21.03 In or before 1968 the owner of Bryn Alyn Hall offered to give the house to Dr Barnardo's Homes
for use as a children's home but the offer was declined with the result that in 1968 John Allen was able to acquire a 21 years
lease of the 50 acre property in Llay New Road on the outskirts of Wrexham on favourable terms with an option to purchase
after seven years. In April 1969, in partnership with his wife-to-be, whom he married in 1970, his parents and an uncle, Thomas
Askew, Allen opened a children's home at Bryn Alyn with 12 staff to provide for up to 20 boys in the age range of 11 to 16
years. None of the nine care staff, other than Allen and his future wife, had any previous experience of residential work
with children and none of them had any formal qualifications for the work. There was one teacher who had experience in remedial
teaching.
21.04 From 1968 until he retired in 1990, ostensibly on health grounds, Allen was, at least nominally,
in charge of the affairs of the Bryn Alyn Community, including care issues, although it was said by one witness specifically
that he had divested himself of day to day control by the mid-1980s. The private limited company, Bryn Alyn Community Ltd,
was formed in 1972, on the advice of accountants, and it appears that Allen remained chief executive until 1990. The freehold
of Bryn Alyn Hall was purchased with the aid of a mortgage when the company was formed. Norma Allen, his wife, occupied the
post of Matron until late in the 1970s.
