Ghosts In the Hall! Exciting... it's history! The Baronial Hall!

Ghosts in Penrhyn Old Hall.

Ghosts in the Hall!

Penrhyn Old Hall is haunted by numerous ghosts. One is that of a monk who walks through the room above the Baronial Hall and along the passage.  

Another is that of a young girl, who haunts the stairway. A descendant of the Pugh family, she was murdered by her sisters to prevent her marrying out of the Catholic faith.

In the far end of the Function room in the seating area, is a bad tempered young man who does not like being disturbed and on the old dance floor in the Function room, there is a soldier who is said to be frustrated by not being able to go to war.

In the Tudor Bar, an old lady has been seen sitting on the left hand side of the fireplace and occasionally, she gets up and goes up the stairs situated next to the fire place.

In the restaurant there is a mischievous young boy who moves the chairs and sprinkles salt on the tables.

The most intense area of paranormal activity is in the Baronial Hall and the room above it where the monk is.

But wherever you are in the Hall............................. even if you are alone............................................. you feel that you are being watched.

The Baronial Hall

Welcome to the Hall!!

Penrhyn Old Hall has some of the most interesting and old rooms and some have incredible old paintings on them.
Regrettably the paintings are not on display because of where they are situated.


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Created in the 1100's they are still there and are fascinating to view. It really is like stepping into the Tardis and going back in time

The interior door on the left of the entrance porch was formerly the old entrance to the earlier portions of the house. The walls here are very thick as may be seen by the depth of the oak mullioned window which formerly overlooked this doorway. It was discovered in 1910 by the then owner Mr Booth-Jones, who also found the hive-shaped oven behind the fireplace of the ancient bake house to which the above mentioned door gives access. In spite of additions and alterations the house which contains about 15 rooms is a very fine example of a mediaeval manor.

The ancient carving to be seen above the fireplace in the Baronial Hall is a symbol of Christianity. The fish urn with wheat symbolises that the Blessed Sacrament (Holy Communion) was kept at the house. The face is said to be that of St Peter. Two harpoons of the kind used for spearing fish represents the Apostolic Commission “Go ye into all nations and be ye fishers of men”

There are traces of a pulpit on the staircase in the room which is probably Elizabethan. On the floor above the Baronial Hall is a long room with roof timbers left open. The rough and heavy beams are supported by equally rough arched trusses (i.e. round arches formed by two curved planks). These trusses were later adapted to support a round ceiling which has been removed. On one of these trusses there is a carved mask of a man’s face. The windows are very low with the sills almost level with the floor. They are broad with original stone mullions and two old fireplaces.

This probably means that the room was once divided into two. This room does not take up all of the space above the Baronial Hall, for at the North West end a small room is divided off by a wattle and daub wall which is one of the oldest items in the whole house and must be a relic of the earlier house.

On the plaster of the wattle and daub wall are some wall paintings which have been covered by whitewash and were discovered in 1910. In these paintings may be seen amidst a good deal of floral decoration of a conventional kind the remains of tow round pictures each three or four feet in diameter, One shows outlined against a dull red background the figure of a man with an oval face, long drooping moustache and a forked beard, he is wearing a flat cap, a doublet cut square at the neck with slashed sleeves and a full skirt. The picture is silhouetted and the details are marked with dark lines, his right hand is on his breast, his left hand is raised with the forefinger pointing upwards. Round the picture is the inscription in large letters “The word of God is life to the Soule”. The other picture has largely disappeared with all the upper half gone but from what remains, it seems clear that it was another figure similar in kind and costume.

The inscription round this picture is lost except for the fragments “or self” at the bottom. It is difficult to determine the exact date of the pictures, as the pictures contain a mixture of the fashions of two generations. An explanation would be the artist working about 1560 or a little later intended to portray a man in costume of thirty or forty years earlier. Unfortunately we know very little of the period before 1549, although it was mentioned by John Leyland in his district itinerary.

Penrhyn Hall - A mere 5 minutes from our home! History abounds...

The History of Penrhyn Old Hall

Interesting Facts Regarding the Hall's History

The origin of Penrhyn Old Hall is somewhat enveloped in mystery. According to Roderick Moelwynog, Prince of Wales, grandson of Cadwalder, the last King of the Britons, built a Palace on this spot early in the eighth century. The family of Penrhyn are mentioned in records in Edward 111’s reign of 1327 – 1377.

