New York Terrace, Abergele

New York Terrace Sea Road Junction 1872

Norman Williams recently enquired if anyone could help him to locate Eurog House, New York Terrace, Abergele. Two of his late relatives, Mary Roberts (nee Williams) and her husband, Owen Roberts, had lived there prior to their both dying in early 1901 (see The Old Pubs, Inns & Taverns of Abergele in the 1800’s). Unfortunately I wasn’t able to find anything marked on any of the surviving terrace buildings to indicate which it might have been. There again, it’s not unknown for house names to change down the years either.

There was, however, another adjacent terrace which no longer exists (see the 1872 map section above). That was called New York Street and comprised 10 properties, whereas New York Terrace had only 7 properties originally. The Terrace and Street, like Roche House which faced them, were all built by John Jones prior to 1861.

The above postcard shows Roche House on the extreme left. The right side of the same image shows the gable end of the first/last of the terraced houses in New York Street with the access just visible beyond.

Can any of our readers, perhaps with a more intimate knowledge of the area, shed any light on Norman’s query? My only other thought would be for him to contact the Local Archives in Lloyd Street, Llandudno to see if the 1900 Rates Books might clarify matters. I’ve put their contact details on the Pubs, Inns & Taverns page which has Norman’s original enquiry.

Nigel Hilton.

A list of grants available for your sports club

This post is triggered by a discussion on Twitter about the difficulties Abergele Rovers / Kinmel Bay Sports FC football team have been having with sports facilities. The club would like a ground in Abergele which meets the standards asked for by the Welsh FA. That entails having a solid barrier around the pitch and changing facilities near the pitch itself. There’s more about this story in this Pioneer article by Tomos Hughes.

So, whether or not you play your sport in Abergele, here’s a list of links to explore if your sports team or club needs some financial help to buy kit, equipment, goalposts, transport, etc.

SportsWales ChwaraeonCymru

Nicola Hill explains the role of the Football Foundation and where else you can go to finance your new kit, goalposts, turf, floodlighting, stadium

Sported. National grants and funding deadlines.

Cash4Clubs by BetFair and SportsAid

The Sports and Play Construction Association.

Living Sport’s Funding for Sports Clubs.

There are many other sources of funding available, including Big Lottery, crowdfunding platforms, charitable trusts and foundations, etc. Please feel free to add your suggestions in the Comments.

Emyr ac Elwyn

Do you remember Emyr ac Elwyn?

They were a duo who used to perform at Nosweithiau Lawen and concerts all along the north Wales coast in the 1960s. They opened a record shop in Colwyn Bay in the 70s. They came from an era of duos; Iola a Nia were Abergele’s most famous.

These 45rpm EP records were often displayed for sale in the window of Jenkins shop, between the George and Dragon pub and Hywel the Barber’s.

Deryl Ann Mahon, whom I knew as Deryl Roberts at Ysgol Glan Morfa, wrote about Emyr ac Elwyn’s song “Sibrwd Cariad”. Her father wrote this song. Deryl picks up the story:

… “Dad gave them the song which he’d come up with on piano … He was a good pianist ! he played the piano for them on this track … They wrote lyrics … I’m trying to find a copy that dad played on in particular as I think the one we had has been mislayed years ago – long shot I know ! Searched internet .. No luck !”

I haven’t found a copy of the record, but here’s a photo of the cover. If you can help Deryl find the vinyl, please use the Comments section below.

Emyr ac Elwyn Photo of 45rpm by Nic Dafis from Flickr
Photo of 45rpm by Nic Dafis from Flickr

The pipe that filled the paddling pool

Have you ever noticed this rusty cast iron pipe in the Gele beneath the bridge at the top end of High St? Brian Haynes told me that its purpose was to fill the paddling pool that used to be in the Playnies (King George’s Field).

The concrete pool was there when I was a child in the 60s and 70s. During the 1980s it became a gardening project for Emrys ap Iwan students. This pool is filled in today.

I don’t have a photo of the pool but here’s one of where it used to be and one of the pipe used to keep it filled with water.

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Spes non fracta

On the coat of arms above the entrance to Pentre Mawr is the Latin phrase ‘spes non fracta’. In English it means ‘hope shall not break’. According to CADW,  the building was:
Constructed on the site of the C17 manor house, first mentioned in 1697. The C18 house, the seat of the Jones-Bateman family, was extended c1830, but burned out in 1850. The present building was erected three years later, in 1853. It is now converted into 24 flats.”

Pentre Mawr coat of arms

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Abergele Camera Club exhibition

Slaters Market St plays host to Abergele Camera Club’s exhibition on Saturday 16 August 2014. You’ll be able to see work by members, who are listed on the Abergele Camera Club’s website: Frances Del Prete, Alan Foulkes, Dewi W Jones, Donald Postles, Ernest Prendegast, Ern Ringwood, Gary Hughes, George Frost, Jill Bunting, Mal Hughes, Molly Blake, Ray Bicknell and Tudor Williams
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Emrys ap Iwan students remember WWI and Abergele in 1914

Cofia Abergele Remembers.

Recording lists of the names of some of the people from Abergele and those with links to the town who took part in WWI was a challenge that Ysgol Emrys ap Iwan students relished as one of the school’s community projects to remember 100 years since the Great War.

Head Lee Cummins, head of sixth form John Seymour, music department and technicians and of course the students rose to the occasion, as you can hear in Sophie Peake’s recording:

Apart from Sophie’s, there are another 17 recordings. The first live performance, thanks to Abergele Town Council’s Delyth MacRae, is after the St Michael’s Vigil on 4 August 2014.

The participants’ names were researched by historian Andrew Hesketh with audio post production by AbergelePost.com’s Gareth Morlais.

Here’s a list of students who made the recordings:
Jordan Harwood
Chloe Merrison
Anna Humphreys
Teigan Thompson
Scott Carney
Alice Naylor
Chantalle Cox
Eleanor Lloyd
Iwan Coghlan
Cian Hanna
Mike White
Ben Stone
Sophie Peake
Laurie Wilson
Lara Wagstaff
Abbey Jacklin
Jamie Edwards

You can see some of the students below making their recordings using Ysgol Emrys ap Iwan’s Music Department studio.What’s poignant is that many of those who went to war a hundred years ago were a similar age to the young people whose voices you can hear listing the names. AbergelePost.com is grateful to these students for paying their respects.

 

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Llanfair TH charity cyclists reached Paris

parisLlion Griffiths and Clive Williams of Llanfair TH have sucessfully completed their 450 mile journey to Paris. They did it to raise money for the Macmillan Cancer Support Charity. You can read the background here, along with Justin Hinchliffe’s updates in the comments.

Here’s Justin’s final entry on 16 July:
“JOB DONE!! Arrived here in Paris at around 7pm. 14 hours on the bike today so a long last day, but well worth it! Off out now for some well-deserved cool beer and some food. Going to do some sightseeing tomorrow then make our way back to Wales. . . . .by VAN! Many thanks to all who have donated to our challenge. It’s been tough, but worth it!”

Many congratulations to the cyclists.