My name is Tracy Care (nee Whittall) and I have been researching my Family Tree since about 2007 and I have since November 2009 been a member of the Guild of One Name Studies. To start with I just registered my maiden name Whittall and the varient Whittal. I had become very interested in a few of the Whittalls that I had come across in my own family research and also while searching (and Google-ing) I had come across some interesting Whittalls that I maybe wasn’t connected to but were fascinating none the less.

On November 7th 2011 – after spending a weekend researching some of my Husbands family I became interested in part of his tree – I registered the surname Mallion. This is his mother maiden name and like Whittall has some fascinating characters.

Then on the 14th December 2011 I registered the name Care.

I am trying to spend as much time as possible finding and matching together all the branches of the various trees.

If there is anybody that can and is willing to help please get in touch I would love to be able to work with you. Please use the contact form in the sidebar. Any help is much appreciated especially stories that will bring these people to life.

Please also use the form if you have any comments or feedback.

Collingwood Court, Camberley

In its early days the school was known as the Royal Albert Orphan Asylum, being named in memory of Queen Victoria’s husband, Prince Albert. It was situated in Camberley, just outside Bagshot’s boundary, and was opened in 1864.

I  found the school shown on an old map. At least some records from the 1881 census describe pupils as an “orphan inmate” and give the address as the Royal Albert Orphan Asylum, Frimley. The establishment has also been known as the Royal Albert Orphanage and  the Royal Albert School.

The school is no longer there.  It amalgamated with the Royal Alexandra School to become the Royal Alexandra & Albert School and relocated to Gatton Park, Reigate, in 1954.

After the school left, the site was for a while used as the WRAC College. The main building was found to have dry rot & woodworm and was pulled down leaving the chapel building standing alone on the site. This building suffered a mystery blaze in 1987. The remaining walls were blown down later in that year by the hurricane which swept the country. The site was razed a few years ago and redeveloped as housing.

In 1867 Queen Victoria planted a Wellingtonia Gigantica tree during an “Inauguration Ceremony” for the school. A “stone” at the site was engraved VIR 1867 and is mistakenly thought by some to be the foundation stone of the building. The Wellingtonia survives to this day.

The Old Boy’s Association is in contact with some 140 former pupils from as far afield as Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, USA and Canada.  The Association holds reunions at which 80 pupils typically attend, and it’s officers regularly deal with enquiries from grandchildren of former pupils seeking background information.

There are at least two other “Royal Albert Orphanages”, one in Worcester, the other in Lancaster. They are unconnected.

Tea on the Matron’s lawn, about 1938.  The Duke of Connaught (Patron) is standing talking to Miss Muller (a benefator). We had understood that Lady Elphinsone is seated, though some doubt has been cast on this. The person squatting is Mr William Paget, the Superintendent of the Orphanage.

Thanks to the generosity of Mr Paget’s widow the collection of records about the school that is held by the Surrey History Centre in Woking has been augmented by Mr Paget’s photographs and other documents relating to the period 1919 – 1941. The photos show the boys in their daily activities and on high days and holidays – visits to the seaside; meeting the Duke of Connaught, etc

Photo courtesy Vernon Billows

The boys at the school were required to work as well as learn and this picture (I am not sure whether it is from the 1930′s or circa 1950) shows a group of boys attempting to herd some cows along a track.  I say ‘attempting’ as one seems to have escaped to the right. The school buildings can be seen in the distance. A reader tells me that his father speaks of working on the farm and in the gardens and of the tailor’s shop and cobblers workshop. 

Prompted by seeing this photo Miles, who was at the school from 1938 to 1947, wrote: I worked on our farm for two years (the farmer was Mr Greenwood) the path to the left did not exsist in my time, The path ahead was the only one I know. I have taken the farm cows (by myself) to the top field. The boys were taught various trades from age fourteen until they left school at sixteen. 
Miles also sent these photos which he believes to have been taken in the early forties. 

Information about the school provided by the late John Harrington of the Old Boy’s Association.

Not necessarily an orphan.

Not all pupils at the school were orphans. It has come as a surprise to some people researching their family history to find their ancestor is in the orphan school and make the obvious conclusion – and then to find a parent alive, or even a parent and other siblings living together as a family unit.. While every case will have been decided on its individual circumstances it is reasonable to suppose that the child went into the school because his parent(s) and extended family were unable to properly provide for him. One can only speculate as to why.

Information

HMS Exmoor was a Hunt class destroyer of the Royal Navy. She was a member of the first subgroup of the class, and saw service in the Second World War, before being sunk by German E-boats in 1941.

Construction and commissioning

Exmoor was ordered under the 1939 Naval Building Programme from Parsons Marine Steam Turbines Company, with the hull building being subcontracted to the Vickers-Armstrongs yard, Tyneside. She was laid down as Job No J4099 on 8 June 1939 and launched on 25 January 1940. She was commissioned into service on 18 October 1940, and after working up, was assigned to the 16th Destroyer Flotilla at Scapa Flow.

Career

Exmoor arrived at the Home Fleet at Scapa Flow in November, and on 6 November was detached in company with HMS Pytchley to escort the SS Adda to the Faeroe Islands. Exmoor returned on 11 November and resumed her working up period. In December she escorted the armed merchant cruisers Chitral and Salopian on their way to begin patrols. Exmoor then sailed to Plymouth.

In January Exmoor was part of the escort for HMS Queen Elizabeth as she sailed from Portsmouth to Rosyth. Exmoor then sailed to Harwich to begin escorting coastal convoys through the North Sea with the 16th Destroyer Flotilla. She carried out these duties into February, and on 23 February was deployed with HMS Shearwater to escort a convoy from the Thames estuary to Methil. The convoy was attacked by E-boats as it passed off Lowestoft on 25 February. Exmoor suffered an explosion aft, suffering major structural damage and rupturing a fuel supply line. A fire soon broke out which spread rapidly. Exmoor capsized and sank in ten minutes. The survivors were picked up by the Shearwater and the trawler Commander Evans, and were taken to Yarmouth. The Exmoor had either been hit by the E-Boat S30 commanded by Klaus Feldt, as the Germans claimed, or had struck a mine. The wreck is designated as a protected place under the Protection of Military Remains Act 1986.

A later Hunt class destroyer, previously planned as HMS Burton, was renamed and launched as HMS Exmoor.

Casulty List

[table id=7 /]

Ashley John Mallion (1911 – 1972) worked on this Liner.

He travelled from Liverpool arriving in New York on 19th January 1929. He was employed as a Deck Boy.

Ship Information

Duchess of Atholl remained in Canadian Pacific’s North Atlantic service until she was taken over as a troopship in 1940. She was still serving in that role when she was torpedoed and sunk by U178, 200 miles from Ascension Island on 10 October 1942. There were four fatalities among the 830 passengers and crew.

Name	Duchess of Atholl
Type:	Steam passenger ship
Tonnage	20,119 tons (one of the largest ships sunk).
Completed	1928 – W. Beardmore & Co Ltd, Dalmuir
Owner	Canadian Pacific Steamships Ltd, Montreal
Homeport	London
Date of attack	10 Oct 1942	Nationality:      British
Fate	Sunk by U-178 (Hans Ibbeken)
Position	07.03S, 11.12W – Grid FM 3734
Complement	832 (5 dead and 827 survivors).
Convoy
Route	Durban – Capetown (3 Oct) – UK
Cargo	534 passengers, including women and children
History	Completed in June 1928
Notes on loss	At 08.19 hours on 10 Oct, 1942, the unescorted Duchess of Atholl (Master Arthur Henry Allinson Moore) was hit by one of two torpedoes fired by U-178 about 200 miles east-northeast of Ascension. At 08.37 hours, a second spread of two torpedoes were fired of which one hit. Another torpedo fired at 09.18 hours missed, but a coup de grâce fired three minutes later struck. The vessel sank slowly until finally disappearing at 11.25 hours. Five crew members were lost. The master, 267 crew members, 25 gunners and all 534 passengers were picked up by the British ocean boarding vessel HMS Corinthian (F 103)(Cdr E.J.R Pollitt) and landed at Freetown on 14 October.On 15 October, the survivors left Freetown for Glasgow on the British steam passenger ship Carnavon Castle.

The Duchess of Atholl undergoes Lifeboat Tests

NEW LINER – ‘DUCHESS OF ATHOLL’

Information

Queen’s Own Royal West Kent Regiment
Helmet Plate of The Royal West Kent Regiment
Active	1881–1961
Country	United Kingdom
Branch	British Army
Type	Infantry
Role	Line Infantry
Size	1-2 Regular Battalions 1-2 Militia Battalions 2-4 Territorial and Volunteer Battalions Up to 12 Hostilities-only Battalions
Garrison/HQ	Maidstone, Kent
Nickname	The Blind Half Hundred, The Celestials,The Devils Royals, The Dirty Half Hundred
Motto	Invicta (Invincible), Quo Fas et Gloria Ducunt (Whither Duty and Glory Lead)

The Queen’s Own Royal West Kent Regiment was an infantry regiment of the British Army from 1881 to 1961. It was formed as The Queen’s Own (Royal West Kent Regiment)as part of the Childers Reforms by the amalgamation of the 50th (Queen’s Own) Regiment of Foot and the 97th (Earl of Ulster’s) Regiment of Foot. In January 1921, it was renamed The Royal West Kent Regiment (Queen’s Own) and in April of the same year The Queen’s Own Royal West Kent Regiment. In 1961 it was amalgamated with The Buffs (Royal East Kent Regiment) to form The Queen’s Own Buffs, The Royal Kent Regiment. It was popularly, and operationally, known as the “Royal West Kents.”

From Formation to the Great War

The 1st Battalion took part in the Egypt Intervention in 1882, fighting in the second battle at Kassassin on 9 September and the Battle of Tel el-Kebir a few days later. It then spent two years on garrison duty in Cyprus before being shipped to the Sudan and the Mahdist War, in which it fought at the Battle of Ginnis, notable for being the last battle fought by BritishRedcoats. It spent the years up to the outbreak of the Great War on garrison duty, both at home and throughout the Empire.

The 2nd Battalion was shipped to South Africa shortly after its formation, in the aftermath of the First Boer War. The following year, it was posted to Ireland and spent the remaining years of the 19th Century in Britain, being sent back to South Africa for the Second Boer War. Its only action was a skirmish at Biddulphsberg, in the company of the 2nd Battalions of the Grenadier and Scots Guards. It then moved to the East, being stationed in Ceylon, Hong Kong, Singapore, Peshawar and Multan before the outbreak of the Great War.

The Great War

The outbreak of the Great War found the 1st Battalion in Dublin, whence it was moved to France as part of the 5th Infantry Division. It spent most of the war on the Western Front apart from a brief period from December 1917 to April 1918, when it was moved, with the 5th Division, to Italy.

The 2nd Battalion was shipped from Multan to Mesopotamia, via Bombay, arriving in Basra in February 1915, where it was attached to the 12th Indian Brigade. Two Companies were attached to the 30th Brigade (part of the 6th (Poona) Division) and were captured in the Siege of Kut in April 1916. The remaining Companies were attached to 34th Brigade (part of 15th Indian Division), and were transferred to 17th Indian Division in August 1917. The Battalion remained in Mesopotamia for the duration of the war.

Most of the Territorial battalions spent the war on garrison duty, particularly in India and Egypt, relieving the Regular battalions for front-line service. However, the 2/4th Battalion took part in the Gallipoli Campaign and the 3/4th Battalion served as a Pioneer battalion in France.

Several of the Service (sc. Hostilities-only) battalions of the New Army fought in France and Flanders and in the Italian Campaign.

[edit]Between the Wars

At the end of the war, the 1st Battalion was transferred back to India, where it took part (along with the Territorial 1/4th Battalion) in the Third Afghan War and the putting down of a Mahsud tribal rebellion in the Northwest Frontier in 1920. It spent the next years in India, returning home to England in 1937.

The 2nd Battalion returned to India from Mesopotamia in 1919, and to England in 1921, briefly becoming part of the Army of Occupation in Germany (the British Army of the Rhine). It was stationed at various garrisons in Britain until 1937, when it moved to Palestine to aid suppression of the Arab revolt. In 1939, it was transferred to Malta.

The Second World War

The 1st Battalion was part of the 4th Infantry Division of the British Expeditionary Force in France in 1940, returning to England via Dunkirk. It remained in Britain until 1943, leaving to take part in the Tunisia Campaign, the Italian Campaignand the Greek Civil War that broke out after the German withdrawal in 1944.

The 2nd Battalion was part of the garrison of Malta during its protracted siege. It then formed part of the 234th Infantry Brigade in the abortive assault on the Italian-held Dodecanese islands in 1943, being captured by the Germans on the island of Leros. It was reconstituted in 1944 by redesignation of the 7th Battalion.

Other hostilities-only battalions of the Regiment fought in North Africa, notably at El Alamein and Alam el Halfa, and in Burma.

Post-war

The 2nd Battalion was disbanded in 1948 (nominally being amalgamated with the 1st Battalion).

From 1951-1954, the sole remaining Battalion contributed to the security forces that successfully contained the Communist guerrilla uprising in Malaya. Less happily, it was involved in the militarily successful, but politically disastrous,occupation of the Suez canal zone in 1956. It then took part in the campaign in Cyprus against EOKA guerrillas.

In 1959, it returned to Britain for the last time, being amalgamated in 1961 with the The Buffs (Royal East Kent Regiment), to form The Queen’s Own Buffs, Royal Kent Regiment.

In Popular Culture

The Home Guard platoon in the BBC series Dad’s Army wore the cap badge of the Queen’s Own Royal West Kent Regiment.

Battle Honours

Combined battle honours of 50th Regiment and 97th Regiment, plus:

• Egypt 1882, Nile 1884-85, South Africa 1900-02
• The Great War (18 battalions): Mons, Le Cateau, Retreat from Mons, Marne 1914, Aisne 1914, La Bassée, Messines 1914 ’17, Ypres 1914 ’15 ’17 ’18, Hill 60, Gravenstafel, St. Julien, Frezenberg, Loos, Somme 1916 ’18, Albert 1916 ’18, Bazentin, Delville Wood, Pozières, Guillemont, Flers-Courcelette, Morval, Thiepval, Le Transloy, Ancre Heights, Ancre 1916 ’18, Arras 1917 ’18, Vimy 1917, Scarpe 1917, Oppy, Pilckem, Langemarck 1917, Menin Road, Polygon Wood, Broodseinde, Passchendaele, Cambrai 1917 ’18, St. Quentin, Rosières, Avre, Villers Bretonneux, Lys, Hazebrouck, Kemmel, Amiens, Bapaume 1918, Hindenburg Line, Épéhy, Canal du Nord, St. Quentin Canal, Courtrai, Selle, Sambre, France and Flanders 1914-18, Italy 1917-18, Suvla, Landing at Suvla, Scimitar Hill, Gallipoli 1915, Rumani, Egypt 1915-16, Gaza, El Mughar, Jerusalem, Jericho, Tell ‘Asur, Palestine 1917-18, Defence of Kut al Amara, Sharqat, Mesopotamia 1915-18
• Afghanistan 1919
• The Second World War: Defence of Escaut, Forêt de Nieppe, North-West Europe 1940, Alam el Halfa, El Alamein, Djebel Abiod, Djebel Azzag 1942, Oued Zarga, Djebel Ang, Medjez Plain, Longstop Hill 1943, Si Abdallah, North Africa 1942-43, Centuripe, Monte Rivoglia, Sicily 1943, Termoli, San Salvo, Sangro, Romagnoli, Impossible Bridge, Villa Grande, Cassino, Castle Hill, Liri Valley, Piedimonte Hill, Trasimene Line, Arezzo, Advance to Florence, Monte Scalari, Casa fortis, Rimini Line, Savio Bridgehead, Monte Pianoereno, Monte Spaduro, Senio, Argenta Gap, Italy 1943-45, Greece 1944-45, Leros, Malta 1940-42, North Arakan, Razabil, Mayu Tunnels, Defence of Kohima, Taungtha, Sittang 1945, Burma 1943-45

Battalions of the Regular Army

1st Battalion
August 1914 : in Dublin. Part of 13th Brigade in 5th Division.
15 August 1914 : landed at Le Havre.
December 1917 : moved with Division to Italy. Returned to France April 1918.