Penrhyn was described as an ancient stone house by Leyland in 1549, (John Leyland was appointed King’s Antiquary by Henry V111, and he included this district in his itinerary).

In early times there was an ancient trackway past this spot, and it is more than likely that the Romans made use of it during their occupation of Wales in order to reach the copper mines on the Great Orme. This is confirmed by the discovery in 1873 and in 1907 of a large number of Roman coins dated from the time of Constantine and of Carausius.

Saxon, who mapped this area of Creuddyn in 1575 marked the four churches of the district, Eglwys Rhos, Llangwstennin, Llandrillo and St Tudno (Llandudno) but only one manor is shown, namely Penrhyn. This shows that it was a place of some importance in the days of Elizabeth 1 as both Gloddaeth Hall and Bodysgallen Hall would also have been in existence at this time.

Today, Plas Penrhyn, now known as Penrhyn Old Hall is included in the suburbs of Llandudno but in Elizabethan times it stood in a lonely rural district and housed a powerful Roman Catholic family named Pugh (their coat of arms appears over the front doorway) and Robert Pugh of Penrhyn was High Sheriff of Caernarvonshire in 1561. They kept a priest who officiated in the domestic chapel in the grounds of the house, which is now derelict. The chapel is believed to be that of the original St Mary's which was built in 1447. The chapel was also used for the boiling of pig food. It is known that in 1900 it was used as a stable. The chapel was restored in 1926 and used until 1930 when the church in St David's Road was built. There is a story published in1835, that in the late 16th century some Roman Catholics formed a conspiracy to put to death all the Protestants in Creuddyn. It was arranged for a body of men to arrive on a certain night at a spot indicated, A man employed at Gloddaeth Hall was informed by a girl in service at Penrhyn of what was going on and gave the alarm.

A messenger was sent at once from Gloddaeth for assistance and a Troop of Horse arrived and Penrhyn was surrounded. Some of the alleged conspirators escaped whilst others were taken. The priests who were supposedly involved escaped for nearly a year. One of them was William Davis. Their time of hiding was spent writing and operating a printing press in a cave on the Little Orme. This is where the first book printed in Wales was made.

They were subsequently arrested in Holyhead trying to board a boat to Ireland. William Davis was hanged, drawn and quartered in Beaumaris in 1593. It is believed that the Pugh’s acquired his hand and concealed it in a hole behind the house. After the departure of the Pugh’s, among other things left behind was an old trunk. When this was opened a withered hand was found inside, supposedly belonging to the priest William Davis. There is a stone dated 1590 above the large fireplace in the Tudor Bar commemorating his stay here. The fireplace also hides a priest hole. William Davis was beatified by the pope in 1990.

There was a tale from the 1720’s which may or not be wholly true. One of the Pugh’s was an only son with two sisters. He travelled abroad for many years until he was presumed that he had perished. Much later he returned home as a beggar only to find his sisters did not believe he was their long lost brother, probably because they had gained their parents’ inheritance. To prove his identity he stated that as a youth he had placed a needle between one of the joists and the ceiling of the kitchen. This was found. He then proceeded to the pear tree in the garden where some bark was removed to reveal a nail which he said he had also placed there. With this he was seized , flogged with a whip which had large pins fixed to it and then ejected from the premises. A neighbour who had recognised him for who he was, took him into his home until one day he went out, never to return. Many years later a complete skeleton of a man was found in the lime kiln at the side of the house. It is possible this could have been the missing brother.

In 1760 Penrhyn Hall became the home of Dr. John Williams, Archbishop of York and Lord Keeper of the Great Seal to King James 1, and later to a family named Owen who found the first of the Roman coins in 1873.

It seems both from records and the style of architecture of certain parts of the Hall, that the greater portion of the present building, the wing of the stepped gable was completed in 1422. The front hall is, on the whole, the same as the building that stood at the end of the Elizabethan reign, though there may be differences in detail both inside and out. This old portion is shaped like the letter H, a central block containing the main entrance joining together two wings. The nearest portion of the central block is of uncertain date. The rest of the house was standing, for it had been built quite a few years before the Pugh family came to the Hall. Although there have been changes as the centuries have gone by, it may be truly called the same building as that in which William Davis was received as an honoured guest.

The entrance hall was partly cut out of solid rock which also forms the wall in places. In this room can be found a Madonna cupboard with the inscription “ Heddwch, Llonyddwch, a Chymdogaeth Dda”, which roughly translates as Peace, Tranquillity and Good Neighbourliness. The cupboard is dated 18th century.

