Ruabon  / Rhiwabon – Then and Now

Hello again people and pooches. Joe the Cocker here after a walk around Ruabon with my human. My human wanted to create a ‘Then and Now’ blog highlighting how Ruabon has changed over the years. He has credited the owners of the original photos where possible. He is unsure where some of the originals came from, so if you own the photos, can you message him if you object to their use, and he will remove them immediately. He doesn’t make any money from our blogs and just wants to showcase the village. All the ‘Now’ photos were taken by my human.

We started our walk from St. Mary’s Church and headed down Bridge Street to Pen y Lan. But first, we had to stop in the middle of the staggered crossroads by the Wynnstay Arms, or The Eagles, while my human took photographs along High Street. Below, you will see three photos from time gone by, followed by one taken recently.

We turned around and entered St. Mary’s churchyard, where we recreated the photo below that was taken 117 years ago.

My human was still hovering around in the middle of the road, trying to achieve the right position to take his photo from. Meanwhile, I was aware that standing in the middle of a busy crossroads was not the safest place for me to be. So, I quickly dragged him onto the safety of the pavement.

We headed down Bridge Street, briefly pausing to photograph the Old Post Office building.

The next stop was in the Pen y Lan area. Trying to recreate the photo below was difficult due to the amount of bushes overgrowing the bank of the Afon Eitha. The area has changed considerably with new buildings replacing some of the originals.

The next photo was even more difficult to recreate. Trees and bushes have taken over the spot that the old photo was taken from. Plus, the relativity new addition of Millbrook has blocked the view over Railway Terrace. So, he has included a view from outside of the terraced row.

The southern end of Railway Terrace was easier to access, but the vista has changed over the river.

We left Railway Terrace and crossed the bridge over the Eitha to face up Bridge Street towards St. Mary’s Church. We have included two old photographs pointing uphill. It was quite a busy shopping area once upon a time with WH Smiths occupying the entrance to Ysgoldy Hill. The Bridge End Inn or The Bricklayers Arms can be seen on the left of the photo.

We dropped back into Tan y Lan and Duke Street, where my human photographed towards the church from outside of the Duke of Wellington. The Vaults, formerly The Roundhouse, is on the left of the photo.

Part of the current Duke of Wellington pub was a small shop in the old photo.

The shop Tiger Stores in the photo below was also a bakery at one time. It was also used as a resting place for travelling soldiers. It has now been converted into two houses.

We nipped back onto Bridge Street to recreate the photo below, which shows The Roundhouse gaol, a wall of the Old Police Station, The Vaults, and a couple of shops, where the Chinese Takeaway is nowadays.

As you may have gathered, my human is not very organised as we did some backtracking in the area to take photographs of places that we had missed. We nipped up to Ruabon Railway Station to take our next pic. The station building is currently a private residence.

Grenville Terrace was particularly easy to photograph as it is relatively clear of foliage compared with the ‘Then’ photograph.

The next stop was Park Street, where the early photo shows how wide the road was before the parking bays were created. It also shows how few cars there were.

The Wynnstay Gates and arch led onto a road to Wynnstay Hall and can be seen in the old photo.

After a walk up to Pont Adam, we attempted to take some photographs of Plas Newydd, the oldest standing (just) building in the village. It’s on the market for £150k if anyone fancies a monumental challenge. The gardens are incredibly overgrown, and after my human drew blood in the brambles, he managed his best shot. Not good, I know, but it was difficult for me to move around in the jungle!

The building is derelict and in a terrible state of repair. Maybe someone with a lot of cash can return it to its former glory.

We headed back to the village and crossed Pont Adam. On looking back towards the Pont Adam Estate, my human took a photo to compare with the old one below. The earlier photo shows the brewery on the left. Beyond that, there is open countryside. No Ysgol Rhiwabon, no Pont Adam Estate.

The 1974 photo shows The Great Western pub or The Nant as it was known locally. The building is residential nowadays.

We continued on our way over the railway line until we reached the Almshouses or Church Houses. At present, they are having the render removed before they are repainted. I know that many people prefer the bare brick finish as the response to our recent Facebook posts has shown.

Our circular walk found us back outside of St. Mary’s Church again. The old view was from above what is currently the barbers in Mary’s Salon. The new view is from Exchange Buildings.

As we turned onto High Street, the old photo shows the busy shopping area. The recent photo shows how quiet that end of High Street is nowadays.

Moving along High Street, the bank can be seen on the right. Nowadays, it contains flats or apartments.

Henry Street contained a few shops on either side of the road.

Ruabon Accident Hospital stood proudly on High Street until it was demolished with a new apartment block taking its place. It stood unused and derelict after its closure in 1947 until it was knocked down in the early 60’s.

We continued along High Street to the old Police Station. The building was used as a police station after a previous one was demolished on Bridge Street.

My human took a photo from a different angle, which shows the ‘villas’ lining the road.

A few yards further and we were at the entrance to Wynnville. The houses were built between the two world wars to provide affordable housing for the growing population in the area.

Our last spot is the railway bridge over, what was then, the A483 before the village was bypassed with the busy dual carriageway.

And finally, a photo of me ‘Then’ and one ‘Now’. Well, my human hasn’t photographed me for a few hours 😃😃😃

My human said that he would do another one of these if anyone wants to send us some old photos of Ruabon.

Till next time!