Rhuthun / Ruthin

It’s rather sad to report that Resource Wales’ From the Earth café (opposite the Manor House, Well Street) closed five days after we thought it was beginning to make a breakthrough in terms of numbers using it . It’s officially ‘closed until further n…

From the Earth (once known as Seconds) has now been open for a year . It’s On Well Street, opposite the Manor House. From the Earth is a café with a difference.   I passed From the Earth one day last week and spied that it was full. Admittedly when ru…

In November 2023 , we mentioned that Cara’s Bar was about to open at the Clwyd Gate restaurant site. That seems to have gone quiet.  The former motel (now Clwyd Gate Manor) trades. Highland Cottages were built to add additional holiday accommodation b…

Today is the funeral of the well known Colin Davies, late of Siop Nain , Well Street. Would you believe that he started the business there half a century ago. He was a familiar figure behind the till (though it was his wife who usually tended it). The…

It's excellent to see a building on the Majestic Travel side of the Square in use at last, even if that's only after 5 p.m. on three evenings a week. New restaurant No. 11  opens this evening. It's been empty too long . And, who knows, if…

This week, for the first time since it reopened, we ate in the new Siop Nain café. It's had something of an internal makeover. Readers may recall that the previous proprietrix closed in September and entered what she called semi-retirement. (Methi…

There are reports of Cara's Bar opening at the Clwyd Gate . A trip up there yesterday (to see what was going on) indicated that there was nothing going on. Part of the former restaurant building did have window coverings to ensure there was no sno…

She's been talking about it for some time but on Saturday, finally, the proprietrix of Candy Shack retired. Well, we suspect that it's semi-retirement. Whatever it is, she'll not be running her Well Street premises.  'Happy Retirement&…

One other thing in Wetherspoon's favour is its refusal to accept dogs. Now I know that this will be controversial, given the burgeoning post-coronavirus appeal of dogs as pets, but not everyone eating a meal or frequenting a café wants to see a d…

One further snag concerning Mondays in Rhuthun/Ruthin is the choice of places to eat for a typical light lunch. Closed are the Craft Centre café, the market hall and Seconds café. Leonardo's has a food hygiene rating of zero, so that was out of t…

Eiliadau opened in the middle of last week, in the former Crown House. It's run by Resource of Exemewe Hall. What, another café? Well, there used to be one on these premises†. But this one is slightly different. It's called 'Seconds' f…

After the PR disaster for zero out of five for its food hygiene, Ruthin Castle has bounced back to four out of five. Given the importance of the Castle to the town, that is a relief. It's been five, before but generally three.  When rated zero, at…

That was Christmas, then. Christmas Eve (this year on December 24th, a Saturday) and I'd say the town was very busy by today's standards even up to mid-afternoon... but actually only as busy as it used to be in the late 1980s and 1990s on an o…

What's happening in Rhuthun/Ruthin? Yet more change is what. And it's likely to be structural change, too. The Fat Boar languishes, closed. So, in spite of all the promise, who knows its fate. The Myddelton Arms, reportedly sustainable but for…

This on Facebook. Himalaya restaurant seems to be looking for part-time front of house *stuff* at its Well Street premises. What sort of part-time stuff might that be? Jumble, perhaps? Something to read while you wait? Or, is it suggesting a visit to …

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…

A tally of those in our pubs as at 9 pm on Thursday, September 8th, 2022 in the evening:  The Wine Vaults      2 The Corporation      3 The Feathers   4 The Boar's Head    4 …

What's happened to our restaurants? We're somewhat bereft. The impact this is having on the town is palpable. You used to be able to enjoy a decent lunch in town. It brought people in. If people cannot now do so in a bistro of reasonable stand…

Llanrhydd Manor has sold. This is the former solicitors' office redundant upon Swayne Johnson's move to Clwyd Street and placed on the housing market last year, at £335,000. It has consent to return this to a dwelling, should a purchaser wish.…

Last night's meeting at the Wine Vaults to discuss the town was described to me as 'a little chaotic', with participants talking over each other. Guess that's what happens when people are passionate about their businesses—and worried. …