The history of Penrhyn Old Hall from 1739 is a quiet and uneventful period, when Penrhyn became like many others of its kind in Wales – just an ordinary farmhouse.

From 1850 until his death in 1899 the house was occupied as a farm by Mr Dan Phillips. It is said that the great-great grandfather of the present Lord Mostyn was a great friend of the Phillips family. The house was later occupied by Mr Booth-Jones up to his untimely death on the Lusitania in May 1915. Mr Carrington-Sellers then bought Penrhyn Old Hall and made a lot of alterations especially to the windows, mainly enlarging them. He kept it as a private house. Since then the Hall has been an antique shop and museum, a hotel, during which time the tennis court at the rear was built, a private house and tearooms.

From 1850 until his death in 1899 the house was occupied as a farm by Mr Dan Phillips. It is said that the great-great grandfather of the present Lord Mostyn was a great friend of the Phillips family. The house was later occupied by Mr Booth-Jones up to his untimely death on the Lusitania in May 1915. Mr Carrington-Sellers then bought Penrhyn Old Hall and made a lot of alterations especially to the windows, mainly enlarging them. He kept it as a private house. Since then the Hall has been an antique shop and museum, a hotel, during which time the tennis court at the rear was built, a private house and tearooms.

This information is courtesy of the Welsh Tourist Board.  http://www.wales-tourist-information.co.uk/

The Gunpowder Plot and Rhos-on-Sea

Caught for his part in the Gunpowder Plot one of the prisoners in the Tower of London inscribed this message in 1606.

What does this have to do with Colwyn Bay?

Is the name familiar? Everard Digby?

Other members of his family were Caille (later spelt Cayley), Allanson and Kenelm. They originally came from Brompton in Yorkshire. Yes, these are all road names in Rhos-on-Sea, Colwyn Bay. But why was Everard Digby imprisoned in the Tower of London and later executed ? (and why are the roads named after members of the family? )

Everard (we presume to be an ancestor of the landowners of Rhos-on-Sea) was imprisoned for high treason, for his part in the gunpowder plot, along with Robert Catesby, Guy Fawkes, Thomas Wintour, Thomas Percy, Thomas Bates, Christopher Wright, Robert Wintour, John Grant, John Wright, Robert Keyes, Ambrose Rookwood and Francis Tresham.

To read more about his involvement visit the Gunpowder Plot Society website.

To read of Everard’s attempted escape and capture, how he wrote to his wife with lemon juice invisible ink from the Tower of London, and of the grisly details of his execution in a biography, written by one of his descendants visit “The Life of a Conspirator“.

More about the Digby family and their North Wales connections.

Kenelm Digby was the eldest son of the above Sir Everard Digby, who wrote the message on the wall of his prison. Everard was perhaps the most respectable, of the fanatic conspirators of the gunpowder treason. Kenelm’s mother, Mary, was daughter and co-heiress of William Mulsho, of Gothurst, in Buckinghamshire. Kenelm was scarcely three years of age when his father made amends for his crime upon the scaffold. The precise day of Kenelm’s birth has been the subject of far greater controversy than it deserved, but there can be no just grounds for doubting that was the 11th of June, 1603. As his father was attainted, he says he inherited nothing from him “but a foul stain in his blood”: but this was not strictly true; for two of Sir Everard’s manors, as well as his wife’s property was inherited.

The descendants of Sir Kenelm Digby are easily traced. By Venetia Stanley he had three sons and one daughter, Margery, who married Edward Dudley of Clopton in Northamptonshire, The sons were:

I. Kenelm Digby, born 6th October, 1625, killed at St. Neots, on the 7th of July, 1648. He died unmarried.

II. John. The only one who married.

III. Everard, born 12 January, 1629, died an infant.

IV. George, born 17 January, 1632, [query 1632–3.] but who appears to have died young.

John Digby, the second son, was born on the 29th December, 1627, and was twice married; first to Katherine daughter of Henry Earl of Arundel, who died childless; and secondly, to Margaret daughter of Sir Edward Longueville of Wolverton in Buckinghamshire, by whom he had two daughters. The elder daughter Margaret Maria became the wife of Sir John Conway of Bodrythen in Flintshire, and the younger, Charlotte Theophilia, who married Richard Mostyn of Penbeddw in the same county. Lady Margaret Conway, besides a daughter Margaret who was the wife of Sir Thomas Longueville, Bart., had a son Henry Conway, who died in his father’s lifetime, leaving a sole daughter and heiress Honora, who married Sir John Glynne, Bart., by whom she had a large family.

