Saturday and Sunday, 27th and 28th August
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THIS WEEKEND
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QUIZ ANSWER # 152
Last Sunday I posted a photo taken earlier this year, with place names blanked out. The question: What are the two missing names?
The answer: Sudbury Close and Haddon Close.
Here is the photo with names restored:
This is part of a Wales & West Housing Association estate sometimes referred to as the Chatsworth Road estate, off Marsh Road (site of the former Derbyshire Miners' camp).
Scoring 1 win for the correct answer: Dilys Bagnall 1, Sue Handley 1, Jane Shuttle 1, The Great Gareth 1.
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[In the original post there was a second question based on an old picture of a village not far from Rhyl. The question has been withdrawn because the person who sent me the pic had misidentified the village and now believes it is a place near Wrexham. Hey ho. Thanks anyway!]
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Colin Jones / email: rhyl.colin.jones@live.co.uk
Don't forget my YouTube channel featuring Rhyl videos and slideshows. The channel is named RhylTime. Click here to see RhylTime's Top Ten:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL7BKgZiQNRSaVpnyTl8PgEpPusmd3dl_z
Only YouTube items labelled RhylTime are mine.
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QUIZ QUESTION # 153
Above is a photo taken this month by Yours Truly showing a derelict house or bungalow abandoned years ago.
The question: Where in Rhyl would you find it?
The correct answer would score 1 win.
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Below is an image of a soccer team, Rhyl Football Club in fact:
The question: Does the image date from 1940s, 1950s, 1960s or 1970s?
The correct answer would score 1 win.
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You have until the end of Saturday 3rd September 2016 to send your entry. The result will appear on this blog next day around noon.
Colin Jones / email: rhyl.colin.jones@live.co.uk
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Colin Jones / email: rhyl.colin.jones@live.co.uk
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THE SINGING CARTOONIST
Roy Lance (Gordon Roylance) and his cartoons from the Rhyl Leader newspaper have featured previously in this blog. Recently, via his grand-daughter Dawn Brown, I made contact with his daughter Antoinette known as Toni who has supplied the material in this post.
Roy was born in 1922 in Padgate near Warrington. He left school aged 15, went to work for The Warrington Guardian as a cub reporter and started to draw cartoons for the paper. This developed into an act and he was known locally as ‘The Boy Wonder Singing Cartoonist’. With the money he earned he put himself through art school.
Roy and his wife Irene (née Thompson) met as young teens – she was also from Warrington. During World War 2 Roy was based at RAF Cosford. He wasn’t able to fly because of his colour blindness so he did art work at the base and was put in charge of entertainment. Irene was a dancer and choreographer. The couple married after the war ended.
Here is Roy (sporting a fashionable but temporary moustache) with Irene in 1950:
Toni says, “They had their honeymoon in a bungalow at Sandy Cove in Kinmel Bay, and liked the area so much they subsequently bought a bungalow in Foryd Road, which is where I was born, and in 1961 they had a house built on a plot of land further up the road in Moelwyn Avenue North where they lived until my dad died in 2006.”
In addition to doing cartoons and art work, Roy became a variety artist who did summer seasons and pantomimes in many places.Toni says,“He was a great comedian. He did a wonderful Charlie Chaplin impersonation and sang too as he drew his cartoons on stage.”
As a versatile performer he was a good choice for parts in pantomimes – including dame!
Over the decades, Roy’s other venues for summer seasons and pantos included Bridlington, Cleveleys, Filey, Morecambe, New Brighton, Pwlleli, Scarborough, St. Anne’s-on-the-Sea, Swinton near Manchester, Westcliff-on-Sea and Whitby, to name just a few.
Toni says, “He had many friends in show business, working with many of them over the years - people such as Bruce Forsyth, Frankie Howerd and Ken Dodd. When Morecambe and Wise made their only Rhyl appearance in the mid ‘60s my Dad compèred the show.”
So there he is. The late, great Roy Lance – cartoonist, caricaturist, singer, impressionist, comedian, joke writer, compère, performer and producer. Thanks for the information Toni, I was wondering about Roy and I’m much the wiser now.
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The following names are added here for indexing purposes:
Robinson Cleaver, Clive Stock, Norma Hughes, Willie Wyse, The Mintings, Roy Minting, Andrea Wardale, Paul Leonard, Vince Rita Starr, Bernadette Corlett, Lesley Anne Riding, Jimmy Webster, Albert Tinkler, Brian Elliot.
