Monday 24th was the first day of the summer school holidays. There abounded a healthy number of visitors. (Indeed, the first week was quite busy with them. Not up to the high levels in 2020 and 2021, though.)
Closed on Monday 31st, even Clogau
The following Monday, July 31st, and things were quieter. The weather forecast didn't help.
We nevertheless suspect some visitors were intrigued to see and visit Wales' best place to live. Did the town live up to expectation?
On each of the Mondays, they would've found a semi-ghost town. We guess that some people called in on their way back from a weekend away. We also guess that some were disappointed.
It seems odd that we cannot make an effort for just six summer Mondays to open shops or even the Craft Centre. At other times of the year, shut shops are fair enough. But over the summer, closures portray us as unwelcoming. We know we need the tourist pound but we don't seem to make a superlative effort to secure it.
Can we therefore really claim to be the tourist centre we think we are?
Of course, salons, hairdressers and barbers traditionally eschew Mondays (though the Lox Box and Hasham were open). But, as for the rest of the shops, the following closures did not give the best of impressions:
Asudres, Amazing Dogs, Ceffi, Clogau, Craft Centre, Health Food Shop, Hideaway, Jeff Jones, Joe Brown, Just For Paws, Naturally Ethical, Resource, Rachel’s, Ringwood Framers, Ruby Joe’s, Seconds Café, The Studio, Tom Smith and Wayfarer.
Fair play to all the others—the majority, of course—who were flying the Monday flag for Rhuthun/Ruthin.