Their descendants are, however, fully treated of in Debrett’s Baronetage; hence it is only necessary to observe that Sir Stephen Glynne, Bart., the great grandson of Sir John Glynne and Honora Conway, is the present representative of Sir Kenelm Digby, and through Lady Venetia, of one branch of the illustrious houses of Stanley and Percy.

Find out more in “The Private Memoirs of Sir Kenelm Digby by Kenelm Digby“.

World War II History in Colwyn Bay...

A Taster of War Time in Colwyn Bay, just because it is rather interesting:

The Ministry of Food: a vital contribution of Colwyn Bay during wartime

Never before in its short history had the Victorian seaside resort of Colwyn Bay had such an important role. In 1940 the town made an extraordinary contribution in housing the staff and manning the offices of the Ministry of Food. It was vital to ensure the fair and equal distribution of food during the war, and although there were many regional food offices all over the country  this was enabled and overseen  from the headquarters at Colwyn Bay.

The civil servants had left their offices in Whitehall and assembled in Colwyn Bay to safely carry out the Food Defence Plans,  converting the town to the Headquarters of the Ministry of Food for  Britain. If the buildings  they took over as their offices had been devastated by bombing and key staff lost then what…the organisation of the  food supplies would have been thrown into chaos. Food is a vital weapon in wartime.

Mount Royal Typing Pool

‘No weapon ever invented is more deadly than hunger, it can spike guns, destroy courage, and break the will of the most resolute peoples’  Land at War 1939–1944,  HMSO, 1945

The organisation comprised not only of the five thousand civil servants evacuated from London, but also of so many locals, young people straight from school, as well as women recruited for employment to form an army of clerks in an insurmountable task. This brought them many new work opportunities and prospects. There were so many departments with titles like ‘Enforcement’ (making sure everyone obeyed the rules) Oils and Fats, Animal Feedstuffs, British Restaurants, Bacon and Ham, Butter and Cheese and so many more, as listed  in a directory compiled by one of the former staff. The locals  supported the administration. Departments  liaised with all the commonwealth countries in the importing of food, which was at risk of being torpedoed at sea en route at any time. In those days there were few telephone lines and hardly any paper. What those civil servants and clerks achieved was not far short of miraculous, headed in 1940 by the very pragmatic leadership of Lord Woolton, a businessman from Liverpool.

The people of Colwyn Bay reacted with mixed feeling to the complete change in character of their town, which had  increased in population by 25% overnight, and of the sudden requisitioning of most of the larger hotels such as The Metropole ( which housed administrative Finance) and many boarding houses as well as all available buildings to use  as office space and accommodation. There was a mixing of cultures with the influx of southern civil servants, evacuees from the cities, some refugees from abroad and some very poor children from Liverpool. It opened eyes, the town was disrupted, transformed  but also energised and enlivened, some say it was changed  irreversibly.

Many of the civil servants employed in those days have been interviewed and their reminiscences have been recorded. Read the story of the first executives coming to investigate prior to the removal from Whitehall, with the story of Albert Rigby at the information bureau.

It seemed from the evidence of some of our older residents of Colwyn Bay that half the population of the town had worked at the Ministry of Food in their youth.

History Points... from Wales, Colwyn Bay to be exact! Let's take a walk, shall we?

1.   Former Cosy Cinema, 6 Conway Road, Colwyn Bay

This is the site of the first chapel in Colwyn Bay, Capel Cyntaf. The rear wall of the chapel can still be seen, if you walk along the back alley between Penrhyn Road and Station Road.

When the Welsh community built their new chapel, Engedi, in Woodland Road West, the renowoned local architect Sydney Colwyn Foulkes was commissioned (c.1925) to design a building with a small, bijou cinema on the ground floor. The building included offices above, which became his own office. His secretary, Audrey Lee, used to listen to the film being shown below her office while she typed. 

The three-row balcony can still be seen inside the present hardware store. The screen was suspended on the inside of the front wall, so that as you entered the cinema you looked directly at the audience. The cinema closed in the late 1950s and has been a shop ever since. The current occupier, Matthews & Son Hardware, is a traditional ironmongers’ shop famous locally for holding what seems an impossibly comprehensive stock for such a small building.  

