Rhos
on Sea is a village on the North coast of Wales. It sits in
the shadow of the hill known as Bryn Euryn on the Western edge of the
Bay of Colwyn, and between the towns of Penrhyn Bay to the 
West
and Colwyn Bay to the East. In the 20th Century, as with many holiday
resorts it became a popular retirement destination for the well off, and
I think it fair to say that the residents of Rhos on Sea think they are
posher than their neighbours. Indeed, when I was a child, if I was to
spot a Rolls Royce it would be in Rhos on Sea.
It's reputation as a retirement destination grew until eventually even
Emily Bishop of Coronation Street fame was storylined to retire to "Ros
on Sea". (How sad am I to remember that?)
As with many North Wales coastal towns Rhos on Sea benefits from a mild
climate, indeed Rhos on Sea and its neighbour Colwyn
Bay grew with the
advent of the holiday trade that came with the arrival of the railways
in the mid 19th Century. The Rhos section of the promenade (and Cycle
Path) stretches from the Cayley embankment in the East as far as Rhos
Point and then continues past the Point to Penrhyn Bay in the West. There
are several restaurants, public houses, various good quality small shops,
classy ladies wear, a chip shop, butchers, maybe not a bakers or candlestick
makers but there are antique shops to browse, the ice cream parlours
of Fortes and Nino's on the seafront, and last but not least the Cayley
Kiosk on the promenade.
--------------------------CLICK
HERE FOR A VIDEO OF ROUGH SEAS BY THE CAYLEY KIOSK ----------------------
In the 21st Century Rhos on Sea retains its sedate charm and its popularity
with its visitors has not diminished. Indeed with the building of the
rock breakwater off shore a new attraction has opened up for Rhos on Sea.
For many years the town would flood when high tides coincided with strong
north easterly winds and the breakwater was the solution to the problem.
But it had the added benefit of providing a safe harbour.
Today
there are many boats anchored off the Point and the boat trips and sea
fishing trips from Rhos jetty are becoming ever more popular. Anglers
can hire fishing rods on the boats or from the Tackle shop at Rhos Point,
just a few hundred yards from the jetty. Some of the boats go as far as
20 miles offshore, while others make fishing trips around the local wrecks
in the Irish Sea.
Suggested Walk :
Talking of wrecks should your visit to Rhos on Sea coincide with a low
spring tide its well worth taking a walk round the Point and out to
the low tide mark. Here you will find the wreck of the paddle steamer
Rhosneigr that went aground near Rhos Point on July 20th 1908, but you
will need your wellies for the last few yards. (In 2008 I heard a
postscript to the story of the Rhosneigr... A local lad, Mike Watkins
who at one time lived in the Bay but now in Pydew, told me of the
time he was messing about in his boat in Rhos harbour some 20 years earlier.
He heard a shout from some visitors who were rock pooling and they asked
him to identify the barnacle encrusted object they had found on the beach
... and after rubbing off some of the barnacles he read the words Rhosneigr
... he had in his hands the bell of the wrecked boat the Rhosneigr. But
not for long as the two lads who found it took it back to Manchester
!)
There were also at one time the remains of a second world war Mosquito
warplane but these have now disappeared. But you will still find the
remains of medieval stone and timber fishing weirs (goradau) among the
massive mussel beds. If you look closely at the picture below you will
be able to see the remains of the stakes used to form the wicker fencing
around the weir. The weir
may be medieval but I know somebody who's Dad fished there in the early
20th Century, (Davy Post's dad, from Park Road in the Bay) and I used
to collect mussels and periwinkles myself. I remember finding pearls
in the mussels but as we were children 
we
had no idea of their value and played games with them.
Walk back from the mussel beds (East) toward the breakwater and if you
are lucky you may find a few remains of the demolished Victorian Rhos
Pier. To your right you will see the only remaining section of
Rhos pier, the tower-like Pier Toll Room, now a small museum at Rhos
Point. Rhos-on-Sea Pier was originally built at Douglas, Isle-of-Man
in 1869 before being dismantled in 1892 and re-erected in Rhos-on-Sea
until it's eventual demolition in1954.
Rhos Pier was a majestic structure but unfortunately due to fears
over it being used by enemy landing forces during the second world war
it was partially dismantled. By the 1950's Britain was in the "age of
austerity" the war had almost bankrupted the nation and with local councils
finding money in short supply it was decided to blow up the pier
rather than maintain it.
Although I was only a five year old at the time I, and my child-hood
friends, still remember the day Rhos Pier was "blown up". It was such
a big occasion for us that every body remembers it. At
the time our gang was playing
in the Pwllychrochan Woods that overlook Colwyn Bay and Rhos on Sea (in
the Devil's Bowl, or as we called it Devy's Bowl, to state the precise
location). I suppose it sounds a bit strange for 5 and 6 year olds to
be playing in the woods but it was normal in those days, and I checked
with my child-hood friend Steve Davies (Rhiw Road) and he remembers it
as clear as a bell.
Enough reminiscing .... back to Rhos beach and if you are really lucky
you may find remains of ancient tree trunks buried in the sand, evidence
of the ever changing shore line. Some half a mile further along the beach,
opposite the Aberhod Restaurant, you will find the stone outline of another
ancient fishing weir. The outline of this weir is very clear and when
the tide recedes the method of entrapping the fish is obvious when you
see the sea water held within the three walls of the weir. Originally
there would have been wicker fencing above the stone foundations to assist
in the entrapment. Just goes to show how our ancestors were using the
natural power of the great tidal range of the North Wales coast for thousands
of years, and yet we in the 21st century can not see the advantage of
tidal lagoons to supply "green" energy,
.....free energy driven by the moon's gravitational pull.
Leave the beach and return to the promenade and then head back toward
the Point, you have the opportunity to enjoy the delights of Fortes or
Nino's ice cream parlours or the Point Cafe. The walk continues to the
West along the promenade toward Penrhyn Bay. After a few hundred yards
you will see, down the bank on your right hand side, 
the 6th Century St
Trillo's Chapel. It is a tiny little church and probably only holds
six people at a squeeze, but it is still a place of worship. The chapel
is on the site of a pre-Christian holy well with the altar being built
directly over the well, and to this day people visit to worship and collect
the holy water.
Exit the Chapel and continue West for another mile and in the garden
of "Odstone", the last house before the Rhos Golf Course, you
will come to the place from where the Welsh
Prince Madoc is said to have sailed to find America, 300 years before
Christopher Columbus. Legend had it that Madoc had sailed from the area
but it was not until the 1950's that workmen building the sea wall discovered
the remains of the previously unknown stone harbour wall, lending support
to the legend of Prince Madoc. The wall is set back from the road in the
sunken garden of Odstones but it is not visible from the road.