2nd Battalion
August 1914 : in Multan (Mooltan), India. Moved to Mesopotamia, arriving Basra 6 February 1915, attached to 12th Indian Brigade. Two Companies were attached to the 30th Brigade in the 6th (Poona) Division in November 1915 and became besieged at Kut-al-Amara, where they were captured on 29 April 1916. The remaining Companies were attached to 34th Brigade which was part of 15th Indian Division, transferring to 17th Indian Division in August 1917. Remained in Mesopotamia throughout the war.

3rd (Reserve) Battalion

August 1914 : in Maidstone. A depot/training unit, it moved on mobilisation to Chatham. Moved to Leysdown (Isle of Sheppey) in summer 1918 as part of the Thames & Medway Garrison.

Battalions of the Territorial Force

1/4th Battalion
August 1914 : in Tonbridge. Part of Kent Brigade in the Home Counties Division.
30 October 1914 : moved to India, remaining there throughout the war. The Division was broken up on arrival in Bombay and the battalion transferred to the Jubbulpore Brigade in the 5th (Mhow) Division of the Indian Army. Transferred in February 1918 to 3rd Quetta Brigade in 4th (Quetta) division. Brigade was retitled as 57th Brigade in July 1918.

1/5th Battalion
August 1914 : in Bromley. Part of Kent Brigade in the Home Counties Division.
30 October 1914 : moved to India, remaining there throughout the war. The Division was broken up on arrival in Bombay and the battalion transferred to the Jhansi Brigade in the 5th (Mhow) Division of the Indian Army. Transferred in March 1916 to 4th Rawalpindi Brigade in 2nd (Rawalpindi) Division. Returned to 5th (Mhow) Division in March 1917 and into Jubbulpore Brigade. In December 1917, moved to Mesopotamia and joined 54th Brigade in 18th (Indian) Division.

2/4th Battalion
Formed at Tonbridge in September 1914 as a second line unit. Moved to Ascot in November and attached to 2nd Kent Brigade in 2nd Home Counties Division.
Brigade formed a “Kent Composite Battalion” from HQ and a company from this bn plus companies from 2/4th East Kent and 2/5th Royal West Kent. On 24 April 1915 this composite unit transferred to 160th Brigade in 53rd (Welsh) Division at Cambridge. On 14 June this unit was retitled as 2/4th Bn. Moved to Bedford.
Sailed from Southampton on 20 July 1915. Landed at Suvla Bay 10 August 1915.
13 December 1915 : evacuated from Gallipoli and moved to Egypt.
25 August 1918 : left the Division. Disbanded in Egypt on 13 September 1918.

2/5th Battalion
Formed at Bromley in September 1914 as a second line unit. Moved to Ascot in November and attached to 2nd Kent Brigade in 2nd Home Counties Division.
Remained in kent, moving at various stages to Canterbury and Ashford.
November 1917 : disbanded at Canterbury.

3/4th Battalion
Formed on 14 June 1915 from the remaining portion of the original 2/4th Bn that had not been transferred into the “Kent Composite Battalion” (see above).
1 June 1917 : landed at Le Havre and temporarily attached to both 1st South African Brigade of 9th (Scottish) Division and 103rd Brigade of 34th Division.
22 June 1917 : transferred to 51st Brigade in 17th (Northern) Division.
12 July to 2 August 1917 : acted as Pioneer Battalion to same Division.
3 August 1917 : transferred to 52nd Brigade in same Division.
20 February 1918 : disbanded in France.

3/5th Battalion
Formed at Bromley in July 1915 and moved to Cambridge.
8 April 1915 : at Crowborough and became 5th Reserve Bn.
1 September 1916 : absorbed by 4th Reserve Bn.

4/4th Battalion
Formed in July 1915 and moved to Cambridge.
8 April 1915 : at Crowborough and became 4th Reserve Bn.
1 September 1916 : absorbed the 5th Reserve Bn. Moved to Tunbridge Wells by October 1916.

Battalions of the New Armies

6th (Service) Battalion
Formed at Maidstone on 14 August 1914 as part of K1 and came under command of 37th Brigade in 12th (Eastern) Division. Moved initially to Colchester and on to Purfleet in September 1914 before going to billets in Hythe in December. Moved to Aldershot in February 1915.
1 June 1915 : landed at Boulogne.

7th (Service) Battalion
Formed at Maidstone on 5 September 1914 as part of K2 and came under command of 55th Brigade in 18th (Eastern) Division. Moved to Colchester in April 1915 and on to Salisbury Plain in May.
27 July 1915 : landed at Le Havre.

8th (Service) Battalion
Formed at Maidstone on 12 September 1914 as part of K3 and came under command of 72nd Brigade in 24th Division. Moved to Shoreham and then to billets in Worthing in December 1914. Returned to Shoreham in April 1915 and then on to Blackdown in July 1915.
30 August 1915 : landed at Boulogne.

9th (Reserve) Battalion
Formed at Chatham on 24 October 1914 as a Service Battalion for K4 and came under command of 93rd Brigade, original 31st Division.
10 April 1915 : converted into a reserve battalion. Moved in June 1915 to Canterbury and on to Colchester next month.
1 September 1916 : absorbed into Training Reserve Battalions of 5th Reserve Brigade at Shoreham.

10th (Service) Battalion (Kent County)
Formed at Maidstone on 3 May 1915 by Lord Harris, Vice Lieutenant of Kent, at the request of the Army Council. Attached in July 1915 to 118th Brigade in 39th Division but transferred in October to 123rd Brigade in 41st Division. Moved to Aldershot in January 1916.
4 May 1916 : landed in France.
November 1917 : moved with the Division to Italy but returned to France in March 1918.

11th (Service) Battalion (Lewisham)
Formed at Lewisham on 5 May 1915 by the Mayor and a local committee. Trained at Catford. Attached in July 1915 to 118th Brigade in 39th Division but transferred in October to 122nd Brigade in 41st Division. Moved to Aldershot in January 1916.
3 May 1916 : landed in France.
November 1917 : moved with the Division to Italy but returned to France in March 1918.
16 March 1918 : disbanded in France.

12th (Reserve) Battalion
Formed in February 1916 from the depot companies of the 10th and 11th Bns. Moved initially to Northampton and then to Aldershot in May 1916..
1 September 1916 : converted into 99th Training Reserve Battalion of 23rd Reserve Brigade at Aldershot.

Other Battalions

13th Battalion
Formed at Cromer on 1 June 1918 but absorbed by 11th Bn, the Royal Sussex Regiment, in July.

1st (Home Service) Garrison Battalion
Formed at Rochester in March 1916. In August 1917, became the 15th Bn, the Royal Defence Corps.

Kidderminster is a town, in the Wyre Forest district of Worcestershire, England. It is located approximately seventeen miles south-west of Birmingham city centre and approximately fifteen miles north of Worcester city centre. The 2001 census recorded a population of 55,182 in the town. The town is twinned with the town of Husum, Germany.

History

The land around Kidderminster may have been first populated by the Husmerae, an Anglo-Saxon tribe first mentioned in the Ismere Diploma, a document in which Ethelbald of Mercia granted a “parcel of land of ten hides” to Cynebehrt.^[1] This became the settlement of Stour-in-Usmere, which was later the subject of a territorial dispute settled by Offa of Mercia in 781, where he restored certain rights to Bishop Heathored.^[2] This allowed for the creation of a monastery or minstre in the area, and the earliest written form of the name Kidderminster (Chedeminstre) was not seen until it appeared in the Domesday Book of 1086. It was a large manor held by William I with 16 outlying settlements (Bristitune, Fastochesfeld, Franche, Habberley, Hurcott, Mitton, Oldington, Ribbesford, Sudwale, Sutton, Teulesberge, Trimpley, Wannerton and Wribbenhall). Various spellings were in use – Kedeleministre or Kideministre (in the 12th and 13th centuries), Kidereministre (13th–15th centuries) – until the name of the town was settled as Kidderminster by the 16th century.^[2] Between 1156 and 1162 Henry II granted the manor to his steward, Manasser Biset, and as the settlement grew a fair (1228) and later a market (1240) were established there.^[2] In a visit to the town sometime around 1540, King’s Antiquary John Leland noted that Kidderminster “standeth most by clothing”.^[2] King Charles I granted the Borough of Kidderminster a Charter in 1636.^[2]

Caldwall Castle

A parliamentary report of 1777 listed Kidderminster Borough as having a parish workhouse accommodating up to 70 inmates. Under the so-called Gilbert’s Act of 1782 Kidderminster Union was established for the purpose of relieving the indigent poor.

Canal lock, with St Mary and All Saints Church in the distance

Kidderminster has two Commissioners’ churches. The first was St. George’s church, on Radford Avenue. This was designed by Francis Goodwin and built in 1821–1824,^[3] finally being consecrated in April 1824. It had the third largest grant by the Commission, of just over £17,000.00, of any church outside London.^[4] The second church was St. John’s church, on the Bewdley Road. This church was built in 1843 and the architect was Matthew Steele, although the grant in this case was just over £4,000.^[4] Under the Local Government Act 1972, a proposal for Kidderminster to be part of the West Midlandsmetropolitan county was disbanded following a trimming of the county boundary back to Stourbridge.

To the south by the river Stour, dating from the 15th century, is a single surviving tower of Caldwall (or Caldwell) Castle, a fortified manor house.^[5]

Geography

The River Stour and the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal both flow through Kidderminster town centre.

Climate

Economy

The modern carpet industry was founded in the area in 1785 by Brintons, and the carpet industry became extremely important to the local economy, so much so that the local newspaper is still named The Shuttle after the shuttles used on the carpet looms.^{[citation needed]} Although much declined in recent years, the industry is still a significant employer in the area, with Brintons Carpets still employing several hundred people and is one of the biggest employers in the town.^{[citation needed]} Kidderminster is also the home of Victoria Carpets plc. The “Vic” has factories in Munster, Ireland and in Dandenong, Australia and is a worldwide exporter of bespoke carpets for hotels and large commercial venues. One notable user of Victoria carpet is the Eiffel Tower.^{[citation needed]}

The Wyre local commercial radio station began broadcasting on 12 September 2005, and broadcasts from studios in Kidderminster. Other radio stations providing local coverage are Wyvern FM, Sunshine Radio, and BBC Hereford & Worcester.

With the opening of the commercial retail area of “Weaver’s Wharf” in March 2004, the town centre area had been substantially redeveloped. Shops include TK Maxx, Next,Th Baker Marks and Spencer, SportsDirect.com, Brantano, DW Sports Fitness & Clarks. Eateries Frankie & Benny’s, McDonald’s and Pizza Hut. ‘Slingfield Mill’, a Grade II listed building, houses a Debenhams store. There is The Co-operative Food and a doctor’s surgery on Franche Road (A442) in Franche, a Morrisons on Green Street in the centre of the town, a Sainsburys and The Range on Carpet Trades Way near the river, and Tesco, Asda and Aldi are in the town centre on either side of New Road. Other popular stores in kidderminster include Bridge55 (Mens Clothing Store) and Wild heart which are located on Oxford Street.

Solid-fuel rocket motors are manufactured in Summerfield on the outskirts of Kidderminster on the ROXEL site where the motors for the Rapier missile, Seawolf missile, Starstreak and ASRAAM missile systems were manufactured. The site has had several owners including IMI, Royal Ordnance and British Aerospace, and is now part of the Roxel Group, headquartered in Paris and with a sister site outside Bordeaux.

The SEALINE yacht company manufactures boats for the luxury market and is Kidderminster’s second largest single employer.^{[citation needed]} Prominent on the edge of the town are the two storage silos sited on the former British Sugar Corporation site on the Stourport Road, that can be seen from the Malvern Hills, nearly thirty miles away.

Politics

Kidderminster is an unparished area within Wyre Forest District, but Charter Trustees maintain the traditions of the town and elect a Mayor. The Wyre Forest District Council is currently run by a Conservative Party group, who hold 23 of the council’s 42 seats.^[7] In addition there are eight Kidderminster Health Concern Councillors on the council. The area (initially as Kidderminster, then after 1983 as the Wyre Forest constituency) has been represented by Conservative MPsGerald Nabarro 1950–63, Sir Tatton Brinton 1964–74, Esmond Bulmer 1974–87, Anthony Coombs 1987–97, and Labour MP David Lock 1997–2001. In the United Kingdom general election, 2001, the town returned Dr Richard Taylor as an independent MP for the Wyre Forest parliamentary constituency. Taylor had fought the election to protest against the proposed reduction in services at Kidderminster Hospital. He held his seat at the 2005 election, the first independent MP to do so since 1949.^[8] In the May 2010 General Election Taylor lost to Conservative candidate Mark Garnier.

Famous residents

• Captain H.W.R. Alger, who flew the inaugural air mail flight from England to Australia for Imperial Airways’ Empires Air Routes, in February 1937. He flew the Short “C” class Seaplane (named Castor) from Calshot near Southampton to Marseilles, Brindisi, Alexandria, South Africa, India and Australia.^[9]
• The Puritan minister Richard Baxter, (born November 12, 1615 – died December 8, 1691) began his ministry in Kidderminster in April 1641 and spent the next 19 years in the town. There is a statue to him outside Saint Mary’s parish church, where he was based. It states his wish “for unity and comprehension in religion”.
• Walter Nash, former Labour Prime Minister of New Zealand, was born in the town.
• Ukawsaw Gronniosaw, known also as James Albert, lived with his family in the town in the 1760s and 1770. An African prince and freed slave, he worked on his autobiography in Kidderminster, with a secretary from Leominster. Published at Bath in about 1772, this was considered the first Black African autobiography published in Britain.
• Lant Carpenter was born in Kidderminster on September 2, 1780.
• Sir Josiah Mason, an English pen-manufacturer, was born in Mill Street on February 23, 1795.
• Sir Rowland Hill, the inventor of the Penny Black and the modern postal system, was born in Blackwell Street on December 3, 1795. There is a statue, sculpted by Sir Thomas Brock,^[10] to him in Vicar Street outside the Town Hall. There is a pub in the Bull Ring called The Penny Black in his honour.
• Edward Bradley, the English humorist of the mid-Victorian era, was born in Kidderminster in 1827. He died on December 11, 1889.
• Captain Eustace Jotham and Private John Francis Young were Victoria Cross winners in 1915 and 1918 and were born in Kidderminster
• Roger Laverne Keyboard player with The Tornados^[11]
• Robert Plant the front man of the rock band Led Zeppelin has close associations with Kidderminster, particularly Kidderminster College of Further Education.
• Andy Edwards, drummer, was born in Kidderminster, and worked with Plant between 1999 and 2001 before becoming a member of the progressive rock band IQ in 2005.
• Robbie Blunt, solo guitarist, another Robert Plant collaborator, has associations with Kidderminster.
• Jess Roden, singer, was born in Kidderminster.
• Tony De Vit, Birmingham DJ, was born in Kidderminster.
• Alf Tabb, Kidderminster cycle maker rider of miniature cycles
• Stan Webb, blues guitarist and founder of Chicken Shack, resides in the town.
• Paul Frampton, theoretical physicist, was born in Kidderminster, and educated at King Charles I School.
• Robert Hamer, film director and screenwriter, known for his 1949 comedy Kind Hearts and Coronets, starring Dennis Price and Alec Guinness, was born in Kidderminster on 31 March 1911.
• Peter Collins, former Formula One driver was born in Kidderminster on November 6, 1931. During his career Collins drove for the HWM, Vanwall, Maserati and Ferrari teams and won 3 of his 33 Grands Prix. Tragically his promising career was cut short during the 1958 German Grand Prix, when Collins spun off the track and sustained a fatal head injury in the accident that followed.
• Tom Watson (born 8 January 1967), is the Labour Party Member of Parliament (MP) for West Bromwich East. He was educated at King Charles I High School in Kidderminster. In September 2006 Watson was the subject of national media attention after resigning his junior ministerial post in an effort to force Prime Minister Tony Blair to name the date he would step down from office.
• Jon Turley (born April 26, 1971), an author who writes children’s books, has lived in Kidderminster since the mid 1990s and was born some fifteen miles away in Worcester.
• Sammi Davis, film actress was born in Kidderminster in 1964.
• Rachel Jones, the current live producer of BBC Radio 1′s The Chris Moyles Show, was born in the town.
• Rustie Lee, Celebrity chef also lives in the town.
• Mike Sanchez, Rhythm and blues pianist and vocalist is a long-time resident of Kidderminster.
• Ernest Perry, first-class cricketer, died in Kidderminster in 1996.
• Alun Evans, English soccer’s first £100,000 teenager, was born in Kidderminster.
• Jowe Head, (born Joe Hendon in Kidderminster in 1956) bass guitarist, singer and visual artist was a member of Swell Maps before joining the Television Personalities.
• Mark Birch, former guitarist with Wishbone Ash was born and raised in Kidderminster.

