- published: 23 Oct 2012
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- author: ESPN
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A449 road
The A449 is a major road in the United Kingdom. It runs north from junction 24 of the M4 motorway at Newport in South Wales to Stafford in Staffordshire.
The southern section of the road, between Ross on Wye and Newport forms part of the trunk route from the English Midlands to South Wales, avoiding the Severn Bridge
The A449 starts on the M4 at the Coldra Interchange (J24) in Newport and is dual carriageway all the way to Raglan. The section from the A40 junction at Raglan to the A472 junction at Usk, known as the New Midlands Road, was one of the first sections to be dualled, opening on 16 October 1970. Between Raglan and Ross-on-Wye the A449 is concurrent with the A40.
The road becomes quite twisty on departing Ross-on-Wye, but straightens out a little before arriving at Ledbury. The road turns northwards upon crossing into Worcestershire at Little Malvern and skirts the eastern slopes of the Malvern Hills through the town of Great Malvern. It then crosses Worcester's ring road, the A4440, at a roundabout near Powick.
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Ancient High House
The Ancient High House is an Elizabethan town house located on the main street in Stafford. The house was constructed in 1594 by the Dorrington family, from local oak, which anecdotally came from the nearby Doxey Wood, and is the largest timber framed town house in England.
Many of the original timbers bear carpenter's marks indicating that the frame was pre-assembled on the ground and the joints numbered to aid the on-site construction. Some timbers have additional joint housings cut into them, which would suggest that they have been reused from an even earlier structure. It was not un-heard of for a building to be dismantled and rebuilt at a different location - hence the expression to 'up-sticks', which means to move house.
At the time of the outbreak of the Civil War, a member of the Sneyd family of Keele Hall, near Newcastle-under-Lyme, was renting the building.
Charles I visited Stafford and stayed at the Ancient High House on 17 and 18 September 1643, not long after raising the Royal Standard at Nottingham, the feudal signal to call his loyal subjects to arms - this act was seen as the start of the English Civil War.
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Baswich
Baswich is an estate on the south eastern side of Stafford. It is part of the civil parish of Berkswich and is located in Staffordshire, England. It is situated next to Weeping Cross, which is also part of the civil parish.
Baswich amenities are a local Co-op store and an independent hairdressers. The majority of Baswich is private housing.
Prior to 1851, the terms Berkswich and Baswich were used interchangeably, to refer to a larger area which included the townships of Baswich and Brockton. At that time, it comprised an area of 6,200 acres (2,500 ha), and had a population of 1448. Baswich township consisted of an area of 1,600 acres (650 ha) and included the hamlets of Radford, Weeping-Cross, Walton and Milford, but there was no village with the name of Baswich. Holy Trinity Church was isolated from any of the hamlets, as there was no housing in its immediate vicinity. The two townships became part of Stafford Poor Law Union, as a result of the passing of the Poor Law Amendment Act in 1834. The Union was created on 28 September 1836, and provided centralised poor relief for 19 parishes. Baswich elected one of the 27 Guardians to the controlling Board, who erected a new workhouse on Marston Road, to the north of Stafford, in 1837-8.
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Beaconside
Coordinates: 52°49′N 2°06′W / 52.81°N 2.1°W / 52.81; -02.10
Beaconside is an area in Stafford, Staffordshire, England. The district is home to the Stafford branch of Staffordshire University along with the Ministry of Defence site MOD Stafford (which is a former RAF base). It is also the name of a major road in the area, part of the A513 road.
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Birmingham
Birmingham (
i/ˈbɜrmɪŋəm/ BUR-ming-əm, locally /ˈbɜrmɪŋɡəm/ BUR-ming-gəm) is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 (2010 estimate), and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a population of 2,284,093 (2001 census). Birmingham's metropolitan area is also the United Kingdom's second most populous with a population of 3,683,000.
A medium-sized market town during the medieval period, Birmingham grew to international prominence in the 18th century at the heart of the Midlands Enlightenment and subsequent Industrial Revolution, which saw the town at the forefront of worldwide developments in science, technology and economic organisation, producing a series of innovations that laid many of the foundations of modern industrial society. By 1791 it was being hailed as "the first manufacturing town in the world". Birmingham's distinctive economic profile, with thousands of small workshops practising a wide variety of specialised and highly-skilled trades, encouraged exceptional levels of creativity and innovation and provided a diverse and resilient economic base for industrial prosperity that was to last into the final quarter of the 20th century. Its resulting high level of social mobility also fostered a culture of broad-based political radicalism, that under leaders from Thomas Attwood to Joseph Chamberlain was to give it a political influence unparalleled in Britain outside London and a pivotal role in the development of British democracy.
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Cannock
Coordinates: 52°41′17″N 2°01′44″W / 52.688°N 2.029°W / 52.688; -2.029
Cannock is the most populous of three towns in the district of Cannock Chase in the central southern part of the county of Staffordshire in the West Midlands region of England.
Cannock lies to the north of the West Midlands conurbation on the M6, A34 and A5 roads, and to the south of Cannock Chase, an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB). Cannock is served by a railway station on the Chase Line.
Cannock had a 2010 mid-year estimated population of 27,883 (from the estimated headcounts of its four district council electoral wards). The Cannock South ward includes the civil parish of Bridgtown, but the rest of Cannock is unparished.
Cannock is part of Cannock Chase District's largest built-up area. The area is covered by nine district council electoral wards and part of another ward whose estimated population in 2001 was 60,814.
Cannock is also part of a wider built-up area which includes parts of South Staffordshire District. This is the Cannock/Great Wyrley Urban Area which had a population of 83,797.
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Cannock Chase
Cannock Chase (grid reference SK000165) is a mixed area of countryside in the county of Staffordshire, England. The area has been designated as the Cannock Chase Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The Chase gives its name to the Cannock Chase local government district.
Cannock Chase is located between Cannock, Lichfield, Rugeley and Stafford. It comprises a mixture of natural deciduous woodland, coniferous plantations, open heathland and the remains of early industry, such as coal mining. The landscape owes much to the underlying Triassic bunter formations. Cannock Chase was designated as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) on 16 September 1958 and is the smallest area so designated in mainland Britain, covering 68 km2 (26 sq mi). Much of the area is also designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). Despite being relatively small in area, the chase provides a remarkable range of landscape and wildlife, including a herd of around 800 fallow deer and a number of rare and endangered birds, not least migrant Nightjars. A feeding station at the Marquis Drive Visitors' Centre, sponsored by the West Midland Bird Club, attracts many species, including Brambling, Yellowhammer and Bullfinch. Efforts are[when?] underway to increase the amount of heathland on the chase, reintroducing shrubs such as heather in some areas where bracken and birch forest have crowded out most other plants. The local flora also includes several species of Vaccinium, including the eponymous Cannock Chase Berry (Vaccinium ×intermedium Ruthe). In January 2009, an outbreak of Sudden Oak Death disease (Phytophthora ramorum) was discovered on the chase, at Brocton Coppice. Various restrictions were put in place in an attempt to prevent its spread.
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Carlisle, Cumbria
Coordinates: 54°53′28″N 2°56′38″W / 54.8910°N 2.9439°W / 54.8910; -2.9439
Carlisle (/kɑrˈlaɪl/ or local /ˈkɑrlaɪl/, from Cumbric: Caer Luel) is the county town of Cumbria, and the major settlement of the wider City of Carlisle in North West England. Carlisle is located at the confluence of the rivers Eden, Caldew and Petteril, 10 miles (16 km) south of the Scottish border. It is the largest settlement in the county of Cumbria, and serves as the administrative centre for both Carlisle City Council and Cumbria County Council. At the time of the 2001 census, the population of Carlisle was 71,773, with 100,734 living in the wider city.
Historically the county town of Cumberland, the early history of Carlisle is marked by its status as a Roman settlement, established to serve the forts on Hadrian's Wall. During the Middle Ages, because of its proximity to the Kingdom of Scotland, Carlisle became an important military stronghold; Carlisle Castle, still relatively intact, was built in 1092 by William Rufus, and having once served as a prison for Mary, Queen of Scots. The castle now houses the Duke of Lancaster's Regiment and the Border Regiment Museum. In the early 12th century Henry I allowed the foundation of a priory in Carlisle. The town gained the status of a diocese in 1122, and the priory became Carlisle Cathedral.
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Chartley Castle
Chartley Castle lies in ruins to the north of the village of Stowe-by-Chartley in Staffordshire, between Stafford and Uttoxeter (grid reference SK010285). It is a Grade II* listed building
The motte and bailey castle was built by one of the early Earls of Chester circa 1100 as a safe stop over for their journeys to places like Tutbury. It was rebuilt in 1220 by Ranulph de Blondeville, 4th Earl of Chester, who died in 1232. It then passed by marriage to William de Ferrers, Earl of Derby. It remained in the Ferrers family for more than 200 years and in 1453 passed to Walter Devereux through his wife Elizabeth, the Ferrers heiress. Walter was created Baron Ferrers in 1461 and was killed at the Battle of Bosworth in 1485. The castle was then abandoned as a residence and Chartley Manor, a moated and battlemented timber mansion, was built nearby but was destroyed by fire in 1781 What is now known as Chartley Manor was in fact known as Chartley Manor Farm until the 1980s
Substantial remains are still present today, including a rare cylindrical keep, a curtain wall flanked by two half-round towers, a twin-towered gatehouse and an angled tower. A survey conducted in the nineteenth century identified five towers ranging from 35 to 41 feet external diameter, and the keep, 50 feet in diameter . One author has noted similarities of the plan to Montlhery near Paris, France, which Ranulph de Blondeville may have been familiar with. M.W. Thompson has noted numerous architectural similarities between Chartley, Bolingbroke Castle, Lincolnshire, and also Beeston Castle in Cheshire, all thought to have been built under de Blondeville .
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Coppenhall
Coordinates: 52°46′N 2°08′W / 52.76°N 2.14°W / 52.76; -02.14
Coppenhall is a small settlement in Staffordshire, England. Coppenhall lies 2 kilometres (1 mi) southwest of Stafford and 4 miles (6.4 km) NNW of Penkridge with Baron Stafford as lord of the manor. The parish of ~900 acres (3.6 km2) is bounded on the east by the Pothooks Brook. The centre of the village lies at 416 ft (127 m) above sea level, the ground rising from about 275 ft (84 m) in the east of the parish to over 475 ft (145 m) in the west. The current holder of Lord of the Manor of Coppenhall is Russell Saltman of Hemel Hempstead who purchased the title in April 2007
The small ancient church of St. Lawrence, built c.1200, and described by Pevsner as "a perfect 13th century village church, small but of great dignity," is constructed of thick sandstone walls with a spired wooden bellcote, and has capacity for only about 60 worshippers. It was made a chapelry of Penkridge parish after the Poor Law Amendment Act of 1834. The church registers commence in 1678 and are deposited at Staffordshire Record Office.
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Doxey
Coordinates: 52°48′44″N 2°08′40″W / 52.8122°N 2.1444°W / 52.8122; -2.1444
Doxey is a village and civil parish in the borough of Stafford in Staffordshire, England. It is a north-western suburb of Stafford. The village became a civil parish on April 1, 2005.
There is some uncertainty about the origin of the name Doxey but it seems that it was originally Dokesei (This may be "Ducks Island" - a reference to the fact that the centre of Doxey would have been surrounded by marsh). In the Domesday Book it is spelt Dochesig.
Doxey is served by the Number 12 Arriva bus service between Doxey and Stafford Town Centre. It runs about every 30 minutes.
Current timetables (click to view)
Stafford Station (1.5miles 2.2km) is on the West Coast Main Line and provides frequent services to London Euston, Birmingham New Street, Manchester Piccadilly, Penkridge Station, Liverpool Lime Street etc.
The road through Doxey generally follows the old road out to Seighford and Derrington. Doxey is the site of a motorway maintenance area for the M6 and is used as an access point for the emergency services.
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Eccleshall
Coordinates: 52°51′32″N 2°15′04″W / 52.859°N 2.251°W / 52.859; -2.251
Eccleshall is a town in Staffordshire, England. It is located seven miles north west of Stafford, and six miles west of Stone. Eccleshall is twinned with Sancerre in France.
According to the Domesday book, Eccleshall in 1086 was no more than a small village of about one hundred inhabitants and a few fragments of stone at the base of the tower of the present Parish Church of Holy Trinity suggest that a stone church was in existence about this time and the base of the 10th century cross still stands outside the church. The oldest part of the church, the pillars and arches of the nave were begun in 1180 while the remainder of the church was completed during the 13th century, with a fine clerestory being added in the 15th century.
Eccleshall briefly played a part in the War of the Roses, when the castle was used as a base for the Lancastrian Queen Margaret of Anjou and her troops before and after her defeat at the battle of Blore Heath in 1459.
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England
Englandi/ˈɪŋɡlənd/ is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, while the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separate it from continental Europe. Most of England comprises the central and southern part of the island of Great Britain in the North Atlantic. The country also includes over 100 smaller islands such as the Isles of Scilly and the Isle of Wight.
The area now called England was first inhabited by modern humans during the Upper Palaeolithic period, but it takes its name from the Angles, one of the Germanic tribes who settled during the 5th and 6th centuries. England became a unified state in AD 927, and since the Age of Discovery, which began during the 15th century, has had a significant cultural and legal impact on the wider world. The English language, the Anglican Church, and English law—the basis for the common law legal systems of many other countries around the world—developed in England, and the country's parliamentary system of government has been widely adopted by other nations. The Industrial Revolution began in 18th-century England, transforming its society into the world's first industrialised nation. England's Royal Society laid the foundations of modern experimental science.
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Glasgow
Coordinates: 55°51′29″N 4°15′32″W / 55.858°N 4.259°W / 55.858; -4.259
Glasgow (i/ˈɡlɑːzɡəʊ/, locally /ˈɡlazɡo/, GLAZ-goh; Scots: Glesga 
listen (help·info); Scottish Gaelic: Glaschu ([ˈkɫ̪as̪əxu] listen (help·info))) is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's West Central Lowlands.
Glasgow grew from a small rural settlement on the River Clyde to become one of the largest seaports in Britain. Expanding from the medieval bishopric of Glasgow and the later establishment of the University of Glasgow in the 15th century, it became a major centre of the Scottish Enlightenment in the 18th century. From the 18th century the city also grew as one of Britain's main hubs of transatlantic trade with British North America and the British West Indies. With the Industrial Revolution, the city and surrounding region shifted to become one of the world's pre-eminent centres of heavy engineering, most notably in shipbuilding and marine engineering industry, which produced many innovative and famous vessels. Glasgow was known as the "Second City of the British Empire" for much of the Victorian era and Edwardian period. Today it is one of Europe's top ten financial centres and is home to many of Scotland's leading businesses. Glasgow is also ranked as the 57th most liveable city in the world.
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Hixon rail crash
The Hixon rail crash occurred on 6 January 1968 when a low-loader transporter carrying a 120-ton electrical transformer was struck by an express train on a recently installed automatic level crossing at Hixon, Staffordshire in England.
In the 1950s, British Railways found that the cost of manning some 2,400 level crossings had risen past £1 million per annum, with some locations seeing a tenfold increase. In the postwar labour market it was often difficult to recruit crossing keepers, the job itself being a responsible but rather dull occupation. In addition, manually operated crossings often caused long delays to road traffic because of the need to close the gates and clear the distant signal before the approaching train reached it.
In October 1956, senior members of the Railway Inspectorate embarked on a fact-finding trip to Holland, Belgium and France, to investigate the practice of automating level crossings. Their subsequent report recommended the introduction of automatically operated crossings with half-barriers, known as AHBs. This was projected to give considerable cost savings through the withdrawal of crossing keepers and would also speed up the flow of road traffic; the crossing being closed for less than a minute as opposed to 3 or 4 minutes at manned crossings.
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Hixon, Staffordshire
Hixon is a village in the borough of Stafford, Staffordshire, England. It is about 8 km east of Stafford at grid reference SK003259.
Hixon was served by a railway station which was opened by the North Staffordshire Railway on May 1, 1849.
Hixon was formerly home to a Royal Air Force bomber base, RAF Hixon, which is now closed.
In 1968 eleven people were killed in the Hixon rail crash just outside the village.
Media related to Hixon, Staffordshire at Wikimedia Commons
Coordinates: 52°49′50″N 1°59′49″W / 52.83062°N 1.99699°W / 52.83062; -1.99699
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Holmcroft
Holmcroft is the name of a Stafford, Staffordshire, England, residential estate approximately 1½ miles north of Stafford town centre, situated in a geographic area long recorded as "Tillington, Staffordshire." Holmcroft is also a Ward of Stafford Borough Council. Holmcroft Road was the name chosen by the council for the street that connects the residential area to the A34 Stone Road. Thus Holmcroft or Holmcroft Estate became part of the postal address. Even for estate homes not located on Holmcroft Road. The name means "croft by the island", from Old Norse holmr "island" and Old English croft "croft". The name was recorded as Holimcroft in 1183.
The original Holmcroft Estate of private houses was built just before the war: c. 1934-39. A later phase, constructed c. 1946-49, known as Wimpey homes, after the name of the company that built them, were originally council owned. Many of the properties have since been sold by the council to private owners. For many years, the local infants school on Young Avenue was Holmcroft Primary School, later to be named Tillington Manor Primary School. There is a family pub on Holmcroft Road called The Holmcroft and a small shopping precinct nearby with a Co-op, pharmacy, book makers, laundrette and library.
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Hopton Heath
Hopton Heath, or Hoptonheath, is a hamlet in Shropshire, England. The border with Herefordshire is close by. It lies on the border of the civil parishes of Clungunford and Hopton Castle.
There is a railway station here - Hopton Heath railway station - which today is little more than a halt on the Heart of Wales Line. A couple of small businesses operate from units near the station and there is also a site of holiday chalets, called "Ashlea Pools".
One mile to the west is the larger village of Hopton Castle, and also nearby are the villages of Bedstone, Clungunford and the hamlets of Beckjay and Abcott - with its Rocke Cottage (was Bird on the Rock) tea rooms.
Media related to Hopton Heath at Wikimedia Commons
Coordinates: 52°23′28″N 2°54′40″W / 52.39111°N 2.91102°W / 52.39111; -2.91102
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Little Haywood
Coordinates: 52°47′28″N 1°59′28″W / 52.7911°N 1.9911°W / 52.7911; -1.9911
Little Haywood is a village in Staffordshire, England. It lies beside a main arterial highway, the A51 (linking the English Midlands with Liverpool) but traffic through the village is mainly light, owing to this bypass. Nearby also is the West Coast Main Line railway, the Trent and Mersey Canal and beside it, the river Trent. Little Haywood is about 125 miles (201 km) northwest of London, about 25 miles (40 km) north of Birmingham, 4 miles (6.4 km) northwest of Rugeley and 6 miles (9.7 km) east of Stafford.
Little Haywood is cited in the Domesday Book of 1086. Although originally a small village, housing expansion during the 1980s has created a commuter village and most of its inhabitants have employment far outside the confines of the Haywood area.
Little Haywood is situated on the side of a hill in the system of valleys drained by the rivers Trent and Sow. It lies near the northern edge of Cannock Chase and is surrounded in the main by farmland. Geologically, the village lies on Triassic sandstone of the Sherwood Sandstone Group, with overlying glacial deposits from the last glaciation of Great Britain.
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Liverpool
Liverpool ( /ˈlɪvəpuːl/) is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Liverpool was 445,200 and was part of a larger urban area of 816,216.
Historically a part of Lancashire, the urbanisation and expansion of Liverpool were both largely brought about by the city's status as a major port. By the 18th century, trade from the West Indies, Ireland and mainland Europe coupled with close links with the Atlantic Slave Trade furthered the economic expansion of Liverpool. By the early 19th century, 40% of the world's trade passed through Liverpool's docks, contributing to Liverpool's rise as a major city.
Inhabitants of Liverpool are referred to as Liverpudlians but are also colloquially known as "Scousers", in reference to the local dish known as "scouse", a form of stew. The word "Scouse" has also become synonymous with the Liverpool accent and dialect. Liverpool's status as a port city has contributed to its diverse population, which, historically, were drawn from a wide range of peoples, cultures, and religions, particularly those from Ireland. The city is also home to the oldest Black African community in the country and the oldest Chinese community in Europe.
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London
Londoni/ˈlʌndən/ is the capital city of England and the United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its founding by the Romans, who named it Londinium. London's ancient core, the City of London, largely retains its square-mile mediaeval boundaries. Since at least the 19th century, the name London has also referred to the metropolis developed around this core. The bulk of this conurbation forms the London region and the Greater London administrative area, governed by the elected Mayor of London and the London Assembly.
London is a leading global city, with strengths in the arts, commerce, education, entertainment, fashion, finance, healthcare, media, professional services, research and development, tourism and transport all contributing to its prominence. It is the world's leading financial centre alongside New York City and has the fifth-largest city GDP in the world (and the largest in Europe). London has been described as a world cultural capital. It was the world's most visited city during 2011 and London Heathrow is the world's busiest airport by number of international passengers. London's 43 universities form the largest concentration of higher education in Europe. In 2012 London will become the first city to host the modern Summer Olympic Games three times.
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Manchester
Coordinates: 53°28′N 2°14′W / 53.467°N 2.233°W / 53.467; -2.233
Manchesteri/ˈmæntʃɛstər/ is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England with an estimated population of 498,800 in 2010. Manchester lies within one of the United Kingdom's largest urban areas; the Greater Manchester Urban Area which has a population of 2.2 million. The demonym of Manchester is Mancunian and the local authority is Manchester City Council.
Manchester is situated in the south-central part of North West England, fringed by the Cheshire Plain to the south and the Pennines to the north and east. The recorded history of Manchester began with the civilian settlement associated with the Roman fort of Mamucium, which was established in c. 79 AD on a sandstone bluff near the confluence of the rivers Medlock and Irwell. Historically, most of the city was a part of Lancashire, although areas south of the River Mersey were in Cheshire. Throughout the Middle Ages Manchester remained a manorial township, but it began to expand "at an astonishing rate" around the turn of the 19th century. Manchester's unplanned urbanisation was brought on by a boom in textile manufacture during the Industrial Revolution, and resulted in it becoming the world's first industrialised city. An early 19th-century factory building boom transformed Manchester from a township into a major mill town and borough that was granted city status in 1853. In 1894 the Manchester Ship Canal was built, creating the Port of Manchester.
