Does anyone remember the dairy at the bottom of Clwyd Avenue ? I was talking to a guy I knew years ago and we were reminiscing about it, brought back a flood of memories. It used to be opposite the Catholic church, which is now a hairdressers. When I was small we used to listen to stories from the old guy that worked there “Mustard” he was know as, but I don’t know why. He was about 90 in the early sixties and he used to tell us about walking down to Pensarn, when he was a child, and crossing the railway line before walking about a mile to the sea ! Guess it would of been around 1870, I know the railway opened in 1848. I’m not sure why the dairy closed, maybe the advent of supermarkets. It was eventually bought by Mr Wetton who built the two storey building, photo in Abergele in Shorts, as a mans hairdressers for his son Glyn. Now it has been changed to include flats and the hairdressers is down stairs. Curios that Mr Wetton’s first appearance, in my mind, was when he opened his shop down Starkey’s Lane, or at least that’s what we used to call it, about the place where the A55 underpass is if your walking from the bottom of Maes Canol to Pensarn.

In the last post I showed you Abergele station. How many people remember the other train station in Abergele ? Here it is, the long forgotten Gwrych Castle station. Looking at the dress of the people in it I believe it was taken sometime in the mid-fifties. What a place the Castle was then, not like today in its poor state. The attractions were many and exciting. The Train, the Marquee, which is where the entertainment was held. It had magicians, bands and dancers. The sweet shop where you could buy pink spearmint bars for tuppence, wrapped up in greaseproof paper. What an art it was, to be able to unwrap the sticky mess after hours of it being in your pocket ! The staircase, that seemed to go up forever, all of us secretly hoping we would see the famed Ghost of Gwrych, not really, just bravado, remember being a bit scarred. The Chamber of Horrors, a place not to be treated lightly when you were small. The back way in from Tan-y-Goppa, didn’t have to pay if you could survive the brambles you had to get through. The walk to the watchtower to spy down onto the road below. The long line of people making their way up the long drive, dragging kids or pushing prams, the better off being able to park their cars below the castle, always viewed with some jealousy by those that didn’t have one. It was a rare sight in those days for a family to have Car. Picnicking on the grass below the Castle. All 30 minutes from home. Remember when the grounds were free to roam, the golf course was  down Sea Road then, built on now, but still known as the “Links” estate for obvious reasons. Remember as kids being paid by the Golf Club to pick up stones on their course at Gwrych.