Matthews Hardware Store

On Conway Road opposite the HSBC bank and above Matthews Hardware store was another of the town’ s cinemas.  Originally called the Colwyn Bay Cinema, it later became the Cosy and by 1937 was owned by the Kenyon Family who also owned the Princess Cinema. It closed in 1955 but is affectionately remembered as the cinema with the double seats in the back row – ideal for courting!

What you could watch at the Cosy Cinema:

During the Second World War, in August 1940, the film being shown was Night Train to Munich, starring Rex Harrison and Margaret Lockwood. Later in the same month it was Arouse and Beware, starring Wallace Beery and Dolores Del Rio.

With thanks to Graham Roberts of Colwyn Bay Civic Society

2.  Former Pwllycrochan Estate office, 37-39 Conway Road  (incidentally, the Pwllycrochan Road is not where the Estate office is, but my doctors surgery aka office is on this road, the name I can't pronounce)

If you look at the top of the building you will see the words “Estate Office” engraved into the stonework. The Estate was the Pwllycrochan Estate which in 1865 was owned by Sir John Pender, a promoter of ocean cables. He appointed John Porter as his agent and 10 years later sold the Pwllycrochan Hotel to him outright.

The Estate ran from Cherry Tree Lane to Pwllycrochan Avenue and the Old Highway to Conway Road. It was managed from this building by a Colwyn Bay surveyor, John Merry Porter. He was the son of the hotel’s owner. He managed the estate on behalf of its owners at the time, architect Lawrence Booth and businessman Thomas Chadwick. Mr Booth is responsible for the design of many of the more distinguished buildings in Colwyn Bay.

It is now home to Mayfair of Colwyn Bay, which has been selling clothes in Colwyn Bay since the 1940s.

3.  Former WS Wood department store, Station Road, Colwyn Bay

If you look down Station Road you will notice that the buildings on the left hand side, between the Central Pub at the top and the Imperial at the bottom, were all designed and built in the same style in the second half of the 19th century. The original buildings on the right hand (east) side were built in a higgledy-piggledy way, all designed differently at the beginning of the 19th century.

In the early 1920s, an entrepreneur called William Stead Wood arrived in Colwyn Bay from Yorkshire. He bought two of the original buildings on the east side of Station Road and opened a department store, selling every conceivable sort of clothing. After about seven years he asked his friend Sydney Colwyn Foulkes to design a new building. This is the building you see today, which was erected on the site of Mr Wood’s original buildings. It was opened in 1933.

The front of the building is clad in Portland Stone, an idea suggested by a Mr Peake, who ran the firm making the high quality Rodex coats. For some years in the 1990s it was owned and run by the Co-op. Today it is home to the Colwyn Bay branch of Cardiff-based clothing retailer Peacocks, which was acquired in 2012 by Edinburgh Woollen Mill.

4.  Former police station and municipal offices, Station Road, Colwyn Bay

In 1887 (as the date at the top of the building indicates) this building housed the town’s police station and offices of the Colwyn Bay Estate Company Ltd, Denbighshire County Council, the National Provincial Bank and the Colwyn Bay & Colwyn Board. 

The names of the non-police organisations are inscribed on stone tablets at the top of the building, just below the turret. The emblems of each organisation – the Welsh feathers, a lion, the letters NB and the oak tree – are also carved into the stonework.

To see evidence of this being a police station in the past, look above the right-hand doorway – where you can see handcuffs carved in the stone. The building to the left was built in 1892. The date is on the stone pediment at the top of the building.

In the 1940s the building housed confectioners called the Black Boy Chocolate Company, a name that would be frowned on today! The building reopened after refurbishment in 2013. The ground-floor café and bistro, called Porter’s, features old photos of the area and allows the public to appreciate the decorative coloured glass along the front windows.

5.  St Cystennin's Church, Llangystennin, Mochdre

The church was built in 1843 at a cost of £780 on the site of what was known as North Wales’ oldest and smallest church. It is generally believed that the original church dates from 338 AD, and legend has it that the foundation stone was laid by a Welsh princess who married a member of Rome’s powerful Constantine family.

Some historians say the church is dedicated to Constantine the Great, the first Roman emperor to embrace Christianity. Others say the dedication is to Cystennin, son of the Breton king Cynvor. Another theory is that the dedication is to Cystennin Fendigaid, chieftain of the Britons.