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Mercia
Mercia ( /ˈmɜrsiə/, /ˈmɜrʃə/) was one of the kingdoms of the Anglo-Saxon Heptarchy. It was centred on the valley of the River Trent and its tributaries in the region now known as the English Midlands. The name is a Latinisation of the Old English Mierce or Myrce, meaning "border people".
Mercia's neighbours included Northumbria, Powys and the kingdoms of southern Wales, Wessex, Sussex, Essex and East Anglia.
The name Mercia is still in use today by a wide range of organisations, including military units, public, commercial and voluntary bodies; and occurs as a female given name.
Mercia's exact evolution from the Anglo-Saxon invasions is more obscure than that of Northumbria, Kent, or even Wessex. Also, Mercia developed an effective political structure and adopted Christianity later than the other kingdoms. Archaeological surveys show that Angles settled the lands north of the River Thames by the 6th century. The name Mercia is Old English for "boundary folk" (see Welsh Marches), and the traditional interpretation is that the kingdom originated along the frontier between the native Welsh and the Anglo-Saxon invaders. However, P. Hunter Blair argued an alternative interpretation: that they emerged along the frontier of Northumbria and the inhabitants of the Trent river valley.
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Milton Keynes
Coordinates: 52°02′10″N 0°46′12″W / 52.036°N 0.770°W / 52.036; -0.770
Milton Keynes (i/ˌmɪltən ˈkiːnz/ mil-tən-KEENZ), sometimes abbreviated MK, is a large town in Buckinghamshire, about 45 miles (72 km) south-east of Leicester and 49 miles (79 km) north-west of London. It is the administrative centre of the Borough of Milton Keynes. It was formally designated as a new town on 23 January 1967, with the design brief to become a 'city' in scale.
At designation, its 89 km2 (34 sq mi) area incorporated the existing towns of Bletchley, Wolverton and Stony Stratford along with another fifteen villages and farmland in between. It took its name from the existing village of Milton Keynes, a few miles east of the planned centre.
At the 2001 census the population of the Milton Keynes urban area, including the adjacent Newport Pagnell, was 184,506, and that of the wider borough, which has been a unitary authority independent of Buckinghamshire County Council since 1997, was 207,063 (compared with a population of around 53,000 for the same area in 1961). The Borough’s population in 2009 is estimated to be nearly 241,000, with almost all the increase arising in the urban area.
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MoD Stafford
MOD Stafford is a Ministry of Defence base situated in Stafford, in England.
See main article RAF Stafford.
MoD Stafford was renamed from RAF Stafford in 2006 after the Royal Air Force moved out.
The following units are currently based at MOD Stafford:
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Newcastle under Lyme
Coordinates: 53°00′39″N 2°13′40″W / 53.0109°N 2.2278°W / 53.0109; -2.2278
Newcastle-under-Lyme is a market town in Staffordshire, England, and is the principal settlement in the Borough of Newcastle-under-Lyme. It is part of The Potteries Urban Area and North Staffordshire. In the 2001 census the town had a population of 73,944. It is not to be confused with the city of Newcastle upon Tyne.
The Newcastle part of the name derives from being the location of a 'new' castle, built in the 12th century. The "Lyme" section could refer to the Lyme Brook or the extensive Forest of Lyme that covered the area with lime trees in the mediæval period.
Newcastle is not mentioned in the Domesday Book, as it grew up around the 12th century castle, but it must early have become a place of importance, for a charter, known only through a reference in a charter to Preston, was given to the town by Henry II of England in 1173. The new castle was built to supersede an older fortress at Chesterton about two miles to the north, the ruins of which were to be seen up to the end of the 16th century.
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Newport, Shropshire
Coordinates: 52°46′09″N 2°22′43″W / 52.7691°N 2.3787°W / 52.7691; -2.3787
Newport is a market town in the borough of Telford and Wrekin and ceremonial county of Shropshire, England. It lies some 6 miles (9.7 km) north of Telford and some 12 miles (19 km) west of Stafford sitting on the Shropshire/Staffordshire border. The 2001 census recorded 10,814 people living in the town's parish, making it the second largest town in Telford and Wrekin and the fifth in the ceremonial county of Shropshire, with a 2008 estimate puts it between 12,444 and 15,632.
Newport is a Britain in Bloom finalist and has been awarded the silver gilt award from the Heart of England regional, making Newport the first town in the country to win six gold awards in a row, the 2010 competition brought the towns seventh consecutive gold medal, receiving more points of any town in the United Kingdom.
The Normans planned a New Town called Novo Burgo between the older settlements of Edgmond and Plesc which is located near to where the Old Quarry and Mere Park garden centre. The first market charter was granted by Henry I and over time the name changed from Nova Burgo to Newborough and finally to Newport.
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Northampton
Northamptoni/nɔrˈθæmptən/ is a large market town and local government district in the East Midlands region of England. Situated about 67 miles (108 km) north-west of London and around 50 miles (80 km) south-east of Birmingham, Northampton lies on the River Nene and is the county town of Northamptonshire. The demonym of Northampton is Northamptonian.
Original settlements in Northampton date back to the 6th century. Its modern development is largely due to its rapid population increase since the 1960s after a planned expansion occurred under the New Towns Commission in the early 1970s. In 2001, its urban area population was 197,199 while its town population was 189,474, making Northampton the 27th largest settlement in England, and the UK's 3rd largest town without official city status after Reading and Dudley. Northampton is the most populous district in England that is not a unitary authority, a status it failed to obtain in the 1990s local government reform.
Northampton has a history of the manufacture of boots and shoes yet engineering has taken over as a modern key industry; other industries include food processing, brewing, and the manufacture of shoe machinery, cosmetics, leather goods, and car accessories. At present, the major employers are public administration, financial services, and the distribution trade.
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Penkridge
Coordinates: 52°43′31″N 2°06′59″W / 52.7252°N 2.1164°W / 52.7252; -2.1164
Penkridge is a market town and ancient parish in Staffordshire, England with a population of 7,836 (Census 2001). Many locals refer to it as a village, although it has a long history as an ecclesiastical and commercial centre. Its main distinction in the Middle Ages was as the site of an important collegiate church, which still dominates the skyline. It has continued to prosper mainly because of its favourable location on regional transport links.
Penkridge is a parish unit within the East Cuttlestone Hundred of Staffordshire. Its boundaries have varied considerably over the centuries. The ancient parish of Penkridge, as defined from 1551 (although it existed in much the same form throughout the Middle Ages), was made up of four distinct townships: Penkridge itself, Coppenhall, Dunston, and Stretton. As a place with its own institutions of local government, the parish was also known as Penkridge Borough.
Penkridge became a civil parish in the 1830s and in 1866 was shorn of the three smaller townships, which became separate parishes. It was constituted as a parish of four distinct constablewicks: Penkridge, Levedale, Pillaton, and Whiston. In 1934, the civil parish exchanged some territory with the surrounding parishes to rationalise the boundaries, acquiring the whole of the former civil parish of Kinvaston in the process. The present civil parish thus consists of the following settlements:
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Pirehill
Coordinates: 52°54′N 2°09′W / 52.9°N 2.15°W / 52.9; -2.15
Stone is an old market town in Staffordshire, England, situated about seven miles north of Stafford, and around seven miles south of the city of Stoke-on-Trent. It is the second town, after Stafford itself, in the Borough of Stafford, and has long been of importance from the point of view of communications. Stone gave its name to both an urban district council and a rural district council before becoming part of the borough in 1974. In 2001 it had a population of 14,555.[citation needed]
Stone was the capital of early Mercia,[citation needed] a powerful Anglian kingdom that later expanded over most of what is now the West Midlands. Christianity arrived via monks from Lindisfarne around the year 650, King Penda of Mercia having invited them in. The capital was later moved to Stafford, and then to Tamworth.
A copper seal from the 7th century Stone Priory, and dated from the 14th century has recently been discovered by a metal detector in Cobham, Surrey. It will be displayed at St Michael and St Wulfad's church in Stone over the Christmas period.
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Preston, Lancashire
Coordinates: 53°45′32″N 2°41′56″W / 53.759°N 2.699°W / 53.759; -2.699
Prestoni/ˈprɛstən/ is a city and the administrative centre of Lancashire, England, located on the north bank of the River Ribble. It is an urban settlement and unparished area that, when combined with its surrounding suburban and rural hinterland, forms part of the City of Preston local government district of Lancashire. It obtained city status in 2002, becoming England's 50th city in the 50th year of Queen Elizabeth II's reign. The settlement, or unparished area, of Preston has a population of 114,300, and the whole City of Preston district has a population of 132,000.
Preston and its surroundings have provided evidence of ancient Roman activity in the area, largely in the form of a Roman road which led to a camp at Walton-le-Dale. The Angles established Preston; the name Preston is derived from Old English words meaning "Priest settlement" and in the Domesday Book appears as "Prestune". During the Middle Ages, Preston formed a parish and township in the hundred of Amounderness and was granted a Guild Merchant charter in 1179, giving it the status of a market town. Textiles have been produced in Preston since the middle of the 13th century, when locally produced wool was woven in people's houses. Flemish weavers who settled in the area during the 14th century helped to develop the industry. Sir Richard Arkwright, inventor of the spinning frame, was born in Preston. The most rapid period of growth and development in Preston's history coincided with the industrialisation and expansion of textile manufacturing. Preston was a boomtown of the Industrial Revolution, becoming a densely populated engineering centre, with large industrial plants.
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RAF Stafford
RAF Stafford was a non-flying Royal Air Force station in Stafford Staffordshire, England.
Originally home to No 16 Maintenance Unit as an Equipment Supply Depot, this part of the station is now run by the Defence Logistics Organisation. No 2 Mechanical Transport Squadron, part of Stafford based 85 ELW, provides transport assistance for unit moves and deployments. Also at Stafford is the Tactical Supply Wing (TSW), which operates mobile fuel handling facilities for helicopters deployed in the field.
In April 2004 it was announced that units from RAF Stafford will be moved to RAF Wittering, effectively closing the base. However, in 2005, it emerged that the Army was considering using the base for the newly reformed 22 Signal Regiment, TSW still remain at Stafford. RAF Stafford officially ceased to be an RAF station on 31 March to become MoD Stafford in 2006.
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Rodbaston
Rodbaston is a village in Staffordshire, England. It is the location of a campus of South Staffordshire College.
Coordinates: 52°42′32″N 2°07′12″W / 52.709°N 2.120°W / 52.709; -2.120
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Rugeley
Coordinates: 52°45′36″N 1°56′20″W / 52.7599°N 1.9388°W / 52.7599; -1.9388
Rugeley is an historic market town in the county of Staffordshire, England. It lies on the northern edge of Cannock Chase, and is situated roughly midway between the towns of Stafford, Cannock, Lichfield and Uttoxeter. The population as at the 2001 census was 22,724 (including the Brereton and Etchinghill wards).
The town was a centre of coal mining until 1991, when the Lea Hall Colliery was demolished. The Rugeley B coal-fired power station dominates 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. The former Rugeley A station took its fuel directly from the neighbouring mine by conveyor belt (this is a disputed fact as the mines coal was of poor quality). This was the first such arrangement in Britain. It is twinned with Western Springs, Illinois in the United States.
Rugeley has two railway stations, Rugeley Town and Rugeley Trent Valley, which lie on the Chase Line connecting Rugeley, Walsall and Birmingham. This line has not yet been electrified, and so the service is functional but slow, a typical end-to-end journey taking 54 minutes. Rugeley Trent Valley also lies on the West Coast Main Line, and now has a regular hourly service to London via Lichfield, Nuneaton, Rugby and Milton Keynes, and to Crewe via Stafford and Stoke-on-Trent.
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Runcorn
Coordinates: 53°19′41″N 2°42′43″W / 53.328°N 2.712°W / 53.328; -2.712
Runcorn is an industrial town and cargo port within the borough of Halton in the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. In 2010, its population was estimated to be 61,000. The town is on the southern bank of the River Mersey where the estuary narrows to form Runcorn Gap. Directly to the north across the Mersey is the town of Widnes. Upstream and 8 miles (12.9 km) to the northeast is the town of Warrington and downstream 16 miles (26 km) to the west is the city of Liverpool.
Runcorn railway station is on a branch of the West Coast Main Line. It provides frequent services to London (Euston), Liverpool and Birmingham. The A533 road passes through the town from the south, crossing the Runcorn Gap over the Silver Jubilee Bridge, the lowest bridge crossing of the River Mersey. The Manchester Ship Canal runs between the town and the River Mersey and the Bridgewater Canal passes through and ends in the town at its junction with the Manchester Ship Canal.
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Sandon Hall
Sandon Hall is a 19th century country mansion, the seat of the Earl of Harrowby, at Sandon, Staffordshire, 5 miles (8.0 km) northeast of Stafford. It is a Grade II* listed building set in 400 acres (1.6 km2) of parkland.
The Manor of Sandon came to Thomas Erdeswicke by marriage in about 1339 and was held by that family until the death of Sampson Erdeswicke in 1603. Thereafter it passed by marriage until it came to William Hamilton, 2nd Duke of Hamilton in the 17th century. The old manor house was replaced by a new house built in 1769 for Archibald Hamilton by Joseph Pickford of Derby.
The estate was purchased by Nathaniel Ryder, 1st Baron Harrowby in 1776 who retained architect Samuel Wyatt to carry out extensive extensions and improvements. The house was severely damaged by fire in 1848 and was rebuilt in 1852 by Dudley Ryder, 2nd Earl of Harrowby to a neo Jacobean design by architect William Burn.
In the park stands a Doric column erected in memory of William Pitt the Younger in 1806.
The house is not generally open to the public but since 1994 the family have made it available for weddings and corporate hospitality events. Visits by parties are possible by prior arrangement.
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Scotland
Scotland (Scottish Gaelic: Alba ([ˈalˠ̪apə] listen (help·info))) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the southwest. In addition to the mainland, Scotland constitutes over 790 islands including the Northern Isles and the Hebrides.
Edinburgh, the country's capital and second largest city, is one of Europe's largest financial centres. Edinburgh was the hub of the Scottish Enlightenment of the 18th century, which transformed Scotland into one of the commercial, intellectual and industrial powerhouses of Europe. Glasgow, Scotland's largest city, was once one of the world's leading industrial cities and now lies at the centre of the Greater Glasgow conurbation. Scottish waters consist of a large sector of the North Atlantic and the North Sea, containing the largest oil reserves in the European Union. This has given Aberdeen, the third largest city in Scotland, the title of Europe's oil capital.
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Shrewsbury
Coordinates: 52°42′28″N 2°45′15″W / 52.7077°N 2.7541°W / 52.7077; -2.7541
Shrewsbury (i/ˈʃruːzbri/ or i/ˈʃroʊzbri/) is the county town of Shropshire, in the West Midlands region of England. Lying on the River Severn, it is a borough home to some 96,000 inhabitants, and is the primary settlement and headquarters of Shropshire Council. It is the second largest town in the ceremonial county of Shropshire, after Telford.
Shrewsbury is a historic market town with the town centre having a largely unaltered medieval street plan. The town features over 660 historic listed buildings, including several examples of timber framing from the 15th and 16th century. Shrewsbury Castle, a red sandstone castle fortification, and Shrewsbury Abbey, a former Benedictine monastery, were founded in 1074 and 1083 respectively, by the Norman Earl of Shrewsbury, Roger de Montgomery. The town hosts one of the oldest and largest horticultural events in the country, Shrewsbury Flower Show, and is known for its floral displays, having won various awards since the turn of the 21st century, including Britain in Bloom in 2006.
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Shugborough Hall
Shugborough is a country estate in Great Haywood, Staffordshire, England, 4 miles from Stafford on the edge of Cannock Chase. It comprises a country house, kitchen garden, and model farm. Owned by the National Trust and maintained by the leaseholder, Staffordshire County Council, it previously belonged to the Earls of Lichfield, the Anson family.
The Shugborough estate was owned by the Bishops of Lichfield until the Dissolution of the Monasteries and therefter passed through several hands until it was purchased in 1624 by William Anson, a lawyer, of Dunston, Staffordshire
In about 1693 his grandson William Anson (1656–1720) demolished the old house and created a new mansion. The entrance front then to the west, comprised a balustraded three-storey, seven-bayed central block . In about 1748 his great grandson Thomas Anson commissioned architect Thomas Wright to remodel the house, which was extended with flanking two-storey, three-bayed pavilions linked to the central block by pedimented passages. At the turn of the 18th century the house was further altered and extended by architect Samuel Wyatt, when the pavilions and passages were incorporated into the main building and a new porticoed entrance front with ten Doric order pillars was created at the east. for Thomas Anson, the 1st Viscount Anson and his wife Anne Margaret Coke, daughter of Thomas Coke, the 1st Earl of Leicester, whom he married in 1794. Styled Viscountess Anson in 1806, Anne Margaret Coke Anson died in London in 1843 and was buried at Shugborough.
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South Staffordshire
South Staffordshire is a local government district in Staffordshire, England. The district lies to the north and west of Wolverhampton and the West Midlands, bordering Shropshire to the west and Worcestershire to the south. It contains no towns of major size and many of the settlements within the district are dormitory villages for Stafford, Wolverhampton, Birmingham and Telford.
The district was formed on 1 April 1974, under the Local Government Act 1972, by the merger of Cannock Rural District (in the north) and Seisdon Rural District (in the south).
Its council is based in Codsall, one of the larger settlements in the district, along with Brewood, Cheslyn Hay, Great Wyrley, Kinver, Landywood, Penkridge, Perton and Wombourne. Other villages in the district include Coven, Essington, Featherstone, Gospel End, Huntington, Lower Penn, Pattingham, Seisdon and Trysull.
The district covers a similar geographic area to South Staffordshire parliamentary constituency, although the north of the district is covered by the Stafford (UK Parliament constituency). Sir Patrick Cormack of the Conservative Party held the South Staffordshire seat, and its predecessors, between 1970–2010, when he retired and the seat was won by Gavin Williamson for the Conservative Party.
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Stafford
Coordinates: 52°48′24″N 2°07′02″W / 52.8066°N 2.1171°W / 52.8066; -2.1171
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, adjacent to the M6 motorway Junction 13 to Junction 14. The population of Stafford was given in the 2001 census as 63,681, with that of the wider borough of Stafford as 122,000, making Stafford the fourth largest settlement in the Ceremonial county, after Stoke on Trent, Tamworth and Newcastle under Lyme.
Stafford means 'ford' by a 'staithe' (landing place). The original settlement was on dry sand and gravel peninsula that provided a strategic crossing point in the marshy valley 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.
It's thought Stafford was founded in about 700 AD by Mercian prince called Bertelin who, according to legend, established a hermitage on the peninsular named Betheney or Bethnei. Until recently it was thought that the remains of a wooden preaching cross from this time had been found under the remains of St Bertelin's chapel, next to the later collegiate Church of St Mary in the centre of the town. Recent re-examination of the evidence shows this was a misinterpretation – it was a tree trunk coffin placed centrally in the first, timber, chapel at around the time Æthelflæd founded the burh, in 913 AD. The tree trunk coffin may have been placed there as an object of commemoration or veneration of St Bertelin.
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Stafford (HM Prison)
HM Prison Stafford is a Category C men's prison, located in Stafford, Staffordshire, England. The prison is operated by Her Majesty's Prison Service.
Stafford Prison was built on its current site in 1794, and has been in almost continuous use, save a period between 1916 and 1940. It held Irish Internees taken by the British after the 1916 Easter Rising from May. They were released Christmas 1916.
In November 1998, an inspection report from Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Prisons heavily criticised security at Stafford Prison, after it emerged that inmates were being supplied with drugs flown in on paper planes. Inmates were fashioning strips of paper into planes, then attaching lines to them and flying them over the 19 ft perimeter wall. The lines were then used to pull packages containing drugs and other banned substances back over the wall. The prison was also criticised for being overcrowded, under-resourced, and failing to prepare prisoners for release.
In March 2003, the Prison Reform Trust singled out Stafford Prison for its high turnover of governors. The trust noted that Stafford had employed four governors in five years, and that such unstable, inconsistent leadership would not be tolerated in schools or hospitals. The trust also highlighted officers' sickness levels as an issue.
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Stafford Castle
Stafford Castle lies two miles to the west of Stafford, just off the A518 Stafford-to-Newport Road, and can be seen from the M6 motorway. The stone building is an important early example of a 19th century Gothic Revival Keep. The structure was built on the foundations of its medieval predecessor and incorporates much of the original stonework.
The castle overlooks the town. A castle was originally built on the site circa 1090 by the Normans to control the still hostile and rebellious native Anglo-Saxon community following their invasion in 1066 and the failed rebellion which culminated in the defeat of the Saxons at the battle of Stafford in 1069. The first development was built in the classic motte and bailey style, although it incorporated two baileys and a village beyond. The outline of the site's defences can still be seen today. The banks and ditches have been interpreted by an archaeological illustrator whose watercolours feature on a Heritage Trail which encompases much of the ten acre site. The trail takes 45 minutes to walk with short-cuts which are either fifteen minutes (trial-boards 1–5 and straight up the inner bailey gateway) or ten minutes (board 1 and 10 which is straight up the modern drive). Each of the boards has a map, so it is difficult to get lost.
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Stafford College
Stafford College is a large provider of further and higher education based in Stafford, England.
The college campus is on Earl Street in Stafford Town Centre. Qualifications taught include a wide range of A-levels, with additional choice offered through the Stafford Collegiate, which is a collaboration between Stafford College and other local education providers. The College also offers vocational subjects, often in industry-standard facilities. Music technology students learn in a suite of recording studios; beauty therapists gain skills in the Stafford Beauty Academy, which is a working salon open to the public. Workshops exist for students of Motor Vehicle, Trowel Occupations, Construction Plant, Plumbing and on-campus restaurants provide experience for students training in hospitality subjects.
In 2004 the College built a new sports hall providing teaching facilities for students on sports-related subjects and recreational opportunities for other students. The following year it opened Broad Eye, a dedicated centre with studio facilities for art and design subjects.
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Stafford Hospital
Stafford Hospital is an acute hospital with approximately 350 inpatient beds, opened in 1983. It is the main hospital in Stafford, England.
The hospital is operated and managed by Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust and provides a wide range of non-specialist medical and surgical services. Stafford Hospital's Accident and Emergency unit is the only such facility in Stafford. Wards at Stafford Hospital are numbered, with the exception of the children's wards (known as the "Anson Suite"), which are named after local towns and landmarks (e.g. Shugborough Ward).[citation needed]
This hospital was built on the site of Coton Hill private psychiatric hospital which opened in 1854 and was demolished in 1976 with only the old chapel and gatehouse still visible.. These buildings now form part of the Mid Staffordshire Postgraduate Medical Centre.
