Border Breweries (Wrexham)
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| Industry | Alcoholic beverage |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1874 |
| Defunct | 1984 |
| Products | Beer |
| Parent | Marstons plc |
Border Breweries (Wrexham) Ltd was a brewery firm formerly based in Wrexham, Wales, which at its peak was a significant element of the Welsh brewing industry.
In its various incarnations the company operated over a 150-year period, between 1834 and 1984.
Border Breweries had its roots in a small operation at the Nag's Head public house in Wrexham, which was run by the Rowlands family between 1834 and 1874. It was subsequently acquired by Henry Aspinall - who named it the Wrexham Brewery and expanded it substantially - before being taken over by Arthur Soames, who entrusted his 21-year-old son Frederick with management. Within ten years, Frederick Soames had built up the business into a major producer.
Following the financial impact of the Great Depression, Border was formed by the 1931 merger of the Soames Wrexham Brewery, then in liquidation, the nearby Island Green Brewery (dating from 1856), and the Oswestry firm of Dorsett Owen. Operations were then concentrated at the Soames Brewery site. Along with the Wrexham Lager Brewery, the new firm dominated the brewing industry in the town, which was itself the centre of the industry in North Wales thanks to its supply of suitable spring water.
Border distributed a variety of products during its existence, including Border Mild (a dark mild ale), Exhibition Ale and its generally well-regarded Border Bitter (marketed with slogans such as "Wine of Wales", "Thirst Come Thirst Served", and "Prince of Ales"; the writer and humourist Miles Kington, whose father was the brewery's director, commented that Border had "managed to produce damned good beer but had never come up with a good slogan"). The bitter was described by journalist Richard Boston, writing in 1976, as "reddish in colour, pleasant in flavour, but rather thin". Border Bitter had an Original Gravity of 1034, and used Fuggles, Goldings and Whitbread Goldings Variety (WGV) hops, while Border Mild had an OG of 1030. Border also bottled its own minerals. These products were sold in the firm's tied houses located throughout North and Mid Wales, Shropshire, and parts of The Potteries.
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