Rugeley

Rugeley

Albion Street, Rugeley from Heron Street, Lichfield Street and Forge Road
Rugeley
Rugeley shown within Staffordshire
Population 17,749 (2011)
OS grid reference SK042180
District
Shire county
Region
Country England
Sovereign state United Kingdom
Post town RUGELEY
Postcode district WS15
Dialling code 01889
Police Staffordshire
Fire Staffordshire
Ambulance West Midlands
EU Parliament West Midlands
UK Parliament
St. Augustine's Church, Rugeley

Rugeley (/ˈruːdʒli/ ROOJ-lee) is a historic market town in the county of Staffordshire, England. It lies on the north-eastern edge of Cannock Chase next to the River Trent, and is situated between the towns of Stafford, Cannock, Lichfield and Uttoxeter. At the 2001 census the town's population was 22,724, (including the Brereton and Etchinghill wards).[1] increasing to 24,033 at the 2011 Census.[2] Rugeley is twinned with Western Springs, Illinois and in July 1962 the towns made telephone history on national television when the chairman of Rugeley Urban District Council made the first telephone call via the new Telstar satellite to the Mayor of Western Springs.[3]

History

The town, historically known as Rudgeley or Ridgeley, is listed in the Domesday Book. This name is thought to be derived from 'Ridge lee', or 'the hill over the field'. In the mediaeval period, it thrived on iron workings and was also a site of glass manufacturing. During the Industrial Revolution the economy of Rugeley benefited from the construction of the Trent and Mersey Canal and then from it becoming a junction on the railway network.

Although smaller pits had existed beforehand, the town became a centre of industrial scale deep shaft coal mining from the 1950s, taking advantage of the geological faults that cause coal seams under Cannock Chase. The Lea Hall Colliery that opened in July 1960 was the first modern coal mine opened by the National Coal Board, which managed the United Kingdom's nationalized coal industry. Nearby the Central Electricity Generating Board built two power plants.[4] With the construction of Rugeley A and B power stations Rugeley became a major centre for electricity generation. These developments led to the town growing very quickly in the 1960s. The Rugeley A power station was designed to take its fuel directly from Lea Hall by conveyor belt (although the coal was of poor quality not suitable for Rugeley B). This was the first such arrangement in Britain. The Rugeley B coal-fired power station continues to dominate the skyline where a flue gas desulphurisation plant has been constructed. This will allow it to continue to generate electricity and comply with environmental legislation.

St. Augustine's Church in Rugeley has memorials to the Levett family, who live at nearby Milford Hall and who established the Rugeley Home and Cottage Hospital on Church Street in 1866.[5][6]

Between 1793 [7] and 1967 Rugeley Grammar School provided selective secondary education for the town and also for Hednesford. Historical characters who were educated at RGS include the banker and railway promoter Edward Charles Blount and the Australian pioneer and politician Charles Bonney.

Transport

For many years in the 1970s and 1980s Rugeley was served by British Rail, with four services each way to and from Stafford and Rugby/Coventry. After the closure of Rugeley A power station and Lea Hall Colliery and a reduction in rail freight, it became possible to open up the Rugeley to Walsall line for passenger traffic. Rugeley now has two railway stations Rugeley Trent Valley and Rugeley Town. Rugeley Trent Valley lies on the West Coast Main Line, and has a regular hourly service to London via Lichfield, Nuneaton, Rugby and Milton Keynes, and to Crewe via Stafford and Stoke-on-Trent. Rugeley Trent Valley also has an hourly service via Rugeley Town railway station and the Chase Line suburban route connecting to Cannock, Walsall and Birmingham.

The town continues to benefit from the Trent and Mersey Canal on its eastern side which, since the popularity of canals as a leisure activity, brings additional tourism into the town

The major roads into Rugeley are the A460 from Cannock, and the A51 Lichfield to Stone. A new eastern bypass was opened in 2007 to facilitate the development of new employment areas on the former colliery site, and to reduce congestion in the town centre.

