Buckley ( cy, Bwcle ) is a town and

community A community is a social unit (a group of living things) with commonality such as place, norms, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given geographical area (e.g. a country, village, tow ...

Flintshire , settlement_type = County , image_skyline = , image_alt = , image_caption = , image_flag = , image_shield = Arms of Flint ...

, north-east

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

, from the county town of

Mold A mold () or mould () is one of the structures certain fungus, fungi can form. The dust-like, colored appearance of molds is due to the formation of Spore#Fungi, spores containing Secondary metabolite#Fungal secondary metabolites, fungal seco ...

and contiguous with the villages of

Ewloe Ewloe (; cy, Ewlo, ) is a village and electoral ward in the community of Hawarden in Flintshire, Wales. It is situated close to the Flintshire/Cheshire sector of the Wales-England border. The A55 expressway passes through Ewloe and its most n ...

Alltami Alltami is a small village in Flintshire, in northeast Wales northwest of Buckley and northeast of Mold. It lies on the A494 road which runs from Ellesmere Port to Dolgellau. There is a stream running through the village, Alltami Brook. There i ...

and

Mynydd Isa Mynydd Isa (; cy, Mynyddisa) is a village in Flintshire, in north-east Wales. It lies between the county town of Mold, and Buckley (which it is contiguous with) in the community of Argoed which had a population of 5837 according to the 2011 cen ...

. It is on the A549 road, with the larger

A55 road The A55, also known as the North Wales Expressway ( cy, Gwibffordd Gogledd Cymru) is a major road in Wales and England, connecting Cheshire and north Wales. The vast majority of its length from Chester to Holyhead is a dual carriageway pri ...

passing nearby. Buckley is the second-largest town in Flintshire in terms of population. At the 2011 Census, its community had a population of 15,665. When the contiguous Argoed community is included, Buckley has a population of 21,502. A prominent nearby landmark is the

Hanson Cement Hanson Cement is a cement production company located in the United Kingdom. It was called Castle Cement until it was rebranded in 2009. The company is now owned by HeidelbergCement. History The company was formed in 1981 through an amalgamation ...

kiln just south of the town.

Etymology

Buckley's name appears as ''Bocleghe'' in 1198 and ''Bokkeley'' in 1294. It may mean "clearing of the bucks", from

Old English Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain, Anglo ...

''bucc lēah''; however, the preponderance of an O vowel in historical forms suggests that the first element could instead be a personal name, ''Bocca''. Another contender is ''bōca'', meaning "beeches", but the fact that beech trees weren't introduced into North Wales until the 18th century argues against this.

History

In medieval times the area was part of three manors and lordships: Mold, Hawarden, and Ewloe. In 1420,

Henry V Henry V may refer to: People * Henry V, Duke of Bavaria (died 1026) * Henry V, Holy Roman Emperor (1081/86–1125) * Henry V, Duke of Carinthia (died 1161) * Henry V, Count Palatine of the Rhine (c. 1173–1227) * Henry V, Count of Luxembourg (121 ...

presented Ewloe and the pasturage of Buckley to his wife,

Catherine of Valois Catherine of Valois or Catherine of France (27 October 1401 – 3 January 1437) was Queen of England from 1420 until 1422. A daughter of Charles VI of France, she was married to Henry V of England and gave birth to his heir Henry VI of Englan ...

, as a wedding present. It was worth £26 per annum. The town became an industrial heartland for

pottery Pottery is the process and the products of forming vessels and other objects with clay and other ceramic materials, which are fired at high temperatures to give them a hard and durable form. Major types include earthenware, stoneware and por ...

and

coal mining Coal mining is the process of extracting coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron from ...

between the 17th and 19th centuries. The first was opened in 1737. However, it only grew into any kind of prominence during the

Industrial Revolution The Industrial Revolution was the transition to new manufacturing processes in Great Britain, continental Europe, and the United States, that occurred during the period from around 1760 to about 1820–1840. This transition included going f ...

of the 18th century, when coal and

clay Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolin, Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4). Clays develop plasticity when wet, due to a molecular film of water surrounding the clay par ...

were extensively mined there, and the name Buckley became synonymous with the production of various fire-clay and pottery products. By the early 19th century, there were 14 potteries in the town. Buckley was a popular location for

mining Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the Earth, usually from an ore body, lode, vein, seam, reef, or placer deposit. The exploitation of these deposits for raw material is based on the economic via ...