Portions of the stained glass in the existing church date from the 14th century. The Resurrection window is now kept in Llandudno Museum. The east window was produced by Herbert Bryans (1856-1925), a specialist in ecclesiastical stained glass. His rebus (signature mark) is a running greyhound, visible in the east window’s bottom right corner.

Near the church door is gravestone bearing a skull and crossbones. This is unlikely to denote the grave of a pirate, however. The emblem was commonly shown on tombs in the 18th century.

Members of the congregation and local volunteers are conserving the churchyard as a wildlife habitat, encouraging wildflowers. Local schools have made bird nesting boxes and bat boxes for the churchyard. The largest yew in the churchyard has a circumference of c.7 metres, suggesting it could be 700 years old.

Llangystennin, once a parish in its own right, is now one of seven churches in the benefice of Rhos-Cystennin, which takes its name from two of Wales’ oldest parishes (Llanrhos and Llangystennin). Anglican services are held in the church each Sunday morning.

6.  St Paul’s Church, Conway Road, Colwyn Bay

Originally Colwyn Bay was part of the Parish of Llandrillo-yn-Rhos and the Rev Venables Williams looked after the souls of the area. In the cemetery of Llandrillo church are the graves of countless people who lived in Colwyn Bay. The Rev Venables Williams had expected his sphere of influence to be greatly enhanced with the building of St Paul’s Church. He was upset therefore when the new Parish of Colwyn Bay was formed by an Order in Council on 15 May 1893.

The Ecclesiastical Commissioners endowed the new parish with £120 a year. John Douglas designed the church. He also designed the vicarage, St David’s Church in Colwyn Bay, St John’s Church in Old Colwyn, Christ Church in Bryn-y-Maen and the original Colwyn Bay Hotel.

The nave of St Paul’s Church was consecrated on 13 July 1888 and the chancel on 7 April 1895. The tower was added 15 years later. This was to John Douglas’ design, after he had died.

The expenditure on the entire church was £12,800. The vicarage cost an additional £2,210. The vicar no longer lives in the vicarage beside the church but in a new house on Walshaw Avenue.

The south rose window in the church is the gift of the Dinglewood School pupils, a school which no longer exists. The pulpit was made by Edward Allen JP as his gift.

7.  Old court house, Rhiw Road, Colwyn Bay

This building is now home to Bay of Colwyn Town Council, but it was originally built in 1907 as the town’s court house, with the police station attached. It was designed by the county architect, Walter Wiles, after the design by the county surveyor, R Lloyd Williams, was rejected. It ceased being used by the court service on 20 December 1996. In its heyday it was where the Petty Sessional Courts were held.

The police station was originally designed to house the Chief Superindendent of Police and his family. His front door was on the corner of Rhiw Road and the small back road leading to Douglas Road.

The court was an imposing room, in the middle of which was the dock to hold the defendents who emerged up the stairs from the cells below. On a high raised platform at the front of the court were seven seats for seven magistrates to sit at any one time. There are now a maximum of three in any court. On the desk in front of the magistrates, right up until the court closed for good, were seven ink wells.

Inside the town council offices is a brass nameplate from the LMS steam locomotive called Colwyn Bay, withdrawn in the 1960s. This was one of seven locos of the Royal Scot class named after towns on the North Wales coast. Members of the public can view the plate, and an informative display about the loco, during town council office hours.

8.  The Mountain View and Swan Inn

The Mountain View in 1905

The reason these pubs are situated here is that this was the original route of the horse-drawn coaches along the Old Highway in the early 19th century. The Old Highway was the main thoroughfare round the back of Colwyn Bay, which was dotted with smithies and with hostelries such as the Mountain View.

Opposite the Mountain View, on the corner of Old Conway Road and Chapel Street, is the former Swan Inn. If you look up at the chimney you will see a wooden cut-out in the shape of a swan. The Swan Inn pre-dates the Mountain View and is no longer a pub.

In 1880 a young kleptomaniac called John Jones was apprehended in a bed in the Swan Inn, after his sensational escape from Ruthin jail. Nicknamed “Coch Bach y Bala” (little redhead from Bala), he was regarded by some as a folk hero. He escaped from prisons three times, the last time at the age of 60 years.

Just round the corner from the Mountain View is 6 Tanrallt Street which is named Smithy Cottage, because behind it, in the barn you can still see, was the smithy.

