Crown Bard in Rhyl became a refuge after a friend's death

A writer recalls first going to the Crown Bard in Rhyl after the death of a close friend, Lee. The pub, on the main road out of town and a familiar landmark to local residents, closed in 2017 and was later demolished. The writer says Lee was one of their closest friends, who grew up with his twin brother, Dean, nearby; they went to school together and spent hours playing football and tennis before moving on to nights out, PlayStation and holidays.

Lee was killed outside a hotel on the other side of town: "He was punched, fell on the stone steps and never woke up," the account says. In the aftermath, the friendship group gathered almost continuously in the pub's back room, commandeering the pool table, dartboard and jukebox.

The writer describes the back room with its threadbare benches and dark green panelling as a bubble insulated from gossip, where kindness and small routines — whose round it was, who was next on the pool table, baguette for lunch, mixed grill served on a sizzling metal tray — mattered more than talking about what had happened.

The writer says their life feels split into before and after Lee's death and that the 21st anniversary of his death is approaching.

Key Topics

Culture, Crown Bard, Rhyl, Denbighshire, Lee, Dean