, as there were many faults in local rock formations that allowed seams of coal to be mined directly from the surface. Its heavy, clay soil also allowed for excellent pottery and bricks to be manufactured. Bricks from Buckley were transported all across the United Kingdom and as far as the United States, as Buckley became a brickworking centre. A great deal of people moved into the area, particularly from

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

and

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

to find work in the

and

brick A brick is a type of block used to build walls, pavements and other elements in masonry construction. Properly, the term ''brick'' denotes a block composed of dried clay, but is now also used informally to denote other chemically cured cons ...

industries, giving the town a distinctive accent. Many pottery and earthenware products manufactured were taken on the backs of donkeys to either

Chester Chester is a cathedral city and the county town of Cheshire, England. It is located on the River Dee, close to the English–Welsh border. With a population of 79,645 in 2011,"2011 Census results: People and Population Profile: Chester Loca ...

market or exported via the River Dee, as early as the reign of

Elizabeth I Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. Elizabeth was the last of the five House of Tudor monarchs and is sometimes referred to as the "Virgin Queen". El ...

. The last pottery kiln was fired in 1946. The site of the brickworks is now being redeveloped as a housing estate. However, a local

cement A cement is a binder, a chemical substance used for construction that sets, hardens, and adheres to other materials to bind them together. Cement is seldom used on its own, but rather to bind sand and gravel ( aggregate) together. Cement mix ...

works is still in operation. In 1932, a tradition started in Buckley of running an annual

pantomime Pantomime (; informally panto) is a type of musical comedy stage production designed for family entertainment. It was developed in England and is performed throughout the United Kingdom, Ireland and (to a lesser extent) in other English-speaking ...

. Dennis Griffiths produced a version of

Dick Whittington Richard Whittington (c. 1354–1423) of the parish of St Michael Paternoster Royal, City of London, was an English merchant and a politician of the late medieval period. He is also the real-life inspiration for the English folk tale ''Dick ...

in 1933, and ran the pantomime for 27 years, famously using the programme to invite any and all complaints to arrive written "on the back of a 10 shilling note (non-returnable)". In the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, a

Nazi German Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

Luftwaffe The ''Luftwaffe'' () was the aerial-warfare branch of the German ''Wehrmacht'' before and during World War II. Germany's military air arms during World War I, the ''Luftstreitkräfte'' of the Imperial Army and the '' Marine-Fliegerabtei ...

plane, most likely on its way to blitz Liverpool, was shot down and crash landed in a nearby district, with the plane's engine crashing into a small lake known locally as 'The Trap'. The pilot survived, captured by a Special Constable, Peter Griffiths, and taken to Hawarden Prisoner of War camp.

Governance

Urban district Urban district may refer to: * District * Urban area * Quarter (urban subdivision) * Neighbourhood Specific subdivisions in some countries: * Urban districts of Denmark * Urban districts of Germany * Urban district (Great Britain and Ireland) (hist ...

status was conferred on the town in 1898; at this time, the area comprised two parishes, Buckley (1874) and Bistre (1844). The urban district of Buckley was formed of Pentrobin and Bannel (which was formerly a part of the parish of

Hawarden Hawarden (; cy, Penarlâg) is a village, community (Wales), community and Wards and electoral divisions of the United Kingdom, electoral ward in Flintshire, Wales. It is part of the Deeside conurbation on the Wales-England border and is home ...

), Argoed, and Bistre (the oldest part of the town).

Wat's Dyke Wat's Dyke ( cy, Clawdd Wat) is a linear earthwork running through the northern Welsh Marches from Basingwerk Abbey on the River Dee estuary, passing east of Oswestry and on to Maesbury in Shropshire, England. It runs generally parallel to ...

formed the western boundary. The urban district council was based at the council offices in Brunswick Road. Before then, it was divided between the parishes of

and

. Buckley is part of the Alyn and Deeside UK parliamentary constituency and the Alyn and Deeside Senedd constituency.

Geography and climate

Buckley is situated in north east Wales approximately from the border with England to the East. Buckley is in the lee of the Snowdonian mountain range to the west and is therefore in a rain shadow area. Average annual rainfall in Buckley is approximately which is significantly lower than areas to the West of the Snowdonian mountain range. However, in comparison to areas in the East and South East of the United Kingdom, Buckley still receives a fair amount of rainfall. Since Buckley is located approximately above sea level, snowfall is more frequent in winter months in comparison to the lower lying ground in neighbouring areas. Areas in the parish of Buckley outside the town centre include Bistre, Lane End, Padeswood, Buckley Mountain, Drury, Pentrobin, Bannel, and

Dialect

Although very few locals speak with a 'Buckley' accent nowadays, due to people moving in and out of the area, and with the proliferation of television and radio, a few of the town's older citizens still speak in a form of the strongly accented

dialect The term dialect (from Latin , , from the Ancient Greek word , 'discourse', from , 'through' and , 'I speak') can refer to either of two distinctly different types of Linguistics, linguistic phenomena: One usage refers to a variety (linguisti ...

