Rhyl
Encyclopedia : R : RH : RHY : 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.
Tourist attractions
Rhyl's most famous monument was the original Pavilion - an elegant ornate building with five domes, which was demolished in the 1970s.But Rhyl's current top attractions on the west parade is 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)opened in 1991 Pavilion Theater,
Rhyl shown within Denbighshire UA
Marine Lake also used to be a popular tourist destination with fair ground 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 and 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 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, especially loved for its patrons Joe Holyrood, Juan Vitti and Gwyn Williams.
The car park of the Little Theatre is the location of the infamous John Prescott - egg in ear - punch in mouth incident.
-->
Sea and beach
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 people
Famous former inhabitants of Rhyl include Hollywood director Sara Sugarman and ex Sons of Selina frontman, now radio presenter and music guru Neil Crud.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.
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.
Infamous people
Former Rhyl resident John Damon Gizzi - now serving 5 1/2 years in prison.External links
- [BBC Rhyl page]
- [Rhyl-Prestatyn Tourist Info] (official WWW site)
- [Rhyl FC] (official WWW site)
- [Rhyl Journal Newspaper]
- [Rhyl Rugby Club]
- [Rhyl Hockey Club]
From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.