Brymbo steelworks: Visitor heritage plan backed by councillors

Steel production stopped in 1990 and the buildings have since become derelict

Proposals to convert a former Wrexham steelworks into a visitor attraction have moved a step closer.

Council leader Mark Pritchard said the plans for Brymbo, which closed in 1990, were a "fantastic opportunity" to mark 200 years of industrial history.

A heritage trust wants to restore old buildings on the site, create parkland and add shops and business units.

Council leaders voted unanimously to back a £4m bid for lottery funding for the project.

Brymbo steelworks, the origins of which date back to the 1790s, employed more than 3,000 people at the time its closure was announced.

The steelworks operating in the 1890s

Councillor Graham Rogers told members he had worked there for 23 years, describing the site as an "icon" of Wrexham and how it was a "sad day" when the axe fell.

"It can be an icon to future generations," he said of plans for a heritage attraction.

The attraction - Stori Brymbo: A 300 Million Year Journey - would explain how the prehistoric emergence of coal seams and iron rocks led to the industry of the 19th and 20th Centuries.

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Councillor Pritchard revealed his father had been one of the workmen digging a trench in 1958 who discovered "Brymbo Man" - a Bronze Age skeleton dating back to 1600 BC.

Calling on council leaders to back the bid for lottery funding, he praised the Brymbo Heritage Trust as "good people with the same passion as us to promote Wrexham".

Referring to the Pontcysyllte aqueduct, the council leader added: "We already have one World Heritage Site - can you imagine us having two?"

A decision on lottery funding for the project is expected in March, with hopes the attraction could open in 2023.