A couple of weeks ago in Rhyl I took this photograph. You won’t find Peveril Terrace on a current street map, so where is it?
Last Wednesday I posted the picture (TOP) and said that the door seemed to have a bit of character about it, and that the property was on a main road in Rhyl and appeared to be unoccupied. So where was the door?
Shown above (TOP) is a recent picture of Hafan Deg Day Centre for Older People, Grange Road, Rhyl. At the rear of the day centre in a horseshoe shape is War Memorial Court which comprises 44 flats in sheltered accommodation. The complex is owned by Denbighshire County Council.
The colour photograph above was taken a week or two ago by Yours Truly. It shows the eye-catching Marina Apartments block of flats in Marine Drive. It is owned by Haigh Properties Ltd who also own the new building on the right, Hydro Apartments.
This community centre in Wellington Road is where Rhyl Town Council has its offices and holds meetings. When resigning as a town councillor last month I said, “Most decisions affecting Rhyl seem to start as recommendations from county council staff; county councillors say yes to most of these. Town council acts as an advisory body up to a point but has no power to change anything.”
I feel deeply sorry to record here the death last Thursday of writer Malcolm Jones who was in his late sixties. Malcolm was a Rhyl lad, his father Dougie ran the rates department of the local council. Around 1960 as a teenager Malcolm was a pop/rock drummer with a group named The Dolphins, which gained a reputation for being ahead of its time, and he evolved into a local entertainment agent and manager.
The picture above (TOP) shows the Twiltex shop that sells furniture, carpets and drapery at Westcliffe Buildings, Wellington Road, Rhyl. The shop is located between Butterton Road and St. John’s Church. A recent email from Mr. John Jones has revealed that the site was once occupied by the Westcliffe Garage.
This is Barratt’s Restaurant at Ty’n Rhyl in Vale Road.
.jpg "Fire Station, Rhyl Coast Road")
To some extent the history of Rhyl is a history of fires so the local fire and rescue service has played an important role – and continues to do so. The Rhyl brigade began in Victorian times and was manned by volunteers until all the volunteer brigades were nationalised during World War 2.
Yesterday while taking my camera for a walk I noticed this door which seemed to have a bit of character about it. The property was on a main road in Rhyl and appeared to be unoccupied.
Last Wednesday I posted this photograph and asked where in Rhyl the picture was taken. The answer is Ernest Street (off Marsh Road). Hands up if you thought it would be near Botanical Gardens!
Above (TOP) is a postcard from the batch supplied by Ann Hayes of Ruthin. It shows Wellington Road near the turning for Kings Avenue.
On this blog there have been a couple of references to bathing machines (changing rooms on wheels) and here we see them illustrated clearly. A bathing machine could be pulled to and from the water’s edge by a horse.
Pictured here are singers from Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, who perform to great acclaim in the Rhyl district, across the UK and abroad. Left to right they are: George Owen of Rhyl (tenor), Naomi Harvey (soprano), Deborah Hawksley (mezzo soprano) and John Morgan (baritone). The group sing under the name The Garden Consort and are accompanied by pianist Roy Gregory.
.jpg "Rhyl Police Station, Flintshire Contsabulary")
The picture at the top was taken this month and shows the Police Station in Wellington Road. The building seems out of keeping with the older-style buildings each side. It speaks of practicality and philistinism.
This is the first in a batch of unusual Rhyl postcards sent by a new friend, Ann Hayes of Ruthin, who was a child living in Rhyl in 1950s.
These two old prints depict Rhyl around 1860 just before the pier opened. They are available as postcards from Rhyl Library, Museum and Arts Centre in Church Street, tel (01745) 353814. Other cards available there include one showing the museum’s mural of the promenade circa 1910 painted by Brian Philips, and another showing the ‘Taliesin’ design by Maggie Humphry which appears on the building’s exterior to your left of the main entrance. The cards cost 15p each, four for £1.
Today I paid a rare visit to Brickfield or Brickfields Pond nature reserve. Time did not permit a long visit but enough to serve as a reminder of what a splendid place "The Brickie" is at this time of year. The pictures above were taken today; the one at the top shows the Ffordd Derwen entrance (there is another entrance in Cefndy Road).
.jpg "Marine Lake, Rhyl")
The Marine Lake and Pleasure Gardens looks worthy of its name here with all that greenery! Marine Lake opened in 1895; the bathing pontoon (diving platform) shown above, was added a year later.
Last week in Rhyl I took this photograph. You won’t find Botanic Terrace on a current street map, so where is it?
Last Wednesday I posted the photograph above (TOP) and asked where in Rhyl you would find the seat. The answer is Vale Road in garden dedicated to the late Councillor Cyril Roberts, opposite Ty’n Rhyl.
The picture above appears on the front cover of a book titled ‘The Kinmel Park Camp Riots 1919’ by Julian Putkowski published by Flintshire Historical Society in 1989. The book is a detailed study of events surrounding thousands of Canadian soldiers at Kinmel Camp; they had been fighting in the Great War (First World War 1914-18). The war was over and they were agitating to go home.
The picture above (TOP) is from around 1905 and shows the interior of Rhyl Railway Station, which had opened as a main station on the Chester to Holyhead line in 1848 and brought tremendous growth to the resort. The Vale of Clwyd railway was added ten years later to run from Rhyl to Denbigh (until 1955).
In response to a request, here are the positions of the memorial statue for military personnel killed in conflicts over the years. The picture at the top is from 1910s showing the statue in its original position – on the prom and facing the sea – just west of Rhyl Pavilion.