Historic Trelawnyd: a few photos

The choir photo is a publicity shot from one of the sellout tour dates in the US 

In the 1970s

The final photo is a shot of the Church, showing the crowded nature of the graveyard as was

Michael Antonio Ralli

Last night I went to the Trelawnyd and Gwaenysgor Community Council meeting and in passing had chance to read a photocopy of the Prestatyn Weekly Newspaper dated the 23rd of October 1909.
In it was an article discussing an initiative by Mr Michael Antonio Ralli,who was the Greek Consul in Liverpool, to build our village Hall as a way of giving jobs and motivation to the local unemployed.
Ralli was a somewhat colourful character to be found in a predominantly Welsh village. He was a Greek from Odessa who made a small fortune importing cotton from Russia when American could not export it's own during the American Civil War and I find it fascinating that after a period living in London and Liverpool
he and his wife Polynmia, would end up dominating an insular and quiet backwater village.
A Ukrainian Greek as Lord of the Manor
How Exotic!
Trelawnyd ( or Newmarket as it was formally known) was Ralli's dream, he clearly wanted it to develop in status when he gifted the Memorial Hall to the village
The newspaper cutting eluded to that fact when it stated that Ralli's wish was to make Newmarket a "Garden City", a rather grand dream for a village of 600 simple souls, but a rather sweet one nevertheless.
 I wonder what Ralli would have made of the fact the Newmarket title was renamed Trelawnyd in 1954...
The "new" name was in keeping , I suppose, for it has a name that Ralli might of liked
.....Trelawnyd  literally  means " a town full of wheat"

Old Trelawnyd

 

I was "sent" this old photograph by a lady from Ohio, USA

It shows clearly the allotments and gardens to the right of High Street, an area nicknamed The "Roft"

Apologies for not updating the blog for so long. I have a few "interviews" set up for the next few weeks

Thespian Trelawnyd

Much has been made of the "Cultural" side of the people of Trelawnyd
(See previous the 1958 Journal review of the Memorial Hall in the previous blog entry)
But up to relatively recent times pantomimes and plays were the norm in village life.
The above programmes are from two productions from 1966 and 1967 both produced by Terence A Jones who played the dame in both productions! (with music by the ubiquitous B.A.Jones!)

Rene Jones, David Owen , Margaret Roberts and Doreen Evans in Sleeping Beauty

Helen Ross, Susan Lewis,Margaret Owen, Glenys Jones and Tecwyn Savage in SLEEPING BEAUTY

The Rhyl Journal February 21st 1958

This is a copy of the original article published over fifty years ago.
I think as a historical document in itself, it is worth keeping and reading
Thank you to Iola for sending it in

The Memorial Hall

Trelawnyd

Hub of Social life for half a Century

"This is the story of a building which has become a well known and familiar landmark in Flintshire.....

but it is something more than a landmark! Indeed, it can almost be said that it is a building with a soul- the soul of the village and the community which it has served in so many different ways for nearly a half century.

It is the story of the memorial Hall at Newmarket (or Trelawnyd as it is called today)

The story is being told, because it "deserves" to be told....could there be a better reason for its telling?

And it deserves to be told because its history is a proud record of a place which has been the pivot around which much of the life of this lovely village has been woven in the last half century.

It has housed countless Eisteddfodau at which singers, poets and craftsmen from all parts of North Wales ( and indeed far beyond) have matched their prowess far into the early morning hours; likewise, it has down the years been a famous rendezvous for many famous concerts, dramas,popular dances, Christmas parties and other notable festivals. It has had its romantic experiences too, for many marriages owe their early beginnings to "first encounters" at the Memorial Hall.......

In past years the fees obtained from hiring out the memorial hall to all the diversified events which have taken place there were adequate to maintain the building  in good repair and ensure full scale decoration and renovation from time to time. But times have changed and today- although the Memorial Hall is still the recognised social centre of village life-bookings are less frequent than of yore.

The Eisteddfod, for instance is a much rarer event at the Hall than it used to be- not so much because of a waning in popularity as for economic reasons. For a big-scale eisteddfod today the prize money has become a "box office headache"- for whilst prizes have o necessarily be twice or treble their former values in order to give some recompense to the expenses incurred by those competing- the walls of the Memorial Hall are too solid and rigid to be pushed out to accommodate bigger audiences...and thus there is the almost insurmountable problem of trying to balance eisteddfod income against expenditure. Similarly with celebrity concerts and other such events.

The advent of television, too has had a far reaching economic effect . Entertainment within the home as presented in today's television programmes has an ever widening influence on social life in villages as well as the towns and cities, and social events which formerly could be depended upon to attract an attendance of several hundreds are today rarely an anxiety and question mark in the minds of those responsible for promoting them!

Nevertheless , without places like the Memorial Hall at Trelawnyd communal social life would disappear completely and the loss would undoubtedly be immeasurable.

The Trelawnyd Memorial Hall  and all its village contemporary centres must be kept going, and at Trelwnyd there are-fortunately men and women determined to see this is done.

Fifty Years Ago

We have looked at the present and peeped into the future....now let us look back awhile, back to 1908-9 when the site on which this imposing hall now stands was mainly a block of dilapidated cottages.

There was a stir of great expectancy in the village when it became known that Mr A Rali, of Mia Hall, had bought this old property and intended to demolish it and in its place put up a fine new village hall. Mr Rali did not take long in getting the project going, and on November 22 1910, he handed over the Memorial Hall to the Parish Council for  safe keeping. The Hall soon became the venue of a spate of events whci it had never been possible to hold in the village before-eisteddfodau, drama, concerts whist drives, jumble sales.......

The in 1914-18, the Hall took on a new significance. British soldiers ( and at one time a number of Belgian refugees) were billeted there, and it became a centre of military activity.

In 1920 Mia Hall was sold to Captain Ernest Hoggarth and he and his brother, Mr J R Hoggarth together with Mr Hemelryk of Henryn Hall took a big interest in the Hall and badminton and billiards were added to its amenities, and once again it became a busy centre of social activity. In the 1930s funds were beginning to get depleted and then came the second world war and once again the Memorial Hall became a useful wartime venue- this time for evacuees, Home Guard and Welcome Home Activities.....and a steady income started flowing in again

A Noble Job

But Father time was beginning to take toll.....there were repairs needed, a heating installation, decoration etc. A practical illustration of the deep attachment which the villagers of Trelawnyd have for their Memorial Hall is the fact that a group of young men immediately came forward and volunteered to paint the exterior of the building if they could be provided with the paint. This the Parish council readily provided and the exterior has been painted no less than three times in recent years by completely voluntary labour in this way - a noble job, well and truly done!

The women of the village too, have played their part in keeping the the hall spick and span. Twice a year, every year they banded together and gave the hall a wholesale scrubbing and cleansing. To all of these the work was a labour of love and efforts represented an enormous saving towards the upkeep of the hall.

Welfare Committee

Although the management of the Trelawnyd Memorial Hall is vested in the Parish Council, its affairs are largely supervised and cared for by a welfare committee , comprising twelve members. This was first elected at a parish meeting in the spring of 1943 with the primary object of raising funds to defray the cost of installing a new heating apparatus for the building. From the onset this committee has been extremely fortunate in having Mr JW Jones, Garreg Lwyd, as their energetic Chairman. His services in this and in other capacities were recognised in 1949 when he was awarded the British Empire Medal. The committee's hon treasurer is Mr J Parry, Delfryn; the secretary Miss B.A.Jones, Bryn Teg; and the auditor Mr I.P Jones, Siop Ganol.

In addition to raising over £1000 for the maintenance of the hall, the committee has also substantially aided other charitable and worthy causes to the extent of almost £500.

In recent months their efforts have been directed towards effecting several adjustments to the hall in order to comply with the regulations of the County Fire Service. Throughout its existence the welfare committee has shown an exemplary team spirit and absenteeism at meetings without genuine cause is a rarity!

