Mum took two holidays to Prestatyn; one to Carr Holm, that I will relate later, and one, to Nant Hall, that took place the following year. Mum wrote of the latter:
“The year after, my father who had inherited some of Aunty Mary’s money – she having died of a stroke at 63 – decided that we would go up in the world and along with the Burtons, we booked in the Nant Hall Hotel. In those days, it was definitely the right place to go to and was quite expensive. It was full of Boarding School brats who were not so keen on playing with children from a Day School. The evening dinner was an experience. Each night or nearly each night the delicacy on the menu was “Grey Hen” – it was some sort of game but I couldn’t put a name to it – followed by strawberries with finger bowls – I dipped my strawberry in the latter and the found out that it was to clean your fingertips as is done in Chinese restaurants today. It was not a happy holiday.”
The Burtons had been encountered in the Isle of Man; I have wondered what happened to them, as Mum did not seem to keep in touch after war broke out. It is interesting that Mum was acutely aware of social status, and yet unimpressed when she met children whose educational background made them feel superior to Mum and her family.
Aunty Mary had died in 1935, so this holiday might well be in 1936.
Most of the places where Mum took holidays in the 1930s no longer operate, but Nant Hall still does. From time to time, our later trips out into North Wales would take us past Nant Hall, which was on the eastern outskirts of Prestatyn – off the coast road that leads through Gronant and Talacre and curves south to follow the Dee – and she would point it out. It obviously had made an impression, but when I would suggest that we could call in to see it, she did not wish to.
It was on a rainy day in July 2019, over 70 years after Mum’s holiday (which I think was in 1937) that I decided to call in myself at the Lyons Nant Hall Hotel, as it is now called. A somewhat hostile review in 2017 had described it as a “pub – and that is really what this is, not a hotel. It’s a big pub, in a decent enough location, with rooms upstairs.” Forewarned, this described my impression – a Grade II listed building (first listed in 1950) whose ground floor was like a large pub. It was pleasant enough, but busy, with a large TV in the main bar area, into which the front doors opened. It has been extended, and operates as a wedding venue, with a marquee outside. Newspapers from the 1930s confirm that wedding receptions were often held there.
An advertisement in the Staffordshire Sentinel of 5 June 1936 proclaimed the Hotel as ” R.A.C. A.A. Fully licensed. Residential. Newly decorated and furnished. Beautifully situated in 6 1/2 acres of ground. Near golf and shore. Tariff on application.” Presumably it had been renovated before Mum’s holiday. The tariff is indicated by my Ward Lock North Wales from the late 1920s: “Boarding terms 21/- per day; 147/- per week” and “Garage 1/-“.
I doubt if Mum would recognise the interior, bar the panelled former dining room (or ballroom), which clearly now caters for functions. An old photograph inside shows the staff, with maids and what looks like a commissionaire.
The entrance track has since been replaced by a straight driveway turning off the main road, and car parking has replaced lawns in front of the hotel. The road is still lined by trees. A sign proclaimed “to the Smoke and Billiard Rooms”, which indicate a past era. Advertisements in the 1949 press described the Hall as “truly a county hotel at the seaside”, which seems to sum it up.
Mum did not record any holiday activities there. There was a track that crossed the coastal railway line, which could lead to the beach, although this is now blocked and industrial units line the railway. I assume they may have accessed the beach by this means, or found transport into Prestatyn, with its railway station and the beach beyond. Carr Holm seems to have provided the sort of family holiday that she enjoyed.
Postscript 2 January 2023:
I drove past Nant Hall Hotel on New Years Day, 1st January 2023 (yesterday!) and the place seemed to be open. However, the Liverpool Daily Post reported today that the Hotel closed yesterday, due to increasing costs. It seems that there had been bookings for events like weddings, but it was stated that any payments will be refunded. The Lyons Group, which owns the place, plans to apply for a change of use.
Another link with a distant past lost, but I am glad that I did visit once.
Joan Boughey Recalled 