THIS BLOG IS CLOSED

Rhyl Life IS CLOSED. THANK YOU FOR READING & PARTICIPATING.
IT SHOULD REMAIN ACCESSIBLE ON INTERNET FOR A FEW YEARS, AND THEREAFTER VIA NATIONAL LIBRARY OF WALES:
 https://www.library.wales/

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At the time of closure, it is not clear what is happening with regard to the Government’s plan to strip us of our European citizenship.

In case there is a second referendum, let me address people in Wales:

Don’t get fooled again. The UK’s membership of European Union is good for Wales. About sixty per cent of exports from Wales go to continental countries; in some industries the percentage is higher.
As a comparatively poor part of Europe, Wales has benefited over and over again from EU investments in a range of areas from sea defence works to cultural projects.

Before MPs at Westminster had the EU as a higher authority looking over their shoulders, we in Wales were treated with a lot less consideration and respect – I am old enough to remember that.

So don’t be so willing to pay heed to English newspapers and English voices telling you what’s best for England. You don’t live in England.

Be a proud Wales-based European and – if you get the chance – vote to Remain in the EU.

Colin Jones / email: rhyl.colin.jones@live.co.uk

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LIFE GOES ON: OCT 2018

European citizenship is the most valuable thing that
Welsh people have ever been given.
Fight for  second chance to keep it.

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It used to be a matter of routine to take a photo of passengers setting out on a day trip, as in the Rhyl & Potteries Motors image above.

Here the background is interesting: Midland Hotel, Rhyl, on your left with Ye Olde Welsh Cafe (not very olde) in basement on right.

Midland Hotel was a Victorian building in East Parade, close to High Street; now the site is part of White Rose Centre.

I am obliged to Philip Lloyd for a reminder of its location.

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During October 2018 the following Rhyl Life posts were updated:

Comic postcard, Rhyl -

https://rhyl-life.blogspot.com/2017/11/flashback-30.html

Kinmel Hall as Kinmel School for boys -

https://rhyl-life.blogspot.com/2009/12/clarendon-school.html

L. Volpé photographer, Rhyl -

https://rhyl-life.blogspot.com/2017/03/flashback-22.html

Pennaf / Clwyd Alyn, new boss -

https://rhyl-life.blogspot.com/2017/06/nothing-wrong-with-rhyl.html

Pickard, Rae, Dining Hall at the Alex hospital -

https://rhyl-life.blogspot.com/2010/05/from-canada.html

Pickard, seashore picture -

https://rhyl-life.blogspot.com/2015/10/rae-pickard.html

Pickard, WW1 soldiers on parade -

https://rhyl-life.blogspot.com/2010/03/anyone-for-it.html

Plaid Cymru, new leader -

https://rhyl-life.blogspot.com/2017/10/plaid-on-display.html

Rhyl OAP Friendship Club, Silver Threads Choir -

https://rhyl-life.blogspot.com/2010/01/friendship-club.html

Scottish independence -

https://rhyl-life.blogspot.com/2017/03/local-council-elections-2017.html

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'The Hague' guest house, Rhyl, was at 2a North Avenue, just round the corner
from Butterton Road. The building still exists, still has same name
and is now in residential use.

You may have passed No.36 Eastville Ave and thought it unremarkable, but the very
existence of this late-1940s postcard suggests it was a small B&B.

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Photo: Daily Post Wales

Pictured above is Carl Foulkes who is taking over from Mark Polin as Chief Constable of North Wales Police. Mr. Foulkes is from Caergwrle near Wrexham.
Until recently he has been Deputy Chief  Constable of Merseyside so I'm sure he will see many familiar faces in North Wales, especially in Rhyl.

