This article is about the town of Flitwick. See Filius Flitwick for the Harry Potter character.

Coordinates: 52°00′14″N 0°29′48″W / 52.00384°N 0.49656°W / 52.00384; -0.49656

Flitwick
Flitwick  Flitwick shown within Bedfordshire
Population	12,700 [1]
OS grid reference	TL033350
Unitary authority	Central Bedfordshire
Ceremonial county	Bedfordshire
Region	East
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	BEDFORD
Postcode district	MK45
Dialling code	01525
Police	Bedfordshire
Fire	Bedfordshire and Luton
Ambulance	East of England
EU Parliament	East of England
UK Parliament	Mid Bedfordshire
List of places: UK • England • Bedfordshire

Flitwick, pronounced /ˈflɪtɨk/, is a small town and civil parish in Central Bedfordshire, England. The nearby River Flit runs through Flitwick Moor, a nature reserve and a Site of Special Scientific Interest.^[2]

Location[link]

It is broadly equidistant between Bedford 10 mi (16 km) and Luton 10 mi (16 km). It shares many services with the neighbouring town of Ampthill, with which it shares a boundary.

Nearby settlements[link]

Ampthill, Maulden, Clophill, Flitton, Greenfield, Steppingley, Pulloxhill, Westoning, Harlington, Barton le Clay, Tingrith, Eversholt, Millbrook

Shopping[link]

Flitwick has seen a large expansion in its population in recent years, but its retail facilities have not kept up with this growth. The local council has drawn up plans to redevelop the town centre in order to improve its retail offering [1]. At present, it has a large Tesco, a Barclays bank, a Co-op, which provides a secondary food source to the community and many smaller shops and estate agents, many in close proximity to the railway station. There is an open-air market every Friday selling local produce, which is set up on the car park of the village hall. The market has many stalls from a fishmonger to a baker, haberdashery and fruit and vegetables.

Leisure[link]

There is a sports centre with a 25 metre swimming pool with kids pool attached. The leisure centre also has a gym, squash courts with leagues and gymnasium.

Flitwick Town Council own and operate from The Rufus Centre on the outskirts of the town on Steppingley Road. The Centre is also a busy conference and special event venue with office space to lease.

Flitwick has four pubs; the Swan, the Bumble Bee, the Blackbirds and the Crown. A membership-operated social club, The Flitwick Club, is situated on The High Street, opposite the Drivestyle yard.

Center Parcs Woburn Forest is being developed on the outskirts of Flitwick at Warren Wood.

Transport[link]

Road[link]

Flitwick is 5 miles (8 km) from junction 12 of the M1 motorway.

Bus[link]

The main bus services are as follows:

42 (Grant Palmer) provides an hourly daytime service Mondays to Saturdays providing a connection to: Weston, Harlington, Toddington, Ampthill, Houghton Conquest, Kempston and Bedford. Mondays to Saturdays - no Sunday service.

J2 (Stagecoach) provides an hourly daytime service Mondays to Saturdays to Ampthill, Houghton Conquest, Kempston and Bedford. Mondays to Saturdays - no Sunday service.

200 (Grant Palmer) provides a two hourly service (generally) to Ampthill, Shefford, Clifton and Biggleswade. Mondays to Saturdays - no Sunday service.

Rail[link]

Flitwick has a station on the Thameslink line (First Capital Connect took over the franchise on 1 April 2006). Trains from Flitwick station go north to Bedford and south to Luton, Luton Airport Parkway, St Albans, London, Gatwick Airport and Brighton, making it a popular place to live for commuters.

It will be soon undergoing platform extension work as part of the Thameslink Programme. This will involve all platforms being extended to meet the longer trains from 2011. Work will start in late October 2010.

Future transport plans[link]

A5120 Flitwick–Westoning Bypass[link]

The Bedfordshire authority has identified Flitwick and Westoning as communities that they would like to bypass. In the second Bedfordshire local transport plan the unitary authority decided to evaluate bypassing one or both of the settlements to be completed by 2011.^[3]

Schools[link]

Flitwick has three lower schools (Kingsmoor, Templefield and Flitwick Lower School), a middle school (Woodland School). The old Flitwick School has been refurbished from its earlier state of neglect, and now serves as a further community centre, youth club and toddler group.