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QUIZ ANSWER # 153
Last Sunday I posted the above photo taken last month by Yours Truly showing a derelict house or bungalow abandoned years ago. The question: Where in Rhyl would you find it?
The answer: Tarleton Street.
The building is next door down after St. David's Residential Home.
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Also I posted an image of the soccer team Rhyl Football Club. The question: Does the image date from 1940s, 1950s, 1960s or 1970s?
The answer: 1960s.
Here is the picture in full with caption restored:
The pic has appeared before in this blog but not dated so precisely.
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Scoring 1 win for Tarleton Street and/or 1 win for the other correct answer:
The Great Gareth scores 1.
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LIFE’S RICH PAGEANT
When I started this Rhyl Life blog in 2008 it was open to comments and quickly filled up with such foul-mouthed abuse against the town that I had to ban comments except via email.
The purpose of the blog is to give as round as possible a view of the place, past and present, good and bad, and in addition to contending with Rhyl haters I have to deal with people who want to hide the cracks.
The purpose of the blog is to give as round as possible a view of the place, past and present, good and bad, and in addition to contending with Rhyl haters I have to deal with people who want to hide the cracks.
A few days ago I was photographing an interesting detail in one of the corridors leading to Queens Market. It had been my intention to phone the owners' office about using the pic as basis for a quiz question.
While I was taking the shot, a man who did not introduce himself but must have been to do with the company approached and said, “Don’t you think the town has enough problems with you taking photographs like that?”
He was not referring to the object of my scrutiny, he was talking about the decay and litter around it. In respect for his sensitivity the photo will remain unblogged but let's agree parts of the Queens are in a shameful condition.
In addition to Rhyl’s ‘business community’ our elected representatives also tend to shy away from the truth like Dracula faced with garlic. They clutch at straws, trying to pretend the scene is better than it really is.
In addition to Rhyl’s ‘business community’ our elected representatives also tend to shy away from the truth like Dracula faced with garlic. They clutch at straws, trying to pretend the scene is better than it really is.
Rhyl shoppers have to run the gamut of cyclists on pavements, vehicles encroaching on the pedestrianised area, junk shops spilling out into the streets, and tramps lying around begging.
We are not going attract shoppers with serious money to spend by offering them an experience like this. It would not be acceptable in any other town in Denbighshire and it's not OK for Rhyl.
Previously I have called for pavement wardens to be introduced. A new by-law would be needed to bestow on wardens the necessary powers to deal with any problems. This ought to be achievable.
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We are not going attract shoppers with serious money to spend by offering them an experience like this. It would not be acceptable in any other town in Denbighshire and it's not OK for Rhyl.
Previously I have called for pavement wardens to be introduced. A new by-law would be needed to bestow on wardens the necessary powers to deal with any problems. This ought to be achievable.
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QUIZ QUESTION # 154
Above is part of a photo taken a few days ago in Rhyl by Yours Truly.
The question: Where was I standing?
Below is a picture of a badge.
The question: What is unusual about it?
This week you need correct answers to both questions to score 1 win.
You have until the end of Saturday 10th September 2016 to send your entry. The result will appear on this blog next day around noon.
Colin Jones / email: rhyl.colin.jones@live.co.uk
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EURO-OLOGY # 5
At the recent G20 summit, shots were fired across Prime Minister Theresa May’s bows. If Japanese companies in UK were to become disadvantaged by our leaving the EU they may move to the continent.
In Wales there are dozens of Japanese companies in the South. Nearer home we have Sharp Precision Industries, Tsuda and Brother Industries (all in Wrexham) and Toyota on Deeside. A lot of jobs to lose.
Mrs. May is forced by circumstance to talk as if our leaving the EU is inevitable, but it isn't. We live in a Parliamentary democracy. Unless a majority of Members of Parliament vote to leave, we stay in.
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THE LAST ROUND-UP
This is a photograph of the last meeting of the Rhyl lodge of "The Buffs" i.e. The Royal Antediluvian Order of Buffaloes (RAOB).
The photo was taken in 1990 at the The Millbank pub in Grange Road. Seated on the right is Steve Wheeler, and the gent with the beard is Les Williams the builder.
