your comments
Brian Lewis Ne The Carlton Bungalow.
My father Harold lewis, mother Ena Lewis, sister another Ena and myself Brian Lewis arrived at the Warren in the early 50s. My parents developed a good holiday lettings business. Close by we had Smithys Drug store, Nellie Radcliffes, the ice cream parlour opposite (can't remember the name) and Mrs Davies' store (in competition with Nellie). Life was simple and idyllic, long summer days, death defying jumps off tall dunes, plenty of dunes. Oh, what have we lost. It seemed to be a paradise especially if we had a few pennies to spend in the simple stores or in Auntie Mays. I have been back several times but nothing is the same. The only remnant being Mrs Deans (the old lifeboat House).
Fri Jun 12 09:48:03 2009
Hazel Tudor (nee Ash), Irlam
My nan had a bungalow, 34R The Warren, where I went from 1946-1969 when the bungalows started to be pulled down to build Presthaven Sands. We had no running water (rain water collected), electric (oil lamps & a portable radio it took a strong man to carry) or flush toilet (hole dug in ground to empty chemical toilet). The summer weather was always glorious but Mr Makin used to give us a lift in his delivery van if it was raining or the road flooded. My nan's 2 sisters also had bungalows there so we always had lots of company. Lovely memories.
Tue Jun 2 08:08:52 2009
Andrea from Wrexham
Gronant - Greenacres in particular was a huge part of children's lives. We had a static caravan there from 1988 to 2000. The site was owned then by Michael Bancroft and was beautifully clean and tidy. We loved to go there on a Friday night and watch The Golden Girls on the telly and drink Oxo. My children had lots of friends from all over, Liverpool, Manchester and the Midlands. My parents used to love to come and visit too. Wonderful days and wonderful memories.
Mon Jun 1 08:33:40 2009
Christine Edmondson from Dorset
Re. Homefield, Gronant Road. This house was built by my gt grandfather, James Thornton, a building contractor from Liverpool. He died in 1928. My grandmother, Winifred Bateman, spent most of her childhood there. I have some photos of Homefield.
Thu May 21 11:17:46 2009
Tracy West, Stockport
It is so nice to hear that people do remember the Warren.
Tue May 5 09:01:22 2009
Jean McAulay nee Ellis
As a child in the 50s, I stayed at a beautiful house for a week on holiday with my Sunday school. This was a treat as the place was so beautiful. I cut my knee one year jumping down the dunes on the barbed wire, [mentioned by Roy Blackmore]. I think the house was called Homefield, the grounds were magical to me. There were statues in the gardens which gave me hours of delight playing. Bluebell Woods was another treat, also going onto Woolworths on the main street to buy Mam a trinket for one & a tanner! Very happy memories.
Mon Mar 23 08:33:50 2009
Avis Massey, Gronant Hill
I would love to know any history about Gronant Hill. Particularly if anybody knows about the little Methodist chapel that was at the bottom of Gronant Hill. Thank you.
Tue Mar 17 08:49:07 2009
Steve
I stayed with my grand parents who lived at the Anchorage, Richard and Mary Roughly, who also built two bungalows for their children, my aunties and uncles. I remember Ron and Edna who lived next door, the shops over the railway bridge, fishing in the river, playing all day in the sand dunes, watching the steam trains. Has anyone any old photos? My nephews and nieces also stayed. I have been back a few times, the Anchorage is now a pub, the shops have gone and the sand dunes seem smaller. Those were the happiest days of my life.
Thu Feb 12 09:54:13 2009
Molly Bate (nee Jackson)
I spent a lot of my early years in Upper Gronant. I believe my father was the first person to have a caravan in Gronant, he took it by horse from Warrington. It had solid wheels and was a 'gypsy' type van. It was parked-up in the field of Gronant Farm where Mr and Mrs Williams lived. There was May Owen with her little shop (a wooden hut) and there was Mr and Mrs Makin from the local pub 'Gronant Inn'. My two sisters went to the school in Honeysuckle Lane, as we went to live there for a time during the war. We use to go for walks in Bluebell Wood and had a little white washed cottage in the woods for a while and had to carry water from the well halfway down the lane. Lots of happy memories, I could go on and on. If anyone has any photographs of our little van then I would love to have one.