, full of

colloquialism Colloquialism (), also called colloquial language, everyday language or general parlance, is the style (sociolinguistics), linguistic style used for casual (informal) communication. It is the most common functional style of speech, the idiom norm ...

s, and often unintelligible to outsiders. One of the last remaining pure 'Buckley' speakers was noted linguist Dennis Griffiths, a Buckley resident, who died in 1972, and whose books are the main repository and record of the dialect. A few examples (mainly

phonetic Phonetics is a branch of linguistics that studies how humans produce and perceive sounds, or in the case of sign languages, the equivalent aspects of sign. Linguists who specialize in studying the physical properties of speech are phoneticians. ...

) are noted below:

*''Wunst every blue moon'' – rarely occurring *''Thou fries me to death'' – the limit of boredom *''A lick and a promise'' – a quick wash *''Fasen the fost un fost'' – fasten the first one first *''The daddy on um aw'' – the best of the lot *''Husht thee naise'' – be quiet *''I conna meke thee out'' – I can't understand you *''Chunner'' – Complain

The last 'pure' speaker of the Buckley dialect was Joseph Charles Shone, a foundryman born in 1917, who died in 1987. An example of the Buckley dialect was recorded by community heritage archivist John Butler in 2016. In this item, long-time Buckley resident Margaret Shone recounts one of Dennis Griffiths's specially written stories, an adaptation of the

Parable of the Prodigal Son The Parable of the Prodigal Son (also known as the parable of the Two Brothers, Lost Son, Loving Father, or of the Forgiving Father) is one of the parables of Jesus Christ in the Bible, appearing in Luke 15:11–32. Jesus shares the parable with ...

into the Buckley dialect.

Economy

Today, Buckley has a population of around 20,000, and has numerous light industries. Those who cannot find work locally

commute Commute, commutation or commutative may refer to: * Commuting, the process of travelling between a place of residence and a place of work Mathematics * Commutative property, a property of a mathematical operation whose result is insensitive to th ...

Deeside Deeside ( cy, Glannau Dyfrdwy) is the name given to a predominantly industrial conurbation of towns and villages in Flintshire and Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the ...

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's county t ...

Wrexham Wrexham ( ; cy, Wrecsam; ) is a city and the administrative centre of Wrexham County Borough in Wales. It is located between the Welsh mountains and the lower Dee Valley, near the border with Cheshire in England. Historically in the count ...

and

Merseyside Merseyside ( ) is a metropolitan county, metropolitan and ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North West England, with a population of List of ceremonial counties of England, 1.38 million. It encompasses both banks of the Merse ...

. The Hanson Cement works at Padeswood is the only large scale industry remaining in the town. Its kiln is now the major landmark on the skyline, visible from many miles away. Despite many locals considering it an eyesore, according to its website, the company has reduced pollution produced by the cement works by up to 90%.

Community facilities

Buckley has a large area of

common land Common land is land owned by a person or collectively by a number of persons, over which other persons have certain common rights, such as to allow their livestock to graze upon it, to collect Wood fuel, wood, or to cut turf for fuel. A person ...

, known simply as 'The Common'. It has a large playground for children, as well as a duck pond. A

funfair A fair (archaic: faire or fayre) is a gathering of people for a variety of entertainment or commercial activities. Fairs are typically temporary with scheduled times lasting from an afternoon to several weeks. Types Variations of fairs incl ...

visits during the Buckley Jubilee in the summer, usually on the second Tuesday of July, which is the town jubilee. There is also a small lake, known as 'The Trap', which is stocked with

coarse fish In Britain and Ireland, coarse fishing (, ) refers to angling for rough fish, which are fish species traditionally considered undesirable as a food or game fish. Freshwater game fish are all salmonids — most particularly salmon, trout and ch ...

