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AN APPEAL to raise £120,000 for a statue of Colwyn Bay Monty Python legend Terry Jones in the town has secured another high-profile supporter. Sara Sugarman, the Rhyl-born director of Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen proudly posted a pic of herself wearing the exclusive A Python on the Prom campaign t-shirt designed by View Creative in Conwy on Instagram. In her message the director - who has also appeared in front of camera in films including Sid and Nancy and Mr Nice, thanked Terrys children Sally and Bill Jones and encouraged her followers to drive the campaign towards its goal. "Thank you Joann Rae and Sally and Bill and everyone involved with getting a statue onto the Prom at Colwyn Bay of a missing Python, TERRY JONES, in Terry’s childhood home! Fforever ( the Welsh spelling) making Wales Terry-fied!!!!!" she wrote. look what arrived for me! Thankyou Joann Rae and Sally & Bill and every one involved with getting a statue onto the Prom at Colwyn Bay of a missing Python, TERRY JONES, in Terry’s childhood home! Fforever ( the Welsh spelling) making Wales Terry-fied!!!!! The campaign is still gathering donations and has reached £97,647. Llandudno sculptor Nick Elphick has already begun working on the design. High-profile donors to the campaign include Robert Friedman - one of the founding fathers of MTV, Hugo Blick - producer of The Honourable Woman and Not the Nine O'Clock News writer Richard Sparks. They join a collection of stars from all corners of sport and entertainment including Steve Coogan, Taskmaster's Alex Horne, Jo Brand, Emma Thompson, former Formula One world champion Damon Hill, David Bowie's son Duncan Jones, the cast of Armando Ianucci's West end production of Dr Strangelove, Gail Renard - who is currently working on a film adaptation of her John Lennon book Give Me a Chance and Abergele's Peter Bennett-Jones - who produced comedy classics Mr Bean and The Vicar of Dibley. "THANK YOU! It's because of your support and generosity we've got this far and our goal is now in sight," said Sally and Bill in an update on the campaign's goFundme page. "Having got this far, artist Nick Elphick, has now started work on Terry's likeness and he'll be working on numerous clay sketches, to really nail it, before starting on the final sculpture. "Our hope is to unveil the sculpture next summer, with a big shindig on the beach and you will all be invited! To help get us over the finish line we've got some special events coming up and we'll keep you in the loop, in the meantime we could really do with some more of your help." Campaign t-shirts and tote bags are still on sale at a-python-on-the-prom.teemill.com or you can donate directly using the link. Updates are also available on the Python on the Prom social media channels - on Instagram @apythonontheprom , Facebook at @apythontheprom and @PythonOnTheProm on X. A big thank you to rEporter for the North Wales Pioneer Alec Doyle , The original article can be viewed HERE