When the Stafford hospital site opened in 1983 it was named Stafford District General Hospital. The hospital was renamed Staffordshire General Hospital when Staffordshire General Infirmary, also in Stafford, closed in the early 1990s and services transferred.
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Stafford Town F.C.
Stafford Town Football Club is an English football (soccer) club founded in the mid 1970s and based in Stafford. The club's senior men's team play in the West Midlands (Regional) League. Their nearest rivals are fellow Stafford club Stafford Rangers.
The club's highest point came in 2000–01, when they reached the Midland Football Alliance and got as far as the 3rd Qualifying Round of the FA Cup, going down 3–1 to Harrow Borough in a replay having achieved a 0–0 draw at Harrow's ground.
The club has 17 teams in men's, women's, and several junior leagues.
The club has moved into its first permanent stadium (having rented other clubs' and municipal grounds up until now) at Riverway, close to the centre of Stafford.
Coordinates: 52°47′38.26″N 2°07′25.01″W / 52.7939611°N 2.1236139°W / 52.7939611; -2.1236139
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Staffordshire
Staffordshire (/ˈstæfərdʃɪər/ or /ˈstæfərdʃaɪər/; abbreviated Staffs) is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. Part of the National Forest lies within its borders. It adjoins the ceremonial counties of Cheshire (to the north west), Derbyshire (to the east), Leicestershire (to the east), Warwickshire (to the south east), West Midlands (to the south), Worcestershire (to the south), and Shropshire (to the west).
The largest city in Staffordshire is Stoke-on-Trent, which is administered separately from the rest of the county as an independent unitary authority. Lichfield also has city status, although this is a considerably smaller cathedral city. Major towns include Stafford (the county town), Burton upon Trent, Cannock, Newcastle-under-Lyme, Leek and Tamworth.
Wolverhampton, Walsall, West Bromwich and Smethwick were also in Staffordshire until local government reorganisation in 1974, but are now within the West Midlands County in the West Midlands Conurbation.
With the exception of Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire is divided into the districts of Cannock Chase, East Staffordshire, Lichfield, Newcastle-under-Lyme, South Staffordshire, Stafford, Staffordshire Moorlands, and Tamworth.
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Stone, Staffordshire
Coordinates: 52°54′N 2°09′W / 52.9°N 2.15°W / 52.9; -2.15
Stone is an old market town in Staffordshire, England, situated about seven miles north of Stafford, and around seven miles south of the city of Stoke-on-Trent. It is the second town, after Stafford itself, in the Borough of Stafford, and has long been of importance from the point of view of communications. Stone gave its name to both an urban district council and a rural district council before becoming part of the borough in 1974. In 2001 it had a population of 14,555.[citation needed]
Stone was the capital of early Mercia,[citation needed] a powerful Anglian kingdom that later expanded over most of what is now the West Midlands. Christianity arrived via monks from Lindisfarne around the year 650, King Penda of Mercia having invited them in. The capital was later moved to Stafford, and then to Tamworth.
A copper seal from the 7th century Stone Priory, and dated from the 14th century has recently been discovered by a metal detector in Cobham, Surrey. It will be displayed at St Michael and St Wulfad's church in Stone over the Christmas period.
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Tamworth
Coordinates: 52°37′59″N 1°41′42″W / 52.633°N 1.695°W / 52.633; -1.695
Tamworth is a town and larger local government district in Staffordshire, England, located 14 miles (23 km) north-east of Birmingham city centre and 103 miles (166 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 second largest settlement after Stoke-on-Trent and the largest town in Staffordshire.
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, 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 sports car for several decades.
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Telford
Coordinates: 52°40′36″N 2°26′49″W / 52.6766°N 2.4469°W / 52.6766; -2.4469
Telfordi/ˈtɛlfərd/ is a large new town in the borough of Telford and Wrekin and ceremonial county of Shropshire, England, about 13 miles (21 km) east of Shrewsbury, and 30 miles (48 km) west of Birmingham. With an estimated population of 162,300 in 2009, Telford is by far the largest town in Shropshire, and one of the fastest growing towns in the United Kingdom.
It is named after Thomas Telford, the famous civil engineer. The town was built in the 1960s and 1970s as a new town on previously industrial and agricultural land. Like other planned towns of the era, Telford was created from the merger of other, smaller settlements, most notably the towns of Wellington, Oakengates, Madeley and Dawley. Telford Shopping Centre, a modern shopping mall, was constructed at the new town's geographical centre, along with an extensive Town Park. The M54 motorway was completed in 1983, connecting the town with the West Midlands conurbation.
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Tesco
Coordinates: 51°42′18.89″N 0°1′36.37″W / 51.7052472°N 0.0267694°W / 51.7052472; -0.0267694
Tesco plc (LSE: TSCO) is a British multinational grocery and general merchandise retailer headquartered in Cheshunt, United Kingdom. It is the third-largest retailer in the world measured by revenues (after Wal-Mart and Carrefour) and the second-largest measured by profits (after Wal-Mart). It has stores in 14 countries across Asia, Europe and North America and is the grocery market leader in the UK (where it has a market share of around 30%), Malaysia, the Republic of Ireland and Thailand.
The company was founded in 1919 by Jack Cohen as a group of market stalls. The Tesco name first appeared in 1924, after Cohen purchased a shipment of tea from T. E. Stockwell and combined those initials with the first two letters of his surname, and the first Tesco store opened in 1929 in Burnt Oak, Middlesex. His business expanded rapidly, and by 1939 he had over 100 Tesco stores across the country. Originally a UK-focused grocery retailer, since the early 1990s Tesco has increasingly diversified geographically and into areas such as the retailing of books, clothing, electronics, furniture, petrol and software; financial services; telecoms and internet services; DVD rental; and music downloads.
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Tixall
Tixall is a small village and former civil parish in the English county of Staffordshire lying on the western side of the Trent valley between Rugeley and Stone, Staffordshire and roughly 4 miles east of Stafford. Deriving from the Old English 'Ticheshale' the name is said to mean 'hollow of the goats'.
It is a fairly elongated village lying to the west of Great Haywood and just north of the sprawling Shugborough estate, the River Sow forming the natural boundary between the two, which joins the Trent on the Shugborough estate a mile or so east of Tixall. The village has benefited substantially from its close proximity to such affluent estates as Shugborough to the south and Sandon Hall and Ingestre Hall to the north, homes of the Earl of Lichfield, the Earl of Harrowby and the Earl of Shrewsbury respectively. Also passing nearby to the east and through the Trent valley is the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal, which expands into a body of water called Tixall Wide near to Tixall Gatehouse.
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Trentham Gardens
Trentham Gardens are formal Italianate gardens, and an English landscape park in Trentham, Staffordshire on the southern fringes of the city of Stoke-on-Trent, England. The former house on the site, Trentham Hall, became one of many to be demolished in the 20th century when in 1912, its owner the 4th Duke of Sutherland razed it to the ground. However, the gardens and the park with its lake and woodlands have been preserved. One of the reasons for the demolition of the house was pollution of the River Trent, which flows through the grounds. The pollution causing pottery industry has long gone and there are now kingfishers in the grounds.
The gardens and park at Trentham currently cover some 300 acres (1.2 km²). They were designed as a serpentine park by Capability Brown from 1758 onwards, overlying an earlier formal design attributed to Charles Bridgeman. However, in the twentieth century Trentham Gardens was principally known for the surviving formal gardens laid out in the 1840s by Sir Charles Barry, who also created Italianate gardens at Harewood House and Cliveden.
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United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK, or Britain) is a sovereign state located off the north-western coast of continental Europe. The country includes the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands. Northern Ireland is the only part of the UK that shares a land border with another sovereign state—the Republic of Ireland. Apart from this land border the UK is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, the North Sea, the English Channel and the Irish Sea.
The United Kingdom is a unitary state governed under a constitutional monarchy and a parliamentary system, with its seat of government in the capital city of London. It is a country in its own right and consists of four countries: England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. There are three devolved administrations, each with varying powers, based in Belfast, Edinburgh and Cardiff, the capitals of Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. Associated with the UK, but not constitutionally part of it, are three Crown Dependencies. The United Kingdom has fourteen overseas territories. These are remnants of the British Empire which, at its height in 1922, encompassed almost a quarter of the world's land surface and was the largest empire in history. British influence can still be observed in the language, culture and legal systems of many of its former territories.
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Warrington
Warrington is a town, borough and unitary authority area of Cheshire, England. It stands on the banks of the River Mersey, which is tidal to the west of the weir at Howley. It lies 16 miles east of Liverpool, 19 miles west of Manchester and 8 miles south of St Helens. The population of the borough is 198,900. Its population has more than doubled since its designation as a New Town in 1968.
Historically a part of Lancashire, Warrington was founded by the Romans at an important crossing place on the River Mersey. A new settlement was established by the Saxons and by the Middle Ages, Warrington had emerged as a market town at a bridging point of the river. A local tradition of textile and tool production dates from this time.
The expansion and urbanisation of Warrington largely coincided with the Industrial Revolution, particularly after the Mersey was made navigable in the 18th century. The West Coast Mainline runs north to south through the town, and the Liverpool to Manchester railway (the Cheshire Lines route) west to east. The Manchester Ship Canal cuts through the south of the borough (west to east). The M6, M56 and M62 motorways form a partial box around the town.
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Watford
Watfordi/ˈwɒtfərd/ is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, situated 18 miles (29 km) northwest of central London and within the bounds of the M25 motorway. The borough is separated from Greater London to the south by the urbanised parish of Watford Rural in the Three Rivers District.
Watford was created as an urban district under the Local Government Act 1894, and became a municipal borough by grant of a charter in 1922. The borough had 79,726 inhabitants at the time of the 2001 Census. The most recent official estimates put the population of Watford at 79,600 at mid-2006.
The nearby areas of Croxley Green, Bushey, Rickmansworth, Chorleywood, Kings Langley, Abbots Langley, Carpenders Park and South Oxhey, located in Three Rivers and Hertsmere districts, also form part of the Watford postcode area. The Watford subdivision of the Greater London Urban Area, which includes much of the neighbouring districts, had a total population of 120,960 in the 2001 census.
Watford stands on a low hill near the point at which the River Colne was forded by travellers between London and the Midlands. This route, originally a pre-Roman trackway, departed from the ancient Roman Watling Street at Stanmore, heading for the Gade valley and thence up the Bulbourne valley to a low and easily traversed section of the Chiltern Hills near Tring. The modern High Street follows the route of this road.
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Weston Hall
Weston Hall is the Sitwell family house in Northamptonshire.
It is in the village of Weston in the south of the county. It was the home of Sir Sacheverell Sitwell and his wife, the Canadian beauty Georgia Doble, from 1927 until his death in 1988. It was there that he wrote many of his 130 books on travel, art, music and poetry. The house was given to Sitwell's ancestor Susanna Jennens in 1714 as a St. Valentine's Day present from her uncle Sir John Blencowe from nearby Marston St Lawrence after the death of her husband. The property was then inherited through the generations down the female line until Sacheverell's father the eccentric Sir George Sitwell took a lease on the house from an aunt. Each generation left its own indelible mark on the house and its contents. It is available to visit by private invitation via susanna.sitwell@uwclub.net.
Coordinates: 52°07′03″N 1°08′16″W / 52.1175°N 1.1377°W / 52.1175; -1.1377
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William Salt Library
The William Salt Library is a library and archive, in Stafford, Staffordshire. Supported by Staffordshire County Council, it is a registered charity and is administered by an independent trust in conjunction with the Staffordshire & Stoke on Trent Archive Service.
The core of the library is the large collection of printed books, pamphlets, manuscripts, drawings, watercolours, and transcripts built up by William Salt (1808–1863), a London banker. Collected during Salt's lifetime, the collection was donated to Staffordshire after his death, and the library opened in 1872. The library continues to collect and preserve printed material relating to Staffordshire and represents a major source for local and family history in Staffordshire. The library's holdings are available for consultation by the public free of charge.
The library is supported by the Friends of the William Salt Library. As well as raising funds for the library to enable it to purchase items for the collection, the Friends also help in practical ways, such as packaging and cleaning items in the collection.
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Wolverhampton
Wolverhamptoni/ˌwʊlvərˈhæmptən/ is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands, England. For Eurostat purposes Walsall and Wolverhampton is a NUTS 3 region (code UKG35) and is one of five boroughs or unitary districts that comprise the "West Midlands" NUTS 2 region. In 2004, the local government district had an estimated population of 239,100. Wolverhampton is part of the West Midlands Urban Area which had a population of 2.3 million in the 2001 census which makes it part of the second largest urban area in the United Kingdom.
Historically a part of Staffordshire, and forming part of the metropolitan county of the West Midlands from 1974, the city is commonly recognised as being named after King Wulfhere, who established an abbey in 659. The original name being from Wulfereēantūn = "Wulfhere's high or principal enclosure or farm" after the Mercian King. The name Wulfrun is used to denote a later nun who established a church in the city – for example, for the Wulfrun Centre or for Wulfrun Hall.
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Aelfwynn
Ælfwynn (c. 888–after 919) was the daughter of Æthelred, ruler of English Mercia, and Æthelflæd, daughter of King Alfred the Great and herself ruler of Mercia after her husband's death. Following the death of her mother on 12 June 918, Ælfwynn too was for a short time ruler of Mercia. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle states that she was "deprived of all control in Mercia, and was led into Wessex three weeks before Christmas".
Ælfwynn's parents may have married as early as 882 and not later than 887. According to William of Malmesbury, Ælfwynn was the only child of Æthelflæd and Æthelred. The date of her birth is nowhere recorded, but it is presumed that she was born soon after her parent's marriage, perhaps around 888. William's account states that her birth was a difficult one, and that this led her mother to abstain from further sexual relations.
Ælfwynn's father spent much of the decade after her birth on campaign with his father-in-law King Alfred and brother-in-law Edward Ætheling (later King Edward the Elder). By 902 his health was poor and Æthelflæd was from then onwards the effective ruler of Mercia. William of Malmesbury states that Alfred sent his eldest grandson, Æthelstan son of Edward, to be educated at the court of Æthelflæd. William's panegyric on Æthelstan claims that he received a first-class education in Mercia, and it is thought likely that Ælfwynn will have been equally well educated.
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Alfred the Great
Alfred the Great (Old English: Ælfrēd, Ælfrǣd, "elf counsel"; 849 – 26 October 899) was King of Wessex from 871 to 899.
Alfred successfully defended his kingdom against the Viking attempt at conquest, and by his death had become the dominant ruler in England. He is the only English monarch to be accorded the epithet "the Great". Alfred was the first King of the West Saxons to style himself "King of the Anglo-Saxons". Details of his life are described in a work by the 10th century Welsh scholar and bishop Asser. Alfred was a learned and merciful man who encouraged education and improved his kingdom's legal system and military structure.
Alfred was born in the village of Wanating, now Wantage, Oxfordshire. He was the youngest son of King Æthelwulf of Wessex, by his first wife, Osburh.
In 853, at the age of four, Alfred is said to have been sent to Rome where, according to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, he was confirmed by Pope Leo IV who "anointed him as king". Victorian writers interpreted this as an anticipatory coronation in preparation for his ultimate succession to the throne of Wessex. However, his succession could not have been foreseen at the time, as Alfred had three living elder brothers. A letter of Leo IV shows that Alfred was made a "consul"; a misinterpretation of this investiture, deliberate or accidental, could explain later confusion. It may also be based on Alfred's later having accompanied his father on a pilgrimage to Rome where he spent some time at the court of Charles the Bald, King of the Franks, around 854–855.
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Alton Towers
Alton Towers is a theme park and resort located in Staffordshire, England. It attracts around 2.7 million visitors per year making it the most visited theme park in the United Kingdom. Alton Towers is also the 9th most visited theme park in Europe. It is based north of the village of Alton in Staffordshire (approximately 16 miles (26 km) east of Stoke-on-Trent, and not to be confused with the town of Alton in Hampshire), in the grounds of Alton Towers, a semi-ruined gothic revival country house. The estate was a former seat of the Earls of Shrewsbury.
The resort includes the theme park as well as Alton Towers Hotel, Splash Landings Hotel, Waterpark, Spa, Extraordinary Golf and Conference Centre. It is the flagship attraction of Merlin Entertainments in the United Kingdom. Major attractions at Alton Towers include Nemesis, Oblivion, Air, Rita and Th13teen.
The park's promotional music is In the Hall of the Mountain King by Edvard Grieg.
An Iron Age fort was built on Bunbury Hill (c.1st-century BC) which is now occupied by the Alton Towers estate. In about 700 AD, the Saxon king Ceolred of Mercia built a fortress on the hill. But King Ine of Wessex besieged the site in 716 AD. The ensuing battle, which ended in stalemate, caused such a loss of life the place was called Slain Hollow (which later became the estate's oriental water garden).
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Angles
The Angles is a modern English term for a Germanic people who took their name from the ancestral cultural region of Angeln, a district located in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. The Angles were one of the main groups that settled in Britain in the post-Roman period, founding several of the kingdoms of Anglo-Saxon England, and their name is the root of the name "England".
The name of the Angles is first recorded in Latinized form, as Anglii, in the Germania of Tacitus. The name is usually derived from a toponym, Angeln, from a Germanic word *anguz meaning "narrow" (of an estuary) or "angular" (of the shape of the Jutland peninsula).
Gregory the Great in an epistle simplified the Latinized name Anglii to Angli, the latter form developing into the preferred form of the word. The country remained Anglia in Latin. King Alfred's (Alfred the Great) translation of Orosius' history of the world uses Angelcynn (-kin) to describe England and the English people; Bede used Angelfolc (-folk); there are also such forms as Engel, Englan (the people), Englaland, and Englisc, all showing i-mutation.
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Anthony Gardner
Anthony Derek Gardner (born 19 September 1980) is an England international football defender, who plays for Crystal Palace. A tall centre-back, he has represented England and been bought and sold for millions in the domestic transfer market. However, his career has been dogged with injuries, limiting his appearances.
Starting his career with Port Vale in 1998, within two years he earned a million pound move to Tottenham Hotspur. He spent eight years at the Premier League club, racking up 142 appearances over all competitions. In 2008 he spent time on loan at both Everton and Hull City, before signing permanently with the "Tigers" in summer 2008 for £2.5 million. He spent the 2010–11 season on loan at Crystal Palace, before joining the club permanently the next season.
Born in Stafford, Staffordshire, Gardner started his career with First Division club Port Vale, making his debut under John Rudge in October of the 1998–99 season. He scored his first senior goal on 1 May 1999, in a 2–0 win over Queens Park Rangers. He made fifteen league appearances in 1998–99.
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Charles I of England
Charles I (19 November 1600 – 30 January 1649) was King of England, King of Scotland, and King of Ireland from 27 March 1625 until his execution in 1649. Charles engaged in a struggle for power with the Parliament of England, attempting to obtain royal revenue whilst Parliament sought to curb his Royal prerogative which Charles believed was divinely ordained. Many of his English subjects opposed his actions, in particular his interference in the English and Scottish churches and the levying of taxes without parliamentary consent, because they saw them as those of a tyrannical absolute monarch.
Charles's reign was also characterised by religious conflicts. His failure to successfully aid Protestant forces during the Thirty Years' War, coupled with the fact that he married a Roman Catholic princess, generated deep mistrust concerning the king's dogma. Charles further allied himself with controversial ecclesiastic figures, such as Richard Montagu and William Laud, whom Charles appointed Archbishop of Canterbury. Many of Charles's subjects felt this brought the Church of England too close to the Roman Catholic Church. Charles's later attempts to force religious reforms upon Scotland led to the Bishops' Wars, strengthened the position of the English and Scottish parliaments and helped precipitate his own downfall.
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Chris Birchall
Christopher "Chris" Birchall CM (born 5 May 1984) is an English-born Trinidad and Tobago international footballer who plays as a midfielder for the Columbus Crew of Major League Soccer.
Forging his career with local club Port Vale, he earned worldwide recognition by playing at the 2006 FIFA World Cup for Trinidad and Tobago – the country of his mother's birth. His exploits led to a move up the leagues to Coventry City later that year. After short loan spells with Scottish side St. Mirren and Carlisle United, he moved on to Brighton & Hove Albion. In 2009 he moved to the United States to sign with MLS club Los Angeles Galaxy. Whilst with the Galaxy, the club were crowned Major League Soccer Conference champions in 2009 and 2011, and also completed a Supporters' Shield and MLS Cup treble in 2011. He joined Columbus Crew in May 2012.
Birchall attended Alleyne's High School in Stone, Staffordshire, and started his career with Port Vale, having been associated with the Burslem based club since the age of nine. He made his debut under Brian Horton on 12 September 2001, replacing Neil Brisco 79 minutes into a 2–0 Second Round exit of the League Cup at Charlton Athletic's The Valley stadium. On 20 April 2002 he made his league debut, again replacing Brisco, this time in a 1–0 defeat by Brighton at Vale Park.
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Climax Blues Band
The Climax Blues Band (originally known as the Climax Chicago Blues Band) were formed in Stafford, England in 1968. The original members were guitarists Peter Haycock and Derek Holt; keyboardist Arthur Wood; bassist Richard Jones; drummer George Newsome; and lead vocalist and saxophonist Colin Cooper.
In 1970, the group shortened its name to the Climax Blues Band due to pressure from the American band, Chicago Transit Authority. The band has released at least 17 albums and had a Top 10 hit in the UK with "Couldn't Get It Right". That song and "I Love You" were American hits as well; "Couldn't Get It Right" reached #3 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1977, and "I Love You" peaked at #12 in 1980.
Led by Cooper, the former frontman of the R&B group the Hipster Image, the Climax Chicago Blues Band was one of the leading lights of the late 1960s UK blues boom. Prior to the release of 1969's Plays On, Jones left the group, prompting Holt to move to bass. In 1970 they moved to the Harvest label, at the same time shifting towards a more rock oriented sound on A Lot of Bottle. Around the release of 1971's Tightly Knit, Newsome was replaced by John Cuffley; upon Wood's exit in the wake of 1972's Rich Man, they continued on as a quartet, also dropping the "Chicago" portion of their name to avoid confusion with the American band of a similar name.
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Dave Follows
Dave Follows (1941, Stafford - 17 October 2003) was a British cartoonist. Follows' cartoons appear in newspapers, comics, and magazines all over the world. The Creature Feature is one of Follows' biggest successes.
