The last time I reviewed The Royston Club I made a bold statement. After a sell-out gig at the Victoria Warehouse I said, “That’s it, we’ll never see them play in Wrexham again until the Racecourse hosts them in a few years’ time.” Two days later, an “Everywhere, All at Once” festival announcement was released. The Royston Club were coming home to the venue I’d seen them play the most. So much for my bold prediction.

The boys were coming home.

The gig was a National Lottery-funded event for the Music Venue Trust. It’s helping venues like the hosts, The Rockin’ Chair, which is a vital cog in the music scene. We lose places like this and we lose bands like The Royston Club. The tickets were the hottest tickets in town. They sold out in minutes. It’s no surprise. These local lads are the real deal now.

The crowd were warmed up by Jasper Hodges. You could tell the singer-songwriter was loving an expectant crowd, all in early to claim their own coveted space. Everyone joined in. The atmosphere was building.

It was then time. The lights went out and everyone looked towards the stage door to the left. It swung open and the four lads appeared. From the first bars of Shivers to the final solo ending of Cariad, where it’s just Tom and his guitar, every single word of every single song is sung by every single attendee.

Everyone was at one.

All the favourites were on the setlist. Banger after banger. You could feel the electricity in the air. You could see Ben, Dave, Sam and Tom were enjoying themselves so much. There were 15 songs on the original list, but a special gig needs something special for the lucky few who managed to get tickets.

One song has been missing from the setlist that Royston fans have missed. They were just about to start Cariad when they all looked at each other. Someone in the crowd kept shouting, “Shawshank!” and got their own way.

It went down a storm.

As I walked away afterwards, I couldn’t help but think back to what I’d written after Manchester. I thought Wrexham had become too small for them. I was wrong.

The Royston Club may now be filling bigger venues and playing to thousands, but they haven’t forgotten where they came from. They came home to one of the town’s most important grassroots venues, gave everyone lucky enough to get a ticket a night to remember, and reminded us why places like The Rockin’ Chair matter so much.

If we want the next Royston Club, we have to protect the venues where journeys like this begin.

It was one of our usual whinge sessions. We were bemoaning the lack of football. I was in the Butchers Market and I was talking to Rob Clarke. And the subject got around to “What shall we do next” and then Rob comes out with a cracking idea. Why don't we make some videos about historical sites in Wrexham. We talk about giving some facts, giving some jokes and showing people what its like now. A potted history of town. My eyes glaze over. I like the idea. Lets do it.

So by 4pm we'd thought up a name. “Wrexham Remembered”. We had a tagline “Looking behind the bricks” and the obvious place to start was the Butchers Market, home of Rob's Mad4Movies stall. To start off we'll produce these monthly but if popular we may increase our output. So where are we going to look into.

Heres an idea of our future episodes.

1. Butchers Market
   The first Wrexham Remembered feature, and the perfect place to begin. A historic market building still full of life, traders, memories and stories — including Rob’s own connection through Mad4Movies.

2. Wrexham Swimming Baths
   A building tied to generations of school lessons, swimming galas, childhood memories and changing times in the town.

3. Wrexham Library
   A place of learning, research, quiet afternoons, local history and public life. A building many people have passed through without always thinking about its story.

4. The Old Wrexham Library
   A separate look back at the earlier library building, the people who used it, and what it meant to Wrexham before the current library took its place.

5. The Wrexham Miners Project
   A chance to explore Wrexham’s mining heritage, the families connected to it, and the importance of keeping those working-class stories alive.

6. Hippodrome
   One of Wrexham’s great entertainment names. Theatre, cinema, nights out, old posters, programmes, performances and memories of a different era.

7. Talbot
   A building with social history at its heart. Pubs often hold the stories of a town — regulars, music, conversations, characters and changing times.

8. St Giles Parish Church
   One of the most recognisable landmarks in Wrexham. Its tower is part of the town’s skyline, but the building also holds centuries of local history.

9. The Racecourse Ground
   More than a football ground. Stands, floodlights, matchdays, memories, promotion seasons, heartbreak, celebration and the changing identity of Wrexham.

10. Wrexham General Station
    A place of arrivals and departures. Work journeys, away days, family trips, returning home, and the railway’s role in connecting Wrexham to the wider world.

11. Central Station
    Another important transport story, with its own memories of travel, town-centre life and how people moved through Wrexham.

12. Wrexham Lager Brewery
    A name woven into the town’s identity. The buildings, the workers, the beer, the revival, and the pride attached to a famous Wrexham name.

13. The General Market / Butter Market
    A natural companion to the Butchers Market story. Another key market building with its own traders, memories, produce, characters and place in everyday Wrexham life.

14. The Guildhall / Council Buildings
    Civic Wrexham: decisions, ceremonies, public meetings, protests, debates and the buildings where the town’s official life has played out.