The actor paid tribute to his fellow Monty Python star as a bid to erect a bronze statue for the Colwyn Bay man nears its £120,000 target A big thank you to the Daily Post for this article and the picture on the Pier. To see the original article click HERE Terry Jones left Colwyn Bay as a five-year-old for Home Counties Surrey but his unshakeable "Welshness" never left him, his fellow Monty Python star Sir Michael Palin said. Palin said that sense of identity shaped his life, career and comedy even under the intense teasing of another Python legend. John Cleese - Basil Fawlty in classic TV hit Fawlty Towers - jokingly "victimised" his pal Terry for his Welshness, as he grew up in the heart of the English suburban commuter belt, the travel guru added. Palin paid tribute to his old friend on Colwyn Bay promenade was launched last month, alongside another Python, the filmmaker Terry Gilliam. The pair were there to launch a fundraising to erect a bronze statue for Terry. Today appeal organisers revealed the current total is £95,000 towards a £120,000 target.In his speech at the launch on Colwyn Bay pier last month Sir Michael said: "Terry always claimed he was Welsh. But there was usually an argument with John Cleese, who claimed to be English, and they would wind each other up. Terry was sort of 'victimised' for a while by Cleese for being Welsh. The North Wales Live Whatsapp community for top stories and breaking news is live now - here’s how to sign up "But it gave Terry his energy. It gave Terry his wonderful ideas about life. How things should be done and how things should be different and how things should be special." Sir Michael, at the launch with another fellow Monty Python contributor Terry Gilliam, went on: "Terry (Jones) was a real polymath - he could do a lot of things. When I first met him at Oxford University he was a very good actor, a very funny man. "He also played the guitar. He also designed the covers for the Oxford magazine Isis at the time. So Terry was into everything. "He was always very strong-willed about it. And I think his Welshness gave him that sort of feeling that he was right! That's the way he'd see it. "I think it was rather sad for Terry that at the age of five he had to go and live in Esher in Surrey which is probably as unWelsh as you could imagine." Sir Michael said the idea of a statue in Colwyn Bay of Terry - which may be of him playing piano in the nude after one of his Monty Python sketches - is fitting as he could show off his "immaculate, Welsh body". He concluded : "It's left to the people of Colwyn Bay to honour him. Here's to A Python on the Prom (statue) in the future and I just hope Terry will be an icon and a 'visitor centre' for Colwyn Bay." Meanwhile Sally Jones, Terry’s daughter, said today the £120,000 appeal has reached £95,000 so far: “We are thrilled to reach this point in the fundraising - we have just over £25,000 left to raise to reach our goal! Everyone has been so generous. "Our (A Python on the Prom) t-shirts have sold worldwide and we've had over 1,000 donations in just one month.” Llandudno artist Nick Elphick has released an early image of his first maquette of Terry’s likeness, sculpted in clay. He has been commissioned to make a larger sculpture by Terry’s children Sally and Bill and the Conwy Arts Trust, who are running the fundraising campaign, supported by Conwy County Borough Council Meanwhile campaign "Ambassador" Eric Idle, another Monty Python veteran, has been drafted in support across the Atlantic. Supporters include talk show host and stand-up, Conan O’Brien, who joins stand-up comedian Jo Brand, actor/comedian Sanjeev Bhaskar, actor/Strictly Come Dancing star Greg Wise and many other illustrious names from the TV, Film and Comedy world who are backing the campaign.Jo Brand, stand-up comedian and actor, said: “Terry was lovely, warm and absolutely hilarious. When I learnt to play the organ several years ago, it was always Terry I thought of when I sat down to play. If anyone deserves a statue, it’s Terry.” Oscar-nominated comedy actor and writer Steve Coogan said: “Naked at the organ’ is both cheeky and a strangely profound expression of Terry’s life affirming anti-establishment anarchy!” Actor Sanjeev Bhaskar said: “Since Terry never won ‘Rear of the Year’ I think his posterior preserved for posterity in Colwyn Bay seems right. I’m absolutely behind it.” Although public opinion seems to be in favour of the Naked Organist, Sally said: “It hasn’t been decided what character we will use for Dad’s statue. We feel it’s really important that a decision like this is made with the people of Colwyn Bay, after all they are going to have to live with this sculpture everyday. “For Nick, working on these maquettes is the equivalent of making sketches, trying to find Dad’s likeness, before embarking on the actual statue. This is part of a long process before he begins work on the final character and pose.” Llandudno based Nick said: “I start with research and photographs for reference, as well as talking to the family and watching his work, really getting to know him as a human being as well as through his character and his art.” From there, half size clay sketches of Terry’s head, starting with him as a younger man to really capture Terry’s likeness are sculpted, before Nick moves on to working on some of Terry’s facial expressions from his character work. Terry Jones died on January 21, 2020, aged 77.

A big thank you to Amy Dyke for the stunning picture of the Pier.

