Kinmel Park Camp was built in 1914 as a training camp for Lord Kitchener’s Army in preparation for serving in the First World War. It had its own branch railway line connecting to the main line at Foryd Station in Rhyl. It’s famous for the Kinmel Park Riots, March 1919, which were believed to be caused by delays in repatriation of the Canadian soldiers who on their way home from France. 5 men were killed but their story is for a separate post. If anyone has something to add please leave your comments.

A few pictures of Kinmel Park Camp to remind us the past.

When I grew up, one of our neighbours worked at Kinmel Park Camp, and so we occasionally used to visit the cinema there. I believe this picture was taken in the 1930’s.

Interestingly, although it was a training camp, and from what I believe, conditions were fairly basic at best, they used to sell postcards. I presume they were aimed at the soldiers to send home.

Because it was a training camp for soldiers in the First World War they had a trench warfare training area. There is still evidence of this area to the rear of Bodelwydden Castle.

Here’s a link to a BBC story about the riots.

Look at these three postcards from the Camp.

 

Coflein describes Kinmel Military Camp as a huge facility constructed during the First World War. It was served by the Kinmel Camp Railway from Foryd Junction on the North Wales main coast line from 1915. The Camp is infamous for the riot of homesick Canadian troops in 1919 awaiting de-mobilisation after the war.
Most of the site is now an industrial estate but a part to the south of the A55 road (which cuts through the site) is still in military use: it includes a camp, small-arms ranges and a dry training ground. As well as accommodating up to 250 troops, it is used as a base for training in nearby Snowdonia National Park. Several original buildings are believed to remain in this area.

Please add any comments about Kinmel Park Camp to this post. It would be great to hear from someone who served or worked there.

Hello everyone, next year, lets get us all leaving comments against the items posted. It would be great to find more contributions from different people. Remeber the site is for us all to record our memories of Abergele. So simple to do, just scroll down to the end of the post and there is a comment link. Very best wishes for 2012.

A little boy about 7 used to wonder if Fairies and the magic that surrounded them really did exist. His Granddad had told him that he had once seen them on his way home. How much he wanted it to be true, he longed to see them or some evidence for himself. He used to play in the river Gele by bridge at the top of Peel Street. One day, while playing under the bridge, he saw something shinning in the moss on the river bed. Upon investigation he was in awe as he discovered a Fairy Shoe. Oh the joy, the thrill and the magic that overcame him, he put it in his pocket safe and ran all the way home. In his room he took the shoe from his pocket and stared at it for hours. This was the very proof he needed and the feeling of happiness would stay with him for a long time. The magic was overpowering. He placed it in cotton wool and put it in a little wooden box which was then hidden under a loose floor board in his bedroom. There it stayed, secret and safe. Occasionally, and with great reverence, it was removed to be cleaned and stared at, always being returned to its secret place. No one was every to be told.

Some years later, disillusionment was about to set in and the reality of growing up was to dawn. It was Christmas 1963 and everywhere was white. It caused problems for parents but so magical for a child to have a white Christmas. Now a young teenager, he received a monopoly set as a present, something he had really wanted. He lifted the lid in nervous anticipation, the packets of money and little houses spelt hours of fun. He slowly opened the packet of playing pieces and …..

 

 

His heart was heavy and he ran to his room to recover his magical shoe from its box to see if it could be the same. A childhood disappointment grew in him and he carefully placed the shoe back in its box and returned it to its hiding place, never to be looked at again. The magic however was still there and he always wondered if there was a mistake and that maybe it was a fairy trick to keep them secret.

I still have the shoe and it retains its memory of a magical time. It has no value but it preserves in me the feeling of a child’s magic. We all see things in different ways and probably look back at out childhood as a magical time. For me it was, and the little shoe still makes me happy when I see it and do you know ……I still wonder !

Futher to a previous post of the trams that ran from Old Colwyn to Llandudno, here is a nice picture of a tram in Old Colwyn. The buiding on the left, with a conical roof, is still in existance and it is occupied by Standon Flooring.

Always known as the Marble Church but the real name is St Margarets.

I have come across some old postcards that I haven’t seen before. They are not all of Abergele but they are of local interest. I’ll post them all over the next few weeks, here is the first.

At the moment there is a lot of talk and plans about the preservation of Colwyn Bay Pier. I really hope they save it, we lost what was left of Rhyl Pier and it would be a shame to loose another. Here is a reminder of what it looked like in its hayday. I believe it to be circa 1920.