THREE councillors who have served their community for nearly 80 years between them have stepped down.

Albert Stapley, Brian Stapley and Hilary Williams have retired from Brymbo Council having served for 41 years, 28 years and eight years respectively.

Albert Stapley, 85, said: “I think I have done enough now on the council and I’m looking forward to the break and especially being with my granddaughter, eight-year-old Emily.

“I will also continue to help my wife Maureen and sister-in-law Eileen Davies who do the flowers at St Mary’s Church in the village.”

Mr Stapley started at Brymbo steelworks straight from school as an errand boy and went on to work in almost every department, with a gap spending two years in National Service with the Royal Signals.

He then went back to the steelworks and when he retired he was kept on as a guide
showing visitors around the works until its closure in 1990.

“Brymbo has not really recovered from the closure,” said Albert, who served as an independent for Village Ward.

“We might have a lot of new houses, which is good, but I have seen the village decline from at one time 30 shops to the present three.

“The failure to get the link road from Tanyfron to Brymbo has not helped either.”

He added Brymbo has “a very hardworking community council”.

“I am disappointed we have been accused of being against having a skateboard park in the village,” he said. “That is wrong. We would never be against having facilities for the children.

“We have had so much trouble getting a multi-games area in Tanyfron – that has still not been built after eight years.

“We want to make sure residents near the site in Brymbo are happy before we push on, otherwise we will end up with another Tanyfron situation.”

Brian Stapley, 65, has served on the council for 28 years. He was chairman of the planning committee and was the council’s representative on One Voice Wales which looks after the interests of community councils.

His biggest regret is not having seen the spine road between Tanyfron and Brymbo created.

“I feel sorry for the residents,” he said. “They, like us, were promised new jobs, shops, a school and a garage but I feel we have been let down. They have been left with the biggest cul-de-sac in Wales.”

Brian will be kept busy, despite stepping down from the council, as he runs a lunch club for senior citizens, is a governor for St Mary’s School and takes disabled children to the horse riding centre at Llanfynydd on a weekly basis. He is also a member of Brymbo Heritage Group.

Also retiring is another Brymbo ward member, Hilary Williams. A local history expert, Hilary served for a short time in Bwlchgwyn on the community council before moving to represent her home village ward.

“I’m looking forward to the break and will have more time with my family,” she said.