Connah's Quay

Coordinates: 53°13′04″N 3°03′26″W / 53.2179°N 3.0573°W / 53.2179; -3.0573

Connah's Quay
Welsh: Cei Connah
St Marks Church
Connah's Quay  Connah's Quay shown within Flintshire
Population	17,500
OS grid reference	SJ295695
Principal area	Flintshire
Ceremonial county	Clwyd
Country	Wales
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	Deeside
Postcode district	CH5
Dialling code	01244
Police	North Wales
Fire	North Wales
Ambulance	Welsh
EU Parliament	Wales
UK Parliament	Alyn and Deeside
Welsh Assembly	Alyn and Deeside, North Wales
List of places: UK • Wales • Flintshire

Connah's Quay (Welsh: Cei Connah) is the largest town in Flintshire, North Wales, lying on the River Dee, near the border with England. It can be accessed by road from the A550, by rail from the nearby Shotton station and also lies on the National Cycle Network Route 5. It is situated near the region's industrial centre, Deeside Industrial Park. The major part of Corus Steelworks lies on the town's border on the north bank of the River Dee. Wepre Woods, an ancient woodland in the town, is controlled by Flintshire County Council's Ranger Service and includes Ewloe Castle which dates from the 13th century.

History

The original name of the place was New Quay, but due to confusion with other similarly named locations, it was renamed. Renamed some time after 1860, the town's placename is believed to have to come from a former landlord of "The Old Quay House", a public house which still lies on the docks in what is now the west side of the town. Others state that Connah was a man who owned a chandlery store on the docks. It has also been known, to some people, that Connah's Quay had got its name from a lady called Mary Connah. When people crossed the River Dee from places opposite, such as Parkgate or Neston, they would ask, "Could you take me to Connah's Quay," because Mary Connah used to own the Dock.

The dock itself was connected by the Wrexham, Mold and Connah's Quay Railway to the nearby town of Buckley, chiefly to transport fire-clay and pottery products. It grew from this small port which included a shipyard which built the historic ship Kathleen & May, and now encompasses the former hamlets of Wepre, Kelsterton and Golftyn. By the late 1950s, the port had virtually ceased trading and the railway was in terminal decline. The two docks had by then long silted up imprisoning the rotting hulk of an old wooden ship, the "Bollam". This old vessel was believed to have taken part in rescuing the defeated British Expeditionary Force from Dunkirque.

Another activity that had also almost died out by the 60s was fishing. Fishermen would row out across the river in an arc, paying out a long net over the stern of the boat as they went. They then returned to shore and hauled in the net. Mostly they caught fluke which is a flatfish, and which they sold from barrows pushed around the housing estates.

Governance

Connah's Quay has a town council of twenty members. 18 represent the Labour Party, one represents the Green Party and one is Independent.

Education

Schools in Connah's Quay include Connah's Quay High School, Bryn Deva Primary, Wepre Primary, Dee road, Custom House Lane Primary and Golftyn Primary.

Further education is provided by Deeside College, formerly Kelsterton College, and by the sixth form in Connah's Quay High School as part of Deeside Consortium.

Community

In the last decade several large housing developments have been built in Connah's Quay and the town has a booming property market, with houseprices steadily increasing the town appeared to have finally shaken the effects of the mass redundancies from major employers in the 1970s and 1980s. However, this presumption deemed inaccurate, as recent surveys show that the accumulating masses of unemployed members of society within the Connah's Quay area are rising by a further four percent every year. Although never used historically^{[citation needed]}, the Welsh translation for Connah's Quay is Cei Connah, which has recently been incorporated into signage of the area.

Sport

The town is home to Deeside College which has on site, the North Wales indoor athletics centre and athletics track which is used by Gap Connah's Quay F.C.,formerly known as Connah's Quay Nomad and a Lifestyle Fitness Centre. It is also home to Connah's Quay Cricket Club,who play their home games at Central Park. They have 7 teams in the North Wales League. The town is also home to Connahs Quay Sport Centre which has 4 grass football pitches, a sports hall, 2 gymnasiums, an outdoor floodlit artificial pitch which can host 3x 6 a side football pitches or a full size football or hockey pitch, it has an indoor sports hall which hosts 5 a side, basketball, badminton as well as a host of other activities. There is also a Connahs Quay Swimming Pool.

Cultural references

Wepre Brook is heard at the beginning of the Stone Roses album Second Coming^[specify]. The Roses were at the time recording in nearby Ewloe.^[1] The town is mentioned in the lyrics of the Catatonia song Imaginary Friend which is found on the album Paper Scissors Stone.

See also

• St Mark's Church, Connah's Quay
• St David's Church, Connah's Quay
• Connah's Quay Power Station

References

1. ^ Robb, J (1997). The Stone Roses and the Resurrection of British Pop. Ebury Press. pp. p198. 

External links

• Connah's Quay Town Council
• BBC Wales - Connah's Quay, Shotton & Queensferry website
• National Cycle Network Route 5
• Wepre Country Park
• Ewloe Castle
• Deeside College
• Connah's Quay Cricket Club
• Details on Connahs quay sports centre