Burton upon Trent

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Burton upon Trent

Burton upon Trent shown within Staffordshire
OS grid reference SK245225
District East Staffordshire
Shire county Staffordshire
Region West Midlands
Constituent country England
Sovereign state United Kingdom
Post town BURTON-ON-TRENT
Postcode district DE14
Dialling code 01283
Police Staffordshire
Fire Staffordshire
Ambulance West Midlands
UK Parliament Burton
European Parliament West Midlands
List of places: UK • England • Staffordshire
Coordinates: 52°47′58″N 1°38′17″W / 52.7995, -1.638

Burton upon Trent, also known as Burton-on-Trent or simply Burton, is a large town straddling the River Trent in the east of Staffordshire, England. It originally grew up around Burton-on-Trent Abbey the monastery of Saint Modwen, and had grown into a busy market town by the early modern period. While Burton's great bridge over the Trent was in poor repair by the early 1500s, it served as "a comen passage to and fro many countries to the grett releff and comfort of travellyng people", according to the abbot. The town, which has a population of 60,500 (2001 estimate), is the administrative centre for the borough of East Staffordshire, forms part of Burton (UK Parliament constituency), and lies within the National Forest. However there is some confusion as to whether Burton is based in the West Midlands or the East Midlands, even though all of the urban centre is South West of the River Dove, which forms the Derbyshire/Staffordshire boundary. This is probably because it was formerly within the East Midlands Utility (electricity/gas) areas, and has a Derbyshire postcode.

Contents

[edit] Brewing

Main article: English beer

For centuries, Burton has been associated with the brewing industry. This is due to the quality of the local water, which contains a high proportion of dissolved salts, predominantly caused by the gypsum in the surrounding hills. This allowed a greater proportion of hops, a natural preservative, to be included in the beer, thereby allowing the beer to be shipped further afield. Much of the open land within and around the town is protected from chemical treatment to help preserve this water quality.

The town is currently home to five brewers:

In addition, the Coors Visitor Centre (formerly the Bass Museum of Brewing) also continues to brew its own beer, separate from Coors.

A by-product of the brewing industry, figuratively and literally, is the presence of the Marmite factory in the town. This in turn generated the production of Bovril. Together with the breweries this gives the area a distinctive smell.

The opening of the River Trent Navigation at the beginning of the 18th century allowed Burton beer to be shipped to Hull, and on to the Baltic Sea and Prussia, as well as to London where it was being sold in 1712. A number of breweries opened in the second half of the 18th century to take advantage of this trade. The Napoleonic blockade brought this to a halt, leading to some consolidation and a redirection of the trade to London and Lancashire via canals. When Burton brewers succeeded in replicating the Pale ale produced in London, the advantage of the water’s qualities allowed the development of the trade of Burton India Pale Ale (an ale specially brewed to keep during the long sea voyage to India). The building of rail links to Liverpool enabled brewers to export their beer throughout the British Empire. The accidental shipwreck of a cargo boat carrying India Pale Ale resulted in barrels being washed ashore. The popularity of these fortuitous samples resulted in the domestic marketing of such ale, and began the gradual transformation of English drinking tastes. Previously, Englishmen had drunk mainly stout and porter, dark beers flavoured with roasted barley and similar to Guinness, but bitter (a development of pale ale) came to predominate. This extensively hopped, lighter beer was easier to store and transport, and so favoured the growth of larger breweries.

Burton came to dominate this trade, and at its height one quarter of all beer sold in Britain was produced here. In the second half of the 19th century there was a growth in native breweries, supplemented by outside brewing companies moving into the town so that over 30 breweries were recorded in 1880. However at the beginning of the 20th century there was a slump in beer sales causing many breweries to fail, unhelped by the Liberal government’s anti-drinking attitudes. This time no new markets were found and so the breweries shrunk by closure and consolidation from 20 in 1900 to 8 in 1928. A further process of mergers and buy-outs resulted in three main breweries remaining by 1980: Bass, Ind Coopes and Marstons. Today, only Burton Bridge brewery remains as an independent brewer.

The town's connection with the brewing industry is celebrated by a sculpture of the Burton Cooper, which is now housed in the shopping centre.

[edit] Miscellaneous

The town has a non-league football club, Burton Albion, who play in the Football Conference. The Burton & District Cricket League has many notable clubs, including Lichfield Cricket Club.

The Burton Operatic Society has existed since 1951 and is still flourishing.

The Burton suburb of Branston is where the well-known Branston Pickle was invented. Branston is also home to Branston Golf Club.

Claymills Pumping Station on the north side of Burton is a restored Victorian sewage pumping station, adjacent to the modern sewage works.

