Think you know Rhuthun? Over the last 24 days, we've invited readers to answer a series of 24 multiple choice questions on various facets of the town—historic and recent. We hope you've enjoyed it. Some were easy, some were harder, perhaps some impossible, and one was a trick question. There were no prizes. Just the satisfaction of knowing you did well! But how well? Correct answers appear highlighted in lilac.
December 1. Which building won this year’s Quayle Award?
A. Canolfan Grefftau Rhuthun Craft Centre
B. Nantclwyd y DreC. The Picture House
D. Ysgol Brynhyfryd’s new canteen
Easy start as this was in the news at the time. If you got this wrong, where have you been? Regular readers from Australia are excused not knowing this one.
December 2. The current Canolfan Grefft/Craft Centre cost £4.4mil. Approximately how much was its 1981 predecessor?
A. £350,000
B. £700,000
C. £950,000
D. £1,250,000
The costs at the time were variously quoted as £600,000 or £700,000. The centre had its building in 1981 and opened in 1982.
December 3. What was the original name by which Rhuthun’s main roundabout at the foot of Market Street was generally known?
A. Briec Roundabout
B. Station Yard Roundabout
C. Tesco Roundabout
D. Craft Centre Roundabout
Older readers will recall the railway that once ran north-south through the town. The roundabout pre-dates Tesco, Canolfan Grefft/Craft Centre and the twinning with Briec. Regular readers here will know that I always refer to the roundabout as "the so-called Briec roundabout" for, although there are signs proclaiming it as such, it's older title is Station Yard Roundabout, reflecting its site.
December 4. Which business still displays the telephone area phone code “0824” rather than “01824” above its premises?
A. L E Jones, Lôn Cae Bricks/Brickfield Lane
B. Pine Direct, Lôn Parcwr
C. Co-op, Station Road
D. Till Wise, Mwrog Street
No further comment on this one.
December 5. Where is Cromwell’s Yard?
A. Back of Castle Mews, Well Street
B. Back of Clwyd Bank, Clwyd Street
C. Back of the Wine Vaults, off Upper Clwyd Street
D. Back of the Wynnstay Arms, Well Street
Something to do with a siege of Rhuthun in the 17th century, when the castle was besieged by Parliamentary forces encamped in the vicinity of Dog Lane, I believe.
December 6. Who is the Warden of Rhuthun?
A. The town’s vicar
B. The clerk to the town council
C. The honorary title given to the deputy mayor
D. The chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Charitable Company of the Burgesses of Rhuthun
The clerk to the town council is just that, the clerk. The deputy mayor has no honorary title and the Board of Trustees of the Charitable Company of the Burgesses of Rhuthun is purely fictional! The Warden (actually a rector, not vicar) takes his name from the priest with the custody to appoint seven elders and, later, responsible for the care of Christ's Hospital.
December 7. Approximately when was Exemewe House (Barclays Bank) built?
A. 14th century
B. 16th century
C. 18th century
D. 20th century
This was the trick question. Exemewe House (or Hall) looks old, is said to predate 1400 but is entirely a 20th century reconstruction. It didn't even re-use the building's older materials, as was the case at the NatWest.
December 8. Which road was nearly named Lôn Newydd?
A. Market Street
B. The Northern Relief Road
C. Wynnstay Road
D. Lôn Parcwr
Lôn Newydd means "New Lane", of course. All the above roads were once new and do not form part of the medieval street pattern of Rhuthun. Lôn Parcwr was constructed for access to the original Canolfan Grefft and to form a better access to the industrial estate (once via Canol y Dre). Lôn Newydd was an option at the time.
December 9. Where was Northcott Garage?
A. Back of the Farmers Arms, Mwrog Street
B. Opposite the Griffin, Llanbedr DC
C. Bargeinion B ac M/B&M Bargains, Station Road
D. Maes Fynnon, Mwrog Street
This was once a Ford dealership and it sold petrol, of course. The B & M Building behind is the original garage.
December 10. From which year was the original and once notorious Maes Hafod estate demolished?
A. 1964
B. 1969
C. 1974
D. 1979
These prefabs were notorious because they had incurable condensation. They lasted about 10 years.
December 11. Who had the telephone number “Ruthin 1”?
December 1. Which building won this year’s Quayle Award?
A. Canolfan Grefftau Rhuthun Craft Centre
B. Nantclwyd y DreC. The Picture House
D. Ysgol Brynhyfryd’s new canteen
Easy start as this was in the news at the time. If you got this wrong, where have you been? Regular readers from Australia are excused not knowing this one.
December 2. The current Canolfan Grefft/Craft Centre cost £4.4mil. Approximately how much was its 1981 predecessor?