If you can identify anybody else please let me know:
Colin Jones / email: rhyl.colin.jones@live.co.uk
RAOB does charitable works. As you can see, the regalia is elaborate so there are local collectors of items such as this 1957 silver breast jewel:
Readers who share my distaste for secret societies please note that the RAOB imitates Freemasonry but is completely open in its objectives, activities and ritual. More info on Wikipedia:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Antediluvian_Order_of_Buffaloes
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TIME FOR A LAUGH # 2
The following Marine Lake item tickled my ribs. Not only are some of the buildings in the background sketched by hand, the picture is captioned accidentally as Morville Lake:
Is this where the Morville Hotel used to brew its beer? Only joking!!
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FOOTNOTE:
Years ago the Morville seemed a disreputable place. The name was changed to the Fiorenzo Cazari Hotel. Now I read that the present proprietor, a qualified solicitor, has been jailed for trying to pervert the course of justice:
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QUIZ ANSWER # 154
Last Sunday I posted part of a photo taken a few days before in Rhyl by Yours Truly. The question: Where was I standing?
The answer: Paradise Street or Clwyd Street.
I was in Paradise Street but with a touch a zoom I could have taken the same shot from Clwyd Street. Here is complete photo with St. Thomas' Church and other details restored:
Also I posted the following picture of a badge. The question: What is unusual about it?
The answer: The Urdd National Eisteddfod was not here in 1974.
Perhaps the badge was part of a campaign to get it here. The actual Rhyl dates are 1892, 1904, 1953 and 1985.
Both correct answers were needed to score 1 win. Everybody got the street but nobody got the badge. No winners!
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Here are some more badges: a poppy badge of Junior Tradesmen's Regiment (Kinmel Park Camp, Bodelwyddan) 1962-1974 and Rhyl & District Motor Club car badge / Model Train Exhibition Rhyl and gold-coloured badge (style of lettering indicates it's quite an old one) / Rhyl Football Club badge by Mark Parr, and Rhyl Delta F.C. who played in Welsh Alliance League 1998-2000:
Click on any badge to see a bigger version.
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Rhyl & District Motor Club is still operating at Tremeirchion near St. Asaph:
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Rhyl & District Motor Club is still operating at Tremeirchion near St. Asaph:
Rhyl Football Club is alive and kicking:
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QUIZ QUESTION # 155
Question 1: What is the name of this Rhyl street?
The correct answer would score 1 win.
Question 2: Which statements are true/false?
A: The Britannia Hotel was in High Street.
B: The pier was open to the public for a hundred years.
C: The Skytower came to us from Glasgow.
The correct three answers would score 1 win.
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You have until the end of Saturday 17th September 2016 to send your entry. The result will appear on this blog next day around noon.
Colin Jones / email: rhyl.colin.jones@live.co.uk
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CLEAR THINKING
In the current term of the Welsh Assembly, Plaid Cymru is the second biggest party to Labour and therefore the official Opposition.
Today Plaid published Programme for Opposition 2016-2021 a 23-page document setting out Plaid’s ideals, objectives and policies.
Long term aims include building a national community based on equality and social justice, and achieving independence for Wales within Europe.
Long term aims include building a national community based on equality and social justice, and achieving independence for Wales within Europe.
The document spells out Plaid’s thoughts on Health & social care, Education, Economy & finance, Transport, Local government, Housing, Energy & environment, Agriculture, Heritage culture & sport, Welsh language, and the EU & international relations.
You can read the document online or download in pdf format here:
https://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/plaid2016/pages/710/attachments/original/1473669673/Programme_for_Opposition.pdf?1473669673
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https://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/plaid2016/pages/710/attachments/original/1473669673/Programme_for_Opposition.pdf?1473669673
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OUT THERE
The above publication has been around for more than 40 years and at last has joined this blog’s Book List. It's Shipwrecks of North Wales by Ivor Wynne Jones. Pictured is the first edition published in 1973 (there are more recent editions).
The main body of the book is split into geographical or nautical areas: Cardigan Bay, Caernarfon Bay South, Caernarfon Bay North, Holyhead, and eastwards in stages to Liverpool Bay which includes Rhyl.
The main body of the book is split into geographical or nautical areas: Cardigan Bay, Caernarfon Bay South, Caernarfon Bay North, Holyhead, and eastwards in stages to Liverpool Bay which includes Rhyl.
Our famous sunken submarine the Resurgam gets a mention and there is an account of the hovercraft being rescued by Rhyl Lifeboat. From a map in the book, this detail covers wreck locations nearest to Rhyl:
[The following names of vessels are added here for indexing purposes: St Olaf, Dido C, Richard, Eagle, Four Brothers, Ocean Queen, Conways Pride, Polly, Mary Ann, Fawn, Oriental, Thomas, Mary, Jane Mary, Temperance, Lady Stuart, William Henry, Raven, William, Jane, Glynne, Friends, Caroline, Cherokee, Lord Blayney, John Welsh.]
