Rhuthun / Ruthin

Two minute read ▼ Not * the* Glyndŵr Day but April 1st is another Glyndŵr Day. Not directly celebrating the self-proclamation of the last true Prince of Wales, either. April 1st, 2024 is the 50th anniversary of the creation of Rhuthun/Ruthin-based Gl…

The sunshine and the prospect of doors flung open brought out the crowds on Saturday. There were some unexpected queues. The Old Gaol was free (a rare opportunity). Our oldest dated residence, Gorphwysfa, proved to be of much interest. Sunday, yesterd…

We all know that the Old Gaol will reopen from Saturday, following two years of closure because of flooding . This is great news.  Following the flood, the whitewashed walls and ceiling have gone At yesterday's heritage event, there was an opport…

Delivered yesterday to The Old Courthouse were several hundred leaflets on Rhuthun/Ruthin's timber heritage. Opulently designed by Headland in Chester, they mirror the existing orange town trail leaflet. We currently therefore have the following t…

The town council has sponsored three 'community books of you' designed to gather memories of Ruthin castle, Ysgol Borthyn and retail shops in Ruthin. They've been produced by a local company. They will be officially launched later this aft…

Unusually, Rhuthun/Ruthin had three of historic Denbighshire’s 14 almshouses, one for each local parish of the time. Two survive. One is Christ's Hospital; and a second with something of a more complicated history is at Llanfwrog. A third at Llanr…

Later today will see the last ever 'regular' services at Ss Mwrog & Mary, Llanfwrog and at St Meugan's. Thereafter, the Church in Wales will be centralising its Rhuthun/Ruthin activities in St Peter's, to be called the hub church. …

2023 is the year of returns and the latest is Open Doors. Though this is held over the weekend, it was noticeable that yesterday, Saturday, was the day when most premises' doors were open. A significant number had been open in previous years but s…

Is there such a thing as bell ringer's elbow? If there is, we're sure the St Peter's band have it, all thanks to recent events at Balmoral and in Llundain.  The bell tower was open today, as part of Open Doors. Two of these bell ringers a…

Gayla House is celebrating its 55th anniversary. In a town where there appears to be constant changes in the number and type of shops, reaching 55 years is something of an accomplishment. You often see the proprietrix there, the wife of the late Elwyn…

We certainly hope not. Yesterday's talk on the railway in Rhuthun/Ruthin by Fiona Gale as part of Gŵyl Rhuthun was informative and interesting. I would guess that most of those present knew something about the railway but not everything and certai…

Yesterday evening's history club meeting was a bit of a disaster but, given the type of people who support the club, there was much tolerance and good humour. Those who were in The Old Courthouse were treated to a quiz, following the main speaker.…

Yesterday's History Club meeting was one of the best ever. In spite of a few tangles with the Zoom technology, Rhuthun/Ruthin-based Arnold Hughes gave an excellent talk on the World War Two Pool Park Prisoner of War camp, something about which mos…

For the first time since the March 2020 virus-related hiatus, the History Club reconvened this evening. Tonight's meeting was via Zoom and, as you might expect, there was a little comedy while people less used to video calls managed to feel their …

Some statistics given out at the Historical Society meeting the day before yesterday: 135 members, £574 income in the year; balance of £2,032.58; and 10,000 page hits to its website. The number of page views does seem rather a lot for a site of limite…

Arnold Hughes gave a talk on  Pool Park  at yesterday's history club meeting. Before the formal park, in the 4th or 5th century, it was believed to be in the hands of a local post-Roman prince, Emlyn. His burial stone, likely placed on high grou…

At least there are no plans to close our libraries. That much we heard at the presentation last night for the town council about the relocation of the archive . Whereas some authorities are closing some of their libraries, town councillors were told t…

The news yesterday of the proposed closure of Rhuthun/Ruthin's county archive feels a little like a small scale mirror of what happened in Rhuthun/Ruthin way back in 1974. Gates locked in future? That was the year that historic Denbighshir…

What did we learn from this evening's history society (rather confusing) presentation on the buildings of Rhuthun/Ruthin, by Gareth Evans? First, the stretch of Well Street, from Plas Coch (the conservative club) to The Old Anchor (Schaola Rut…

The glorious rank of chestnut trees alongside the new Wynnstay Farmers' shop on Lôn Parcwr is again showing signs of disease, with the leaves now starting to become mottled, as last year . Unlike the bare metal fencing of farther along, these ch…