Transport

Rail

Two railway stations in the town share the same approach road. The main Network Rail station operated by London Midland is Kidderminster, from where trains run to Birmingham, Worcester and London. The other station, Kidderminster Town, is that of the preserved Heritage Railway line, Severn Valley Railway; trains run from here to Bridgnorth.

Road

Several major routes run through the town including the A456 which runs from Birmingham to Woofferton, Shropshire, a few miles south of Woofferton, the A451 which runs from Stourbridge to Abberley, the A442 which runs from Droitwich toHodent, Shropshire, a few miles north of Telford, the A449 road which runs from Newport in south Wales to Stafford and crosses the A456 at the Land Oak, and the A448 road which starts in the town and goes to Bromsgrove. A major change in the town centre road infrastructure was the construction of the ring road in the 1970s and 1980s, which relieved the town’s growing congestion problem. Unusually, the final phase of the ring road was never completed which results in it having a ring road that doesn’t form a complete ring.

Waterways

The Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal passes through the town.

Bus

There are direct bus links with towns including Worcester, Halesowen, Bewdley, Stourport and Bromsgrove. There is also a direct bus link with Birmingham city centre.

Education

As part of educational restructuring in the Wyre Forest district, Kidderminster’s schools were reorganised from a three-tier system of first, middle and high schools to the two-tier system more common in the UK as a whole with primary schools and secondary schools. Several first and middle schools were closed or merged into new primaries, with the three high schools of King Charles I School, Wolverley C E Secondary School, and Baxter College (formerly Harry Cheshire High School) becoming secondary schools with sixth forms. Independent schools include Heathfield School in Wolverley, and the Holy Trinity International School school for girls. Kidderminster College is located in Market Street in the town centre, having moved from older premises in Hoo Road in 2003. Other local secondary schools include The Stourport High School & VIth Form Centre, and The Bewdley School and Sixth Form Centre.

Sport

Cricket

Kidderminster Victoria CC is a local cricket club.

Football

Formed in 1886, Kidderminster Harriers F.C. is the town’s professional football club. Local rivals of the Harriers were traditionally Worcester City and Bromsgrove Rovers, and in recent years also Cheltenham Town and Hereford United, although as of 2009 both Cheltenham and Hereford are in divisions above Kidderminster. In 2005 the Harriers were relegated to the Conference National after five years in the Football League Two division. They had reached the Football League as Conference champions in 2000. They had won the title in 1994 but were denied promotion then as their stadium did not meet Football League capacity requirements – this came the same year that they eliminated Birmingham City from theFA Cup.

The Kidderminster & District League has operated since 1984 and draws teams from Worcestershire and South Staffordshire.

Judo

Samurai Judo Club is a local judo club, one of three Gold Clubmark clubs in the UK and a highly successful competitive club.

Rugby

Kidderminster Carolians RFC is a local rugby union club, currently playing in Midlands Division 2 West Southern Section.

Tae Kwon Do

The TAGB, West Midlands Tae Kwon Do runs a club instructing around thirty students at Holy Trinity School on the Birmingham Road. Verve Tae Kwon Do also have a club in Kidderminster at the Forest Glades, that has 80+ students.

Field Hockey

Kidderminster Hockey club was founded in 1892 and in 2010 there are five men’s hockey teams, a ladies team and a junior team.

Dramatics

The Town is home to the Rose Theatre [1] with its resident company “The Nonentities” who recently celebrated their 25th Anniversary at the Rose Theatre with a performance of Twelfth Night, the play they first opened with at the site. This starred David Wakeman as Fester with Laurie Pollitt and Michael Harvey as Viola and Sebastian. The Theatre is still going strong today and is home to many amateur and professional companies. A Stagecoach^{[clarification needed]} was set up in Kidderminster in 2003. Students From Stagecoach Kidderminster have performed in London’s West End^{[citation needed]}.

Kidderminster Operatics & Dramatics Society (KODS)[2] was founded in 1916 and is affiliated to the National Operatic and Dramatic Association (NODA). The Society puts on a show and a musical each year. Shows have included My Fair Lady, Anything Goes and Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. Shows are normally performed at “The Rose Theatre”. The Society used to be known as Kidderminster amateur operatic society (KAOS) and performed at the Playhouse. Carpet Trades Operatic Society (CTOS)[3] was founded in 1945 and is also affiliated with the National Operatic and Dramatic Association (NODA). This society puts on a musical each year and is predomiately made up of performers from Kidderminster Operatics and Dramatics Society (KODS). Both Societies hold rehearsals at the New Meeting Hall in Kidderminster Town Centre. Shows for Carpet Trades (CTOS) are performed at the Stourport Civic Centre.

Original Here : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kidderminster

West Bromwich ⁱ/wɛst ˈbrɒmɪtʃ/ is a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Sandwell, in the West Midlands, England. It is 5 miles (8 km) north west of Birmingham lying on the A41 London-to-Birkenhead road. West Bromwich is part of the Black Country. Historically within Staffordshire, West Bromwich is the largest town within Sandwell, with a population of 136,940 at the time of the 2001 census.

The Latin motto on the town’s coat of arms translates as “Work Conquers All”.

History

West Bromwich was first mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086, the name meaning “the little village on the heath of broom” (broom being a particular type of bush). It is believed that it may have originally been part of the Handsworth parish.^[1] A Benedictine priory existed in West Bromwich from the 12th century around which the settlement of Broomwich Heath grew. In 1727, the town became a stop on the coaching road between London and Shrewsbury and its growth began.

In the 19th century, coal deposits were discovered, ensuring that the town grew rapidly as an industrial centre, with industries such as spring, gun and nail making developing. Most of the coal deposits were found below the ground a mile or so west of Broomwich Heath, and so the “new” town adopted the name West Bromwich. Well before the end of the 19th century, West Bromwich had established itself as a prominent area to match older neighbouring towns including Dudley and Walsall.

In 1888, West Bromwich became a county borough, incorporating the village of Great Barr. It was expanded in 1966, acquiring most of the borough of Tipton and Wednesbury urban district as well as a small section of Coseley urban district, before joining with the neighbouring county borough of Warley (which contained the towns of Rowley Regis, Oldbury and Smethwick) in 1974 to form the Metropolitan Borough of Sandwell.

Charlemont Hall, built during the 1750s, stood on the west side of the present Charlemont Crescent, in the Charlemont and Grove Vale district of the town. Charlemont Hall was described c. 1800 as ‘a lofty neat-looking house of brick, faced with stone, with iron palisades etc. in front’. An east wing was added in 1855. The last occupant was the widow of Thomas Jones, town clerk of Wednesbury 1897–1921. The house was demolished in 1948, and is now covered by a number of smaller detached homes. Much of the surrounding area was developed during the 1960s as the Charlemont Farm housing estate, which ia a mix of private and council housing.

West Bromwich suffered heavily in the Cholera epidemic of 1831 which spread northwards into the town. A temporary board of health was set up and a hospital opened in the former Revivalist chapel in Spon Lane. The natural gradual slope of the land provided drainage within the soil, however, urbanisation made this increasingly difficult and drainage along the streets was described as inadequate. The West Bromwich Town Improvement Commissioners was established in 1854, and they tackled the drainage problem in the town. They appointed members to new titles and in the 1880s bought land in Friar Park for a sewerage farm.

Under the Reform Act 1832, West Bromwich became part of the new southern division of Staffordshire, and under the Reform Act 1867 it was transferred to the parliamentary borough of Wednesbury.^[3] Under the Redistribution of Seats Act of 1885, the borough of West Bromwich became a parliamentary borough returning one member. In 1885, it was held by the Liberal Party but from 1886 to 1906 it was held by the Conservative Party before being held by the Liberal Party again until 1910 when the Conservative Party regained the area which they held until 1918 under the representation of Viscount Lewisham.^[3] In 1918, it became a Labour hold who have held it since, except for between 1931 to 1935 when it held by the National Unionists.^[3]

West Bromwich Town Hall

By the outbreak of World War I in 1914, many of the older houses that had been built to house workers during the Industrial Revolution were becoming unfit for human habitation^{[citation needed]} Sanitation was inadequate, decay was rife, and the homes were becoming a danger to the health and safety of their inhabitants. After the end of the war, the local council started building new homes to rehouse people from the rundown town centre. However, there are still many late 19th century and early 20th century buildings around the centre of West Bromwich today.

Council housing debuted in the town in 1920 when the first houses were built on the Tantany Estate to the north of the town centre.^[4]

Mass immigration from the Commonwealth took place in West Bromwich during the 1950s and 1960s, with most of these hailing from the Indian subcontinent, although a significant number of Afro-Caribbean immigrants also settled in West Bromwich. The majority of these immigrants settled in the older parts of the town that were mostly made up of Victorian and Edwardian terraced houses.

The local road network was also massively improved during the 1960s and 1970s. West Bromwich is located at the extreme northern end of the M5 motorway, and has had direct access to it since the early 1960s. This gave the town an immediate fast road link to faraway places including Worcester, Gloucester, Bristol and Exeter. Traffic passing through West Bromwich on the main route from Wolverhampton to Birmingham was diverted along the new dual carriageway, the Northern Loop Road (also known asThe Expressway), after its opening in 1972, with another dual carriageway being built to link The Expressway with neighbouring Oldbury.

As with many other parts of the Midlands, West Bromwich was hit badly by the recessions of the mid 1970s and early 1980s. Many local factories closed as there was no longer an adequate demand for the supply they were generating.

Queen’s Square shopping centre opened in the town centre in 1971, providing shoppers with a 60-unit indoor shopping centre and an 850-space multi-storey car park. It cost £3million to build.^[5]The smaller King’s Square shopping centre also opened in the town in 1971.^[6]On 8 December 2011, 40 years after the opening of Queen’s Square, Sandwell Council announced that Queen’s Square would be refurbished at a cost of £5million. By this stage, the centre was falling into disrepair and a mere 33 of the 61 available units were occupied.^[7]

Many local towns, particularly Dudley, lost many of its major stores around the time that the Merry Hill Shopping Centre which was developed at Brierley Hill during the second half of the 1980s as businesses looked to take advantage of theEnterprise Zone incentives that the centre offered. West Bromwich’s fortunes as a retail centre were affected by the Merry Hill development. This contributed to the closure of its Marks and Spencer store on 25 August 1990, along with the Dudley store, to be replaced by a new store at Merry Hill, with most of the staff at the new store being transferred from either West Bromwich or Dudley. British Home Stores also pulled out of the town around the same time to be replaced by a new store at Merry Hill which opened in November 1989 and also spelled the end of the Dudley store. The town lost another big retail name in 2005 when the Littlewoods store closed; it was later occupied by New Look. Retail developments around Oldbury, beginning with the SavaCentre hypermarket in 1980, have also affected trade in West Bromwich.^[8]The recession beginning in 2008 has pushed the town centre further into decline, a notable casualty being the Woolworthsstore which closed on 30 December 2008 as a result of the retailer going into liquidation; the building has still not been re-occupied almost three years later.^[9]

Several more factories have closed in more recent years as manufacturers look to countries where the labour is cheaper, but West Bromwich remains a busy industrial area despite the decline of the last 35 years.

West Bromwich’s road links were further enhanced in 1995 on the completion of the Black Country Spine Road that gives an unbroken dual carriageway link to Bilston. The completion of this new road opened up several square miles of previously inaccessible land, and has allowed several major businesses to set up along the route. This has helped relieve some of the unemployment problems in West Bromwich, although most parts of the town still have the highest unemployment rates in the West Midlands, and unemployment has risen again since 2008 as a result of the latest recession.

West Bromwich was among the many towns and cities in England affected by the widespread rioting in August 2011. On 9 August, shops closed their doors early to combat looting and vandalism. Widespread acts of vandalism and violence followed. Police closed the main roads leading into the town until the following morning.^[10]

Governance

The coat of arms of West Bromwich.

The town is divided into two constituencies; West Bromwich East and West Bromwich West. West Bromwich East is served by Tom Watson of Labour. He has held the position since the 2001 general election. Preceding him was Peter Snape, also of Labour, who had been MP since the 1974 general election.^[11]

West Bromwich West is served by Adrian Bailey of Labour who won a 54.3% share in the 2005 general election. He has been MP for the seat since the 2000 by-election.^[12] Preceding him, the MP for the seat was Betty Boothroyd,^[13] who for eight years served as the first female Speaker of the British House of Commons.

West Bromwich is the largest town in the United Kingdom without its own Royal Mail postcode.

Geography

Below is a list of localities:

Features

The Farley Clock Tower in memory of Reuben Farley first Mayor of West Bromwich.

The town is famous for its football club, West Bromwich Albion. The club was founded in 1878 and in 1888 it became one of the twelve founder members of the Football League. It won the league championship in 1920 and has won the FA Cup five times, most recently in 1968. The club recently won the Coca Cola Championship in 2008. Albion were based in and around the centre of West Bromwich during their formative years, but moved further out of the town in 1900 when they switched to their current ground, The Hawthorns. The Hawthorns is the highest football ground (above sea level) in the country.

Engineering and chemicals are important to the town’s economy, as it played a crucial part in the Industrial Revolution during the 19th century and still retains many manufacturing jobs to this day, despite a steady nationwide decline in this sector since the 1970s.

Sandwell General Hospital (On the site of the former Hallam Hospital) is located near the town centre. It is part of the Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust, one of the largest NHS teaching trusts in the United Kingdom.