The Mountain View was fortunate because when the Old Conway Road was constructed the pub was still on the main road. It was not until the 1930s, when the new Conway Road was built, that it was cut off from the passing trade. In 1905 when the May Queen, the future Mrs Walter Jones, stepped out of her carriage outside the Mountain View her large dress blew up in the wind showing her red felt petticoat: ever after she was nicknamed “Sue pais goch” (Sue red underskirt).

PS:  Other CRIME HIPoints in this area:

Penmaenbach - site of a woman's sensational attempt to fake her death in 1909
Bryniau Farm, near Deganwy - a German PoW assaulted a fellow worker here for calling him a Nazi
Old St Asaph court house and police station - a female murderer was among the felons dealt with here

9.  St Catherine's Church, Old Colwyn

This church was built in 1837 as a Chapel of Ease to Llandrillo Church, in Rhos-on-Sea. Seven years later, it became the centre of a seperate parish in its own right. The land was given to the church by John Lloyd Wynne of Coed Coch, who also gave his name to Wynne Avenue which runs across his old Estate.

As the inscriptions on the gravestones suggest, St Catherine’s catered for the Welsh-speaking residents. As more people settled in the area who could not speak Welsh, St John the Baptist Church was opened in 1903 to provide services in English.

The east window at St Catherine’s was given to the church by the widow of Richard Butler Clough. The clock in the tower was installed in 1890, in memory of a former Vicar, the Rev JD Jones (1866-1887). The large house across the road, which has now been split up into flats for elderly people, was built at a cost of £500, in 1871, as the vicarage.

In 2012, St Catherine’s Church closed for worship. Services continue to be held at St John the Baptist Church, in Station Road.

10.  The Imperial Hotel, Station Road 

For many years, around 1900, this building and the one at the top of Station Road, The Central (originally known as the Station Hotel), were the only buildings on this side of Station Road; between them were fields where cattle grazed. The Imperial was built as an hotel during Colwyn Bay's heyday as a summer holiday destination. It has always been known locally as “The Imp”. In its early years it was a prestigious establishment, mainly due to its proximity to the railway station. 

In 1939 the Imperial, along with many other hotels in Colwyn Bay, was taken over by the Ministry of Food. The Merchant Navy Control Department had offices in the Imperial, from where the officials monitored the ships going into and out of Liverpool.

It was also here that Ministry officials attempted to assess the public’s dietary requirements, with a view to producing a ration book which would be acceptable to the British people.

After the war the hotel never returned to its former glory. The bedrooms remained empty and the bulk of the business was concentrated on the ground-floor bar.

11.  Former BBC wartime studio, Penrhyn Road

This building, known as Penrhyn Buildings, was erected at the start of the 20th century for shop and office use. On the first floor of this unit, however, a restaurant was opened called the Lantern Café.

At the beginning of the Second World War the cafe was closed on the orders of the Government and the first floor was taken over, secretly, by the British Broadcasting Corporation. It was to be used as a clandestine communication post in the event of a German invasion of Great Britain. A soundproofed control room was created. The broadcasting equipment was linked to transmitters across Britain and maintained in good order throughout the conflict.

Among the men who worked here were two brothers who had both received the Military Cross for outstanding gallantry during their service in the First World War. One of them had a bar with his cross, denoting a second instance of gallantry. The brother without a bar was jokingly nicknamed “the coward”.

Fortunately there was never a need to broadcast from the BBC studio. All the equipment remained in place for a few years after the war, then the first floor reverted to its original use. The café closed in the 1980s. The building is now home to Alpha Business Centre.

12.  Former Ellesmere Hotel, 94 Conway Road

For many years before 1939 this building was used as an hotel or 'boarding house' with private apartments. The business was advertised as being "situated in the best part of Colwyn Bay with lovely views of Wood and Mountain". The business was originally run by Mrs Bush and Miss Reynolds, but by the beginning of the Second World War it was in the hands of Mr & Mrs RTW Allen.

In 1939 the Ministry of Food told to them find alternative accommodation, and all the residents and holidaymakers had to leave. The Ministry then ran the important Legal & Enforcement Department from the building. A team of officials based in the Ellesmere Hotel roamed throughout the British Isles checking whether food which could be eaten by people was, in contravention of the rules, being given to livestock. Many farmers who were discovered breaking this rule were taken to court, and the prosecutions were conducted from the Ellesmere Hotel. 

