I Can’t Sleep - Wrexham | Calm Bedtime Reading for Sleep

Episode Date: June 23, 2024

Relax with this calm bedtime reading on Wrexham, designed to ease insomnia and guide you toward peaceful sleep. In this gentle episode, Benjamin explores the history and character of Wrexham, a city in Wales with roots stretching from ancient settlements to its modern cultural revival. His soothing narration provides both knowledge and comfort—no whispers, no hypnosis, only calm, fact-filled storytelling to quiet the mind. Whether you’re struggling with stress, anxiety, or sleepless nights, this peaceful reading invites you to press play, unwind, and drift into restful rest while learning something new. Want More? Request a Topic: https://www.icantsleeppodcast.com/request-a-topic Ad-Free Episodes: https://icantsleep.supportingcast.fm/ Shop Sleep-Friendly Products: https://www.icantsleeppodcast.com/sponsors Join the Discussion on Discord: https://discord.gg/myhGhVUhn7 This content is derived from the Wikipedia article on Wrexham, available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) license. Read the full article: Wikipedia – Wrexham. Happy sleeping! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

You're listening to a Glassbox media podcast. What if I told you that most of the modern day self-help advice you've been hearing could actually make you worse? The key to a better life isn't about feel-good gimmicks that sound catchy. The Mentally Stronger Podcast gives you access to a licensed therapist who shares science-backed tools that will actually change your life. Hi, I'm Amy Morin, psychotherapist, mental strength trainer, and international best-selling author. In each episode, we cover research-back strategies, like how to stop relying on willpower and start creating habits for lasting change. And the five mental strength-building exercises you can do from your couch.

I also speak to world-class experts like Dr. Nicole Kane, who shares how to permanently heal anxiety by addressing the root cause. With over 200 episodes in our catalog, this podcast is for you if you're ready to crush self-doubt, conquer challenges, and become stronger than ever with therapist-approved strategies that can change your life. Listen to Mentally Stronger with Therapist Amy Morin, wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome to the I Can't Sleep Podcast, where I read random articles from across the web to bore you to sleep with my soothing voice. I'm your host, Benjamin Boster. Today's episode is from a Wikipedia article titled, Rexum. Rexum. Rexum. Rex.

Wrexham is a city and the administrative center of Wrexham County Borough in Wales. It is located between the Welsh Mountains and the Lower D Valley, near the border with Cheshire and England. Historically in the county of Debencher, and later in the county of Clued in 1974, it has been the principal settlement of Wrexham County Borough since 1996. Rexham has historically been one of the primary settlements of Wales. At the 2021 census, it had an urban population of 44,785. The core of the city comprises the local government communities of Acton, Kaya Park, Alpha, and Rosdou.

In the 2011 census, Rexum's built-up area was determined to extend further into villages like Brumbo, Renteg, Gorsalt, New Broden, and Pentrabraden, with a population of 61,603. While also including nearby Bradley and Rostelin for a population of 65,692 in 2011, Rexam was likely founded prior to the 11th century and developed in the Middle Ages as a regional center for trade and administration. The city became the most populous settlement of Wales in the 17th century and was at the forefront of the Industrial Revolution from the 18th century. Prior to deindustrialization in the 20th century, the city and surrounding area were a hub of coal and lead mining,

the production of iron, steel and leather, and brewing. Today, Rexham continues to serve North Wales and the Welsh Board, borderlands as a center for manufacturing, retail, education, and administration. The city is noted for hosting Wrexham AFC, one of the oldest professional football teams in the world. The nationally significant industrial heritage of the Cluedog Valley, the National Trust property of Erdig, and the Fine Tudor Church of St. Giles, which towers over the historic Rexham City Center. Human activity in the Rexum area dates back to the Mesolithic period, 8,000 to 4,300 BC, with tools made from Flint being found to the east of the city.

