Bastion Gardens | |
Location | Prestatyn, Wales |
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Owner | Prestatyn Town F.C. |
Operator | Prestatyn Town F.C. |
Capacity | 2,300 |
Surface | Grass |
Opened | 1969 |
Bastion Road, also known as Bastion Gardens, is a football stadium in Prestatyn, Wales. It is currently used for football matches and is the home ground of Prestatyn Town F.C.. The stadium holds up to 2,300 people, although the record attendance was 1,280.
Prestatyn moved to their present site in 1969 when their previous ground at the rear of the Central Beach Club (the large public house that can be seen directly opposite the ground) was sold off for development. For many years the new ground was relatively undeveloped with the only building being the dressing room block which for its time was modern and well-equipped with spacious dressing rooms, a tea bar and storage rooms - but the rest of the ground fell some way short. The pitch was just roped off and access was from Bastion Gardens as it is to this day. No other spectator facilities were available and low crowds reflected the spartan surroundings in the dead of winter but early and late season games in the warmer weather often saw gates top the 100 mark.
Plans to build a 250-seated stand over the dressing room block were drawn up but the scheme was costly and never came to fruition. A lean-to cover was added to the building in the late 1970s to afford spectators some shelter from the elements. In the mid-1980s another set of plans were drawn up to build a covered enclosure but again, this never came to fruition. Thus the scene remained virtually unchanged until the 1992/3 close season when, after being elected to the Welsh Alliance League as runners-up to St Asaph City, a post and rail was erected around the pitch along with brick built dugouts.
This work was initiated by club stalwart Henry Porter and then chairman Glyn Breeze Jones and part of the labour was carried out by community service offenders. In the mid-1990s old bus shelters were acquired from Prestatyn Town Council after the main bus station in the town centre was modernised and these were put up on the cricket field side of the ground which although something of an eyesore, offered adequate protection from the rain and gave the ground a more `enclosed` feel. In 1995 the committee decided that in-house bar facilities were needed and with the help of a loan from Prestatyn Town Council, the building was extended towards the cricket field and a small bar installed and gave the club its first proper base for meetings.