The Bottle Chimney

© unknown

Grid reference: SJ287538
Co-ordinates: 328757, 353825
Bearing: W

The Bottle Chimney was the chimney of the old lead-smelting works just above the village. The stretch of Minera Road which runs behind it is still known as The Smelt to this day.

The reason for the chimney's name should be obvious. This picture was taken from the Eastern side of Brymbo Pool in late 1962.

The top section became unstable, and it was demolished by the Army via a controlled explosion on Sunday 18 November 1962 (*). Below is the report from the Wrexham Leader the following Tuesday:

Note: I now have it on good authority that that was just an excuse, and the real reason that the top was blown off was simply because the Army wanted something to practise on. No respect...

Grid reference: SJ285538
Co-ordinates: 328538, 353845
Bearing: W

The above picture, from the summer of 1982, was taken from the Western side of Brymbo Pool, looking West.

Grid reference: SJ285537
Co-ordinates: 328520, 353785
Bearing: WNW

And this is the Bottle Chimney as it looked in 2007.

In more recent times, the remains of the upper part became increasingly unsafe, which meant more remedial work, plus the sealing up of a large hole around the far side which had enabled the teenage drunks of the village to get bevvied after dark without being observed.

Grid reference: SJ284538
Co-ordinates: 328495, 353842
Bearing: WNW

In June 2021, I found that the metal door on the southern side of the Chimney had been forced open, so I availed myself of the opportunity to take a snap or two of the inside. Here you can see the other (bricked-up) doorway with the inevitable infestation of ivy.

The Bottle is far more difficult to approach as a result of the 'improvements' made to the surrounding landscape in the past few years, which has enabled huge gorse bushes to grow up between the pool edge and the field in front of the Chimney. That and the fact that hardly anyone walks anywhere nowadays means that the path up is partly overgrown and undulates quite severely in places.

© unknown, the Wrexham Leader & Nigel Stapley