. A

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

Messerschmitt Messerschmitt AG () was a German share-ownership limited, aircraft manufacturing corporation named after its chief designer Willy Messerschmitt from mid-July 1938 onwards, and known primarily for its World War II fighter aircraft, in partic ...

bomber A bomber is a military combat aircraft designed to attack ground and naval targets by dropping air-to-ground weaponry (such as bombs), launching aerial torpedo, torpedoes, or deploying air-launched cruise missiles. The first use of bombs dropped ...

crashed into the Trap during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, shot down by

anti-aircraft fire Anti-aircraft warfare, counter-air or air defence forces is the battlespace response to aerial warfare, defined by NATO as "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action".AAP-6 It includes surface based, ...

after going off course following a bombing run over Liverpool. The land is primarily heavy

soil.

Etna Park Etna Park is a park near the town of Buckley. The area was a clay hole during the Industrial Revolution, and was later used as a landfill. The site has now been reclaimed, and has areas of wildflower meadow and woodland, and provides views across ...

, which is just a short walk from the town centre, is part of the Heritage Trail walk in the area. Buckley has a shopping precinct, as well as three

supermarkets A supermarket is a self-service shop offering a wide variety of food, beverages and household products, organized into sections. This kind of store is larger and has a wider selection than earlier grocery stores, but is smaller and more limit ...

Aldi Aldi (stylised as ALDI) is the common company brand name of two German multinational family-owned discount supermarket chains operating over 10,000 stores in 20 countries. The chain was founded by brothers Karl and Theo Albrecht in 1946, when t ...

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...

and

Home Bargains Home Bargains is a British variety store chain founded in 1976 by Tom Morris in Liverpool, England, as Home and Bargain. It is the trading name of TJ Morris Ltd. History The retailer was founded by owner Tom Morris in 1976 as a single store ...

. There is a town-centre car park which is charged at 30p per hour. The town contains a wide variety of

public house A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...

s, which includes the local

working men's club Working men's clubs are British private social clubs first created in the 19th century in industrial areas, particularly the North of England, Midlands, Scotland and South Wales Valleys, to provide recreation and education for working class me ...

. The local branch of

The Royal British Legion The Royal British Legion (RBL), formerly the British Legion, is a British charity providing financial, social and emotional support to members and veterans of the British Armed Forces, their families and dependants, as well as all others in ne ...

closed in 2010 and has since been demolished.

Education

Buckley has four

primary school A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary e ...

s: Westwood County Primary (Formerly known as West Lea infants and Buckley CP – juniors) which is on Tabernacle Street, Southdown Primary School on Linderick Avenue, Mountain Lane Primary School on Knowle Lane, and Drury County Primary on Beech Road, Drury. Buckley has one

secondary school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' secondary education, lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) ...

, the

Elfed High School Elfed High School () is an 11–16 mixed, English-medium community secondary school in Buckley, Flintshire, Wales. History Opened in 1954, the school was named after Hywel Elfed Lewis 1860-1953, the renowned bard and scholar who served as A ...

, located near the Common on Mill Lane. The school includes a sports centre and a

swimming pool A swimming pool, swimming bath, wading pool, paddling pool, or simply pool, is a structure designed to hold water to enable Human swimming, swimming or other leisure activities. Pools can be built into the ground (in-ground pools) or built ...

, for use of both the students and the public. Many students from Buckley also attend Argoed High School, located in nearby Bryn-y-Baal, or the

Alun School Alun School is a secondary school located in the community of Mold, Flintshire, Wales. It was formed in 1970 as a result of the merger of the Alun Grammar School and the Daniel Owen Secondary Modern School. Some of the school's present building ...

, in Mold. All schools in Buckley are run by the Flintshire Local Education Authority.

Religion

Buckley is unusual in having two ecclesiastical parishes. The Church of St Matthew is the oldest parish church in the town, and was consecrated in 1822. Bistre Emmanuel Parish Church was built in 1842, despite appearing much older due to its early Gothic-style architecture. The first

Primitive Methodist The Primitive Methodist Church is a Methodist Christian denomination with the holiness movement. It began in England in the early 19th century, with the influence of American evangelist Lorenzo Dow (1777–1834). In the United States, the Primiti ...

church in Wales is on the outskirts of Buckley, in

. The present St John's United Reformed Church was originally a chapel known as "Chapel in the Meadow", set up by a noncomformist pottery owner, Jonathan Catherall, in 1811. Before that date, Catherall had held services in his house which he named after Lord Hawkesbury. As the Church forbade chapels from having bells, he built a bell tower in the grounds of his home. The site of this unique non-conformist bell tower is marked by a mound and plaque near the

skate park A skatepark, or skate park, is a purpose-built recreational environment made for skateboarding, BMX, scootering, wheelchairs, and aggressive inline skating. A skatepark may contain half-pipes, handrails, funboxes, vert ramps, stairsets, qua ...

at the Elfed Sports Complex. The Our Lady of the Rosary

Catholic church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

in Buckley was built in 2000 to replace a much older building. Other churches in Buckley include Bistre Methodist, Pentrobin Methodist, Buckley Cross Methodist, Bryn Methodist, and Drury Lane Methodist.

