Talacre

{{Short description|Village in Flintshire, Wales}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2019}}

{{Infobox UK place

| country = Wales

| welsh_name =

| constituency_welsh_assembly = Delyn

| official_name = Talacre

| population = 347

| unitary_wales = Flintshire

| constituency_westminster = Clwyd East

| post_town = HOLYWELL

| postcode_district = CH8

| postcode_area = CH

| dial_code = 01745

| os_grid_reference = SJ122846

| coordinates = {{coord|53.35117|-3.31911|display=inline,title}}

| static_image_name = Talacre-lighthouse2.jpg

| static_image_caption = The beach at Talacre

}}

Talacre is a village in Flintshire on the north coast of Wales in the community of Llanasa and the electoral ward of Ffynnongroyw, and is the northernmost mainland settlement in Wales. The village itself has a population of 347 as of the 2011 census.{{NOMIS2011|id=1119885443|title=Talacre population|access-date=13 February 2019}}

It is near Point of Ayr on the west side of the River Dee estuary and has a sandy beach with dunes and large holiday caravan parks adjacent. The hills of the Clwydian Range behind the village form the eastern boundary of the Vale of Clwyd. The name Talacre is a combination of the Welsh words tal {{IPA|cy|tal|}} "end" and acrau {{IPA|cy|ˈakraɨ̯|}} "acres", which in the dialect of north-east Wales is pronounced acre {{IPA|cy|ˈakrɛ|}}. This has led to the local English pronunciation {{IPAc-en|t|ə|ˈ|l|æ|k|r|ə}}. Some sources claim the English version is properly pronounced {{IPAc-en|t|æ|ˈ|l|æ|k|r|eɪ|,_|-|r|i}}.{{cite book |last=Wells |first=J C |date=2016 |title=Sounds Fascinating: Further Observations on English Phonetics and Phonology |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bxviDAAAQBAJ&dq=%22Talacre%22&pg=PA51 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |page=51 |isbn=978-1-107-15779-8 }}{{cite web |url=http://www.flintshire.gov.uk/dominoimgs/tranplan/planup.nsf/0/22C7C0265554D89380257ABB0045B39F/$file/050264%20Historic%20Statement.pdf |title=Historic Statement - Talacre Hall |website=www.flintshire.gov.uk |publisher=Flintshire County Council |access-date=23 September 2016 }}

File:Talacre-lighthouse.jpg

The village is probably most popular for the lighthouse 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 ghostly 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.{{cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/north_east/8183123.stm|title=Permanent 'ghost' for lighthouse |date=5 August 2009|work=BBC News|access-date=2009-08-05}} The lighthouse was featured in popular British television drama Skins, in the episode "Skins Pure".

Talacre was used by the armed forces during the Second World War as an aircraft firing range. Fighters flew over the remote village every day, shooting at wooden targets in the dunes and at drogues towed by aircraft. It was also used for testing new devices such as 'window,' the anti-radar foil that, on occasion, covered the whole village with silver.