COLONEL H.B.L.HUGHES
By
Mrs Annie Bradley
(nee Hughes)

In 1926 Colonel Hughes offered the village shop to Fred W Bradley when Mr Gilchrist - the old head forester and family retired from there to Nant y Corn.
Fred and I got married in 1927 and Anne was born in 1935 - our only child - we lived in store for 34 years and when Fred's brother died in 1961 we decided to sell the shop and take over the Kinmel Arms. Willie had been deputy agents to Lord Willoughby De Broke of Compton Verney, Kinnerton, Warwickshire, and enlisted in the Royal Warwickshire Regiments in 1914. He was severely wounded in 1917 and came home to the Kinmel Arms. 

On the death of his father - E W Bradley - in 1926 Willie took over the licence of the kinmel arms for 35 years. 

It was in 1912 that Squire Hughes offered Fred's father - E W Bradley & his family the Kinmel Arms. He was there until he died in April 1926.

I’m afraid I have rambled on a bit so I shall simplify it to this: -

FAMILY MEMBER              TIME FRAME                YEARS
E.W.BRADLEY                     1912 – 1926                     14
WILLIE E BRADLEY             1926 – 1961                     35
FRED W BRADLEY              1961 – 1972                      11
TOTAL NUMBER OF YEARS IN THE BRADLEY FAMILY    60

Getting back to Colonel H.BL. Hughes…..

Colonel Hughes died in 1940 and his Sister, Mrs Charletons Daughter, Mrs Bronwen Fetherstonhaugh inherited the Estate and when her Son David reached 21 it was made over to him. Mrs Fetherstonhaugh died in March 1971 and a sale was held at ‘The Manor’. The Estate was then divided between Mr David Fetherstonhaugh and his Elder Son Hugh. Colonel HBL Hughes is ‘buried’ in the St George Parish Churchyard. Kinmel Manor was sold to a property dealer for £10,800 in 1971.

Mr Seymour Hughes was Squire Hughes’ heir but he was disinherited because of his association with an actress.

My Husband well remembered the day he came to say ‘Goodbye’ to them. He kissed Mrs Bradley and said he would never see them again. He eventually married the actress and their Son Richard was born. The Hon. Mary Hughes was his Godmother and was very good to him. I myself remember him as a very handsome young Naval Officer when he attended Miss Hughes’ Funeral in 1928. I saw the wreath he brought with the inscription


‘To my Dear Godmother. With my Love Richard’

After the Funeral Colonel Hughes went to the Kinmel Arms and asked for a chair and he positioned it by the yard gate and sat on it. He left word at the Kinmel Arms where Richard was staying to say that Richard was to leave the village by a certain time and he waited for him to leave.

As a rule, the Colonel was a kind man and nothing gave him more pleasure than his weekly trip to Rhyl to buy fish which he delivered to some of his poorer tenants.

When Colonel Hughes moved from Kinmel Hall down to Kinmel Manor he had the fireplace with the Coats of Arms on it from the Entrance Hall taken down to the Manor and it is now in the Dining Room at the Hotel.

This used to be an annex that the Colonel had built to house some of his treasures.