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Colin Jones / email: rhyl.colin.jones@live.co.uk

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LIFE GOES ON: FEB 2018

Artwork by The FastStone Kid - Rhyl's clock tower in original position

During February 2018 the following posts were updated:

The Beatles at Ritz Ballroom -

http://rhyl-life.blogspot.co.uk/2017/10/the-beatles-at-ritz.html

Chinese food -

http://rhyl-life.blogspot.co.uk/2017/11/quiz-answer-195.html

H. Batten-Jones, undertakers -

http://rhyl-life.blogspot.co.uk/2016/05/down-to-earth.html

Jewish connections -

http://rhyl-life.blogspot.co.uk/2016/09/jewish-connections.html

Miller’s Camp, Towyn -

http://rhyl-life.blogspot.co.uk/2016/08/brians-pix.html

Former Morville Hotel -

http://rhyl-life.blogspot.co.uk/2016/09/time-for-laugh-2_8.html

Plastirion Puzzle -

http://rhyl-life.blogspot.co.uk/2018/01/plastirion-puzzle.html

Sussex Street Baths -

http://rhyl-life.blogspot.co.uk/2010/04/in-swim-1.html

Swimming at Marine Lake -

http://rhyl-life.blogspot.co.uk/2009/07/grounded.html

Visit by Duke of Connaught & Strathearn -

http://rhyl-life.blogspot.co.uk/2017/01/new-year-quiz-181-answers.html

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MORE ANTI-BREXIT ACTIVITY

The UK Government continues to hatch its plan to rob us of our European citizenship. Meanwhile, there is a new organisation named Is It Worth It?  They are running a campaign in favour of remaining in European Union and they have a touring battle bus.

Link to the organisation:
https://www.isitworthit.org.uk/

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ALSO there is a new political party named RENEW whose policies include staying in the EU, and I am getting involved.
Link to the party:
https://www.renewparty.org.uk/
See them on YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fwewVzrYqSM

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WED 8th AUG 2018 UPDATE: The RENEW political party now has a membership scheme and is busy this-month-and-next visiting nine big cities including Liverpool and Cardiff. Some visits are timed to coincide with rallies by the People’s Vote Campaign which wants a referendum on the final Brexit deal. A 2018 poll by The Guardian/ICM indicated that 58 per cent of voters in that poll were in favour of having a second referendum.

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PLAID ON DISPLAY

As Labour enjoys popularity and the Conservatives descend into disarray yet again over Europe, Plaid Cymru - The Party of Wales - holds its own very well as a pressure group within the Welsh Assembly. Its four MPs and MEP are hard at work too.

Last Friday at the party's annual conference, at Galeri in Caernarfon (pictured above), Plaid's leader Leanne Wood expressed support for Catalonian independence and condemned the violence by Spanish state police that shocked us all in television news reports.

Plaid’s position on Brexit is same as Labour’s. Both parties believe that leaving the European Union is a bad idea but they are going along with it anyway as long as leaving the EU (a political institution) does not mean having to leave the single market and customs union as well.

Hmmmm.

Plaid wishes to see the establishing of a Welsh Government fund to help businesses across any transition period, and an end to the scapegoating of migrants who came to UK lawfully and in good faith and have contributed a lot to strengthening the economy.

Leanne moved on to talk about the need to expand rail transport within Wales (including electrification of the North Wales Coast line) and about Education being the route out of poverty, and Community Action being an antidote to deprivation and budget cuts.

The speech touched on other issues but avoided controversies within the party such as arguments for and against legalising drugs, and for or against banning the sale of council & housing association properties.

Certain elements within Plaid would prefer to have a new leader before the next National Assembly for Wales election in 2021. Why they feel that way is a mystery; they are anonymous and therefore cannot be questioned about the matter.

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THU 30th NOV 2017 UPDATE: Photo from the latest edition of Plaid Cymru’s publication The Welsh Nation – a delegation from Plaid’s youth wing Plaid Ifanc showing solidarity with campaigners for independence in Catalonia (Catalunya).

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MON 1st OCT 2018 UPDATE: Plaid Cymru holds a leadership election every two years. Leanne Wood lost last month after a hat trick of wins, and the new leader is Adam Price.