William Legge, 2nd Earl of Dartmouth had his seat at Sandwell Hall. Legge was unusual as an aristocrat of this period by being a Methodist and attending the Wednesbury Methodist meetings, where fellow Methodists – many of them colliers and drovers – knew him as “Brother Earl”.

West Bromwich Town Hall, situated in the centre of the High Street, is a Grade II listed building. It was built between 1874 and 1875 in brick and stone to an Italian Gothic design, and its interior reflects the Victorian interest in Gothic and Medieval architecture. Its Grand Organ, built in 1862, is considered to be of historic importance for its musical and technical qualities.^[14][15]

West Bromwich Manor House, Hall Green Road B71 2EA. Built by the de Marnham family in the late 13th century as the centre of their agricultural estate in West Bromwich only the Great Hall survives of the original complex of living quarters, agricultural barns, sheds and ponds. Successive occupants modernised and extended the Manor House until it was described in 1790 as “a large pile of irregular half-timbered buildings, black and white, and surrounded with numerous out-houses and lofty walls.” The Manor House was saved from demolition in the 1950s by West Bromwich Corporation which carried out an extensive and sympathetic restoration of this nationally important building.

The Public, by Will Alsop

In 2004, a modern community arts centre known as “The Public” was developed in the town centre. Designed by the architect Will Alsop, the £52 million venue consists of a massive cuboid building constructed in dark grey and silver metal cladding with irregularly-shaped windows edged in magenta. Its appearance has drawn comparisons with a fish tank.^[16] The development was beset by financial difficulties, going into administration and finally finished in 2009. Many people refuse to visit the venue as they consider it a waste of money and an extreme eyesore.^[17] A sound production and music industry practice course is run in the building by Major key studios (http://www.majorkeystudios.com) and is provided by the University of Wolverhampton.

A large portion of the town centre has been procured by Tesco for a development of a superstore. The store and its car park would have sat on the site of the current police station and the surrounding street, including the site of Cronehills Primary School. Cronehills staff and pupils have now relocated to the newly built Eaton Valley Primary School, which opened in September 2009 on the edge of Sandwell Valley Park to make way for future development.

Religion

West Bromwich is a culturally diverse area with many places of worship for several different religions.

The Church of England provides the most places of worship across the geographically wider West Bromwich Deanery (taking in West Bromwich, Hill Top, Stone Cross, Carter’s Green, Holy Trinity, All Saint’s, St Andrew’s, St Francis, Friar Park and others) which contains nine Anglican churches and the newly formed West Bromwich Network Church. Other Christian denominations are present, including Roman Catholic, Seventh-day Adventist, Methodist, Baptist, ElimPentecostal, Assemblies of God and other independent churches. The deanery of West Bromwich is under the Diocese of Lichfield.

West Bromwich has three main mosques, two on Dartmouth Street. 47 Dartmouth Street accommodates up to 400 worshippers during busy periods like Friday Prayers and Eid Prayers: it is mainly a Pakistani traditional mosque, soon to be reconstructed. 67 Dartmouth Street was the first mosque in the area, of Bangladeshi origin: it holds many programs and events. It will be shortly^[when?] moved to a larger location. There is also another mosque, Madinatul Uloom Al-Islamiyah, which is renowned^{[citation needed]} as the Madrasa of West Bromwich. It is situated at 1a-1b Moor street, and was previously a church. The transformation begin in 2001 and it now has Islamic evening classes and a big prayer facility. This mosque is also managed by Sunni Bangladeshi but attracts more citizens from all backgrounds, including Pakistanis and Arabs, because of its beautiful Qu’ran recitations^{[citation needed]}. The building is also used for National CurriculumEnglish, Maths and science tuition by members of the wider community, including people of other faiths. The tuition centre is run by local teachers and is called Cohort Tuition.^[18]

There is also a very large^[vague] number of Sikhs in the area. There are many Gurudwaras. Sikhs have settled in the area since 1950, when the first influx of immigrants came.

Hindus have had a formal place of worship in West Bromwich since the opening of the Shree Krishna Mandir^[19] in 1974, in a converted church once called Ebenezer Congregational Chapel, which had closed in 1971.^[20] It was damaged by fire on 8 December 1992, the same date that a Mandir in Birmingham and another in Coventry were damaged in arson attacks. It was believed to have been connected to religious violence in India that was spreading into Britain.^[21]

West Bromwich also has a significant^[vague] black Afro-Caribbean population.

In 1875, being locked out of a packed Evangelist meeting in Birmingham caused John Blackham of Ebenezer Congregational Church to start the Pleasant Sunday Afternoon Movement.^[22]

Transport

For roads, the M5 motorway between the West Midlands and the West Country and its junction with the M6 motorway passes through the town, making West Bromwich at the hub of Britain’s motorway network. West Bromwich has its own bus station in the town centre, with connections to Birmingham and other major towns in the West Midlands region.

West Bromwich railway station was opened by the Great Western Railway on its route between Birmingham Snow Hill and Wolverhampton Low Level on 14 November 1854. The trackbed of that line is now served by the Midland Metro light rail (tram) system. The nearest main-line railway station is now Sandwell and Dudley railway station, approximately one mile away in Oldbury town centre.

The nearest airport which is approximately 16 miles (26 km) away, is Birmingham International Airport.

Carters Green, High Street and the beginning of Birmingham Road formed the original main route through West Bromwich as part of Thomas Telford’s London to Holyheadroute in the early 19th century. This later formed part of the A41 roadwhich links London with Merseyside, taking in the midlands, Shropshire, Warwickshire, Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire and Hertfordshire on the way. However, the route through central West Bromwich was by-passed in the 1970s on the completion of the Expressway, a two-mile (3 km) dual carriageway beginning at Carters Green and finishing at Junction 1 of the M5 motorway (which had opened a decade earlier) on Birmingham Road. The original A41 road through the centre of West Bromwich was downgraded to an unclassified route.

Around this time, West Bromwich Ringway was opened, circulating the main shopping areas.

Further revolution came to the local road network in 1995 with the completion of the Black Country Spine Road which stretches from Carters Green to Bilston via Wednesbury, forming another new section of the A41.

Education

The town is served by 4 secondary schools: Sandwell Academy,^[23] Phoenix Collegiate Academy, George Salter Collegiate Academy and Q3 Academy.

The town has 21 primary schools in total. Some of which are St. John Bosco RC Primary School, All Saints CofE Primary School, St Mary Magdalane, Hateley Heath, and Eaton Valley.

Sandwell Academy serves the whole of West Bromwich (along with the rest of Sandwell), Phoenix Collegiate Academy serves the area around Hateley Heath, Tantany, Charlemont and Grove Vale. George Salter Collegiate Academy serves the west of the town near the border with Tipton. Q3 Academy serves the north-eastern part of the town around Great Barr.

The area was also served by Churchfields High School, approximately one mile to the north of the town centre. Due to constant closure rumours, less and less pupils began enrolling to attend the school and it was closed in July 2001. The site has since been redeveloped for housing.^[24]

Sport

The town’s sport scene is dominated by West Bromwich Albion football club, who were founded in the town in 1879 and played at a stadium near the town centre until they moved to their current home, The Hawthorns on Birmingham Road (directly on the border with Birmingham) in 1900. Although they are now in their 109th year at the stadium, all traces of the original structures are long gone; the oldest stand is the Halfords Lane Stand that was built in 1979 and the other three stands were built between 1991 and 2001. Recently^[when?] the Halfords Lane Stand was refurbished and is now called the West Stand.

Fans spill on to The Hawthorns pitch following West Bromwich Albion’s escape from relegation in 2005.

Albion were among the 12 founder members of the Football League in 1888, along with their two fiercest local rivals – Aston Villa and Wolverhampton Wanderers.

The club has won seven major trophies; five FA Cups, one Football League title and one Football League Cup. Their most recent major trophy came in 1968 when they won the FA Cup with a 1–0 win over Everton at Wembley Stadium. They enjoyed further success in the late 1970s and early 1980s, when they finished in the top five league positions three times in four seasons as well as reaching a UEFA Cup quarter-final. However, since relegation from the old Football League First Division in 1986 (this division became the Premier League in 1992) they have played in the top level of English football for a total of just four seasons. This spell of relatively disappointing performances included 16 successive seasons without top division football, two of which were spent in the third tier of the English professional league system.

Notable former players of West Bromwich Albion include Ronnie Allen (who later had a relatively unsuccessful spell as the club’s manager), Bryan Robson (who was later the club’s manager), Laurie Cunningham (one of the first black players to play for the England national football team, but who died in a car crash in 1989 aged only 33), Tony Brown (the club’s all time leading goalscorer) and Jeff Astle (who scored the club’s winning goal in the 1968 FA Cup final and remained a cult figure among Albion fans).

Notable people

• John Bainbridge – Author and countryside access campaigner, born in West Bromwich, raised in Great Barr.
• Francis Asbury – Methodist bishop
• Denise Lewis – heptathlete
• Robert Plant – singer with Led Zeppelin Born in West Bromwich.
• Keith Law, Songwriter for Velvett Fogg born in West Bromwich.
• Major Nichols – lightweight Racing bicycle manufacturer
• Dr. Stewart Donaldson – Author, psychologist, evaluation research scientist
• Madeleine Carroll – actor
• Jana Bellin – chess grandmaster
• Phil Lynott – Thin Lizzy
• Ian Hill – Judas Priest bassist
• K.K. Downing – Judas Priest guitarist
• Dr Karl Shuker – zoologist, cryptozoologist and author
• Frank Skinner – comedian
• Brian Walden – Member of Parliament, journalist and broadcaster
• Matthew Marsden – actor
• Cindy Kent – former singer with The Settlers and currently a broadcaster
• Steve Webb – Member of Parliament, and Liberal Democrat
• John Byrne – comic book artist (Moved to Canada when
• Lee Woodley – boxer
• Gary Bull – footballer
• Anne Aston – Real name Anne Lloyd. TV presenter and actress. Lived in Old Meeting Street.
• Thomas Guinane – Winner of the military medal in World War One
• Mike Collins – Comic book artist, attended Churchfields High School
• Reuben Farley – First Mayor of West Bromwich
• Al Atkins Founder member of Judas Priest,and still lives in West Bromwich.

Quotes

• “I would rather spend a holiday in Tuscany than in the Black Country, but if I were compelled to chose [sic?] between living in West Bromwich or Florence, I would make straight for West Bromwich.” J.B. Priestley, English Journey

The census records which have been published relate to the occupants of each household on the date given below:

• United Kingdom Census 1801 - Tuesday, 10 March
• United Kingdom Census 1811 - Monday, 27 May
• United Kingdom Census 1821 - Monday, 28 May
• United Kingdom Census 1831 - Monday, 30 May
• United Kingdom Census 1841 - Sunday, 6 June
• United Kingdom Census 1851 - Sunday, 30 March
• United Kingdom Census 1861 - Sunday, 7 April
• United Kingdom Census 1871 - Sunday, 2 April
• United Kingdom Census 1881 - Sunday, 3 April
• United Kingdom Census 1891 - Sunday, 5 April
• United Kingdom Census 1901 - Sunday, 31 March

Unpublished Censuses

Because the 100-year closure rule was established after the 1911 census, some information in that census is now available from The National Archives using the Freedom of Information Act 2000. The 1911 census will become more and more accessible until January 2012 when the entire census is due to be officially released into the public domain. Other censuses after 1911 will not be affected by the Freedom of Information Act, as when these censuses were taken, the 100-year closure rule was already in place.

• United Kingdom Census 1911 - Sunday, 2 April (Available to the public,^[1] Spring 2011 in Scotland)
• United Kingdom Census 1921 - Sunday, 19 June (publication date 1 January 2022)
• United Kingdom Census 1931 - Sunday, 26 April (destroyed during World War II)^[2]
• United Kingdom Census 1939 - 29 September World War II National Registration (publication date 1 January 2040)
• United Kingdom Census 1941 - no census taken due to World War II.
• United Kingdom Census 1951 - 8 April (publication date 1 January 2052)
• United Kingdom Census 1961 - 23 April (publication date 1 January 2062)
• United Kingdom Census 1966 - 24 April mini-census using a ten percent sample (publication date 1 January 2067)
• United Kingdom Census 1971 - 25 April (publication date 1 January 2072)
• United Kingdom Census 1981 - 5 April (publication date 1 January 2082)
• United Kingdom Census 1991 - 21 April (publication date 1 January 2092)
• United Kingdom Census 2001 - 29 April (publication date 1 January 2102)
• United Kingdom Census 2011 - 27 March 2011 (publication date 1 January 2112)

Canterbury (ⁱ/ˈkæntərbᵊri/ or /ˈkæntərbɛri/)^[1] is a historic English cathedral city, which lies at the heart of the City of Canterbury, a district of Kent in South East England. It lies on the River Stour.

Originally a Brythonic settlement, it was renamed Durovernum Cantiacorum by the Roman conquerors in the 1st century AD. After it became the chief Jutish settlement, it gained its English name Canterbury, itself derived from the Old English Cantwareburh (“Kent people’s stronghold”). After the Kingdom of Kent’s conversion to Christianity in 597, St Augustine founded anepiscopal see in the city and became the first Archbishop of Canterbury, a position that now heads the Church of England and the worldwide Anglican Communion (though the modern-dayProvince of Canterbury covers the entire south of England). Thomas Becket’s murder at Canterbury Cathedral in 1170 led to the cathedral becoming a place of pilgrimage for Christians worldwide. This pilgrimage provided the theme for Geoffery Chaucer’s 14th-century literary classic The Canterbury Tales. The literary heritage continued with the birth of the playwright Christopher Marlowein the city in the 16th century.

Many historical structures remain in the city, including a city wall founded in Roman times and rebuilt in the 14th century, the ruins of St Augustine’s Abbey and a Norman castle, and perhaps the oldest school in England, The King’s School. Modern additions include the University of Kent, Canterbury Christ Church University, the Marlowe Theatre, and the St Lawrence Ground, home to Kent County Cricket Club. The city lies at the heart of the City of Canterbury, a local government district.

History

Early history

The “Big Dig”.

The Canterbury area has been inhabited since prehistoric times. Lower Paleolithic axes, and Neolithic and Bronze Age pots have been found in the area.^[2] Canterbury was first recorded as the main settlement of the Celtic tribe, the Cantiaci, which inhabited most of modern day Kent. In the 1st century AD, the Romans captured the settlement, and named it Durovernum Cantiacorum, meaning “stronghold of the Cantiaci by the alder grove”.^[3] The Romans rebuilt the city, with new streets in a grid pattern, a theatre, a temple, a forum and public baths. In the late 3rd century, to defend against attack from barbarians, the Romans built around the city an earth bank and a wall with seven gates, which enclosed an area of 130 acres (53 ha).^[4]

After the Romans left Britain in 410 AD, Durovernum Cantiacorum was abandoned, apart from a few farmers, and gradually decayed.^[5] Over the next 100 years, an Anglo-Saxon community formed within the city walls, as Jutish refugees arrived, possibly intermarrying with the locals.^[6] The Jutes named the city Cantwaraburh, meaning “Kent people’s stronghold”.^[7] In 597 AD, Pope Gregory the Great sent Augustine to convert King Æthelberht of Kent to Christianity. After the conversion, Canterbury, as a Roman town, was chosen by Augustine as the centre for an episcopal see in Kent, and an abbey and cathedral were built. Augustine thus became the first Archbishop of Canterbury.^[8] The town’s new importance led to its revival, and trades developed in pottery, textiles and leather. By 630, gold coins were being struck at the Canterbury mint.^[9] In 672 the Synod of Hertford gave the see of Canterbury authority over the entire English Church.^[7]

In 842 and 851, Canterbury suffered great loss of life during Danish raids. In 978, Archbishop Dunstan refounded the abbey built by Augustine, and named it St Augustine’s Abbey.^[10] A second wave of Danish attacks began in 991, and in 1011 the cathedral was burnt and Archbishop Alphege was killed. Remembering the destruction caused by the Danes, the inhabitants of Canterbury did not resist William the Conqueror’s invasion in 1066.^[7] William immediately ordered a wooden motte-and-bailey castle to be built by the Roman city wall. In the early 12th century, the castle was rebuilt with stone.^[11]

After the murder of Archbishop Thomas Becket at the cathedral in 1170, Canterbury became one of the most notable towns in Europe, as pilgrims from all parts of Christendom came to visit his shrine.^[12] This pilgrimage provided the framework for Geoffrey Chaucer’s 14th-century collection of stories, The Canterbury Tales.

