Ship given freedom of landlocked borough despite misgivings

Liam Randall, local democracy reporter

A Royal Navy ship has been awarded the freedom of landlocked Wrexham despite a group of councillors questioning the logic of the move.

HMS Dragon became the first warship to be affiliated with Wrexham since World War Two following a ceremony held in Portsmouth in April.

The majority of politicians supported giving the top civic honour to the Type 45 air defence destroyer at a full council meeting at the city’s Guildhall yesterday (Wednesday, 25 September).

Beverley Parry-Jones, the local authority’s armed forces champion, said the award would pay tribute to the Royal Navy’s contribution to the county borough.

Unease

However, Plaid Cymru councillor Carrie Harper said her party would be abstaining due to their unease at the accolade being given to an object.

Previous recipients of the award include Wrexham AFC owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney, who were recognised in April 2023 for their work to boost the area’s profile, as well as the Royal Welsh army regiment and the RAF.

Speaking at the start of the meeting, Cllr Parry-Jones (Cons) said: “The Royal Navy has recently affiliated its ship HMS Dragon, one of the advanced Type 45 air defence destroyers, to Wrexham in a ceremony at her home port of Portsmouth.

“All major Royal Navy ships have affiliations as part of a long-standing custom that binds their crews to the land via a network of relationships which spread across the United Kingdom.

“It is the first time since the Second World War that a Royal Navy warship will be affiliated to Wrexham.

“I am recommending that the council invites the Royal Navy to accept the honorary freedom of the county borough for HMS Dragon to formally recognise its contribution to the county borough.”

Refit

HMS Dragon is currently undergoing a refit in Portsmouth, including upgrades to its engines, sensors and weapons system.

The vessel has more than 200 crew members and its main purpose is to defend other ships using its anti-air missile system.

The ship was previously affiliated with Cardiff but the association was taken on by Wrexham earlier this year due to the creation of a new Type 26 frigate named HMS Cardiff.

While most councillors supported the move to give the freedom of Wrexham to the HMS Dragon, Cllr Harper said the Plaid group was not happy with the reasoning.

She said: “We’ve had quite a discussion about this as a group. We don’t feel we can support the recommendation on the basis that we’re just not comfortable with the idea of awarding freedom of the borough to an inanimate object.

“We’re happy to consider freedom of the borough for individuals and organisations. It’s not a comment on the affiliation, but just the technicality around it.”

Well received

However, Cllr Hugh Jones (Cons) said he believed the honour would be well received by Royal Navy personnel and their families.

He said: “It’s not an inanimate object. It is a ship containing a huge number of serving officers and men.

“The families of the officers and men who serve on these ships benefit greatly from having this type of association, so I fully support this motion.”

Cllr Jeremy Kent (Cons) also said he supported the award, despite joking that he did not expect to see the ship being sailed down a local river.

He said: “Whilst we might have the Royal Welsh parading through the streets or the RAF on their flight paths, I doubt we’re going to have HMS Dragon coming up the River Gwenfro.

“But it’s really important that we acknowledge this affiliation by offering them the freedom of the borough.”

HMS Dragon is the fourth ship to be associated with Wrexham after the HMS Veteran, HMS Begonia and HMS Anemone were adopted during World War Two.

The decision to honour it with the freedom of Wrexham was approved, with 37 councillors voting in favour and three abstentions.

A formal ceremony will be arranged to confer the award upon the Royal Navy at a later date.