Media

Television

BBC Midlands Today and ITV Central cover Rugeley from studios in Birmingham. These are mainly received from the Sutton Coldfield transmitting station, however, some parts of the town are shielded from Sutton Coldfield and rely on the Rugeley relay, located at The Hart School.[8]

Some parts of Rugeley can also receive good signals from the Waltham transmitting station near Melton Mowbray in Leicestershire, which carries BBC East Midlands and the East Midland variant of ITV Central.

Radio

Rugeley lies within the coverage areas of the West Midland regional stations, like Heart and Planet Rock, Touch FM and Signal 1 in Stoke-on-Trent. BBC Local Radio is covered by BBC WM from Birmingham on 95.6 FM, though reception is not good, and in some parts, BBC Radio Stoke on 94.6 FM is better received.

In terms of community radio, the town is covered by Cannock Chase Radio.

Newspapers

For many years up to 1980, Rugeley had its own newspaper, the Rugeley Times published from Bow Street. The paper was sold to the Staffordshire Newsletter. Today the town is covered by the Express and Star. Students from the local area began writing a newspaper for Rugeley called The Hart of Rugeley. This is published three times a year. The team of students are based at The Hart School.

Demography

Rugeley is a mixed community in terms of age groups and household incomes, but in terms of its ethnic make-up it remains an overwhelmingly White British town. Much of the ageing population and their families are linked to the ex-mining communities, with an increasing proportion of the younger population being new to the area and associated with the services sector. As former mining towns, Rugeley and neighbouring Brereton suffer from a moderate level of social deprivation, with parts of the town consisting of council or ex-council house stock (such as the Springfield Estate and parts of Brereton) or former National Coal Board housing, such as the Pear Tree Estate. However, on the fringes of Rugeley there is more affluence, particularly in some of the areas bordering Cannock Chase, some of the older Georgian streets including the conservation area of Crossley Stone or waterfront properties along the Trent and Mersey Canal. A number of new houses were built in the housing boom of the early 2000s, providing a mixture of affordable and higher-end properties.

Amenities

Rugeley has a modern swimming pool and leisure centre, opened 2006 on Burnthill Lane. Rugeley has a skate park in Hagley Park. Schools in the area include The Hart School (formerly two separate schools - Fair Oak Academy and Hagley Park Academy).[9]

Rugeley's town centre has an outdoor market three days per week on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. It also has an indoor market and a shopping centre called the Brewery Street Arcade. Rugeley has a number of well known high street names like Boots, Argos, Greggs and Morrisons.

Residents of the town benefit from their proximity to Cannock Chase and indeed there is a heritage trail funded by the National Lottery linking the town to Hednesford and Cannock with excellent disabled access. The trail contains numerous notice boards highlighting the town's history.

Rugeley also has a state-of-the-art health centre off Sandy Lane, a replacement for its predecessor on Horsefair. A modern care home now stands on the site of the former surgery. Technically, two separate surgeries coexist there. There is also the Aelfgar Surgery in Taylors Lane.

Rugeley Rose Theatre is a theatre and community centre in Taylors Lane.

Heron Court Hall, is a gothic style mansion (built by Joseph Whitgreave in 1851) on the outskirts of Rugeley town centre. It is a former convent and private residence and is now owned by Rugeley Snooker Club (also known as Rugeley Billiards Club). It is home to both Rugeley Snooker Club and Rugeley Poker Club. Rugeley Snooker Club has three full size snooker tables and in addition to serving its members, regularly plays host to other clubs from local snooker leagues.

Rugeley is home to two cricket clubs (Rugeley C.C. and Trent Valley C.C.), several football clubs and Rugeley Rugby Club, as well as Rugeley Rifle Club, which caters to .22 and air gun target shooting.

The Lea Hall Social Club, which underwent extensive renovation between 2005 and 2011, serves Rugeley residents with a variety of facilities including cricket and football pitches, tennis courts and a crown bowling green.

Events

A charter fair occurs during the first weekend in June, which is a huge attraction with most people from the town joining in the street parade. The town council also puts on a fireworks display during the last weekend of the school summer holidays, known as "Back to School with a Bang". A Christmas lights switch-on during December includes a market and late night opening of shops, with the local traders association joining in the organising of street entertainment.