After the war, like other such establishments, it was never again to become successful as an hotel. It is now used by a Conwy County Borough Council’s social services department.

13.  The Rothesay Hotel

The building was constructed as an hotel at around the close of the 19th century. It was one of a string of prestigious hotels along this stretch of the promenade. Its size gives you a vivid illustration of the thriving holiday business which Colwyn Bay once attracted. Today the building is given over to flat accommodation and the Daffodil Day Care Centre.

In 1939 the hotel was taken over by the Ministry of Food and remained in their hands for the duration of the Second World War. Part of the hotel was given over to the Canned Condensed Milk Division.

Mr Lyons of the London Corner Houses was in charge. Oddly, the Prime Minister of the Netherlands came to visit the workers during the war. The Ministry officials in the Rothesay were envied for their proximity to the promenade, where they could go for a stroll during their lunch break. However, they were not allowed to venture onto the beach – which was out of bounds to everyone except military personnel.

I have digressed, but am catching up... lots of happenings in the Bell world

It has been a LONG LONG time, a few weeks, since I have written and blogged.  So much has been happening that I had to take deep breaths and catch it all in.  I am not sure where to begin...  let's begin with the Christmas holidays. 

Christmas 2013 - British Style
Planes, Planes and Planes and Not Forgetting Automobiles
It was wonderful, Ollie made it to the UK after a long, and horrid ordeal with Air Canada.  It was getting close, but he made it.  Let's just say, he arrived, Christmas Eve.  After one flight from Boston to Montreal was cancelled (due to some ice storm in Montreal), followed by no replacement flight, without us having to do it all from the UK, but as they say, Keep Calm and Carry On and we did.  So we found a flight from Boston to Ottowas the next day, only to wake up and find out, it was cancelled, why?  Not enough to crew the plane.  Finally, we scrambled again, after being on hold for 45 minutes to get him a flight from Boston to Halifax to London...  with a 12 hour layover in Halifax. No sleep, but he made it hear along with the words: "Mum and dad.... I am not going to go back to New Hampshire, I want to go to University in the UK!"  I know, I know, it's a change, but so we carry on, and more on that later...  Good things.  We went to Christmas Eve mass and Declan was a Wise Man in the nativity at the mass.  He is excited and we all really like the church, seems to be a good fit for us and for everyone who attends that parish.

HO HO HO!  MERRY CHRISTMAS!
Had a beautiful Christmas in our new home with Ros, my sister-in-law, niece and her partner and the wee baby girl, 3 month old Rosetta.  We brought Joyce and Dave here too - yes we sprung Joyce from the hospital for a couple of hours, to get her out for a bit.  She did pretty well, and seemed to enjoy her food and the wee glass (or two) of wine. 

New Years Eve was spent with Ros and the boys and was quiet but watching the festivities in London, I began to realize...  this is home.  I know, it sounds cliche and just weird, but honestly, this is home.....

Christmas is filled with such fun, love and traditions. One can go and say Merry Christmas without having anyone give you "the look".  It is Christmas, MERRY CHRISTMAS!  M E R R Y  C H R I S T M A S....  I said it ande will continue to say it over and over and over and over and over again!  We cannot and should not sit back and take this lying down.  It is Christmas.  Time to kick up a fuss America...  once and for all.  I said and I will continue to say it.  It is Christmas and I am proud to say it.  I digress...  onwards.

THE HOUSE, THE HOUSE, AND OH IT'S SO COZY AND NEEDING WORK...  IT IS VICTORIAN AFTER ALL!
So we are now finally getting some work done on the house.  We are currently picking out wall colours for the sitting room...  I will have to post those colours later, I appreciate your help and ideas and thoughts.  Dulux or Crown?  Which paint to do you like? 

HAVE YACHT?  WILL TRAVEL!
Ollie is on a boat, no, no..  a 72 foot yacht, working the boat, for free, for 10 days, on a tour of the Canary Islands.  Lucky him, warm and sunny.  I will post more on this later, the company is great, and  he is working on his ideas, what to do, where to do go to University here. 

Cam and Declan have really settled in well at their schools.  I realized, a sad but true fact, we are a wee bit behind with regards to education in America.  But...  it's all good and Cam is catching up rather quickly and happily.  He is making friends and tends to be leaning to playing football (soccer to us Americans) and basketball.  We are looking into a lacrosse programme for him, but that will be worked on next week.  Anything for the kids.