Brymbo Steelworks, Wrexham
This was one of the first places I visited when I first got into exploring, the place was highly recommended by Host, Hidden and Oldsk00l, I too was very impressed with the place on my first visit and found loads of interesting things left behind, with most of the damage to be found being natural damage, as the place was watched over by on-site security who seemed to keep the locals at bay.
Fast forward two years and the opportunity for a revisit popped up, to be honest I am quite sad to have gone back as the place has really gone down hill in this time. The fist thing that struck me was the amount of added natural damage which has occurred, many of the buildings now either have collapsed roofs or gaping big holes in them, which has caused a lot of damage to the stencils and other items which have been left in place.
The giant 'Tonker-toy' has also been the victim of much vandalism, all the lights have now been broken and the entire front of the truck also appears to be missing now.
The site used to be some form of Heritage area, but these days the place seems to be totally abandoned as there is plenty of evidence of Metal-Wombles having their way with the place.
Sometimes re-visiting a site to see how its getting on leaves you with feelings of sadness and disappointment, sadly for me, this is one of those places.
History
The works was founded by John ‘Iron Mad’ Wilkinson who built a blast furnace on the site in 1793, just after he bought Brymbo Hall. The reasons for his move from the nearby Bersham Ironworks are thought to be on account of the nearby westminster colliery in Moss Valley, Wrexham.
A second furnace was built by 1805 and a third about 1869, but from 1892 no more than two were used, and from 1912 only one.
After their deaths in 1882 and 1884 respectively, the business was incorporated as Brymbo Steel Co. Ltd. The business changed company name in 1934 and 1948, on the latter occasion becoming Brymbo Steel Works Ltd in 1948, having become part of GKN, being a branch of GKN Steel Co. Ltd in the early 1960s. It was nationalised with the rest of the steel industry in 1967, becoming a division of British Steel Corporation.
The works were served by the Wrexham and Minera Branch of the Great Western Railway, later of British Railways.
The steelworks lasted until 1990, when it was closed. 1,100 jobs were lost and Brymbo village went into a depression and many residents into the negative equity trap.
[EYES-WARNING] First 3 shots are HDR, due to typical Welsh-weather [/EYES-WARNING]
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Visited with Explorer62
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