Wrexham

Croeso i Wrecsam. Much of the world learned to say it in English, thanks to two Hollywood actors, a football club down on its luck and a documentary that turned this border town into an unlikely global obsession. Fame arrived so suddenly that visitors can be forgiven for thinking the story starts with the cameras.

But Wrexham was busy long before anyone filmed it. It grew from a market town into a coal and brewing powerhouse, was pouring Wrexham Lager by 1881 and still remembers the 261 miners lost at Gresford in 1934. Elihu Yale, whose name went on to a rather famous university, lies in St Giles’ churchyard.

VoiceMap’s self-guided audio tours bring depth to the Racecourse, the oldest international football ground still in use, and take you beyond it. Walk from Queen’s Square to The Turf with seasoned storytellers, or follow a local through Victorian arcades, Portuguese and Italian cafés and the Royal Oak, known to regulars as “the Polish Embassy”. You’ll end at Tŷ Pawb – “everybody’s house” – which is how the city feels by then.