Canterbury is associated with several saints from this period who lived in Canterbury:

• Saint Augustine of Canterbury
• Saint Anselm of Canterbury
• Saint Thomas Becket
• Saint Mellitus
• Saint Theodore of Tarsus
• Saint Dunstan
• Saint Adrian of Canterbury
• Saint Alphege
• Saint Æthelberht of Kent

14th–17th centuries

Huguenot weavers’ houses near the High Street

The Black Death hit Canterbury in 1348. At 10,000, Canterbury had the 10th largest population in England; by the early 16th century, the population had fallen to 3,000. In 1363, during the Hundred Years’ War, a Commission of Inquiry found that disrepair, stone-robbing and ditch-filling had led to the Roman wall becoming eroded. Between 1378 and 1402, the wall was virtually rebuilt, and new wall towers were added.^[13] In 1381, during the Peasants’ Revolt, the castle and Archbishop’s Palace were sacked, and Archbishop Sudbury was beheaded in London. Sudbury is still remembered annually by the Christmas mayoral procession to his tomb at Canterbury Cathedral. In 1413 Henry IV became the only sovereign to be buried at the cathedral. In 1448 Canterbury was granted a City Charter, which gave it a mayor and a high sheriff; the city still has a Lord Mayor and Sheriff.^[14] In 1504 the cathedral’s main tower, the Bell Harry Tower, was completed, ending 400 years of building.

During the Dissolution of the Monasteries, the city’s priory, nunnery and three friaries were closed. St Augustine’s Abbey, the 14th richest in England at the time, was surrendered to the Crown, and its church and cloister were levelled. The rest of the abbey was dismantled over the next 15 years, although part of the site was converted to a palace.^[15] Thomas Becket’s shrine in the Cathedral was demolished and all the gold, silver and jewels were removed to the Tower of London, and Becket’s images, name and feasts were obliterated throughout the kingdom, ending the pilgrimages.

By the 17th century, Canterbury’s population was 5,000; of whom 2,000 were French-speaking Protestant Huguenots, who had begun fleeing persecution and war in the Spanish Netherlands in the mid-16th century. The Huguenots introduced silk weaving into the city, which by 1676 had outstripped wool weaving.^[16]

In 1620 Robert Cushman negotiated the lease of the Mayflower at 59 Palace Street for the purpose of transporting the Pilgrims to America.

In 1647, during the English Civil War, riots broke out when Canterbury’s puritan mayor banned church services on Christmas Day. The rioters’ trial the following year led to a Kent revolt against the Parliamentarian forces, contributing to the start of the second phase of the war. However, Canterbury surrendered peacefully to the Parliamentarians after their victory at the Battle of Maidstone.^[17]

18th century–present

The tower of St George’s church, where Marlowe was baptised, is all that survived of the church after the Baedeker Blitz

The city’s first newspaper, the Kentish Post, was founded in 1717.^[18] It merged with the newly founded Kentish Gazette in 1768.^[19]

By 1770 the castle had fallen into disrepair, and many parts of it were demolished during the late 18th century and early 19th century.^[20] In 1787 all the gates in the city wall, except for Westgate – the city jail – were demolished as a result of a commission that found them impeding to new coach travel.^[21] By 1820 the city’s silk industry had been killed by imported Indian muslins.^[16] TheCanterbury and Whitstable Railway, the world’s first passenger railway, was opened in 1830.^[22] Between 1830 and 1900, the city’s population grew from 15,000 to 24,000.^[22] Canterbury Prison was opened in 1808 just outside the city boundary.^[23]

During the First World War, a number of barracks and voluntary hospitals were set up around the city, and in 1917 a German bomber crash-landed near Broad Oak Road.^[24] During the Second World War, 10,445 bombs dropped during 135 separate raids destroyed 731 homes and 296 other buildings in the city, including the Simon Langton Grammar Schools, and 115 people were killed.^[25] The most devastating raid was on 1 June 1942 during the Baedeker Blitz.^[24]

Before the end of the war, architect Charles Holden drew up plans to redevelop the city centre, but locals were so opposed that the Citizens’ Defence Association was formed and swept to power in the 1945 municipal elections. Rebuilding of the city centre eventually began 10 years after the war.^[26] A ring road was constructed in stages outside the city walls some time afterwards to alleviate growing traffic problems in the city centre, which was later pedestrianised. The biggest expansion of the city occurred in the 1960s, with the arrival of the University of Kent at Canterbury and Christ Church College.^[26]

The 1980s saw visits from Pope John Paul II and Queen Elizabeth II, and the beginning of the annual Canterbury Festival.^[27] Canterbury received its own radio station in CTFM, now KMFM Canterbury, in 1997. Between 1999 and 2005, the Whitefriars shopping centre underwent major redevelopment. In 2000, during the redevelopment, a major archaeological project was undertaken by the Canterbury Archaeological Trust, known as the Big Dig,^[28] which was supported by Channel Four’s Time Team.^[29]

Another famous visitor was Mahatma Gandhi, who came to the city^[30] in October 1931; he met^[31] Hewlett Johnson, then Dean of Canterbury.

Governance

Since 1987, the Member of Parliament for the Canterbury constituency, which includes Whitstable, has been the Conservative Julian Brazier.^[32] At the 2005 general election, the Conservatives won a majority of 7,471 and 44.4% of the vote in the Canterbury constituency. Labour won 28.7% of the vote, Liberal Democrats 21.1%, the Green Party 3.2%, United Kingdom Independence Party 1.9%, and the Legalise Cannabis Alliance 0.7%.^[33]

Canterbury, along with Whitstable and Herne Bay, is in the City of Canterbury local government district. The city’s urban area consists of the six electoral wards of Barton, Harbledown, Northgate, St Stephens, Westgate, and Wincheap. These wards have fifteen of the fifty seats on the Canterbury City Council. Twelve of these seats are held by the Liberal Democrats and three by the Conservatives.

The city became a county corporate in 1461, and later a county borough under the Local Government Act 1888. In 1974 it lost its status as the smallest county borough in England, after the Local Government Act 1972, and came under the control of Kent County Council.

Geography

The Great Stour in the city centre

Canterbury is located at 51°16′30″N 1°05′13″E (51.275, 1.087) in east Kent, about 55 miles (89 km) east-southeast of London. The coastal towns of Herne Bay and Whitstable are 6 miles (10 km) to the north, and Faversham is 8 miles (13 km) to the northwest. Nearby villages include Rough Common, Sturry and Tyler Hill. The civil parish of Thanington Without is to the southwest; the rest of the city is unparished. Harbledown, Wincheap and Hales Place are suburbs of the city.

The city is on the River Stour or Great Stour, flowing from its source at Lenham north-east through Ashford to the English Channel at Sandwich. The river divides south east of the city, one branch flowing though the city, the other around the position of the former walls. The two branches rejoin or are linked several times, but finally recombine around the town of Fordwich, on the edge of the marshland north east of the city. The Stour is navigable on the tidal section to Fordwich, although above this point canoes and other small craft can be used. Punts and rowed river boats are available for hire in Canterbury. ^[34] The geology of the area consists mainly of brickearth overlying chalk. Tertiary sands overlain by London clay form St. Thomas’s Hill and St. Stephen’s Hill about a mile northwest of the city centre.^[35]

Demography

As of the 2001 UK census,^{[36][37][38][39][40][41]} the total population of the city’s urban area wards was 43,432.

Residents of the city had an average age of 37.1 years, younger than the 40.2 average throughout the district and the 38.6 average for England. Of the 17,536 households, 35% were one-person households, 39% were couples, 10% were lone parents, and 15% other. Of those aged 16–74 in the city, 27% had a higher education qualification, higher than the 20% national average.

Compared with the rest of England, the city had an above-average proportion of foreign-born residents, at around 12%. Ninety-five percent of residents were recorded as white; the largest minority group was recorded as Asian, at 1.8% of the population. Religion was recorded as 68.2% Christian, 1.1% Muslim, 0.5% Buddhist, 0.8% Hindu, 0.2% Jewish, and 0.1% Sikh. The rest either had no religion, an alternative religion, or did not state their religion.

Economy

Canterbury district retains approximately 4,761 businesses, up to 60,000 full- and part-time employees and was worth £1.3 billion in 2001.^[42] This makes the district the second largest economy in Kent.^[42] Unemployment in the city has dropped significantly since 2001 owing to the opening of the Whitefriars shopping complex which introduced thousands of job opportunities.^[43] In April 2008, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr. Rowan Williams, controversially demanded thatsalary caps should be implemented to curb the pay of the rich in an attempt to manage to growth of the economy.^[44] The city’s economy benefits mainly from significant economic projects such as the Canterbury Enterprise Hub, Lakesview International Business Park and the Whitefriars retail development.^[42] Tourism contributes £258M to the Canterbury economy and has been a “cornerstone of the local economy” for a number of years; Canterbury Cathedral alone generates over one million visitors a year.^[42] Canterbury has a high per capita GDP, it is higher than the Kent average of $42,500 at $51,900 making it one of the wealthiest towns in the South East. The registered unemployment rate as of September 2011 stands at 5.7%.

Culture

Landmarks

Canterbury Cathedral is part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site

Canterbury Cathedral is the Mother Church of the Anglican Communion and seat of the Archbishop of Canterbury. Founded in 597 AD by Augustine, it forms a World Heritage Site, along with the Saxon St. Martin’s Church and the ruins of St Augustine’s Abbey. With one million visitors per year, it is one of the most visited places in the country. Services are held at the Cathedral three or more times a day.^[45][46]

The Roman Museum houses an in situ mosaic pavement dating from around 300 CE.^[47] Surviving structures from the Roman times include Queningate, a blocked gate in the city wall, and the Dane John Mound, once part of a Roman cemetery.^[48] The Dane John Gardens were built beside the mound in the 18th century, and a memorial was placed on the mound’s summit.^[49] A windmill was on the mound between 1731 and 1839.

The ruins of the Norman Canterbury Castle and St Augustine’s Abbey are both open to the public. The medieval St Margaret’s Church now houses the “The Canterbury Tales”, in which life-sized character models reconstruct Geoffrey Chaucer’s stories. The Westgate is now a museum relating to its history as a jail. The medieval church of St Alphege became redundant in 1982 but had a new lease of life as the Canterbury Urban Studies Centre, later renamed the Canterbury Environment Centre; the building is used by the King’s School. The Old Synagogue at Canterbury, now the King’s School Music Room, is one of only two Egyptian Revival synagogues still standing. The city centre contains many timber-framed 16th- and 17th -century houses, including the “Old Weaver’s House” used by the Huguenots.^[50] St Martin’s Mill is the only surviving mill out of the six known to have stood in Canterbury. It was built in 1817 and worked until 1890; it is now a house conversion.^[51]

The Museum of Canterbury, houses many exhibits, with one of them being the Rupert Bear Museum. The Herne Bay Times has reported that the Heritage at Risk Register includes 19 listed buildings in Canterbury which need urgent repair but for which the council has insufficient funds.^[52]

Theatres

The Marlowe Theatre building before its partial demolition, in 2009

The city’s theatre and concert hall is the Marlowe Theatre named after Christopher Marlowe, who was born in the city in Elizabethan times. He was baptised in the city’s St George’s Church, which was destroyed during the Second World War.^[53] The old Marlowe Theatre was located in St Margaret’s Street and housed a repertory theatre. The Gulbenkian Theatre, at the University grounds, also serves the city, housing also a cinema and café.^[54] The Marlowe Theatre has now been completely rebuilt, fully opening in October 2011.

Besides the two theatres, theatrical performances take place at several areas of the city, for instance the Cathedral and St Augustine’s Abbey. The premiere of Murder in the Cathedral by T. S. Eliottook place at Canterbury Cathedral.^[55]

The oldest surviving Tudor theatre in Canterbury is now Casey’s Bar, formerly known as The Shakespeare Pub. There are several theatre groups based in Canterbury, including the University of Kent Students’ Union’s T24 Drama Society, The Canterbury Players^[56] and Kent Youth Theatre.

The Marlowe Theatre

The redeveloped Marlowe Theatre will become the largest theatre in the region, offering touring productions and concerts. The programme will include musicals, drama, ballet, contemporary dance, classical orchestras, opera, children’s shows, pantomime, stand-up comedy and concerts. There will also be a second performance space called The Marlowe Studio, dedicated to creative activity and the programming of new work. This theatre will also offer three bars with views of the city, a restaurant and a riverside terrace. It will re-open to audiences in October 2011, with tickets on-sale from March 2011.^[57]

Music

The Cathedral

Medieval

Polyphonic music written for the monks of Christ Church Priory (the Cathedral) survives from the 13th century. The Cathedral may have had an organ as early as the 12th century,^[58] though the names of organists are only recorded from the early 15th century.^[59] One of the earliest named composers associated with Canterbury Cathedral was Leonel Power, who was appointed master of the new Lady Chapel choir formed in 1438.

Post-Reformation

The Reformation brought a period of decline in the Cathedral’s music which was revived under Dean Thomas Neville in the early 17th century. Neville introduced instrumentalists into the Cathedral’s music who played cornett and sackbut, probably members of the city’s band of waits. The Cathedral acquired sets of recorders, lutes and viols for the use of the choir boys and lay-clerks.^[58]

The City

Early modern

As was common in English cities in the Middle Ages, Canterbury employed a town band known as the Waits. There are records of payments to the Waits starting from 1402, though they probably existed earlier than this. The Waits were disbanded by the city authorities in 1641 for ‘misdemeanors’ but were reinstated in 1660 when they played for the visit of King Charles II on his return from exile.^[60] Waits were eventually abolished nationally by the Municipal Corporations Act of 1835. A modern early music group called The Canterbury Waits has revived the name.^[61]

The Canterbury Catch Club was a musical and social club which met in the city between 1779 and 1865. The club (male only) met weekly in the winter. It employed an orchestra to assist in performances in the first half of the evening. After the interval, the members sang catches and glees from the club’s extensive music library (now deposited at the Cathedral Archives in Canterbury).^[62]

Contemporary

The city gave its name to a musical genre known as the Canterbury Sound or Canterbury Scene, a group of progressive rock, avant-garde and jazz musicians established within the city during the late 1960s and early 1970s. Some very notable Canterbury bands were Soft Machine, Caravan, Matching Mole, Egg, Hatfield and the North, National Health, Gilgamesh, Soft Heap, Khan, Camel and In Cahoots. Over the years, with band membership changes and new bands evolving, the term has been used to describe a musical style or subgenre, rather than a regional group of musicians.^[63] During the 1970-80′s the Canterbury ‘Odeon’ now the site of the ‘New Marlow’ played host to many of the Punk and new wave bands of the era these included, The Clash, The Ramones, Blondie, Sham69, Magazine, XTC, Dr Feelgood, Elvis Costello and the attractions,The Stranglers.