Culture

Events

Buckley observes an annual regional celebration and march that is over 200 years old called the Buckley Jubilee, which is celebrated on the second Tuesday of July. Officially, however, the Jubilee was begun in 1856. The difference in dates stems from the 'official' date being set when the Buckley

Temperance Society The temperance movement is a social movement promoting temperance or complete abstinence from consumption of alcoholic beverages. Participants in the movement typically criticize alcohol intoxication or promote teetotalism, and its leaders emphas ...

first sanctioned the march. The Jubilee is a ceremonial march that begins on "The Common", a large area of common ground owned by the people of the town used for leisure and recreational purposes. The term 'jubilee' was first used in 1871. A non-denominational Service led by the minister of the church or chapel leading the Jubilee that year is held on the Common, starting at around 3pm. The Sunday before the Jubilee, the leading church is presented with the Centenary Shield, which they hold for the year. A fifteen-minute service takes place, with two hymns accompanied by the Royal Buckley Town Band. The march then leaves the common, and marches through the town, with representatives from the local

Sunday School A Sunday school is an educational institution, usually (but not always) Christian in character. Other religions including Buddhism, Islam, and Judaism have also organised Sunday schools in their temples and mosques, particularly in the West. Su ...

Scout Scout may refer to: Youth movement *Scout (Scouting), a child, usually 10–18 years of age, participating in the worldwide Scouting movement **Scouts (The Scout Association), section for 10-14 year olds in the United Kingdom **Scouts BSA, sectio ...

and

Guide A guide is a person who leads travelers, sportspeople, or tourists through unknown or unfamiliar locations. The term can also be applied to a person who leads others to more abstract goals such as knowledge or wisdom. Travel and recreation Expl ...

troops, and many of the local schools. Banners from each of the local churches are carried.

Royal Buckley Town Band

Buckley has a famous brass band, the Royal Buckley Town Band. The band is one of only two in the entire United Kingdom to have received sanction from a

British monarch The monarchy of the United Kingdom, commonly referred to as the British monarchy, is the constitutional form of government by which a hereditary sovereign reigns as the head of state of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies (the Bailiwi ...

to use "

Royal Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Illinois, a village * Royal, Iowa, a cit ...

" in their name. They lead the Jubilee every year.

Popular music

Buckley has one nightclub, the Tivoli Nightclub (known locally as "The Tiv"), on Brunswick Road. Formerly both a cinema and a music hall, the Tivoli has seen many bands play there over the years, including Uriah Heep,

Black Sabbath Black Sabbath were an English rock music, rock band formed in Birmingham in 1968 by guitarist Tony Iommi, drummer Bill Ward (musician), Bill Ward, bassist Geezer Butler and vocalist Ozzy Osbourne. They are often cited as pioneers of heavy met ...

and

Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin were an English rock band formed in London in 1968. The group comprised vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham. With a heavy, guitar-driven sound, they are ci ...

in the early 1970s, and many

Britpop Britpop was a mid-1990s British-based music culture movement that emphasised Britishness. It produced brighter, catchier alternative rock, partly in reaction to the popularity of the darker lyrical themes of the US-led grunge music and to the ...

bands including

Oasis In ecology, an oasis (; ) is a fertile area of a desert or semi-desert environment'ksar''with its surrounding feeding source, the palm grove, within a relational and circulatory nomadic system.” The location of oases has been of critical imp ...

Ocean Colour Scene Ocean Colour Scene (often abbreviated to OCS) are an English Rock music, rock band formed in Solihull in 1989. They have had five top 10 albums including a number one in 1997. They have also achieved seventeen top 40 singles and six top 10 sin ...

and the

Super Furry Animals Super Furry Animals are a Welsh rock band formed in Cardiff in 1993. For the duration of their professional career, the band consisted of Gruff Rhys (lead vocals, guitar), Huw Bunford (lead guitar, vocals), Guto Pryce (bass guitar), Cian Ciaran ...

in the 1990s. It has been described as 'one of the finest quirky little venues of our time' and is featured in the

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kin ...

re-issue of Oasis's album, ''

Definitely Maybe ''Definitely Maybe'' is the debut studio album by English rock band Oasis, released by Creation Records on 29 August 1994. Oasis booked Monnow Valley Studio near Rockfield in late 1993 to record the album and worked with producer Dave Batchel ...

