhyl South West and a member of Denbighshire’s cabinet.

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MON 8th MAY 2017 UPDATE: More of Pentre Bach Model Village including the castle and slate quarry:

Click on any image to see a bigger version.

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6720. Additional image added in July 2020:

This is a card postmarked 1967.

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MANAGER WANTED

THIS IS THE BLOG OF COLIN JONES, RHYL TOWN COUNCILLOR: BODFOR WARD
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The opinions expressed in this blog are entirely my own and not the views of the town council.
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Something that Rhyl has never had is a town manager. From time to time it has been suggested that we ought to have one.

If we had a town manager, maybe he or she could educate traders about not making the town look untidy, educate consumers about not eating in the streets (unless they want to be pounced upon by seagulls) and perhaps even getting the traffic barriers around the pedestrianised area fixed.

A visitor said to me, ‘What kind of town of this anyway? I was standing in High Street talking to my mate . . . I felt something behind me and when I turned round there was a car up my back.’ Only he didn’t say ‘back’.

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SAT 4th APR 2015 UPDATE: A town manager came and went. He didn’t do anything memorable.

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THE PIER

THIS IS THE BLOG OF COLIN JONES, RHYL TOWN COUNCILLOR: BODFOR WARD
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The opinions expressed in this blog are entirely my own and not the views of the town council.
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Rhyl’s pier stood opposite Church Street. It opened in 1867 as The Victoria Pier under private ownership at a cost of £23,000. The oldest illustration here would be the drawing or engraving at the top.

In 1883, 1884 and 1890 the pier was damaged when steam packets crashed into it. There were further alarms and excursions such as those illustrated above: in 1907 a fire broke out in a palmist’s kiosk, and in 1909 the pier collapsed in the middle in the wake of a storm.

In 1913, Rhyl Urban District Council were able to buy the pier for just £1,000. The council closed it as unsafe and kept it closed for 17 years. In 1930 it was re-opened with the name Rhyl Pier. This was a shorter version which remained in service until 1966. A few years later it was carted away as scrap metal.

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SAT 11th JUL 2015 UPDATE: This steamer is the kind of vessel that could cause damage to the pier when coming and going in windy weather. The item is a card for sale on eBay with seller’s temporary watermark in red. It is postmarked 1910:

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QUIZ QUESTION # 2

THIS IS THE BLOG OF COLIN JONES, RHYL TOWN COUNCILLOR: BODFOR WARD
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The opinions expressed in this blog are entirely my own and not the views of the town council.
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I took this photograph yesterday in Bodfor ward, so where exactly was I? The following streets are wholly or partly in the ward and so the answer has to be one of these:

Abbey Street, Aquarium Street, Bath Street, Bedford Street, Bodfor Street, Brighton Road, Church Street, Clwyd Street, Crescent Court, Crescent Road, Crescent Square, East Parade, Edward Henry Street, Elwy Street, Fairfield Avenue, Ffynnongroew Road, Glanglasfor, Gordon Avenue, Gronant Street, High Street, Hope Place, John Street, Kings Avenue, Kinmel Street, Kinmel Terrace, Llys Brunswick, Market Street, Morlan Park, Morley Road, Oxford Grove, Paradise Street, Plas Y Brenin, Princes Street, Queen Street, Russell Road, South Kinmel Street, Sussex Street, Thorpe Street, Trinity Court, Vaughan Street, Water Street, Wellington Road, West Kinmel Street, West Parade, Windsor Court, Windsor Street.

The answer will appear on this blog a week today, i.e. Wednesday 27th May 2009.

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INTEGRITY

THIS IS THE BLOG OF COLIN JONES, RHYL TOWN COUNCILLOR: BODFOR WARD
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The opinions expressed in this blog are entirely my own and not the views of the town council.
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As an unpaid town councillor I can sit back and enjoy as much as anyone else the spectacle of MPs being roasted over their expenses. The novelty of the story is wearing a bit thin, though.

Some years ago an independent report recommended a big salary increase for MPs to bring them in line with other European countries. The government of the day felt that this would be unpopular with the public and so the House of Commons devised its own generous expenses system instead.

Most of the recent headlines are about claims that were made legitimately within the system but that does not let MPs off the hook. I would say to them: Integrity doesn’t mean playing by the rules. Integrity means refusing to go along with ideas that seem morally unjustifiable.

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QUIZ ANSWER # 1

THIS IS THE BLOG OF COLIN JONES, RHYL TOWN COUNCILLOR: BODFOR WARD
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The opinions expressed in this blog are entirely my own and not the views of the town council.
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On this blog last Wednesday I posted the photograph (above left) which I had taken on that day inside a public building in Rhyl. The building is not a church, so where was I?

The answer is the chapel of Royal Alexandra Hospital, Marine Drive. The chapel is open all day to staff, patients and the public.

First to tell me the right answer was George Owen (above right). He is a Rhyl resident, an active member of the community in his part of town and a fan of Rhyl history. George is a member of the chorus of Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, and sings occasionally at concerts in North Wales.