Wed Sep 24 08:03:46 2008
Collette Burgess, Liverpool
We have been in lower Gronant Greenacres holiday camp the last four years and don't know where the Warren holiday site was. Could someone enlighten us? My mum had a caravan on there in the 70s and remembers Buddy the compere. We took her back to the club and she still says it looks the same.
Mon Sep 1 09:24:28 2008
Anita Layland from Lancashire
I remember being at boarding school at Vale View, Meliden Road, in the late 50s. I think the house where we actually slept was on Gronant Road. There were three sisters who ran the school, the widowed one being in charge, and the single ones (Miss Woodward and Miss Hilda) in charge of drawing classes and the kindergarten. At weekends we used to walk to beach, or sometimes up the mountain. It wasn't too daunting being at school away from home, as the surroundings were beautiful, and my grandparents and other relatives lived in Rhyl!
Mon Jul 28 09:22:21 2008
Roy Blackmore, Hamilton, NZ
I too have very early happy memories of being on holiday on the Warren as a child. It was just after the War and there was barbed wire along the sandhills. We sometimes stayed at a little place called Northcot, which was near to the railway wall. I too, stayed at the Anchorage and remember the chickens kept outside. At this time it was owned by Mrs Linacre and her husband. I remember an unexploded bomb found in the water channel that was over the sand hills. I remember all the various homes that were also different from double decker buses, single deckers and railway carriages to little wooden cottages of evry shape and size. They all had "add-ons" and some of their gardens were so well kept with smooth lawns and shrubs that obviously their owners took a pride in them. As kids, we just loved seeing all the different homes, playing in the sandhills and playing on the beach. There was even a taxi on the Warren, operated by a Jones (who else). It looked new at the time and was 1938 Ford 8. I think it was known as a "J" Type. There was another taxi on the Coast Road at the bottom of the Upper Gronant road run by a chap called "Aubrey". At this time, there was also a thatched roof cottage on the corner of Upper Gronant /Coast road. There was a bungalow owned by a Mrs Pennington in Upper Gronant called "Blenhiem" where we also stayed as kids.
Tue Jun 24 08:22:33 2008
Mike Greatorex, Gronant
I first saw Gronant as we passed through the caravans on the steam trains on the way to Rhyl in the early 1960s. We travelled from Stoke and the trains got longer as we coupled up more carriages at Crewe. All those little station stops along the North Wales coast made the holiday more exciting. That excitiment continued into adulthood and my wife and I courted, honeymooned and holidayed at Presthaven during our busy career breaks. Most of our four children were concieved in the sand dunes. It must have been the the rabbits influence. We remember my grandmother (Mrs Harrison) sent the milkman Charlie Bickley to shake our caravan during the honeymoon. He was a real character and used to walk around rattling his milk crate and humming a droning growl which must have seemed tuneful to him. The bottles were so fresh the cow muck was stuck to the necks you just can't buy it that good now! I remember the flower people being evicted from the Warren in the 1970s. They had occupied the remains of the old army camp and had built homes from window frames and scrap and were dragged kicking and objecting with a string of hand painted "flower power" vehicles chained together dragged by tractors. Some people were dragged by the long hair by police officers. Someone called Charles had a crown put on his head at Caernarfon but we preferred to relax at Gronant and watch on TV. The sea was filthy and full of human effluent and children used to regularly collect "johnny fish" and "tampon tails". We used to play in the old wartime relics on the beach and dunes. The sea lions used to join in with human bathers early hours and later in the day one could roll around in the sea in "farting sand" which was caused by trapped methane escaping. There still is not much to do but fart around but it has always been a good base since all of North Wales is within easy travelling distance.
Fri Jun 20 07:40:06 2008
Edna Wyszniowsky
Gronant is (or was) beautiful and very peaceful. The happiest times of my life was living in the Anchorage with my husband, Roman. There were very few lights (not much has changed) so we used to put parrafin lamps in the window to help people to see as they passed by. The corner shop was owned by Nellie Ratcliffe and Bill Peel (he was a gentleman). We used to weigh Penny Makin and Gill Barnes on his potato scales when they were babies. Charlie Barnes and wife Jean lived on the Warren and were good friends of Roman and I. Joan Makin used to take Penny and Edwina to Gronant school and by the time they got there she was like the Pied Piper with a trail of kids.