''. Between summer 1992 and spring 1993,

Radiohead Radiohead are an English rock band formed in Abingdon, Oxfordshire, in 1985. The band consists of Thom Yorke (vocals, guitar, piano, keyboards); brothers Jonny Greenwood (lead guitar, keyboards, other instruments) and Colin Greenwood (bass) ...

played there twice. Bands such as

Cast Cast may refer to: Music * Cast (band), an English alternative rock band * Cast (Mexican band), a progressive Mexican rock band * The Cast, a Scottish musical duo: Mairi Campbell and Dave Francis * ''Cast'', a 2012 album by Trespassers William * ...

Ash Ash or ashes are the solid remnants of fires. Specifically, ''ash'' refers to all non-aqueous, non- gaseous residues that remain after something burns. In analytical chemistry, to analyse the mineral and metal content of chemical samples, ash ...

Stiff Little Fingers Stiff Little Fingers are a punk rock band from Belfast, Northern Ireland. They formed in 1977 at the height of the Troubles, which informed much of their songwriting. They started out as a schoolboy band called Highway Star (named after the De ...

Fun Lovin' Criminals Fun Lovin' Criminals are an American rap rock band from New York City. They are best known for their hit "Scooby Snacks", which features samples from films by Quentin Tarantino, and the song "Love Unlimited", which recalls Barry White's backing ...

Skindred Skindred are a Welsh reggae metal band formed in Newport in 1998. Their musical style mixes heavy metal, alternative rock and ragga. The band also integrate elements of punk rock, hardcore punk, reggae, dancehall, jungle, ska, hip hop, drum ...

Hed PE Hed PE (also known as (hed) Planet Earth and stylized as (həd) p.e. or as (Hed)pe or (Hed)PE) or (həd) Planetary Evolution, is an American rock band from Huntington Beach, California. Formed in 1994, the band is known for its eclectic genre-cr ...

and OPM have all played there. Since a renovation and rebranding in 2000, few bands played live at the venue, with the club music policy having more emphasis on commercial

dance Dance is a performing art form consisting of sequences of movement, either improvised or purposefully selected. This movement has aesthetic and often symbolic value. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...

and pop music, with a

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

night on Fridays. The venue attracts crowds from

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

and

Radio

The town was also home to a

community radio Community radio is a radio service offering a third model of radio broadcasting in addition to commercial and public broadcasting. Community stations serve geographic communities and communities of interest. They broadcast content that is popular ...

project which used to broadcast 'trial' or 'temporary radio' licences to Buckley, Broughton,

and the surrounding areas. The station was known as South Flintshire Radio and its offices were found above the swimming baths on Mold Road. The station was heard on eight separate occasions between November 1996 and July 2000 as part of a campaign to bring a local radio station to

Flintshire , settlement_type = County , image_skyline = , image_alt = , image_caption = , image_flag = , image_shield = Arms of Flint ...

, following the demise of Mold-based BBC Radio Clwyd. The project helped pave the way for a permanent local radio licence which was awarded to Chester FM (known as

Dee 106.3 Chester's Dee Radio is an Independent Local Radio station serving the city of Chester and surrounding areas. The station is independent and locally owned and broadcasts from studios at Riverside Innovation Centre. As of March 2023, the statio ...

) which broadcasts to

Ellesmere Port Ellesmere Port ( ) is a port town in the Cheshire West and Chester borough in Cheshire, England. Ellesmere Port is on the south eastern edge of the Wirral Peninsula, north of Chester, south of Birkenhead, southwest of Runcorn and south of ...

, Deeside and Buckley.

Library

Buckley has a sizable two-storey

library A library is a collection of materials, books or media that are accessible for use and not just for display purposes. A library provides physical (hard copies) or digital access (soft copies) materials, and may be a physical location or a vir ...

, with the second level being dedicated solely to history and reference pieces, mainly on the local area. The second floor also doubles as the local

museum A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make these ...

Sport

Buckley has a

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

club in the

Cymru North The Cymru North is a regional football league in Wales, covering the northern half of the country. It has clubs with semi-professional status and together with the Cymru South, it forms the second tier of the Welsh football league system. The fir ...

league, Buckley Town F.C. In addition to the men's team Buckley also has a women's team, Buckley Town Ladies FC, who play in the North Wales Coast Women's Football League. The Elfed Sports Complex was built in 2005, near the

, and includes a swimming pool, which replaced the outdated, Victorian-style baths on the Mold Road high street.