Adam Price AM - Photograph: Ben Birchall/PA

Leanne Wood is often quoted as saying, "I will always be a European" (to which I would respond, "Me, too!").

You can read about Adam Price in The Guardian:
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2018/sep/28/new-plaid-cymru-leader-adam-price-leanne-wood-wales-independence

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QUIZ QUESTION # 191

Below is a slice of Rhyl townscape photographed today by Yours Truly.
The question: What might you have found here in the 1960s?

No need to send me an email - just check your answers against mine on Sunday 17th September 2017 after 12 noon.

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These days  Tir Prince Raceway in Towyn near Abergele is the place for trotting races but the 1967 advert below harks back to similar events at Prestatyn Raceway.
Click on it to read the small print.

Night Trotting, eh?  We have that in Rhyl West – it's the druggies on a mission to pick up more stuff.

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BREXIT SCHMEXIT

Yesterday in London thousands of people marched in protest against the British government's plan to leave European Union. I am not surprised. Our European citizenship is too valuable to throw away.

If any future British government tried to interfere with workers' rights, consumers' rights and other protections conferred on us by the EU, we could see civil unrest on a massive scale.

We are not Americans, we are not Chinese, we are Europeans –  and now that barriers between European countries are down they must stay down.

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ROCK ON, JEREMY!

Photo: i2.mirror.co.uk

I was just the right age to get caught up in the idealistic youth culture of the 1960s. We wanted a world built on peace, friendship, mutual respect, understanding and sharing. We wanted an end to wars, an end to all kinds of discrimination and an end to poverty and deprivation.

We saw all that hijacked by commercialism and the drug culture, and gradually it collapsed into selfishness and self-indulgence in the 1980s.

Yesterday, watching on TV as Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn addressed a massive, cheering crowd at the Glastonbury Festival, I felt the old buzz of the ’sixties again.

Mr. Corbyn believes in building bridges and not walls – so do I.

He believes in human rights, peace, justice and democracy – so do I.

He believes that people should not live in poverty surrounded by riches – so do I.

He spoke against the trashing of our environment, and against racism, sexism, homophobia and Islamophobia, and he pointed to a decent, better world where everybody mattered.

You would find these sentiments embedded in Plaid Cymru, Scottish Nationalist and some other smaller parties but rarely in the governing Conservative Party. 

Jeremy Corbyn spoke of releasing the creativeness locked inside children and the yearning for change in young people, and - in a master stroke - he quoted the poet Shelley:

'Rise like lions after slumber

In unvanquishable number,

Shake your chains to earth like dew

Which in sleep had fallen on you,

Ye are many - they are few.'

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Colin Jones / email: rhyl.colin.jones@live.co.uk

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GENERAL ELECTION - THU 8th JUNE 2017

Rhyl Life says,
"Vote for Plaid Cymru - the party for everybody who lives in Wales."

Leanne Wood, leader of Plaid Cymru

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FRI 9th JUN 2017 UPDATE: Plaid went into this General Election with three MPs and came out with four. Now in Wales our team of 40 MPs is comprised of 4 Plaid, 8 Con and 28 Lab. No Green Party, Independents, Lib Dems or UKIP.

Here in Vale of Clwyd constituency Chris Ruane (Lab) took back the seat from James Davies (Con). James needed more than his 2 years in the job to establish himself as MP.

I am not best pleased to see the return of Mr. Ruin. Perhaps somebody will take him aside and explain that Rhyl is first and foremost a holiday resort. He seemed only vaguely aware of the fact last time he was MP.

As for the Westminster Parliament, the Conservatives emerged with only a slender majority and now no party has an overall majority. Brexit ought to be put on the back burner for the time being because nobody has the un-questionable authority to negotiate on behalf of UK.

The most pleasing aspect of the election results is that the nasty campaign by the hate newspapers (Mail, Express, Sun) against Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, has backfired.