The Creature Feature is an animal cartoon strip, and appeared weekly in the Sunday Times supplement, Funday Times for over 15 years 1990 to 2006. The Creature Feature was also syndicated in over 30 newspapers throughout the world including: Hull Daily Mail, Burton Daily Mail, Northampton Chronicle and Echo, Lincolnshire Echo, The Star in Johannesburg, Bromley Leader, Darlington Northern Echo, Bradford Telegraph and Argus, Express and Star Wolverhampton, York Evening Press, Shields Gazette, Derby Evening Telegraph, Bury Free Press, Kettering Evening Telegraph, Plymouth Western Morning News, Leicester Mercury, Sussex Express, Tunbridge Wells Courier, Edinburgh Evening News, Gloucester Citizen, Norwich Eastern Evening News and the Eastern Daily Press, Swindon Evening Advertiser, Newcastle Journal, Bournemouth Evening Echo, Swansea Evening Post, Khaleej Times (UAE), Belfast Irish News, Oxford Mail, and Scarborough Mercury.
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Eadric the Wild
Eadric the Wild (or Eadric Silvaticus), also known as Eadric Cild, was an Anglo-Saxon magnate of the West Midlands who led English resistance to the Norman Conquest, active in 1068-70.
The early 12th-century historian John of Worcester writes that Eadric the Wild was a son of one Ælfric, whom he identifies as a brother of Eadric Streona, ealdorman of Mercia under King Æthelred the Unready. While five of Eadric Streona's brothers appear to attest witness-lists of King Æthelred's charters, no Ælfric makes a plausible candidate for identification with a brother of the ealdorman. It is possible that Ælfric was not a brother but a nephew of the ealdorman. If so, Eadric (the Wild) would belong to the same generation as his cousin Siward son of Æthelgar, who was himself a grandson of Eadric Streona.
Because Eadric's name is a common one in pre-Conquest England, identification with any of the landholders of this name listed in Domesday Book remains a ticklish affair. Nevertheless, it would seem that he held extensively in Shropshire and also held roughly 12 hides in Herefordshire. He is probably the Eadric son of Ælfric who held two estates from Much Wenlock Priory (Shropshire). Eadric and his cousin Siward ranked as the wealthiest thegns in Shropshire TRE.
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Ealhswith
Ealhswith or Ealswitha (born c. 852 in Mercia – died 905) was the daughter of a Mercian nobleman, Æthelred Mucil, Ealdorman of the Gaini. She was married in 868 to Alfred the Great, before he became king of Wessex. In accordance with ninth century West Saxon custom, she was not given the title of queen.
Ealswith was the daughter of Æthelred and his wife Eadburh. She was related to the royal house of Mercia through her mother.
After Alfred's death in 899, Ealhswith became a nun. She died on 5 December 905, and is buried in St. Mary's Abbey, Winchester, Hampshire.
Elswitha Hall in Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, built in the 18th Century, is named after her.
The children of Alfred and Ealhswith included:
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Giles Gilbert Scott
Sir Giles Gilbert Scott, OM, FRIBA (9 November 1880 – 8 February 1960) was an English architect known for his work on such buildings as Liverpool Cathedral and Battersea Power Station and designing the iconic red telephone box.
He came from a family of architects. He was the son of George Gilbert Scott, Jr., the grandson of Sir George Gilbert Scott, a nephew of John Oldrid Scott, and brother of Adrian Gilbert Scott. Architect Richard Gilbert Scott was his son. Scott was noted for his blending of Gothic tradition with modernism, making what might have been functionally designed buildings into popular landmarks.
Born in London, Scott was the third son of George Gilbert Scott, Jr. When he was three, his father was declared as being of unsound mind and consequently his sons saw little of their father. Giles Gilbert Scott claimed to remember only seeing his father twice in his life. A bequest from his uncle in 1889 gave him ownership of Hollis Street Farm, near Ninfield, Sussex, with a life tenancy to his mother. It was here that they came to escape the occasional violent outbursts of his father.[citation needed]
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Henry IV of England
Henry IV (possibly 3 April 1366 – 20 March 1413) was King of England and Lord of Ireland (1399–1413). He was the ninth King of England of the House of Plantagenet and also asserted his grandfather's claim to the title King of France. He was born at Bolingbroke Castle in Lincolnshire, hence his other name, Henry (of) Bolingbroke ( /ˈbɒlɪŋbrʊk/). His father, John of Gaunt, was the third son of Edward III, and enjoyed a position of considerable influence during much of the reign of Henry's cousin Richard II, whom Henry eventually deposed. Henry's mother was Blanche, heiress to the considerable Lancaster estates, thus he became the first King of England from the Lancaster branch of the Plantagenets, one of the two family branches that were belligerents in the War of the Roses. The other one was the York branch, initiated by his uncle Edmund of Langley, 1st Duke of York (see section "Seniority in line from Edward III" below).
One of Henry's elder sisters, Philippa of Lancaster, married John I of Portugal, and his younger sister Elizabeth was the mother of John Holland, 2nd Duke of Exeter. His younger half-sister Catherine, the daughter of his father's second wife, Constance of Castile, was queen consort of Castile. He also had four half-siblings by Katherine Swynford, originally his sisters' governess, then his father's longstanding mistress, and later his third wife. These four children were given the surname Beaufort after a castle their father held in Champagne, France.
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J. R. R. Tolkien
John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, CBE (
/ˈtɒlkiːn/, US /ˈtoʊlkiːn/; 3 January 1892 – 2 September 1973) was an English writer, poet, philologist, and university professor, best known as the author of the classic high fantasy works The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarillion.
Tolkien was Rawlinson and Bosworth Professor of Anglo-Saxon at Pembroke College, Oxford, from 1925 to 1945 and Merton Professor of English Language and Literature there from 1945 to 1959. He was a close friend of C. S. Lewis—they were both members of the informal literary discussion group known as the Inklings. Tolkien was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II on 28 March 1972.
After his death, Tolkien's son Christopher published a series of works based on his father's extensive notes and unpublished manuscripts, including The Silmarillion. These, together with The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings form a connected body of tales, poems, fictional histories, invented languages, and literary essays about a fantasy world called Arda, and Middle-earth within it. Between 1951 and 1955, Tolkien applied the term legendarium to the larger part of these writings.
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James I of England
James VI and I (19 June 1566 – 27 March 1625) was King of Scots as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the English and Scottish crowns on 24 March 1603 until his death. The kingdoms of England and Scotland were individual sovereign states, with their own parliaments, judiciary, and laws, though both were ruled by James in personal union.
He became King of Scotland at the age of thirteen months, succeeding his mother Mary, Queen of Scots, who had been compelled to abdicate in his favour. Four different regents governed during his minority, which ended officially in 1578, though he did not gain full control of his government until 1583. In 1603, he succeeded the last Tudor monarch of England and Ireland, Elizabeth I, who died without issue. He continued to reign in all three kingdoms for 22 years, a period known as the Jacobean era after him, until his death in 1625 at the age of 58. After the Union of the Crowns, he based himself in England (the largest of the three realms) from 1603, only returning to Scotland once in 1617, and styled himself "King of Great Britain and Ireland". In his reign, the Plantation of Ulster and British colonization of the Americas began.
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Mercia
Mercia ( /ˈmɜrsiə/, /ˈmɜrʃə/) was one of the kingdoms of the Anglo-Saxon Heptarchy. It was centred on the valley of the River Trent and its tributaries in the region now known as the English Midlands. The name is a Latinisation of the Old English Mierce or Myrce, meaning "border people".
Mercia's neighbours included Northumbria, Powys and the kingdoms of southern Wales, Wessex, Sussex, Essex and East Anglia.
The name Mercia is still in use today by a wide range of organisations, including military units, public, commercial and voluntary bodies; and occurs as a female given name.
Mercia's exact evolution from the Anglo-Saxon invasions is more obscure than that of Northumbria, Kent, or even Wessex. Also, Mercia developed an effective political structure and adopted Christianity later than the other kingdoms. Archaeological surveys show that Angles settled the lands north of the River Thames by the 6th century. The name Mercia is Old English for "boundary folk" (see Welsh Marches), and the traditional interpretation is that the kingdom originated along the frontier between the native Welsh and the Anglo-Saxon invaders. However, P. Hunter Blair argued an alternative interpretation: that they emerged along the frontier of Northumbria and the inhabitants of the Trent river valley.
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Nigel Callaghan
Nigel Ian Callaghan (born 12 September 1962, Singapore) is a former professional footballer.
Callaghan played on the right-wing for a number of clubs including; Watford, Derby County and Aston Villa. Internationally, he represented England at Under-21 level and played one game for England B in November 1984 (alongside fellow Watford player Luther Blissett). Callaghan came on as a half time substitute to take part in a 2-0 win against a full New Zealand side.
Whilst at Watford, he played in the 1984 FA Cup Final where they lost to Everton. He had broken into their first team during the 1980–81 season and helped them win promotion to the First Division a year later. He also helped them finish second in the league in 1983. In total, he played 223 league games for the Hornets and scored 41 goals, before being transferred to Derby County in February 1987.
He scored four goals in 18 Second Division games for the Rams in the 1986–87 season as they cruised to the division championship and a return to the First Division after seven years away.
wn.com/Nigel_Callaghan -
Queen Elizabeth II
Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; born 21 April 1926) is the constitutional monarch of 16 sovereign states known as the Commonwealth realms, and head of the 54-member Commonwealth of Nations. She is also head of state of the Crown Dependencies.
Elizabeth was born in London, and educated privately at home. Her father acceded to the throne as George VI in 1936 on the abdication of his brother Edward VIII. She began to undertake public duties during the Second World War, in which she served in the Auxiliary Territorial Service. On the death of her father in 1952, she became Head of the Commonwealth and queen regnant of seven independent Commonwealth countries: the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Pakistan, and Ceylon. Her coronation service in 1953 was the first to be televised. Between 1956 and 1992, the number of her realms varied as territories gained independence and some realms became republics. Today, in addition to the first four aforementioned countries, Elizabeth is Queen of Jamaica, Barbados, the Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Belize, Antigua and Barbuda, and Saint Kitts and Nevis.
wn.com/Queen_Elizabeth_II -
Richard Beeching
Richard Beeching, Baron Beeching (21 April 1913 – 23 March 1985), commonly known as Dr Beeching, was chairman of British Railways and a physicist and engineer. He became a household name in Britain in the early 1960s for his report "The Reshaping of British Railways", commonly referred to as 'The Beeching Report', which led to far-reaching changes in the railway network, popularly known as the Beeching Axe. As a result of the report, just over 4,000 route miles were cut on cost and efficiency grounds, leaving Britain with 13,721 miles (22,082 km) of railway lines in 1966. A further 2,000 miles (3,200 km) were lost by the end of the 1960s.
Beeching was born in Sheerness on the Isle of Sheppey in Kent, the second of four brothers. His father was a reporter with the Kent Messenger newspaper, his mother a schoolteacher and his maternal grandfather a dockyard worker. Shortly after his birth, Beeching's family moved to Maidstone where his brothers Kenneth (who was killed in the Second World War) and John were born. All four Beeching boys attended the local Church of England primary school, Maidstone All Saints, and won scholarships to Maidstone Grammar School, where Richard was a prefect. Beeching and his elder brother Geoffrey attended Imperial College of Science & Technology in London where both read physics and took First Class honours degrees. His younger brothers both attended Downing College, Cambridge.
wn.com/Richard_Beeching -
Robert de Tonei
Robert de Stafford (Robert de Toeni) (c. 1036 – 1088) was a Norman nobleman, the builder of Stafford Castle in England. He may or may not be the same as Robert de Tosny Lord of Belvoir or of the Robert de Tosny who was son of Raoul II of Tosny; primary evidence is lacking to determine his parentage, according to Cawley. Cawley notes that Robert de Stafford is connected to the Tosny family through a charter (not dated) under which “Robertus de Stafford” confirmed donations to Wotton Wawen Abbey, Warwickshire by “avus meus Robertus de Toenio et pater meus Nicolaus de Stafford.” Also ”Robertus de Staffordia et Robertus filius meus et hæres” confirmed donations of property to Evesham Monastery by “Rodbertus avus meus…et pater meus Nicholaus” by undated charter.
He held a large number of lordships in the Domesday Survey, a high proportion lying in Staffordshire. They included Barlaston and Bradley in Staffordshire and part of Duns Tew in Oxfordshire.
He is buried in Evesham Abbey.
Although some sources say that he married Adelisa de Savona, with whom he had a daughter Adelisa de Toeni, who married Roger Bigod, 1st Earl of Norfolk, the Adelisa de Tosny who married Roger Bigod was in fact the heiress of Belvoir and was clearly the daughter of Robert de Tosny Lord of Belvoir and his wife Adeliza fitzOsulf du Plessis, through whom Belvoir had been inherited, since the honour of Belvoir was then passed to Cecily Bigod, the daughter of Roger and Adelisa Bigod.
wn.com/Robert_de_Tonei -
Titus Oates
Titus Oates (15 September 1649 – 12/13 July 1705) was an English perjurer who fabricated the "Popish Plot", a supposed Catholic conspiracy to kill King Charles II.
Titus Oates was born in Oakham. His father, Samuel, was the director of Marsham in Norfolk before becoming an Anabaptist during the Puritan Revolution and rejoining the Church of England at the Restoration. Oates was educated at Merchant Taylors' School, Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, and St John's College, Cambridge. Known as a less than astute student, he was ejected from both colleges. A few months later, he became an Anglican priest and Vicar of the parish of Bobbing in Kent. During this time Oates was charged with perjury having accused a schoolmaster in Hastings of sodomy. Oates was put in jail, but escaped and fled to London.
In 1677 he got himself appointed as a chaplain of the ship Adventurer in the English navy. He was soon accused of buggery (i.e., sodomy, which was a capital offence in England at the time) and spared only because of his clergyman's status.
wn.com/Titus_Oates -
William Salt
William Salt (1808–1863) was a banker in London and a genealogist and antiquary in whose memory the William Salt Library in Stafford was founded.
His father, John Stevenson Salt (High Sheriff of Staffordshire in 1838), married Sarah Stevenson, the granddaughter of John Stevenson, founder in 1737 of a banking company in Stafford. The firm, Stevenson Salt & Co, had opened in Cheapside, London, in 1788 and in 1867 merged with Bosanquet & Co and later with Lloyds Banking Company.
William was an avid collector of topographical and genealogical books and records, particularly those relating to Staffordshire. After his death his extensive collection was catalogued and donated to County of Stafford, which financed the opening in 1872 of the William Salt Library in Market Square, Stafford.
His nephew was Sir Thomas Salt Bt. of Sandon, near Eccleshall, Staffordshire.
wn.com/William_Salt -
Æthelflæd
Æthelflæd (Old English: Æðelflæd (869 / 870–918), was the eldest daughter of King Alfred the Great of Wessex and Ealhswith, wife of Æthelred, ealdorman of Mercia, and after his death, ruler of Mercia (911–918). The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle styles her "Lady of the Mercians" (Myrcna hlæfdige).
Æthelflæd is mentioned by King Alfred's biographer Asser, who calls her the first-born child of Alfred and Ealhswith and a sister to Edward, Æthelgifu, Ælfthryth and Æthelweard. By the time he wrote, roughly about the year 890, she was already married to Æthelred, then ealdorman of Mercia.
They had one daughter, Ælfwynn.
During a sustained campaign of repeated attack between 865 and 878 the Danish Vikings overran most of the English Kingdoms such as Northumbria, Eastern Mercia, East Anglia and even threatened the very existence of Wessex. Alfred and his descendants reconquered these lands from the Danes by 937. The aid given him in this by Mercia had to be acknowledged. Instead of making the dominion of Wessex over Mercia seem like a conquest, Alfred married Æthelflæd to Æthelred of Mercia and gave his son-in-law the title Ealdorman or Earl of Mercia, thus allowing some ongoing autonomy. Since much of Western Mercia was never under the control of the Danes, and remained strong, this was a prudent move. Further prudence prevailed when the kingdoms were finally absorbed; they were not absorbed into Wessex or greater Wessex but into England. The term Anglo-Saxon thus reflects King Alfred's diplomatic integration of the Mercians Angles and the Saxons.
wn.com/Æthelflæd
Stafford, Don Filmography
Stafford Filmography
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E:60 - Matthew Stafford
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 7:45
- Updated: 21 Nov 2012
Since being picked No. 1 in the 2009 NFL Draft, Matthew Stafford has heard the approving roar of Detroit Lions fans. E:60's Rachel Nichols travels with Stafford to his hometown of Dallas, TX to see where his football life began and where it's going.
http://wn.com/E60_Matthew_Stafford
Drugs Raid in Stafford
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 2:39
- Updated: 03 Nov 2012
Officers from Stafford Borough Local Policing Team (LPT) executed a warrant under the Misuse of Drugs Act at an address in Hollins Drive at around 7.30am this morning (Wednesday 7 March). A 24-year-old man and a 19-year-old woman were arrested at the property and taken into custody for questioning. Officers seized a quantity of cannabis following a search of the address. This warrant is part of Operation Nemesis, the force's ongoing operation to target those involved in drug crime throughout Staffordshire. We would urge anyone with any information on drug supply or use in their area to contact Staffordshire Police on 101, or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
http://wn.com/Drugs_Raid_in_Stafford
Matthew Stafford Highlights 2011-2012 HD
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 4:41
- Updated: 12 Nov 2012
Highlights of Matt Staffords 11-12 season.
http://wn.com/Matthew_Stafford_Highlights_2011-2012_HD
Stafford Volunteers Help Shore Victims Rebuild After Sandy
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 3:03
- Updated: 21 Nov 2012
Members of Stafford Teachers and Residents Together (START) are assisting victims of Hurricane Sandy sort through their homes and belongings, even if they themselves have lost homes and businesses. For more New Jersey news, visit NJ Today online at www.njtvonline.org
http://wn.com/Stafford_Volunteers_Help_Shore_Victims_Rebuild_After_Sandy
Y&R; Phyllis/Michelle Stafford clip Nov/16/2012 Phack
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 9:06
- Updated: 17 Nov 2012
http://wn.com/Y&R;_Phyllis_Michelle_Stafford_clip_Nov_16_2012_Phack
SWAG - Matthew Stafford - How Far Can You Throw It?
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 1:21
- Updated: 06 Nov 2012
See how far Matthew Stafford can throw it ... before this Sunday's game v. St. Louis, in the latest issue of SWAG, available to download for free now at the Apple App Store or the Android Marketplace: bit.ly/MHCqPn
http://wn.com/SWAG_Matthew_Stafford_How_Far_Can_You_Throw_It?
Matthew Stafford Throws Passes Off Of The ESPN Roof
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 1:22
- Updated: 17 Nov 2012
While filming a "This Is SportsCenter" commercial, Detroit Lions QB Matthew Stafford threw some deep routes to ESPN employees and visitors.
http://wn.com/Matthew_Stafford_Throws_Passes_Off_Of_The_ESPN_Roof
TEDxSalford - Ed Stafford - Walking the Amazon
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 17:41
- Updated: 28 Oct 2012
Ed Stafford became the first person to walk the entire length of the Amazon River in August 2010. His adventure has been described as one of the most dangerous and difficult expeditions ever undertaken encountering venomous snakes, severe floods, electric eels, jaguars and hostile local tribes, one of whom held him for questioning about the murder of one of their tribesman. Since returning home to the UK his story has featured in over 300 articles around the globe. Ed's Amazon accomplishment has been described by Sir Ranulph Fiennes as being "in the top league of expeditions past and present". In February 2011 Stafford was a nominee for the National Geographic Adventurer of the Year 2010 and then in March the same year he was awarded European Adventurer of the Year 2011. The Guinness World Records formally recognised Stafford's achievement and he appears in the 2012 Guinness Book of Records. Post production done by twitter.com About TEDx, x = independently organized event In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized.* (*Subject to certain rules and ...
http://wn.com/TEDxSalford_Ed_Stafford_Walking_the_Amazon
Stafford - Wiki Article
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 46:25
- Updated: 27 Oct 2012
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, adjac... Stafford - Wiki Article - wikiplays.org Original @ http All Information Derived from Wikipedia using Creative Commons License: en.wikipedia.org Author: Val Vannet Image URL: en.wikipedia.org Licensed under:Creative Commons ASA 3.0, This work is in the public domain in the United States. Author: Image URL: en.wikipedia.org Licensed under:This image is ineligible for copyright and therefore is in the public domain, because it consists entirely of information that is common property and contains no original authorship., This work is in the Public Domain., This work is in the public domain in the United States. Author: Gilesjuk Image URL: en.wikipedia.org Licensed under:Creative Commons ASA 3.0, This work is in the public domain in the United States. Author: Stocksy Image URL: en.wikipedia.org Licensed under:This image is ineligible for copyright and therefore is in the public domain, because it consists entirely of information that is common property and contains no original authorship., This work is in the...
http://wn.com/Stafford_Wiki_Article
Stafford Brothers - Pressure (Candyland Remix)
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 3:35
- Updated: 21 Nov 2012
New Remix by Candyland which will be getting released on Cr2 Records soon. Hope you all like it, and make sure you leave a comment! Buy: Coming Soon... Support Stafford Brothers: Facebook: www.facebook.com Soundcloud: soundcloud.com Twitter: www.twitter.com Youtube: www.youtube.com Website: www.staffordbrothers.com Support Candyland Facebook: www.facebook.com Soundcloud: soundcloud.com Twitter: twitter.com Website: www.sweetshopmusic.com (c) Cr2 Records 2012 Like MA Dubstep www.facebook.com
http://wn.com/Stafford_Brothers_Pressure_Candyland_Remix
Jo Stafford 'You Belong to Me' Tribute
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 3:09
- Updated: 18 Nov 2012
Jo Elizabeth Stafford (November 12, 1917 July 16, 2008) was an American singer of traditional pop music and jazz standards whose career ran from the late 1930s to the early 1960s. Stafford was greatly admired for the purity of her voice and was considered one of the most versatile vocalists of the era. She was also viewed as a pioneer of modern musical parody, having won a Grammy Award for Best Comedy Album in 1961 (with husband Paul Weston) for their album Jonathan and Darlene Edwards in Paris. She was also the first female to have a No 1 on the UK Singles Chart. Stafford was born in Coalinga, California to Grover Cleveland Stafford and Anna York Stafford, a distant cousin of Sergeant Alvin York. Originally, she wanted to become an opera singer and studied voice as a child. However, because of the economic Great Depression, she abandoned that idea and joined her sisters Christine and Pauline in a popular vocal group, "The Stafford Sisters", which performed on Los Angeles radio station KHJ. In 1937 she worked behind the scenes with Fred Astaire on the soundtrack of A Damsel in Distress and created the arrangement and, with her sisters, the backing vocals for "Nice Work If You Can Get It". She claimed that her arrangement had to be adapted as Astaire had difficulty with some of the syncopation, in her words: "The man with the syncopated shoes couldn't do the syncopated notes". See the pyramids along the Nile And watch the sunrise on a tropic isle But just remember darling ...
