Welcome to Wrexham S2 E10: "Gresford"

[Wrexy]

I was looking forward to this episode and dreading it in equal measure.

My Grandad worked at Gresford for 45 years (unofficially 50) and half of his family and of course hundreds of his workmates were wiped out in the disaster.

W2W Series 2 has been a bit hit & miss and for me this one didn't hit the mark. If truth be told it left me a bit cold even in the closing shot of the name plates at the Miners Rescue Centre when Uncle Joe's name came up.

Why didn't I like it? It tried to hard to draw parallels with the States. No idea why they have a Professor of Marketing providing the narrative and his "slow demise to oblivion" comment and others similar really annoyed me. References to Vietnam? I mean really?

Positives - good to hear about the plans for the sister wheel being an integral part of the new Kop. Let's get that thing built.

 

[fezbob]

I was looking forward to this episode and dreading it in equal measure.

My Grandad worked at Gresford for 45 years (unofficially 50) and half of his family and of course hundreds of his workmates were wiped out in the disaster.

W2W Series 2 has been a bit hit & miss and for me this one didn't hit the mark. If truth be told it left me a bit cold even in the closing shot of the name plates at the Miners Rescue Centre when Uncle Joe's name came up.

Why didn't I like it? It tried to hard to draw parallels with the States. No idea why they have a Professor of Marketing providing the narrative and his "slow demise to oblivion" comment and others similar really annoyed me. References to Vietnam? I mean really?

Positives - good to hear about the plans for the sister wheel being an integral part of the new Kop. Let's get that thing built.

Haven't watch it yet, but interesting to hear from someone whose family was directly impacted. I've no doubt R&R's intentions are good, however the attempts to draw parallels with the US do seem trite at times. Wrexham has its own unique history and demography so I do tend baulk a bit when I hear Americans say it reminds them of their hometown.

 

[Dafgog]

Wow, so powerful.

 

[BuffaloBill]

Being of mining stock myself I didn't have a problem with the episode, it's not just aimed at the people of the area, the show is worldwide so an explanation into the history and comparisons with other regions around the globe was well put. Rob has clearly a vested interest with his family history of manual work.

 

[riccardo]

I was looking forward to this episode and dreading it in equal measure.

My Grandad worked at Gresford for 45 years (unofficially 50) and half of his family and of course hundreds of his workmates were wiped out in the disaster.

W2W Series 2 has been a bit hit & miss and for me this one didn't hit the mark. If truth be told it left me a bit cold even in the closing shot of the name plates at the Miners Rescue Centre when Uncle Joe's name came up.

Why didn't I like it? It tried to hard to draw parallels with the States. No idea why they have a Professor of Marketing providing the narrative and his "slow demise to oblivion" comment and others similar really annoyed me. References to Vietnam? I mean really?

Positives - good to hear about the plans for the sister wheel being an integral part of the new Kop. Let's get that thing built.

Are you forgetting this is primarily aimed at an American audience? I found it poignant and respectful. Drawing parallels is the cornerstone of any documentary for me, to make it relatable.

Damned if they do, damned if they don’t, comes to mind…

 

[fezbob]

Are you forgetting this is primarily aimed at an American audience? I found it poignant and respectful. Drawing parallels is the cornerstone of any documentary for me, to make it relatable.

Damned if they do, damned if they don’t, comes to mind…

Surely as someone whose family has been directly impacted he's entitled to have a view on the episode? I'll wait to watch it before passing judgement but I keep hearing this comment that the documentary isn't for us. I guess the question would be then why bother showing it in the UK or any other territory bar the US if that were the case.

 

[riccardo]

Some of us have connections to the disaster, and I’m not saying he isn’t entitled to his opinion clearly. I’m just raising the point that trying to relate it to a US audience is not a bad thing, and that analogies with Vietnam is perfectly valid if you ask me. It’s the concept that ordinary, working class people sadly lost their lives due to the powers that be.

I do agree that a Welsh historian would’ve been more appropriate however, but then again this is a US based documentary. The oblivion comment is hyperbole, but it’s signifying that this was a major event and removal of primary industries can have a disastrous effect on a community.

 

[Wrexy]

Surely as someone whose family has been directly impacted he's entitled to have a view on the episode? I'll wait to watch it before passing judgement but I keep hearing this comment that the documentary isn't for us. I guess the question would be then why bother showing it in the UK or any other territory bar the US if that were the case.

I think the thing that grinded my gears the most to use an Americanism was the doom-laden economic picture that the closure of the mine had. Its a shame that Rob & his Dad didn't take a tour in the foggy back seat of the industrial estate which I believe was one of the largest in Western Europe at one point.

Yes, the town was hit hard by the mines and steelworks closing but how did it recover? That's the story and R&R are at the heart of that going forwards. Instead we get that Yma o Hyd dirge.

 

[riccardo]

I think the thing that grinded my gears the most to use an Americanism was the doom-laden economic picture that the closure of the mine had. Its a shame that Rob & his Dad didn't take a tour in the foggy back seat of the industrial estate which I believe was one of the largest in Western Europe at one point.

Yes, the town was hit hard by the mines and steelworks closing but how did it recover? That's the story and R&R are at the heart of that going forwards. Instead we get that Yma o Hyd dirge.

I do agree with this, but this is the narrative of the whole documentary, like it or not. A downtrodden team and town waiting to be saved. It would be difficult to cover every aspect I guess.

 

[Inside Left]

The opening scenes of all the documentaries feature the scene of a drift mine. Now from my limited knowledge I can only think of one drift in the area and the film isn't that one.
Can anyone throw light on which drift it might be? I can only guess the brief film shot comes from some mining history elsewhere in the country.

The drift that I know of was back of Brymbo . It drew coal and then later fire clay for the brickworks that were across the road. Out side the mine at one time the tubs were drawn by a horse.

I know of this drift because when I was a young lad my Taid took me down there a few times to show me with pride where he worked. Looking back it must have been illegal .