Rhyl

Rhyl can be found on the North Wales coast (but probably only if you are looking), which is an area which I have never explored before. The town is a fairly typical seaside resort, which is clearly well past its original heyday but has some some more recent investment to counter the decline. The size of the railway station shows that the town once catered for large influxes of train passengers.

For me, the two most historically interesting facts about the town are that in once had a pier, and it had the world's first passenger hovercraft service. The pier was opened in 1867 and was 718 metres long. Like so many piers it had a troubled history with collisions from ships, fire and storm damage. It was closed in 1966 and demolished in 1973.The hovercraft service operated from the beach and made the 15 mile journey to Wallasey. It was really just a test service to try out the viability of hovercraft services, and only operated from July to September 1962.

And so now onto the clocks.

Our first horological encounter is on leaving the station. The clock stands at the edge of a new bus interchange area immediately outside of the station.

The base of the clock has bilingual plaques on all four sides.

And on the column there is a plaque which states that the clock dates from 1995, with funding sources shown in English and Welsh.

Heading straight for the coast, the way is guided by the town's main clock tower. This stands in a roundabout which forms the junction between High Street, West Parade and East Parade.

The clock tower was built in 1948 and originally stood on the promenade, but was moved to this new location in the 1990s. 

The roundabout location with its nice planting means that it is difficult to see the plaque, which reads This clock tower was presented to the town of Rhyl by Councillor and Mrs R L Davies December 1948.

There are now plans to redesign the road layout so that the tower will no longer be marooned on a roundabout, so in future in may be easier to read this plaque.

You will note from the picture below that consistent time is not shown across its four faces.

The church of St Thomas sits at the junction of Russell Road and Bath Street.

This Grade II listed church was designed by Sir George Gilbert Scott and completed in 1869, although the tower followed later in 1874.

The clock is by Joyce and was installed in 1877, and the intricate clock face was designed by Sir George Gilbert Scott ("Joyce of Whitchurch - Clockmakers 1690 - 1965 by Steve & Darlah Thomas")

Rhyl Town Hall, on Russell Road, is also Grade II listed and dates from 1876. This means that two major clocks were installed within sight of each other on the same road within the space of less than two years.

                                      

                                            

The building was extended in 1907 to incorporate a Carnegie library.

Our fifth and final clock in Rhyl is on the top of this building on the junction of Water Street and Crescent Road.

This is now a tattoo studio, but was clearly once an important building in the town (no disrepect to tattooists).

The clock is obviously not being maintained, with the time fixed at 12 o'clock and a piece missing from the centre of the face.

More North Wales coastal towns to come.

Salisbury

Time to catch up with some visits carried out earlier this summer. This is Salisbury, which chronologically should follow the Southampton posts, but hey, sometimes life demands a more messy approach to recording the passing of history. Unless something drastic has happened which has been hushed up by all the main news media in some pointless conspiracy, Salisbury and its clocks are still there (which now means that there will be some strange people out there who now firmly believe that the entire town has been beamed up by aliens under the control of Elvis and replaced by a hologram. And talking of Elvis, did you know that if you play his records backwards they sound just like Black Sabbath tracks?).


Just to the north of the station is the church of St Paul's, consecrated in 1853.

Of a more recent vintage is the clock tower of the Sainsbury's supermarket. A fairly simple clock on a very uninspiring tower, but it is there and so is included here.

Much more inspiring, and my reason for visiting Salisbury, is the clock tower by Fisherton Bridge
.

The clock tower is a memorial to the wife of Dr John Roberts, and was completed in June 1893.

The clock itself is by Smith of Derby. The original mechanism was replaced in December 1970.

Next up is the entrance to Market Walk. Salisbury was granted the right to hold a market by King Henry III in 1227, but I am guessing that this building and its clock are slightly (!) later in date.

I love this next clock in New Canal Street.

Its rather dilapidated state lends it a form of dignity and gravitas. And Electric House - what a great name compared to the rubbish ones you get on more modern buildings. I assume it had some connection with its original use (Electricity Board?), but is now a branch of Blacks the outdoor clothing retailer - will it be re-named Hiking House?

Even more lovely is the W H Smith clock on what is now a branch of Waterstones. The building was originally the Assembly Rooms, but was bought by W H Smith in 1924.

Although not all the hands are in the condition they are meant to be, the glorious colour of the clock face makes it a wonder to behold, and one of my favourite clocks of all time.

The weathervane apparently represents a W H Smith newsboy.

Finally, St Thomas of Canterbury church. This is located right in the heart of the town and is hard to find how to get close to it.

And after walking round and round and being blocked by other buildings, you finally notice the little alleyways that lead to the church, the main one being indicated by the sign below.

The sign also indicates that the church dates from 1220, although most of the actual building dates from the 15th century.