HISTORY- the history of this housing estate pub in CAIA PARK is sketchy at best ,the pub was opened in 1962 as part of wrexhams largest housing estate. like many pubs built inside housing estates it had no character or attractive features and was just there to serve a thirsty local working class community . the pub did have a thriving sporting history by the amount of pool,darts and 5 a side trophys that i found in display cabinets in the bar area , i did find one pub review by a roaming pub critic who fucked off after a local asked him what was in his shoulder bag ? quickest half pint he ever had !
on june 22 2003 violence erupted on the caia park estate when locals clashed with the police with incidents that had began at the RED DRAGON PUB , clashes had occurred between iraqi kurds and local youths in the pub which spilled out into the housing estate , one of the kurds had been injured by local youths who had fractured his skull , the pub was attacked by aprox 20 armed iraqi kurds who according to reports sported knives , swords and clubs wrapped with barbed wire ! ....locals retaliated with whatever was at hand ...pool cues and legs ripped off bar stools ! police were called by the landlord to get down quick sharp before somebody was killed ! ...one local lad was seriously injured.
the night after trouble kicked off again as locals tried to reek revenge on the kurds who were holed up in a local community centre , fortunately for the kurds they had been evacuated by the police or were in hiding , riot officers were drafted into the area to quell the troubles but were attacked by locals as young as twelve !
the councils policy of grouping ethnic groups together- the iraqis- were all being housed together in a clump in the middle of a large housing estate which already had its fair share of social problems , the iraqi kurds stood out because they went out and got jobs undercutting other competition and were also better off than the local community and tensions built up from there ! ....since the troubles wrexham council have changed there policy and dispersed the kurds vowing never to repeat the massing of refugees again !
the pub itself suffered thousands of pound of damage with the ground floor windows being the first casualtys , the poor landlord had only moved in a couple of weeks before ! ...lol.
since the refugees had been removed the caia park estate area has been at peace with itself after holding many meeting , local community spirit and pride has been restored even though there is still an above average police presence in the area .
planning permission to turn the pub into a convenience store was refused by the council.... as also was another plan to turn it into a rehabilitation centre for people with brain damage .
on the 11/6/2011 the property was offered on sale for £140,000.......but remains unsold ...and has now been withdrawn off the market .
THE VISIT- after passing this pub many times while doing deliveries around the north wales area ....i had to check the place out , now n then i would walk around the property figuring the best n least noticeably way to gain access , some locals on one occasion noticed me checking the pubs boarded up doors n windows but thought i was a security guard checking the pub was still secured , probably due to my white van , black uniform n hi-viz vest !......on my third probing patrol early one morning i happened to find an entrance that i had previously overlooked....after a quick scurry inside to make sure i had access all areas (HOORAY).. i then returned home to tell my derping partner Cazel#HT (and now my girlfriend).......next morning we returned while the housing estate residents still slept on a pleasant sunday morning . you may notice that in one of the pics i scored a 180 on the dartboard , even though the room had no natural light !!!! lol
THE PICS- as usual i took the shots with my trusty canon 10-18mm wide angled lens , some shots i struggled with inside due to only using the cameras built in flash or using rechargable led lamps to give me some light to work with in the gloom.....enjoy the pics folks !
on june 22 2003 violence erupted on the caia park estate when locals clashed with the police with incidents that had began at the RED DRAGON PUB , clashes had occurred between iraqi kurds and local youths in the pub which spilled out into the housing estate , one of the kurds had been injured by local youths who had fractured his skull , the pub was attacked by aprox 20 armed iraqi kurds who according to reports sported knives , swords and clubs wrapped with barbed wire ! ....locals retaliated with whatever was at hand ...pool cues and legs ripped off bar stools ! police were called by the landlord to get down quick sharp before somebody was killed ! ...one local lad was seriously injured.
the night after trouble kicked off again as locals tried to reek revenge on the kurds who were holed up in a local community centre , fortunately for the kurds they had been evacuated by the police or were in hiding , riot officers were drafted into the area to quell the troubles but were attacked by locals as young as twelve !
the councils policy of grouping ethnic groups together- the iraqis- were all being housed together in a clump in the middle of a large housing estate which already had its fair share of social problems , the iraqi kurds stood out because they went out and got jobs undercutting other competition and were also better off than the local community and tensions built up from there ! ....since the troubles wrexham council have changed there policy and dispersed the kurds vowing never to repeat the massing of refugees again !
the pub itself suffered thousands of pound of damage with the ground floor windows being the first casualtys , the poor landlord had only moved in a couple of weeks before ! ...lol.
since the refugees had been removed the caia park estate area has been at peace with itself after holding many meeting , local community spirit and pride has been restored even though there is still an above average police presence in the area .
planning permission to turn the pub into a convenience store was refused by the council.... as also was another plan to turn it into a rehabilitation centre for people with brain damage .
on the 11/6/2011 the property was offered on sale for £140,000.......but remains unsold ...and has now been withdrawn off the market .
THE VISIT- after passing this pub many times while doing deliveries around the north wales area ....i had to check the place out , now n then i would walk around the property figuring the best n least noticeably way to gain access , some locals on one occasion noticed me checking the pubs boarded up doors n windows but thought i was a security guard checking the pub was still secured , probably due to my white van , black uniform n hi-viz vest !......on my third probing patrol early one morning i happened to find an entrance that i had previously overlooked....after a quick scurry inside to make sure i had access all areas (HOORAY).. i then returned home to tell my derping partner Cazel#HT (and now my girlfriend).......next morning we returned while the housing estate residents still slept on a pleasant sunday morning . you may notice that in one of the pics i scored a 180 on the dartboard , even though the room had no natural light !!!! lol
THE PICS- as usual i took the shots with my trusty canon 10-18mm wide angled lens , some shots i struggled with inside due to only using the cameras built in flash or using rechargable led lamps to give me some light to work with in the gloom.....enjoy the pics folks !
well done 
