WREXHAM. Down The Borderlands Way.

WREXHAM. The General Station. Lucky Wrexham has two stations. This the General Station on the route from Chester down through Chirk, Shrewsbury and to either Birmingham or down the border to South Wales and Cardiff. The other is Central Station, a shadow of it’s former glories a a market town station, tucked away in a retail park. It was once on the Cambrian Railway route down into South Wales and the resort town of Aberystwyth.

Did I tell you I took a trip out to Wrexham? By the way this is one of those jump back in time posts as I went down to the North Wales town in the run up to Christmas so it kind of got lost in the merrymaking etc.

BIDSTON. Merseyrail 507002 whispers into the station with a service out to West Kirby, These trains are due for replacement with new stock sometime during 2020. Bidston is the station you change at for the Wrexham trains. In times past the was a direct service from that town, up through the Wirral to Bidston and on to New Brighton, the connection was taken out a few years back. I wonder from time to time if there is a case for re-instating it and running the trains back through to New Brighton. Nothing against Bidston but New Brighton would be a livelier place to wait for a connection as well as extra commuter and job opportunities at eithe end of the route.

I’ve a choice of two rail routes to get there, yes I like trains, there’s the quick route from where I live which goes through Chester, or there’s the not so quick but quite interesting route that doesn’t, I took this second one. It means a train out to Bidston on the Wirral and then a connecting service which goes down the peninsula and into Wrexham where it joins the quick route from Chester. You pass through the Likes of Neston before crossing the River Dee and reaching Shotton and then passing through a string of North Wales towns with an industrial background in coal and steel. It’s marketed as the Borderlands Route and run by Transport for Wales.

WREXHAM. The General Station exterior, looking purposeful on a not very warm day. Though there is a cafe in there which is alway useful to know.

I dropped off the train at Wrexham General, one of the two stations in the town, the other is Central station which is tucked away in a shopping centre. To be honest it was not the most pleasant weather on the day, it had started out cold and dry but the rain decided to start making it’s presence felt but there are enough distractions to while away a few hours and it was better than being at home counting the flowers on my wallpaper.

WREXHAM. he weather wasn’t playing fair, the cold I don’t mind, the rain I don’t like. The General Station is at the top of the town and the walk down is a good route into the town, it takes you past the excellent museum housed in a former barracks. My highly attuned (or greedy) nose picked up the smell of food and lead my to the Wrexham Fish Bar, now the town isn’t short of decent places to eat but I came to this one first. Someone’s order of pie and chips went past as I was reading the menu and it was a case of monkey see, monkey do and a very tasty choice it was too.

The first priority was food, you can’t go hungry in Wrexham, I settled on the Wrexham Fish Bar and the pie and chips were good insulation against the cold.

From there it was a walk around the town, seeking inspiration for the last Christmas bits, the town has two market halls and a selection of arcades and alleyways to mooch your way through. There’s also a large shopping area just by the town centre with all the usual suspects. It’s a personal thing though, I like my shopping experience to be a bit less clinical and a bit more seek and find.

ARGYLE STREET. A short street under an elegant arch has this little footnote to add to the history of the Channel Tunnel.

WREXHAM. They like their Arcades in Wrexham, this is the Central Arcade festooned in balloons and if you can’t festoon a balloon in the run up to Christmas when can you?

WREXHAM. Rain adds a shine to the paving down the narrow twist of Bank Street.

WREXHAM. A rainy day on Charles Street.

12-12-19 WREXHAM. Hope Street & St. Giles Church.

WREXHAM. Standing proudly at the bottom of Hope Street is the chuch of St. Giles with it’s tower of over 130 feet in height. The surrounding churchyard is the burial place of Elihu Hale, the benefactor of Yale University in the USA.

WREXHAM. Silk flowers add a flush of colour to the inside of the Butchers Market.

WREXHAM. Pies and fresh meat in the Butchers Market.

WREXHAM. The Overton Arcade.

The day turned into evening and the temperature dropped a few degrees more, so after one more caffeine hit on Charles Street, plenty cafes in Wrexham, it was back to the station and the journey home.

Wrexham Tourism

St. Giles Church Wrexham

Wrexham Museum

Transport for Wales

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LLANDUDNO. Onward to the Seaside!

CONWY. Towns Walls, Chimney Pots & A Castle.

CONWY. Coffee, Bacon Roll And Window Shopping.

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