A. £350,000
B. £700,000
C. £950,000
D. £1,250,000
The costs at the time were variously quoted as £600,000 or £700,000. The centre had its building in 1981 and opened in 1982.
December 3. What was the original name by which Rhuthun’s main roundabout at the foot of Market Street was generally known?
A. Briec Roundabout
B. Station Yard Roundabout
C. Tesco Roundabout
D. Craft Centre Roundabout
Older readers will recall the railway that once ran north-south through the town. The roundabout pre-dates Tesco, Canolfan Grefft/Craft Centre and the twinning with Briec. Regular readers here will know that I always refer to the roundabout as "the so-called Briec roundabout" for, although there are signs proclaiming it as such, it's older title is Station Yard Roundabout, reflecting its site.
December 4. Which business still displays the telephone area phone code “0824” rather than “01824” above its premises?
A. L E Jones, Lôn Cae Bricks/Brickfield Lane
B. Pine Direct, Lôn Parcwr
C. Co-op, Station Road
D. Till Wise, Mwrog Street
No further comment on this one.
December 5. Where is Cromwell’s Yard?
A. Back of Castle Mews, Well Street
B. Back of Clwyd Bank, Clwyd Street
C. Back of the Wine Vaults, off Upper Clwyd Street
D. Back of the Wynnstay Arms, Well Street
Something to do with a siege of Rhuthun in the 17th century, when the castle was besieged by Parliamentary forces encamped in the vicinity of Dog Lane, I believe.
December 6. Who is the Warden of Rhuthun?
A. The town’s vicar
B. The clerk to the town council
C. The honorary title given to the deputy mayor
D. The chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Charitable Company of the Burgesses of Rhuthun
The clerk to the town council is just that, the clerk. The deputy mayor has no honorary title and the Board of Trustees of the Charitable Company of the Burgesses of Rhuthun is purely fictional! The Warden (actually a rector, not vicar) takes his name from the priest with the custody to appoint seven elders and, later, responsible for the care of Christ's Hospital.
December 7. Approximately when was Exemewe House (Barclays Bank) built?
A. 14th century
B. 16th century
C. 18th century
D. 20th century
This was the trick question. Exemewe House (or Hall) looks old, is said to predate 1400 but is entirely a 20th century reconstruction. It didn't even re-use the building's older materials, as was the case at the NatWest.
December 8. Which road was nearly named Lôn Newydd?
A. Market Street
B. The Northern Relief Road
C. Wynnstay Road
D. Lôn Parcwr
Lôn Newydd means "New Lane", of course. All the above roads were once new and do not form part of the medieval street pattern of Rhuthun. Lôn Parcwr was constructed for access to the original Canolfan Grefft and to form a better access to the industrial estate (once via Canol y Dre). Lôn Newydd was an option at the time.
December 9. Where was Northcott Garage?
A. Back of the Farmers Arms, Mwrog Street
B. Opposite the Griffin, Llanbedr DC
C. Bargeinion B ac M/B&M Bargains, Station Road
D. Maes Fynnon, Mwrog Street
This was once a Ford dealership and it sold petrol, of course. The B & M Building behind is the original garage.
December 10. From which year was the original and once notorious Maes Hafod estate demolished?
A. 1964
B. 1969
C. 1974
D. 1979
These prefabs were notorious because they had incurable condensation. They lasted about 10 years.
December 11. Who had the telephone number “Ruthin 1”?
A. Gayla House, St Peter’s Square
B. The Manor House, Well Street
C. Wynnstay Arms, Well Street
D. Clough & Co Surveyors, Market Street
This was the business occupying the current Manor House (Manorhaus). I think it was a solicitor.
December 12. When did Carchar Rhuthun Gaol close as a penitentiary?
B. The Manor House, Well Street
C. Wynnstay Arms, Well Street
D. Clough & Co Surveyors, Market Street
This was the business occupying the current Manor House (Manorhaus). I think it was a solicitor.
December 12. When did Carchar Rhuthun Gaol close as a penitentiary?
A. 1679
B. 1903
C. 1916
D. 1946
Carchar Rhuthun Gaol was said to have served as a prison from 1775 to 1916.
December 13. Which business did John Lennon’s ex-wife Cynthia open?
B. 1903
C. 1916
D. 1946
Carchar Rhuthun Gaol was said to have served as a prison from 1775 to 1916.
December 13. Which business did John Lennon’s ex-wife Cynthia open?
A. Lucinda Fashions
B. The Manor House
B. The Manor House
C. Saddle Up
D. Siop Nain
She opened the Manor House (now Manorhaus).
December 14. When was the first sod cut on the Denbigh, Ruthin & Corwen Railway?
D. Siop Nain
She opened the Manor House (now Manorhaus).
December 14. When was the first sod cut on the Denbigh, Ruthin & Corwen Railway?