Fri Jun 20 07:37:11 2008
Martin Perkins from Chepstow
My Grandfather, Robert Perkins, was the Works manager for James Rims in Rolfe Street Smethwick. In 1922 he paid for all his employees to go to Gronant for a 7 Day holiday. They were accommodated in Army Bell tents and slept on wooden duck boards. I presume all this must have been Army Surplus from the First World War. My Grandmother couldn't stand sleeping on the duck boards, so the following year he booked a Guest House whilst the employees continued to use the Bell Tents ( He did this until 1927). They continued as a family to holiday in Gronant until the 2nd World War. Then, after the war, as a couple until my grandmother died in 1956. I don't have any photos just my father's memories.
Thu Jun 19 14:24:03 2008
Wendy Fowles, Cheshire
I lived on the Warren 1953 to 1960. I went to the primary school on top of the hill. I used to play on the sand dunes with my cousins Hilary and Barry Lomas and my friends John Larner and Edwina Blackwell - fond memories.
Mon Jun 2 09:29:58 2008
Janet from Stalybridge
The highlight of every year for both myself and my older sister was to prepare, pack and go to my mother's uncle's caravan at Gronant between 1957 - 1967 where we would spend many a happy long hot summer's days climbing over the sand dunes on to the beach. We also made our yearly pilgrimage to Talacre Abbey and Holywell to see St Winefride. I can remember that when I saw the shop with the big sun on the side of it I knew we had arrived. My sister and I would fall out as to who would go and get the water from the stand pipe outside the caravan entrance as we both loved doing this chore. When I die I would like my ashes cast to the winds on the beach that I loved so well.
Fri May 23 08:08:36 2008
Penny from Canada
My first nine years were spent living on the Warren and although we didn't have electricity, running water or TV, it was a wonderful childhood at Gronant Primary and summers spent on the Beach. We used to rent out a part of our bungalow to tourists in the summer, so if anyone remembers staying at Denman, the Warren, that was my home. Alf from Weymouth, remembers working for Roman, he was my uncle (although from the Ukraine) - he married my mother's sister. He died just a few years ago and is laid to rest at the cemetery at the top of Gronant hill. Although I've lived in Canada 35 years I still go back to Gronant, but never to the Warren it is too sad to see that wild, beautiful beach now blocked off with gates and security guards.
Fri May 16 09:57:59 2008
Graham Ash
I was evacuated to the Warren in 1944 when I was 1 year old. We lived in my gran's chalet. I used to got there for my holidays; Easter, Whit, and summer for 6 weeks until I was 15 years old. I loved it.
Mon Apr 14 08:23:06 2008
Lesley Worsley - Stafford
All my holidays were spent as a child at the Warren. My parents hired a hut from Mr and Mrs Sayce of Pensnett, West Midlands. There were 3 huts of differing sizes on the one plot, but all had the same common factor that they were made around railway carriages. Oh, the fun that was to be had in those sand dunes and we never had to worry about letting the dog free to roam. Many happy hours we had collecting the driftwood for the fire along the beach.
Tue Mar 18 08:08:37 2008
Alf from Weymouth
I can honestly say a happy and large part of my life was spent in Gronant, as a 10 yr old upwards I lived and worked on Rainfords site instead of going to school. I worked in the store owned by Roman, and in Jobey's Bingo. At first I lived in a small caravan, in the winter bathing myself under the freezing cold taps in the middle of the site. Later I lived above the Cats Whiskers Club owned by Jack and Chris. I could go on for hours about this area, from the shanty town to the Monastery in the woods.
Mon Mar 17 09:45:40 2008
Steve Dudley London
I was brought up in Liverpool. I remember very happy times spent in Gronant early sixties onwards. We (Mum, brothers Aunties and cousins) would stay on plot 8, the Warren. I remember it was painted red. I remember the gift shop and the drug store and the tuck shop. We then began staying in caravans on Rainfords camp. In fact, my aunty Marie at one time had 4 caravans that she would rent out. Yes, I have so many wonderful childhood memories of Gronant. It would be nice to see old photographs. I remeber the site next to Rainfords was a bit delapidated but then was spruced up to become Sunny Sands camp. I think the camp was owned by a Mrs Bancroft.