Last Autumn through the medium of a bumper bazaar, the sum of over £150 was raised towards maintaining and beautifying the memorial Hall. Now the committee are contemplating ways and means of defraying the cost of interior decoration. This entails the erection of scaffolding and much preparatory work and is beyond the scope of voluntary effort however readily forthcoming that may be.

Male Voice Choir

Right down the years, the Memorial Hall has from time-to-time been the venue of some truly lovely and inspiring singing. Keeping pace today with these traditions of the past and still making the walls of the building resound with the glory of music is the Trelawnyd Male Voice Choir, whose competitive successes, concerts and broadcasts has made them famed throughout the country.

Regulary every week the choir consisting of over sixty men of all ages, who sing for the sheer love of it - rehurse in the memorial Hall and every year, on the Sunday preceding August Bank Holiday, they stage a wonderful concert and give the entire proceeds towards the maintenance and upkeep of the building.

Thus and in so many different ways, is the voluntary spirit exemplified in Trelawnyd. Despite the welfare state and its influence and effect of voluntary service today, there is a big spark of this splendid spirit still burning brightly in Trelawnyd , and as long as this continues, the village need have no fear of losing something which,- as always- it still regards with pride and affection and which still remains the hub of its communal life - the Memorial Hall, presented as a gift to them by a very generous and warm hearted benefactor fifty years ago"

Rene Hancock (nee Jones)

This morning I recieved this following email and contribution for the blog

I hope this kind genture will galvanise more offers of help, there are so many old stories that deserve to be heard

ps Can anyone tell me who the rather frightening guy is on the right and what an earth he was dressed as?

"Hello John,
I am Rene Hancock, Gladys Jones' daughter.
I have found the Trelawnyd blog a joy to read as it is my history. I have some photos here which you may find interesting. The first one is taken at the 1953 carnival . The man in the pram is " Emrys the Black", my father Bob Railway is wearing the suit and his brother my uncle Ned is carrying the potty. I do not remember the other two but I am sure that there are many people who will remember.
I have here at home photos from the pantomimes that we used to do in the 1960's , next time I am at my mothers, which wont be till July  I shall bring them over as there is no room  for me to send to you electronically.
Carry on the good work it is wonderful
 Rene"

Mrs Iola Endres (nee Jones)

I.P Jones and Beryl Jones outside Siop Ganol
The poster in the window is advertising a concert by what was then Newmarket male voice Choir
when was taking place at the palladium in Prestatyn

Iola Endres (nee Jones) was born and brought up in Trelawnyd.
Her father was IP Jones who owned and ran the most popular shop in the village "siop Ganol" from 1929 until 1969. Iola and her husband took over the shop from 1969 to 1986,
This blog entry displays only some of Iola's extensive collection of village photographs, memorabilia and newspaper cuttings that she has collected over the years.

This document is a wartime licence detailing what foodstuff IP Jones was allowed to sell at siop ganol
It is dated 1941. The foodstuffs he was not allowed to sell was uncooked meats, game and rabbit

This photograph was taken around 1938  when a biplane came down on the Gop fields behind the council houses.
Iola is the baby being carried by Megan Lewis ( who was the previous blog contributor Audrey Jones' best friend)

I.P Jones and Arthur Evans outside the shop.
Arthur Evans was the husband of Beryl Evans who has been interviewed earlier in this blog

IP Jones with Iola in front of the shop when it was decorated for the kings coronation

A bill from the shop written out at the time that Newmarket reverted back to it's Welsh name of Trelawnyd
Mrs Edwards' weekly bill was just over 2£

Mr Parry, Jack Hollinworth and E Hughes Jones sitting infront of the "new" Trelawnyd sign around 1957

Iola is standing next to the Trelawnyd sign.

The Trelawnyd "Young wives club" was popular in the 1970s Many of the "Chinese" ladies still reside in the village 2nd on front row Christine Davies, Irene Murray (who is treasurer of the Village Flower Show) and Pat Bagguly (an earlier contributor to this blog)