http://wn.com/Jo_Stafford_'You_Belong_to_Me'_Tribute
This Is SportsCenter - Matthew Stafford: Accident
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 0:16
- Updated: 21 Nov 2012
We need to train the dogs at SportsCenter.
http://wn.com/This_Is_SportsCenter_Matthew_Stafford_Accident
Michelle Stafford, Melody Thomas Scott & Katherine Kelly Lang are make up free on "the talk"
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 7:16
- Updated: 20 Nov 2012
For full episode go to "The Talk" Official website www.cbs.com this clip is copyright of CBS TV No Copyright infringement intended. For entertainment purposes only.
http://wn.com/Michelle_Stafford,_Melody_Thomas_Scott_Katherine_Kelly_Lang_are_make_up_free_on_the_talk
Welcome Stafford - UK
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 8:45
- Updated: 17 Nov 2012
Thomas & Friends Welcome Stafford - Season 16 Spencer shows new electric shunting engine Stafford around the island, but doesn't listen to a warning that Stafford's batteries may run out. Narrated by Michael Angelis Directed by Greg Tiernan Produced by Nicole Stinn With subtitles for the hard-of-hearing. Thomas & Friends is owned and copyright of HiT Entertainment Limted. I own nothing.
http://wn.com/Welcome_Stafford_UK
Welcome Stafford
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 8:46
- Updated: 21 Nov 2012
Welcome Stafford - Written by Sharon Miller. There's a buzz of excitement on Sodor as Stafford, the new shunting engine, is in the Steamworks. He is electric and runs on batteries, so everyone wants to meet him. Spencer sets off to show him round the Island, smugly ignoring Victor's warning that Stafford's batteries could run out. It serves him right when he proudly announces their arrival at various locations and Stafford is not with him. But Stafford's batteries are fully charged when he helps Spencer out of a pickle. Just thought I'd upload this as people might have wanted to take a gander at Stafford. It was only today I realised I could record off my TV. Thomas and Friends is licensed to HiT Entertainment. No Profit has or will be made of this video.
http://wn.com/Welcome_Stafford
![Xion Presents - Stafford Anthem [Prod.Moky]](http://web.archive.org./web/20121122124059im_/http://i.ytimg.com/vi/wMU_-RwabKk/default.jpg "Xion Presents - Stafford Anthem [Prod.Moky]")
Xion Presents - Stafford Anthem [Prod.Moky]
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 2:25
- Updated: 21 Nov 2012
Download the track here: soundcloud.com Grava,K.Kreeper,Stealth,Blazer,Blaxsall,P dot b, J Dot, Toxsickk, Triniman - Stafford Anthem [Prod.Moky] Facebook: XionStudio Videos & Studio Time email : xionstafford@gmail.com
http://wn.com/Xion_Presents_Stafford_Anthem_ProdMoky_
Madden 13 Online Gameplay - vs ADIcArDs & Stafford Catches Fire
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 11:39
- Updated: 14 Nov 2012
This video has 2 games for the price of 1!...or something like that. First game is me vs Adi, the 2nd game we played this year. The next one is me attempting to get 20 catches with Calvin Johnson. www.youtube.com Adi's channel check it out! madden 13 online game ranked match gameplay tips glitches mrgoldensports dukethakilla maddenmastermind cookieboy17 moss2chappy maddenmoments7 adicards vs coleworld9 the gamers lab highlights touchdown td nfl football hd pvr youtube partner madden 13 madden 13 online madden nfl 13 madden 13 gameplay fights nba mlb 2k13 apple mw3 black ops imaveriq imav3riq
http://wn.com/Madden_13_Online_Gameplay_vs_ADIcArDs_Stafford_Catches_Fire
PRESSURE Stafford Brothers ft MDPC
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 2:37
- Updated: 18 Nov 2012
Buy Now on Beatport:: bit.ly Buy Now on iTunes:: bit.ly
http://wn.com/PRESSURE_Stafford_Brothers_ft_MDPC
Matthew Stafford in ESPN Monday Night Football Commercial - Player of the Week
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 0:31
- Updated: 21 Nov 2012
Matthew Stafford stars in a kind of funny commercial. Go Pack Go ;) ***IMPORTANT READ**** NONE OF THIS WORK IS MINE, AND I GIVE ALL CREDIT TO THE MAKERS OF THIS COMMERCIAL. ***********EXTRA TAGS***************** Night Football Commercial Youtube Mp4 "Monday Night Football (TV Program)" "American...
http://wn.com/Matthew_Stafford_in_ESPN_Monday_Night_Football_Commercial_Player_of_the_Week
16x9 - What happened to Tori Stafford?
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 6:40
- Updated: 28 Sep 2012
[April 19, 2009] 16:9 goes beyond the police and search teams to bring you another force in the hopes of finding out what happened to 8-year-old Tori Stafford? Darryl Konynenbelt reports.
http://wn.com/16x9_What_happened_to_Tori_Stafford?
Stafford Show: Classic Racer GP Paddock - 500cc MV Agusta four revs up
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 7:02
- Updated: 29 Oct 2012
Journalist and occasional Classic Racer contributor Andy Kershaw deafens the spectators with a 500cc MV four at the GP Paddock at the recent 19th Carole Nash Classic Motorcycle Mechanics Show held over the weekend of October 20-21 2012... Andy Kershaw blips the throttle of the 1974 World Championship winning 500cc MV Agusta four, ridden by Phil Read. In race guise this bike would rev to a shade under 15000rpm, but at the Paddock Andy K only takes it up to 8000rpm. Listen to that sound... See more: www.classicbikersclub.com
http://wn.com/Stafford_Show_Classic_Racer_GP_Paddock_500cc_MV_Agusta_four_revs_up
Stafford Windows
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 2:12
- Updated: 12 Oct 2012
Stafford showing his accuracy and arm strength.
http://wn.com/Stafford_Windows
A Lion on the Links: Matthew Stafford leads a different kind of Drive
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 1:48
- Updated: 24 Sep 2012
Detroit Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford lets ESPN FrontRow play through a hole during his round at the 2012 ESPY Golf Tournament.
http://wn.com/A_Lion_on_the_Links_Matthew_Stafford_leads_a_different_kind_of_Drive
photo: AP / Pablo Martinez Monsivais
20 Nov 2012
Article by WN.com Correspondent Dallas Darling President Barack Obama's whirlwind tour of southeast Asia and meetings with dignitaries will have to walk a tightrope between either appearing to endorse military juntas or truly being committed to ongoing pro-democracy movements. Specifically at issue is Burma's Aung San Suu Kyi, a democratic advocate...(size: 5.0Kb)
photo: AP / Sebastian D'souza
21 Nov 2012
MUMBAI, India - India executed the lone surviving gunman from the 2008 terror attack on Mumbai early Wednesday, India's home ministry said. Ajmal Kasab, a Pakistani citizen, was one of 10 gunmen who rampaged through the streets of India's financial capital in November 2008, killing 166 people. Kasab was hung at 7:30 a.m. Wednesday at a jail in...(size: 4.5Kb)
photo: AP / Hatem Moussa
19 Nov 2012
Gaza/Jerusalem - Israel bombed dozens of targets in the Gaza Strip on Monday and said that while it was prepared to step up its offensive by sending in troops, it preferred a diplomatic solution that would end Palestinian rocket fire. Mediator Egypt said a deal for a truce to end the fighting could be close. The leader of Hamas said it was up to...(size: 4.1Kb)
photo: AP / Melanie Gouby
21 Nov 2012
Hundreds of government soldiers and police in the Democratic Republic of Congo have surrendered to rebels at a stadium in Goma, Al Jazeera's Nazanine Moshiri has reported from the scene. The M23 rebel group, believed to be backed by Rwanda seized the strategic, provincial capital of Goma in eastern Congo on Tuesday, home to more than 1 million...(size: 18.7Kb)
photo: UN / Logan Abassi
21 Nov 2012
A report by the UN says global attempts to curb emissions of CO2 are falling well short of what is needed to stem dangerous climate change. The UN's Environment Programme says greenhouse gases are 14% above where they need to be in 2020 for temperature rises this century to remain below 2C. The authors say this target is still technically...(size: 3.5Kb)
BBC News
22 Nov 2012
Computer technology now moves so fast it's hard to remember life before the internet. But just 19 years ago at the beginning of the nineties, the fledgling world wide web had no search engines, no social networking sites, and no webcam. The scientists credited with inventing the first webcam - thereby launching the revolution that would bring us...(size: 5.6Kb)
Houston Chronicle
22 Nov 2012
Posted on November 21, 2012 at 8:03 pm by John McClain in General E-mail | Print Kareem Jackson needs to bounce back and prove the Jacksonville game was a mirage, a one-time thing. ( Smiley N. Pool / Houston Chronicle ) Five questions going into Thursday’s game 1. Will the defense rebound from the bad performance against Jacksonville? Let’s...(size: 6.1Kb)
The Miami Herald
22 Nov 2012
DETROIT -- When the schedule came out seven months ago, most everyone pointed to the Lions' 73rd Thanksgiving game as a clash between two rising powers capable of extended playoff runs. The Lions returned 21 of 22 starters, had one of the best young quarterbacks in the game and were coming off their first postseason appearance in a dozen years. The...(size: 4.8Kb)
Detroit Free Press
22 Nov 2012
When the schedule came out seven months ago, most everyone pointed to the Lions' 73rd Thanksgiving game as a clash between two rising powers capable of extended playoff runs. The Lions returned 21 of 22 starters, had one of the best young quarterbacks in the game and were coming off their first postseason appearance in a dozen years. The Texans...(size: 4.9Kb)
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
22 Nov 2012
Video Aaron Rodgers (top), Bob McGinn (middle), and Tom Silverstein and Lori Nickel discuss Packers-Giants. Loading... Packers Fan Columnists...(size: 7.6Kb)
Tampa Bay Online
22 Nov 2012
Today's games Texans-Lions, 12:30 p.m. WHERE: Ford Field, Detroit TV/CREW: CBS, Ch. 10 (Jim Nantz, Phil Simms) ABOUT THE TEXANS: Houston is built to outlast you in a shootout or grind out a win in a defensive struggle — and this matchup tilts toward a shootout. The Texans are 4-0 on the road and Matt Schaub, who passed for 527 yards last...(size: 3.2Kb)
Detroit news
22 Nov 2012
By Josh Katzenstein The Detroit News Comments Justin Durant, right, and the Lions defense faces a tough challenge today in a balanced Texans offense that ranks sixth in the NFL. (Daniel Mears/Detroit News) Allen Park â When the Lions won their last Thanksgiving game, nearly half of their current roster was still in high school. But ending that...(size: 11.0Kb)
The Examiner
22 Nov 2012
Related topics Detroit LionsHouston TexansNFLFootballgame previewThanksgiving Advertisement It's Thanksgiving week, which means it is time for the Detroit Lions' annual Thanksgiving Day game, which means, in this modern era, it is time for another Lions loss. Detroit hasn't won a game on Thanksgiving since 2003, and they have not been dealt a good...(size: 8.5Kb)
Canberra Times
22 Nov 2012
A renowned Australian criminologist, who spent decades campaigning over miscarriages of justice, is now facing allegations he sexually abused two children nearly 40 years ago. Professor Paul Wilson OAM, the former head of criminology at the Gold...(size: 1.6Kb)
Richmond Times Dispatch
22 Nov 2012
Virginia state police charged a New Jersey man with multiple felony counts after they say he threatened passengers on a Greyhound bus traveling on Interstate 95 in Prince William County early Wednesday morning. David A. Servais, 23, of Millville, N.J., was...(size: 1.7Kb)
The Washington Post
22 Nov 2012
my SA
22 Nov 2012
Detroit Free Press
22 Nov 2012
SI.com has a love/hate relationship with the Lions. Peter King loves them -- or at least likes them to beat the Houston Texans today. And, no, he didn't make his pick by which helmet of feed he ate from. King wrote: "Let me count the disadvantages for the...(size: 1.7Kb)
For the larger local government district, see Stafford (borough).
For other uses, see Stafford (disambiguation).
Coordinates: 52°48′24″N 2°07′02″W / 52.8066°N 2.1171°W / 52.8066; -2.1171
| Stafford | |
 Stafford town centre |
|
 Stafford
Stafford shown within Staffordshire |
|
| Population | 63,681 (2001 Census) |
|---|---|
| OS grid reference | SJ922232 |
| District | Stafford |
| Shire county | Staffordshire |
| Region | West Midlands |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | STAFFORD |
| Postcode district | ST16, ST17 |
| Dialling code | 01785 |
| Police | Staffordshire |
| Fire | Staffordshire |
| Ambulance | West Midlands |
| EU Parliament | West Midlands |
| UK Parliament | Stafford |
| List of places: UK • England • Staffordshire | |
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, adjacent to the M6 motorway Junction 13 to Junction 14. The population of Stafford was given in the 2001 census as 63,681,[1] with that of the wider borough of Stafford as 122,000, making Stafford the fourth largest settlement in the Ceremonial county, after Stoke on Trent, Tamworth and Newcastle under Lyme.
Contents |
History[link]
Stafford means 'ford' by a 'staithe' (landing place). The original settlement was on dry sand and gravel peninsula that provided a strategic crossing point in the marshy valley 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.
It's thought Stafford was founded in about 700 AD[2] by Mercian prince called Bertelin who, according to legend, established a hermitage on the peninsular named Betheney or Bethnei.[3] Until recently it was thought that the remains of a wooden preaching cross from this time had been found under the remains of St Bertelin's chapel, next to the later collegiate Church of St Mary in the centre of the town. Recent re-examination of the evidence[4] shows this was a misinterpretation – it was a tree trunk coffin placed centrally in the first, timber, chapel at around the time Æthelflæd founded the burh, in 913 AD. The tree trunk coffin may have been placed there as an object of commemoration or veneration of St Bertelin.
Already a centre for the delivery of grain tribute during the Dark Ages, Stafford was commandeered in July 913 AD by Æthelflæd, Lady of Mercia and daughter of King Alfred the Great, after the death of her father and of her husband, Æthelred, then ealdorman of Mercia in 911, in order to construct a burh there. This new burh was fortified and provided with an industrial area for the centralised production of Roman-style pottery ("Stafford Ware")[5] which was supplied to the chain of west midlands burhs.
She and her younger brother King Edward the Elder of Wessex, both children of King Alfred the Great and Ealhswith, wife of Æthelred, ealdorman of the Angles of Mercia, were attempting to complete their father King Alfred the Great's programme of unifying England into a single kingdom. Æthelflæd was a formidable military leader and tactician, and she sought to protect and extend the northern and western frontiers of her overlordship of Mercia against the Danish Vikings, by fortifying burhs, including Tamworth and Stafford in 913, and Runcorn on the River Mersey in 915 among others, while King Edward the Elder concentrated on the east, wresting East Anglia and Essex from the Danes. Anglo-Saxon women could play powerful roles in society. Her death effectively ended the relative independence of Mercia. Edward the Elder of Wessex took over her fortress at Tamworth and accepted the submission of all who were living in Mercia, both Danish and English. In late 918, Aelfwynn, Æthelflæd's daughter, was deprived of her authority over Mercia and taken to Wessex. The project for the unification of England took another step forward.[6]
Stafford was one of Æthelflæd's military campaign bases and extensive archaeological investigations, and recent re-examination and interpretation of that evidence now shows her new burh was producing, in addition to the Stafford Ware pottery, food for her army (butchery, grain processing, baking), coinage and weaponry, but apparently no other crafts and there were few imports.[5][7]
The Lady of Mercia, Æthelflæd, ruled Mercia for five years after the death of her father and husband, dying in Tamworth in 918.
At around this time the county of Staffordshire was formed. Stafford lay within the Pirehill hundred.[8]
In 1069, a rebellion by Eadric the Wild against the Norman conquest culminated in the Battle of Stafford. Two years later, another rebellion, this time led by Edwin, Earl of Mercia, culminated in Edwin's assassination. This meant his lands were distributed amongst the followers of William the Conqueror. Robert de Tonei was granted the manor of Bradley and one third of the king's rents in Stafford. The Norman Conquest in Stafford was therefore particularly brutal, and resulted not only in the imposition of a castle, but in the destruction and suppression of every other activity except the intermittent minting of coins for about a hundred years.
Redevelopment began in the late 12th century, and while the church, the main north to south street (Greengate) and routes through the late Saxon industrial quarter to the east remained, in other ways the town plan changed. A motte was constructed on the western side of the peninsula, overlooking a ford, and facing the site of the main castle of Stafford, on the hill at Castle Church, west of the town. Tenements were laid out over the whole peninsula and trade and crafts flourished until the early 14th century, when there was another upset probably associated with the plague of Black Death, which was followed in the mid 16th century by another revival.[5]
Stafford Castle was built by the Normans on the nearby hilltop to the west in about 1090. It was first made of wood, and later rebuilt of stone. It has been rebuilt twice since, and the ruins of the 19th century gothic revival castle on the earthworks incorporate much of the original stonework.[9]
In 1206, King John granted a Royal Charter which created the Borough of Stafford. In the Middle Ages, Stafford was a market town mainly dealing in cloth and wool. In spite of being the shire town, from Æthelflæd to Queen Elizabeth I, Stafford required successive surges of external investment.[10] King Richard II was paraded through the town's streets as a prisoner in 1399, by troops loyal to Henry Bolingbroke (the future Henry IV). When James I visited Stafford, when he was said to be so impressed by the town's Shire Hall and other buildings that he called it 'Little London'.[11] Charles I visited Stafford shortly after the out-break of the English Civil War. He stayed for three days at the Ancient High House. The town was later captured by the Parliamentarians, while a small-scale battle was fought at nearby Hopton Heath. Stafford later fell to the Parliamentarians, as did Stafford Castle, following a six-week siege.[12] The town's most famous son is Izaak Walton, author of The Compleat Angler. He was a staunch Royalist.
In 1658, Stafford elected John Bradshaw, the man who judged the trial of King Charles I, to represent the town in Parliament. During the reign of Charles II, William Howard, 1st Viscount Stafford became implicated in the Popish Plot, in which Titus Oates whipped up anti-Catholic feelings with his claims that there was a plot to have the king killed. Viscount William Howard was among those accused and he was unfortunate to be the first to be tried and was beheaded in 1680. The charge was false and over five years later, on 4 June 1685, the bill of attainder against Viscount Stafford was reversed.[13][14]
The town was represented in Parliament by the famous playwright Richard Brinsley Sheridan in the eighteenth century. During the same era, the town's mechanised shoe industry was founded, the most well-known factory owner being William Horton.[11] The industry gradually died out, with the last factory being redeveloped in 2008.
In 1837 the Grand Junction Railway built the first railway line (Birmingham to Warrington) and station in the town, and at Warrington this linked, via another line, with the Liverpool to Manchester railway. Birmingham provided the first connection to London. Other lines followed, Stafford became a significant junction and this helped attract a number of industries to the town.[15]
On 31 March 2006 Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II visited the town to join in the 800th anniversary civic celebrations.
In 2013 Stafford will celebrate its 1,100 th anniversary year with a number of history-based exhibitions, while local historian Nick Thomas and writer Roger Butters are set to produce a two volume 'A Compleat History of Stafford'(sic).
Governance[link]
The top-tier Staffordshire County Council, and Stafford Borough Council, are both based in the town. Stafford has its own parliamentary constituency.
Landmarks[link]
The Elizabethan Ancient High House in the town centre is the largest timber-framed town house in England.[16] It is now a museum, with changing exhibitions.
Stafford Castle was built by the Normans on the nearby hilltop to the west in about 1090, replacing the post-Conquest fort in the town. It was first made of wood, and later rebuilt of stone. It has been rebuilt twice since, and the ruins of the 19th century gothic revival castle crowning the earthworks incorporate much of the original stonework.[9] The castle has a visitor centre, with audio visual displays and hands-on items. There's also a recreated medieval herb garden and Shakespeare productions take place in the castle grounds each Summer. The castle forms a landmark for drivers, as it is highly visible from the M6 motorway.
The oldest building now in Stafford is St Chad's Church, dating back into the twelfth century.[17] The main part of the church is richly decorated. Carvings in the church's archways and pillars may have been made by a group of stonemasons from the Middle East who came to England during the Crusades. A great deal of the stonework was covered up during the 17th and 18th centuries, and the church took on a neo-classical style. In the early 19th century restoration, work was carried out on the church and the Norman decoration was rediscovered. The Church hosts "Timewalk", a computer generated display which relates the journey of history and mystery within the walls of the church.
St Mary's, the collegiate church formerly linked to St Bertelin's chapel, was completely rebuilt in the early 13th century in a cruciform layout with an aisled nave and chancel typical of the period. It has an impressive octagonal tower, once topped by a tall steeple, which can be picked out in Gough's plan shown above. The church was effectively two churches in one, divided by a screen, with the parish using the nave and the collegiate canons using the chancel. St Mary's was restored in 1842 by Giles Gilbert Scott.[18]
The Shire Hall Gallery was built in 1798 as a court house and office of the Mayor and Clerk of Stafford.[19] It houses the Art Gallery, which shows changing exhibitions. It also contains a café and the town's library. The Shire Hall used to be the town's court house, and is a Grade II listed building. It still retains two courtrooms. One of them is open to the general public and has a permanent exhibition showing the history of the building and details of some high profile cases that were heard there. An old 'holding cell' is also open to public viewing.
The Shugborough Hall country estate is 4 miles (6.4 km) outside town. It previously belonged to the Earls of Lichfield, and is now owned by the National Trust and maintained by the leaseholder, Staffordshire County Council. The 19th century Sandon Hall is 5 miles (8.0 km) northeast of Stafford. It is set in 400 acres (1.6 km2) of parkland, and is the seat of the Earl of Harrowby. Weston Hall stands 5 miles (8.0 km) east of Stafford, in the Trent valley, with a large park and it was once part of the Chartley estate. It is believed that the main part of the Hall was built around 1550 as a small dower house, however the architectural evidence suggests that it is Jacobean. Weston Hall was extended in 1660 into a three-gable structure with high-pitched roofs.[20][21]
Culture[link]
Stafford Gatehouse Theatre is the town's main entertainment and cultural venue. The Met Studio within the Gatehouse is a dedicated venue for stand-up comedy and alternative live music. There is an art gallery in the Shire Hall. Staffordshire County Showground, just outside the town, is the venue for many national and local events.
