It is a much-loved, yet unassuming pub at the heart of a north Wales town. But what once was a special place for locals is now a special place for many across the world after they fell in love with it when it appeared on a documentary.
The Turf Hotel, run by Wayne Jones and his wife Shelley, is located about half a mile from Wrexham town centre. It proudly displays all sorts of memorabilia associated with Wrexham Football Club, displaying past and present legions shirts, photographs, autographs and achievements.
It is a firm feature on the Disney documentary series Welcome to Wrexham, which chronicles the takeover of Wrexham AFC by Hollywood stars Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney. Scenes shot within the pub, including the two megastars having drinks in the pub, are regularly featured in the 18-episode series. Get stories like this straight to your inbox with our newsletters.
And since it has been aired on global streaming platform, the pub has amazingly received a constant stream of overseas tourists, 20 to 30 a day, which Mr Jones said has also benefited the town as a whole, describing Wrexham as "thriving".
He told the Daily Mirror: “The impact of the show has been absolutely huge for the whole town. Wrexham is absolutely thriving. It has had a huge impact on dozens of local businesses. Results on the pitch are helping because it is bringing in lots more people, spending money. Everyone seems to be buying in to it, thanks to Ryan and Rob. We had around 50 to 60 Australians in the pub this week. We’ve had over 1,000 Americans in the last eight weeks. They have all been lovely, buying drinks and spending money in the town and staying in hotels.”
Mr Jones said he has formed a friendship with the A-listers. He said: “Rob and Ryan are really humble and blown away by how much the community adores them. “They feel a responsibility towards getting it right for the community. They are really caring. At Christmas we raised £5,000 for the local food bank and Rob doubled that. Ryan has been to the pub two or three times and Rob three or four times. Rob sent me a case of his whisky from Philadelphia in the post.”
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