My Childhood In Talacre

A Memory of Talacre.

I spent many happy holidays in the Warren during the late 1940s early 50s, with my parents and grandparents, Amy and Arthur (Abby) Bell who owned a wooden bungalow, 58B Tyn y Morfa. It was a primitive life style. No mains water, gas or electricity. We fetched water from a tap in the street and the outside toilet was an 'Elsan.' My grandmoher, Nana Bell cooked on oil stoves in the summer and a kitchen range in the winter. She was a staunch church goer and paid for the font in the little chapel in Talacre (the one with the corrugated iron roof). Amy and Arthur lived in the bungalow until her death in 1956 and then Abby moved to Prestwich, Lancs to be with his daughters. Also remember changing the accumulator for the radio, from the corner store. My grandfather, known as Abby, was a railway man retired and used to sit and watch the trains between Chester and Bangor. He had a lean-to greenhouse and grew tomatoes as well as vegetables in his small veg plot behind the bungalow. He named the bungalow Molyneux after the name of the station on the L&R railway where he worked out of Clifton Junction.

There were other dwellings made from converted railway carriages, caravans and old sheds - all well maintained and brightly painted. I remember a chalet called Brum Villa which others in our family used to stay in during the summer.

I remember the golden sands and those fantastic sand dunes; we collected spent cartridge cases from the beach, leftovers from the fighter planes practising during and after the war. and walked along the beach for 'miles' to Prestatyn. Two houses were half buried by the encroaching sand.

I remember the walk from the station to the bungalow. It seemed a long way to a 7 year old. Someone owned an old shooting brake and ran a taxi service from the station which we would use if my father was feeling generous.

Summers always seemed to be long and hot. Did it ever rain I wonder. We climbed what we called the Devil's Staircase to Gwespyr to buy a wonderful ice cream. Happy days and so many wonderful memories.