1. Etymology

2. Buildings and landmarks
    Marine Lake  Regeneration project 

3. Governance

4. Sport

5. Climate

6. Transport

7. Notable people

8. References

9. External links

The conurbation of Abergele-Rhyl-Prestatyn has a population of over 60,000, with Rhyl-Kinmel Bay having 31,229 people.

Rhyl has long been a popular tourist destination. Once an elegant Victorian resort, there was an influx from Liverpool and Manchester after the Second World War that changed the face of the town. The area had declined dramatically by 1990, but has since been improved by a series of regeneration projects that have brought in major investment. Several million pounds of European Union funding, secured by the Welsh Government, has been spent on developing Rhyl's seafront.

Etymology

The origin of the name "Rhyl" is not fully known. However, the name appears in old documents variously as Hulle (1292), Hul (1296), Ryhull (1301), Hyll (1506), Hull (1508), [Leidiart] yr Hyll (1597), Rhil (1706), Rhûl (1749), Rhul (1773) Rhyll (1830), and Rhyl (1840).^[2] The name seems to be a hybrid between the English word "hill" and the Welsh definite article "y". The exact significance of the name is unclear as there are no hills in the vicinity. It is possibly a reference to a mound or slightly raised place in an otherwise marshy region. Some documents refer to a dwelling house, Tŷ'n yr haul, meaning "House in the sun".^[2]

Buildings and landmarks

Rhyl has a number of Grade II listed buildings and landmarks. These include the Parish Church of St Thomas in Bath Street, which is listed as II*, a fine example of high Victorian Gothic and a prominent feature on the town landscape.^[3] Others are the Midland Bank building, the railway station along with two signal boxes and the public telephone box on the up platform, the Royal Alexandra Hospital, the Sussex Street Baptist Church; the Town Hall; the Swan public house in Russell Road, the war memorial, and the Welsh Presbyterian Church in Clwyd Street.^[4]

Another landmark is the Church of St Margaret of Antioch. The Marble Church was built by Lady Margaret in memory of her late husband, Sir Henry Peyto Willoughby de Broke. Within four years the church was completed, and it was consecrated on 23 August 1860, becoming the parish church of a newly formed Parish of Bodelwyddan, covering an area formerly part of the Parish of St Asaph. The church is open daily from 09:30 to 16:30 throughout the year, except between 25 December and 6 January. Access is via a gently-sloping ramp at the west door. St Margaret's is one of Britain's finest Victorian churches, with an interior decorated with a variety of marble.

A previous Rhyl landmark was the Pavilion Theatre, an ornate building with five domes, which was demolished in 1974. Beside it stood the pier which was built in 1872 for the pleasure of the many visitors who flocked to the North Wales coast. It was {{convert|2355|ft|m|0|abbr=on}} long and once included a pier railway. The structure was damaged by ships in 1883 and again in 1891. It was also damaged in 1901 when there was a fire at the Pavilion Theatre. Storms were responsible for further damage in 1909 and the pier was closed in 1913 as unsafe. It was reopened with a much-reduced length in 1930 but closed again in 1966, before being demolished in 1972.^[5]

Rhyl's top attractions on the West Parade are Rhyl Children's Village theme park, and the {{convert|250|ft|m|sing=on}} high Sky Tower (formerly the Clydesdale Bank tower, brought to Rhyl from the 1988 Glasgow Garden Festival). The skytower opened in 1989,^[6] but was closed to the public in 2010 although it is still standing.^[7][8] A VUE Cinema is also located there.

On the East Parade is the SeaQuarium. Up until 2014, Rhyl Suncentre was also an attraction on the East Parade; an indoor water leisure centre which opened in 1980 at a cost of £4.25m and featured a heated swimming pool, water chutes and slides, and Europe's first indoor surfing pool.^[9] The local council closed the centre in early 2014 and it was demolished in 2016. A new Travelodge hotel is now currently under construction next to the site, which is due to open in early 2019.

Marine Lake

The Marine Lake, an artificial excavation in the west of the town, used to be a tourist destination, with fairground rides and a zoo. The lake is a 12 hectares man-made reservoir and it was officially opened in 1895. 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.^[12]

The Marine Lake Funfair was demolished in the late 1960s, having been replaced by the nearby Ocean Beach Funfair. Ocean Beach finally closed on 2 September 2007 and was demolished to make way for a planned new development initially called Ocean Plaza. This was to include apartments, a hotel and various retail outlets.^[13] However, work on Ocean Plaza never went ahead as scheduled and the land lay vacant for several years after the original developers, Modus Properties, went bankrupt in 2009. The site was sold to a new company, Scarborough Development Group (SDG), in 2010, but again no work commenced on the site for several years. In 2014, SDG submitted revised plans to develop the land on a much smaller scale than the original plans.^[14] Now called Marina Quay, the plans no longer include the building of new apartments on the land as Natural Resources Wales' flood regulations now prohibit this.^[15] The plans were approved by the local authority in November 2014. In August 2015, The Range retail chain signed a 20-year lease and opened a new superstore on the site in March 2018.^[16]