Transport

Road

Buckley is located on the A549 road, and is near the A55 expressway, which passes to the south of

. Buckley is part of a trial run to bring 20 MPH to towns all over Wales. This means most roads in Buckley are 20 MPH.

Bus

There are a number of bus routes that pass through Buckley, mostly operated by

Arriva Buses Wales Arriva Buses Wales ( cy, Bysiau Arriva Cymru) is a bus operator providing services in northern Wales and Chester in northern England. It is a subsidiary of Arriva UK Bus. History Crosville Motor Services was formed in 1919 and operated serv ...

, which now means on most weekdays a bus to

is available every 10 minutes.

Rail

Buckley has previously been served by up to three different stations on lines operated by the

Wrexham, Mold and Connah's Quay Railway The Buckley Railway was opened from Buckley to a connection with the Chester to Holyhead main line on 7 June 1862, to convey coal and finished brickworks products from the Buckley area. Numerous short tramroads had existed in the area from the 1 ...

and the

Mold Railway The Mold Railway was a railway company that built a line in north-east Wales. The line linked Mold to Chester and it opened on 14 August 1849. The company built a mineral branch line to Ffrith, opened in November 1849. Mold itself was an impor ...

. Services to Mold and Connah's Quay have been discontinued and the old train lines removed. Many features remain visible particularly within Knowle Hill Nature Reserve to the east of the town. Today,

Buckley railway station , symbol_location = gb , symbol = rail , image = Through Buckley station (geograph 6311549).jpg , borough = Buckley, Flintshire , country = Wales , coordinates = , grid_name ...

is a minor stop on the Borderlands Line, which runs from

Bidston Bidston is a village, a parish and a suburb of Birkenhead, on the Wirral Peninsula, in the modern county of Merseyside. The area is a mixture of the well-preserved Bidston Village, Bidston Hill, a modern housing estate, and the Bidston Moss nat ...

on the Wirral. It is operated by

Transport for Wales Transport for Wales (TfW; cy, Trafnidiaeth Cymru; cy, TrC, label=none) is a not-for-profit company owned by the Welsh Government and managed at arms length by its appointed board. TfW oversees the Transport for Wales Group (TfW Group) consi ...

. Trains run every 60 minutes, Monday to Saturday daytimes, and less frequently on evenings and Sundays. Connections can be made at Shotton,

Wrexham General Wrexham ( ; cy, Wrecsam; ) is a city and the administrative centre of Wrexham County Borough in Wales. It is located between the Welsh mountains and the lower Dee Valley, near the border with Cheshire in England. Historically in the county o ...

, and at

for Liverpool. There are two platforms, one for each direction the line runs in.

Air

The nearest major airports are

Liverpool John Lennon Airport Liverpool John Lennon Airport is an international airport in Liverpool, England, on the estuary of the River Mersey south-east of Liverpool city centre. Scheduled domestic, European, North African and Middle Eastern services are operated fr ...

and

Manchester Airport Manchester Airport is an international airport in Ringway, Manchester, England, south-west of Manchester city centre. In 2019, it was the third busiest airport in the United Kingdom in terms of passenger numbers and the busiest of those n ...

, both around 45 minutes' drive away, although

Hawarden Airport Hawarden Airport ( cy, Maes Awyr Penarlâg) , is an airport near Hawarden in Flintshire, Wales, near the border with England and west southwest of the English city of Chester. Aviation Park Group (APG) is based at the airport and provides han ...

is a minor airfield nearby at Broughton.

Notable people

Frederick Birks Frederick Birks, VC, MM (16 August 1894 – 21 September 1917) was a Welsh-born Australian First World War soldier and recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest decoration for gallantry "in the face of the enemy" that can be awarded t ...

(1894–1917), holder of the

Victoria Cross The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious award of the British honours system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British Armed Forces and may be awarded posthumously. It was previously ...

for extreme valour in WWI. *

Cherry Dee Cherry Frampton (born 11 June 1987) is a former glamour model and Page 3 girl who posed under the name Cherry Dee. During her modelling career, she was featured in magazines such as ''Fast Car'', ''Fit For Men'', and '' Nuts'' and tabloid newsp ...

