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Bagillt memories

Here are memories of Bagillt and the local area. You can start now: Add your own Memory of Bagillt or a Bagillt photo.

Father Holcroft

I was born and brought up in Widnes but we used to go for holidays in Bagillt where we stayed with an old friend of my parents, Father Holcroft. He was the local Catholic priest and we stayed in his house which had a farm adjoining with chickens and a goat which sometimes strayed into the house. The Catholic chapel was very simple as I recall, basically a big hut with a corrugated iron roof and I served mass there every day. Holcroft was a Yorkshireman and a late vocation renowned for his fiery temper and outspoken nature. He swore a lot which made us laugh as we had never met a priest quite like him. He had a heart of gold and seemed to be well liked by the parishoners. My brother, Bill and sister, Oonagh and I had a wonderful time exploring the village and the nearby coastline. We fed (and chased) the chickens and teased the goat. It was a magical place, especially for kids like us... Read more

Memories of Clwyd

Notes From Our Files.

High Street 1959
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The police office is PC69 Kenneth Edwards of the old Flintshire Force who is talking to Mr Cummins, a local landowner and the year is 1959.

Dancing Days

I lived in Ysceifiog and used to travel by bike to the dances at the  village hall in Brynford.  I used to meet my friend Betty Davies and her sister Sheila, who lived in Brynford. They had two brothers Gerald and Leonard.  At these dances we had a band and an MC.  It was where I learnt the Gay Gordons and Quickstep and Waltz.  In those days my name was Wyn Parrington.   I met my first husband Frank Hansom from Holywell at the dances.  We married in 1955 and went to live in Rhodesia (now Zambia) in 1957.  I had a wonderful life out there with servants and a nanny.  I learnt to swim and drive.  I had three children and when I was expecting my fourth child Frank died in a car crash and I had to return to Wales and lived with my parents.  Later I met Meirion Wynne and we married.  I had to change my name to Margaret as I could not be "Wyn Wynne"  It's... Read more

Joan Thomas's (nee Vaughan) Memories

My first memory was going to school from Pen-y-Ball and being tought by Mrs Daisy Jones, Eluned Jones, Mr Bellis (the headmaster) and Mr Yeomans who we all loved, and also attending Sunday School every Sunday was a must. Mrs Price had the shop in Calcoed, she was our landlady and we would go every Saturday morning to pay the rent and she would always give us a sweet. Mr and Mrs Hughes used to deliver the milk, they had two daughters, Daureen and Glenys, and a son, Neville. Then moving from Pen-y-Ball to Brynford at the age of 13 years (1950/51). Mr Tommy Edwards, coal merchant moved us on his coal wagon, we must have looked like the Clampets!!. We thought it was great moving to a brand new council house, having running water and electricity, we thought we were "posh". We were a family of 7, the Vaughan family. Mam (Marian), Dad (Hugh), David, Maureen, Beverly, Ken and myself, Joan...the eldest!! Dad worked in Courtaulds as an electrician, he used to M.C. the... Read more

My Home Town

I was born in Flint in 1946. Looking at the old photos in your memory archives of the 1950s, it brought back a lot of old happy memories to me. Looking at the Church Street photo with the Hawarden Castle pub on the right, the Red  Lion to the left. The Grand Cinema to the left and at the top of the street the  very posh Plaza Cinema. Also I see on the bottom of the street Pumphrey's old  shop and garage on the corner of Holywell Street  and Church Street  called Pumphreys Corner.
I  can smell the stench drifting up to Mount Pleasant up the Allt Goch, from  Courtaulds factories of which there were three in total, putrid acid smell from the Castle Works spinning rooms.
And of course Flint Castle where so many happy hours were spent playing there by many kids from Flint.
I left Flint in 1982 to move with my job to a new area. I will never forget my home town, I am stil... Read more

Happy Memories of Rhes-Y-Cae

My mum's best friend's father owned a cottage - Bryn Siriol- near Rhes-Y-Cae in the 1950s and 60s and some of my happiest childhood memories are of our annual holidays there. I remember going down to the farm (Black Lion Farm) in the village to get milk and water (no running water in Bryn Siriol!) from Mrs Reece. She had 2 sons - Peter and Tom. I think Tom may still be living in Rhes-Y-Cae. I remember shopping in the village stores and walking over the mountain from Bryn Siriol to the post office at Halkyn. The big event of the week for me was getting the little Crosville bus to go to Mold! My maiden name then was Lyness and I grew up in Wallasey but live in Lancaster now. I have such fond memories of Rhes-Y-Cae but I expect it's changed a great deal over the years!

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