Mickleover

Coordinates: 52°54′04″N 1°33′07″W / 52.901°N 1.552°W / 52.901; -1.552

Mickleover
Mickleover  Mickleover shown within Derbyshire
Population	18,000
OS grid reference	SK302338
District	Derby
Shire county	Derbyshire
Region	East Midlands
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	DERBY
Postcode district	DE3
Police	Derbyshire
Fire	Derbyshire
Ambulance	East Midlands
EU Parliament	East Midlands
List of places: UK • England • Derbyshire

Mickleover is a suburb located two miles (3 km) west of the city centre and is the most westerly suburb of the City of Derby in the United Kingdom.

History

The suburb is mentioned as a village in the Domesday Book when it was owned by Burton Abbey.^[1] At the time of the Domesday Survey, 1086, Mickleover was known as Magna (the Old English version of this is Micel) Oufra. Magna, in early Latin means Great; oufra coming from Anglo Saxon ofer, flat-topped ridge. The oldest parts of the suburb now are located along Uttoxeter Road (B5020). Mickleover was transferred to the County Borough of Derby from Repton Rural District in 1968.^[2] The resident population of Mickleover ward in 2003 was 13,528.^[3] The current population is estimated to be in excess of 18,000.^[4] In 1954 Perry Como set up a second home away from America in Mickleover with his partner. the late great uncle Alex Smith, Alex Smith set up the first iPhone exchange shop in Mickleover

Geography

Mickleover is now one of the largest suburbs in Derby and is still expanding due to ongoing housing developments. House prices in areas of Mickleover are amongst the highest in Derby, with prices exceeding £300,000 in the Mickleover Country Park area, colloquially known as Pastures, after the former psychiatric hospital found there.

There is a large 24 hour Tesco in the middle of the suburb. Mickleover Court Hotel is popular with commuting business representatives as well as travelling sports teams, notably football teams playing against Derby County. The hotel also accommodated the England team in 2001 when they played a friendly at Pride Park Stadium against Mexico. Pubs in the village include the large Nags Head and Vine Inn on Uttoxeter Road and the Masons Arms on Etwall Road.

Construction of the £5.2m Mickleover bypass (A516/A38) began in April 1972, and it was opened on February 19, 1975.

Railway history

The railway line which passed through Mickleover (the station was about 1-mile (1.6 km) from the centre of the village, entitled Mickleover for Radbourne) originally formed part of the Great Northern Railway's cross country route from Grantham to Stafford and was opened in April 1878. It ran from Grantham on the East Coast Main Line via Nottingham Victoria, over the famous Bennerley Viaduct (which still stands today) and Derby Friargate Station. This section of the Great Northern Railway, also known as the Friargate Line, (for further history about this now closed railway see GNR Derbyshire and Staffordshire Extension), was built as a rival to the already established Midland Railway which at the time had a monopoly over Derby, Nottingham and the surrounding areas.

At Egginton Jcn. it joined the Derby to Crewe line of the North Staffordshire Railway which it left at Uttoxeter to journey on to Stafford. Mickleover station lay on the Derby – Egginton section.

Although most of the line was closed to passenger traffic in December 1939, Egginton station didn't officially close until 3 March 1962 and Mickleover station remained open until 3 February 1964. The final passenger train left Friargate on 5 September 1964 and the line then closed throughout to passenger traffic on 7 September 1964.

Freight remained as did the through excursion traffic but eventually Friargate Goods closed on 4 September 1967. There used to be a dairy at Egginton from where milk was transported to London.

The section between Egginton Jcn. and Friargate was then acquired by the Train Control Group of the BR Research Division, as a suitable test track.^[5] It was singled between Friargate and Mickleover, but in 1973 the line was cut back to Mickleover since the eastern end of the track bed had been earmarked for the new A38 trunk road. Thereafter the line was used as a test track until 1990 when the A50 by-pass was built over the trackbed and the line was closed and lifted.

Today Mickleover and Egginton stations survive, Mickleover is a private residence and Egginton is the HQ for a Payroll Company. The route of the line is now a cycle track (to Etwall) and nature path with little to indicate its former status.

University campus

Mickleover from May 1964 until June 2007, housed a small 35-acre (140,000 m²) campus of the University of Derby which in 2007-8 made way for nearly 700 new homes. The campus was formerly the Bishop Lonsdale College of Education, run by the Church of England (Derby Diocese), and housed the Education and Health departments as well as some social science courses. In late 2007 a new scout hut for the 166th Mickleover Scouts was also built on the site of the University Campus (Derby Campus).

Schools

Mickleover has a number of primary schools. Mickleover Primary, Brookfield Primary, Silverhill Primary and Ravensdale Junior and Infants schools. There are two secondary schools, Murray Park School, which also borders the edge of Mackworth, and goes straight onto D block in Derby College. Many residents of Mickleover, however, attend John Port School, or Littleover Community School both of which can be difficult to obtain a place because of high demand.

The village has two C of E churches – the 1960s St John the Evangelist and the older All Saints. There is also a Methodist chapel and a Roman Catholic church on Uttoxeter Road called Our Lady of Lourdes. All Saints once contained an infant school, as did the Old Tea Rooms, now known as the Mickleover Community Centre.

Publications

Maxwell Craven, a well known Derby Historian who studied at Mickleover College of Education, has a book The Illustrated History of Derby Suburbs.^[6] Page 100 onwards describes the history of Mickleover, illustrated by photographs going back to the beginning of the 20th century. After a brief history of Mickleover, the book- Portrait of a Village^[7] visits the major streets of the old village and describes their development, amply illustrated by excellent photography.

Sports

Mickleover is home to the relatively small football team Mickleover Sports F.C.. Despite Mickleover's status as a suburb, Sports compete in the Northern Premier League Premier Division which is the 7th tier of English football, along with former Football League clubs Northwich Victoria and Bradford Park Avenue. The club was formed in 1948 and spent the first 44 years of their existence competing locally in the Derby and District Senior League. In 1993, they joined the Central Midlands Football League Premier Division, gaining promotion to the Supreme Division two years later. They moved up to Northern Counties East League Division One in 1999, and in the 2000–01 season reached the 4th round of the FA Vase. Their most recent promotion, to the Northern Premier League Premier Division, occurred at the end of the 2009–10 season.

Along with Mickleover Sports, the suburb is also home to many junior sports teams. A notable example being the Mickleover Lightning Sox football team who are listed in the Guinness World Records 2005 for being involved in the longest penalty shootout. The game between the Sox and Chellaston Boys in the 1998 Derby Community Cup, finished 1–1 with Sox winning the shootout 2-1, but not until 66 penalties had been taken. [2]

References

1. ^ Domesday Book: A Complete Transliteration. London: Penguin, 2003. ISBN 0-14-143994-7 p.744
2. ^ 'A vision of Britain through time' project by the University of Portsmouth [1]
3. ^ Nomisweb.com
4. ^ Check Browser Settings
5. ^ Mickover Test Track Page
6. ^ The Illustrated History of Derby's Suburbs by Maxwell Craven, published by The Breedon Books Publishing Company, 1996, ISBN 1 85983 031 5.
7. ^ Portrait of a Village, Mickleover by Margaret Welling, 1997, The Breedon Books Publishing Company, ISBN 1 85983 033 1.

External links

• Mickleover Photographs by Warren Elkes
• Village website
• Mickleover Golf Club
• Community Centre
• Mickleover Players
• Heritage Trail