The actor and singer Russell Crowe has roots in North Wales. His Grandad was born in Wrexham, he later emigrated to New Zealand
The actor and singer Russell Crowe has roots in North Wales. His Grandad was born in Wrexham, he later emigrated to New Zealand
While researching a family tree, I stumbled on “Panton Place” in Wrexham—a name hiding the harsh truth of workhouse births. What I found next was a surprising tale of rural morality and Victorian euphemisms.
We found Erbistock’s St Hilary’s Church by chance—and walked into red sandstone arches, Victorian memorials, and centuries‑old gravestones by the Dee. Here’s why it deserves a return visit.
The snow on the pitch at The Racecourse this weekend, took me back to when I first watched a Wrexham match in 1960 aged 13 with my dad, John Lee Hinton. I remember that match because I remember seeing close family friend Ron Hewitt completing a great tackle right in front of me. Another match […]
It was sad to see the church had deteriorated since closing but even in a dilapidated state it still looks beautiful to me
In late December 1915 two farm labourers in their early twenties from Bronington walked seven miles to Broughall near Whitchurch to enlist in the Welsh Horse Regiment. One was my Great Uncle Arthur who was born in Bronington in 1889. He was the 10th child of a family of 12 born to George and Mary […]
To follow on from Dicken posted 20th March 2022 eyeonthepast.com/dicken/ I eventually found a photograph of my Great Grandfather Dicken. Not a professional one like his brothers, but one standing at the front door of what could be The Wheatsheaf Inn, Higher Wych, with his wife Mary. I was expecting Dicken to have a long […]
When Sarah Chaloner of Holt, Denbighshire, was widowed in 1802 with six children to raise, she carried on with quiet strength. In 1810, her dedication earned her an unexpected honour: three guineas from the Wrexham Agricultural Society for raising the greatest number of children to industry. Her story is one of resilience, recognition—and a reward that rivalled even the best turnips.
Last year during a trip to Cornwall, I was walking the dogs early one morning in Veryan, on the Roseland Peninsula, I stumbled upon St Symphorian’s Church at the village heart. A kindly local passer‑by told me the church was open—“And I suppose you came to see the longest grave in the country?” she smiled. I […]
Tucked into woodland near Overton-on-Dee stands a Victorian mortuary chapel built to honour Anna Maria Peel—and a cemetery full of forgotten souls, including a drowned youth and a poet-musician
