Talacre is a village in

Flintshire , settlement_type = County , image_skyline = , image_alt = , image_caption = , image_flag = , image_shield = Arms of Flint ...

on the north coast of

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

in the

community A community is a social unit (a group of living things) with commonality such as place, norms, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given geographical area (e.g. a country, village, tow ...

Llanasa Llanasa is a village and community in the county of Flintshire, north-east Wales. Llanasa is described as one of the ancient parishes of Flintshire. It originally comprised the townships of Gronant, Gwespyr, Kelston, Golden Grove, Picton, Trew ...

and the electoral ward of

Ffynnongroyw Ffynnongroyw (sometimes spelled Ffynnongroew) is a village in Flintshire, north Wales. It is situated on the A548 road, near the Dee Estuary coast, near Prestatyn. Etymology The name Ffynnongroyw is from the Welsh word "Ffynnon" meaning well an ...

, and is the northernmost mainland settlement in Wales. The village itself has a population of 347 as of the 2011 census. It is a very

anglicised Anglicisation is the process by which a place or person becomes influenced by English culture or British culture, or a process of cultural and/or linguistic change in which something non-English becomes English. It can also refer to the influen ...

village with only 98 residents born in Wales as of the 2011 census. It is near

Point of Ayr :''There are two other similarly named points in the British Isles: Point of Ayre, Isle of Man and Point of Ayre, Orkney, Scotland.'' Point of Ayr ( cy, Y Parlwr Du) is the northernmost point of mainland Wales. It is situated immediately t ...

on the west side of the River Dee estuary and has a sandy beach with

dunes A dune is a landform composed of wind- or water-driven sand. It typically takes the form of a mound, ridge, or hill. An area with dunes is called a dune system or a dune complex. A large dune complex is called a dune field, while broad, fl ...

and large holiday caravan parks adjacent. The hills of the

Clwydian Range The Clwydian Range ( cy, Bryniau Clwyd; also known as the Clwydian Hills; or simply the Clwyds) is a series of hills in the north-east of Wales that runs from Llandegla in the south to Prestatyn in the north, the highest point being the popu ...

behind the village form the eastern boundary of the

Vale of Clwyd The Vale of Clwyd ( cy, Dyffryn Clwyd) is a tract of low-lying ground in the county of Denbighshire in north-east Wales. The Vale extends south-southwestwards from the coast of the Irish Sea for some 20 miles (about 30 km) forming a triangl ...

. The name Talacre is a combination of the Welsh words ''tal'' "end" and ''acrau'' "acres", which in the dialect of north-east Wales is pronounced ''acre'' . This has led to the local English pronunciation . Some sources claim the English version is properly pronounced . Talacre-lighthouse

The village is probably most popular for the

lighthouse A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of physical structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses and to serve as a beacon for navigational aid, for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways. Lighthouses mar ...

on the nearby beach, the Talacre Beach Resort a short walk away from the Presthaven Sands holiday park and its multiple arcades. The lighthouse has been noted for numerous

ghost A ghost is the soul or spirit of a dead person or animal that is believed to be able to appear to the living. In ghostlore, descriptions of ghosts vary widely from an invisible presence to translucent or barely visible wispy shapes, to rea ...

ly sightings, people claiming to see a figure wearing old fashioned lighthouse keeper clothes and standing in front of the glass dome of the abandoned lighthouse. The lighthouse was featured in popular British television drama '' Skins'', in the episode "

Skins Pure "Skins Pure" is a feature-length episode of the E4 television series '' Skins''. Airing in two parts in 2013, "Skins Pure" was the second of three feature-length episodes of a specially commissioned seventh series to bring the series to a close. ...

". Talacre was used by the armed forces during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

as an aircraft firing range. Fighters flew over the remote village every day, shooting at wooden targets in the dunes and at

drogue A drogue (also known as a storm drogue) is a device trailed behind a boat on a long line attached to the stern. A drogue is used to slow the boat down in a storm and to prevent the hull (watercraft), hull from becoming side-on to the water waves ...

s towed by aircraft. It was also used for testing new devices such as '

window A window is an opening in a wall, door, roof, or vehicle that allows the exchange of light and may also allow the passage of sound and sometimes air. Modern windows are usually glazed or covered in some other transparent or translucent materia ...

,' the anti-radar foil that, on occasion, covered the whole village with silver.

Talacre Abbey (Westbury Castle)

The Talacre estate (Talacre Abbey) and Talacre Hall, built in 1829, were the home of the Mostyn baronets of Talacre. The Carmelite Margaret Mostyn grew up on the estate in the early 1600s. In 1919 the Mostyn family sold the estate by auction and in 1921 it was occupied by a community of Benedictine nuns, who moved out in 1988. The main hall, a grade II* listed building, now functions as a private house again, but was renamed Westbury Castle.

Railways

The village was served by Talacre railway station on the

North Wales Coast Line The North Wales Coast Line ( cy, Llinell Arfordir Gogledd Cymru), also known as the North Wales Main Line ( cy, Prif Linell Gogledd Cymru or cy, label=none, Prif Linell y Gogledd), is a major railway line in the north of Wales and Cheshire, ...

until it was closed in 1966.

References

Villages in Flintshire {{Flintshire-geo-stub