Shipwrecks Of North Wales is illustrated with many maps and photos, a bibliography, lists of ships and an index. It is a thorough piece of work and very readable.
Ivor Wynne Jones is author of several books including others about North Wales. Click anywhere on the following link to see them on Amazon:
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FLASHBACK # 20
Although the name Bradfield House does not spring readily to mind when considering Rhyl hotels, boarding houses and guest houses, it must have been a serious player to have put its name on this multiview card.
At the time of the card – 1950s I suppose – Bradfield House was offering full board at £2.20 per week. It offered winter residence at cheaper rates. There was garage space for 50 cars.
The card is a reminder that the part of promenade opposite Abbey Street was once called Abbey Gardens, and the original paddling pool to your left of the old Pavilion was the Children's Lake.
Seeing Rhuddlan Castle covered with ivy reminds me that my father, who lived close to the castle at the time, was one of the workforce engaged to remove the ivy. He said it was teeming with insects including kinds that he never saw before or after. My mother agreed.
Bradfield House has long disappeared. The address 48 West Parade is now - guess what - a block of flats. It is between Abbey Street and the present barren waste at the top of John Street.
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OUT OF PUFF
A reader has asked if I know the whereabouts of Jeffrey Ditchfield who began trying to run a cannabis café known as the Beggar’s Belief in 2002 in Water Street, Rhyl.
Mr. Ditchfield seemed to me to be using disabled people as a starting point towards supplying cannabis for recreational purposes. We wrestled in the letters columns of local newspapers like Holmes and Moriarty.
Although I never disliked him personally I hated the drugs image he was helping to give the town. Use of illegal drugs for medicinal purposes is a matter for the Government and NHS not cowboy operators.
Mr. Ditchfield was treated as a celebrity in some quarters. The Visitor newspaper went as far as asking him to name his favourite things and Rhyl Town Council gave him an award for his hanging baskets.
It took four long years for North Wales Police to put a stop to his illegal activities in Rhyl, and the force was virtually shamed into it by a TV documentary that revealed more about him.
[John Damon Gizzi had been a household name as a drug dealer for considerably longer before they got round to convicting him of his first drug offence.]
Do I know where Mr. Ditchfield is now? Nope.
What I do know is that sometime after he lost his final court case in 2006 he sold his Water Street premises to officers of Welsh Government and thereby pocketed a pile of our money.
No doubt he felt much obliged.
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Do I know where Mr. Ditchfield is now? Nope.
What I do know is that sometime after he lost his final court case in 2006 he sold his Water Street premises to officers of Welsh Government and thereby pocketed a pile of our money.
No doubt he felt much obliged.
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QUIZ ANSWER # 155
Last Sunday Question 1 was: What is the name of this Rhyl street?
Answer: Eastville Avenue.
The shot is taken from the middle of the road (not recommended) at east end of Eastville Ave, looking towards the bend that leads to Oakville Ave.
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Question 2 was: Which statements are true/false?
A: The Britannia Hotel was in High Street.
FALSE.
One of my early essays said there was a Britannia Hotel on the site of the present Co-op way back before Regal Cinema. In fact it was Britannia Inn (later renamed BritanniaForge) which I believe became a garage.
B: The pier was open to the public for a hundred years.
FALSE.
Dates given usually are 1867-1966 during which the pier had several long closures for repairs. It was closed as unsafe for a 13-year stretch between 1913 and 1930.
C: The Skytower came to us from Glasgow.
TRUE.
The Skytower came from Glasgow Garden Festival.Somewhere I said Edinburgh; the slip was spotted by Pete Bethell.
[On Internet correcting errors is no problem. Be nice if we could undo our life mistakes as easily.]
Scoring 1 win for Eastville and/or 1 win for FALSE-FALSE-TRUE:
[On Internet correcting errors is no problem. Be nice if we could undo our life mistakes as easily.]
Scoring 1 win for Eastville and/or 1 win for FALSE-FALSE-TRUE:
Dilys Bagnall 2, The Great Gareth 2, Jane Shuttle 1, Sue Handley 1.
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Further to the above comments about the pier, the postcard below shows a banner declaring PIER NOW OPEN.
Click on the picture to see a bigger version.
The card is undated. Pay booths at the shore end indicate that the pier was still under private ownership at the time.
