A Grand Spell of Sunshine - The Life and Legacy of Francis FrithA Grand Spell of Sunshine - The Life and Legacy of Francis Frith

More about this scene

This scene has altered little since the picture was captured. Cars can still spill onto the beach, and small cafés still provide small-scale refreshments to visitors, although a sea defence has been added since. The popularity of the north coast beaches and the advent of mass tourism led to the stretch of coastline between Rhyl and Colwyn Bay being almost totally occupied with caravan sites, amusement arcades, bingo halls and similar outlets of a new popular culture.

Memories of Abergele, the Beach c1965

I remember the beach very well from the early 50's through to the early 60's. We went to Abergele every year in August for our family holiday and stayed at a guest house called Rose Hill, which was just out of the main part of the town heading towards Llanferfechan if I remember rightly. We used to make pebble "dens" and shelter from the wind. My mum and I used to make for the shellfish kiosk for her oysters and ...see more

We had a small caravan in Pensarn and as a child I remember the walk down to the beach and the man with his donkies in this picture. Further along was a small fun fair.

Looking at this photo, I'm taken back to summers on that beach full of pebbles and the cafe shown with its novel smell, something like milky coffee!  At about this time Abergele had a cinema, upstairs in the market street. My parents owed Coed Mor, a guest house in the town, and some of the children staying with us and I went to see "The Incredible Journey", a film about two dogs and a cat traveling ...see more

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