Further to Gareth’s 1925 postcard of Bryngwenallt, I came across one which appears to be slightly earlier, probably pre WW1 showing Bryngwenallt Hall, with Siamber Wen farm in the foreground. I would imagine the photo was taken from above the the Red Rocks area, possibly a place we local children called ‘The Glass House’. That was the site of one of (Abergele Sanitorium’s) Plas Uchaf’s old chalets forming part of the outlying TB wards’ buildings. Bryngwenallt’s gardens appear truly beautiful, as befitting such a splendid property. It was very sad to see how the Hall lost so much of its former glory, to my mind, from the 1960’s onwards, to become a mere shadow of its former self.
Garry McAlpine (see our exchanges further down this page) has kindly sent some lovely photos of Bryngwenallt Hall which I’ve included below, though I’ve had to reduce them in size somewhat compared to their original format :
I’m afraid I don’t know when they date to but, in the same way that they resurrected long-forgotten happy memories for me, I’m sure they will do the same for other of our readers. Many thanks for your input Garry & for sending them for inclusion on the site.
Nigel can you contact me as I have some pictures of Bryngwenallt hall in the 60s As my father was going to buy it.
Hi Garry,
Sincere apologies for the delay in replying to your above post. Things have been rather hectic on the home front in recent months, exacerbated by my other half being rather poorly then her having had a bad fall as well. I’ll send you a personal e–mail with my contact details, unless you’d rather the photos go straight onto this site, in which case we’ll get something sorted out for you.
Regards, Nigel Hilton.
Garry kindly provided additional information regarding the 3 photos of his which are published above. To the best of his recollections, they probably date to around the summer of 1963 when the family was on holiday in Rhyl. Thanks for that Garry.
Hello, I lived at Bryn Gwenallt when my father was a labourer during renovations in 1959.. I was 4 and remember collecting snow off the roof of the ballroom because we had a bitter freeze. My father is still alive and my family from Manchester have good memories of visiting us in the summer. It was fairytale time for me as a young girl.
My father was chauffer to Lord Clwyd who owned Bryngwenalt. Before the 2nd World war Lord Clwyd lived in London but came to Abergele in the summer months and my father had to come too and my mother and sister and I came and lived with the Wynne’s at the lodge for that time. When war broke out Lord Clwyd moved to Abergele and we as a family had to follow. We used to be able to explore the grounds and were invited on occasions to the main part of the house. At other times we went in to the servants quarters only. The grounds were kept up fairly well in the war with two gardeners. Lady Clwyd died sometime after the war and then Lord Clwyd tho’ I met him in 1953 when I was home on leave from Africa. The house was sold after his death and the n northern end of it was pulled down. I still have two decorated stones from it.
Lived here 67-68 ish apartments
My mother is Gwyneth Williams (nee Roberts) and she lived at 3 Twll Llwynog (Fox Hole) with her parents Ellis and Harriet Roberts and her brother Peter. Her maternal grandparents are Ellen and Robert Wynne who lived in Bryngwenallt Lodge. My grandfather Ellis worked as a gardener for Lord Clwyd at Bryngwenallt. You can view the details on the 1939 census record. My mother remembers Wendy, her sister and their parents who lived alongside her grandparents at the Lodge at this time. Mum trained as a nurse after the war and worked at Abergele Sanatorium with the TB patients. I have happy memories of visiting the area as a child. Mum is 90 now and lives in Liverpool. Her memory is not quite what it was and it would be lovely to hear from Wendy and anyone else who has memories of Bryngwenallt and Twll Llwynog from around this time.
Three of us where evacuated to Bryngwenaullt in 1941/42? and enjoyed our stay.