The University of Kent has hosted concerts by bands including Led Zeppelin^[64] and The Who.^[65] During the late seventies and early eighties the Canterbury Odeon hosted a number of major acts, including The Cure^[66] and Joy Division.^[67]The Marlowe Theatre is also used for many musical performances, such as Don McLean in 2007,^[68] and Fairport Convention in 2008.^[69] A regular music and dance venue is the Westgate Hall.

The Canterbury Choral Society gives regular concerts in Canterbury Cathedral, specialising in the large-scale choral works of the classical repertory.^[70] The Canterbury Orchestra, founded in 1953, is a thriving group of enthusiastic players who regularly tackle major works from the symphonic repertoire.^[71] Other musical groups include the Canterbury Singers (also founded in 1953), Cantemus, and the City of Canterbury Chamber Choir.^[72] The University of Kent has a Symphony Orchestra, a University Choir, a Chamber Choir, and a University Concert Band and Big Band.^[73]

The Canterbury Festival takes place over two weeks in October each year in Canterbury and the surrounding towns. It includes a wide range of musical events ranging from opera and symphony concerts to world music, jazz, folk, etc., with a Festival Club, a Fringe, and Umbrella events.^[74] Canterbury also hosts the annual Lounge On The Farm festival in July, which mainly sees performances from rock, indie and dance artists.

The reggae/ska musician Judge Dread played his last gig at the Penny Theatre. His final words were “Let’s hear it for the band.” He then went offstage, suffered a major heart attack and died, despite help from both ambulance crews and the audience.

Composers

Composers with an association with Canterbury include

• Thomas Tallis (c. 1505–1585), became a lay clerk (singing man) at Canterbury Cathedral c. 1540 and was subsequently appointed a Gentleman of the Chapel Royal in 1543.^[58]
• John Ward (1571–1638), born in Canterbury, a chorister at Canterbury Cathedral, composed madrigals, works for viol consort, services, and anthems.
• Orlando Gibbons (1583–1625), organist, composer, and Gentleman of the Chapel Royal, who died in Canterbury and was buried in the Cathedral.
• William Flackton (1709–1798), born in Canterbury, a chorister at Canterbury Cathedral, was an organist, viola player and composer.
• John Marsh (1752–1828), lawyer, amateur composer and concert organiser, wrote two symphonies for the Canterbury Orchestra before moving to Chichester in 1784.
• Thomas Clark (1775–1859), shoemaker and organist at the Methodist church in Canterbury, composer of ‘West Gallery’ hymns and psalm tunes.^[75]
• Sir George Job Elvey (1816–1893), organist and composer, was born in Canterbury and trained as a chorister at the Cathedral.
• Alan Ridout (1934–1996) educator and broadcaster, composer of church, orchestral and chamber music.
• Sir Peter Maxwell Davies was appointed an Honorary Fellow of Canterbury Christ Church University at a ceremony in Canterbury Cathedral.
• Many Canterbury Cathedral organists composed services, anthems, hymns, etc.

Sport

St Lawrence Ground

St Lawrence Ground is notable as one of the two grounds used regularly for first-class cricket that have a tree within the boundary (the other is the City Oval in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa). It is thehome ground of Kent County Cricket Club and has hosted several One Day Internationals, including one England match during the 1999 Cricket World Cup.^[76]

Canterbury City F.C. reformed in 2007 as a community interest company and currently compete in the Kent League. The previous incarnation of the club folded in 2001.^[77] Canterbury’s Rugby Football Club were founded in 1926 and became the first East Kent club to achieve National League status when they were promoted to the National League Division 3 South in 2006.^[78]

The Tour de France has visited the city twice. In 1994 the tour passed through, and in 2007 it held the finish for Stage 1.^[79] Canterbury Hockey Club is one of the largest clubs in the country, often succeeding to top the English leagues in all age and sex categories.^[80] Former Olympic gold medal winner Sean Kerly is one of their coaches.^[81]

Sporting activities for the public are provided at the Kingsmead Leisure Centre, which has a 33-metre (108 ft) swimming pool and a sports hall for football, basketball, and badminton.^[82]

Transport

Railway

Canterbury East signal box

Canterbury was the terminus of the Canterbury and Whitstable Railway (known locally as the Crab and Winkle line) which was a pioneer line, opened on 3 May 1830, and finally closed in 1953. Despite claims by the Stockton and Darlington Railway, the Canterbury and Whitstable was the first regular passenger steam railway in the world.^[83] The first station in Canterbury was at North Lane.

Today, Canterbury has two railway stations, Canterbury West and Canterbury East, both operated by Southeastern. Canterbury West station, on the South Eastern Railway from Ashford, was opened on 6 February 1846, and on 13 April the line to Ramsgate was completed. Canterbury West is served primarily from London Charing Cross with limited services from Victoria as well as by trains to Ramsgate and Margate. Canterbury East, the more central of the two stations, was opened by the London, Chatham and Dover Railway on 9 July 1860. Services from London Victoria stop at Canterbury East (journey time around 88 minutes) and continue to Dover.

Canterbury has previously been served by two other stations. North Lane Station was the southern terminus of the Canterbury and Whitstable Railway between 1830 and 1846. Canterbury South was on the Elham Valley Railway, which opened in 1890 and closed in 1947. A high-speed train service to London St Pancras via Ashford International started on 13 December 2009. The journey time to London has been reduced to one hour.^[84]

Road

Canterbury is by-passed by the A2 London to Dover Road. It is about 45 miles (72 km) from the M25 London orbital motorway, and 61 miles (98 km) from central London. The other main road through Canterbury is the A28 from Ashford to Ramsgate and Margate. The City Council has invested heavily in Park-and-Ride systems around the City’s outskirts and there are three sites: at Wincheap, New Dover Road and Sturry Road. There are plans to build direct access sliproads to and from the London directions of the A2 where it meets the congested Wincheap (at present there are only slips from the A28 to and from the direction of Dover) to allow more direct access to Canterbury from the A2, but these are currently subject to local discussion.^[85] The hourly National Express coach service to and from Victoria Coach Station (007), which leaves from the main bus station, is typically scheduled to take two hours.

Education

The gate which once led to Saint Augustine’s Abbey now leads to part of theKing’s School.

The city has many students as it is home to four universities, together with several other higher education institutions and colleges; at the 2001 census, 22% of the population aged 16–74 were full-time students, compared with 7% throughout England.^[86]

The city is host to four universities: The University of Kent, Canterbury Christ Church University, the University College for the Creative Arts and most recently GAU (The Girne American University).

The University of Kent’s main campus is situated over 300 acres (121 ha) on St. Stephen’s Hill, a mile north of Canterbury city centre. Formerly called the University of Kent at Canterbury, it was founded in 1965, with a smaller campus opened in 2000 in the town of Chatham. As of 2007, it had around 16,000 students.^[87]

Canterbury Christ Church University was founded as a teacher training college in 1962 by the Church of England. In 1978 its range of courses began to expand into other subjects, and in 1995 it was given the power to become a University college. In 2005 it was granted full university status, and as of 2007 it had around 15,000 students.^[88]

The University College for the Creative Arts is the oldest higher education institution in the city, having been founded in 1882 by Thomas Sidney Cooper as the Sidney Cooper School of Art. Near the University of Kent is the Franciscan International Study Centre,^[89] a place of study for the worldwide Franciscan Order. Chaucer College is an independent college for Japanese and other students within the campus of the University of Kent. Canterbury College, formerly Canterbury College of Technology, offers a mixture of vocation, further and higher education courses for school leavers and adults.

Independent secondary schools include Kent College, St Edmund’s School and, what is often described as the oldest school in England, The King’s School. St. Augustine established a school shortly after his arrival in Canterbury in 597, and it is from this that some claim The King’s School grew. Although, the documented history of the school only began after the Dissolution of the Monasteries in the 16th century, when the school acquired its present name, referring to Henry VIII.^[90]

The city’s secondary grammar schools are Barton Court Grammar School, Simon Langton Grammar School for Boys and Simon Langton Girls’ Grammar School; all of which in 2008 had over 93% of their pupils gain five or more GCSEs at grades A* to C, including English and maths.^[91] The non-selective state secondary schools are The Canterbury High School, St Anselm’s Catholic School, the Church of England’s Archbishop’s School, and Chaucer Technology School; all of which in 2008 had more than 30% of their pupils gain five or more GCSEs at grades A* to C including English and maths.

Local media

Newspapers

Canterbury’s first newspaper was the Kentish Post, founded in 1717.^[18] It changed its name to the Kentish Gazette in 1768^[92] and is still being published, claiming to be the country’s second oldest surviving newspaper.^[93] It is currently produced as a paid-for newspaper produced by the KM Group, based in nearby Whitstable. This newspaper covers the East Kent area and has a circulation of about 25,000.^[94]

Three free weekly newspapers provide news on the Canterbury district: yourcanterbury, the Canterbury Times and Canterbury Extra. The Canterbury Times is owned by the Daily Mail and General Trust and has a circulation of about 55,000.^[95][96] The Canterbury Extra is owned by the KM Group and also has a circulation of about 55,000.^[97] yourcanterbury is published by KOS Media, which also prints the popular county paper Kent on Sunday. It also runs a websitehttp://www.yourcanterbury.co.uk giving daily updated news and events for the city.

Radio and Television

Canterbury is served by 2 local radio stations, KMFM Canterbury and CSR 97.4FM.

KMFM Canterbury broadcasts on 106FM. It was formerly known as KMFM106, and before the KM Group took control it was known as CTFM, based on the local postcode being CT.^[98] Previously based in the city, the station’s studios and presenters were moved to Ashford in 2008.^[99]

CSR 97.4FM, an acronym for “Community Student Radio”, broadcasts on 97.4FM from studios at both the University of Kent and Canterbury Christ Church University. The station is run by a collaboration of education establishments in the city including the two universities. The transmitter is based at the University of Kent, offering a good coverage of the city.^[100] CSR replaced two existing radio stations: C4 Radio, which served Canterbury Christ Church University, and UKC Radio, which served the University of Kent.

There are 2 other stations that cover parts of the city. Canterbury Hospital Radio (CHR) serves the patients of the Kent and Canterbury Hospital,^[101] and Simon Langton Boys School has a radio station, SLBSLive, which can only be picked up on the school grounds.^[102] The City receives BBC One South East and ITV1 Meridian from the main transmitter at Dover, and a local relay situated at Chartham.

Notable people

People born in Canterbury include Christopher Marlowe,^[103] TV presenter Fiona Phillips,^[104] actor Thomas James Longley, airline entrepreneur Sir Freddie Laker,^[105] boy singer and actor Joseph McManners,^[106] comic book artist Jack Lawrence, and actor Orlando Bloom.^[107] Mary Tourtel, the creator of Rupert Bear,^[108] and the Victorian animal painter who taught her, Thomas Sidney Cooper.^[109] were both born and lived in the city. The cricketer David Gower,^[110]physician William Harvey,^[111] actress and singer Aruhan Galieva, writer W. Somerset Maugham^[111] and film director Michael Powell^[111] are among the former pupils of The King’s School, Canterbury. Notable alumni of the University of Kentinclude comedian Alan Davies, singer Ellie Goulding, newspaper editor Rosie Boycott, actor Tom Wilkinson, and Booker Prize winning novelist Kazuo Ishiguro,^[112] and Chris Simmons (best known for playing DC Mickey Webb in ITV’s hit police drama, The Bill.

International relations

Canterbury is twinned with the following cities:

•  Reims, France^[113]

City to City Partnership

•  Esztergom, Hungary

Protocol D’accord^[114]

• Saint-Omer, France, since 1995
• Wimereux, France, since 1995
• Certaldo, Italy, since 1997
• Vladimir, Russia, since 1997
• Mölndal, Sweden, since 1997
• Tournai, Belgium, since 1998

original page can be found here : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canterbury

Walford is a small village in Shropshire, England.

It is notable for its agricultural college (Walford and North Shropshire College). The B5067, Shrewsbury to Baschurch road, runs through the village.

The northern part of the village, which includes the college, is in the parish of Baschurch. The southern part, known as Walford Heath, is situated at the crossroads of the B5067 road with the Merrington to Yeaton lane, and is in the parish of Pimhill. The speed limit here has recently been reduced to 40 mph. There are a number of commercial premises and a post box.

Immediately to the east of Walford Heath lies the hamlet of Old Woods.

Wrexham ( /ˈrɛksəm/ reks-əm; Welsh: Wrecsam; Welsh pronunciation: [ˈwrɛksam]) is the largest town in North Wales. It is the administrative centre of the wider Wrexham County Borough, located in the east of the region. It is situated between the Welsh mountains and the lower Dee Valley close to the border with Cheshire, England. As the largest town in the north of Wales, it is a major centre of the region’s commercial, retail and educational infrastructure.

At the time of the United Kingdom Census 2001, Wrexham had a population of 42,576, and the wider Wrexham Urban Area, as defined by the Office for National Statistics, had a population of 63,084.^[1] The wider Wrexham county borough, which covers 50,500 hectares, has a population of over 130,000. The town is ranked as the 4th largest urban area in Wales, after Cardiff, Swanseaand Newport.

History

Evidence of human activity in the Wrexham area have been found as far back as approximately 1600 BC.^[2] However the first known settlement was known as Wristleham Castle, a motte and bailey located in what is now known as ErddigPark, established in 1161. King Edward I of England is on record as having briefly stayed at Wrexham during his expedition to suppress the revolt of Madog ap Llywelyn in 1294. The town became part of the county of Denbighshire when it was created in 1536. Wrexham was divided into two distinct townships, Wrexham Regis (which was under the control of the King) and Wrexham Abbot (generally the older parts of the town, which originally belonged to Valle Crucis Abbey at nearby Llangollen).

The King’s Mill

To the east of Wrexham, there are the remains of Holt Castle. The castle and the nearby late medieval bridge were the scene of constant skirmishes during the Civil War in the 17th century. The River Dee in this area is deep and wide. The bridge at Holt was the first crossing point south of the city of Chester and hence was of major strategic importance.

In the 18th century Wrexham was known for its leather industry. There were skinners and tanners in the town. The horns from cattle were used to make such items as combs and buttons. There was also a nail-making industry in Wrexham.

In the mid-18th century Wrexham was no more than a small market town with a population of perhaps 2,000. However, in the late 18th century Wrexham grew rapidly as it became one of the pioneers of the Industrial Revolution.

Bersham Ironworks as it stands today

The Industrial Revolution began in Wrexham in 1762 when the entrepreneur John Wilkinson (1728–1808) known as ‘Iron Mad Wilkinson’ opened Bersham Heritage Centre and Ironworks. In 1793 he opened a smelting plant at Brymbo. At the top end of the Clywedog Valley, about ten minutes’ drive from Wrexham, Minera Lead Mines are the remains of the profitable lead industry that dates back to prehistoric times.

Wrexham gained its first newspaper in 1848. The Market Hall was built in 1848, and in 1863 a volunteer fire brigade was founded. Wrexham was also home to a large number of breweries, and tanning became one of Wrexham’s main industries. In the mid 19th century Wrexham was granted borough status.

