WREXHAM

As we head towards the main railway station in Wrexham, we happen across the former Wrexham, Mold and Connahs Quay Railway (later Great Central) in the Rhosddu area of town. 

Not far from Wrexham General station was the Crosville depot which, in 1985, contained some interesting vehicles.

GWR 0-6-0 no 2379 is seen at Wrexham General station.

In 1985, a DMU passes Wrexham General station, having just left Wrexham Exchange platform, on a Wrexham Central to Bidston service.

This is Wrexham Exchange station, adjacent to Wrexham General. 142 047 calls in 1987.

The line continues on to Wrexham Central station, seen below in LNER and BR days.

The artist JMW Turner once painted the town of Wrexham.

Some postcard views of the town, showing the Civic Hall and Lord Street.

Crosville was the main operator into the bus station in Wrexham.

Privatisation saw Crosville being split up and buses in Wrexham owned by Crosville Wales.

Crosville Wales was swallowed up by Arriva.

The buses of Midland Red North could also be found in Wrexham.

First Ysgol ran school buses in Wrexham back in the early 21st century.

The GWR ran buses out to nearby Brymbo.

Wrexham has long been known for its many independent bus companies. Let's have a look at some. First up, Bryn Melyn Motor Services from Llangollen.

A one bus operator was Challoner's.

D Jones & Son had a variety of buses.

E Jones & Sons (I've no idea if the two are related).

A lesser known independent was Dyma-Fo.

Edwards Coaches ran out towards the firm's home village of Bwlchgwyn.

GHA Coaches no longer exist.

Huxley's Coaches, based at Threapwood in Cheshire.

An excellent name for a Wrexham area bus company - John's Travel.

As we saw in the previous post, M. A. Evans ran an ancient fleet of old Bedfords on services within the town.

Pats Coaches were using this Dennis Dart in 2010.

Back in the mid 1970s, Phillips were running regular services into Wrexham.

Townlynx is a relatively new operator. This is the rebuilt bus station in 2010.

Wright's grew big after deregulation, but then went out of business. This Seddon was once the mainstay of operations.

To cope with expanded operations, Wrights bought loads of second-hand buses, including this ex Hyndburn Leyland Atlantean, pressed into service before repainting.

Other independents have included Williams and Vale of Llangollen.

Wrexham was once well known as a brewing town. By the church was Border Brewery, destined to be bought and closed by Marstons.

The Wrexham Lager Brewery succumbed to the might of Carlsberg-Tetley in the early 2000s. Here it is in 1985.

The Old Swan Brewery was once a fine old Border Ales pub, but no real ale these days.

The Elihu Yale is the town's Wetherspoons.

The Black Horse seems to have closed.

Wrexham is not a great place to drink cask beer these days. The Cross Foxes and the Railway Inn no longer sell it. 

The Oak Tree is long closed.

However, the Seven Stars has recently reopened as Saith Seren, a community owned Welsh Language pub.

Phew! That's all for Wrexham. Next time, a look at the industrial valleys around the town.

WHAT!? WALES AGAIN?

Yes, we're heading back to Wales again, but first we must meander through parts of rural Cheshire.  You can find the route here. Our first stop is the unspoilt Travellers Rest at Alpraham.

To the west is Bunbury, where we come across the Shropshire Union Canal.

Beeston Castle station was on the Crewe to Chester line. Here it is in 1961 (Ben Brooksbank - Creative Commons License).

Towards the southeast now, to the Bhurtpore Inn (now renamed the Bhurty) at Aston, where there's plenty of cask beer.

Beside Wrenbury station was once Paradise Brewery, long since closed, but seen here in 2003.

Wrenbury village has a wharf on the Shropshire Union Canal.

West to Malpas, where this old Austin FE was attending a steam rally in 2004.

North to Broxton station, seen in 1962 (Ben Brooksbank - Creative Commons License).

Further north, the village of Tattenhall, circa 1905.

Onwards to Farndon, where the Farndon Arms, seen here in 2003, has now become The Raven, its original name.

Farndon's Greyhound pub has also changed its name. It's now called the Hare.

The Barnston Monument at Farndon (Steve Knight - Creative Commons License).

As promised, we cross back into Wales, using Farndon Bridge (Creative Commons License).

Over the River Dee is the village of Holt, with its castle.

It's not a great distance to the town of Wrexham and in a northern suburb called Acton, we find this ancient Bedford of M.A. Evans waiting to take us into town.

However, I've rather a lot of Wrexham to show you, so you'll have to await the next post. See you soon.