1. Firstly, in November 2007, former MP for Wrexham Ian Lucas asked parliament why Wales is not represented in the Union Jack.
2. The Fenn’s, Whixall, Bettisfield, Wem & Cadney Moss Complex which staddles the Welsh and English border near Hamner. Is a national nature reserve and is the third-largest lowland raised bog in the UK, covering 2,388 acres (966 hectares). It is also a European Special Area of Conservation.
3. Edwin Hughes or ‘Balaclava Ned’ was born in Mount Street, Wrexham in 1830. On October 25th, 1854, he rode in the infamous Charge of the Light Brigade during the Battle of Balaclava in the Crimean War. In 1927, became the last surviving member of the charge. There is a plaque on the house in Mount Street where Hughes was born.
4. The first recorded reference to the town in 1161. Is to a Norman motte and bailey castle at “Wristlesham” which was likely founded in the Erddig area around 1150. By Hugh de Avranches, earl of Chester.
5. The Industrial Revolution began in Wrexham in 1762. When the entrepreneur John Wilkinson (1728–1808), known as “Iron Mad Wilkinson”, opened Bersham Ironworks. And also bought the Brymbo Estate where he set up the blast furnaces.
2 Pints of Wrexham Lager and a Packet of Crisps
6. Daniel Defoe, author of Robinson Crusoe, once noted the role of Wrexham as a “great market for Welch flannel”.
7. The artist JMW Turner visited the town and painted a watercolour of a street scene entitled “Wrexham, Denbighshire” dated 1792–3.
8. Wrexham Lager brewery was established in 1882 in Central Road and became the first brewery in the United Kingdom to produce lager beer.
9. Wrexham has applied for city status three times since the turn of the 21st century, in competitions to mark the new Millennium and for the Queen’s Golden and Diamond Jubilees. Moreover, in March 2012, Wrexham had again missed out. As the community of St Asaph, which was previously a town, was granted city status.
10. Moneypenny’s headquarters on Western Gateway features a pub, a treehouse and a giant gorilla.
Racecourse Record
11. In the early nineties, Operation Christmas Child saw Mr T came to town for a day. Also Songs of Praise with Alan Titchmarsh broadcast live from Wrexham with a link up to a church in Romania.
12. The Racecourse stadium is in the Guinness World Records as being the world’s oldest international football stadium that still hosts international matches. Having hosted Wales’ first home international match in 1877.
13. The notorious Lord Chief Justice George ‘Hanging Judge’ Jeffreys was born at Acton Hall, Wrexham, in 1645. A rumour exists that if you say ‘Judge Jefferys’ four times while standing next to the stone circle in Borras Park, he will appear.
14. Air Chief Marshall Sir Fred Rosier. The man who was to become one of Britain’s most senior airmen was born in Wrexham in 1915. For the last years of his life, he lived at Sun Bank, Trevor, near Llangollen.
15. Erddig Hall was designed in 1683 for Joshua Edisbury at a cost of £677 10s!
The London Mayor AND Richard Nixon?
16. The most influential British New Testament scholar of the twentieth century. Charles Harold Dodd was born in Wrexham on 7th, April 1884.
17. Elihu Yale was a benefactor to Yale University, Connecticut hence the University being named after him. The family’s connection with Wrexham began in the late 16th century. When Elihu’s great grandfather Dr David Yale bought the Plas Grono estate, which is now part of the Erddig estate. A replica of Wrexham church tower was built on Yale Campus.
18. Former Lord Mayor of London, Robert Waithman was born in Wrexham in 1764. In 1820 he became Sheriff of London and Middlesex and was elected Lord Mayor in 1823.
19. Former US president Richard Nixon can trace his roots back to Wrexham. Nixon was a descendent of the famous Puleston family who lived at Hafod y Wern centuries ago on what became Queen’s Park and later Caia Park.
20. Lastly, for some reason, there is a Wrexham Avenue, a Wrexham Lane and a Wrexham Avenue Southwest in and around Columbus in the US state of Ohio.
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