A Pagan conference happens on the May bank holiday every year. Staffordshire Pagan Conference started in 2015 and was held at Lea Hall Social Club. The conference is attended by over 250 people from all over the country. Over £1,000 has been donated to Staffordshire Wildlife Trust with the profit from the event. As of 2018 the conference will be relocating to The Rose Theatre and will become Witchfest Midlands.

For the last two years, in 2016 and 2017, the British Quidditch Cup has been held at Rugeley Leisure Centre. The third British Quidditch Cup took place on the 19 and 20 March 2016,[10] with 32 teams competing, and the winners were Oxford's team, the Radcliffe Chimeras. The fourth British Quidditch Cup took place on the 11 and 12 March 2017,[11] with 32 teams competing, and the winners were Velociraptors QC.

Future

Rugeley suffered an increase in unemployment when Lea Hall Colliery closed in 1990. Following many years of demolition and regeneration, a number of large industrial units have been built on the Towers Business Park, a brownfield site situated on the former ground of the colliery. In August 2011, Amazon.co.uk opened a 700,000 sq ft fulfillment centre on the Towers Park, creating between 700[12] and 900[13] full-time jobs as well as generating a large pool of seasonal work around Christmas.[14]

Notable people

William Palmer

In 1855, the town gained notoriety when a local doctor, William Palmer, was accused of murdering an acquaintance, John Parsons Cook (who is buried in a still visible grave in the local St Augustine's churchyard). It was claimed that Cook had been poisoned, and in the months that followed, Palmer was implicated in the deaths of several other persons, including his own wife and brother, and possibly even some of his own children. He was put on trial for the murder of Cook in 1856, and an Act of Parliament was passed to allow the trial to be held at the Old Bailey, London, as it was felt that a fair jury could not be found in Staffordshire. Palmer was found guilty of murder, and hanged publicly outside Stafford Gaol on 14 June 1856. Local legend has it that, on being instructed to step onto the gallows trap-door, he asked the now-famous question "Is it safe?".

Another tale holds that following the uproar surrounding the discovery of Palmer's activities, the town put in a special request to the Prime Minister requesting that they be permitted to change the name of the town to disassociate themselves from the murders. Unfortunately, the Prime Minister at the time was Lord Palmerston, who agreed to the request only on the condition that the town be named after him. For obvious reasons the locals declined this offer. The story of Palmer was told in The Life and Crimes of William Palmer (1998), starring Keith Allen in the role of the infamous doctor.

Other notable people

Nearby places

Towns and cities

Villages

Other

References

  1. ↑ "Rugeley Online – Statistics".
  2. ↑ "Town population 2011". Retrieved 12 December 2011.
  3. ↑ "Midlands News: 27.07.1962: Telephone Call via Telstar". MACE Archive.
  4. ↑ Sarah O’Connor (February 8, 2013). "Amazon unpacked: The online giant is creating thousands of UK jobs, so why are some employees less than happy?". Financial Times. Retrieved February 8, 2013.
  5. ↑ "British History Online - The core printed primary and secondary sources for the medieval and modern history of the British Isles". www.british-history.ac.uk.
  6. ↑ "British History Online - The core printed primary and secondary sources for the medieval and modern history of the British Isles". www.british-history.ac.uk.
  7. ↑ Archives, The National. "The Discovery Service". discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk.
  8. ↑ "mb21 - The Transmission Gallery". tx.mb21.co.uk.
  9. ↑ http://www.hartschool.org.uk/rugeley-academies-merger-questions-and-answers/
  10. ↑ QuidditchUK 'BQC 2015–16' https://quidditchuk.org/bqc/current (accessed 24 March 2016)
  11. ↑ QuidditchUK 'Current BQC' https://quidditchuk.org/bqc/current (accessed 30 March 2017)
  12. ↑ http://www.staffordshirenewsletter.co.uk/News/Amazon-take-over-Rugeley-warehouse-08072011.htm
  13. ↑ "Amazon bringing 900 jobs to Rugeley". www.expressandstar.com.
  14. ↑ "1,700 Christmas jobs at Rugeley Amazon centre". www.expressandstar.com.
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