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INTERESTING TIMES # 4

Donald Trump in Saudi Arabia ©The Last Refuge

US President Donald Trump has appeared on TV selling billions of dollars-worth of killing machines and associated mongery to the Muslim dictators of Saudi Arabia, thereby dismaying racists and peaceniks alike.

Mr. Trump's zig-zagging political strategies remind me of a fun fair ride we used to have in Rhyl, the Mad Mouse. At first his antics seemed almost comical but now they are scary, especially his dangerous messing around with environmental regulations.

I hope our American cousins find a way of removing this ignorant man from office before he damages the reputation of the United States beyond repair.

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In the UK General Election 2017 campaign, the Labour Party's policies are winning public approval. A Labour Government no longer seems like an impossibility. 

In the Conservative campaign so far, Theresa May is hogging the limelight. Mrs. May has a touch of Head Girl about her – not to mention Brown Owl – and when she says she would make the best Prime Minister she probably believes it.

Theresa May in Wrexham ©Reuters

To vote Conservative because of Mrs. May could be a mistake. After the General Election there would be nothing to prevent the Tories from replacing her with a new leader who would automatically become new Prime Minister.

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My vote goes to Plaid Cymru because - whichever big party wins - Plaid must gain a substantial percentage of votes if Wales is to have a credible voice in the Westminster Parliament.

Colin Jones / email: rhyl.colin.jones@live.co.uk

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FLASHBACK #24

Rhyl Life presents a double-flashback on the old Pavilion. Firstly, here is a picture I had never seen until recently. It was taken during World War 2 when the Pavilion was camouflaged and Manchester Repertory Company was in residence.

The boy in foreground is wearing a short-sleeved pullover and knee length trousers - a fashion that lasted too long into the 1950s.

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On Feb 28, 1908 - just a few months before Rhyl Pavilion opened - the following item appeared in The Building News. Interesting to see the structure described as 'assembly room' rather than a theatre (same intended use, though).

The accompanying text says:

"SELECTED DESIGN FOR ASSEMBLY ROOM AND GARDENS FOR THE TOWN COUNCIL, RHYL

"This design, by Messrs. Maxwell and Toke and F. Bennett Smith, F.R.I.B.A., of 25 Brazennose Street, Manchester, has been selected in a limited competition of six architects for an assembly-room to be erected on the foreshore at Rhyl.

     "The building will contain a large hall or assembly-room on the ground floor, with gallery over. The main entrances will be at the front, with entrances or exits on either side. There will be a large platform, suitable for music or theatricals, with retiring rooms and staircases on either side. Tea and refreshment rooms will be provided on the ground floor, and large one on the upper floor at the front, opening on to a balcony. Covered balconies and verandahs will surround the entire building.

     "The form of plan is practically a square with four large turrets at each corner, and the centre covered by a large dome.

     "A considerable amount of reinforced concrete is to be used in the construction of the staircase, floors, gallery, roofs and dome. The exterior (is) to be faced with red and buff bricks and terracotta. The assembly-room is to hold 1,500 persons seated. The general contractor is Mr. C. Griffiths, of Lye, Stourbridge.

     "The ornamental gardens on either side of the pavilion are being formed from the designs, and under the superintendence of Mr A. A. Goodall, the surveyor to the council. The entire cost is £14,000."

Note the cost of the project is £14,000 – that would be about one-and-a-half million pounds in today's money (quite a bargain compared with the fifteen million pounds for our proposed waterpark).

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Photo: VOA News

FÉLICITATIONS AUX ÉLECTEURS DE FRANCE

Congratulations to voters of France for electing Emmanuel Macron as President. He is enthusiastic about the European Union and wants to make it work. How refreshing, compared with the backward politicians who want to drag us out!

Bon chance, Monsieur le Président!

