Tag: Abergele

The North Wales town expecting an unexpected I’m A Celebrity tourism boom

Never mind Jordan North’s happy place.

The only place to be right now is a small market in North Wales with a Grade I-listed castle.

The reason? Gwrych Castle on the edge of Abergele is hosting the ITV series I’m A Celebrity following a Covid-enforced relocation from the Australian jungle.

I was there just before the show launched to take the pulse on the streets of the small town anticipating a big tourist boom.

Here’s a sample of my feature:

Walking down Abergele’s high street [pictured above], I can sense the excitement building.

The former mayor started a competition for local businesses to dress their shop windows with a celebrity motif and the townspeople have really embraced it.

The barber shop, A Cut Above, has a grinning Ant and Dec with scissors above the catchy slogan:

“Who’s next for the chop?”

Across the road at The Veg Shop, the cheeky-chappie Geordies are sporting dinner jackets and holding aloft leeks, declaring:

“I’m a vegetable, get me out of here.”

The Ready Grass showroom (‘superior quality artificial grass at wholesale prices’), meanwhile, has installed a throne in its car park with two giant, inflatable figures of Ant and Dec, taking a bow in the bracing sea breeze.

Read the full story via Telegraph Travel.