Victoria Park, opened in 1908, is a 13 acre (53,000 m2) Edwardian riverside park with a play park, bowling green, bird cages and greenhouses; Victoria Park has recently undergone a major re-development in places, incorporating a new children's play area, new sand and water jet area which has replaced the previous open-air paddling pool and also a brand new bmx / skateboard area.
The three screen Apollo Cinema, showing mainstream releases, is in the centre of town. Stafford Film Theatre is based at the Gatehouse Theatre, and shows independent and alternative films. There are £500 million plans to build a new multiplex cinema as part of a new retail and leisure complex on the site of the old Riverside Leisure Centre.[22] There is also a tenpin bowling alley at Greyfriars Place.
Nightlife in the town consists of smaller bar and club venues such as Casa, The Grapes, The Litten Tree, The Picture House and nightclub Couture/ Noir et Blanc, most of which are in walking distance of each other. There is a big student patronage, with coaches bringing students from Stoke-on-Trent, Cannock and Wolverhampton.
The new £15 million Stafford Leisure Centre opened on 12 April 2008 in Lammascote Road.
Stafford is also home to a 9 hole golf course near the town centre.
Climate[link]
As with the rest of the British Isles Stafford experiences a maritime climate with cool summers and mild winters. The nearest Met Office weather station is at Penkridge, about 5 miles to the south.
| Climate data for Stafford 101m asl, 1971-2000 | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Average high °C (°F) | 6.5 (43.7) |
6.9 (44.4) |
9.5 (49.1) |
12.0 (53.6) |
15.7 (60.3) |
18.4 (65.1) |
21.1 (70.0) |
20.8 (69.4) |
17.5 (63.5) |
13.5 (56.3) |
9.5 (49.1) |
7.4 (45.3) |
13.3 (55.9) |
| Average low °C (°F) | 1.0 (33.8) |
1.0 (33.8) |
2.5 (36.5) |
3.5 (38.3) |
6.2 (43.2) |
8.9 (48.0) |
11.1 (52.0) |
10.9 (51.6) |
9.0 (48.2) |
6.4 (43.5) |
3.3 (37.9) |
1.8 (35.2) |
5.5 (41.9) |
| Precipitation mm (inches) | 62.7 (2.469) |
44.4 (1.748) |
51.2 (2.016) |
48.5 (1.909) |
52.7 (2.075) |
59.3 (2.335) |
46.7 (1.839) |
57.7 (2.272) |
63.6 (2.504) |
60.5 (2.382) |
62.0 (2.441) |
66.8 (2.63) |
676.0 (26.614) |
| Mean monthly sunshine hours | 45.3 | 59.0 | 89.9 | 129.9 | 179.5 | 160.8 | 183.5 | 168.6 | 122.1 | 94.6 | 58.5 | 38.4 | 1,330.1 |
| Source: MetOffice[23] | |||||||||||||
Economy[link]
Stafford has a long history of shoe making. It is recorded as far back as 1476,[24] when it was a cottage industry, but the manufacturing process was introduced in the 1700s.[24] William Horton founded his business in 1767, which progressed to become the largest shoe company in Stafford, selling worldwide. He had a number of contracts with the government, through his connections with the town's MP, the famous playwright Richard Brinsley Sheridan. The shoe industry gradually died out in the town, with Lotus Shoes being the last manufacturers.[25] The large red-brick Lotus Shoe factory on Sandon Road was demolished in 2001 to be replaced by modern housing.
Since 1903, a major activity in the town has been heavy electrical engineering, particularly producing power station transformers. The works have been successively owned by Siemens, English Electric, GEC and GEC Alsthom. Alstom T&D was sold in 2004 to Areva. At the end of 2009, Areva Ltd was split between former owner Alstom and Schneider Electric. Each transformer weighs several hundred tons and so a road train is used for transportation. In the 1968 Hixon rail crash, one such road train was struck by an express train when it was crossing the railway at a level crossing.
Perkins Engines has a factory making diesel engines in Littleworth. Adhesives manufacturer Bostik has a large factory in the town. Stafford is also a major dormitory town for workers commuting to Stoke-on-Trent and Birmingham.
The public sector provides a lot of local employment, with Staffordshire County Council, Stafford Borough Council and Staffordshire Police all headquartered in the town. Stafford Prison, Stafford Hospital and MoD Stafford are other sources of local public sector employment.
The town is also home to the computer science and IT campus of Staffordshire University. The Beaconside Campus houses the Faculty of Computing Engineering and Technology and part of the Business School, and the adjacent Blackheath Lane campus houses the School of Health, which teaches nursing. The main campus in Stoke-on-Trent is located about 18 miles (30 km) north.
The town centre Guildhall shopping centre is the town's main shopping venue, housing more than 40 retail outlets such as HMV, Topman Topshop, River Island and JJB. There are 3 major superstores that surround the main town centre, an Asda superstore, a Tesco Extra and a Sainsbury's store. They are open 24 hours with the exception of Sainsbury's.
Transport[link]
Stafford railway station was once a major hub on the railway network, but Beeching's closure of the Stafford and Uttoxeter Railway, and the Shropshire Union Railway to Shrewsbury and beyond completely halted east-west traffic via Stafford. The years up to 2008 saw cross-country trains stopping at Stafford less and less. Since the CrossCountry trains franchisee change, more CrossCountry trains are now stopping at Stafford Station, However if you require services to Carlisle, Preston or Glasgow a change at Crewe railway station is required; Stafford railway station is still a stop for some Virgin Trains services on the West Coast Main Line enabling easy commuting to the cities of Birmingham, London (via London Euston), Wolverhampton and Liverpool. If you require services to the cities of Stoke-on-trent or Manchester CrossCountry trains operate a regular service to Manchester Piccadilly normally every 30 Mins during the weekdays; Since December 2008 London Midland have operated a service stopping at Stafford which also serves Tamworth, Northampton, Milton Keynes and London and also a Birmingham - Liverpool Lime Street service which departs Stafford Station normally every 30 mins during the weekdays. At least one train each way between Birmingham New Street and Crewe is operated by Arriva Trains Wales.
Junctions 13 (Stafford South & Central) and 14 (Stafford North) of the M6 motorway provide access to the town, therefore the major cities of Birmingham and Manchester and beyond are easily reached. The A34 road runs through the centre of the town, linking it to Stone and Stoke-on-Trent to the north and Cannock and the West Midlands conurbation to the south. The A518 road connects Stafford with Telford to the south west and Uttoxeter to the north east, and therefore is the main route to the major theme park at Alton Towers. The A449 runs south from the town centre and connects with the nearby town of Penkridge and Wolverhampton. Finally, the A513 runs east from Stafford to the local towns of Rugeley and Lichfield.
Local bus travel within the town is provided by Arriva Midlands, Wardle Transport and also some small bus companies who provide to mainly rural communites, while services to Stone and Stoke-on-Trent are handled by First PMT and Bakerbus.
Stafford is served by four large taxi companies: Aerobrights, Anthony's AJ's, Kaminski Hire and Westside. There are also a large number of independent operators who work from the ranks at the station, Bridge Street, Broad Street and Salter Street.
The Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal runs close to the Baswich and Wildwood areas, and was previously linked to the River Sow by the River Sow Navigation.
Public services[link]
The town's main hospital is Stafford Hospital, operated and managed by Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust. It provides a wide range of non-specialist medical and surgical services. Stafford Hospital's Accident and Emergency unit is the only such facility in the town. The hospital made the national news in March 2009, with the release of a Healthcare Commission report detailing the facility's appalling shortcomings.[26][27][28]
St George's Hospital, part of the South Staffordshire and Shropshire Health Care Trust, is actually a combination of two historical hospitals—the Kingsmead Hospital (previously an elderly care facility) and the St George's psychiatric hospital. It provides mental health services, including an intensive care unit, secure units, an eating disorder unit, an EMI unit for the elderly and mentally frail, drug and alcohol addiction services and open wards. There is a small outpatient facility, and this is the location of the town's AA meeting. Rowley Hall Hospital in Rowley Park is a private hospital run by Ramsay Healthcare. It also offers some NHS treatments.[29]
The town is supplied with primary healthcare by the South Staffordshire Primary Care Trust.[30]
Policing in Stafford is provided by Staffordshire Police, which is headquartered on Weston Road. The force is currently trying to sell-off its old headquarters on Cannock Road. There is also a police station in the town centre on Eastgate Street. Stafford Crown Court and Stafford County Court share a building in the town centre. There is a Magistrates' Court in nearby South Walls. Stafford Prison is a Category C men's prison, operated by Her Majesty's Prison Service. In addition, the prison also holds a number of vulnerable prisoners (mainly sex offenders). It was built on its current site in 1794, and has been in almost continuous use, save a period between 1916 and 1940.
Statutory emergency fire and rescue service is provided by the Staffordshire Fire and Rescue Service, which has stations in Beaconside and Rising Brook.
Staffordshire County Council's headquarters are in the centre of Stafford. Its administrative base is at County Buildings in Martin Street, with the majority of its staff in the town in the Staffordshire Place development, which opened in 2011. Numerous council bases across the town are closing as staff centralise at Staffordshire Place. Stafford Borough Council is headquartered at the Civic Centre on Riverside.
The town's main library is in the Shire Hall, with smaller libraries in Rising Brook, Baswich and Holmcroft. The William Salt Library in the town centre is a large collection of printed books, pamphlets, manuscripts, drawings, watercolours, and transcripts built up by William Salt.
MoD Stafford is located on Beaconside. Originally RAF Stafford, the base was a non-flying Royal Air Force station. It was redesignated MoD Stafford in March 2006. The event was marked by a fly past and a flag lowering ceremony. For many years the site provided employment for civilians and military personnel. However, RAF Stafford was handed over by the Royal Air Force in accordance with the current policy of defence strategy and streamlining. A small element of the Tactical Supply Wing (TSW) still operates from the base. It is now home to a Gurkha signals regiment and a RAF Regiment contingent alongside Tactical Supply Wing.
Education[link]
Primary schools[link]
- Anson CE (A) Primary School
- Barnfields Primary School
- Berkswich CE Primary School
- Blessed Mother Teresa RC Primary School (Formerly Bower Norris)
- Brooklands Preparatory School[31] (Independent)
- Burton Manor Primary School
- Castlechurch Primary School[32]
- Cooper Perry Primary School[33]
- Flash Ley Community Primary School[34]
- John Wheeldon Primary School
- Leasowes Primary School (formed by the merger of Leasowes Infant School and Leasowes Junior School in 2006)
- Oakridge Primary School (plus nursery)
- Parkside Primary School
- Silkmore Primary School
- Stafford Preparatory School[35]
- St Anne's RC Primary School
- St Austin's RC Primary School
- St Bede's Preparatory School (Independent)
- St Johns CE Primary School
- St Leonard's Primary School[36]
- St Patrick's RC Primary School
- St Paul's Primary School
- Tillington Manor Primary School - formerly Holmcroft Primary School
- The Grove Primary School[37]
Secondary schools[link]
- Stafford Sports College (formerly Rising Brook High School)
- Walton High School
- Blessed William Howard RC High School and Performing Arts College
- King Edward VI High School (Highfields)
- Sir Graham Balfour School
- Weston Road High School
- Stafford Grammar School. Selective, independent school, Founded 1982.
Tertiary education[link]
The Chetwynd Centre also provides Higher Education in the town. It normally teaches specialised A-levels, some vocational qualifications and subjects taught by teachers with no school base. The centre has joined up with all the town's secondary schools, except the grammar school, to provide better resources for students.
Stafford College is a large College of Further Education. Stafford College also provides some Higher Education courses on behalf of Staffordshire University and focuses heavily on computing and engineering.
South Staffordshire College has a base in the village of Rodbaston, on the edge of Stafford. It is an agricultural college and provides most of its training in this sector.
Staffordshire University has a large campus in the east of the town and focuses heavily on computing, engineering and media technologies (Film, Music and Computer Games). It also runs teacher training courses. The University has 2 halls of residence opposite the campus, the smaller Yarlet with 51 rooms and the larger Stafford Court with 554 Rooms. Stafford Court is divided into 13 'houses' named after local villages.
Sport[link]
Stafford is home to three association football clubs; Stafford Rangers F.C., Brocton F.C.,and Stafford Town F.C., none of which play at a fully professional level.
The town also has two Rugby Union clubs[38] though again they do not play at a high level.
There is also a local Hockey team[39] with eight adult teams.
Stafford Cricket and Hockey Club was founded in 1864, which almost certainly makes it the oldest sports club in Stafford. The club appears to have originally played at The Lammascotes before being offered a field at The Hough (Lichfield Road/GEC site) in 1899 which belonged to the Grammar school (The new ground there was opened by the mayor, a Mr Mynors in May of that year). In 1984 the club negotiated a move to Riverway in 1984 as The Hough came under the ownership of GEC. They currently own 11 acres (4 ha) at Riverway and host numerous sports all year round - they have 2 cricket pitches in the summer and in the winter host football, mini football, rugby and hockey.
In 1999 they were awarded a £200K lottery grant towards a new pavilion completed in 2000. The pavilion has 6 changing rooms and a lounge/function room for members and guests. The clubroom may also be hired for all kinds of functions and celebrations, as well as business meetings and charity events.
The Cricket Section always welcome new players of all abilities[40] There are four senior sides that play on a Saturday. The 1st & 2nd XI's play in The North Staffs and South Cheshire Premier Cricket League.[41] The 3rd and 4th XI's play in the Stone & District Cricket League.[42] They also have a senior team on a Sunday that plays in the Lichfield Sunday League. They have five junior sides in the following age groups; Under 9, Under 11, Under 13, Under 15, & Under 17's. They are an ECB Clubmark Accredited Club and promote sport for all in the local community.
Language[link]
The Stafford accent may be distinguished from that of the more southern parts of Staffordshire heading towards the West Midlands, where the accent is more Black Country-influenced. The accent of Stafford is more influenced by Stoke-on-Trent, to varying extents, but less broad and perhaps more "watered-down." Those who live in Stafford tend to believe they have a more "neutral" accent, or perhaps no accent at all, but the influence of Stoke-on-Trent and nearby Stone sets it apart and distinguishes itself from more southern Staffordshire.
The Stafford knot[link]
Main article: Stafford knot
Notable people[link]
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This unreferenced section requires citations to ensure verifiability. |
Politics and literature[link]
Notable people from Stafford include the 17th century author of The Compleat Angler, Izaak Walton, and the 18th century playwright Richard Brinsley Sheridan was once the local MP. Also, the 1853 Lord Mayor of London, Thomas Sidney, was born in the town.
In the early 1900s, the village of Little Haywood near Stafford was home to the wife of famous The Lord of the Rings author J. R. R. Tolkien. He stayed with his wife, Edith, in her cottage in the village during the winter of 1916, and the surrounding areas were said to be an inspiration for some of his early works. The science fantasy author Storm Constantine is a long-time resident.
British poet, playwright and freelance writer Carol Ann Duffy, although born in Glasgow, Scotland, grew up in Stafford and attended Stafford Girls' High School. She was awarded an OBE in 1995, and a CBE in 2002. Many of her poems describe experiences and places in Stafford. She has been the Poet laureate since 2009 and now lives in Manchester.
Visual arts[link]
Dave Follows (3 October 1941—17 October 2003) was a prolific cartoonist and was born in and lived in Stafford all his life.
Sir Jonathan Ive, iPhone designer, was educated at Stafford Walton High School and awarded Knight Commander of the British Empire (KBE) in 2011
. Paul Pickard Former prize winning photojournalist,now advertising photographer was educated at Stafford King Edward VI Grammar School
Performing arts and sport[link]
Stafford was the birthplace of Men Behaving Badly star Neil Morrissey, Freya Copeland, who plays Angela 'Angie' Reynolds in the soap Emmerdale, Travis singer Fran Healy (but he moved away to Scotland when very young), and comedian Dave Gorman. 1970s hit duo Medicine Head hailed from nearby Tixall. Climax Blues Band, initially, as their name suggests, was a popular Stafford blues band but later they achieved international record success. Rave acts Altern-8 and Bizarre Inc were also from the town.
Championship footballer Anthony Gardner, who plays for Hull City, and Chris Birchall, who plays for Major League Soccer side Los Angeles Galaxy, were both born in Stafford. Former Aston Villa, Derby County and Watford winger Nigel Callaghan lives and DJs in the town. Former Aston Villa player and manager Brian Little also lives in the town.
Areas[link]
- An estate which is next to Weeping Cross, and many people get confused between these two estates. It is found by heading towards Rugeley and Cannock from Stafford Town Centre, or from Uttoxeter past Weston Road High School and through Baswich lanes. It has a Co-Op as a convenience store, and a hairdresser. It also has a church with a graveyard.
- Beaconside
- Burton Manor
- Castle House Gardens
- Castle House Drive
- Castlefields
- An estate built on the wetlands off Newport Road in the early 1990s, to the displeasure of many protesters. The roads are named after famous athletes of the time (Gunnell Close, Christie Drive etc).
- An estate of terraced cottages, built in the 1830s and 1840s for the influx of railway workers into the town. The estate used to have a church, St Thomas's, but this was demolished in the 1970s and replaced by the new church in Doxey. The offices of Staffordshire Newsletter now occupy the site. Castletown is changing rapidly, with the demolition of Stafford Arms and the building of new executive apartments heralding a new era on the estate.
- A new estate built on the former site of Stychfields, in the grounds of the Alstom factory. It also includes a new retail park.
- A large council estate with Wolverhampton Road at one end and Newport Road at the other. The first houses in Highfields were built c. 1955, with substantial additions (Highfields number two estate, as it was then known) in 1963/4. West Way is the longest street in Highfields, carving its way through the entire estate. Many of the streets in the sixties expansion of Highfields were named after poets and playwrights (Shakespeare Road, Masefield Drive, Coleridge Drive, Keats Avenue, Tennyson Road, Binyon Court (now renamed "The Keep"), etc). Of the older roads, the longest is Bagot's Oak, so called because of a large old tree that was in the road. Much of the original estate was built on Preston's Farm land, and one of the bus services was still called 'Highfields Farm until recently.
- Holmcroft
- Hyde Lea
- King Edward Court
- Kingston Hill
- Littleworth
- Manor Estate
- Meadowcroft Park
- Moss Pit
- Moss Pit is situated in southern Stafford, approximately one mile from Junction 13 of the M6 motorway; areas include The Pippins, The Chestnuts and Scholar's Gate.
- A housing estate at the extreme north of the town. It has two entrances from the A513 Beaconside Road, forming a U-shape. The estate has access to many green areas, including 3 parks, a 'green' and access to Stafford Common. There is also a primary school (Parkside Primary School) on the estate and access to Sir Graham Balfour School which has been totally rebuilt in 2001. Some of the school grounds were sold off when the old school was demolished to build "the Oaks" housing estate which is adjacent to Parkside. There is also a precinct of shops and the northern terminus of the number 10 bus route (Parkside - Trinity Fields - Stone Road - Stafford Town Centre). The Parkside estate was built in the 1970s and has a selection of different types of housing: detached, semi-detached, flats and modern terraced housing.
- Rickerscote many years ago used to have a lane running from the now Silkmore estate heading towards the area where the bridge to Argos is. This area is known to many as 'the village', and there is a local shop that serves the people. Rickerscote is home to a large area of grassland know locally as the 'green'.
- Other locally well known areas of here are 'The Conker Tree', Boultons Farm, Devils Triangle and 'The Metal Bridge'. The local drinking houses are the Rickerscote Arms, known to the old school as the Alpine, and further into the estate there is the Post Office Social Club.
- Rowley Park
- Silkmore
- Silkmore is an area situated between Rickerscote and Meadowcroft, with the distant Rising Brook to its side. The local primary school is Silkmore and the area has a selection of shops, ranging from the local butchers to a Chinese. Over the years the area has been under a small facelift in order to brighten up and change the image of the place.
- An area of Silkmore is renowned for flooding, namely the area where the 'Southend Club' used to stand. This has now been replaced with new homes. Other areas of the estate that no longer exist are 'The Pioneer', 'The Garage' and 'Finney's Farm'. These have all now been replaced by homes or the Co-op.
- Tillington, Staffordshire
- Trinity Fields
- The Oaks
- The Oaks a new estate that is off the A34 near Sir Graham Balfour school extreme north of stafford.
- Walton on the Hill is at the extreme south of Stafford bordering Milford and is viewed as an exclusive residential area in the Borough with the highest average house prices. Walton High School is specialist science school and one of the top state schools in the Midlands and as such, places are much sought after.
- Weeping Cross is an estate on the east side of Stafford. It is easily found by heading up Radford Bank, towards Rugeley and Cannock. It also holds Leasowes Primary School and St Annes Catholic Primary School. Weeping Cross also has a local pub, the Lynton Tavern(now closed), a clinic with nearby Pharmacy, a library and a row of convenient shops. The number one bus runs every 30 minutes around the estate.
- An estate on the edge of Stafford that borders on Highfields and the M6 Motorway. A large green area with two football pitches and a basketball court known as 'The Bottom Pitches' can be found in Western Downs along with 'The Rainbow Park' on Clarendon Drive, and the 'Dome Park' on Torridge Drive. Until the council built a play area they were the main footballing locations on the estate. The number nine bus route also covers Western Downs.
- a large estate with a ring road that joins on to the A34 road. The estate was built around the 1970s and housed a lot of the Stafford police force as the Staffordshire Police HQ was / is located on the opposite side of the A34 road.
Nearby places[link]
- Alton Towers
- Birmingham
- Cannock
- Cannock Chase
- Creswell
- Eccleshall
- Heath Hayes and Wimblebury
- Hixon
- Lichfield
- Newport, Shropshire
- Rugeley
- Shugborough Hall
- Stoke-on-Trent
- Stone
- Trentham Gardens
- Uttoxeter
- Wolverhampton
See also[link]
References[link]
Notes[link]
- ^ Office for National Statistics
- ^ Stafford Borough Council - History of Stafford
- ^ 1911 Encyclopedia - Stafford
- ^ [1]
- ^ a b c [2]
- ^ Anglo-Saxon Chronicle
- ^ [3]
- ^ Pirehill Hundred: History, Gazetteer and Directory of Staffordshire, William White, Sheffield, 1851
- ^ a b [4]
- ^ [5]
- ^ a b Stafford Borough Council
- ^ http://www.staffordhistory.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=46&Itemid=55
- ^ Popish Plot
- ^ [6]
- ^ Grand Junction Railway
- ^ The Ancient High House, Stafford Borough Council
- ^ The Origin of St Chad's
- ^ [7]
- ^ Shire Hall, Stafford
- ^ Weston, Staffordshire
- ^ [8]
- ^ BBC News
- ^ "Penkridge Climate". UKMO. http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/climate/uk/averages/19712000/sites/penkridge.html. Retrieved 09 Nov 2011.
