Alfreton

infobox UK place
country = England
latitude= 53.097
longitude= -1.380
official_name= Alfreton
population = 22,302
shire_district= Amber Valley
shire_county = Derbyshire
region= East Midlands
constituency_westminster= Amber Valley
post_town= ALFRETON
postcode_district = DE55
postcode_area= DE
dial_code= 01773
os_grid_reference= SK414558
static_

static_image_caption=Alfreton High Street in 2007

Alfreton is a town in Amber Valley, Derbyshire, England. The town is in both the Bolsover district and North East Derbyshire districts. It is at the junction of the A38 and A61. It has a population of 22,000, which includes villages south of the A38. The Alfreton urban area (including South Normanton) totals 41,000. Alfreton has it's own dedicated [http://wwww.alfretonwiki.co.uk wiki] which provides informational, factual and historical representations and photographic evidence of all aspects and resources of social and economic activities in and around the town.

Local economy

The main industry of Alfreton was coal mining; since the mines closed in the 1960s, it is light industry and warehousing. A large Thorntons chocolate factory is based to the south of Alfreton, between "Derby Road" (B6179) and "Nottingham Road" (B600) on the site of the Swanwick colliery. A lot of the local area is involved with manufacturing and warehousing, due to its proximity to junction 28 of the M1. At the A38 junction with the A61, there is a BP service station with a Little Chef and Travelodge. The A38 previously terminated at Derby, being extended north to Alfreton, along the course of the former A61 in the early 1970s. The section to the M1 used to be the A615. The nearby Hayes Conference Centre provides some jobs for local residents.

Transport

Alfreton's railway station was closed as part of the Beeching era of rail cuts. On 7th of May 1973 a station was opened on the same site called "Alfreton and Mansfield Parkway". When Mansfield regained its own station as part of the Robin Hood Line re-openings, the name was changed to Alfreton. Services run to London St Pancras in the morning and evening peaks with an hourly service also running to Liverpool and Norwich.

Geography

Alfreton is located at coord|53|06|00|N|01|23|00|W| (53.1000, -1.3833)¹.

Politics

Alfreton is part of the Amber Valley constituency, the MP is Judy Mallaber (Labour). The local council for Alfreton is Amber Valley Borough Council.

Notable Residents

* Benjamin Outram, Civil Engineer was born here in 1764 [Schofield, R.B., (2000) "Benjamin Outram," Cardiff: Merton Priory Press]
* Robert Watchorn emigrated to America through Castle Garden. He served as the US Commissioner of Immigration at Ellis Island, between 1905 and 1909. He later worked as vice president of the Union Oil Company.
* James Young patented a process to obtain oil from coal whilst working in Alfreton in 1848.
* Tom Fox recently received an MBE from her Majesty the Queen for his outstanding contribution to the youth in the Amber Valley area. He joined Derbyshire County Council over 30 years ago in 1972 and started working at Alfreton's Polygon Youth Centre. Although he retired from his Youth Worker job in 2006, he still helps out one night a week. The emphasis of the award was for his work with children with special needs. He is married to Susan Fox and has two sons; Paul and Matthew.

Education

The local secondary school is [http://www.alfretongrange.com Alfreton Grange Arts College] (ages 11-18) on "Grange Street".

port

The local football club is Alfreton Town, who are currently in the Conference North League.

Alfreton Cricket Club currently play in the Derbyshire premier league and run 4 senior teams on Saturdays. They play on the picturesque Alfreton Park. [ [http://alfreton.play-cricket.com Play-Cricket the ECB Cricket Network ] ]

Alfreton has an active cycling club, organising a full programme of Audax events. They meet at Roger's Lane car park on Sundays at 9am and Wednesday evenings at 6.30pm.

Professional wrestling shows were often shown in Alfreton, with the likes of British legends as Big Daddy, Jackie Pallo and Blackjack Mulligan performing.

There is also a snooker club situated on the High Street as well as Alfreton Golf Club on Wingfield Road close to the Cricket Club.

Alfreton Leisure Centre was re-opened in May 2008. The centre is fully open with the exception of the swimming pool due to open in Feb 2009. The centre offers brand new top class equipment, including a 60 station gym, sauna, dance studio , badminton and squash courts.

References

External links

* [http://www.ambervalley.gov.uk Amber Valley Borough Council]
* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/derby/communities/places/a/alfreton/alfreton.shtml BBC Guide]
* [http://www.alfretonmvc.co.uk Alfreton Male Voice Choir]
* [http://www.derbyshiretimes.co.uk Derbyshire Times]
* [http://www.alfretonhall.co.uk Alfreton Hall]
* [http://www.alfretonctc.co.uk Alfreton Section: Cyclists Touring Club]
* [http://www.alfretonhistory.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=47:alfreton-christmas-past&catid=41:alfreton-history-articles Alfreton Local History Website]