Rhyl Totally Explained

Everything about Rhyl totally explained

Rhyl (Welsh: Y Rhyl) is a seaside town on the Irish Sea, in the county of Denbighshire (formerly Clwyd, formerly Flintshire), northeast Wales, at the mouth of the River Clwyd (Welsh: Afon Clwyd). It has a population of 35,000 including the suburbs of Kinmel Bay and Rhuddlan. Once an elegant Victorian resort, there was an influx of people from Liverpool and Manchester after World War II. This had a huge impact on the town and surrounding area, affecting local culture and diminishing the prevalence of the Welsh language. The area had declined dramatically by 1990, but has since improved due to a series of regeneration projects. Rhyl railway station has through trains to and from London, Crewe, Holyhead, Cardiff and Manchester. Rhyl Football Club are a successful team in the Welsh football pyramid -- in the 2003-2004 season they won the Welsh Premiership Championship, the Welsh Cup and the Welsh League Cup, and were losing finalists in the FAW Premier Cup.
It was in Rhyl that the infamous egg-throwing attack on John Prescott occurred, during campaigning for the 2001 General Election.

Etymology

The origin of the name "Rhyl" isn't fully known. However, the name appears in old documents variously as Hyll (1506), Hull (1508), [Leidiart] yr Hyll (1597), Rhil (1706), Rhûl (1749), Rhul (1773) Rhyll (1830), and Rhyl (1840), all of which are variations (and some anglicizations) of an uncertain original form. One suggestion is that Y Rhyl derives from (Yr) Hyll, meaning "ugly" ; however the softening of final ll to l would be exceptional as would the blunt epithet as a placename. Other unsubstantiated and improbable suggestions have been made that it might derive from the similar sounding Yr Hill (as in "The Hill") or Yr Heol "(The Street)".

Buildings and monuments

Rhyl's most famous monument was the original Pavilion, an ornate building with five domes, which was demolished in the 1970s. Rhyl's top attractions on the West Parade are the 250 foot high Sky Tower, which opened in 1989; Rhyl Children's Village theme park; and the fairground (now demolished and to be redeveloped). There was once a Laser Quest and bowling establishment, but this has since burnt down.
On the East Parade, can be found the SeaQuarium

and the popular Rhyl Suncentre

- an indoor leisure swimming pool featuring an indoor monorail, as well as Europe's first indoor surfing pool. Next door stands the New Pavilion Theatre

, opened in 1991. A small run of traditional beach shops runs alongside the sea front. The Carneddau mountains can be seen from the beach.

The Marine Lake

The Marine Lake used to be a tourist destination, with fairground rides and a zoo. Rhyl Miniature Railway

is the only original attraction remaining on the site, a narrow gauge railway that travels around the lake and is now based at the new museum and railway centre. There is also a playground and numerous watersports clubs based around the lake.
The Marine Lake Funfair was eventually replaced by the Ocean Beach Fun Fair and demolished in the late 1960s. Ocean Beach finally closed on 2 September 2007 to make way for a new development called Ocean Plaza, which doesn't include a funfair. Pictures of the final day at www.tmphotography.piczo.com

and the demolition at www.conceptnews.org/rhyl

and The Magic Eye

. See also this historical gallery of Rhyl Funfair

If Ocean Beach isn't replaced, the only existing fun fair in Rhyl will be the Children's Village

funfair on the seafront next to the Sky Tower.
In 2008, some rides from the former Ocean Beach site arrived at Ffrith beach in nearby Prestatyn. These include the spiral Slide, The Pepsi Loop coaster, The Nessi, Dodgems and Waltzers - see www.conceptnews.org/ffrith

Regeneration project

In an effort to regenerate and boost declining tourism, a number of projects are underway or being proposed. These include the Drift Park development on the promenade, as well as a new leisure complex to be built on what is now the site of the Ocean Beach Fun Fair. Although once popular, it's no longer as successful, and will be replaced by shops, restaurants and luxury flats, with a new supermarket as a centrepiece. The Ocean Beach Funfair

closed on 2 September 2007. The Jetstream Rollercoaster was dismantled as a buyer couldn't be found. There was a plan to remove the Water Chute log flume ride to Margate by the Save Dreamland campaign

but the funding was withdrawn and the main structure of the water chute was demolished, although the Dreamland Campaign managed to salvage the boats and key mechanical parts from the ride. The remaining buildings at Ocean beach were demolished to make way for Ocean Plaza, a development which will include a supermarket and apartments, but no fun fair.
Rhyl, especially the West End, is undergoing much rebuilding. One of the major investments is in Rhyl College, a satellite site of Llandrillo College., with the investment being worth approximately £4,000,000.
Other improvements to the town include the promenade's new Drift Park facility and the reopening of the town's miniature railway around the Marine Lake.

Sport

Notable citizens

Former inhabitants of Rhyl include:

Ruth Ellis - The last woman to be hanged in Britain in 1955.

Ched Evans - Manchester City footballer currently on loan on Norwich.

Owen Hargreaves - Manchester United and England footballer.

Nerys Hughes - Television actress

Lee Evans - Comedian

Mike Peters - Member of The Alarm.

Peter Moore - Serial Killer.

Carly Romain - Member of The Sheilas.

Ted Hankey - Darts player.

Lisa Scott-Lee - Member of pop group Steps.

Sara Sugarman - Hollywood director.

Lee Trundle - Bristol City footballer.Further Information

Get more info on 'Rhyl'.

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