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The pier, Rhyl.
Photochrom print. Circa 1890-1900. From the Library of Congress Detroit Publishing Co. Collection.
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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, a large influx of people from Liverpool and Manchester after World War II had a huge impact on the Welsh language in the town and surrounding area. 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 Rhyl Pavilion - an elegant ornate building with five domes, which was destroyed in the 1970s. But Rhyl's current top attraction is the 80 metre high Sky Tower on Rhyl promenade, which opened in 1993. The promenade also features the popular Rhyl Suncentre - an indoor leisure swimming pool featuring an indoor monorail as well as Europe's first ever indoor surfing pool, as well as SeaQuarium, Rhyl Children's Village theme park and the Fairground. There was once a laser quest and bowling establishment but this has since burnt down.
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.
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.
Famous former inhabitants of Rhyl include The Alarm front man Mike Peters, number-cruncher and Countdown co-presenter Carol Vorderman, Hollywood director Sara Sugarman and ex Sons of Selina frontman, now radio presenter and music guru Neil Crud. Ruth Ellis, the last woman to be hanged in Britain, was born in the town.
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 Tourist Information Centres in Rhyl:
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 Telephone:
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01745 355068
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 Fax:
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01745 342255
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 Email:
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rhyl.tic@denbighshire.gov.uk
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 Address:
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Rhyl Childrens Village
West Parade
Rhyl
Denbighshire
LL18 1HZ
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 Hours:
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Winter Monday - Friday
Saturday - Sunday 10:00 - 16:30
Summer Monday - Saturday 10:00 - 17:00
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The sands, Rhyl.
Photochrom print. Circa 1890-1900. From the Library of Congress Detroit Publishing Co. Collection.
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The images below are © Dave Roberts
 To view a larger image, just click on the image
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Rhyl - From 'A Topographical Dictionary of Wales' (1849)
RHYL, a populous hamlet and bathing-place, in that part of the parish of Rhuddlan which is in the hundred of Prestatyn, in the union of St. Asaph, county of Flint, North Wales, 2 miles (N. N. W.) from the town of Rhuddlan: the population is returned with the parish. This place, which is situated at the northern extremity of the parish, and at the lower end of the fertile Vale of Clwyd, previously to the year 1826, consisted only of a few scattered dwellings. Since that time, from the pleasantness and salubrity of its position on the coast of the Irish Sea, along the margin of which some fine smooth sands here extend for several miles, it has become a favourite resort for sea-bathing. It is frequented by numerous visiters, for whom three respectable hotels have been established, and many private houses erected, in which lodging, with every accommodation, may be obtained. There are hot and cold baths, supplied with sea-water; billiard and news rooms, and a spacious bowling-green. The sands, which project a considerable distance into the sea, besides being very convenient for bathing, afford a delightful promenade. The vicinity commands some fine views of the most picturesque portions of the Vale of Clwyd, the Clwydian range of mountains, Llandulas bay, Orme's Head, the Isle of Anglesey, and the mountains of Cumberland. The Chester and Holyhead railway, opened in 1848, has a station here, thirty miles distant from the terminus at Chester. Steam-vessels land passengers from Liverpool daily at the Voryd pier, about a mile distant; and the various advantages of the place, combined with the retirement of its situation, render it desirable to families wishing to obtain the benefit of sea air and bathing, without the ordinary bustle and fatigue of larger coast-towns. Here is a chapel in connexion with the Established Church: the living is a perpetual curacy, in the gift of the Vicar of Rhuddlan; income, £120. Meeting-houses for dissenters have also been erected; a day school is held, in connexion with the Church, and the dissenters have some Sunday schools.
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