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MAY DOES A TRUMP

Photo: ITV.com

We are used to US President Donald Trump saying the opposite of what he used to say, now his hand-holding friend UK Prime Minister Theresa May has followed suit.

Mrs. May insisted that there would be no General Election until 2020 and then announced there would be a General Election only five weeks after local council elections 2017.

She hopes to see her Conservative Party returned with more MPs so that she and her Brextremist colleagues could force through Parliament some iffy parts of her Brexit strategy.

Mrs. May says that “the British people” voted to leave the European Union. This is not true. More than 48 per cent of us voted to remain in the EU. We believe that leaving would be a silly and unnecessary upheaval.

Come on Plaid Cymru, Scottish Nationalists, Greens, Lib Dems & Labour. Get a grip on the General Election campaign, take enough seats to stop this Brexit bandwagon in its tracks, and then concentrate on the three Hs: housing, health and heducation.

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THU 27th APR 2017 UPDATE: Latest poll by The Times newspaper and YouGov reports the tide has officially turned against Brexit. For the first time since the referendum, a majority of people are saying Britain was wrong to vote to leave the EU. [Regrexit!]

• Thank you the reader who wrote to tell me that a group is being formed already to campaign for a return to EU if the Government takes us out.

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INTERESTING TIMES # 3

Photo by Chris Pedota / The Record

I was pleased to see US President Donald Trump defeated in his bid to replace President Obama’s Affordable Care Act with some half-baked scheme of his own. Millions more Americans would have been denied proper health care if he had succeeded.

Mr. Trump has not managed to get his travel ban through either – and I hope in due course the authorities will tell him where he can shove his idea for a proposed wall across the Mexican border.

There is growing support for the idea that Michelle Obama should stand against him at the next Presidential Election in 2020.

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BREXOMIME - THE STORY CONTINUES

Picture from The Guardian newspaper

On Wednesday this week Prime Minister Theresa May gave the European Union formal notice of the not-very-United Kingdom's decision to leave.

According to United Nations statistics published in December 2016, the EU as a whole is the largest economy in the world. If it is damaged by UK withdrawal, the principal beneficiary would be the second largest economy in the world – the US – with whom we have a 'special relationship'.

Oh, I see.

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LOCAL COUNCIL ELECTIONS 2017

Rhyl Life will not be covering in depth the council elections that take place soon, but here are a few tips:

1. This time round, voting Conservative would not be a good idea. It might encourage Tory Brextremists in Westminster who would drag us out of the EU at any cost regardless of damage to Wales.

2. On a local level, beware of Rhyl Labour Party's poor record in keeping the town up to standard and their tendency to claim credit for big schemes that are little or nothing to do with them.

3. Consider voting for Plaid Cymru - The Party of Wales - even if you have never done so before. Plaid is the ONLY political party based entirely in Wales and it works on behalf of everybody who lives here.

4. In the absence of Plaid see if you can find a Lib Dem or Independent candidate worthy of your support.

POLLING DAY IS THURSDAY 4th MAY 2017

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GO FOR IT, LASS!

Photo of Nicola Sturgeon © Reuters

Watching TV coverage of Scottish National Party's Spring Conference 2017, I was moved by the passion and positivism of speeches by Nicola Sturgeon (leader) and others.

Good luck to the Scottish National Party in their bid to gain a second referendum on independence; they should keep at it until they get the result they want.
Plaid Cymru's leader Leanne Wood has a vision of Britain becoming four independent countries in loose alliance instead of the present UK in which England can and does force its will on the rest of us.

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SUN 7th OCT 2018 UPDATE: This month, tens of thousands of people marched in Edinburgh in support of Scottish independence. There is much enthusiasm for the idea – especially if the United Kingdom goes ahead and leaves the European Union.

Scottish independence rally, October 2018 © BT.com

If I had three wishes, the first would be for a united Ireland. It seems crazy to have the island of Ireland divided into two countries by an imaginary border.

