Rhyl
Rhyl (
Welsh: Y Rhyl) is a
seaside town located on the
Irish Sea, in the administrative county of
Denbighshire and the
traditional county of
Flintshire,
North Wales,
United Kingdom, at the mouth of the
River Clwyd (
Welsh: Yr Afon Clwyd). Once an elegant
Victorian resort, there was a large influx of people from
Liverpool and
Manchester after
World War II had a huge impact on the town and surrounding area, including Culture and the Welsh Language.
Rhyl railway station has through trains to and from
London,
Crewe,
Cardiff and
Manchester.
This resort town has a population of about 27,000.
Rhyl Football Club is currently one of the most successful teams in the
Welsh football pyramid -- in the
2003-
04 season they won the
Welsh Premiership championship, the
Welsh Cup and the Welsh League Cup, and were losing finalists for the
FAW Premier Cup.
Rhyl's most famous monument was the original Pavilion Theatre, an elegant ornate building with five domes, which was demolished in the
1970s. But Rhyl's current top attractions on the West Parade are the 80-metre-high Sky Tower, which opened in
1993; Rhyl Children's Village theme park; and the fairground. There was once a laser quest and bowling establishment, but this has since burnt down.On the East Parade, we have SeaQuarium and the popular
Rhyl Suncentre - an indoor leisure swimming pool featuring an indoor monorail as well as Europe's first-ever indoor surfing pool. Next door stands the New Pavilion Theater, opened in 1991.
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WalesDenbighshire.png |
Rhyl shown within Denbighshire UAThe Marine Lake also used to be a popular tourist destination, with fairground rides and even a zoo many years ago. Nowadays, the Marine Lake is home to the miniature steam train that travels around the lake, a playground and numerous watersports clubs.
In a bid to boost the decline in tourism, a million button badges were sent to Japan in May 2005 with the website address www.rhyl.com in an attempt to boost oversea tourism. There were many detractors of the idea; they suggested that money spent trying to improve the decaying Victorian infrastructure would be a far better option. Also, due to the poor website design, the campaign was poorly received.
Rhyl also contains many
brass bands, which entertain the town's many tourists, including the Rhyl Silver band, the Scout and Guide band and the Salvation Army band. The Rhyl Silver band was formed in 1878 by local businessman David Owen Jones and is still going strong, with family members having played throughout the band's history and currently still doing so. They have performed in such prestigious venues as the
Royal Albert Hall and entertained
Royalty in recent years.
Rhyl hosted the
National Eisteddfod in
1892,
1904,
1953 and
1985, as well as an unofficial National Eisteddfod event in
1870. Ysgol Glan Clwyd, the first Welsh-medium school in Wales, was founded in Rhyl, although it has since moved to St Asaph and the building now houses Ysgol Dewi Sant Primary.
Rhyl and Holyhead were the filming locations for ITV's 2004 comedy 'Big Dippers', starring Irish actor James Nesbitt.
Rhyl's Little Theatre, built especially for the town's children, has provided entertainment, fun and education to the town's children for decades. It closed recently due to disrepair and a lack of funding, but is fondly remembered by the town, and especially loved for its patrons Joe Holyrood and Juan Vitti.
The car park of the Little Theatre is the location of the infamous John Prescott - egg in ear - punch in mouth incident.
Rhyl's seawater is occasionally brown in colour, perhaps due to the sediment from the River Clwyd. The beach is quite popular in the summer months, with tourists coming primarily from the North West of England and using the other attractions along the seafront.In recent years, like many seaside towns, the resort has had negative press in relation to drugs and crime issues in the west end area of the town, as well as poor run down facilities. The town however is rising to the challenge and is enjoying some investment in terms of the "drift park project" on the West Parade, which includes a new mini golf course and open air theater.
Famous former inhabitants of Rhyl include Hollywood director
Sara Sugarman and ex
Sons of Selina frontman, now radio presenter and music guru
Neil Crud.
Nerys Hughes,television actress.
Lee Trundle,
Swansea City Football Club's striker and
Bayern Munich midfielder
Owen Hargreaves both have strong family ties with Rhyl, as does comedian
Lee Evans.
Former
Visage singer
Steve Strange (real name, Steve Harrington) went to junior school in nearby
Kinmel Bay.Martin Tomkinson, famous investigative journalist, longtime contributor to Private Eye, former associate at Kroll Associates, and follower of horse-racing, attended Rhyl Grammar School before becoming a leading bearded firebrand of the 1968 students' revolt at the London School of Economics.
Ruth Ellis, the last woman to be hanged in Britain, was born in the town.
The "A6 lay-by murderer"
James Hanratty claimed he was in Rhyl at the time of his supposed crime, staying at a guesthouse in Kinmel Street. Depsite offering a credible descrpition of the area and summoning witnesses claiming to have seen him in the town, he was disbelieved and found guilty of the murder. He was executed, although many believed him innocent of murder.
Lisa Scott-Lee a former band member of steps
Former Rhyl resident John Damon Gizzi - now serving 5 1/2 years in prison.
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BBC News Link*
BBC Rhyl page*
Rhyl-Prestatyn Tourist Info (official WWW site)
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Rhyl FC (official WWW site)
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Rhyl Journal Newspaper*
Rhyl Rugby Club*
Rhyl Hockey Club