(born 1987), former professional

glamour model A model is a person with a role either to promote, display or advertise commercial products (notably fashion clothing in fashion shows) or to serve as a visual aid for people who are creating works of art or to pose for photography. Though mo ...

and Page Three girl. * Claire Fox, Baroness Fox of Buckley (born 1960), writer, journalist, lecturer and politician, grew up in Buckley. *

Sylvia Heal Dame Sylvia Lloyd Heal (''née'' Fox; born 20 July 1942) is a British Labour Party politician who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Halesowen and Rowley Regis from 1997 to 2010, having previously been the MP for Mid Staffordshire from 1 ...

(born 1942), former

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

, went to school in Buckley. *

Ann Keen Ann Lloyd Keen (''née'' Fox; born 26 November 1948) is a British Labour Party politician, who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Brentford and Isleworth from 1997, until she was defeated by Conservative candidate Mary Macleod in 2010. I ...

(born 1948), politician and former MP for Brentford and Isleworth, went to school in Buckley *

Howell Elvet Lewis Howell Elvet Lewis (14 April 1860 – 10 December 1953), widely known by his bardic name Elfed, was a Welsh Congregational minister, hymn-writer, and devotional poet, who served as Archdruid of the National Eisteddfod of Wales from 1924 to 1928. ...

(1860–1953), known as Elfed, a Welsh Congregational minister, hymn-writer, and devotional poet, who served as

Archdruid Archdruid () is the title used by the presiding official of the Gorsedd. The Archdruid presides over the most important ceremonies at the National Eisteddfod of Wales including the Crowning of the Bard, the award of the and the Chairing of the ...

of the

National Eisteddfod of Wales The National Eisteddfod of Wales (Welsh language, Welsh: ') is the largest of several eisteddfodau that are held annually, mostly in Wales. Its eight days of competitions and performances are considered the largest music and poetry festival in Eur ...

. Elfed High School is named after him. * Blake Pelly (1907–1990), emigrated to Australia, became an

air force An air force – in the broadest sense – is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an a ...

officer, politician and businessman.

Sport

* Tommy Astbury (1920–1993), footballer with 303 club caps with

Chester City F.C. Chester City Football Club was an association football team from Chester, England that played in a variety of leagues between 1885 and 2010. The club played its home games at Sealand Road from 1906 to 1991 and moved to the Deva Stadium in 1992 ...

Danny Collins Danny is a masculine given name. It is related to the male name Daniel. It may refer to: People * Danny Altmann, British immunologist *Danny Antonucci, Canadian animator, director, producer, and writer *Danny Baker (born 1957), English journal ...

(born 1980), footballer with 516 club caps. * John Lyons (1956–1982), footballer with 195 club caps. *

Ryan Shawcross Ryan James Shawcross (born 4 October 1987) is an English former professional footballer who played as a centre-back. He is currently an assistant coach with MLS Next Pro club Inter Miami II. Shawcross began his career with Manchester United ...

(born 1987)

er with 375 club caps with

Stoke City Stoke City Football Club is a professional football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England, which competes in the . Founded as Stoke Ramblers in 1863, it changed its name to Stoke in 1878 and then to Stoke City in 1925 after Stoke ...

, grew up in Buckley, * James Williams (1885–1916), footballer with 169 club caps, died on active service in

WWI World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

Twin towns and sister cities

* Murata（

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

Tōhoku region The , Northeast region, or consists of the northeastern portion of Honshu, the largest island of Japan. This traditional region consists of six prefectures (''ken''): Akita, Aomori, Fukushima, Iwate, Miyagi, and Yamagata. Tōhoku retains a ...

Miyagi Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Tōhoku region of Honshu. Miyagi Prefecture has a population of 2,305,596 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of . Miyagi Prefecture borders Iwate Prefecture to the north, Akita Prefecture to the nort ...

）

References

Notes

Bibliography

*Dialect extracts are taken from Dennis Griffiths' book ''Talk of My Town'', Buckley Young People's Cultural Association, 1969. It can be borrowed from Buckley Library. *''Out of This Clay'' Dennis Griffiths 1960 Published by Gee and Son, Ltd., Denbigh *''The Making of Buckley and District'' by T.W. Pritchard, Bridge Books, 2006.

External links

Buckley Town Council

Buckley Society

BBC North East Wales: Buckley Jubilee

Photos of Buckley and surrounding area on geograph.org.uk
{{authority control Towns in Flintshire Communities in Flintshire

Etymology

History

Governance

Geography and climate

Dialect

Economy

Community facilities

Education

Religion

Culture

Events

Royal Buckley Town Band

Popular music

Radio

Library

Sport

Transport

Road

Bus

Rail

Air

Notable people

Sport

Twin towns and sister cities

See also

References

Notes

Bibliography

External links