15. Odeon / Old Cinema Buildings
    Perfect for the Mad4Movies connection. Wrexham’s cinema memories, old nights out, queues, first films, lost venues and the town’s love of the big screen.

16. The Old Police Station / Court Buildings (Wrexham Museum)
    Buildings with serious stories behind them. Law, order, local cases, public memory and the changing face of justice in Wrexham.

17. Eagles Meadow Before Eagles Meadow
    Not one building, but a whole area of memory. What stood there before, what was lost, what changed, and what people still remember.

18. Wrexham Maelor Hospital / Old Infirmary History
    A deeply personal subject for many families. Births, nurses, patients, staff, old wards and the buildings connected to care in Wrexham.

19. Old Schools of Wrexham
    School buildings are full of memories. Lessons, teachers, playgrounds, friendships, punishments, pride and the stories that shaped generations.

20. The Former Police Station

    The odd shaped building that was demolished due to rising maintenance costs.

The list is endless. You can add to it. Is there a building or area you'd like to add. You can get involved. Help us present it. Help us research it.

In fact. If anyone has any information on any of the buildings above send us it on info@wxmweekly.com

Now the important bits. Where will you be able to see these videos. Well if you are a subscriber here. Fear not. It will appear here. Paid subscribers will get it 7 days earlier. It will then be available here and also the Music and Sport WXM YouTube channel.

Thank you for your continued support.

It only costs £3.50 a month to help us keep projects like this going — and it works out even cheaper if you subscribe yearly.

WXM Weekly is about telling local stories properly. That means time spent researching, filming, writing, editing, chasing leads, speaking to people, digging through memories, and trying to do justice to the places and people that shaped Wrexham.

Projects like Wrexham Remembered are exactly the sort of thing we want to do more of. Not quick posts that disappear in a day, but proper local features that can be watched, read, shared and looked back on.

If you enjoy what we do, please consider becoming a paid subscriber. It helps cover the time, the costs, and the work that goes into keeping independent local storytelling alive.

Every subscription makes a difference.

Every building has a story. Wrexham has thousands

It started with a simple conversation in the Wrexham Library on Friday morning, it ended with me deep in the undergrowth, covered in scratches, in the Moss Valley. I sometimes wonder what goes on in my brain at times, but as soon as someone mentioned the disused railway tunnel between the Moss and Gwersllt, I knew I'd have to investigate.

The Annual Wrexham Local History Festival was taking place in Wrexham Library, and I offered to help man the Wrexham Miners Project stand. One of our volunteers and keen genealogist Gina was also helping out and her enthusiasm for anything historical was definitely rubbing off. The day started quietly, so we wandered around the other stall and during the chats with our fellow exhibitors we formed links. We talked to representatives of the Parish Church and noticed the numbers of miners and colliers mentioned in the old leather bound books. We talked about the difference between a miner and a collier. It seems that they both the same but a collier only mined for coal.

We spoke to the Wrexham Museum and the links between the miners and football. We talked about the Gresford Disaster and how it affected the area for years after the death of 266 men. The Wrexham Museum, when it opens will be split into 2, with one half dedicated to football. This will be a great addition to the Wrexham area.

And we also spoke to the Broughton District History Group. And that's where my adventure started. Many, many years ago I was seeing a girl from the Moss, so I knew the area well and when we discussed that coal was transported to Brymbo by rail, it wasn't a suprise to me, however when discussing the train it was mentioned that there was a disused tunnel from the Moss to Gwersllt. I was curious. I needed more.

I parked my car by the Moss Golf club and walked back to where I thought it would be safest to get up the bank. I questioned my sanity as I scrambled up a bank into an overgrown forest. I stepped over branches and fallen trees, my feet singing into the fallen leaves that covered the floor. It did cross my mind that I might be over the tunnel and, with not seeing what I was stepping on, could end up down a shaft. In fact we'd spoken about sink holes only a couple of hours previously. I walked for about 40 meters until thinking “This is stupid, I need a map”. I turned back and headed back to where I came from. Wearing shorts, as I always do, wasn't the best attire for this occasion. And a bank of brambles I'd managed to get through by standing on them, were now blocking my exit after springing back. I had to go around the bush………and in doing so found a wall. My interest detective took over. Why would anyone build a wall in the middle of the Forest. And 10 yards further on, another wall. I stood and thought…….

There were remains of 2 broken walls with no trees within this 10 meter gap and looking up hill you could see modern bricks……..and something that looked like a hole, but it was so overgrown I couldn't see for certain if this was the tunnel entrance. I had my camera, but only wished I'd had my flash, as the pictures are just a massive of green, but I was convinced I'd found it.