A.1854
B. 1860
B. 1860
C. 1864
D. 1869
Officially, this was 1860, fittingly (though also strangely) by one of the Wests of the Castle. The line opened four years later.
December 15. Where were the former Rhuthun Rural District Council offices?
A. The Naylor Leyland Centre
B. The Town Hall
C. Castle Mews
D. 1869
Officially, this was 1860, fittingly (though also strangely) by one of the Wests of the Castle. The line opened four years later.
December 15. Where were the former Rhuthun Rural District Council offices?
A. The Naylor Leyland Centre
B. The Town Hall
C. Castle Mews
D. The Library
The Rural District Council ceased on 31 March 1974.
December 16. In which year did Rhuthun secure its status as County Town of (the old) Denbighshire?
The Rural District Council ceased on 31 March 1974.
December 16. In which year did Rhuthun secure its status as County Town of (the old) Denbighshire?
A. 1855
B. 1907
C. 1914
D. 1921
No further comment on this one.
December 17. When was the last person hanged in Rhuthun?
A. 1679
B. 1903
C. 1916
D. 1946
This was purported to be a Wrexham miner who had shot his wife.
December 18. In which current property were the first ever copies of Hen Wlad fy Nhadau said to be printed?
B. 1907
C. 1914
D. 1921
No further comment on this one.
December 17. When was the last person hanged in Rhuthun?
A. 1679
B. 1903
C. 1916
D. 1946
This was purported to be a Wrexham miner who had shot his wife.
December 18. In which current property were the first ever copies of Hen Wlad fy Nhadau said to be printed?
A. Siop Nain
B. The Nat West Bank
C. Bathafarn Hall
D. Fineline
You'll have noticed a green plaque on the side of the building.
December 19. In which year was the twinning charter signed with Briec de l’Odet?
B. The Nat West Bank
C. Bathafarn Hall
D. Fineline
You'll have noticed a green plaque on the side of the building.
December 19. In which year was the twinning charter signed with Briec de l’Odet?
A. 1990
B. 1991
C. 1992
D. 1993
The first delegation went over in 1992 after the then mayor had visited Briec a year earlier.
December 20. Where was once known as Llansaeran?
B. 1991
C. 1992
D. 1993
The first delegation went over in 1992 after the then mayor had visited Briec a year earlier.
December 20. Where was once known as Llansaeran?
A. Llanfair DC
B. Llanynys
C. Llanbedr DC
D. Llanfwrog
The church at Llanynys is dedicated to St Saeran.
December 21. In which year were the environmental improvements made on Well Street (paving, street columns, etc)?
A. 1987
B. 1992
C. 1997
D. 2002
Do you remember the protests from traders at the length of the works?
December 22. The new Canolfan Grefft/Craft Centre received over 45,000 visitors in about four months. About how many did the old one receive per annum?
A. 50,000
B. 65,000
C. 80,000
D. 95,000
No further comment on this one.
December 23. When was Ysbyty Rhuthun Hospital’s League of Friends formed?
A. 1946
B. 1952
C. 1963D. 1969
The League of Friends celebrates its 45th anniversary this year.
December 24. Where is or was Capel Cwrw (lit. Beer Chapel)?
A. Capel y Rhos, Mold Road
B. Tabernacl, Wells Street
C. English Presbyterian, Wynnstay Road
D. Eglwys y Bedyddwyr (Baptists), Park Road
Capel y Rhos, Mold Road, is no longer a place of worship. The Baptist chapel is reported as at least part-funded from the proceeds and profits of a town pub!
B. Llanynys
C. Llanbedr DC
D. Llanfwrog
The church at Llanynys is dedicated to St Saeran.
December 21. In which year were the environmental improvements made on Well Street (paving, street columns, etc)?
A. 1987
B. 1992
C. 1997
D. 2002
Do you remember the protests from traders at the length of the works?
December 22. The new Canolfan Grefft/Craft Centre received over 45,000 visitors in about four months. About how many did the old one receive per annum?
A. 50,000
B. 65,000
C. 80,000
D. 95,000
No further comment on this one.
December 23. When was Ysbyty Rhuthun Hospital’s League of Friends formed?
A. 1946
B. 1952
C. 1963D. 1969
The League of Friends celebrates its 45th anniversary this year.
December 24. Where is or was Capel Cwrw (lit. Beer Chapel)?
A. Capel y Rhos, Mold Road
B. Tabernacl, Wells Street
C. English Presbyterian, Wynnstay Road
D. Eglwys y Bedyddwyr (Baptists), Park Road
Capel y Rhos, Mold Road, is no longer a place of worship. The Baptist chapel is reported as at least part-funded from the proceeds and profits of a town pub!
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