Sport[link]

It has three football teams: Flitwick Town, who play in the Bedfordshire County League Premier Division, Flitwick Eagles and Dinamo Flitwick.

Landmarks[link]

Flitwick is famous for its Flitwick Manor House, currently used as a hotel, and is said to be haunted.

There is also physical evidence of a Norman era motte and bailey castle site, locally known as "The Mount".

There is also a green area, located in the woods behind the industrial estate, this has the famous pond which locals use to fish from, known locally as "The PussyPond".

Notable people[link]

• Adam Croft, author, lives in the town
• Brian Stein, former professional footballer, lives in Flitwick

References[link]

External links[link]

• Flitwick Town Council

Kingsmoor

• The Rufus Centre
• Redborne Upper School and Community College
• Flitwick Lower School
• Flitwick Cricket Club dt n
• Flitwick Village Hall
• Flitwick Motorcycles
• http://www.flitwickchurch.org.uk
• http://www.rlfaret.co.uk / Rebecca L Faret Solicitors

v t e Settlements in Central Bedfordshire Aley Green Ampthill Apsley End Arlesey Aspley Guise Aspley Heath Astwick Barton-le-Clay Battlesden Beadlow Beeston Bidwell Biggleswade Billington Blunham Brogborough Broom Budna Caddington Campton Chalgrave Chalton Chicksands Chiltern Green Clifton Clophill Cockayne Hatley Cranfield Dunstable Dunton East Hyde Eaton Bray Edworth Eggington Eversholt Everton Eyeworth Fancott Flitton Flitwick Gravenhurst Greenfield Harlington Hatch Haynes Haynes Church End Heath and Reach Henlow Henlow Camp Higham Gobion Hockliffe Holywell Holme Houghton Conquest Houghton Regis How End Hulcote Husborne Crawley Hyde Ickwell Ireland Kensworth Langford Leighton Buzzard Lidlington Lower Caldecote Lower Shelton Lower Stondon Lower Sundon Lower Woodside Marston Moretaine Maulden Meppershall Millbrook Milton Bryan Moggerhanger New Mill End Northill Old Warden Pegsdon Potsgrove Potton Pulloxhill Ridgmont Salford Sandy Seddington Sewell Sharpenhoe Shefford Shillington Silsoe Skimpot Slip End Southill Stanbridge Stanford Steppingley Stotfold Streatley Studham Sutton Tebworth Tempsford Thorn Thorncote Green Tilsworth Tingrith Toddington Totternhoe Upper Caldecote Upper Gravenhurst Upper Shelton Upper Stondon Upper Sundon Westoning Whipsnade Wingfield Woburn Woodside Wrestlingworth

Warwick Davis
Davis in 2007
Born	Warwick Ashley Davis (1970-02-03) 3 February 1970 (age 42) Epsom, Surrey, England, UK
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1983–present
Spouse	Samantha Davis (m. 1991) «start: (1991-06)»"Marriage: Samantha Davis to Warwick Davis" Location: (linkback:http://en-wiki.pop.wn.com/index.php/Warwick_Davis)
Children	Annabel Davis (b. 1997) Harrison Davis (b. 2003)
Website
warwickdavis.com

Warwick Ashley Davis (born 3 February 1970)^[1] is an English actor. He is most notable for playing the title characters in Willow and the Leprechaun film series, as well as for his roles in Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi and the Harry Potter films. More recently, Davis starred as himself in sitcom Life's Too Short, written and directed by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant. Because of his dwarfism, Davis stands 3 ft 6 in (1.07 m) tall.^[2]

Early life[link]

Warwick Davis was born in Epsom, Surrey, to an insurance broker and his wife.^[3] Davis also has a younger sister. He was educated at Chinthurst School and later the City of London Freemen's School. When Davis was 11, his grandmother heard a radio advert calling for people who were 4 ft. tall or shorter to be in Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi.^[4] To Davis, who was a fan of the Star Wars films, it was a dream come true.

