| Tamworth |
Article Index for Tamworth |
Shopping Tamworth |
Articles about Tamworth |
Website Links For Tamworth |
Information AboutTamworth |
|
Tamworth is a historic Town and Local Government District in Staffordshire England , located 17 miles (25 km) north-east from the city of Birmingham . The town gained its name from the River Tame , which flows through the town, as does the River Anker . In 2002 the town had a Population of 74,581. Tamworth is the home of the historic Tamworth Castle , and has an extremely successful non-league Football team, Tamworth FC . It is also home to the Snowdome , the first Indoor Ski Slope in the UK and Drayton Manor Theme Park . The town's main industries include distribution, engineering, clothing, brick, tile and paper manufacture. It was also home to the Reliant car company. HISTORY Tamworth has existed since Saxon times, it was sacked by Danes in the 9th century. Defences in the form of a castle were constructed against Danish invaders by Ethelfleda Queen of the kingdom of Mercia . In the 11th Century , a Norman castle was built on the site of the Saxon one, which still exists to this day. The town grew rapidly in the 18th and 19th centuries during the Industrial Revolution , due largely to the surrounding Coal mines. It also became a hub of the Canal network, with the Coventry Canal and the Birmingham And Fazeley Canal being built through the town. Later the Railway s arrived with the Midland Railway route from Derby to Birmingham, and later the London And North Western Railway , which provided direct trains to the capital. The Victorian Prime Minister Sir Robert Peel served as the town's MP from 1830 until his death in 1850 . It was in Tamworth that Robert Peel unveiled his Tamworth Manifesto in 1834 which created what is now the modern Conservative Party . Tamworth has grown rapidly in the post-war years due to overspill population from the West Midlands. Its population has tripled since the 1940s . The village of Fazeley merges almost completely into the town to the south west, and, although nominally belonging to the Lichfield District area rather than Tamworth Borough, many consider it to be part of Tamworth. If Fazeley is regarded as part of the town, Tamworth's population rises to 80,000. Tamworth was historically split between Staffordshire and Warwickshire , with the county boundary running through the town centre. Staffordshire was made to include the entire borough in 1888 . The A5 £26,000,000 five mile (8 km) dual-carriageway Fazeley , Two Gates and Wilnecote Bypass opened in July 1995. CULTURE Tamworth has several bars the most popular being 'Yates', 'Wetherspoons' and 'B79'. The most popular nightclubs with locals are 'Kube' and 'The Embassy' (the latter known by locals as "The Embo"). However, the Embassy is now closed for a refurbishment so the next best place to go is Chicago Rock Cafe. There is and has been for a long time an Indie / Rock sub-culture. The rock band Wolfsbane cut their teeth in the town, before their lead singer Blaze Bayley , went on to front the legendary Iron Maiden . Venues such as 'Bonds' and 'The Robert Peel' play "alternative" music. Alternative club nights such as the quarterly 'Slackers' and 'Skull Club' and the local band nights at the assembly rooms attract many people as there are very few alternative music venues, although this is growing all the time. The live music scene is currently growing more and more popular by the day due to the high quality of bands on the scene such as 'Illfated', 'The Indigos', popular ska band 'Fishnet Parachutes', 'Mojo Stripe', 'Abraxus', 'Uberweed', 'Jones Project' and many more besides. There is also a thriving underground Dance/Drum n Bass/Hip Hop scene with Bullit being the main venue where DJs such as The Dex Pistols, Andy Milford, Matt Fitzpatrick are resident DJs, plus a number of inernationally known DJs regularly play sets. The Hip Hop scene in Tamworth goes back to late 80s with Suicide Petch & Juice Mcs producing the first 12 inch "Tamworths Kicking" with Rhythm Damage. Other notable M.Cs from That era were M'add Archer, Dynamic Ammo and Raze Brooks. The hip hop group with the most recognition U.K wide are a 6 man collective called The Gnostix, started in 98 by Semantix The Sorcera & Phil B, they were soon joined by Reggiemental, Agent Ryall, 3rd Degree Burnz & Prophet. Gnostix have grown into a collective family working with other artist such as Raze Brooks, Joe Gutta, Erdington Dan, Second Suspeckt, Moorish Delta7 & Illusive Shadow. Gnostix have done gigs with the cream of U.K hip hop & Drum n Bass with artist such as DJ Krust, Skinnyman, Yungun, Baby J, Yogi etc. Julian Cope , former singer with The Teardrop Explodes and now solo artist and writer was brought up in the town. HOUSING ESTATES Tamworth possesses several housing estates. These include Wilnecote , Stonydelph , Bitterscote , Amington , Belgrave and glascote amongst others. |
|
|