Two Bronze Age burial mounds are located in the west of the modern city center, and there's evidence that the area had developed into a center for an innovative metalworking industry by the early Middle Bronze Age. A series of Iron Age hill forts are located to the west of present-day Wrexham along the upland-lund-lolan line, suggesting the presence of an ancient tribal boundary. At the time of the Roman conquest of Britain, the area which Rexham formed part of was held by a Celtic tribe called the Cornovia. A Roman civilian settlement was located in the Plascoch area of Rexum, and excavations have revealed evidence of agriculture and trade with the wider Roman world.

Following the end of Roman rule in Britain, Wrexham formed part of the Romano-British kingdom of Powys. The Battle of Chester, circa 615, marked the beginning of a long struggle between the Welsh and English for territory in this part of Wales. During the 8th century, the Anglo-Saxon royal house, of Mercia pushed their frontiers westwards and established the earth boundaries of Watts-Dyke and Offa's Dyke to the west of the present city. It was probably during this first period of Mercy and advance in the 8th century that the settlement of Wrexham was founded on the flat ground above the meadows of the River Gwenfro. The name Wrexham probably comes from the old English for Rydels River Meadow. Alternatively, the name may have described a settlement of

the Riosacan people, who were possibly a continuation of the Cornovi tribe of Roman Britain. The settlement may have originally been named Carapenthal in Welsh, but by the 13th century was recorded in Welsh as Grexum, or Grexham. The Mercians fought over northeast Wales during the 8th to 10th centuries, but the Welsh kings of Powis reconquered the Wrexham area during the 11th century. Following the Welsh re-conquest, Rexum formed an integral part of the Powis Lordship of Melor, and so does not appear in the Doomsday Book of 1086. The first recorded reference to the town in 1161 is to a castle at Rysselsham. stability under the princess of Powas Vadagh

enabled Rexum to develop as a trading town an administrative center of one of the two commotes making up a lordship. In 1202, Maddick Apcruffit Melor, Lord of Dennis Brown, granted some of his domain lands in Reckisim to the Abbey of Val Cruces and in 1220

to the earliest reference to a church, and Rexham was made. Following the loss of Welsh independence and the death in Battle of Prince Lle and Ep Griffith in 1282, Rexham became part of the semi-independent marcher lordship of Broomfield and Yale. Rexham increased in importance throughout the Middle Ages as the Lordship's administrative center, and the then-town's position made it a suitable center for the exchange of the produce of the Valley and Debeinshire uplands, whilst iron and lead were also mined locally. From 1327 onwards, the town is referred to as a villa mercantoria, market town, and became a celebrated center for Welsh craftsmen.

The town was particularly well known in the 14th and 15th centuries for the manufacture of Welsh bucklers, as illustrated by the mention in the 1546. inventory of King Henry the 8th of Wrexham bucklers. In 1391, Wrexham was wealthy enough for a bard, Chester, Chuggler, dancer, and coldsmith to earn their living there. The traditional pattern of Welsh life, law, administration, customs, and language remained undisturbed through the Middle Ages, and the pattern was for local English people to rapidly address.

the Welsh language and to be assimilated into Welsh culture, even to point of adopting Welsh patronymic surnames. The local Welsh nobility and peasantry backed the uprising led by Owein Glinder against King Henry IV of England during the early 15th century. Local poet Gutour Glen, circa 1412 to circa 1493, heralded Sion-upmaton the great nephew of Owein Glinder as Alexander Erexham and Alexander for Rexum. And the poet Hewell Daffy addresses Cion's heir as a girdle around the heart of Wrexham. The acts of union passed during the reign of Henry VIII brought the lordship into the full system of English administration and law.

It became part of the new shire of Denbyshire in 1536. In 1584, St. Richard Gwyn, a local Rikusin, schoolteacher and poet in the Welsh language, was convicted of high treason, based on his Catholic beliefs by a panel of judges, headed by the Chief Justice of Chester, Sir George Bromley. The main body of the Church of St. Giles was rebuilt in the late 15th and early 16th centuries to become one of the finest examples of ecclesiastical architecture in Wales. The economic character remained predominantly as an agricultural market town into the 17th century, but there were workshops of weavers, smiths, nailers, as well as dyehouses.