Subscribe now

I posted the pictures on my Facebook and it looks like I was definitely in the right place, and people shared maps and diagrams with me. I must admit, I still haven’t tried to find the other end of the tunnel yet. I'll get back to you when I have, but if you have any more information on this let me know…….and let me know of other places to investigate.

As you can see, the different walls alongside the road in the Moss. And to finish off my day, as I scrambled down the bank, a police car drove past. Both officers looked at me suspiciously, but then noticed my camera and must have thought, “Oh, he's one of them photography nutters”

Subscribe now

It started with a simple Photo of the front of the Butchers Market. I know a few teaders in there, so I know about most of the problems. I know the current Market strategy isn't working, and my Facebook page took off with people commenting on their own thoughts.

Read more

Some pictures of Wrexham.

Read more

I don't need to write many words this week. The pictures paint a thousand words. But, to be honest, after listening to John's heartbreaking stories of how he carries his son in his heart and now lives on for suicide prevention, we should use a thousand words . I say heartbreaking, but its also inspiring that this man can channel the hurt that I catch be…

Read more

011 week on week

This week.

Wrexham Football. Wrexham music. Wrexham life.

This is Wrexham, week on week.

From record shops to big stages — a Wrexham music story

I stand on the balcony of the Victoria Warehouse, looking down at thousands of hot, sweaty music fans. They’ve just witnessed a magical show by one of Wrexham’s greatest exports, The Royston Club.

I…

Read more

This week.

Wrexham Football. Wrexham music. Wrexham life.

This is Wrexham, week on week.

Saturday 2nd May 2026

We all know that feeling. You wake up exhausted from the day before. You feel like you’ve got a hangover, but you haven’t touched a drop. I dread to think how the drinkers are feeling. I’ve been on an emotional roller coaster, and …

Read more

10 week on week

This week.

The Wrexham 10k

This is Wrexham, week on week.

Wrexham 10k.

I'm a man of principles, which sometimes covers the fact that I'm careful with money. When Coventry announced that tickets were £45 I shouted “NO”. I refused to buy a ticket at that price. Even with Wrexham Football Club trolling me by offering free transport, it wouldn'…

Read more

09 week on week

This week.

A charity walk.

Football.

Our town.

This is Wrexham, week on week.

Ruperts Rainbow

I usually plan my blog early in the week, but this week a chance photo (above) changed things. I went along to the Fearless in Devotion live podcast event and did some media shots for them. Between interviews, a gentleman in a charity T-shirt got up…

Read more

08 week on week

This week had everything.

New small bands through to chart toppers.

A pub with a musical history to a venue with a similar history.

Bands on a different stage of their musical rise to stardom.

Five bands over two nights.

This is Wrexham, week on week.

🎸 Saith Seren. Gamelin.

It was my first time watching this band and I was impressed. They p…

Read more

07 week on week

This week had everything.

A title lift at the Rock.

A room full of stories remembering a legend.

And an away day that had a bit of everything—noise, edge, and chaos.

This is Wrexham, week on week.

⚽️ Wrexham Women are Champions

The hard work had already been done. The title secured. This was about the moment. This was the day the Wrexham Wom…

Read more

06 week on week

⚽️ Wrexham Women are Champions

And we've captured it all. Firstly the Fanzone.

▶️ Watch this

Read more

05 week on week

🎨 Murals in town

Wrexham’s walls are changing — and this one stands out.

Wrexham walls are being painted by some brilliant artists, some local, some imported. This wall has been painted by Michelle Edwards of Painted Creations by ME. Its another great addition to the Murals in the town.

▶️ Watch this

Read more

04

Wrexham v Hull

Wrexham lost to Hull City under the lights at a wet and windy Racecourse. We remain in the playoffs with Hull City just above us.

Live at ReVibed

ReVibed Live is a night where local bands showcase their music.

This week Cherophobes and Roadside Assistance played to a packed record shop crowd.

Support local music. Support ReVibed Records.

12.…

Read more

03

Aquabats in the Rockin Chair

Read more

02

Support WXM Weekly

Wrexham Lager Stand

Night matches under the lights feel different — especially with a win. Wrexham 2 Portsmouth 1 and still in the play-offs.

23.02.26 ▪︎ Racecourse ▪︎ Photo: Peter Colin Forbes

St David’s Day

The brilliant St Davids Day display on La Baguette in town. Painted Creations by ME designed and painted this beautiful window display. Dydd G…

Read more

A structured photographic record of football, music and culture in Wrexham

From next week, paid subscribers receive early Tuesday access and full archive access.

Subscribe

01

Football

The autograph has been replaced. “Can you sign this?” is now “Can I have a selfie?”

21.02.26 ▪︎ Racecourse ▪︎ Players arriving ▪︎ Photo: Peter Colin Fo…

Read more