Great to see this happening. THE Happy Valley entrance to Llandudno Pier should be re-opened “early in the new year” following the completion of ongoing restoration works. This will involve the replacement of three 16-metre girders, two 10-metre girders, side fencing, and the entire wooden decking from the entrance, all the way up to the ice cream kiosk. The entire section will be scaffolded from the top all the way underneath, supported by a further two 18-metre girders. Paul Williams, general manager of the pier, hailed the “huge investment” made by Tir Prince Leisure Group, which owns and operates it. He said: “ Happy Valley restoration work will commence next week, with the goal to open the entrance early in the new year. “This will be only the second time in the pier’s history, and the first time in the past 50 years, where the original pier will be separated from the headland. “There will be a display on the pier side informing the works to be carried out and the progress which is being made. “Once complete, we will be looking at adding additional food and beverage offerings, including café/bar/outside seating, which will enhance the Happy Valley entrance and this section of the pier. “We will continue to keep the general public updated as the project progresses.” The Grade II listed Victorian pier is the longest in Wale s, measuring about 700 metres, and was first opened in 1877. Thank you to the Pioneer for this story, to read the article see HERE

This is a fantastic painting of the Pier, Malcolm, Mclean, has done a fantastic job, also its nice to see the Bandstand and Entrance Domes in the painting. And "To Celebrate the newly installed mural of the pier circ 1960's, commissioned by Bayview and painted by Malcolm Mclean the Bayview would love you to post photos of your favourite memory of #ColwynBay pier through the ages and tell them what you loved about it ." They have also got a got a £50 Morrisons Gift Card to spend for the one we decide is the best ! Post your picture below with your memories and we'll pick a winner and contact you directly on Friday 11th October. Gift card to be picked up in person from Bayview Shopping Centre

So someone decided to start a fire under the Pier! This could have set the boards alight! Thank goodness it did not. Thank you to the public for reporting this to us.

