Wrexham

We left Liverpool this morning via the Queensway Tunnel, which took us beneath the Mersey River across to Birkenhead on the other side. I was quite impressed to think of an engineering feat that could make this possible, but even more impressed when I discovered that the tunnel was opened over 90 years ago. When I was a little kid, my parents took me to the drive-in. The movie was ‘Ferry Cross the Mersey’, starring Gerry Marsden and the Pacemakers. I’ve always loved the title song and thought one day I might take the ferry ‘cross the Mersey. I don’t think that will happen, but at least now I’ve crossed the Mersey – below the riverbed.

We soon reached Chester, one of my favourite towns from our first visit to England six years ago. It’s an old Roman town. The sturdy city walls they built two thousand years ago still stand today, and we were able to walk along them for a short distance. Chester is also notable for the many beautiful Tudor-style buildings lining its streets. They’re easily recognisable because of their half timbered walls and steep gabled roofs. The last time we were in Chester we learnt about its Rows, where there are two shopping levels of covered timber-framed walkways along the main streets – one at ground level, and the second immediately above it at first floor level. Apparently they date back 700 years and can only be found in Chester. The cathedral here dates back to the 1500s. We didn’t have time to have a look inside. We passed the beautiful elephant sculpture that celebrates Chester’s famous zoo, and walked around to the Eastgate Clock that is perched above the permanently open East Gate of the Roman city wall. Unfortunately, we couldn’t spend more time in Chester because our main purpose today was to visit Wrexham. Nevertheless, I’m glad I had the chance to see it for a second time.

Rod and Cornelia, who planned the itinerary for this trip, were fans of the ‘Welcome to Wrexham’ TV series. I was initially surprised because I hadn’t imagined they be fans of English football. But they told us that the show was about much more than just football. It also had a people element, featuring some really likable characters, and a thread running through it about a proud town that had been having a rough time. Marg and I were intrigued to hear of the two Hollywood actors, Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney, who had stepped in to buy the club in order to help it start winning enough games and earning promotion to higher leagues. If the football team could find success, the fortunes of the town and its people would also improve. So we started watching it too. Soon we were hooked, and some nights we would binge on multiple episodes. We grew to love the football club and its personalities as well as the townspeople of Wrexham. We watched anxiously as Wrexham did battle with its rivals, and we celebrated with every goal and every save that featured on the show. When Rod and Cornelia invited us to join them on this trip and told us we’d be including Wrexham on the itinerary, we were very happy about that. We knew the team would not be playing while we were there, that we wouldn’t be able to get inside the ground, and that there might not be a lot to see or do apart from visit The Turf hotel, but that was okay. It would still be good to see a few familiar places with our own eyes.

We pulled into the parking lot at the ground. It was a rarity for us to be able to park at the place we wanted to be and to do so at no cost. It was 11.30 am and The Turf was not due to open until midday. We walked around the hotel, the car park and the stadium wall on Mold Rd, looking for a vantage point through which we could view the Racecourse Ground, but there was virtually none. I found a hole in a gate, but all I could see through it was a few workmen on a construction site. Now that the club has gained promotion again for the third season running, it’s going to need upgrades so more fans can come in to view the game. It appears that a new stand is probably being built at the north end of the ground, though most of what is happening is currently hidden from view. We spoke to Natalie at the famous burger van that often featured on the show. She gave us directions to the club shop. It’s off the main road at what looks like the back of the stadium, and we had to walk through a part of the university to access it. As the season has just finished, much of the current merchandise was on sale at 60% off to make way on the racks for next season’s designs. Rod bought a Wrexham AFC playing shirt and I got a T-shirt celebrating the back-to-back-to-back successes of the past three years.

We walked back to the van and who should we meet, making burgers, but Wayne, one of the stars of the TV show and the owner of The Turf. He was really friendly and chatted with us, saying he’d been invited to join this year’s team tour to Australia in July, but he didn’t fancy missing out on three weeks of the British summer. He told us he’d actually lived in Melbourne for a short time, staying at The Espy in St Kilda at a time when it badly needed a fresh coat of paint. Natalie took our orders, and Wayne said he’d cook them up and Natalie would bring them to us at our table inside.

As we were there just after The Turf opened, it wasn’t crowded. Just us and a few locals, some of whom we recognised from photos on the wall. There’s a photo below with Prince William in the pub, and I reckon the three blokes on the right were all in the pub today. Rob McElhenney and Wayne are on the left of Prince William. We chatted to one of the locals, who must surely have been in some episodes. He was a great bloke. He took our photos with the Deadpool sculpture, and told us how Russell Crowe and Kylie Minogue were descendants of Wrexham ancestry. Rachel behind the bar was friendly too. Our burgers arrived and they were bloody good – just as you would expect from a genuine burger van. The Wrexham Lager was pretty good too. The pub had a homely, warm feel about it. It didn’t seem at all like a tourist attraction. In fact, nothing about the place gave much indication that it was the focal point of one of the most popular TV shows of recent times. This was just a small town going about its daily business and we were made to feel welcome to join them for a day. I was at first surprised that no one seemed to be trying to cash in on the program’s (or, indeed, the football team’s) success in any way, but then I thought that maybe the people who matter realised that the success may not last, especially now they’ve been promoted to Champions League level where they’re up against the big boys. It may not make good business sense to build a tourist industry around a team that might only have fleeting success. Whatever the reason, the very humble nature of the people here at The Turf, made me like the club even more. As we were leaving, Wayne told Rod he was going home this afternoon to make the decision whether or not to come down to Australia with the team.

We walked into Wrexham township, looking for the main street. We figured we’d see some recognisable places and be able to feel the vibe of the town that only a couple of weeks ago saw its football team gain promotion. Instead, all we found were quiet streets and very little activity. There were some charming buildings there, reflecting a past history of prosperity and growth. Today, sadly, we saw quite a few unoccupied shopfronts with ‘To Let’ signs plastered on the doors and windows. It all felt a bit sad. I can imagine it must have felt even sadder when the football team was not performing well. Even the street market today looked a bit sparse. I hope I got it wrong, and they’re all doing okay. Sometimes first impressions can give you the wrong idea. We saw the miners’ monument that featured in one episode, where we learned about the terrible mining disaster of 1934 that cost 261 Wrexham men their lives, and left a large proportion of the town’s women and children without husbands, fathers and breadwinners. The brightest feature of the town we saw was the mural honouring Wrexham’s striker ‘Super’ Paul Mullin. His efforts on the playing field helped Wrexham AFC rise to its current prominence. I hope there’s still a place for him now that the team has made it through to the Champions League. We left North Wales and returned directly to Liverpool, once more crossing the Mersey below ground level.