Stoke

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Stoke Staffordshire

Approximate Population: 457,165

An early proposal for a federation took place in 1888, when an amendment was raised to the Local Government Bill which would have made the six towns districts within a county of ‘Staffordshire Potteries’.   It was not until 1 April 1910 that the Six Towns were brought together.   The county borough of Hanley, the municipal boroughs of Burslem, Longton, and Stoke, together with the urban districts of Tunstall and Fenton now formed a single county borough of Stoke-on-Trent.  The combined borough took the name of town of Stoke.

The borough proposed in 1919 to expand further and annex the neighbouring borough of Newcastle-under-Lyme and the Wolstanton United Urban District, both to the west of Stoke: this met strong objections from Newcastle Corporation and never took place.   A further attempt was made in 1930, with the promotion of the Stoke-on-Trent Extension Bill.   Ultimately, Wolstanton was added to Newcastle-under-Lyme instead in 1932. Although attempts to take Newcastle, Wolstanton and Kidsgrove (north of Tunstall) were never successful, the borough did however expand in 1922, taking in Smallthorne Urban District, and parts of other parishes from Stoke upon Trent Rural District.   The borough was officially granted city status in 1925 with a Lord Mayor from 1928.

The city’s county borough status was abolished in 1974, and it became a non-metropolitan district of Staffordshire.   Its status was restored as a unitary authority with the local authority as Stoke-on-Trent City Council whilst remaining part of the ceremonial county of Staffordshire on 1 April 1997.

Web Design Stoke Staffordshire

Stoke

Web Design Stoke Staffordshire

Approximate Population: 239,700

Stoke-on-Trent is a city in Staffordshire, England, which forms a linear conurbation almost 12 miles (19 km) long, with an area of 36 square miles (93 km2). Together with the Borough of Newcastle-under-Lyme and Kidsgrove, Stoke forms the The Potteries Urban Area. This, together with the rural Staffordshire Moorlands area, forms North Staffordshire, which in 2001, had a population of 457,165.

An early proposal for a federation took place in 1888, when an amendment was raised to the Local Government Bill which would have made the six towns districts within a county of ‘Staffordshire Potteries’.   It was not until 1 April 1910 that the Six Towns were brought together.   The county borough of Hanley, the municipal boroughs of Burslem, Longton, and Stoke, together with the urban districts of Tunstall and Fenton now formed a single county borough of Stoke-on-Trent.  The combined borough took the name of town of Stoke.

The borough proposed in 1919 to expand further and annex the neighbouring borough of Newcastle-under-Lyme and the Wolstanton United Urban District, both to the west of Stoke: this met strong objections from Newcastle Corporation and never took place.   A further attempt was made in 1930, with the promotion of the Stoke-on-Trent Extension Bill.   Ultimately, Wolstanton was added to Newcastle-under-Lyme instead in 1932.

Although attempts to take Newcastle, Wolstanton and Kidsgrove (north of Tunstall) were never successful, the borough did however expand in 1922, taking in Smallthorne Urban District, and parts of other parishes from Stoke upon Trent Rural District.   The borough was officially granted city status in 1925 with a Lord Mayor from 1928.

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Tamworth

Web Design Tamworth Staffordshire

Approximate Population: 75,600

Tamworth is a town and local government district in Staffordshire, England, located 14 miles (22 km) north-east of Birmingham city centre and 103 miles (165 km) north-west of London. The town takes its name from the River Tame, which flows through the town, as does the River Anker. At the 2001 census the town had a population of 74,531.

Tamworth is the home of the historic Tamworth Castle and Moat House, and has a non-league football team, Tamworth FC. The Snowdome, the UK’s first full-sized real-snow indoor ski slope is located in Tamworth. There is also tenpin bowling at Strykers bowl, and only a short distance away is Drayton Manor Theme Park.

The town’s main industries include logistics, engineering, clothing, brick, tile and paper manufacture. It was also home to the Reliant car company, which produced the famous three-wheeled Robin model and the Scimitar sportscar for several decades.

Tamworth has existed since Saxon times, and once was the capital of Mercia, the largest of all English kingdoms of its time (see Heptarchy). It was by far the largest town in the Midlands when today’s much larger city of Birmingham was still in its infancy. This is largely because of its strategic position at the meeting point of two rivers (the Tame and the Anker), which meant the town was perfectly placed as a centre of trade and industry.

