Derbyshire Miners' Holiday Camp, Rhyl and the 1956 Hungarian Revolution. Fifty years ago, on October 23, 1956, the uprising in Hungary began in Budapest. In the following weeks this was savagely put down by the Soviet Union with tanks and as a result thousands of Hungarians fled their country.
Many went to neighbouring countries such as Austria but some came to Wales and stayed in Rhyl at the Derbyshire Miner's Holiday Camp in Marsh Road. I was 16 and then lived in Marsh Road, on the corner of Clwyd Avenue. I remember the refugees, mostly men, who regularly passed our house on their way to and from town. My father was a bit doubtful about their presence and was worried about my 14-year-old sister Diana. However, I don't remember them causing any trouble, although when there were any problems in the town for a while the Hungarians were handy scapegoats.
At that time I used to go fishing at night on Rhyl Pier with my mate Elwyn Thomas. We used to fish two hours each side of high tide which might be at about 11 pm. Thinking back, it was pretty uncomfortable and cold but in 1956, aged 16, it was exciting to be out so late and there would usually be about half-a-dozen of us hardy anglers dotted about the end of the pier.
One night our tranquillity was disturbed by the arrival on the pier of a large group of men who suddenly appeared and walked towards us speaking in a foreign language - it was the Hungarians. Initially we were a bit uncertain of them but soon realised that they meant no harm and, in broken English, one or two spoke to us about their homeland, Budapest and fishing in the Danube.
I was told recently that some of them worked at Slaters Garage, Abergele, as mechanics. I don't remember how long they stayed at the Derbyshire Miners' Holiday Camp but for a while they were a presence in Rhyl; a town not particularly used to foreigners then or now.
The presence of the Hungarians in a town that was usually on the fringe of world events, for a brief period, brought the crisis a little closer. However, the Hungarians' struggle for freedom was short-lived and they were not to taste freedom again until 1989 when the Soviet system finally collapsed.
Ironically, 50 years on, their current protests in Budapest are in the news again. However, in 1956 the attention of the people of Rhyl quickly returned to more ordinary matters such as wine, women and rock and roll. Harold Macmillan was soon able to tell us "you've never had it so good" and the swinging Sixties were before us!
Other residents at that time may remember more about the Hungarians in 1956. I wonder if any remained in the locality? 
your comments
David Schneerson, London
Moira's e mail: I knew Emile Lugosie as 'Mike' and in 1957 we worked on 'the cameras' on the Rhyl sea front. This was Empire Films and Happy Snaps and 2 others run by Mr Hobson - who employed about 12 cameramen covering the prom and the beach. Mike in fact married either the then current Miss Wales or Miss Great Britain - and, yes, she was very attractive! Again, like Moira, regards to Mike if he reads this!
Fri Jun 27 07:52:10 2008
Moira, Earls Barton, Northamptonshire
I worked with Emile Lugosie a Hungarian, who was a driving instructor and married a very attractive Rhyl girl. Regards to you and yours Mike if you read this.
Tue Mar 25 10:10:48 2008
Gene, Morpeth, Northumberland
Read this with interest because some Hungarians must have stayed. I had a relationship with one. I remember that he told me how hateful they found it to sing the Russian anthem in Hungary.
Tue Sep 25 08:32:37 2007
Bob Machin from Rhyl
I remember the Hungarians very well. There was a certain lack of sympathy as many people in the area were desperately poor and the Hungarians seemed to have so much given to them, there was an attitude of why not us first? For a time at school I worked at Holdcrofts Grocers and delivered "orders" on a bike, I recall George & Diana Owen.
Mon Dec 18 09:59:14 2006
George, London
Further to my piece about the Hungarians in Rhyl the files of the local paper show that in 1956 the people of Rhyl responded to the refugees' plight in what today seems a novel way. Sixteen "mammoth money boxes" where placed around the town for people to put their contributions in. The boxes were sealed dustbins each padlocked to a lamppost with a slot for the money. The dustbins were bought out of storage because they had been used twice before in 1953 for the Lynton and Lynmouth Flood Disaster and also the East Coast Flooding National Appeal when 300 had died. In 1956 within two weeks the newspaper reported that over £28 had been collected for the Hungarians in these "money boxes" including chilren donating their pocket money. Not much today but would it be realistic to even try and collect funds in this way given today's vandalism? In December 1956 among several other local fund-raising events a Grand Ball was held at the Ritz Ballroom when £250 was donated to the Lord Mayor of London's Hungarian Relief Fund. A football match was held at the Coronation Gardens between a team of local lads and a team of Hungarian refugees from the Derbyshire Miner's Holiday Camp - no record of the score! Does anyone else remembers this match? Philip Anwyl who now lives in Canada, was there and says he lost his sunglasses but they were returned to him by an Hungarian with the comment: "unlike the Soviets we don't take other people's property"!
Tue Nov 28 07:46:09 2006
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