- ^ a b BBC Stoke and Staffordshire
- ^ Stafford Borough Council - History of Stafford
- ^ Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust Summary Report, at guardian.co.uk, accessed May, 2009.
- ^ Patients died due to 'appalling care' at Staffordshire hospitals, The Telegraph, March 18, 2009, accessed May 2009.
- ^ Gordon Brown says sorry for Stafford Hospital scandal, The Sentinel, March 18, 2009, accessed May 2009
- ^ NHS Choices - Rowley Hall Hospital
- ^ South Staffs Primary Care Trust
- ^ Brooklands School
- ^ Castlechurch Primary School
- ^ Cooper Perry Primary School
- ^ Flash Ley Community Primary School
- ^ Stafford Preparatory School
- ^ St Leonard's Primary School
- ^ [9]
- ^ Stafford RUFC
- ^ Stafford Hockey Team
- ^ Stafford Cricket Club
- ^ North Staffs and South Cheshire Premier Cricket League
- ^ Trent Trophies Stone & District Cricket league
Bibliography[link]
- (11th century and earlier) Staffordshire Newsletter 1994 Guide is good.
External links[link]
- Stafford Borough Council
- Stafford Tourism Bureau
- Stafford Forum
- www.StaffordHistory.co.uk
- Stafford Town Centre Web Site
- Ancient High House
- Stafford Gatehouse Theatre
- St. Chad's Church
- Legionnaires' Disease, General Hospital Legionellosis
- Lyrics and a live performance video of the Stafford Song
- Stafford Now and Then, Antique Picture Postcards
- Pictures & stories about the shoe industry in Stafford
- History of Doxey
- Stafford Borough Council site re a short history of the town
- an illustrated history of the town
- Stafford, a visitors guide
- William Horton's 1801 penny token
- Staffordshire Past-Track
http://wn.com/Stafford
Related pages:
http://ru.wn.com/Стаффорд
http://fr.wn.com/Stafford (Angleterre)
http://nl.wn.com/Stafford (Engeland)
http://de.wn.com/Stafford
http://it.wn.com/Stafford
http://pl.wn.com/Stafford (Anglia)
http://cs.wn.com/Stafford
http://es.wn.com/Stafford
This page contains text from Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stafford
This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License, which means that you can copy and modify it as long as the entire work (including additions) remains under this license.
This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License, which means that you can copy and modify it as long as the entire work (including additions) remains under this license.
For the Irish politician, see Matthew Stafford (politician).
 Stafford in 2009 |
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John Matthew Stafford (born February 7, 1988) is an American football quarterback for the Detroit Lions of the National Football League. He was drafted by the Lions first overall in the 2009 NFL Draft. He played college football at the University of Georgia. He is the 4th quarterback in NFL history to throw over 5,000 yards in a single season.
Contents |
Early years[link]
Stafford was born in Tampa, Florida to John and Margaret Stafford. He lived in Dunwoody, Georgia while his father attended graduate school at the University of Georgia. His family then moved to Dallas, Texas, and Stafford attended Highland Park High School. He was coached by Randy Allen and was widely considered to be one of the best high school quarterbacks in the United States in the Class of 2006,[1] ranked ahead of Tim Tebow.[2]
Stafford made his varsity debut in the 2002 playoffs against Sulphur Springs High School. He lettered in baseball as a power hitting first baseman where he was teammates with future Major League Baseball pitchers Clayton Kershaw and Jordan Walden. However, after a disappointing junior football season in which he threw for only 1,748 yards, 18 TDs and 11 INTs, Stafford quit baseball to concentrate on football.
In 2005, he led his team to a perfect 15–0 record and won the Texas 4A Division I State Championship. During the playoff run, Stafford faced stiff competition from Jevan Snead and Ryan Mallett. Both gave Stafford very close games. Stafford had over 4,000 yards passing without playing the first three games of the season due to a knee injury. Stafford received numerous accolades including being named to the Parade All-America Team and the USA Today Pre-Season Super 25 in 2005.[3] He also won the MVP and Best Arm awards at the 2005 EA Sports Elite 11 Quarterback Camp and was named the 2005 EA Sports National Player of the Year.[4] Regarded as a five-star recruit by Rivals.com, Stafford was listed as the #1 pro-style quarterback prospect in the class of 2006 by Rivals.com.[5]
Before he had even started a game at the collegiate level, analyst Mel Kiper, Jr. predicted that Stafford would eventually be the first pick in the NFL Draft.[6]
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | 40‡ | Commit date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Matthew Stafford QB |
Dallas, Texas | Highland Park HS | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) | 210 lb (95 kg) | 4.7 | May 13, 2005 |
Scout: Rivals: ESPN grade: 93 |
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| Overall recruiting rankings: Scout: 2 (QB) Rivals: 1 (QB) ESPN: 1 (QB) | ||||||
Sources:
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College career[link]
| “ | Matthew Stafford eventually will be the No. 1 pick in the NFL Draft. Write that down. | ” |
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—Football analyst Mel Kiper, Jr. on ESPN Radio in September 2006. |
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Freshman[link]
Stafford graduated early from high school and enrolled at the University of Georgia in January, where he became the first true freshman Bulldog QB to start since Quincy Carter in 1998, and first out of high school to start since Eric Zeier in 1991. Stafford wore number 7 at Georgia. He completed five of 12 passes for 102 yards and one TD in a Georgia spring game.
Stafford debuted late in the season opener of the 2006 season against Western Kentucky and went 3 of 5 passing for 40 yards and a touchdown pass. During the season's third game, against South Carolina, starting quarterback Joe Tereshinski III was injured, forcing Stafford to come off the bench. Although he completed just 8 of 19 passes for 171 yards and three interceptions, Georgia won the game, 18–0. Against University of Alabama Birmingham the following week, Stafford made his first collegiate start. Georgia won, 34–0. Victories over Colorado and Mississippi improved Georgia's record to 5–0, but the heart of the conference schedule loomed.
The rest of the season was up and down for Stafford and the Bulldogs. Following home losses to both Tennessee and Vanderbilt, Coach Richt named Stafford the starter for the rest of the season ahead of Tereshinski. Stafford completed 20 of 32 passes for 267 yards and two touchdowns in the 27–24 triumph over Mississippi State, and was named the SEC Freshmen of the Week for his efforts. Statistically, he had his best game of the season against the 5th-ranked Auburn Tigers. Stafford finished the game 14 of 20 for 219 yards and a touchdown, and added 83 rushing yards and a touchdown on 7 carries in Georgia's 37–15 upset win. The following week, Stafford led the Bulldogs on a 12-play, 64-yard drive and threw the game-winning touchdown pass in Georgia's 15–12 win over No. 16 Georgia Tech.
Stafford completed his freshman season by leading Georgia to a 31–24 come-from-behind victory over Virginia Tech in the Chick-fil-A Bowl, after the Bulldogs trailed 21–3 at halftime. Stafford threw for 129 yards and a second half touchdown to spark the comeback.
Sophomore[link]
He threw for 234 yards and two touchdowns as the Bulldogs defeated the Oklahoma State Cowboys in the season opener. Against Alabama, the Bulldogs avoided an 0–2 start in SEC play by escaping Bryant-Denny Stadium with an overtime win. Stafford connected with senior wide receiver Mikey Henderson on the Bulldogs' first play from scrimmage in OT for the winning score. In UGA's win vs. No. 9 Florida, he completed 11 of 18 passes for 217 yards and three touchdowns, including a career-long TD pass of 84 yards to Mohamed Massaquoi and a 53 yard TD pass to Henderson. The wins over Florida, Auburn, and Georgia Tech marked the first time that Georgia had defeated all three rivals in the same season since 1982.[7]
Stafford had 175 yards passing and a TD pass during Georgia's 41–10 rout of the No. 10 Hawaii Warriors in the 2008 Sugar Bowl. He completed 194 of 348 passes for 2,523 yards (194.1/game) and 19 TDs as well as two rushing TDs for the season.
Junior[link]
Stafford was chosen to Athlon’s preseason Heisman Favorites Others To Watch list. Georgia was ranked #1 in both the preseason coaches poll and the AP poll, marking the first time Georgia has ever been #1 in the preseason version of either poll; the team also entered the 2008 season with the longest active winning streak among the 66 BCS conference teams, having won its last 7 games of the 2007 season. In the final regular season game against Georgia Tech, Stafford completed 24 out of 39 attempts for 407 yards and 5 touchdowns, setting a personal record for touchdowns in a single game.[8] Stafford finished the season with 3,459 passing yards, the second most in school history, and 25 touchdowns, the single-season record for passing touchdowns. He also rushed for a touchdown in 2008. After defeating Michigan State 24–12 and winning the MVP of the 2009 Capital One Bowl, Stafford finished his three years at Georgia with a 3–0 record in bowl games and a 6–3 record in rivalry games (1–2 against Florida, 3–0 against Auburn, and 2–1 against Georgia Tech). Stafford chose to forgo his senior season and enter the 2009 NFL Draft.
Awards and honors[link]
- Named SEC Freshman of the Week twice during the 2006 season.
- Named Rivals.com's National Freshman of the Week for his performance against Auburn on November 11, 2006.
- Received the University of Georgia's 2006 Offensive Newcomer of the Year Award.
- Named to the 2006 SEC Coaches' All-Freshman Team.[9]
- Named Offensive MVP of the 2006 Chick-fil-A Bowl
- Named All-America in 2008 by Pro Football Weekly.[10]
- Named to Second-team All-SEC in 2008.[11][12]
- MVP of the 2009 Capital One Bowl.
Statistics[link]
| Passing | Rushing | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Comp | Att | Yards | Pct. | TDs | Int | Rating | Att | Yds | Avg | TD | |
| 2006 | 135 | 256 | 1,749 | 52.7 | 7 | 13 | 109.0 | 47 | 191 | 4.1 | 3 | |
| 2007 | 194 | 348 | 2,523 | 55.7 | 19 | 10 | 128.9 | 39 | −18 | −0.5 | 2 | |
| 2008 | 235 | 382 | 3,459 | 61.5 | 25 | 10 | 153.9 | 55 | 40 | 0.7 | 1 | |
| Totals | 564 | 986 | 7,731 | 57.2 | 51 | 33 | 133.4 | 141 | 213 | 1.5 | 6 | |
- Stafford's 25 touchdown passes in 2008 broke the previous Georgia record of 24, set by D. J. Shockley (2005) and Eric Zeier (1993, 1994).
- Stafford's 3,459 yards passing in 2008 were 2nd most in Georgia history, surpassed only by Zeier's 3,525 yards in 1993.
The "Stafford Effect"[link]
See also: Flutie Effect
The so-called "Stafford Effect" relates to the phenomenon seen at Stafford's high school alma mater, Highland Park High School in Dallas, Texas, from 2006–2008, where the number of seniors who applied to University of Georgia rose dramatically in the three years following Stafford's departure to Athens, Georgia. In 2005, the year before Stafford went to Georgia, 35 seniors applied to the university, compared with 69 in 2006, 75 in 2007, and 106 in 2008. The "Stafford Effect" was chronicled in a feature story in Stafford's hometown newspaper, Park Cities People. Stafford remarked in the story, "I'm not sure I have anything to do with it. I think people realize Georgia is a good school to watch football and have a good time, just like in Highland Park."[13]
Professional career[link]
2009 NFL Draft[link]
Already after the 2008 NFL Draft, several NFL analysts predicted Stafford would be the #1 pick in the 2009 Draft if he chose to leave school early.[14][15] He eventually did, and on April 24, 2009, agreed to record contract terms with the Detroit Lions to become the first overall pick of the 2009 NFL Draft, one day before the draft was held.[16] The six-year contract reportedly contains $41.7 million in guaranteed money (the most guaranteed to any player in NFL history until July 30, 2010, when Sam Bradford signed a deal with $50 million guaranteed) and carries a total value of up to $78 million.[17]
| Ht | Wt | 40-yd dash | 10-yd split | 20-yd split | 20-ss | 3-cone | Vert | Broad | BP | Wonderlic | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 ft 21⁄4 in | 227 lb | 4.81 s | 1.65 s | 2.76 s | 4.47 s | 7.06 s | 301⁄2 in | 8 ft 11 in | 38 | ||||||||||
| All values from NFL Combine[18][19] | |||||||||||||||||||
Detroit Lions[link]
.jpg)
2009[link]
Main article: 2009 Detroit Lions season
On September 7, 2009, Lions head coach Jim Schwartz announced that Stafford would be the Lions' permanent starting quarterback heading into the 2009 season. Regarding his decision, Schwartz stated, "This isn't an internship or an experiment." Stafford beat out veteran Daunte Culpepper for the starting job.[20][21] Stafford made his first start in the NFL on September 13, 2009. He was one of four rookie starters for the Lions (Brandon Pettigrew, Louis Delmas and Sammie Hill) in the season opener against the New Orleans Saints, and was the first Lions rookie quarterback to start the season since Greg Landry in 1968. He completed 16 of 37 passes for 205 yards and 3 interceptions; he was intercepted twice by Darren Sharper, the other time by Scott Shanle. He also ran in a 1-yard touchdown.[22]
In Week 2, he threw his first career touchdown pass when he connected with Calvin Johnson on a 6-yard touchdown against the Minnesota Vikings.[23] In week 3, Stafford led the Lions to their first victory since the 2007 season. He completed 21 of 36 for 241 yards and one touchdown in Detroit's 19–14 win over the Washington Redskins. In Week 4, Stafford completed 24 of 36 for 296 yards with one touchdown as well as an interception before suffering a knee injury while being sacked in the fourth quarter of Detroit's 48–24 loss to the Chicago Bears at Soldier Field. He underwent further evaluation back in Detroit. Culpepper started in his place in week 5, and again in week 6.
On November 22, 2009, Stafford threw 5 touchdowns in a 38–37 win over the Cleveland Browns, becoming the youngest quarterback ever to do so, being more than a year younger than the former record holder, Dan Marino.[24] In a thrilling ending, Stafford received high acclaim when he stepped back onto the field despite team doctors' urge to stay on the sideline after suffering a separated shoulder on the previous play and threw the final touchdown pass as time expired. In addition to the five touchdown passes, Stafford accumulated 422 yards passing, a record for a rookie at that time. For his performance, Stafford won NFC Offensive Player of the Week and Pepsi Rookie of the Week.[25][26] Stafford was mic'd up for the game for NFL Films. The show's creator Steve Sabol said it was the most dramatic performance he's seen in the show's 30 year history.
Stafford was placed on injured reserve on December 24 for the minor knee injury.[27] Stafford concluded his rookie season having passed for 2,267 yards,13 touchdowns, and 20 interceptions. In all 10 of the games he started for the Lions he either threw or ran for a touchdown.[27]
2010[link]
Main article: 2010 Detroit Lions season
Stafford injured his right shoulder in the season opener against the Chicago Bears on September 12. Stafford returned on October 31 against the Washington Redskins and threw 4 touchdowns to lead the Lions to a 37–25 win.[28] On November 7, Stafford re-injured his right shoulder in the fourth quarter of the Lions 23–20 OT loss to the New York Jets.[29] It was announced by the Lions that Dr. James Andrews had performed surgery on Stafford's throwing shoulder, which included an AC joint repair and a clavicle shaving, thus ending his 2010 season.[30]
2011[link]
Main article: 2011 Detroit Lions season
The Lions opened the season on September 11 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers with high expectations. Stafford played well, throwing for 305 yards, 3 TDs, and an interception in a 27-20 win, the first season opener the Lions had won since 2007. Another strong performance followed, with Stafford throwing for 4 TDs, 294 yards, and an interception against the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 2, leading the Lions to a 48-3 blowout victory, the largest win margin in team history. Stafford won the FedEx Air NFL Player of the Week for his performance. [31] In Weeks 3 and 4, Stafford led the team to consecutive comeback victories, a 26–23 overtime comeback victory over the Minnesota Vikings after trailing 20–0 at halftime in Week 3, and a 34-30 win over the Dallas Cowboys after trailing 27-3 with 12:27 left in the 3rd quarter.
Week 5 saw Stafford orchestrate a 24-13 win over the Chicago Bears, going 19 of 26 for 219 yards and 2 touchdowns. This is the first time the Lions have gone 5-0 since 1956, the year before they won their last NFL Championship. On Week 10 against the Bears, Stafford threw four interceptions, including two that were returned for touchdowns on consecutive drives. The game was marred by a brawl that began when Stafford threw Bears cornerback D.J. Moore to the ground by his helmet during a block on an interception return. In response, Moore attacked Stafford and a sideline-clearing brawl ensued. Stafford was fined $7500 for his role in the brawl.
On November 20, Stafford threw for 335 yards and 5 TDs as the Lions defeated the Carolina Panthers 49-35. Stafford became the first QB since at least 1950 to win back to back games after trailing by at least 20 points, the first to win three games in a season after trailing by at least 17 points, and the first to win four games in a season after trailing by at least 13 points according to STATS, LLC.
On January 1, 2012, Stafford became the fourth quarterback in NFL history and third in the 2011 season, along with Tom Brady and Drew Brees, to throw for 5000 passing yards in a season after collecting 520 passing yards against the Green Bay Packers in a 45-41 loss in Week 17 and finished the season with a 10-6 record, leading the Lions to their first playoff appearence since 1999. The accomplishment makes Stafford the second youngest quarterback in NFL history to do so behind only Dan Marino.[32][33] Over the last four games of the 2011 regular season, Stafford became the only quarterback in NFL history to pass for over 1,500 yards (1,511) and 14 touchdowns over a four-game span.
During the Wild Card Round in the playoffs agains the New Orleans Saints, Stafford threw for 380 yards with 3 touchdowns pases and rushing for one too, but threw two late picks in the fourth quarter that sealed the game for the Lions, as they where defeated 45-28.
Stafford was named a Pro Bowl alternate for the NFC after the 2011 NFL season.[34] He was later named the 2011 Pro Football Weekly Comeback Player of the Year, AP Comeback Player of the Year and NFL Alumni Quarterback of the Year.
Statistics[link]
Regular season[link]
| Year | Team | G | GS | Passing | Rushing | Sacked | Fumbles | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Comp | Att | Pct | Yds | Y/A | TD | Int | Rtg | Att | Yds | Avg | TD | Sack | Yds | Fum | Lost | ||||
| 2009 | DET | 10 | 10 | 201 | 377 | 53.3 | 2,267 | 6.0 | 13 | 20 | 61.0 | 20 | 108 | 5.4 | 2 | 24 | 169 | 4 | 1 |
| 2010 | DET | 3 | 3 | 57 | 96 | 59.4 | 535 | 5.6 | 6 | 1 | 91.3 | 4 | 11 | 2.8 | 1 | 4 | 36 | 2 | 1 |
| 2011 | DET | 16 | 16 | 421 | 663 | 63.5 | 5,038 | 7.6 | 41 | 16 | 97.2 | 22 | 78 | 3.5 | 0 | 36 | 257 | 5 | 1 |
| Total | 29 | 29 | 679 | 1136 | 59.8 | 7840 | 6.9 | 60 | 37 | 84.7 | 46 | 197 | 4.3 | 3 | 64 | 462 | 11 | 3 | |
NFL records[link]
- Most passing touchdowns in a single game by a rookie quarterback (5)
- Youngest quarterback to throw 5 or more touchdowns in a single game (21 years, 288 days)
Lions franchise records[link]
- Most passing yards in a single season: 5,038 (2011)[35]
- Most passing touchdowns in a single season: 41 (2011)[36]
- Most passing attempts in a single season (663 in 2011)[37]
- Highest completion percentage in a single season by starting QB: 63.5 (2011) (16 starts)[38]
Media career[link]
Stafford has a weekly segment on Mondays on The Mitch Albom Show with Mitch Albom on Detroit radio station WJR.[39]
References[link]
- ^ Rivals.com Pro-style quarterbacks ranking of 2006
- ^ [1]
- ^ Stafford Bio from GeorgiaDogs.com
- ^ 2005 EA Sports All-American Team
- ^ "Pro-style quarterbacks 2006". Rivals.com. January 31, 2006. http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/football/recruiting/rankings/rank-1143.
- ^ "Some Things Will Be Different with Freshman QB". http://www.oxfordpress.com/sports/content/shared/sports/stories/2006/09/FBC_GEORGIA_0912_COX.html.
- ^ "1982 Georgia Bulldogs Football Schedule". Sicemdawgs.com. 2007-07-08. http://www.sicemdawgs.com/football/sched/fbsch_82.php. Retrieved 2010-12-19.
- ^ [2][dead link]
- ^ 2006 SEC Football All-Freshmen Team Announced
- ^ Pro Football Weekly 2008 All-America Team.
- ^ Six Bulldogs Named To Coaches' All-SEC Teams
- ^ Ten Bulldogs Named To Phil Steele’s All-SEC Team
- ^ Seniors Follow Stafford
- ^ Prisco, Pete (April 28, 2008). "Drafting '09: Georgia QB Stafford starts out as top dog". CBSSports.com. http://www.sportsline.com/nfl/story/10803407.
- ^ Perloff, Andrew (April 29, 2008). "2009 Mock Draft". CNNSI.com. http://fannation.com/blogs/post/185277.
- ^ Clayton, John (April 24, 2009). "Sources: Matthew Stafford agrees to $41.7M, six-year deal with Detroit Lions". ESPN.com. http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=4097641.
- ^ Detroit negotiated a deal with Stafford on April 24, 2008, less than 24 hours before the draft. "Sources: Stafford will be No. 1 pick". ESPN.com. April 24, 2009. http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=4097641/news/story?id=3358424. Retrieved April 24, 2009.
- ^ "NFL Events: Combine Top Performers". NFL.com. http://www.nfl.com/combine/top-performers.
- ^ Pompei, Dan (March 22, 2009). "Georgia's Matthew Stafford stands out with NFL Wonderlic score". Chicago Tribune. http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/football/bears/chi-22-pompei-scout-mar22,0,7151782.story.
