Zimmers at dawn

There's always been a joke that Llandudno and Colwyn Bay are becoming retirement towns. By the early '90s, the last of the superb cinemas in Colwyn Bay was demolished to build - retirement homes. A recent report, however, warns that wealthier pensioners are moving to the UK’s most sought-after mainland locations rather than towns on the North Wales coast.

According to the report, Rhos-on-Sea and Rhyl are losing out as OAPs move to quiet market towns and cultural destinations, including the Cotswolds and Kent. Mind you, having read about the increase in insectile nasties darn sarth over the next ten years as a result of the temperature increase, I think I'll give those locations a miss. Professor Richard Webber, who conducted the research, said OAPs want to spend more of their retirement in the country, in areas of attractive scenery, rather than dilapidated seaside resorts. and added “Seaside towns are different in terms of who they attract. Llandudno, and to a lesser extent Colwyn Bay, are still attracting quite wealthy people whereas Prestatyn and Rhyl have had difficulty recently.

In the 1950s, vast numbers flocked here during the last week in July and the first in August - the so-called 'factory fortnight' - from Liverpool, Manchester and the Midlands, staying for the statutory two weeks, booking into self-catering flatlets with delight and rarely able to afford the enormous prices charged by hotels - sometimes as much as 5/- per week (if you're under forty, you'll need to look that up in Wiki:-)

We were one of those families. Hard-earned pennies would be carefully saved for a week or two of out-right indulgence in the pleasure palaces of Rhos or those sumptuous, wild, care-free nights at the Winter Gardens. Well, actually, we never went there. Our pleasures were Fortes in Rhos (the history of that place is astonishing, BTW), the National Milk Bar in Mostyn St and long walks up and down and around the Ormes every day. To a child from the smoke-filled, sooty skies of Liverpool, where the only birds we ever saw were Blackbirds, which didn't actually sing but merely hung from the clothes line and coughed, the greenery and fresh air of Llandudno were almost unbelievable. We fell in love with the place and moved here twenty five years ago in our 30s. We noticed then that things were changing. Taking our own two young children down to the prom in Colwyn Bay, to show them the little train that was such an attraction, we found it about to be closed up. Other things we loved - such as the little fairground behind the railway embankment was turning into a shopping mall and the three cinemas we'd known and loved had shrunk to a single, upper floor semi-bingo palace, in the throes of transformation into yet more retirement flats

It seemed to us, then, that Colwyn Bay had been written off as a holiday destination and was, instead, becoming a retirement home. There was a steady influx of younger newcomers, but these were frequently the long-term unemployed, who reasoned that they might as well be unemployed at the seaside than back home in Liverpool. The downside was that these families weren't bringing in money to the local economy, and the added burden on social services and the NHS was adding to the issues.

Today, Llandudno's population is now seriously ageing. A far higher percentage of the town is over 70 than in any city, and that's a statistic that's only going to get worse. The baby boomers of the late forties are now retiring, or developing long term illnesses, but the real issue is the effect of the older outlook on the town. We need a mix - children, teenagers, families and older folk - to make the towns viable for the future. And here's an even more interesting statistic: 73% of the town's young workforce in the hotels is Polish.

We've said it before, but Colwyn Bay has staggering, under realised potential. Perhaps some ex-pat millionaire reader of this blog will decided to come and take a look at the place, which is crying out for investment. This is the time to invest, as well. If Liverpool can be regenerated from the mess it was in in the 60s and 70s, Colwyn Bay must be a much easier proposition. But we don't need more retirement housing; that's actually the last thing we need. We need decent affordable housing and significant investment in the tourist amenities and this is the time to do it. The recession will end, and when it does, those who have the vision, courage and willpower to invest will make a fortune.