Advertisement
Over the last two years Wrexham our home town has taken on a new life. Thanks to Rob McElleney and Ryan Reynolds who have put the town within a city and Wales in general on the map. There are still empty shops in the town centre .. Some boarded up with FOR LET signs upon them . The large department stores in the same way as in many cities and towns in the UK have closed down and moved on to the internet or moved out of town. The beggars and rough sleepers are still about but the city has a very different feel. More of being content with itself. More outward looking than inward .
Americans visit the town now to attend the football matches between August and April . They stay at local hotels . They drop by the Turf pub. They visit local restaurants and spend money in the city. The call in and visit St Giles church . The replica tower built in Yale university has drawn Americans who want to see the original here in Wrexham. Elihu Yale has a tomb in the graveyard . The new floodlights - still three of them cause much
discussion . Some like them. Others miss the iconic old ones . Why do we need them ? The old ones are obselete. It costs £800 to replace one bulb and they still don't light up the entire pitch. Internationals cannot be held at the Racecourse as they are not bright enough and do not meet FIFA or EUFA standards . So the old ones that cost a large amount of power to light the ground had to go . The new ones are taller by 8 metres so they still will be a statement feature . The contractors building the new Kop have submitted their proposals for starting on June 1st. They will utilise the Turf Car Park and probably the workers will eat their breakfasts and lunches at The Turf Burger Bar . The excitement is mounting as we hear how the traffic will be monitored on site . Exciting days .
And then there is the proposed Mural trail . This started out with one mural on the Fat Boar pub . The pub that sponsor the season tickets, the match balls and the programmes some games. Painted during the recent World Cup the huge red mural fills one wall of the pub and brightens up a dismal alleyway . More were planned and a trail around the town following the murals and the important stop offs of the ground, the Turf , the church and other points of interest. The mural called You sons of Speed refers to the manager of the Welsh team - One Gary Speed who led Wales to some glory. He came on the football show to discuss Wales and sounded on top of the world . The next say he committed suicide . The mural salutes him and the team he managed . Across the mural the words Yma O Hyd are written . The title of a song written and performed by Dafydd Iwan the welsh nationalist folk singer. It means Still here - and refers to so many things . The Welsh language long persecuted by the English . A language described as only fit for the hearth . Welsh culture put down as inferior . The football club - Yma o hyd er gwaetha pawb a phopeth - still here despite everyone and everything .
The second mural to go up was near to the football ground . We never knew it was being painted on the side of a house . It just developed over time. A massive dragon with the sign above it Welcome to Wrexham . Sponsored and paid for by the Disney company it was there to advertise Season 2 of Welcome to Wrexham coming in August . If the second season is a good as the first it will be a cracker . We had been to see the Sons of Speed mural and today we dropped by to take a look at the new dragon in all its glory .
Sadly a Jester fan had written grafitti on the mural. Jester being the nickname for a Chester FC supporter . Luckily a local company Colour Supplies rushed along to the rescue and painted out the offending remarks . Bring our dragon mural back to life .
So now we still have 3 floodlights , A Kings of Leon concert to look forward to , a new season in League 2, the building of the new Kop and the plan to brighten up the city with more artwork . Welcome to Wrexham .
Advertisement
Tot: 0.069s; Tpl: 0.011s; cc: 13; qc: 24; dbt: 0.048s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
Home and Away
Bob Carlsen
I love it!
There is nothing like hope for the future as a city turns itself around>