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Cannock

Web Design Cannock Staffordshire

Approximate Population: 92,500

Cannock is a town in Staffordshire, England, just north of the West Midlands conurbation. It sits to the south of Cannock Chase, an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, and is administered as part of the Cannock Chase district. With a population of 92,500 people at the 2001 census, Cannock is the second largest town in the ceremonial county, after Stoke on Trent.

Cannock lies on the M6 Toll, A34 and A5 roads, to the north of the Black Country (about 11 kilometres (6.8 mi)) and south of Stafford (about 13 kilometres (8.1 mi)). It is served by a railway station on the Chase Line. The post town of Cannock includes Bridgtown, Heath Hayes, Hednesford, and Norton Canes. Other nearby towns and villages include Burntwood (which includes Chase Terrace and Chasetown), Cannock Wood, Cheslyn Hay, Great Wyrley, Huntington, Penkridge, and Rugeley.

Its name comes from the Celtic cnoc, meaning hill. It is first recorded in the unlikely form Chenet in the Domesday Book, probably due to the information being written down by a Norman scribe with less than perfect knowledge of English.

The town was very small until coal mining increased heavily during the mid to late nineteenth century. The area then continued to grow rapidly with many industries coming to the area because of its proximity to the Black Country and because of its coal reserves. After the Second World War the town’s population again increased and has kept on increasing ever since as many new residential developments are built as commuting areas for Birmingham, Wolverhampton, Walsall and Stafford.

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Stafford

Web Design Stafford Staffordshire

Approximate Population: 63,681

Stafford is the county town of Staffordshire, in the West Midlands region of England. It lies approximately 16 miles (26 km) north of Wolverhampton and 18 miles (29 km) south of Stoke-on-Trent, on the M6 motorway. The population of Stafford was given in the 2001 census as 63,681, with that of the wider borough of Stafford as 124,531, making Stafford the fifth largest settlement in the county, after Stoke on Trent, Cannock, Newcastle under Lyme and Tamworth.

Stafford means ‘ford’ by a ’staithe’ (landing place). The original settlement was on an island in the middle of the marshes of the River Sow, a tributary of the River Trent. There is still a large area of marshland northwest of the town, which has always been subject to flooding, such as in 1947, 2000 and 2007.

In the year 913 Stafford was fortified by Ethelfleda, Lady of Mercia and daughter of Alfred the Great, becoming the new capital of Mercia (the previous capital having been in or near Stone). Queen Ethelfleda ruled Mercia from Stafford for five years as Queen of Mercia, after the death of her father and husband - at around this time the county of Staffordshire was first formed. King Alfred’s son Edward, with the crucial aid of Ethelfleda, finally conquered and Christianised the Vikings who had settled in the east of England.

Stafford Castle was built by the Normans on a nearby hilltop in 1070, four years after the invasion of 1066. It was first made of wood, and later rebuilt of stone. It has been rebuilt twice since, but now only 19th century ruins remain atop the impressive earthworks. Illumination of the castle at night-time has made it a landmark for motorists on the M6 motorway and train travellers on the West Coast Main Line. Stafford was considered part of the ancient Pyrehill hundred.

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Lichfield

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Lichfield Staffordshire

Approximate Population: 31,000

At Wall, 3 miles to the south of the present city, there was a Romano-British village called Letocetum (from the Celtic for “grey wood”), from which the first half of the name Lichfield is derived.   It was based on a Roman fort next to Watling Street which was used in the first centuries AD, until about AD 160-170, when the fort’s mansio was destroyed by fire at the same time the forum in Wroxeter was also destroyed by fire.

This suggests a revolt of the local British. Legend has it that a thousand Christians were martyred in Lichfield around AD 300, during the reign of the Roman Emperor Diocletian, and that the name ‘Lichfield’ actually means ‘field of the dead’.   There is however, no evidence to support this legend.

The history of Lichfield in the following centuries is obscure. The Historia Britonum lists the city as one of the 28 cities of Britain around AD 833.   In the Welsh poem The Lament of Cynddylan, Caer Luytcoed (cf modern Welsh Caerlwytgoed — Lichfield) or Lichfield is said to have been taken by the sword by pagan opponents, most likely the Mercians to the east.

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