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Coordinates: 53°05′59″N 2°26′24″W / 53.0998, -2.44
- This article is about Crewe in England. There is another Crewe in Virginia, USA.
- Or see Crew (disambiguation).
Crewe is a town in Cheshire, England. It is the major town in the borough and parliamentary constituency of Crewe and Nantwich, where it is the only unparished area of the borough. According to the 2001 census the urban area had a population of 67,683. It is twinned with Mâcon in France and Bischofsheim, near Mainz, Germany.
Crewe is perhaps best known for its association with the railways, being a major junction and once home to a bustling railway works. From 1946 until 2002 it was the home of Rolls-Royce motor car production. At the end of 2002 Rolls-Royce production ceased at Crewe; the Pyms Lane factory on the west of the town now produces Bentley motor cars exclusively.
History
Until the Grand Junction Railway (GJR) company chose Crewe as the site for its locomotive works and railway station in the late 1830s, Crewe was a village with a population (c. 1831) of just 70 residents.[1] Winsford, seven miles to the north, had rejected an earlier proposal, as had local landowners in neighbouring Nantwich, four miles away. Crewe railway station was built in fields near to Crewe Hall and was completed in 1837.
A new town grew up, in the parishes of Monks Coppenhall and Church Coppenhall, alongside the increasingly busy station, with the population expanding to reach 40,000 by 1871. GJR chief engineer Joseph Locke helped lay out the town.[1]
Image:Crewe War Memorial 2007.jpg
Crewe War Memorial in the site where it was moved in 2006 after a local political crisis. It is one of only two war memorials in Britain which features Britannia.
The town has a large park, Queen's Park (laid out by engineer Francis Webb), the land for which was donated by the London and North Western Railway, the successor to the GJR. It has been suggested that their motivation was to prevent the rival Great Western Railway building a station on the site, but the available evidence indicates otherwise.[2]
The railway provided an endowment towards the building and upkeep of Christ Church. Until 1897 its vicar, non-conformist ministers and schoolteachers received concessionary passes, the school having been established in 1842. The company provided a doctor's surgery with a scheme of health insurance. A gasworks was built and the works water supply was adapted to provide drinking water and a public baths. The railway also opened a cheese market in 1854 and a clothing factory for John Compton who provided the company uniforms, while McCorquodale of Liverpool set up a printing works.[1] Nevertheless, the dominance of the railway industry was such that times of recession were keenly felt.
Transport
Crewe railway station is less than a mile from Crewe town centre, although politically it was not incorporated into the then-Borough of Crewe until 1937. It is one of the largest stations in north-west England and a major interchange station on the West Coast Main Line, and has 12 platforms in use and has a direct service to London (Euston) (2/hour, the average duration is now 1 hour 45 minutes), Liverpool, Manchester, Birmingham, Glasgow, Cardiff, Stoke-on-Trent and many other towns and cities.
It is on the A530 and A534 and less than 10 miles from the M6 motorway.
The main bus company in Crewe is Arriva, which operates in Crewe and the surrounding towns and villages.
First PMT operates bus service 20 from Hanley to Leighton Hospital every 20 minutes.
Education
Primary Schools
Secondary Schools
Colleges of Further Education
- South Cheshire College[3]
Colleges of Higher Education
Local economy
There are plans to revamp the town centre; according to the latest news this is due to start in 2008, with almost half the town centre to be rebuilt and a new street created. (Another set of plans were submitted in early 2007, meaning that the revamp is now unlikely to start until 2009.) There are also plans to revamp the railway station. Plans to revamp Queens Park are already underway.
One of the most important attractions in Crewe is The Railway Age railway museum, which has a preserved Advanced Passenger Train, which can be seen from the main railway line.
Sports
Crewe's sporting claim to fame is that it is home to Crewe Alexandra F.C.,[4] for a long time one of English football's perpetual under-achievers. During the late 20th century the club enjoyed something of a renaissance under the management of Dario Gradi, playing in the First Division – the second tier of the professional pyramid – for five seasons from 1997–2002. They were relegated to the Second Division in the 2002–03 season, but were promoted back to the First Division after only one season. At the end of the 2005–06 season, Crewe were relegated to the third tier (renamed to League One) again.
Crewe is also home to Crewe Wolves Rugby League Club, and also the Crewe and Nantwich Rugby Union Football Club (or Crewe and Nantwich RUFC) who play in the Rugby League Conference.[5]
Speedway racing was staged in Crewe in the pioneer days of the late 1920s/early 1930s. The venue was the stadium in Earle Street which also operated in the 1970s. The Crewe Kings raced in the lower division (British League Division Two, then the National League) from 1969 until 1975. At the time the track was the longest and fastest track in the UK.[6]
The Australian Olympic gold medal-winning swimmer Neil Brooks was born in Crewe.
Trivia
- Crewe crater on Mars is named after the town of Crewe.
- The Limelight, Crewe is a live music venue, established in the mid 1990s. With three floors, the Annex Bar and Music Cafe, the club has a capacity of over 900. From humble beginnings (with mainly tribute bands) the club is now one of the North's top venues.
- Crewe has a fast growing population of workers from Poland who, with their families, have migrated to south Cheshire after Poland's accession to the European Community. Polish immigrants have also had a strong presence in Crewe since the days of World War 2, hence the long-established Polish Working Mens Club on West Street, Crewe.
- Crewe was described by author Alan Garner in his book Red Shift as 'the ultimate reality'.
- Generations of British children learned the distribution of positive trigonometric values around a circle using the mnemonic All Stations Through Crewe: all of them in quadrant 1, sine in quadrant 2, tan in quadrant 3, and cosine in quadrant 4.
- In the Thomas the Tank Engine episode, The Flying Kipper, Henry the Green Engine was sent here for major repairs of changing firebox sizes and different boiler shapes.
Notes and References
- ^ a b c Guardian newspaper article, The beauty of Crewe (6 December 2005). Retrieval Date: 10 August, 2007.
- ^ [1] states: "This can now be totally dispelled as records show the LNWR Co. originally thought their line to Chester would run alongside the river. However, it was discovered the ground was not firm enough and a more northerly route was decided upon. Had the original thought gone ahead it would have taken the land that was eventually used for Queens Park. It's obvious that a rumour became mixed with a proposal to open a station on the present Chester line called Queens Park Halt. To further clarify the situation an entry on the 18th December, 1886, in the Minute Book of the Board of Directors of the LNWR, refers to the area being given for a public park."
- ^ South Cheshire College. Retrieval date: 14 July, 2007.
- ^ Crewe Alexandra F.C. Retrieval date: 14 July, 2007.
- ^ Crewe and Nantwich RUFC. Retrieval Date: 10 August, 2007.
- ^ Bamford, R & Jarvis J.(2001). Homes of British Speedway. ISBN 0-7524-2210-3
See also
External links
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