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MARINE LAKE

THIS IS THE BLOG OF COLIN JONES, RHYL TOWN COUNCILLOR: BODFOR WARD
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The opinions expressed in this blog are entirely my own and not the views of the town council.
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Here are contrasting images of Marine Lake. The photo at the top would have been taken after the opening in 1895 and before the arrival of the miniature railway in 1911, so let’s call it circa 1903. It was taken looking across the lake from the Wellington Road side and serves as a nice reminder that the site was intended to be a boating lake.

By 1920 the Marine Lake Fun Fair was in full swing on the Oakland Avenue side of the lake and it operated until the end of the 1960s.

The lower picture would be from late 1970s or the 1980s, taken from the northwest corner of the lake after a revamp of the site by Rhuddlan Borough Council and the introduction of orange-and-white Splash-Cat pedal boats.

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HMS RHYL # 4

THIS IS THE BLOG OF COLIN JONES, RHYL TOWN COUNCILLOR: BODFOR WARD
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The opinions expressed in this blog are entirely my own and not the views of the town council.
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On this blog some previous posts about HMS Rhyl brought feedback including the picture above, which is said to have been taken in 1972 when the frigate was visiting Newport in South Wales.

There is a website dedicated to reuniting friends who served on particular ships and in other units and bases of the armed forces:
http://www.forcesreunited.org.uk/index.asp

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MON 8th MAY 2017 UPDATE: More images of HMS Rhyl. The first is from the 1960s / The second is a photograph of the ship entering Malta in September 1974 (the strange marks are creases in the photo) / The third is dated 21st April 1981:

Click on any image to see a bigger version.

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MERRY-GO-ROUND

THIS IS THE BLOG OF COLIN JONES, RHYL TOWN COUNCILLOR: BODFOR WARD
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The opinions expressed in this blog are entirely my own and not the views of the town council.
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On Wednesday 20th May there will be an annual meeting of town council at which the current mayor steps down and a new mayor steps up. The Mayor is a councillor elected by the other councillors and therefore the position goes to somebody who is a member of (or can win the backing of) the biggest political party.

The Mayor becomes Chairman for a year's monthly meetings of full council (not committees) and acquires a busy diary of ceremonies and charitable events to attend on top of the usual work in his or her own ward. The Mayor gets a modest allowance to cover the additional costs and extra time involved.

My very best wishes go to our outgoing mayor who has done a wonderful job for Rhyl, and to the incoming mayor in whom I have absolute confidence. Nevertheless, I doubt that the town needs such a ceremonial figurehead in this day and age and believe that anyone holding public office should really be elected to it by the public.

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RHYL SUN CENTRE

THIS IS THE BLOG OF COLIN JONES, RHYL TOWN COUNCILLOR: BODFOR WARD
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The opinions expressed in this blog are entirely my own and not the views of the town council.
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Heulfan Y Rhyl/Rhyl Sun Centre opened in June 1980.

In terms of the number of paying visitors the Sun Centre is the biggest success in the history of Rhyl. It is on the promenade opposite Conwy Street. The choice of location was criticised initially for being a long way from the attractions at the western end of the prom.

This £4.5 million complex of indoor swimming pools had tropical storm effects (which were uncommon at the time at that time) and its indoor surfing pool was the first in Europe.

The postcards above are from the 1980s. Recently came an announcement that a lot of money would be needed needed to bring the entire facility up to date.

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6720. Two additional images added here in June 2020:

Sun Centre adverts. The one above is from 1984, and the one below '85.

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A LET DOWN

THIS IS THE BLOG OF COLIN JONES, RHYL TOWN COUNCILLOR: BODFOR WARD
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The opinions expressed in this blog are entirely my own and not the views of the town council.
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Not far from the burnt-out Grange Hotel in East Parade is this interesting little building with a broken window both sides (Welcome to Rhyl). There have been some fanciful stories about what this building is. Actually, according to Bill Ellis’ book ‘The Spirit of Rhyl’ the name of the building is Pen-y-Don tower and it was a coastguard lookout station. Sorry to disillusion those of you who were hoping for something more blood-curdling and perhaps haunted.

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SOMETHING COOL

THIS IS THE BLOG OF COLIN JONES, RHYL TOWN COUNCILLOR: BODFOR WARD
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The opinions expressed in this blog are entirely my own and not the views of the town council.
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Further to a previous post in this blog, above is another picture of the big heavy basket chairs that used to be on Rhyl sands. This was taken probably in early 1920s from opposite High Street looking eastwards to the pier. According to Bill Ellis the booth on right bearing the name ‘J. Forrest’s’ was a kiosk selling ice cream. I suppose you would have needed something cool when sunbathing with your clothes on.
Below is a card postmarked 1922 showing the  basket chairs plus the original open air Coliseum Theatre and Rhyl Pavilion. Eventually this sandy area was concreted over to make it part of the present promenade.

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FRI 15th SEP 2017 UPDATE: Two more views of basket chairs I mean Continental-style Basket Chairs with the pier in the background. The first is from the 1950s even though it looks older. 

The second may be 1950s as well. On the beach the long platform with wheels at front is a means of boarding pleasure boats for cruises. I would call it a gangway but it may have another name.

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THU 12th OCT 2017 UPDATE: Just arrived here at Jones Towers is this enlightening shot of 'gangways' in use.

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