The 1620 Norton's jury of survey of Wrexham Regis stated that four-fifths of the landholding classes of Ruxham bore Welsh names, and every field except one within the manor bore a Welsh or semi-Welish name. A grammar school was established in 603 by Ardellman Valentine Broaden of Chester. During the English Civil War, most of the local Welsh gentries supported King Charles I, and in 1642 the king addressed enthusiastic crowds in the town. However, local landlord Sir Thomas Middleton declared for the Rump Parliament, and parliamentarians occupied the town in 1643 and 1645. Rexham served as military headquarters for both forces, and a quarter of houses were burned down in 1643 during the quartering of troops in the town. In the 17th century,

Rexham served as an educational and cultural focal point for local society and became a Puritan metropolis. Morgan Lood, the radical non-conformist preacher and writer, was educated at the Wrexham Grammar School and became vicar of Rexham in 1645. Rexham was known for its leather industry, and by the 18th century, there were a number of skinners and tanners in the town. The Industrial Revolution began in Rexham in 1762, when the entrepreneur John Wilkinson, 1728-1808, known as Iron Mad Wilkinson, open Bersham Ironworks, Wilkinson steam engines enable to peak production at mineral lead mines

on the outskirts of Wrexham. From the late 18th century, numerous large-scale industrialized colleries operated in the southern section of the northeast Wales coal field, alongside hundreds of more traditional small-scale pits, belonging to a mining tradition

dating back to the Middle Ages. Eighth century literary visitors, including Samuel Johnson, who described Rexham as a busy, extensive, and well-built town, and Daniel Defoe, who noted the role of Rexham as a great market for Welsh flannel. The artist J.M.W. Turner also visited the town in 1792 to 93 and 1794, which resulted in his drawings of St. Giles' Parish Church and surrounding buildings, and a watercolor painting of a street scene. Reverend William Bingley described Rexham in 1839 as,

of such size and consequence as to have occasionally obtained the appellation of the metropolis of North Wales. Rexham gained its first newspaper in 1848. The Market Hall was built in 1840. and in 1863, a volunteer fire brigade was founded. In addition to brewing, Tannin became one of Wrexham's main industries. In the mid-19th century, Wrexham was granted borough status. By 1851, the population of Wrexham was 6,714. Within 30 years, this had increased to 10,978,

as the town became increasingly industrialized. Rexum benefited from good underground water supplies, which were essential to the brewing of beer. By the mid-19th century, there were 19 breweries in and around the town. Rexum Lager Brewery was established in 1882 and Central Road and became the first brewery in the United Kingdom to produce Lager Beer. A permanent military presence was established in the town with the completion of Hightown Barracks in 1877.

The Poissar Street drill hall was completed in 1902. When the 1912 National Eisted Faud of Wales was held at Wrexham, T.H. Perry Williams achieved for the first time the feat, almost unheard of sins, of winning both the chair and the crown. Perry Williams later recalled returning home to Rithu where he had been working as a hired hand upon the farm of a relative. Upon telling his employer of his double victory, Perry Williams was advised to seek grace. When Perry Williams then explained that both victories had gained him 40 pounds, the relative shouted an angry disbelief, and you earned them all sitting on your arse?

By 1913, the Northeast Wales coal field was producing up to 3 million tons a year and employed over 10,000 people, dominating the economic and cultural life of the area. One of the worst mining disasters in British history occurred at Grusford Colliery in 1934, when underground explosions and a subsequent fire cost the lives of 266 men. However, the industry went in a decline after the First World War, and of the seven large-scale collieries operating in the Wrexham area in 1946. Only two functional collieries remained by 1968. The last pit to close in the borough was Bersham Colliery in 1986.

The leather works in Pentreflin and Tuttle Street, the many coal mines in the area, the brickworks in Abinbury, Brimbo Steelworks, and the breweries, all closed in the latter half of the 20th century. Rexham suffered from the same problems as much of industrialized Britain and saw little investment in the 1970s. In the 1980s and 1990s, the Welsh Development Agency, WDA, funded a major dual carriageway, bypassing Wrexham Town Center and connecting it with nearby Chester and with England's Trunk Road Network. New shopping areas have been created within the town at Hembler Square, Island Green, and Eagle's Meadow, and the Rexham Industrial Estate, previously used in the Second World War, has become home to many manufacturing businesses.

