Rhyl

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Rhyl (IPA: [(ə) r̥ɨl] Welsh: Y Rhyl) is a seaside town located on the Irish Sea, with a population of roughly 35,000 including the suburbs of Kimnel Bay and Rhuddlan, in the county of Denbighshire (formerly Flintshire), northeast Wales, at the mouth of the River Clwyd (Welsh: Afon Clwyd). Once an elegant Victorian resort, there was a large 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.

Rhyl railway station has through trains to and from London, Crewe, Holyhead, Cardiff and Manchester.

Rhyl Football Club are 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 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.

The origin of the name "Rhyl" is not 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) [1], 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 elegant ornate building with five domes, which was demolished in the 1970s. Rhyl's current 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. 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 along side the sea front. It is not very far from Snowdon (Yr Wyddfa). The Carneddau mountains can be seen from the beach.

The Marine Lake

The Marine Lake used to be a popular tourist destination, with fairground rides and even, many years ago, a zoo. Rhyl Miniature Railway is the only original attraction remaining on the site, a historic Narrow Guage 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 1960's. Ocean Beach finally closed on 02 September 2007 to make way for a new development called Ocean Plaza which does not include a funfair. See the BBC report Here and pictures of the final day at www.tmphotography.piczo.com

If Ocean Beach is not replaced, the only existing fun Fair in Rhyl will be the childrens travelling funfair on the seafront next to the Sky Tower.

Regeneration project

In an effort to regenerate and boost declining tourism, a number of projects are currently 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 is no longer as successful, and will be replaced by shops, restaurants and luxury flats, with a new Asda supermarket as a centrepiece. The Ocean Beach Fun Fair closed on 02 September 2007 and work began to demolish the funfair 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 currently undergoing a lot of rebuilding with fresh investment from large bodies. One of the major investments is in Rhyl College, a satellite site of Llandrillo College.^{[neutrality disputed]}, with the investment being worth approximately £4,000,000.

Other recent 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.

Famous people

• Famous former inhabitants of Rhyl include Hollywood director Sara Sugarman, and Nerys Hughes, television actress.
• Lee Trundle, Bristol City Football Club's striker, Manchester United midfielder, Owen Hargreaves and Manchester City striker Ched Evans all have strong family ties with Rhyl, as does comedian Lee Evans.
• Carol Vorderman, although born in Prestatyn, attended Blessed Edward Jones RC High School and later went on to earn a third class degree at Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge before becoming a popular TV presenter on the Channel Four show, Countdown.
• Lisa Scott-Lee, member of pop group Steps.
• Carly Romain, member of The Sheilas.

Infamous people

• Ruth Ellis, the last woman to be hanged in Britain (1955), was born in the town in 1927.
• The "A6 murderer" James Hanratty, claimed he was in Rhyl at the time of his supposed crime, staying at a guest-house in Kinmel Street. Despite offering a credible description 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 in 1962, although many believed him innocent of murder. DNA tests on his exhumed corpse in 2002 established his guilt beyond reasonable doubt.

External links

• BBC Rhyl page
• Rhyl-Prestatyn Tourist Info (official WWW site)

Coordinates: 53.32123° N 3.48019° W

• Rhyl Journal newspaper

• Rhyl Ocean Beach Funfair Closed (BBC Report)
• www.tmphotography.piczo.com Last Day At Ocean Beach Fun Fair.

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