Not a lot of people know that
An all-day ministerial excursion took me today to Wrexham, the part of the world where I was brought up and which, in my admittedly prejudiced opinion, is one of the most interesting corners of Wales, with a rich military, industrial and social heritage.
There, I learned some facts of which I was previously unaware:
- Glyndŵr University was constructed in the 1950s, in what I can only describe as a very late art deco style, as a technical college. It was built, however, with a more sombre alternative potential use in mind: as a hospital to accommodate the victims of a nuclear attack. Hence, the corridors are particularly wide, to allow for the passage of trolleys and beds. We must be thankful that it never needed to be adapted from its primary purpose.
- The old police station, which is now being converted, courtesy of the Heritage Lottery Fund, into the Wrexham museum, was formerly a barracks for the Denbighshire Yeomanry. It originally had a tower on each of its corners (two of which remain) and was planned to be surrounded by a moat. Like many fine Wrexham buildings of the period, is constructed of honey-coloured Cefn-y-Fedw sandstone, which is sadly no longer quarried.
- The police station’s architect also designed the marble church in Bodelwyddan.
- Owls, according to the members of Owlrescue whom I met at Garth CP School, can rotate their heads through 270 degrees. They do this because they are unable to swivel their eyes.
- Not all owls are nocturnal hunters; only those with dark eyes are. Owls with yellow eyes are diurnal and those with orange eyes are crepuscular.
Tomorrow, it’s the Denbigh and Flint show. I’d bet a pound to a penny that I will learn something new there, too. Because, in this job, that’s something that happens every day.
Filed under: Wales Office Tagged: Life