Hope Street, Wrexham town centre

Wrexham’s mining heritage is nearly all gone. Most former mines have been converted into industrial and business parks – one such development at Bersham Colliery has the last surviving head gear in the north Wales coalfield. Just off the A483, on the edge of Wrexham, the Gresford Disaster Memorial stands witness to the 266 miners^[3] who lost their lives after a series of explosions atGresford colliery in September 1934. In the mid to late 19th century Wrexham had over 35 breweries, and grew a proud tradition of brewing both ale and lager. In 1882 German immigrants set up Britain’s first lager brewery under the name of Wrexham Lager. In 2000 the Wrexham Lager Brewery was the last one to close. A number of the original brewery buildings remain, most notably Wrexham Lager on Central Road (offices), Soames Brewery on Yorke Street (Nags Head) and Border Brewery on Tuttle Street (converted apartments). Wrexham Lager was revived in October 2011 to serve the pub trade and is now available in various pubs throughout the county.

Just 2 miles (3 km) south of Wrexham town centre, Erddig, a National Trust property, was home to the Yorke family until 1973. Its last resident, Philip Yorke, handed over a house in need of restoration as years of subsidence caused by the workings of Bersham Colliery had caused a lot of damage. The house was voted one of the two most popular stately homes in the UK by a National Trust/Channel 5 publication.

After World War II, the former munitions factory ROF Wrexham was closed, leaving the many buildings derelict. In the 1950s British Celanese opened a large factory there followed by Firestone, Owen Corning, Kellogg’s and BICC.

Wrexham did at one time had a large brewing industry. The leatherworks in Petrefelin and Tuttle Street, the many coal mines in the area, the brickworks in Abenbury, Brymbo Steelworks and the breweries all closed in the latter half of the 20th Century, along with some of the newer ones such as Courtalds, Firestone and Owens Corning. Wrexham was suffering from the same problems as much of industrialised Britain and saw little investment in the 1970s.

In the 1980s and 1990s funded in part by the Welsh Development Agency (WDA), a major dual carriageway, the A483, extending the existing bypass and connecting it with nearby Chester andShrewsbury, which in turn had connections with other big cities such as Manchester and Liverpool.

Governance

The Wrexham constituency elects members to the UK Parliament and the National Assembly for Wales. The constituency includes both the town and some of its outlying villages such as Gwersyllt, Llay, Marford, Rossett and Holt. The UK Parliament constituency of Wrexham has long been a safe seat for the Labour Party. Wrexham is divided into the communities of Acton, Rhosddu, Offa and Caia Park.

Public services

Wrexham Maelor Hospital (Ysbyty Maelor Wrecsam in Welsh) is the region’s major acute district hospital, with 700 beds, and is the largest of the three core hospitals in North Wales. It is situated in the south of the town, on Croesnewydd Road. In 1985 major expansion took place on the site, modernising many of the existing departments. It was also the headquarters of the North East Wales NHS Trust, until the merger of the Local Health Boards and NHS Trusts in North Wales created the Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board – which is the largest health organisation in Wales. Other NHS hospitals within the borough are Chirk Community and Penley Polish Hospital.

Yale Hospital (Ysbyty Iâl in Welsh) situated close to the Maelor Hospital on Wrexham Technology Park is Wrexham’s largest private hospital with over 25 beds. Formerly BUPA Yale Hospital, it is now owned and operated by Spire Healthcare.

Wrexham is served by North Wales Police; their Eastern Division HQ is in the centre of the town.

The region’s main fire station is situated on Bradley Road close to the Island Green and central retail parks. Other local fire stations are located in the nearby towns of Chirk and Llangollen.

City status

Wrexham has applied for city status several times. In 2011,^[6] Wrexham County Borough Council confirmed it will apply again for the 2012 Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, where one town will be granted city status for the celebration. Mayor Trewhella said “there is a slim chance, but it is there. It is an opportunity to put Wrexham on the map”.^[7]

Geography

	Mold, Buckley	Llay	Gresford
	Minera, Coedpoeth		Abenbury,
		Wrexham
	Llangollen, Rhosllannerchrugog	Ruabon, Cefn Mawr, Chirk	Overton

Unusually for a large town, Wrexham is not built up alongside a major river. Instead it is situated on a relatively flat plateau between the lower Dee Valley and easternmost mountains of Wales. This situation enabled it to grow as a market town as a cross roads between England and Wales and later as an industrial hub – due to its rich natural reserves of iron ore and coal. It does however have three relatively minor rivers running through parts of the town. These are the riversClywedog, Gwenfro and Alyn. Wrexham is also famed for the quality of its underground water reserves, which gave rise to its previous dominance as a major brewing centre.

Originally a market town with surrounding small villages, Wrexham is now coalesced with a number of urban villages and forms North Wales’ largest conurbation exceeding 100,000 residents including its north, western and south western suburban villages. The Office for National Statistics defines a Wrexham Urban Area which consists of Wrexham Town and some coalesced suburbs (Pop. 63,084 in 2001) making it the 134th largest urban area in the UK, and the 4th largest in Wales.

Wrexham’s Urban Area (pink) and surrounding villages (circles)

Economy

In 2007, the town was ranked fifth in the UK for business start-up success, higher than most larger UK towns and cities.^[8] Wrexham county borough as a whole has an economic activity rate of 79.5 percent, which is above both the Wales and Great Britain averages.

Shopping

The main shopping streets in Wrexham are Bank Street, Henblas Street, High Street, King Street, Regent Street, Overton Arcade, Hope Street and Queen Street. A cluster of retail parks are situated around the inner ring road at the Central and Border retail parks. Plas Coch and Berse retail parks are on the outskirts close to the A483. Central and Island Green retail parks are in the town centre close to Wrexham Central railway station. The newest development, at Eagle’s Meadow includes Debenhams, Marks & Spencer, H&M, Next, River Island, TenPin and Odeon. The development is connected to Yorke Street and High Street by a bridge. There are three traditional covered markets (Butter, Butchers and Peoples Markets) plus north Wales’ largest open-air market based in the town centre each Monday (including Bank Holidays). Wrexham boasts the most used Shopmobility service in north Wales, which is free. Much of the Wrexham town centre is pedestrianised and there are short stay car parks adjacent to the town centre. Long-stay parking is available at St. Marks (NCP) at the northern end of Regent Street or the larger surface park (WCBC).

Tourism

Wrexham held the National Eisteddfod of Wales in 2011.

A number of visitor attractions can be found in the town or within a short drive from the centre. Among the most popular are:

• St. Giles Church - One of the Seven Wonders of Wales and burial place of Elihu Yale
• Racecourse Ground- home of Wrexham F.C. is the world’s oldest international stadium that still continues to host international games.^[9]
• Erddig Hall - National Trust property and park (voted the UK’s best historical house and 8th most popular historic site – 2007).
• Clywedog Valley - The power behind the industrial revolution in Wrexham, a number of good heritage attractions: (Minera Leadmines, Nant Mill and Bersham Ironworks) in a peaceful valley with good walks (BBC’s 20 hidden gems in 2007^[10])
• Chirk Castle - (National Trust property) The castle was built in 1295 and is located in the Wrexham county.
• Pontcysyllte Aqueduct - is a navigable aqueduct that carries the Llangollen Canal over the valley of the River Dee in Wrexham in north east Wales. Completed in 1805, it is the longest and highest aqueduct in Britain, a Grade I Listed Building and a World Heritage Site.
• Historic town centre buildings (Horse & Jockey pub, thatched roof pub, Regent Street).
• Motor Safari - 4×4 Driving experiences & Quadbiking.
• Plaspower Adventure – Indoor climbing walls.
• Techniquest Glyndŵr - Science discovery centre.
• Wrexham County Museum - Museum showcasing the local history.

Horse and Jockey Public House

Manufacturing and construction

Wrexham’s economy has been transformed in the past twenty years from one dominated by heavy and traditional industry into a major high tech manufacturing, technology and services hub.Wrexham Industrial Estate is the UK’s second-largest industrial park and among the largest in Europe. The remainder of the industrial parks are located around the A483 corridor to the west of the town. Companies such as Sharp, Brother, Cytec Industries, Calypso, J. C. Bamford, Cadbury and Kellogg’s have major manufacturing, research or office bases in and around the town. International pharmaceutical and chemical companies are also well represented including Flexsys and Wockhardt. Service and smaller high technology set-ups are generally found within the town centre or close to the centre at Wrexham Technology Park such as Grote, Moneypenny and UHY Hacker Young.

Wrexham has held on to a substantial manufacturing base after facing stiff competition from growing eastern European and Asian economies. Approximately 25 percent of jobs in Wrexham are in the manufacturing sector, with a growing number in service, financial and technology industries.

The central area of Wrexham has also seen a number of purpose built residential developments as well as conversions of older buildings to residential use. Outside the town centre new estates are being developed in several areas, including over 500 homes at the former Brymbo Steelworks site, a ribbon of development on Mold Road leading out of the town (which includes four development companies) and Ruthin Road (Wrexham Western Gateway). There are further plans, one of which is the development of National Trust land at Erddig for over 250 homes.^[11] The announcement to develop National Trust land generated many protests, particularly from residents in nearby Rhostyllen. A motion at the NT’s 2008 AGM to block the development gained enough support, but was eventually overturned by a proxy vote from the NT chairman.^[12]

Demography

In April 2008, the IPPR identified Wrexham as having the largest influx of Eastern European economic migrants in Wales. Between 2004 and 2007 a total of 3,430 people from these countries had registered for work in Wrexham.

Culture

Arts

Wrexham hosted the National Eisteddfod in 1888, 1912, 1933 and 1977, as well as an unofficial National Eisteddfod event in 1876. The National Eisteddfod returned to the area in 2011, when Wales’ leading festival was held on the land of Lower Berse Farm between 30 July and 6 August.

Wrexham has a number of theatres, including the Grove Park Theatre on Vicarage Hill, the Riverside Studio Theatre at Wrexham Musical Theatre Society on Salop Road, and the Yale Studio theatre close to Llwyn Isaf. Local theatre group, Tip Top Productions [2] also present the annual Christmas Pantomime at The Stiwt Theatre in nearby Rhosllanerchrugog. The main Arts centre is at Wrexham County Library called Oriel Wrexham holding exhibitions and events, with others at Glyndŵr University in Plas Coch and Yale College. There is a multi-screen Odeon cinema in the Eagles Meadow development. The nearby town of Llangollen holds the International Musical Eisteddfod every July.

A 210-foot (64 m) sculpture called Waking the Dragon is to be built near Chirk once funding is secured.

The Arc sculpture

Science

Every March the town hosts the Wrexham Science Festival. Over 9000 visitors attended events in 2007, making the event one of the biggest of its kind.

Wrexham is also home to a branch of Techniquest, known as Techniquest Glyndŵr. The science discovery centre is situated within Glyndŵr University’s Plas Coch campus.

Music

Wrexham has built a vibrant music scene over the last few years. A raft of live music venues has developed around the core of the town including the largest venue Central Station, The Old Swan, Penny Black and The Commercial. Further out of the centre The Centenary Club, the William Aston Hall and The Student Guild at Glyndŵr University also provide regular live music shows. The scene is dominated by up-and-coming local bands and the town has become known as a hotbed of talent in the rock, indie and alternative genres.

The local music scene has its own dedicated website Wrexham Music which features news, forums and details of upcoming shows. The town’s music scene appears regularly on national radio, in 2007 it featured on BBC Radio 1′s Steve Lamacq show, and regularly features on the Welsh music portion of the station.

Most international artists perform in the larger venues of Central Station or the William Aston Hall. Central Station is also a club with a capacity of approximately 650, attracting touring bands from across the country. Since its opening in 2000 the venue has played host to hundreds of acts, including The Magic Numbers, The Kooks, Duffy, The Charlatans, Scratch Perverts, Ash, Puddle of Mudd, The Subways, Mansun, Shed Seven, The Wonder Stuff, The Damned, Skindred, Supersuckers, Wheatus, Bloc Party, Hundred Reasons, Grandmaster Flash, Electric Six, Trashlight Vision,The Fall, Budgie, The Blackout, Kids in Glass Houses, Rooster, Elliot Minor, Blaze Bayley, Go:Audio, Kill Hannah and Robert Plant.^[13]

The William Aston Hall at Glyndŵr University is a 900-seat venue which has recently undergone extensive refurbishment, and is now designed to accommodate a range of events from conferences and exhibitions to theatrical performances and pop/rock concerts. Acts who have performed there in the past include Super Furry Animals, Feeder Love, Ray Davies, Freddie Starr and Sweet.^[14]

Media

Wrexham’s daily newspapers include the North Wales Daily Post and Wrexham Evening Leader, the weekly free Wrexham Chronicle, and the weekly broadsheet Wrexham Leader, often known as the “Big Leader”. The Wrexham Music Magazine is published monthly, and concentrates on the town’s large music scene.

Four radio stations are based in the town – commercial stations Heart North West and Wales (serving most of North Wales, Cheshire and the Wirral) & Heart Cymru (serving Gwynedd and Anglesey) broadcast from studios on Mold Road in Gwersyllt, community station Calon FM is based within Glyndwr University on Mold Road near the town centre and Wrexham FM provides online programming. BBC Cymru Wales also has a studio and newsroom for their radio and television services.

Leisure

Parks and open spaces

The ‘Cup and Saucer’ at Erddig Park

The lake at Acton Park

Wrexham has three parks, Bellevue Park, Acton Park, and Erddig Park with a green area within the town centre called Llwyn Isaf.

Bellevue Park was built alongside the old cemetery on Ruabon Road. The park was designed to commemorate the Jubilee year of the Incorporation of Wrexham. It became neglected during the 1970s and many of the amenities were in a poor state of repair. A major project was undertaken to refurbish the park back to its original splendour. This was funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund, Urban Parks Project, Welsh Development Agency, and the European Regional Development Fund. The park reopened in June 2000. It now boasts children’s play areas, a bowling green which is home to the Parciau Bowling Club, tennis and basketball courts, an original Edwardian bandstand set in an amphitheatre, and a route for walkers and joggers. The park itself has many walkways through mature tree-lined avenues as well as affording some magnificent views of the Parish Church. The park is well lit and has a number of CCTV cameras installed to deter antisocial behaviour. Bellevue Park has once again regained its popularity with the people of Wrexham. Throughout the summer months social events take place, such as music concerts for all tastes and fun days for children.

Acton Park was originally the landscaped grounds of Acton Hall. It was laid out in 1785 by James Wyatt on the instructions of the owner Sir Foster Cunliffe. Over the years the estate passed through several owners and in 1947 Wrexham Council was given the hall and park by the then owner Alderman William Aston. A section of Acton Park was sold for housing development in the 1970s. The surviving area now covers approximately 17 hectares (42 acres). Acton Park features a bowling green, tennis courts, a children’s play area, Japanese-style garden and a large lake which has attracted diverse wildlife. The general layout of the park has remained unchanged since it was laid out in the 18th century and now boasts many mature trees.

Llwyn Isaf, situated alongside Wrexham Guildhall, is a popular green area within the town centre. The green was originally the landscaped grounds of a mansion house known as Llwyn Isaf. It now lies at the centre of Wrexham’s civic centre just off Queens Square. The Welsh Children in Need concert was held at this location in 2005.

Erddig Park is situated two miles (3 km) south of the town centre where the town meets the Clywedog Valley. The park is owned and managed by the National Trust, and is home to Erddig Hall and its formal gardens. The Park is also home to a number of notable historic features. These include a hydraulic ram known as the ‘Cup and Saucer’ which is used to pump water from the park to Erddig Hall, and the remains of Wristleham motte and bailey which is thought to be the beginnings of Wrexham as a town in the 12th century.