My second wish would be for an independent Scotland with its own seat in the EU, and my third wish would be for Wales to break its allegiance to England and form an alliance with Scotland.

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INTERESTING TIMES # 2

DUMPING DONALD?

US President Donald Trump continues to embarrass the ‘free world’ with talk of banning people and building walls. Internationally, he seems to be talking himself into a war without being sure who with.

It shows the folly of electing non­-politicians such as Mr. Trump to high political office. Businessman he may be, and media personality he may be, but politician he is certainly not.

His connections with Russia, real and imaginary, are causing alarm in the US and already there are mutterings about pressuring him to resign or removing (impeaching) him.

In my seven decades I can never remember an American President being so thoroughly disliked for so many reasons.

A list of Anti-Trump demonstrations appears in Wikipedia: https:// en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_protests_against_Donald_Trump

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DUMPING BREXIT?

Extreme right-wingers within the Conservative Party, and the ‘hate’ newspapers such as Daily Mail, are trying to railroad us out of the European Union before full implications of leaving are understood by the British public.

This Brexit idea is undermining the value of the pound and eventually might destabilise our economy. Two thirds of exports from Wales go to the EU. It’s time to say, “Hell no, we refuse to leave!”

Ex-Prime Minister Tony Blair (not one of my favourite politicians) has at least had the guts to speak out against Leavites and try to provide a new focus for those of us who wish to remain in the EU.

We should not be conned into thinking that leaving is inevitable. People who voted Leave have a right to change their minds.

Photo of Tony Blair © The News Tribune

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SUN 5th MAR 2017 UPDATE: Mrs. Petra Williams who is doing media studies says Daily Express is even more of a ‘hate’ newspaper than Daily Mail. She has got to read both of these and other rags as part of her coursework.
“After a while the relentless foreigner-bashing goes in one eye and out the other,” says Petra. "Another known offender is The Sun. Luckily I don't have to read that one as well, let us all be thankful for small mercies!"

Yes indeed, yes indeed . . .

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YEAR OF THE DEAD DOG

The Brexit bandwagon rolls on. Formal ‘leaving’ negotiations between UK and the rest of EU may now begin thanks to the Labour Party rolling over and playing dead dog instead of fighting to stop the process starting.

Government is stuck with the result of last year’s public referendum and feels obliged to try and leave even though leaving is a bad idea. Prime Minister Mrs. May has to find a way of leaving without actually leaving.

In recent Parliamentary debates much was said about our need to leave EU to restore our sovereignty. [Don't be fooled. That would make the British Government more powerful, not make the British public any better off.]

There is an even bigger farce on the other side of the Atlantic where Mrs. May’s ‘special friend’ President Trump has managed in a remarkably short time to aggravate half the world and bring the US and its allies (including the UK) into disrepute.

Following Mr. Trump’s antics is like watching a Family Guy special where Peter Griffin becomes the President. American houses of government are rolling over and playing dead dog instead of reining him in.

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INTERESTING TIMES # 1

The placard, ‘No human being is illegal’ refers to US President Trump’s proposed wall to keep out Mexicans.

Very large chunks of the southern US (including five complete states) used to be part of Mexico anyway. Previous attempts to seal the border have proved to be more expensive than letting Mexicans in.

A recent visit to US by UK Prime Minister Theresa May put the two leaders on hand-holding terms. Mrs. May is driving the Brexit process that could take us out of the European Union and put an end to decades of peace, prosperity and stability.

Only the Labour Party, by joining forces with smaller parties, could stop the Brexit bandwagon – but Labour leader Mr. Corbyn (a fine man in many ways) appears to be saying, Leaving the EU is a bad idea but we support it.

Eh?

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QUIZ QUESTION # 182

A little teaser to keep you amused. Below is a 1960s/early '70s postcard of donkeys, riders and hangers-on. Love the little white handbag.