Fri Mar 14 08:15:56 2008
Kathryn from Melton Mowbray
My mum and dad had "The Bus" at 40b on the warren. It was like a second home. Through the sixties we spent as much time there as we could. My great aunty and uncle, Bertha and Joe, lived on the warren for years. I remember "the secret valley" and "the hidden valley". Also the sound of the mail train late at night. We had gas mantles, a windmill, rain tanks and elsinol? toilets. I was friends with Rhona whose dad was the postman but I remember him delivering milk and all sorts of other things too. He used to let me sit on the back of his van and ring the bell. Those days there were so very special. Walks over the links to Prestatyn and walks the other way to the lighthouse. Collecting water in buckets from taps down the warren. Picking blackberries up in the woods behind. I'm so pleased to have found other people who remember that place and those times.
Tue Aug 28 11:04:08 2007
Joanne Smith from Gronant
Gronant is fantastic, I made a lot of friends down there and it's fantastic, miss u all.
Tue May 1 11:20:36 2007
Cynthia from Kinmel Bay
My Sister and I have written a book on Talacre called Sisters Growing up in Talacre which has photos of old and new Talacre. I also have some photos of the old Warren Gronant end and Tyn-yr-Morfa
Fri Mar 30 11:30:45 2007
Colette from Widnes
My Gran and Grandad lived on the Warren they had the Tuck shop, Bill and Elizabeth, does anybody remember them? I used to love the 6 weeks summer holidays there, and washing my hair in rain water which was collected in a big tank, I didn't like the chemical toilet though! I stayed there between 1963-1970 every summer. I remember a few of the house names, Grand Slam the nearest to the shop, The Love Nest, Ponda Rosa and the bakery mmmm! And "Calor gas calling" look forward to replies x
Thu Mar 22 12:07:14 2007
Les from Liverpool
Have very fond memories of Gronant, staying at Greenacres, where aunty had a caravan, then, in later years, stayed in Upper Gronant in my "Aunty and Uncle's" Al and Mary Buddy. Some may remember Al as the compere in the site club. Great times. I'm taking my kids back soon for my first visit since those days. I can't wait. Would love to see any old photos
Fri Feb 16 12:35:33 2007
Julie from Jersey Channel Islands
This is a lovely site. My grandparents lived in 13C, Linden Lea, The Warren, Gronant. I have so many happy memories of these times in the 60's; the van with the daily supplies; my aunts and uncles swimming in the 'cut' at the top of the warren; the old decrepit van left rusting just outside of the plot of 13c, the railway carriage we kids thought was haunted, scary :-)..'the big valley', a huge huge sand dune with steep sides we used to roll down (how did we ever survive?) I will dig some photos out and forward them.
Tue Jan 30 08:52:39 2007
Brendan, Gronant
If anyone has old photos of the workers' cottages, woodlands etc I would be very grateful if they would send them.
Thu Jun 29 10:30:34 2006
Vivien Hughes Davies, Abergele
Born Gronant 1921. Plenty old photos of village and accurate personal knowledge about people and area where my ancestors lived.
Web Team responds: Please contact us via email on wales.northeast@bbc.co.uk as we'd love for you to add your memories and photos to the website.
Sun Jan 8 11:20:42 2006
Mike from Romiley
In the 1940's and 50's we went to Gronant on holiday each year staying at a relatives bugalow on Abbey Drive.
I have two picture postcards of Upper Gronant. You are welcome to have copies. I will email them to the bbc.
Like Karl from Morecambe I remember Bluebell Woods. Also the nuns at Talacre Abbey, afternoon tea at Telegraph House, the singing in the 2 chapels on Sundays.
Mike
Sat Dec 3 14:52:20 2005
Karl from Morecambe
As child in the 60's I went to Presthaven Sands on holidays. I have photos but they are family orientated mainly of the hills surrounding Gronant and the dunes and Betsyw-Coed (Bluebell Wood) but they all feature a member of the family.
Tue Apr 19 20:52:15 2005