A big thank you to the Daily Post for this Article , see HERE for original story. A Bid for Colwyn Bay statue honouring Monty Python star Terry Jones wins A-list backing Sir Michael Palin and Terry Gilliam have launched a £120,000 appeal to fund a statue of the late Terry Jones, their friend and fellow member of Monty Python. High profile celebrities are backing the campaign for the bronze memorial in Jones' native Colwyn Bay . The statue, which would be placed on the town's promenade, will depict Jones as a nude organist, a nod to one of his famous Monty Python sketches. The campaign is supported by celebrities including Cerys Matthews, Steve Coogan, Jo Brand, Sanjeev Bhaskar, Emma Thompson, Alex Horne, Simon Fanshawe OBE and Steven Isserlis CBE. The bid will be run in partnership with Terry’s children, Sally Jones and Bill Jones. Conwy Arts Trust, a Conwy-based charity supporting the arts in North Wales will help run the campaign. It has the support of the Mayor of Colwyn Bay and Conwy County Borough Council.Terry was born in Colwyn Bay and lived there for the first five years of his life until his family moved to Surrey. Later he became a Patron of Theatr Colwyn, a place where his grandfather, mother and aunt all appeared on stage as both amateurs and professionals.Terry would return to the town often to help with fundraising and other special events to support Theatr Colwyn and the arts in Colwyn Bay, helping to ensure there was always life and laughter. He died on January 21, 2020, aged 77.At today's fundraising launch Sir Michael said Terry Jones’ Welshness was important to him even though he left North Wales as a child. He said: “The fact that he had to leave Colwyn Bay at the age of five, he felt he had a lot to make up for if he was really going to be Welsh. He mentioned it quite a lot later on. “He valued his Welshness very much. It influenced a lot of his work and his attitude to work and his passion for work. And his determination not to accept just anything that the English said to him.” Sir Michael said he would only like a statue of himself in his hometown of Ranmoor in Sheffield if it were a funny one like that proposed for Terry Jones - as a naked organist, from one of his sketches. He said: “It has to be light hearted. Python was always about the alternative so we’d look for the alternative to a formal statue.” Terry Gilliam, standing on Colwyn Bay Pier, chipped in: “We’re planting the seeds of humour wherever we can around the world to keep people from being miserable and serious and pompous.” Meanwhile Emma Thompson has offered her support for the appeal. She has said: “Terry Jones was a comic genius to whom I largely owe my survival. Laughing with him got me through school. I will always be grateful.” Jo Brand said: “Terry was lovely, warm and absolutely hilarious. "When I learnt to play the organ several years ago, it was always Terry I thought of when I sat down to play. If anyone deserves a statue, it’s Terry.” Alex Horne said: “In thousands of years time, when future archaeologists are looking at our statues in the same way we look at those of Pompeii and Ancient Rome, there would be no better hero than a naked Terry Jones. Please let us immortalise the silly great man.” Steve Coogan in a moving video message has said: “Terry was and remains a hero to me in exemplifying the very best of British, that British sense of anarchy and eccentricity… The original disrupters were Monty Python and as the years go by my affection for them grows exponentially, it’s about time we celebrated and saluted one of our greats.” Steven Isserlis CBE said: “I love the idea of a statue of Terry Jones in Colwyn Bay! Terry remained deeply, irreversibly, defiantly Welsh throughout his life, and would have been so proud to know that his image would grace or disgrace, as he would have put it, the Promenade.” Simon Fanshawe OBE has also offered his support to the campaign and sent this memory of Terry: “My memories of Terry revolve mostly around food, wine, conversation and laughter. After a Sunday lunch at ours in Brighton we all lurched naked into the sea off the nudist beach and Terry gesturing at the surrounding water as he held up a stray tea bag that had been floating in the waves, shouted to me 'it’s the biggest cup of tea in the world'." The campaign has the backing of all the remaining Pythons with Sir Michael Palin recording a special appeal for donations featured on the GoFundMe page. Eric Idle said: “Finally Terry gets the recognition he deserves. A statue no less. "Ok, so it’s not an airport or a Boulevard, but a statue in Colwyn Bay is lovely and a wonderful way to remember this fabulous man.” John Cleese said: “I am so delighted that Terry is being immortalized in bronze, although I would have preferred that he be immortalized by not dying. Still, bronze is better than nothing." It is hoped the life-size statue will be sited on the Promenade in Colwyn Bay. It will be created by Llandudno-based sculptor Nick Elphick. The campaign has received enthusiastic local support from Conwy County Borough Council, the Mayor of Colwyn Bay, and town councillors. Sarah Ecob, Head of Service for Economy and Culture at Conwy County Borough Council, said: "Terry Jones was a much loved and valued Patron of Theatr Colwyn for 14 years. His regular visits to Colwyn Bay brought joy to us and our audiences. "Celebrating Terry's life with a very silly statue is a fitting tribute to this most brilliant son of Colwyn Bay. Sadly, our budgets, which keep Theatr Colwyn affordable, exciting and welcoming for all, don't stretch to funding the statue. "It would mean the world to us if you could help make the statue a reality by chipping in a few pounds or whatever you can afford. We're looking forward to seeing Terry’s statue in pride of place on the prom, once again bringing a smile to all who see him." Cllr Aaron Wynne, Conwy County Borough Council’s Cabinet Member for Culture, said: “Everyone associated with Theatr Colwyn was very proud when Terry Jones agreed to become the first patron. The support he gave the theatre and the town was always greatly appreciated. "It would be fitting if his support could be acknowledged in a lasting way, and I wish Conwy Arts Trust every success with their fundraising campaign.” Ricki Owen, Mayor of Colwyn Bay, said “Having a statue dedicated to Terry Jones here in Colwyn Bay would honour his contribution to the area over many years and keep his legacy going. As a childhood fan of Monty Python, I am delighted to support this project and urge anyone who is able to donate or get involved in any way they can. Also, to have the sculpture commissioned by a local artist is also a fantastic addition to this project.” The fundraiser is called a Python on the Prom and you can donate Here

This is a stunning picture of a rainbow over our beloved Pier. A big thank you to Ben Blundell for this wonderful shot.

This picture was taken inside the Pier in the early to late 1990s The picture shows the Cafe on the left as you entered the Pier, (it was later moved further down and replaced by a fishing tackle shop) There was also a record shop and a wine bar. And further into the light you walked out onto the Pier and to the Pavillion. A lovely picture that captures a gateway in time.