Sport

Football

The Racecourse Ground, home ofWrexham FC

The town has a professional football team, Wrexham F.C., which compete in the English Football Conference despite being based in Wales. Currently managed by Andy Morrell, the club has a rich 130-year history and is perhaps most notable for an FA Cup upset over Arsenal F.C. in 1992. They lifted the Vans Trophy at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff in May 2005, but had enteredadministration several months earlier and the 10-point penalty for this had caused their relegation to the basement division of the Football League. There was an attempt to knock down the club’s historic Racecourse Ground and replace it with a shopping development in 2005-06. The club’s on-the-field fortunates did not improve at they were relegated to the Football Conference in 2008.

Wrexham was the site of the headquarters of the Football Association of Wales from its formation in 1876 until relocation to Cardiff in 1991.

Rugby League

Rugby Union

The Racecourse ground has in the past also served as the secondary home of the Llanelli Scarlets, one of the four Welsh professional rugby union sides that compete in the Magners-sponsored Celtic League. The Wales rugby union team have also played there on occasion. Wrexham is also home to rugby union team Wrexham RFC, a team affiliated to the Welsh Rugby Union. In 1931 nine northern Welsh clubs met at Wrexham to form the North Wales Rugby Union, Wrexham RFC were one of the founders.^[16]

Other sports

• Athletics: Queensway International Athletics stadium in Caia Park is Wrexham’s second stadium after the Racecourse and has hosted the Welsh Open Athletics event in recent years. The stadium is also home to North Wales’ largest athletics club, Wrexham Amateur Athletics Club.
• Basketball: The recently formed NEWI Nets are north Wales’ highest-ranked basketball team and currently compete in English Division 2. They play at NEWI’s Plas Coch sports arena.
• Hockey: Plas Coch is home to the North Wales Regional Hockey Stadium, with seating for 200 spectators and floodlighting. The stadium was due to host the 2007 Celtic Cup in July that year.
• Horse racing: Bangor-on-Dee racecourse is 10 minutes south of Wrexham
• Leisure: Wrexham has 7 leisure centres: Chirk, Clywedog, Darland, Gwyn Evans(Gwersyllt), Plas Madoc, Queensway and Waterworld, which offer activities including swimming, aerobics, climbing walls and yoga.
• Tennis: Wrexham is home to the North Wales Regional Tennis Centre, which plays host to a number of international competitions each year including the Challenger Series. The centre is a pay and play facility and is open 7 days a week to all members of the public. The centre is also home to the WLTA (Wrexham Lawn Tennis Association).
• Golf Wrexham has 4 golf courses: Moss Valley Golf Club, Plassey Golf Club, Wrexham Golf Club and Clays Farm Golf Club.

Religion

The Parish Church of St.Giles

St Giles, considered the greatest example of Gothic architecture in Wales

St. Giles is the Parish Church of Wrexham and is considered to be the greatest medieval church in Wales.^[17] It includes a colourful ceiling of flying musical angels, two early eagle lecterns, a window by the artist Edward Burne-Jones and the Royal Welch Fusiliers chapel. In the graveyard is the tomb of Elihu Yale who was the benefactor of Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut,United States and after whom Yale College Wrexham is named. As a tribute to Yale and his resting place, a scaled down replica of the church tower, known as Wrexham Tower was constructed at Yale University. The tower appears in an 18th century rhyme, as one of the Seven Wonders of Wales.

St. Mary’s Cathedral

Saint Richard Gwyn, Wrexham’s Catholic patron saint

The Catholic Cathedral of Our Lady of Sorrows (St. Mary’s) in Regent Street is the main Church of the Diocese of Wrexham, which extends over all of North Wales. Built in 1857 at the height of the Gothic Revival, the cathedral was home to the Bishop of Menevia from 1898 until 1987, whose diocese covered all of Wales. However in 1987 the Catholic province of Wales was reconstructed, since which time the cathedral has been home to the Bishop of Wrexham (now 2nd Bishop of Wrexham). The cathedral is also home to the relic of Saint Richard Gwyn, Wrexham’s patron saint. He was a Catholic martyr in the 16th century and was hanged, drawn and quartered at Wrexham’s Beast Market. He was canonized by Pope Paul VI in 1970.

Other denominations

Wrexham also has a number of non-denominational chapels and churches around the town, including a corps of The Salvation Army. The main Methodist church is Wrexham Methodist church, built in 1971 on the site of the former Brynyfynnon Chapel on Regent Street. Up until the 1970s the town had several Welsh non-denominational chapels and the attendance of these was far in excess of that of the Anglican Church in the town.

There is a mosque located on Grosvenor Road in the former Wrexham Miner’s Institute.

In the past, Wrexham had a church with a spire much taller than the St. Gile’s steeple. This church was dedicated and named after St Mark but was demolished as the building’s foundations were in danger of collapse. A multi-storey car park named St. Mark’s was erected on the site.

Education

Glyndŵr University

Named after the 14th Century scholar and last Welsh Prince of Wales, Owain Glyndŵr, Glyndŵr University was formed when the North East Wales Institute (NEWI) was granted full university status in 2008. It consists of Plas Coch campus in the western part of the town and the North Wales School of Art and Design located on Regent Street. The institution was originally founded in 1887 as the Wrexham School of Science and Art.

Glyndŵr remains an accredited institution of the University of Wales and offers both undergraduate and postgraduate degrees. The Vice Chancellor is Professor Michael Scott. Glyndŵr has approximately 8,000 full time students and over 350 from outside the UK.

Yale College of Wrexham

Yale College / Coleg Iâl is the main provider of adult education in Wrexham and is one of the largest colleges in Wales. As a tertiary college it also provides a wide range of higher education courses at its two campuses at Grove Park in the town centre and Bersham Road in south west Wrexham.

It is named after Elihu Yale, best known for being the prime benefactor of Yale University. It was founded in 1950 as a state school on a site at Crispin Lane. In 1973, as part of the conversion of local schools to the comprehensive system, it was renamed as Yale Sixth Form College and the pupils re-located to other schools. The Crispin Lane site was incorporated into NEWI (now Glyndŵr University) after the development of the Grove Park Campus.

Schools

Wrexham has a number of primary and secondary schools. It has just one Welsh-speaking secondary school, Ysgol Morgan Llwyd. Recently, three of the largest secondary schools, St David’s School, Ysgol Bryn Offa and The Groves High School were merged to create two larger “super schools”, Rhosnesni High School and Ysgol Clywedog. Wrexham has also become home to the first shared-faith school in Wales in the form of St Joseph’s.

Twin municipalities

•  Iserlohn (Märkischer Kreis), Germany
•  Racibórz, Poland

The town of Wrexham is twinned with the German district of Märkischer Kreis and the Polish town of Racibórz.

The first twinning was established on 17 March 1970 between the former Kreis Iserlohn and Wrexham Rural District. Its early success ensured that, after local government reorganisation in both countries in the mid-seventies, the twinning was taken over by the new Councils of Märkischer Kreis and Wrexham Maelor Borough Council and, in 1996, by Wrexham County Borough Council.

In 2001 Märkischer Kreis entered a twinning arrangement with Racibórz (Ratibor), a county in Poland, which was formerly part of Silesia, Germany. In September 2002, a delegation from Racibórz visited Wrexham and began initial discussions about possible co-operation which led, eventually, to the signing of Articles of Twinning between Wrexham and Racibórz in March 2004. The Wrexham area has strong historical links with Poland. Following World War II, many service personnel from the Free Polish armed forces who had been injured received treatment at Penley Polish Hospital. Many of their descendants remain in the area to this day.

Transport

Rail

A Wrexham & Shropshire train awaits departure on 13 December 2008

Wrexham has five railway stations, Wrexham General, Wrexham Central, Gwersyllt, Ruabon and Chirk. Until the early 1980s what is now platform 4 of Wrexham General, serving the Wrexham Central – Bidston service, was a separate station, Wrexham Exchange. Rail use is currently expanding rapidly in Wrexham; General has seen a 12% rise in passenger numbers between 2004 and 2007, Central seeing an increase of 18%.^[18]

Wrexham General

Wrexham General was opened in 1846, rebuilt in 1912 and again in 1997. It has six platforms (four through, two terminal) and provides direct rail services to Wrexham Central, Bidston, Manchester Piccadilly, Bangor, Birmingham, Crewe, Milton Keynes, Rugby, Cardiff, Chester, Holyhead, Shrewsbury, Wolverhampton, Walsall, Leamington Spa, Banbury and London. Wrexham General is on two different lines, The Severn-Dee Main Line and The Borderlands Branch Line. It is also on an extension of the West coast main line towards London via Crewe, and also the Chiltern Mainline towards London via Shrewsbury, also the Welsh Marches Line towards Cardiff and Manchester travels via Wrexham for early morning and late night services. Wrexham General is the largest station in North Wales and frequency of services is steadily increasing.

Wrexham General was also the base for the train operating company Wrexham & Shropshire (the operating name of the Wrexham, Shropshire and Marylebone Railway Company). The company provided passenger train services from Wrexham via Shropshire to London Marylebone on an open-access basis. Services started in 2008 with an agreement for a seven year period.^[19] Wrexham & Shropshire began running services on 28 April 2008.^[20][21] However they became a victim of the economic downturn and services ended on 28 January 2011.^[22]

All local services that operate from Wrexham Central also run through General.

Wrexham Central

Wrexham Central, which is located on the Island Green retail park, has one platform but splits into two tracks on the outskirts of the town. It provides direct rail services to Bidston (where there are connections to Liverpool and West Kirby),Buckley, Caergwrle, Cefn-y-Bedd, Gwersyllt, Hawarden, Hawarden Bridge, Heswall, Hope, Neston, Penyffordd, Shotton and Upton (Wirral). Until the 1998 construction of the Island Green retail park, Wrexham Central station was located 50 metres further along the track.

Plans are afoot to electrify the Borderlands line which runs through General and Central to Deeside and the Wirral. This would increase capacity and accelerate speeds on the line.

Gwersyllt

Gwersyllt serves the Gwersyllt suburb of Wrexham and is a stop on the borderlands line between Wrexham General and Bidston.

Local stations

There are a further two local stations in the Borough at Chirk and Ruabon, with plans to re-open at least another two over the next few years at Rossett and Johnstown. Plans also include a ‘Park and Rail’ service from one of these locations into Wrexham Central, to ease current traffic congestion and pressure on town centre car parks.

Bus

A recent focus on road transport by the council has improved bus travel in the Wrexham area, with most buses being low-floor and with slightly elevated bus stops to allow easier access. A new bus terminal, the largest in north Wales, has been built in Wrexham, featuring indoor shops and ambient music, along with a staffed information booth. The bus station serves local, regional and long-distance bus services. It is served by various bus companies, including Arriva Buses Wales, GHA Coaches and Townlynx. Long-distance coaches are available to Edinburgh via Manchester, Bradford and Leeds and to London via Telford and Birmingham. The Wrexham Shuttle provides a link between Wrexham and the nearby industrial estate. The townlink bus connects the main bus station with Eagles Meadow shopping centre and Border retail park to the east and Wrexham General and Central stations with Plas Coch, Wrexham Central and Island Green shopping centres to the south and west of the town. Wrexham is served by the National Express coach network, which picks up from the Wrexham bus station. Wrexham is one of the first areas in the United Kingdom to adopt the use of the distinctive yellow American Bluebird school buses. Ten currently operate in the Wrexham area, transporting pupils to and from the schools and colleges.

First Chester & The Wirral Yellow School Buses

Roads

The town centre is orbited by a ring road. The northern and eastern parts of the road are dualled between Rhosddu Road roundabout and Eagles Meadow. The A483 is Wrexham’s principal route. It skirts the western edge of the town, dividing it from the urban villages to the west. The road has connections with major roads (A55(M53), A5(M54)). The A5156 leads to the A534 and on to the Wrexham Industrial Estate. The A541 road is the main route into Wrexham from Mold and the town’s western urban area. It connects to the B5101 road which eventually leads to the A5104 road to the east of Treuddyn in Flintshire.

Future development

A link road to the Wrexham industrial estate is currently being constructed and is due to be completed in 2012, it will replace the current road leading to the estate and cost £25 million. The road has suffered many delays due to funding problems and more recently due to local wildlife concerns.

Liverpool donated £100,000 to a study of electrification of the Wrexham to Bidston railway line, and a possible rail link to the North Wales coast line. This would open new rail links to the east, and the urban area of Liverpool. The line was put on indefinite hold following a larger than expected cost projection by Network Rail.^[23]

Notable people

• Jack Mary Ann - a local folk hero who lived in the Top Boat House area of Broughton
• Hannah Blore- Byte Class; Women’s World Champion, 2005, 2008
• David Bower - a deaf actor who is best known for his role as David, the younger brother of Charles, in the comedy Four Weddings and a Funeral.
• Karen Davies - a professional golfer who has played on the LPGA Tour since 1990
• Charles Harold Dodd (1884–1973) – eminent New Testament scholar and influential Protestanttheologian
• Percy William Dodd (1889–1931) – classics lecturer at the University of Leeds and captain in the West Yorkshire Regiment during the Great War
• Arthur Herbert Dodd (1891–1975) - Welshhistorian and professor of history at University College, Bangor
• Rosemarie Frankland - beauty pageant contestant who won the 1961 Miss United Kingdom and Miss World.
• Amy Guy current gladiator ‘SIREN’ on the TV show of the same name. Member of British Team in horse riding. Miss Wales 2004 Miss World Sport 2004. Miss United Kingdom 2005.
• Saint Richard Gwyn - (1535–1584) – Catholic Martyr and Patron Saint of Wrexham
• Edwin Hughes - (“Balaclava Ned”) (1830–1927), the last survivor of the Charge of the Light Brigade at Balaklava in the Crimea
• Mark Hughes - former Welsh international footballer and subsequently manager of several clubs
• Tom James - Olympic Gold Medallist Rower.
• George Jeffreys - (1645–1689) ‘The Hanging Judge’ of Acton Hall in Acton
• Darren Jeffries - Hollyoaks actor
• Joey Jones - football player who played for Liverpool, Chelsea and Wrexham
• Paul Jones - retired Welsh international footballer.
• Rob Jones - footballer who played for Liverpool FC
• K-Klass - dance music group
• Jason Koumas - footballer with Wigan Athletic
• David Lord - (1913–1944), Irish born holder of the Victoria Cross and Distinguished Flying Cross.
• Andy Moore - Neath/Swansea Rugby Club & Wales International.
• Jonathon O’Dougherty - British National Ice Dance champion
• John Godfrey Parry-Thomas - (1884–1927), engineer and racing driver.
• Leigh Richmond Roose - Welsh international footballer who played for Stoke City, Sunderland and Celtic amongst others.
• Robbie Savage - current Derby County footballer and Wales international.
• Andrew Scott (guitarist) - guitarist with 70′s glam rock band The Sweet
• Dennis Taylor - ex snooker World Champion, currently living in Llay
• Ricky Tomlinson - (born 1939), actor mainly known for his role in The Royle Family.
• Tim Vincent - former Blue Peter presenter, now Access Hollywood reporter.
• Robert Waithman - (1764–1833), born in Wrexham, became Lord Mayor of London in 1823
• John ‘Iron-Mad’ Wilkinson - (1728–1808) Son of Isaac, known for Bersham Ironworks in the town and producing canons for the American civil war
• Llŷr Williams - Welsh pianist, received the Outstanding Young Artist Award from MIDEM Classique and the International Artist Managers’ Association.
• Elihu Yale - (1649–1721), businessman and benefactor of Yale University.
• Charlie Landsborough - (born 1941), British country and folk musician and singer-songwriter.

Original article can be found here : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wrexham