Wrexham Miners Rescue Station building on Maesgwyn Road

VISIT Member

Wrexham Miners Project

The Wrexham Miners Project is a community led museum, café and arts hub in the historic Miners Rescue Station on Maesgwyn Road, Wrexham. It preserves the mining heritage of North East Wales, remembers the 266 men who died in the 1934 Gresford Disaster, and serves home cooked food in the popular Rescue Café, just minutes from the Racecourse Ground.

ABOUT THE WREXHAM MINERS PROJECT

The Miners Rescue Station was purpose built under the Coal Mines Act 1911 and opened in November 1913 to train rescue teams for the whole of the North East Wales Coalfield. Rescue teams trained here until 1986, and the building was then used by North Wales Fire Brigade until 2008.

After years of neglect and damage, the Wrexham Miners Project began work to save the Grade II listed building in 2019. Led by volunteers, it has raised more than £500,000, bought the building and brought around 40% of it back into use. The building is still on Cadw's register of listed buildings at risk, and restoration continues every day.

The project has been chosen as an official charity partner of Wrexham AFC, and is a vital resource for local families, adults with learning difficulties and the wider community.

WHAT TO SEE AND DO

Gresford Memorial Wall: a wall of bricks at the entrance bearing the names, jobs and ages of the 266 miners and rescuers who died in the Gresford Colliery Disaster on 22 September 1934.
Miners' Museum: discover the extreme conditions faced by mine rescue workers and the ways they communicated underground.
Gresford Disaster online exhibition: an interactive digital exhibition, researched with Wrexham University, available on the project's website.
The Rescue Café: home cooked meals and cakes using local ingredients where possible, including a legendary miners' breakfast and match day pie and mash. All profits go to the project.
Arts and events: arts and crafts sessions, exhibitions and community events in the arts space.
Tuesday Night Social: a weekly evening get together.
Remembrance: an annual candlelit commemoration on the anniversary of the Gresford Disaster.

WHY VISIT

The Miners Rescue Station is one of the most moving places in Wrexham. Many of the café's regulars are former miners, and visitors are welcome to share family memories of the coalfield over a cup of tea. It is a place to understand the human cost of coal mining, to remember those who lost their lives, and to see a community bringing a historic building back to life. Every breakfast, donation and visit helps keep the doors open.

GETTING THERE

The Rescue Station is at 3 Maesgwyn Road, a short walk from the Racecourse Ground, home of Wrexham AFC, and around ten minutes on foot from Wrexham General station. On match days the café stays open until kick off, making it a popular stop for fans.

The Rescue Station is one of eight stops on the Wrexham Attractions trail. The Football Museum of Wales and Wrexham Museum is a short walk away. For more of the area's mining and industrial heritage, visit Stori Brymbo, Minera Lead Mines or the Stiwt Theatre in Rhos, which local miners built.

KEY FACTS

Address: Miners Rescue Station, 3 Maesgwyn Road, Wrexham, LL11 2AP
Built: opened November 1913; Grade II listed
Café: open Monday to Saturday, and until kick off on home match days
Tuesday Night Social: 6pm to 8pm
Food: home cooked, locally sourced where possible; 100% of profits support the project
Dogs: the café is dog friendly
Run by: volunteers, as a community led project