Happy Memories Of Talacre

A Memory of Talacre.

We caught the Rhyl A1 Crosville bus from Broughton Factory, Broughton, Chester. It seemed such a long journey in 1965. We alighted at Station Road, Talacre. I remember a small shop by the bus stop that sold Calor Gas. Then followed that long treck up Station Road to our caravan! Dad bought his first caravan from a Mr Banks from Warrrington for £75. The Willerby caravan was sited on Thomson's site, which was a small site on the road going up to the Bakehouse. It transpired that the owner of the site had to be party to a sale, and as Mr Banks had not informed Thomson, Dad was told to remove his recently acquired pride and joy! Dad was not the sort of person to be bothered by such petulance, and quickly arranged for us to move to Taylor's Camp. Mr Taylor came down with his Landrover and moved 'Brenda' (our caravan - Mum's name). As Dad said at the time, Taylor's camp has concrete bases for their caravans! The ground rent was £100 per annum. We had some lovely holidays on Taylor's camp. A very friendly family. I remember Mr and Mrs Taylor and her father. Always pleasant and helpful. Going to the tap to fill up that red plastic container was no effort at all! Taylor's used to have a few second hand caravans for sale at the entrance to their site, and Dad spotted this Bluebird Challenger caravan, with an end kitchen, no less. That was it, he took Mum along, and it was bought - £275. My Dad was very proud of his caravan. I remember having some friends on Taylors Camp - the Butterworth family from Parbold, Wigan. I used to play with Deborah, Leslie, Paul and Michael Butterworth, and would look forward to going to the caravan, and always hoped that they were there to play with. I recall that the family moved later to live in Colwyn Bay. In 1967 we moved next door to Morfa Camp. This was a well run camp, and owned by Mr Harold Fowkes (apologies not sure if it was spelt Foulkes), and his wife Megan. Mrs Fowkes was a lovely lady and got on well with my Dad. She was always helpful, and fixed Mum and Dad up with a great base at the top of the site with amazing views. In 1968 Dad purchased a new caravan, a Pemberton, at a cost of £550. I remember it had bay windows. A couple of years later, Dad bought a new Lynton Caravan, this time with electric and flush toilet. I think that the site changed ownership sometime later. The ground rent increased a fair bit, and I think it became more commercialised with the pressure to upgrade your caravan. Dad sold his caravan about 1971. There were though, many, many happy memories of Talacre from 1965 to 1971. I remember going to the Morfa Camp shop, which gave Green Shield Stamps. And of course, the Bakehouse, with those amazing custards and meat and potato pies. I remember going into the Boathouse, opposite to the Marsden's Amusement Arcade and putting 6d in the jukebox to play 'The Honeycombes' latest single: 'Have I the right'. I also remember the fish and chip shop on the road as you come out of Taylor's Camp and turn left. Great fish and chips, and next door was bingo. I can remember winning an automatic wall mounted tea caddy dispenser as a prize - probably worth £15 now on Ebay as a bit of 60's memorabilia! I remember the pony rides along the Warren, and walking past all those unusual homes - a converted single decker bus, or railway carriage. Wonderful! Dad would take us to Rhyl on the bus - I think it was the M23 from outside the Post Office, and we would get off at Rhyl Bus Station. As a treat I remember we went to see Hughie Green, Monica Rose and a new upcoming comic by the name of Freddy Starr. As a special treat, I can remember we went to the Pavillion Theatre in LLandudno to see 'Joe - Mr Piano - Henderson'.
The holidays in Talacre were special. Mum and Dad did not have a lot of money. That did not seem to matter at all. They were happy days. The simple things pleased. We met some really nice people on both Taylor's and Morfa Camps from Liverpool, Birkenhead, and Stoke. Genuine folk.
I made a trip back to Talacre last summer (August 2011), and had a wander around. The Bakehouse is still there - that was amazing. A bit higher up was the Clubhouse, where I remember my Dad watching the 1966 World Cup and coming back to the 'van to tell us England had won!!
I had a walk on Taylor's camp, and spoke to an employee there who told me that Mrs Taylor was now in a nursing home in Prestatyn. "She still likes to have a drink", he added! Before leaving, I popped next door to what was once Morfa Holiday Camp and now Talacre Beach. I walked up to the top of the site, and found the 'base' where my Mum and Dad had their caravan - the Bluebird. My eyes misted over when I found the exact spot - the base had no caravan on it. After all those years, my first visit since 1971 and the base was empty. I found that quite strange, and then I smilled - thanks Mum and Dad for those wonderful holidays, and thank you too Talacre for all those wonderful memories. Nigel Williams