QUIZ QUESTION # 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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Yours Truly took this photograph today inside a public building in Rhyl (with permission of course). The building is not a church, so where was I? The answer will appear on this blog a week today, i.e. Wednesday 20th May 2009.

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RARITY

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 is a picture that I have never seen before. It dates from 1963 and shows part of West Parade. To your left of the picture would have been The Black Cat arcade; to your right would have been The Roma coffee bar and then the Lucky Strike arcade. All these properties were owned by the Webber Brothers who operated rides at Ocean Beach Fun Fair such as Dodgems and Figure Eight Rollercoaster.

These days in this part of West Parade you would see Palace Fun Centre which is owned by H.B. Leisure. The picture was handed to me by Mr. Mark Webber of Webbers Amusements the adult arcade at 78 High Street, Rhyl. Mark feels confident about the town's future and he is planning to expand his business.

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HOTEL-OLOGY # 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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Occasionally I get asked what was Rhyl seafront’s biggest hotel. In terms of external size I have no idea, but in terms of the number of rooms the biggest was said to be the Plastirion Hotel; the building is in East Parade nearly opposite the Sun Centre. The photograph above (TOP) shows the Plastirion today: a block of flats owned by Haigh Properties Ltd.

The other photo shows the seafront’s oldest surviving hotel: the two-star Westminster Hotel on corner of East Parade and Church Street. The Westminster opened in 1878 more or less opposite the Victoria Pier (later renamed Rhyl Pier) which opened just over a decade earlier. The hotel was a luxurious place where civic functions and other grand events took place.

In the late 1970s the Westminster opened a night club in the basement and many townspeople remember this as ‘Catz’. The old hotel had become rather run-down when the present owners Carol and Peter took over a few years ago; since then it has steadily improved. When I walked into the reception area/lounge bar a few days ago the room looked fabulous.

The Westminster's phone number is (01745) 342241.

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Below: an Internet auction item in 2018 – a rusty old sign from the Westminster!

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CLEAN HANDS

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 big news story in the last few days is about MPs' expense claims which seem to the average person to be unacceptable. An example is that an MP could get money from the public purse to improve a house and then sell it and buy another and claim again and so on. This kind of racketeering is said to be within the rules that MPs invented for themselves. Self-regulation of any kind is a nonsense; it encourages the greedy and selfish in any profession (banking is another example).

This morning a neighbour enquired and he was surprised to hear that town councillors – unlike county councillors – receive no pay at all, and no expenses are claimable except on extremely rare occasions when we are required to travel out of town (this has never happened to me) and there is nothing thrilling in the way of perks and no one has ever had the nerve to offer me a bribe.

He went away looking disappointed.

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RHYL PAVILION

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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Whichever way you looked at it, the original Rhyl Pavilion (1908-1974) was impressive; the dome when lit could be seen for miles across the sea. The sepia picture above (TOP) is card postmarked 1913 from an improbable-sounding F. Tickle in Rhyl to a Miss Moore in Rock Ferry, Birkenhead.

The black-and-white picture was taken during 1947-1961 when Prince’s International Circus played summer seasons at the Pavilion. At that time on the promenade walkway you would have seen, left to right: Coliseum Theatre (opposite Abbey Street), paddling pool, Pavilion and then the outdoor roller skating rink (opposite Water Street).

Rhyl was heartbroken when Rhyl Pavilion was demolished, but towns-people old enough to remember seeing shows there say it was a draughty old barn of a place with dreadful acoustics and the present Pavilion Theatre is far better.

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TUE 9th JAN 2018 UPDATE: The skating rink, promenade and West Parade viewed from the Pavilion circa 1960:

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CHILD POVERTY

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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Child poverty is rife in the Bodfor ward and other parts of Rhyl and throughout Wales. A child is deemed to be in poverty if belonging to a household whose income is below 60 per cent of average income.

By this rule of thumb about 21 per cent of children are in poverty in Scotland, 22 per cent in England, 24 per cent in Northern Ireland and worst of all: 25 per cent in Wales. These are official government statistics and they shame us all.

It is a matter for Welsh Assembly Government to devise strategies to deal with this terrible situation. If you have helpful ideas to offer your local Assembly Members, please send them an email:

ann.jones@wales.gov.uk
eleanor.burnham@wales.gov.uk
mark.isherwood@wales.gov.uk
brynle.williams@wales.gov.uk
janet.ryder@wales.gov.uk

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FILM STARS

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.
l

A couple of weeks ago on this blog, a post titled THE GIRLS featured pictures of four young ladies; the pictures were stills extracted from a home movie made in the late 1950s/early ‘60s.

The burning questions were: who are the girls and where are they now? The post raised a lot of interest but none of the four has been identified.

Here are more stills from the same film. In the top strip, left to right, are two other girls at the same event which could have been a Miss Rhyl contest; a boy receptionist at the Westminster Hotel, East Parade, and a young lady on a visit to the Floral Hall.

The centre picture shows a somebody that may well have been May Queen. The final shot shows youngsters and not-so-youngsters enjoying a Punch and Judy show.

So who are they all and where are they now?

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