On the set of Return of the Jedi, Mark Hamill bought Davis every single Star Wars figure he did not have.^[2]

Career[link]

Davis with fellow Star Wars actor Anthony Daniels in 2010

He was originally cast as an extra Ewok, but when Kenny Baker, who was originally going to be Wicket, fell ill, George Lucas picked Warwick to be the new Wicket after seeing how he carried himself as an Ewok.^[3] Davis based his Ewok movements on his dog, who would tilt his head from side to side whenever he saw something strange. During production on the film, Davis made a short mockumentary film about his experience as Wicket, titled Return of the Ewok, made with help from Return of the Jedi's first assistant director, David Tomblin. The unreleased film was a fictional look at his decision to become an actor and act in the film and his transformation into Wicket the Ewok. Davis reprised his role in the ABC made-for-TV films Caravan of Courage: An Ewok Adventure and Ewoks: The Battle for Endor.

In 1987, Davis was called to Elstree Studios in London to meet with Ron Howard and George Lucas to discuss a new film project called Willow, which was written with Davis specifically in mind. Willow was his first opportunity to act with his face visible. He co-starred with Val Kilmer in the film, which received a Royal Premiere before the Prince and Princess of Wales. He then moved to television to be in the BBC Television adaptation of the classic The Chronicles of Narnia, specifically in Prince Caspian, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (as Reepicheep), and The Silver Chair (as Glimfeather) and an episode of Zorro filmed in Madrid.

In 1993, he played the villainous Irish goblin in Leprechaun. He then returned to the Star Wars universe, playing three roles in Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace: Weazel, a gambler sitting next to Watto at the Podrace; Wald, who was Anakin's Rodian buddy; and Yoda in scenes where Yoda was walking.

Davis played the role of Professor Filius Flitwick in the Harry Potter films.^[5] Davis played a white-moustached Flitwick in the first two films, and then a black-haired unnamed chorus conductor (presumably Flitwick but not credited as such) for the third installment of the series. In the fourth film, Flitwick is younger looking, with short, brown hair and a trimmed moustache. In addition to playing Flitwick, Davis played the role of the goblin Griphook in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, despite the role being played previously by fellow dwarf actor Verne Troyer.

In 2004, Davis played the character "Plates" in the indie film "Skinned Deep", directed by Special Effects artist Gabriel Bartalos.^[6]

In 2006, Davis appeared, alongside fellow Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe, in an episode of BBC's comedy series Extras as a satirical version of himself.

Davis starred in the film version of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, as the "body" of Marvin the Paranoid Android (the voice was provided by Alan Rickman). In December 2006, Davis starred in the pantomime Snow White and the Seven Dwarves at the Opera House, Manchester, and again in 2007-08 at the New Wimbledon Theatre.

Davis appeared in The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, in which he played Nikabrik the Dwarf, adding to his previous involvement in TV adaptations of the Chronicles of Narnia series. He also appeared as a contestant on the 2007 series of Children in Need reality show Celebrity Scissorhands.

Davis starred as himself in Life's Too Short, written by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, who also starred.^[7]

Other[link]

In addition to his acting career, Davis is the co-founder, with fellow dwarf actor Peter Burroughs, of a talent agency (Willow Management, founded in 1995) that specialises in representing actors under five feet tall. As of 2004, his agency also began representing actors over seven feet tall who had also suffered from being confined to "niche" roles. Over 40 members of Willow Management were cast as goblins in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2.

In April 2010 Davis published his autobiography, Size Matters Not: The Extraordinary Life and Career of Warwick Davis, with a foreword by George Lucas.^[8]

Personal life[link]

Unlike most dwarfs (70%) who have a condition called achondroplasia, Davis' dwarfism is caused by an extremely rare genetic condition called spondyloepiphyseal dysplasia congenita (SED). He has said the only real drawback to being small was the associated health problems. Of his own dwarfism, Davis has said "As you get older, you can suffer from painful hips, and our joints wear a lot quicker than for people of average height".

Davis is married and has two children, who live in Yaxley near Peterborough, Cambridgeshire. His wife, Samantha (b. 1971) has achondroplasia, whilst his children Annabel (b. 1997) and Harrison (b. 2003) also have SED.^[9] Samantha is the daughter of his business partner Peter Burroughs, and the sister of actress Hayley Burroughs.

Warwick Davis stated in interviews that Willow and Leprechaun are his favourite characters that he's played in his career.^{[citation needed]}

Filmography[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Warwick Davis

• Official website
• Warwick Davis at the Internet Movie Database
• Willow Management