In the background, on the inside of the sea wall, is a large notice beginning PERSONS LEAVING BOTTLES . . .
The question: What does the complete notice say?
You have to be word perfect, mind!

No need to send me an email - just check your answer against mine to be published in this blog on Wednesday 25th January 2017 around 12 noon.

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A BIG ADVENTURE

These photos from The Journal take us back to 1989 and the fledgling Rhyl Adventure Playground – in Marsh Road at the time.

In the lower picture, with the children is play worker Tony Chilton. Handing over a donation is Clwyd County Councillor Ray Formstone, next to him is Denise Roebuck (a council officer), and on the receiving end is Dawn Simcock of Rhyl Community Agency.

Dawn, a jolly nice woman whom I remember well, has been living for quite a few years in the United States and raising a family there. Dawn if you are reading this, your ex-colleague James Harrison would like to get in touch. You could reach James via Yours Truly:

Colin Jones / email: rhyl.colin.jones@live.co.uk

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The following post titled SHE'S GOT A HOPE was published originally on TUESDAY, 17 JANUARY 2017 and then disappeared MARCH 2017, so this is a restoration:

SHE'S GOT A HOPE

Earlier today Prime Minister Theresa May delivered a speech on the UK’s proposed withdrawal from the European Union. The speech glossed over the fact that more than 48 per cent of voters in the EU referendum had actually voted to Remain.

Around here many who voted Leave did so out of ignorance and spite. To take an extreme example, I spoke to a chap in Wellington Market, Rhyl, who said he had voted Leave because he didn’t like the ‘bedroom tax’.

Mrs. May and her advisers have somehow interpreted the referendum result as yearning by voters for a more global and internationalist Britain. Dear me, the racist and xenophobic comments by Leavites indicated exactly the opposite.

Mrs. May’s government wants have its cake and eat it, for instance by leaving the EU single market while continuing to trade with it on a tariff-free basis. I don’t know why other EU member states should agree to that.

Losing access to the single market would hit Wales especially hard. As Plaid Cymru pointed out in a recent bulletin: We have the highest proportion of exports going to the EU of any UK nation.

Jill Evans MEP and Plaid Cymru's other representatives are battling to defend our interests.

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BREXOMIME - THE STORY SO FAR

Picture from The Guardian newspaper

Prior to the 2016 General Election, Conservative Prime Minister David Cameron announced that there would be an IN-OUT public referendum on UK’s membership of the European Union (EU). 

He did so to dissuade Tory voters from deserting his party in favour of the nutty United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP).

Given that the referendum was called for party political reasons, and the advantages of EU membership were self-evident, Mr. Cameron did not expect a majority of the electorate to vote Leave. The Government had no plan in place for such an eventuality.

[Mr. Cameron has since dropped out of politics altogether, thereby avoiding awkward questions.]

Prime Ministership passed to Theresa May who, as Home Secretary, had bent over backwards to deport a man to Jordan. The man was acquitted in Jordan because of lack of evidence. Mrs. May had never stopped to consider the strength of the case against him.

The headstrong Mrs. May decided to push ahead with the UK’s withdrawal from the EU even though the referendum was not binding on Government; it was only an opinion poll.

Since then Mrs. May has had to be reminded by the courts that we have a democratic system of Government that requires her to seek Parliamentary approval before she takes even one step towards Leaving.

Later towards the end of November, Scotland and Wales won the right to have a say in the current court case which is about the timing of that first step. I should think so, too – the UK is not all about England.

We in Wales should not give up our European citizenship without a fight. One way to fight is by joining Plaid Cymru. The party takes a pro-EU stance and aims in the long term for Welsh independence within Europe:

https://www.partyof.wales/join/

Another way to fight is by donating funds to bring legal cases against Leavites who spread lies and hatred during the EU referendum campaign and to bring legal challenges against the Government when necessary.

There are a number of these funds. Seek by surfing and nosing around social media and you should find them.

Next year must see a determined push to keep us in the EU.

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