31 hours to go before the doors open and the mayor officially opens the refurbished-under-Wetherspoon's-ownership Castle Hotel. This makes me wonder who opened the original, the White Lion (as it was once known), in c.1843 (for the building fronting the Square. Those at the rear date from the 16th century, I believe).
My guess is that it would also have been the mayor. This because the White Lion was owned by the Myddleton family, a lineage of great standing. And, the White Lion was destined to be a venue for civic duties, quarter sessions and judges' lodgings. In other words, all in all an important place.
I don't recall the then mayor opening the Morning Star, though, when it recently came back into use in 2010. A somewhat smaller affair, of course, the Star was nevertheless an important moment, as the proprietors transformed an otherwise empty property. There were those who felt that the Star would never find a commercial use ever again. It claims to be Rhuthun/Ruthin's oldest tavern, dating from 1550, if the banner on David Owen's fencing is anything to go by.
I'm sure the mayor didn't open the Picture House in 2009 when that opened. The building was of considerable importance as a former cinema with its retained barrel roof. There was significant time and effort put in, even if the interior is currently sadly empty.
Neither did the mayor open Ruthin Décor in 2011. Like the Castle Hotel, this also transformed a long-standing site that was in very poor shape. The Well Street site does, of course, come with little architectural merit.
And that, no doubt, is the difference between Ruthin Décor and the Castle Hotel. Architecturally, there's no comparison. And the difference between the Star and the Castle Hotel is the scale of the refurbishment. The renovation of the Picture House was significant but the building had been hidden from public view for some years, following the closure in the early 1990s of Warren's Happy Shopper supermarket.
And that brings us back to the reason why the mayor is opening the Castle Hotel tomorrow. He's not opening a business but a building, one that has prominence and eminence, one that has fulfilled many roles in its time, a four-storey building that has overlooked Rhuthun for about 170 years. Judging by the number of people who stop, admire and comment upon the refurbishment—and there are a great many, including some who've even tried the door to get in—there is nothing but praise for the workmanship and the work Wetherspoon's has done. The building is back in the condition it warrants and we'd all say hooray to that. As for the business, its effects on Rhuthun will be known all too soon. From tomorrow, in fact.