Wrexham Town Hall, an early 18th century arcaded structure with an assembly hall in the first floor, which had been built at the top of Town Hall, was demolished to improve traffic flows in the area in February 1940. Rexham's former police station at Regent Street, originally the barracks for the Royal Devineshire Militia, is now home to Rexham County Borough Museum. The museum has two galleries devoted to the history of the city and its surrounding communities. The museum also holds the archive of the Royal Welch Fusiliers. Battalions were stationed in Wrexham during the First World War. The collection is notable for containing original documents and the handwriting of Siegfried Sassoon,

Robert Graves, J.C. Dunn, and other notable members of the RWF, as well as official records. The local police was housed in the high-rise Rexham police station from 1973 to 2019, with the building demolished the following year. The police moved to a smaller facility next to Rexham Library. Rexham County Borough Council is made up of 56 counselors, with one then appointed to serve as mayor for a year. The most recent election to the council was on May 5, 2022,

The election resulted in an independent group conservative coalition, as well as various ward changes, and the addition of four new counselor seats from the 2022 election. The main contiguous part of the city of Wrexham, east of the A483 dual carriageway, is divided into the communities of Acton, Rosedew, Offa, and Kaya Park. Although other definitions of the city may consider Wrexham to extend westwards into other communities, such as Grisseld and New Broughton, which are part of Wrexham's built-up area. The Wrexham constituency elects members to the UK Parliament and the Senate. The constituency includes both the city and some of its outlying villages,

such as Grisselt, Le, Marford, Rosset, and Holt. The UK Parliament constituency of Wrexham was considered a safe seat for the Labour Party until 2019. At the 2019 general election, Rexham elected Sarah Atherton MP to the House of Commons, a first conservative member of Parliament for the constituency. Leslie Griffith's MS, Welsh Labor, has represented the Wrexham constituency in the Senate since 2007, and has held a number of cabinet positions in the Welsh government. Wrexham-Mailor Hospital is a region's major acute district hospital, with over 900 beds and is the largest of three core hospitals in North Wales.

The other NHS hospital within the county borough is Church Community Hospital and a former Penley-Polish Hospital. Yale Hospital situated close to the Mylar Hospital on the Rexham-Meylor Hospital, on the Wrexham Technology Park is Wrexham's largest private hospital with over 25 beds. Formerly BUPA Yale Hospital, it is now owned and operated by Spire Healthcare.

Rexham is served by North Wales Police. Their Eastern Division H.Q has a large HQ building in LAY and a police station in the city center. The police were formerly based at the Rexham Police Station from 1973 to 2019, with the building being demolished in 2020. The region's main fire station is situated on Krasnieweth Road and is part of the newly combined ambulance service station.

Other local fire stations are located in the nearby towns of Chirk and Lengelen. Rexham is applied for city status three times since the turn of the 21st century, in competitions to mark the new millennium, and for both the Queen's golden and diamond jubilees. In March 2012, it was announced that Wrexham had again missed out on city status, as the community of St. Asaf, which was previously a city, was granted city status. In 2021, the Rexham Council announced their intention to apply for a fourth time for the Queen's Platinum Jubilee Award. On the 20th of May 2022, it was announced that as part of the Platinum Jubilee Civic honors, Rexum would receive city status. The status was confirmed by letters patent on the 1st of September

2022. It became Wales 7th city. Rexum is not built on a major river, but on a relatively flat plateau between the Lower D Valley and easternmost mountains of northeast Wales. This position enabled it to grow as a market town, as a crossroads between England and Wales, and later as an industrial hub, due to its rich natural reserves of iron ore and coal. But three small rivers flow through parts of the city, the Cluedog, Gwenfro, and Allen. Rexam is also famed for the quality of its underground water services, which gave rise to its previous dominance as a major brewing center. Originally, a market town was surrounding urban villages.

