Rhyl
Rhyl - Overview
Rhyl is a Victorian seaside resort and watering place on the north-east coastline of Wales. Boasting a long, sandy beach and an ideal location off the A5 coast road of north Wales, Rhyl developed as a new town in the 1830s and 1840s largely due to the rise of sea bathing tourism. Its close proximity to Liverpool and Manchester quickly made it a popular destination with tourists from the north-west of England, while the arrival of the railway in 1848 introduced visitors from London. The town rapidly enlarged and improved, providing all the facilities required of a seaside destination including a 2,115ft long pier, an artificial boating lake, pleasure rides and miniature railway.
According to a guidebook written by Mark Luke Louis, an immigrant from France, in 1854, Rhyl boasted one of the most modern train stations, finest baths, libraries and reading rooms, not to mention elegant hotels lining the seafront. In addition to praising these modern holiday amenities, Alphonse Esquiros from France also highlighted the sight of the mountains of Snowdonia further inland creating a most picturesque backdrop for this coastal town.
By the second half of the century, Rhyl’s reputation as a fine holiday destination had travelled far and wide, and coasting steamers from Liverpool and Lancashire docked here routinely. In the twentieth century the town showed off the world’s first passenger hovercraft service. Thanks to the town’s modern layout, healthy climate and broad offer of popular attractions at affordable rates, another French writer, D’Arcis, praised Rhyl as an ideal destination for families and a children’s paradise, which came alive every summer. He was particularly fond of the beautiful and safe beaches, the orchestras playing across town and the many puppet plays which were on show for children.
Accounts of Travel
"Voyage au nord du pays de Galles", c. 1866
Arthur d’Arcis ( – )
Rhyl est une ville de 7264 habitants, bâtie régulièrement, aux rues larges et droites, aux maisons basses mais d’assez bonne apparence et fort bien distribuées à l’intérieur. Un hôtel de ville d’un aspect élégant, une halle, une mignonne église catholique, une belle église anglicane et plusieurs chapelles des sectes de Wesley, etc., voilà ses principaux édifices. De bons magasins et une quantité de boutiques et d’échoppes permettent de se fournir du nécessaire et même du superflu. ... Rhyl ne s’anime que pendant la saison des bains qui commence à la mi-juin et finit en octobre. La plage est l’une des plus belles que l’on puisse voir et n’offre pas le moindre danger. Aussi fourmille-t-elle d’enfants de toutes les classes de la société et, détail à noter, cette promiscuité n’a pas le moindre inconvénient, car les enfants anglais et gallois ne savent pas ce que c’est qu’n mot malsonnant. Quand on veut faire un long séjour il vaut mieux louer un appartement composé d’un salon faisant fonction de salle à manger et du nombre de chambres à coucher que l’on désire. On convient d’un prix, tant par semaine, pour le logement, le service, l’éclairage et le droit de faire cuire les aliments que l’on est libre d’acheter soi-même. Grâce à cet arrangement très pratique et très économique, à moins qu’on ne tienne à s’installer sur la Parade, on peut s’affranchir des soucis du ménage ou échapper à l’ennui de la vie d’hôtel. Les distractions ne maquent pas. ... Je ne peux faire moins que de mentionner un ventriloque qui perché sur une échelle et ayant sur ses genoux deux fantoches représentant un vieux loustic et un malin paysan, leur faisait tenir les propos les plus désopilants sans qu’un seul tressaillement de sa figure dénotât que c’était lui qui parlait.
Rhyl is a town of 7,264 inhabitants, built in regular fashion, with wide, straight streets and houses that are low but quite good to look at and rather well laid out inside. An elegant looking town hall, a covered food market, a pretty Catholic church, a fine Anglican church and several chapels for Wesleyans etc. These are the principal buildings. Some good shops and a number of boutiques and workshops allow you to stock up on necessities and even luxuries. ... Rhyl only comes to life during the bathing season, which starts in mid-June and ends in October. The beach is one of the most beautiful you could wish for and offers not the slightest danger. Consequently it is teeming with children of all classes of society and, let it be noted, this great mixture has no negative consequences, because the English children and the Welsh children do not even know what an offensive word is. If you want to stay a long time it is best to rent a hotel suite including a living room that serves as dining room, and whatever number of bedrooms that you require. You agree on a price, so much per week, for the accommodation, the service, the lighting and the right to cook any food that you are free to buy yourself. Thanks to this very practical and economical arrangement, unless you insist on being on the Parade, you can be free from the worries of housework and avoid the inconveniences of life in a hotel. There is no lack of recreational activities. ... I must mention a ventriloquist who, perched on a ladder with two puppets on his lap representing a funny old fellow and a cunning countryman, makes them say the most hilarious things to each other without a hint of movement in his face that would indicate that he was doing the talking.
"L’Angleterre et la vie anglaise: XXVI. Le sud du Pays de Galles et l’industrie du fer. Carmarthen, les eisteddfodau et les Iron-Works de Merthyr Tydfil", c. 1850s
Alphonse Esquiros (1812 – 1876)
Rhyl, ville de bains, située à l’entrée de la célèbre vallée de la Clwyd, qui mesure 20 milles de longueur, sur 10 milles environ de largeur, et qui se trouve bordée des deux côtés par des montagnes et des collines. Rhyl s’est beaucoup accrue depuis quelques années, grâce à la pureté de l’air que l’on y respire, aux magnifiques paysages qui l’entourent, à la mer, à la fermeté des sables et à tous les avantages que recherchent les baigneurs. On y trouve des logements garnis pour toutes les bourses, des bibliothèques ou cabinets de lecture, des salles de billard, etc. Les vallées des deux rivières Clwyd et Elewy fournissent aux paysagistes de beaux points de vue. Les pêcheurs à la ligne trouvent aussi dans ces deux cours d’eau une excellente occasion d’exercer leur adresse. Rhyl est entourée de belles villas, de manoirs, de parcs. Le regard y embrasse au loin de majestueux groupes de montagnes, au-dessus desquelles se détache la couronne de la principauté de Galles, l’incomparable sommet du Snowdon.
Rhyl, seaside town situated at the entrance to the famous Clwyd Valley: 20 miles long, 10 miles wide, and borderded on both sides by mountains and hills. Rhyl has grown a lot in the last few years, thanks to the purity of the air you breathe there and the magnificent landscapes that surround it, to the sea, to the firmness of the sandy beaches and all the advantages that bathers seek. It has furnished accommodation for every budget, libraries and reading rooms, billiard rooms etc. They valleys of the two rivers Clwyd and Elwy provide painters with beautiful viewing points. Anglers will find in these two rivers an excellent opportunity to practice their skill. Rhyl is surrounded by beautiful villas, manor houses and grounds. In the distance a majestic group of mountains can be seen, above which the crown of the principality of Wales stands out: the incomparable summit of Snowdon.
"En pays de Galles", c. 1900
Édouard Gachot (1862 – 1945)
Rhyl est une plage très fréquentée. Coupée en deux quartiers, un pré qui sépare les deux faubourgs sert de lice aux joueurs de crocket. Chaque maison, en briques rouges, a son jardin. Les rues sont plutôt des chemins très fréquentés par une colonie de baigneurs.
Rhyl is a very busy beach. Split into two areas, a field that separates the two suburbs acts as croquet grounds. Each house, in red brick, has its own garden. The streets are more like very busy routes filled with colonies of bathers.
