Hard Times

Prior to the setting up and subsequent success of Solitaire we relied on the kindness, efforts and financial support of many people who have been great friends over the years.

1980 to 1985 was a period of survival.

We had already spent every penny of our savings, and an awful lot of the Bank’s money prior to the ship even opening in 1980. The initial outlay had all but drained our reserves.

However, the biggest financial draw came with the countless court cases and legal battles we were fighting with the local council.

The legal battles added another dimension to our battle to get a business up and working. The financial toil was such that we didn’t have the money to invest in the greatest asset we had at our disposal, The Ship itself.

If the council would have provided the support they assured us was there in the beginning then The Funship Complex would be a thriving business today, there is no question of that.

In fact it was so popular, The Tourist Board figures for North Wales, based on the number of visitors, had The Funship in the top three throughout the time the ship was open. Now we were up against some pretty tough competition such as The Great Orme and the more famous castles.

The early turnover of the business, coupled with the number of people we were getting through the doors, meant we knew we had a viable business idea.

However, we were literally penniless.

Not only did we receive help and financial support from many quarters, not just friends and family but the ship also attracted a number of characters to work there, which in turn attracted people to visit.

We will never forget Badger, who had recently had his Cowboy Circus washed out at The Aintree Festival. He was a man of many hats, arcade technician, fire-eater and believe it or not Crocodile Keeper!

We also took in people to help support them, Feo we took into our care in a deal with the local magistrates to help keep him out of trouble and keep him out of jail! He was a tireless worker and he eventually married a girl who worked on the ship. Looks like our influence help him.

There was also Pat’s son Trevor, who for a time ran the fruit stall at the market with some of his friends, they all contributed to the early days immensely.

Unfortunately, Trevor was killed in a car crash in 1991 obviously leaving Pat devastated, the loss of a child is something no mother will ever get over completely. Her tireless work and efforts towards the business went a long way to help cloud the heartbreak and she always seemed to keep on going but in our heart of hearts we know she still misses him deeply.

We really supported the area and provided a great number of jobs to the region, a region that had been decimated by the recession.

But times were hard for us and we had to come up with more and more ingenious ways to make money just to survive.

The river itself provided a constant source of both food and revenue.

We would frequently row across to the sand banks and collect cockles. River Dee cockles are famous the world over and at one time was the largest source of cockles in the country, surpassing both Morcombe and South Wales.

Further down the coast in Greenfield, refrigerated lorries would take the cockles all over Europe.  Our operation was on a slightly smaller scale and was more about sustenance as Pat would make this incredible Cockle Soup.

Another source of revenue was Red Mullet, which is a wonderful eating fish and considered a real delicacy by restaurateurs, but notoriously difficult to catch, but again we came up with an ingenious solution.

Mullet love feeding in the fresher waters, so they can frequently be found in many estuaries where fresh water tributaries lead into the sea.

Badger, would wait for high water and for the mullet to arrive. He would fire his shotgun into the water which had the effect of stunning the fish. These stunned fish would then slowly rise to the surface of the water.

Badger would then dive into the water to collect them and we would then ship this off fresh to local markets.

We were in dire straits, but we were always very careful to hide this from the banks by making sure they always got their repayments.

However our battle with the council continued but what we didn’t know it at the time was that The Coed Market was to become an integral part of our struggle with the council.