Rexam has now coalesced with a number of urban villages and forms North Wales largest city, including adjacent urban areas to Rexam, such as that of Gorslis, Rostlerkog, Koedpoith, and Ley totals to a population of over 100,000 residents. In 2021, the urban population was 44,785. In the previous census in 2011, Wrexham's built-up area also included settlements to the West, which increased the population to between 61,603 and 65,692 in 2011. Wrexham was home to approximately 40% of the total population of the county borough in 2007.

Rexham is approximately 13 miles south of Chester, 30 miles northwest of Shrewsbury, 43 miles southwest of Manchester, and 140 miles north of Cardiff. The historic city center contains a large number of listed buildings, said on a medieval street pattern, radiating out from the city center. the parish church of St. Giles, which was the focal point around which the city developed. The church precinct and the surrounding narrow enclosed streets and alleyways retain a medieval character. Several complete medieval buildings survive on Town Hill and Church Street. Hope Street, Regent Street, and Queen Street form the traditional main shopping streets

and are wider in some parts than others, resulting from the location of the street markets, which occurred from medieval times through the 19th century. The shopping streets and indoor markets are interconnected by historic narrow alleyways and arcades, such as Bank Street and Central Arcade, which hosts small independent businesses. The half-timbered Talbot Hotel Building, built in 1904, stands in a prominent position at the junction of Hope Street and Queen Street. The horse and jockey public house was probably originally built in the 16th century as a hall house and retains its thatched roof.

High Street is notable for its grand 18th and 19th century properties of varying scale, color, and detail, which were built on long, narrow burgage plots, probably of medieval origin. The 18th century facade of the Wednesday Hotel on York Street closes the vista down the High Street. The hotel is notable as the birthplace of the Football Association of Wales, which was formed at a meeting in the hotel in 1876. The Golden Lion Pub on the High Street is of 16th century origin and became an inn circa 1700. The listed border brewery chimney towers over Turtle Street and forms a local landmark in the city center. Rexham held the National Issted the thawd of Wales for the sixth time in 2011. A number of visitors' attractions can be found in the area.

Focus Wales, an annual multi-venue festival that takes place in the Wrexham City Center with a focus on emerging talent and the Welsh language. St. Giles Church, one of the seven wonders of Wales and burial place of Velaoo, Yale. Racecourse Ground, home of Wrexham FC. the world's oldest international stadium that still continues to host international games. Erthik Hall, a National Trust Property. Explore. Science Discovery Center Rexham County Borough Museum,

a museum showcasing local history. Indoor markets. Rexham has always been historically known as a market town and continues this tradition with two architecturally significant Victorian indoor markets, butchers in general, Wales Comic-Con, founded and first held in Rexham on a university campus in 2008. The event moved to Telford in 2019, a return for a one-day event in 2022. Rexham has a number of historic city center buildings, many of which are pubs, but others have been converted into arts or community centers. The horse and jockey pub on Hope Street,

the Golden Lion on High Street, the Old Swan on Abbott Street, the Wednesday Arms Hotel on High Street, F-A-W was formed at the hotel on the 2nd of February 1876. Tai Pob, a cultural community's resource that brings together markets, arts, and a food court. Scyth Serran, 7 Stars, a former public house, which is now the Wrexham Welsh Center. The venue is a bilingual community center, but retains its facilities as a pub with local food, a bar, live entertainment, community meeting facilities. Rexam Miners Rescue Station, Community Heritage and Cafe. Rexum's economy has moved away from heavy industry to high-tech manufacturing, biotechnology, finance, and professional services. The city also has the largest retail sector in North Wales.

In 2007, the then-town was ranked fifth in the UK for business startup success, higher than most larger UK towns and cities. The city has a professional football team, Rexam AFC, the oldest football club in Wales. Their home ground is the race course ground, the oldest international football ground in the world. Rexam was a site of the headquarters of the Football Association of Wales from its formation in 1876 until relocation to Cardiff in 1991. Collier's Park has received a substantial investment to improve the facility, which was financed by F.A.W. Wales had now recognized as a National Development Center,

completing their existing facility in Newport. On the 16th of November 2020, it was confirmed that actors Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney through the R.R. McR. McR. McR. McR. McR. McR. McR. McR. L.C., would be taking over the club after receiving the backing of Wrexham supporters' trust.