Rhyl is often compared with Llandudno, usually by people who enjoy making towns fight for their amusement. They are very different places, shaped by different histories and different fortunes.

Rhyl developed as a mass-market holiday resort serving the industrial populations of the English Midlands and North, whereas Llandudno developed with the more deliberately class-conscious aspirations of the Mostyn estate. Both are Victorian coastal developments; the difference is in who they were built for and what that meant for their long-term character.

Rhyl has a broader, flatter seafront, a long sandy beach and a mass-market resort past that has taken harder knocks than Llandudno’s more composed frontage. The loss of the Ocean Beach amusement park and various other resort attractions, combined with the long-term economic pressures on traditional British seaside holidays, has left marks that are visible rather than concealed.

There has been investment and regeneration, and families may find useful attractions, open beach space and a more straightforward seaside feel. It should not be dismissed simply because it wears its struggles more openly.

It is less elegant than Llandudno and more exposed to the social and economic issues that have hit many coastal resorts. Sneering at that is easy. Understanding it is more useful.

The beach at Rhyl is genuinely sandy and extends broadly, which is a feature Llandudno’s more shingle-influenced North Shore cannot match for barefoot summer walking. For a simple beach day without resort theatre, Rhyl can make sense.

Visit with realistic expectations and Rhyl can make sense, particularly for beach space or family activities. Visit expecting Llandudno with cheaper curtains and you will be disappointed.

The Foryd Harbour redevelopment and various town centre initiatives represent the regeneration effort. These projects take time to change perceptions, and Rhyl’s reputation in some quarters runs ahead of the reality of investment already made.

Llandudno knows how to pose. Rhyl has had to keep going. There is a difference, and one should have the manners to notice it properly.

For a complete sense of the North Wales coast, seeing both towns in the same visit is instructive. The contrast is not only about quality; it is about different relationships between the seaside town and its historical moment.