Swadlincote

Infobox UK place
official_name= Swadlincote
map_type= Derbyshire
country= England
region= East Midlands
population= 36,000 (2004 est.)
os_grid_reference= SK298197
latitude= 52.774
longitude= -1.557
map_type= Derbyshire
post_town= SWADLINCOTE
postcode_area= DE
postcode_district= DE11
dial_code= 01283
constituency_westminster= South Derbyshire
civil_parish=
shire_district=South Derbyshire
shire_county=Derbyshire

Swadlincote is a town and unparished area in the district of South Derbyshire, Derbyshire, England. It is the main town of the district and the site of the South Derbyshire District Council's administrative headquarters based on Civic Way. The occupants of Swadlincote often shorten its name to simply 'Swad'.

The town lies 13 miles south of the city of Derby.

The population of Swadlincote and its surrounding villages is approximately 33,000. [ [http://www.south-derbys.gov.uk/NR/rdonlyres/04193EA4-513E-4631-AF70-D7CD11D47605/0/Section2ProfileoftheDistrictandtheCouncil.pdf "Profile of the District and Council", South Derbyshire District Council, accessed December 14, 2007] ] It is made up of separate settlements - Swadlincote, Church Gresley, Midway and Newhall.

History

The name "Swadlincote" derives from the Anglo-Saxon "Swartlings Cottas", Swartling being an Anglo-Saxon man's name and Cottas meaning cottages. At the time of the Domesday Survey Swadlincote was just a small manor. Although the first extraction of minerals in the area is recorded at the end of the thirteenth century, the area remained rural until industrialisation in the eighteenth century.

The presence of coal and clay in the area led to urbanisation as colleries, brickworks and potteries came to dominate Swadlincote. These industries continued to expand until the Second World War. [ [http://www.south-derbys.gov.uk/LeisureCulture/LocalHistoryHeritage/Swadlincote+-+A+Potted+History.htm "Swadlincote - a potted history" (South Derbyshire District Council), accessed December 14, 2007] ]

The town's first local government was formed in 1871, with the creation of Swadlincote and District local board of health. ["Kelly's Directory of Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire, and Leicestershire and Rutland", London, 1895, p. 355] the board's district consisted of three civil parishes: Church Gresley, Sutton and Newhall and Swadlincote. Under the terms of the Local Government Act 1894, this became Swadlincote and District Urban District, renamed to Swadlincote Urban District in 1951. In 1974 the urban district was merged with Repton Rural District and part of South East Derbyshire Rural District to form the present South Derbyshire District.Frederic A Youngs Jr., "Guide to the Local Administrative Units of England", Vol. II: Northern England, London:Royal Historical Society, 1991, pp. 658 -660]

The Urban District Council was granted a coat of arms in 1947. The design reflected the fact that Swadlincote was formed out of part of the ancient parish of Church Gresley. