Saturday and Sunday in Rhuthun/Ruthin were more like spring than winter’s days. Saturday didn’t match the temperatures of February 1987 when I recall the most amazing of warm winter days. But when you consider the temperatures we’ve been used to of late, the contrast was marked. For a short period, temperatures on Saturday reached 9½°C. Compare this to the lowest so far this month of –9°C. Sunday just reach 9°C.
Snow on the very tops continuously since Sunday 19th December finally began to thaw on Friday. It’s worth remembering that at its lowest, air temperatures at the Clwyd Gate were –12°C and at the Top of the Nant y Garth –15°C, according to the car thermometer on two separate occasions.
So it was that the thaw brought plenty of people out. On Saturday, the town fair blossomed. Let’s face it, January isn’t the best trading month but, so far this year, trade in Rhuthun has been dire. People have ventured out for essential food shopping only and then only after they’d been forced to, owing to either lowering stocks or the threat of more winter weather. Given the conditions, who wants to buy books, carpets, flowers, tattoos, jewellery, shoes, clothes, gifts or antiques? Or have their hair done? Or their feet. Let’s hope the higher numbers in town on Saturday made up for it.
Meanwhile, those in town will have seen a few changes. Fancy dress agency Izzy Wizzy has closed. Sadly likewise, house clearance MDM Resales (advertising a ‘January’ sale before Christmas) in the former Rhuthun Organics at the junction of Clwyd Street & Mwrog Street. Both opened over the summer. Gift shop Twenty-3 is closed for a refit and will open on 29th January under the new and equally enigmatic name of Choo Choo.
And Streets of Gold is back, in the former Blossom’s. Here, you can cash in your gold. I struggled to think why it had closed the week before Christmas only to reopen now. Then it hit me. No point the week before Christmas, as that was spending time. Anyone cashing in would have done so already. The third week in January is likely to be the pits, the bleakest days of the year. Not only cold and miserable, the Christmas holidays forgotten, it’s at about this time that those credit card bills roll in…
On a positive note, the pile of salt opposite the council depot on Lôn Parcwr that on Friday looked alarmingly microscopic was replenished that very day.
Snow on the very tops continuously since Sunday 19th December finally began to thaw on Friday. It’s worth remembering that at its lowest, air temperatures at the Clwyd Gate were –12°C and at the Top of the Nant y Garth –15°C, according to the car thermometer on two separate occasions.So it was that the thaw brought plenty of people out. On Saturday, the town fair blossomed. Let’s face it, January isn’t the best trading month but, so far this year, trade in Rhuthun has been dire. People have ventured out for essential food shopping only and then only after they’d been forced to, owing to either lowering stocks or the threat of more winter weather. Given the conditions, who wants to buy books, carpets, flowers, tattoos, jewellery, shoes, clothes, gifts or antiques? Or have their hair done? Or their feet. Let’s hope the higher numbers in town on Saturday made up for it.
Meanwhile, those in town will have seen a few changes. Fancy dress agency Izzy Wizzy has closed. Sadly likewise, house clearance MDM Resales (advertising a ‘January’ sale before Christmas) in the former Rhuthun Organics at the junction of Clwyd Street & Mwrog Street. Both opened over the summer. Gift shop Twenty-3 is closed for a refit and will open on 29th January under the new and equally enigmatic name of Choo Choo.
And Streets of Gold is back, in the former Blossom’s. Here, you can cash in your gold. I struggled to think why it had closed the week before Christmas only to reopen now. Then it hit me. No point the week before Christmas, as that was spending time. Anyone cashing in would have done so already. The third week in January is likely to be the pits, the bleakest days of the year. Not only cold and miserable, the Christmas holidays forgotten, it’s at about this time that those credit card bills roll in…On a positive note, the pile of salt opposite the council depot on Lôn Parcwr that on Friday looked alarmingly microscopic was replenished that very day.
Tags:
Shops