Mochdre memories
Here are memories of Mochdre and the local area. You can start now: Add your own Memory of Mochdre or a Mochdre photo.
1959 to 1964
In the bottom left corner of the photo is a row of four white bungalows. My father --Ron Bartlett built these and several others on the estate from about 1959 onwards. We lived in the top one. The house immediately to the right of ours was owned by the Williams family. This was a husband and wife who had retired from the family butchery in the Midlands. Next to them lived Margaret and Ron Hankey. Further up the street at No3 (I think) lived Bill and Rhian Trench and their son Allan. The Llangwystennin church and graveyard is just out of view on the opposite side of the valley. Both of my maternal grandparents (William and Jane Jones) are buried there.
Mochdre in those days was a quiet village - one pub (Mountain View??) and a row of shops on the main road. I had previously been at John Bright Grammar School in Llandudno, but had to move to Colwyn Bay Grammar... Read more
MAY DAY MEMORY
REMEMBER, REMEMBER
WE must have been thirteen.
Cousin Keith and I sat on a small flight of steps, what remained of a burnt-out bungalow overlooking the village.
It was May Day. Hot and somewhat sticky, but we cared not for the shinnanigins of the day.
We were too old. Thirteen, you understand. Now, bereft of silly things like dressing up as dwarfs, blacking-up as Kentucky Fried minstrels, eating ice cream cornets, knocking coconuts off poles and watching girls dance around a pole.
Cus and I had fled the day. Our observation post above the village was but a refuge from the mayhem.
Did we care? Not a jot. We had earned our place in the sun. We had done our duty for too many years.... Read more
Memories of Clwyd
Working at Rhos Pool as A Lifeguard 1969 to 1972
Though the summers were often cold and the on-shore wind very cold, it was great fun working as a lifeguard in the late 60s and early 70s at the Rhos on Sea Swimming Pool. In the mornings after sweeping the terraces and pool and emptying the litter drums, it was off to Sheard's deli in the village for milk loaves, filled with salad coleslaw and salami for breakfast and lunch. Crowds would start to form at 10 on warmer days and sometimes we'd have swimming lessons to conduct before opening, the pupils being children from local schools. Amazingly parents would often drop-off tiny children off for the day, expecting us to baby-sit in their absence. As a result, we'd often fish out youngsters in the water and out of their depth, and keeping our eyes on the water all day was quite a stressful experience. I remember we fished out more than twenty souls one Bank Holiday Monday, and thinking back now, we were very lucky not to lose a single... Read more
Rhos of my Childhood.
I grew up in Rhos on Sea and remember very clearly the group of shops in this photo. I was sent regulary to Reynolds Hairdressers for a "Short Back & Sides" and as a small child sat on a plank of wood which rested on the arms of the Barber's Chair so I was high enough for Mr Reynolds to reach! My best pal's grandparents owned Roberts Newsagents and on Sunday mornings he and I sold papers from the stand outside the shop in good weather.- Happy days!
Pwll-Y-Crochan Woods
My late father was born in Colwyn Bay and his father and some of his relatives resided in Grove Park. Every year my parents and my siblings had to visit the relatives, especially one we called Aunty Polly who I think was really called Mary but because she was always polishing and cleaning, my mother referred to her as 'Polly Panshine' and the nickname stuck. She had a huge bowl of false waxed fruit in her hallway and used to love offering us an apple, pear or orange, knowing we always forgot it wasn't real! We loved going for walks in the beautiful, and magical (as we children thought) Pwll-y-Crochan woods. We used to be very quiet whilst walking because then we saw rabbits running here and there, and could hear the birds twittering in the trees. We used to frighten ourselves to death believing there may be ghosties around in the darker parts of the woods, but of course, it was all a figment of our own imaginations! I... Read more
Little Green Buses Along The Prom.
For many years, Colwyn Bay U.D.C. ran a bus service along the promenade from Old Colwyn to just beyond the former pier at Rhos on Sea. Commencing in 1926, a small fleet of 5 'Guy' BB type vehicles with covered top 'toastrack' bodies ran in service during the late spring to early autumn tourist season. While the normal requirement was for two vehicles to maintain a half-hourly service, when the weather drew tourists to the beautiful beach in their many thousands, all of the vehicles were pressed into service.
Five conventionally sided small buses, (of 'Guy' Wolf type) were taken into stock in the period 1934/7 with another in 1949. By 1954 all of the pre-war vehicles were in a 'tired' condition and they were replaced by three Bedford OLAZ type with bodywork of a spartan nature by Spurlings. By 1960 the last of the old 'Guy' vehicles was on its last legs (wheels ??) and the opportunity was taken to purchase two further lightweight Bedfords of similar specification... Read more
To School Along The Prom
I lived in Mochdre, and went to the grammar school, 1955-1962. Getting off the bus at the station we would walk along the prom, skipping stones in the sea, or dodging the waves during stormy high tides. Then we would walk to the school through Eirias Park. One morning I fell into the sea, and had to spend the whole day in a very scratchy ATC uniform, while my clothes dried out in the boiler room.
When we were supposed to be on cross country runs, some of us diverted regularly to our beloved beach; then ran in at the end of the lesson, "puffing" heavily. I never thought we'd been detected, until I read my end of year PE report, which commented that, "Eryl really enjoys his cross country walks."
Whatever gains were afforded to me at my school, I always add to them the amazing privilege that was mine, in my daily journeys to and from the place where my teachers tried hard to break through to an... Read more
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