Regeneration project

In an effort to regenerate and boost declining tourism, a number of projects are under way or proposed. Projects include the Drift Park development on the promenade and the reopening of the town's miniature railway around the Marine Lake. The West End of Rhyl is undergoing much reconstruction. There is a major investment of about £4 million at Rhyl College, a satellite site of Llandrillo College.^[17][18]

Governance

For elections to Denbighshire County Council, Rhyl is divided into five electoral wards: Rhyl East, Rhyl South, Rhyl South East, Rhyl South West and Rhyl West. Following the 2017 elections all except two of the eleven councillors represented the Welsh Labour Party.^[19] In 2008 Rhyl West was measured as the most deprived ward in Wales, according to the Welsh Index of Multiple Deprivation.^[20]

For election of the twenty two town councillors to Rhyl Town Council, the town is divided into nine community wards: Brynhedydd and Plastirion (in Rhyl East); Cefndy, Derwen, Pendyffryn, Trellewellyn and Tynewydd (Rhyl South, South East and South West); Bodfor and Foryd (in Rhyl West).^[21]

Sport

On 17 May 2010, it was announced that Rhyl's Welsh Premier licence had been revoked. Their appeal was unsuccessful and they were relegated to the Cymru Alliance,^[23] returning to the Welsh Premier League in 2013 after winning the Cymru Alliance title, becoming the first club in the history of the competition to complete the season unbeaten.^[22]

Rhyl have played in Europe on a few occasions.

Rhyl and District RFC is the town's rugby union club, but it had never had a playing base in the town until this year, when a new ground and clubhouse was opened.

Rhyl is home to the oldest hockey club in Wales formed in 1890. The first international game was also played at Rhyl between Ireland and Wales in 1895.

Climate

The climate is warm and temperate in Rhyl. The climate here is classified as Cfb by the Köppen climate classification. The average temperature in Rhyl is 9.3 °C. Precipitation averages 794 mm.

Transport

Rhyl railway station is on the North Wales Coast Line and is served by through trains provided by Virgin Trains between Holyhead and London Euston, and Transport for Wales services to Cardiff Central via Newport and Crewe, and to Manchester Piccadilly. Other nearby stations include those at Abergele & Pensarn, Prestatyn, Flint, Colwyn Bay and Llandudno Junction.^[24] Rhyl has direct Transport for Wales and Virgin Trains services to Holyhead, which give connections by Stena Line or Irish Ferries to Dublin Port.

The A548 road runs through the town, connecting it to the A55 Holyhead to Chester road at Abergele. The A525 road runs southwards from the town to Rhuddlan, St Asaph and Ruthin.^[25] Several bus services are run by Arriva Buses Wales along the main coast road between Chester and Holyhead, linking the coastal resorts. Another bus route runs between Rhyl and Denbigh.^[26]

Notable people

In alphabetical order:

• Thomas Aubrey (1808–1867), minister and travelling preacher
• Wayne Bickerton (1941–2015), record producer and musician
• James Chester (born 1989), international footballer (Aston Villa F.C.)
• Ruth Ellis (1926–1955), night-club hostess and murderer, last woman to be hanged in England
• Ched Evans (born 1988), footballer (Sheffield United F.C.)
• Elliott Hewitt (born 1944), professional footballer (Notts County F.C.)
• Nerys Hughes (born 1941), actress
• Isaac Jenks (1816–1888), ironmaster and Mayor of Wolverhampton, who died at Rhyl
• Ann Jones (born 1953), Welsh Labour and Co-operative Party MP
• Mungo Lewis (1894–1969), Manitoba politician
• Don Oakes (1928–1977), professional footballer (Arsenal F.C.)
• Nathan Penlington (living), writer, poet and magician
• William Roberts (born 1863, fl. 1880s – 1890s), international footballer
• Lisa Scott-Lee (born 1975), singer and dancer
• Steve Strange (1959–2015), pop musician
• Sara Sugarman (born 1962), actress and film director
• Carol Vorderman (born 1960), TV broadcaster and game-show host, attended Rhyl's Blessed Edward Jones High School
• Edward Ross Wharton (1844–1896), classical scholar, etymologist and lexicographer^[27]
• Spencer Wilding (born 1972), actor best known for Darth Vader in Rogue One
• Vernon R. Young (1937–2004), research scientist specializing in protein and amino acid requirements
• Alexa Davies (born 1995), actress best known for Young Rosie in Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again

References

External links

• BBC Rhyl page
• Rhyl town council page

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• J. Pediatr. Surg.
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