- ^ Matthew Stafford's starting job with Lions is permanent
- ^ Lions to start Stafford at QB
- ^ NFL Game Center: Detroit Lions at New Orleans Saints, 2009 Week 1
- ^ Detroit Lions vs. Minnesota Vikings, 2009 Week 2
- ^ "Stafford's TD at :00 wins game after Browns called for interference on Hail Mary", ESPN, November 22, 2009, http://scores.espn.go.com/nfl/recap?gameId=291122008
- ^ Wywrot, Chrissie (November 24, 2009). "Stafford Named NFC Offensive Player of the Week". Detroit Lions.com. http://www.detroitlions.com/news/article-1/Stafford-Named-NFC-Offensive-Player-of-the-Week/f8de6f01-97b1-48ed-89aa-6bf31d9a1c8d.
- ^ Detroit Lions.com November 27, 2009 QB Matthew Stafford Voted Week 11 Pepsi NFL Rookie of the Week
- ^ a b "Stafford's rookie season ends on IR" ESPN.com. Retrieved December 25, 2009.
- ^ Lions' Matthew Stafford could miss 4–6 weeks – or less MLive.com September 14, 2010
- ^ "Source: Stafford's season likely over". Fox Sports Detroit. 2010-11-09. http://www.foxsportsdetroit.com/11/09/10/Sources-Staffords-2010-season-is-over/landing.html?blockID=348902&feedID=3706. Retrieved 2010-12-19.
- ^ [3] profootballtalk.nbc.com
- ^ Fans vote Stafford Week 2 FedEx Air NFL Player of the Week Detroit Lions official site September 23, 2011
- ^ Patriots' Brady now No. 2 on single-season passing list
- ^ PACKERS' BACKUP FLYNN THROWS FOR TEAM RECORD SIX TDS IN WIN
- ^ Stafford, Suh, and Delmas named Pro Bowl alternates, January 6, 2012, http://www.detroitlions.com/news/lions-insider/article-1/Stafford-Suh-and-Delmas-named-Pro-Bowl-alternates/76971202-e7e6-41e4-9545-75656672329f
- ^ http://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/det/
- ^ http://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/det/
- ^ http://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/det/
- ^ http://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/det/
- ^ "News/Talk 760 WJR". Wjr.com. http://wjr.com/Sectional.asp?id=6553. Retrieved 2010-12-19.
External links[link]
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| Persondata | |
|---|---|
| Name | Stafford, Matthew |
| Alternative names | Stafford, John Matthew; Stafford, J. Matthew; Stafford, Matt |
| Short description | American football quarterback |
| Date of birth | February 7, 1988 |
| Place of birth | Tampa, Florida, United States |
| Date of death | |
| Place of death | |
http://wn.com/Matthew_Stafford
Related pages:
http://fr.wn.com/Matthew Stafford
http://de.wn.com/Matthew Stafford
http://it.wn.com/Matthew Stafford
http://es.wn.com/Matthew Stafford
This page contains text from Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matthew_Stafford
This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License, which means that you can copy and modify it as long as the entire work (including additions) remains under this license.
This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License, which means that you can copy and modify it as long as the entire work (including additions) remains under this license.
| Michelle Stafford | |
|---|---|
| 225px Michelle Stafford in a promotional image for The Young and the Restless |
|
| Born | (1965-09-14) September 14, 1965 (age 46) Chicago, Illinois |
| Years active | 1990-present |
| Children | Natalia (born 2009) |
Michelle Stafford (born September 14, 1965) is an American actress, best known for her role as Phyllis Summers on The Young and the Restless.
Contents |
Career[link]
Of her many film and television roles, she is known for her scheming persona as Phyllis Summers on the soap opera The Young and the Restless. First joining the cast in 1994, she was introduced as an obsessed fangirl stalking rock star Danny Romalotti (Michael Damian).[1] Stafford left the show in 1997 at which time the role was taken over by Sandra Nelson until Stafford returned in 2000.[1]
Stafford's role as Phyllis earned her a Daytime Emmy award nomination for Outstanding Leading Actress in a Drama Series in 2003.[2] She won the award also in 2004 and was again nominated in 2007 and 2008.[3][4][5] From December 2006 to February 2007, Stafford played dual roles on Y&R, having taken over the role of Sheila Carter from Kimberlin Brown (Sheila had plastic surgery to look like Phyllis).[6]
In 2004, Stafford was a hockey correspondent for The Best Damn Sports Show Period. In 2007, Stafford appeared on Tyra Banks' talk show to help Tyra through "soap opera school."[7]
Personal life[link]
Michelle had a daughter, Natalia Scout Lee Stafford, via surrogate on Monday, December 21, 2009.[8]
Roles[link]
- Ringer - Peggy Louis (2011)
- 3 Days Gone - Detective Holloway (2008)
- Totally Baked: A Pot-U-Mentary - Jessica (2007)
- Like Mother Like Daughter - Dawna Willki (2007)
- The Young and the Restless - Phyllis Summers Newman (1994–1997; 2000–Present)
- The Young and the Restless - Sheila Carter (2006–2007)
- Charmed - Mandy (2005)
- Pacific Palisades - Joanna Hadley (1997)
- Another Midnight Run - Hotel Guest (1994)
- Tribes - Frankie (1990)
- Attraction - Suzanne (2000)
- Double Jeopardy - Suzanne Monroe (1999)
- Clubhouse - Sydney (2004)
- Judging Amy - Linda (2002)
- Frasier - Heather (2001)
- V.I.P. - Nancy (2000)
- JAG - Suzanne (1999)
- Diagnosis: Murder - Trish (1999)
- Two Guys, A Girl and a Pizza Place - (1998)
Awards and nominations[link]
- Daytime Emmy Winner, Outstanding Lead Actress (2004)
- Daytime Emmy Winner, Outstanding Supporting Actress (1997)
- Daytime Emmy Nomination, Outstanding Lead Actress (2003, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2011)
- Daytime Emmy Nomination, Outstanding Supporting Actress (1996, 1997)
References[link]
- ^ a b "Michelle Stafford". IMDB. http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0821325/.
- ^ "Daytime Emmy Awards". http://www.imdb.com/event/ev0000206/2003.
- ^ "Daytime Emmy Awards". http://www.imdb.com/event/ev0000206/2004.
- ^ "Daytime Emmy Awards". http://www.imdb.com/event/ev0000206/2007.
- ^ "Daytime Emmy Awards". http://www.imdb.com/event/ev0000206/2008.
- ^ "Buzz". Soap Opera Weekly. 2007-02-27. p. 8.
- ^ "Who, Where and Wow!". Soap Opera Weekly. 2007-02-13. p. 32.
- ^ "Michelle Stafford Welcomes Daughter Natalia Scout Lee". People Magazine. 22 Dec 2009. http://celebritybabies.people.com/2009/12/22/michelle-stafford-welcomes-daughter-natalia-scout-lee/. Retrieved 4 Jul 2010.
External links[link]
 |
Wikinews has related news: Interview with Michelle Stafford and other cast members, for Y&R's 35th anniversary |
- Michelle Stafford at the Internet Movie Database
- Michelle Stafford Exclusive with Soaps.com Online (Soap Portal)
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| Persondata | |
|---|---|
| Name | Stafford, Michelle |
| Alternative names | |
| Short description | |
| Date of birth | September 14, 1955 |
| Place of birth | Chicago, Illinois |
| Date of death | |
| Place of death | |
http://wn.com/Michelle_Stafford
Related pages:
http://ru.wn.com/Стэффорд, Мишель
http://fr.wn.com/Michelle Stafford
http://nl.wn.com/Michelle Stafford
http://de.wn.com/Michelle Stafford
http://it.wn.com/Michelle Stafford
This page contains text from Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michelle_Stafford
This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License, which means that you can copy and modify it as long as the entire work (including additions) remains under this license.
This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License, which means that you can copy and modify it as long as the entire work (including additions) remains under this license.
| Ed Stafford | |
|---|---|
 Stafford photographed by Keith Ducatel, December 2008 in the Peruvian Amazon |
|
| Born | (1975-12-26) 26 December 1975 (age 36) Peterborough, England, United Kingdom |
| Occupation | Explorer |
Ed Stafford (born 26 December 1975) is an English explorer and former British Army captain. He was also an expedition leader for extreme conservation company Trekforce.
Contents |
Biography[link]
Stafford was born in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, England and raised in Leicestershire.
On 9 August 2010, he became the first person to walk the entire length of the Amazon River[1], documented in the 2011 TV series Walking the Amazon. Stafford's expedition began with a friend, Luke Keaton, 13, on 2 April 2008, on the southern coast of Peru. Keaton left after 3 months, and Stafford completed the journey with Gadiel "Cho" Sanchez Rivera. He undertook the attempt for several charities.[2][3]
In May 2009 Stafford appeared on the cover of the Royal Geographical Society`s Geographical (magazine)[4]
In April 2010 Stafford passed the 2-year barrier having been walking since 2 April 2008.[5] and in May that year Stafford was made Diane Sawyer´s ABC News "Person of the Week".[6]
Stafford's accomplishment of walking the length of the Amazon river has been described by Sir Ranulph Fiennes as being "..in the top league of expeditions past and present".[7]
In February 2011 Stafford was a nominee for the National Geographic Adventurer of the Year 2010 and then in March the same year he was awarded European Adventurer of the Year 2011[8] in a ceremony in Stockholm, Sweden.
In 2011 Guinness World Records formally recognised Stafford's achievement[9] and he appears in the 2012 Guinness Book of Records.
Prince's Rainforests Project[link]
In August 2009 Stafford started writing a fortnightly blog for the Prince's Rainforests Project.[10] Unlike his own website this blog was aimed specifically at children and schools.
References[link]
- ^ Ed Stafford, British Man, Becomes First To Walk Along Entire Amazon River
- ^ The ME Association is one of Stafford's charities
- ^ "Water Way To Go" in The Young Times[1].
- ^ "Up the River - but with a paddle" in Geographical Magazine[2].
- ^ Barrowcliffe, Mark (5 December 2009). "The REAL king of the jungle". Mail Online. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1233384/The-REAL-king-jungle.html. Retrieved 9 August 2010.
- ^ Diane Sawyer´s ABC News "Person of the Week".
- ^ Jackson, Peter (9 August 2010). "Amazon adventure: Ed Stafford's trek from source to sea". BBC News. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-10852783. Retrieved 9 August 2010.
- ^ European Adventurer of the Year 2011.
- ^ Guinness World Record holder
- ^ Ed´s Adventure Blog for Kids
External links[link]
- Times article "When men friends break up"
- Walking the Amazon photo gallery from BBC Radio Leicester
- Ed Stafford interviewed in Leicester Mercury
- www.meassociation.org.uk
- www.walkingtheamazon.com
- www.edstafford.org
| Persondata | |
|---|---|
| Name | Stafford, Ed |
| Alternative names | |
| Short description | |
| Date of birth | 1975 |
| Place of birth | |
| Date of death | |
| Place of death | |
http://wn.com/Ed_Stafford
Related pages:
http://fr.wn.com/Ed Stafford
http://de.wn.com/Ed Stafford
This page contains text from Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ed_Stafford
This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License, which means that you can copy and modify it as long as the entire work (including additions) remains under this license.
This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License, which means that you can copy and modify it as long as the entire work (including additions) remains under this license.
| Matt and Chris Stafford | |
|---|---|
 Stafford Brothers at Summafieldaze, 2011. |
|
| Background information | |
| Origin | Gold Coast, Australia |
| Genres | House, Progressive House |
| Occupations | DJ, Producer, Entrepreneur |
| Years active | 2000 – present |
| Labels | Ministry of Sound Australia, Toolroom Records, Defected, Stealth |
| Website | www.staffordbrothers.com |
Stafford Brothers are the house music DJ and Production duo of Matt Stafford and Chris Stafford based on the Gold Coast, Australia. They are the first Australian DJ’s to get their own reality TV show on a major network.[1] Both brothers perform at all DJ shows and are sometimes accompanied by instrumentalists and vocalists. They are currently the #1 ranked DJs in Australia according to the 2011 inthemix DJ Awards.[2]
Contents |
Music[link]
The first Stafford Brothers single was a cover version of ‘More Than a Feeling’ originally performed and written by Grammy Nominated band Boston. The track was released in 2006.[3] In the same year they signed a record deal with Australian dance music label Central Station Records, (now owned by Ministry of Sound Australia [4]). They later signed a record deal directly with Hussle Recordings and MoSA, which produced five compilations mixed by the Stafford Brothers and five single releases. The highest charting single was ‘Wherever’, a collaboration with UK producers the Hoxton Whores featuring Frank Stafford on vocals, released in March 2009. The track reached #2 on the Aria Club Chart. It was also featured in the end of year Aria Club Chart Top 50 tracks of 2009 coming in at #17.[5]
The Stafford Brothers began to work with International record labels in late 2009. ‘Come My Way’, a collaboration with UK producer Tom Neville (also featuring Frank Stafford on vocals), was released by Toolroom Records.[6] Toolroom Records is a UK based underground house label owned by Mark Knight. Most recently the Stafford Brothers collaborated with Dubruck & Klein featuring Ollie James on vocals. ‘Get Away’ was released on Armin Van Buuren’s record label Armada Music.[7] The Stafford Brothers have remixed Boogie Pimps, Kaz James and Macy Gray, Freeform Five, Robbie Rivera, Dan Le Sac vs Scroobius Pip, Princess Superstar, and Dirty Funker among others.
TV Appearances[link]
On 21 January 2011 Fox8 premiered The Stafford Brothers[8] a reality TV series following the lives of Matt and Chris on tour across Europe, produced by TV host Wesley Denning.[9] The first season featured 6 episodes. Matt’s long time girlfriend and cover model Brooke Evers is one of the shows leading characters. In 2010, the Stafford Brothers appeared on the Season Finale of Australia’s Next Top Model hosted by Sarah Murdoch. The episode became famous when the host announced an incorrect winner having to recall the real winner moments later while still on air.[10]
The second season of their reality TV show will premiere on Fox 8 on 23 January 2012.
Major Performances[link]
In 2010 it was announced that the Stafford Brothers would support The Prodigy on their stadium tour of Australia.[11] In the same year Future Entertainment announced them as main-stage headlining acts on the 2011 Future Music Festival Tour alongside The Chemical Brothers and Ke$ha.[12] On 23 February 2011 the Stafford Brothers commenced their first official World Tour, with 35 shows scheduled within a period of 90 days.[13] The tour covers Australia, Asia, The Americas and Europe.
Management[link]
The Stafford Brothers employ multiple companies working in separate departments in all aspects of their businesses. Current departments include Platform Artists (Worldwide Bookings),[14] Chic Management (Talent Management),[15] 3sixzero (Brand Management) [16] and WD Entertainment (TV Production).
Discography[link]
Originals[link]
- ‘FALLING’ Stafford Brothers ft Ollie James [MOS] 2012
- ‘DANCER’ Stafford Brothers [Recovery House] 2011
- ‘GET AWAY’ Stafford Brothers vs Dabruck & Klein ft Ollie James [Armada] 2011
- ‘CHAMPAGNE NIGHTS’ Stafford Brothers ft Jamie Lee Wilson [Hussle] 2011
- ‘CAN’T STOP WHAT WE STARTED’ Stafford Brothers & Jason Herd ft Ollie James [Hussle] 2010
- ‘SING FOR ME’ Stafford Brothers vs Jean Elan [We Play] 2010
- ‘SPEAKER FREAKERS’ Stafford Brothers ft Seany B [Hussle] 2010
- ‘GOING DOWN’ Stafford Brothers [Hussle] 2010
- ‘WASTED (BABA O’RILEY)’ Stafford Brothers [Asterix Music] 2010
- ‘I GAVE YOU EVERYTHING’ Stafford Brothers & Juan Kidd ft Rae [Defected] 2010
- ‘COME MY WAY’ Tom Neville & Stafford Brothers ft Frank Stafford [Toolroom] 2009
- ‘WHEREVER’ Stafford Brothers vs Huxton Whores ft Frank Stafford [Hussle] 2009
- ‘I’M FEELING’ Stafford Brothers & Oliver Lang ft Towera [We Play] 2009
- ‘OPEN UP YOUR ARMS’ Stafford Brothers vs Dabruck & Klein [We Play] 2009
- ‘OM BAH’ Stafford Brothers [Central Station] 2008
- ‘PALACE CITY’ Stafford Brothers [Central Station] 2008
- ‘THE HEARING TEST’ Stafford Brothers [Tinted] 2008 {EP}
- ‘DARKNESS FALLS’ Stafford Brothers [Tinted] 2008 {EP}
- ‘ZORRO’ Stafford Brothers [Tinted Records] 2008 {EP}
- ‘BASS POP’ Stafford Brothers [Central Station] 2008 {EP}
- ‘ACID MONSTA’ Stafford Brothers [JFUNK] 2008
- ‘GHETTO ELECTRO’ Stafford Brothers [Tinted] 2008
- ‘ALONE’ Stafford Brothers [Tinted] 2008
- ‘GIVE LOVE’ Stafford Brothers ft Zaab & Timmy Trumpet [Central Station] 2008
- ‘I LIKE YOUR WAY’ Stafford Brothers ft Peter Millwood [Tinted] 2007
- ‘MORE THAN A FEELING’ Stafford Brothers ft Peter Millwood [Central Station] 2007
- ‘OOH WAH OOH’ Stafford Brothers [Central Station] 2006
- ‘I CAN SEE’ Stafford Brothers ft Miss Gabby [Central Station] 2006
Remixes[link]
- 'DON'T THROW IT AWAY' (Stafford Brothers remix) Bassmonkeys and Dominatorz ft Amanda Wilson [Ego] 2011
- ‘GOSSIP’ (Stafford Brothers remix) Vanessa Amorosi [Universal] 2011
- ‘MIDNIGHT MIDNIGHT’ (Stafford Brothers remix) Potbelleez [Vicious] 2011
- ‘BODY SHINE’ (Dabruck n Klein vs Stafford Brothers remix) Billy Hendrix [Velcro] 2011
- ‘DEPARTURES’ (Stafford Brothers remix) Robbie Rivera [Velcro] 2011
- ‘BLISS’ (Stafford Brothers remix) Joylon Petch & Sam Hill [Club Luxury] 2010
- ‘FLAT BEAT’ (Stafford Brothers remix) Dirty Funker [We Play] 2010
- ‘CAN’T SHAKE THIS FEELING’ (Stafford Brothers remix) Grum [We Play] 2010
- ‘ALL DAY AND ALL OF THE NIGHT 2K10’ (Stafford Brothers remix) Boogie Pimps [Recovery House] 2010
- ‘U SHOULD STAY’ (Stafford Brothers remix) House Moguls [Funktion Recordings] 2009
- ‘CAN’T HOLD BACK’ (Stafford Brothers remix) Kaz James ft Macy Gray [KJM] 2009
- ‘WANT SOME’ (Stafford Brothers remix) Dale Hooks [House of LA] 2009
- ‘(CAN YOU) TAKE ME AWAY’ (Stafford Brothers remix) Damian Wilson ft Ann Bailey [News] 2009
- ‘MAKE YOUR BODY POP’ (Stafford Brothers remix) Tune Brothers [Recovery House] 2009
- ‘GREENLIGHT’ (Stafford Brothers remix) Herd & Macklin [One Love] 2009
- ‘HEARTBROKEN’ (Stafford Brothers remix) T2 ft Jodie Aysha [Central Station] 2008
- ‘THOU SHALT ALWAYS KILL’ (Stafford Brothers remix) Dan Le Sac vs Scroobius Pip [Central Station] 2007
- ‘KYOTO NIGHTS’ (Stafford Brothers remix) Ran Shani [One Love] 2007
- ‘PERFECT’ (Stafford Nadi remix) Princess Superstar [Central Station] 2007
- ‘PRAY LIKE ARETHA FRANKLIN’ (Stafford Nadi remix) Audio Thieves [Tinted] 2007
- ‘ELECTRIC GUITAR’ (Stafford Nadi remix) Dope & Dusted [Central Station] 2007
- ‘STRANGEST THINGS’ (Stafford Brothers remix) Freeform Five [Central Station] 2006
- ‘COUNTING DOWN THE DAYS’ (Stafford Brothers remix) Sunfreakz ft Andrea Britton [Positiva] 2006
- ‘ROUND & ROUND’ (Stafford Brothers remix) Static Avenger [Tinted] 2006
Compilations[link]
- 'ESSENTIAL CLUBHOUSE' Mixed by Stafford Brothers [I love this sound!] 2011
- ‘SESSIONS SEVEN’ Mixed by Stafford Brothers [Ministry of Sound] 2010
- ‘CLUBBERS GUIDE SPRING 2009’ Mixed by Stafford Brothers [Ministry of Sound] 2009
- ‘CLUBBERS GUIDE TO 2009’ Mixed by Stafford Brothers [Ministry of Sound] 2009
- ‘ELECTRO SESSIONS VOL 2’ Mixed by Stafford Brothers [Ministry of Sound] 2008
- ‘ELECTRO SESSIONS VOL 1’ Mixed by Stafford Brothers [Ministry of Sound] 2007
- ‘WILD SUMMER 07’ Mixed by Stafford Brothers [Central Station] 2007
- ‘WILD SUMMER 06’ Mixed by Stafford Brothers [Central Station] 2006
References[link]
- ^ The Stafford Brothers on Fox8, www.fox8.tv
- ^ inthemix Awards winner announced, www.inthemix.com.au
- ^ More Than A Feeling, www.centralstation.com.au
- ^ Ministry of Sound acquires Central Station Record, www.ministryofsound.com.au
- ^ Top 50 Club Tracks of 2009, www.aria.com.au
- ^ Come My Way, www.toolroomrecords.co.uk
- ^ Get Away - Out Now, www.armadamusic.com
- ^ The Stafford Brothers TV show arrives, www.futureentertainment.com.au
- ^ The Stafford Brothers produced by Wes Denning, www.tvtonight.com.au
- ^ Sarah Murdoch announces wrong winner, www.theaustralian.com.au
- ^ The Prodigy Stadium Tour, www.theprodigy.com
- ^ Future Music Festival 2011, www.futureentertainment.com.au
- ^ Stafford Brothers World Tour 2011, www.3sixzero.com.au
- ^ Platform Artists, www.weareplatform.com
- ^ Chic Celebrity, www.chiccelebrity.com.au
- ^ 3sixzero, www.3sixzero.com.au
External links[link]
http://wn.com/Stafford_Brothers
This page contains text from Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stafford_Brothers
This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License, which means that you can copy and modify it as long as the entire work (including additions) remains under this license.
This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License, which means that you can copy and modify it as long as the entire work (including additions) remains under this license.
