Prom Days
The promenade at Aberystwyth has always been a magnet for locals and visitors alike. We want to hear your stories about the seafront and why it's so special.
One local woman has already been sharing her memories. Jane Smyth was born in Aberystwyth and has lived most of her life in the town. She remembers what the prom was like when she was growing up in the 1940s.
"During the war years, my mother would take us every day in the summer to sit on South Beach in Aberystwyth. It probably wasn't the case but the weather always seemed to be warm and sunny then.
My sister Mary and I used to love playing in the children's paddling pool on Castle Rocks.
It was a concrete pool cast on the rocks and when the tide came in it would fill up with seawater through the drainage holes in the side of the walls - we used to think that was so exciting!
You can still see where it used to be but it would be lovely to see it restored so that children today could enjoy playing in the pool as we used to.
I also have fond memories of the seafront on a Sunday. After morning chapel, it was traditional to go for a walk on the prom and kick the bar.
It was an important weekly social event where people could stop and chat, catch up on local news and take in the sea air.
The prom would be crowded, full of people dressed in their Sunday Best. In the evening, we'd have Côr y Castell (The Castle Choir). People would gather in the shelter under the castle grounds to sing hymns after chapel.
The place used to be packed. There was no television in those days so we had to make our own entertainment."
your comments
Alyson Jones from Machynlleth
For swimming with the family it was the South Beach but when I was deemed old enough my best friend and I would head off for the Town Beach and find ourselves a spot behind the Band Stand.....this was the place to be, Jumping Jacks, ice cream, Kings Hall, Donkeys and if we were energetic a trip up Consti. After a perfect day we would stop off at the Bon Bon my dads' shop for sweets (no concessions for family!) As the years went by we used to go to the Kings Hall discos having first had some cider from the White Horse Offie this would be consumed in one of the shelters on the prom and when we were just ever so slightly giggly we would hit the disco.
Thu May 22 11:51:27 2008
phil bishop ludlowe shropshire
I think it would be a wonderful idea. But I myself always remembered the old tradition of kicking the bar at the end of the prom as it was mentioned below is it still done today? It's a wonder the bar was never bet but I do know that the paint was always off.
More on kicking the bar...
Fri Mar 10 17:59:59 2006
Linda Evans from Rushden
Happy days growing up in Aber. As a child playing everyday in the paddling pool, riding the donkeys and being treated to a turn on the trampolines. Oh happy days!!
Wed Mar 1 17:24:21 2006
Lawrence Jones,from Aberystwyth
We moved here as a family early into the new millenium and enjoy walking on the promenade as much now as when we first moved here. I am sure that when my children grow up they will tell their children about the time when, one christmas, after they were lucky enough to have all had nice new and rather expensive, remote controlled racing cars waiting for them christmas morning, we all decided that the best place to test them out would be on the promenade, so that's where we gave them, all three, their maiden voyage. My two boys had no problem showing their skills off and my daughter was quite skillful with hers but dad decided to show them all how to do it, I promptly whipped the cotroller from my daughter's hands and proceeded to drive the car straight off the wall by the side of the bandstand, much to my daughter's disgust. My boys kindly gathered all the pieces together, whilst my daughter's tears were streaming down her face. Well you can just imagine how I felt. I love Aberystwyth.
Mon Dec 5 09:59:57 2005
Jackie from Brandon
I was born in Aberystwyth in the 1960s and can remember my mother taking me on the donkey rides along the promonade and paddling in the kiddies paddling pool in the summertime. Such happy memories and such lovely summers! I wish times could be like that again!
Tue Oct 4 17:24:18 2005
Andy now in Derby
I too remember playing in the paddling pool as a young boy. Oh happy days!
Thu Jun 9 13:21:21 2005
Anne, Cheshire
How idyllic - would that the pace of life was still like that.
Tue Jun 7 13:16:00 2005
Do you have fond memories of the prom? Do you think the old children's paddling pool on Castle Rocks should be re-built? Share your memories or comments here:
