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 Beside it stood the pier which was built in for the pleasure of the many visitors who flocked to the North Wales coast.
It was 2, ft m long and once included a pier railway. The structure was damaged by ships in and again in It was also damaged in when there was a fire at the Pavilion Theatre. Storms were responsible for further damage in and the pier was closed in as unsafe.
It was reopened with a much-reduced length in but closed again in , before being demolished in On the East Parade is the SeaQuarium. The local council closed the centre in early and it was demolished in A new Travelodge hotel was built next to the site, which opened in early The new Pavilion Theatre which opened in is also on the East Parade. It has over seats and is managed by Denbighshire County Council.
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 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. Ocean Beach finally closed on 2 September 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. 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 The town stands on what was once sea-level marshland, which was liable to flooding by rain, river and sea.
In a Parliamentary Bill allowed for embankments to be made, to protect the land from the sea, and for drainage channels to be cut. The house dates back to Flying Fox was sold for a record 37, guineas, the highest price ever paid for a horse at auction.
Flying Fox died in France in but his skeleton was preserved. After a positive reply and to my great surprise, Mr James told me that he and his wife had seen the Flying Fox displayed in an equine museum in the town of Saumur in the Loire Valley, France.
From that moment, it was to be my goal to see this magnificent horse for myself but only on my third attempt would I accomplish this mission. Mme Gadbin was most helpful in my quest to visit and see the Flying fox and a date in September that year was agreed. Hotels and ferry crossings were pre-booked.
However, one week before the journey I was informed by the ferry company that the return ferry crossing had been cancelled. No alternative plans could be made in time, so the visit was postponed. In September my second journey was thrown into jeopardy when, following a detour to visit a friend in Switzerland, my car unfortunately broke down and the journey was finalised by a flight home from Geneva.
The visit was now planned for May — which finally proved sucessful. Mrs Benson was of outstanding help in identifying the memorial to the Flying Fox at Eaton Hall and also gathered together other artefacts and information valuable in complementing the story. After each race had been won, a shoe would be taken from the horse and mounted on a plinth recording the event.
Mrs Benson assembled together these mementoes adding spice to a rich history. One other connection could be noted between the Eaton Hall of late 19th century and the Royal Alexandra Hospital, Alfred Waterhouse being the architect responsible for the design of both buildings. On Tuesday 15th May accompanied by my good friend Selwyn Jones, we left North Wales at lunchtime and travelled to Portsmouth for the overnight ferry to France.
Our appointment with Mme Gadbin was at 11 am Thursday 17th May. Our hotel, on the banks of the Loire, was overlooked high above us by the impressive Chateau de Saumur. On a beautiful Thursday morning we walked to the Chateau to be warmly greeted by Mme Gadbin and Ms Janis Upsher, who was to act as our interpreter.
Our reception overwhelmed us as we toured the Chateau and were guided to this exceptional horse. As the Chateau was approaching the end of a three year refurbishment the Flying Fox was standing gracefully in a third storey room, flanked by the displayed skeletons of a prehistoric horse and a an Arabian stallion. Prior to actually seeing the Flying Fox, with the help of the interpreter, I gave an account of the history associated with the Royal Alexandra Hospital.
I had amassed a dossier of information that I was able to systemically present to, and leave with them. Selwyn gave a comprehensive account of the building, history and infrastructure of the town of Rhyl. Entering the room and seeing the Flying Fox for myself I could feel the warmth of a tear in my eye. It had been almost fifty years since my first encounter with this horse and over twenty years since I had made the promise that one day I would see for myself this legendary animal.
Then, in , a Norwegian steamer called St Olaf also collided with the pier during a storm. Storms in caused further damage, and by it was declared unsafe and put up for sale.
The pier re-opened in , but in April the council decided to demolish the neglected structure. Closed to the public, it stood for another eight years before it was eventually taken down. View Location Map. Cross-dressing PoW's last arrest.
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