The banner may refer to re-opening after the pier had collapsed in the middle following a storm in 1909.
It wasn't the luckiest pier in the world.
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QUIZ QUESTION # 156
Above is a photo, probably 1950s, of a place in Queen Street, Rhyl.
The question: What is the name of the place?
You are looking for three words.
The correct answer would score 1 win.
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Below is a card posted in 1979. The name of a house has been hidden by black dots.
The question: What is the missing name?
You are looking for two words.
The correct answer would score 1 win.
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You have until the end of Saturday 24th September 2016 to send your entry. The result will appear on this blog next day around noon.
Colin Jones / email: rhyl.colin.jones@live.co.uk
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CATCHING UP WITH MARK
A few years ago Rhyl West residents saw large numbers of problematic people being dumped into the ward by resettlement agencies.
The uninvited guests included habitual criminals, addicts of alcohol and illegal drugs, antisocial types, dysfunctional families and so on.
The cost of Social Services went sky high and so did the crime rate.
Some old holiday accommodation in Abbey Street/ Aquarium Street area has been demolished and tenants dispersed – some as far as Denbigh. This should reduce the density of problems in Rhyl West.
Lately the ward seems a more relaxed place, not so low-life, and not so dangerous, but some fundamental difficulties remain. There is still a lot of poverty and deprivation.
One man who knows about the difficulties is Mark Webster who lives in Rhyl West and served as a ward councillor until his wife Coral became ill. (She has since passed away.)
Mark is concerned about disabled people having to switch to new benefits and have their conditions re-assessed by private companies that have no medical expertise.
He is unhappy about the prospect of our losing access to the European Regional Development Fund. Money is needed to help new businesses get started.
On the other hand, he feels optimistic about the forthcoming Marina Quay (ex-Ocean Beach) and other local indicators of better times ahead.
Mark Webster (pictured below) is casting around for a role to play. It would be no surprise to see him back in public life in due course.
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Daily Post has published a list of food places top-rated for hygiene. There are lots of top-rated places in Denbighshire, many in Rhyl:
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JEWISH CONNECTIONS
Bill Ellis’ collection of material relating to Billie Manders & Quaintesques continues to grow. This was a concert party that entertained at the Pier Amphitheatre, Rhyl, in summer seasons from 1921 to 1963.
Among Bill’s memorabilia is a book presented to Mr. Manders in 1942 by The Rhyl Hebrew Congregation in appreciation of letting them use the Amphitheatre for Yom Kippur Services. Here is the title of the book and the presentation page:
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The President is H. Huglin; the Honorary Secretary is J.H. Lysman.
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From my own resources comes the following blurry picture taken in 1951 showing a meeting room of the Congregation, location unknown. The pic is followed by a detail showing some names:
Click on an image to see a clearer version.
The names are Solomon Rifkin, Gabriel Alis, Marie Alis, M. Cohen, Gedaliah Fox, Aaron Adolph, Morris Sugarman, Ada Sugarman, Lewis Lipman, Hannah Leah Lipman, William Jachcel, Regine Jachcel.
Mr. Manders' wife had the maiden name Fox - so it could be that they were Jewish - a thought that had never occurred previously to me or Bill Ellis.
Apart from references to J.H. Lipman The Wire King and Sir Anthony Meyer MP there has been no mention of Rhyl's Jewish connections. Further information would be welcome.
Info about other ethnic groups in Rhyl would be welcome too.
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Colin Jones / email: rhyl.colin.jones@live.co.uk
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Colin Jones / email: rhyl.colin.jones@live.co.uk
See my Rhyl videos on YouTube:
Only the videos marked RhylTime are mine!
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AN ISSUE OF TRUST
Photo: Russia Today TV
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I am writing this on the day Jeremy Corbyn MP has been elected as leader of the UK Labour Party for second time by a big margin.
The official position of the Labour Party is that UK is better off in the European Union – and I agree – but can the Party be trusted on this issue?
In early 1970s when Britain was debating whether to join the EU I recall hearing many Labour politicians and trade union leaders denouncing the EU as a conspiracy of big business.
Since then, even though being in Europe has brought us prosperity and better protection of workers' rights, I suspect there still may be a lingering anti-EU undercurrent in Labour.
Wales needs a stronger economy and more private sector jobs. That is more likely to happen inside Europe than out, and that’s why the more trustworthy pro-EU party Plaid Cymru gets my vote.
You could join Plaid online: https://www.partyof.wales/join/
or you can email post@plaid.cymru for membership forms.
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