Secret Wrexham

John Idris Jones

• Publisher: Amberley Publishing
• Year: 2018
• eBook ISBN: 9781445677019
• Edition: 0
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: British History
• Index: History

The town of Wrexham and its immediate vicinity has a rich heritage of industry, including coal, iron and steel, brewing, tanning, brick and tile making and lead mining. In Secret WrexhamJohn Idris Jones takes the reader on a tour of the town's past, illustrated by his own photographs. Here you'll meet John 'Iron Mad' Wilkinson, who made cannons for the American Civil War; the striking remains of the once huge Bersham Colliery; John Godfrey Parry-Thomas, the racing driver who broke the land speed record on Pendine Sands; and Rosemarie Frankland, Britain's first Miss World. Outside of this area is extensive farmland with interesting, charming towns and villages. From Chirk, the author takes you up the magical Ceiriog Valley, and in Penley he gives an account of the Polish camp that became a hospital for wounded US soldiers. In a woodland in Overton he finds the grave of the extraordinary horse Poethlyn, who won the Grand National in 1919. The nineteen-year-old Luciano Pavarotti also features, who visited Llangollen for the International Eisteddfod in 1955. This wide-ranging illustrated collection tells the story of Wrexham's varied past in an informative and engrossing way.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Foreword
• Introduction
• 1. John ‘Iron Mad’ Wilkinson (1728–1808)
• 2. Coal Mining in Wrexham
• 3. Wrexham’s Geography
• 4. The Name
• 5. The Myddeltons of Chirk Castle
• 6. Penley and the Poles
• 7. The Ceiriog Valley
• 8. John Ceiriog Hughes (1832–87)
• 9. Lloyd George and the Suffragettes
• 10. The Brewery and its Chimney
• 11. Fron Choir and Pavarotti
• 12. Parry-Thomas, Racing Driver
• 13. Seb Moris, Marford Driver
• 14. The Telford Inn
• 15. The Pontcysyllte Aqueduct
• 16. Thomas Penson (1790–1859)
• 17. Wynnstay Hall
• 18. Horses for Courses: Bangor-on-Dee
• 19. The Gresford Mining Disaster
• 20. Llay Main – the Deepest Pit in Europe
• 21. George Jeffreys, ‘The Hanging Judge’ (1645–89)
• 22. Elihu Yale (1649–1721)
• 23. The Church of Saint John the Evangelist, Rhosllanerchrugog
• 24. Rossett Mill
• 25. North & South Wales Bank (est. 1836)
• 26. Leather
• 27. The Minera Lead Works
• 28. Offa’s Dyke
• 29. Hanmer
• 30. Brymbo’s Iron and Steel
• 31. Rhosllanerchrugog
• 32. Wat’s Dyke
• 33. Marford
• 34. Wrexham in the Bronze Age
• 35. Hafod Colliery
• 36. Llyr Williams, Pianist
• 37. Ruabon in the Early Days
• 38. The Bloody Hand of Chirk
• 39. Erddig House
• 40. The Welsh Language in Wrexham County Borough
• 41. Telford’s Chirk Aqueduct
• 42. Erbistock Hall
• 43. Erbistock
• 44. Tenters Square and Lane
• 45. Wrexham: A Market Town
• 46. Ruabon’s Industry
• 47. Overton, of the ‘English Enclave’
• 48. The Horse & Jockey
• 49. The Boat at Erbistock
• 50. Pant-yr-Ochain
• 51. The Great Artist Turner Depicts Wrexham
• 52. Lorna Sage
• 53. Wrexham Football Club
• 54. The Burma Bell
• 55. Clockmakers in Wrexham
• 56. The Bigamist from Rhos
• 57. The Davies Brothers of Ruabon
• 58. The Odeon Building, Brook Street
• 59. Canals and Heavy Industry
• 60. Glyndˆwr University
• 61. Wrexham’s Two Indoor Markets
• 62. County Buildings, Home of Wrexham’s Museum
• 63. The Westminster Buildings Gateway in Hope Street
• 64. The Wynnstay Arms Hotel
• 65. Town Hill
• 66. The Parish Church of St Giles
• 67. Thomas Pennant (1726–98)
• 68. Coedpoeth
• 69. David Powel
• 70. Wrexham Garden Village
• 71. Holt and its Castle
• 72. The Cefn Viaduct (The Robertson-Brassey Bridge)
• 73. Thomas Brassey
• 74. Gwersyllt
• 75. Rugby in Wrexham
• 76. The Racecourse Ground
• 77. Overton’s Grand National Winner
• 78. William Low of Wrexham and the Channel Tunnel
• 79. The Rossett Gibbet
• 80. Wrexham Man Becomes Registrar of Oxford University
• 81. The Battle of Crogen
• 82. The Oak at the Gate of the Dead
• 83. The Simmons Family of Funfair Fame
• 84. The Gates of Acton Hall
• 85. The War Memorial Hospital
• 86. St Deiniol’s Church, Worthenbury
• 87. Althrey Hall, Bangor-on-Dee