I can’t look at this picture without smiling and shivering. On the West Parade in Rhyl, just to the west of the Pavilion Theatre was a children’s paddling pool. Nowhere more than about a foot deep and a great congregating place for visitors in the summer.
I think I only went there with my mum once as I’d be chipping away at her all summer and she finally relented on a sultry day in late August. Unfortunately the sultriness gave way to a thunderstorm followed by a persistent north wind and rain. We all crowded into the shelters and my mum gave me a black look and said “It has stopped thundering now – you should be back in that pool… don’t worry about the rain as you are going to get wet anyway.” We never went again.
In the re-developed promenade there is another paddling pool, less grand than this one.
The dome of the Pavilion was lit up in the summer with coloured lights constantly changing hue. You could see the light show from many points in Rhyl and from the surrounding hills. The tradition continues with the new Dragon Bridge.
Ambrose Conway 