The Town is also home to Burton Canoe Club, A large canoe club on the banks of the River Trent. It has recently expanded and built it own club house.

Burton upon Trent has one of the oldest Amateur Radio Clubs in the UK it was formed in 1919. Although there were enthusiasts of wireless telegraphy in Burton well before the 1st World War. One of the founder members of the club was Mr FVA Smith, call sign XSR, (X = experimental station). Mr Smith was licensed on 3rd July 1914. One month later he received a message from the Marconi spark transmitter at Poldhu, being sent to London, on the eve of the outbreak of World War One. The message, which has survived and is in the present club archives, was announcing the mobilisation of Russian French and Belgium troops.

Until 2006, one of Burton's most distinguishable landmarks was Drakelow Power Station, just south of Burton on the opposite side of the River Trent.

HM Queen Elizabeth II visited the town on July 3rd 2002 to celebrate her Golden Jubilee.

The Statutes Fair takes place in the town every year in early October, the fair occupies the Market Place and parts of High Street, New Street and Lichfield Street for two days.

Burton upon Trent is the home of The Powerhouse Gym, International All Round Weightlifting Club, formed in 1985 and run by Coach and former World All Round Weightlifting Champion and Strongman: Steve Gardner. The club boasts several British Champions at Junior, Senior and Masters age categories, male and female. Winner of the European Heavyweight title for Drug Free weightlifting in 1990, Steve was first coached as a weight lifter in 1980 by local Champion and record holder John Humble, and as a Highland Games Athlete and Strongman competitor by Geoff Capes - former Worlds Strongest man.

[edit] Local government

Burton was incorporated as a municipal borough in 1878. The incorporated area was split between the counties of Staffordshire and Derbyshire - the Local Government Act 1888 incorporated the entirety of the borough in Staffordshire, including the Derbyshire parishes of Stapenhill and Winshill. It became a county borough in 1901, having reached the 50,000 population required.

It never substantially exceeded the population of 50,000, and at a population of 50,201 in the 1971 census was the smallest county borough in England after Canterbury. The Local Government Commission for England recommended in the 1960s that it be demoted to a non-county borough within Staffordshire, but this was not implemented. Under the Local Government Act 1972, the town became on April 1, 1974, an unparished area in the new district of East Staffordshire.

The town became entirely parished on April 1, 2003, when the following parishes were created:

Burton parish itself only covers the town centre, with the other parishes covering various suburbs. [1]

[edit] Geography

Destinations from BURTON UPON TRENT
Uttoxeter   Derby
Stafford
Image:Compasspoint-nw.png N Image:Compasspoint-ne.png
W Image:RoseVents.svg E
Image:Compasspoint-sw.png S Image:Compasspoint-se.png
Newton Solney, Repton, Loughborough
Tatenhill, Barton-under-Needwood, Alrewas, Lichfield, Birmingham Tamworth
  		Ashby-de-la-Zouch, Swadlincote

[edit] Town twinning

[edit] Local residents

HISTORICAL:

CONTEMPORARY:

  • Alastair Yates, presenter of BBC News 24 and BBC World, was born in Burton and went to Burton Grammar School. He joined BBC Radio Derby in the 1970s.
  • Olivia Murphy, England netball captain since 2000, was born in Burton, and went to De Ferrers High School, where her father, now a driving instructor, taught P.E.
  • Paddy Considine, Film actor whose movies include In America and Hot Fuzz. Paddy still resides in Burton upon Trent. He attended Abbott Beyne Secondary School and Burton College.

[edit] References

  • Letter from the abbot of Burton describing Burton Bridge in C.H. Underhill, A History of Burton on Trent (Burton, 1941), p. 168.
  • Joseph Addison in The Spectator in 1712 recorded visiting Vauxhall Gardens where he drank a glass of Burton ale.

[edit] External links

Image:Wikisource-logo.svg
Wikisource has the text of the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica article Burton-upon-Trent.
v • d • e
Ceremonial county of Staffordshire
Unitary authoritiesStoke-on-Trent
Boroughs or districtsCannock Chase • East Staffordshire • Lichfield • Newcastle-under-Lyme • South Staffordshire • Stafford • Staffordshire Moorlands • Tamworth
Cities and townsBiddulph • Burntwood • Burton upon Trent • Cannock • Cheadle • Eccleshall • Hednesford • Kidsgrove • Leek • Lichfield • Newcastle-under-Lyme • Penkridge • Rugeley • Stafford • Stoke-on-Trent (Burslem • Fenton • Hanley • Longton • Stoke • Tunstall) • Stone • Tamworth • Uttoxeter
See also: List of civil parishes in Staffordshire
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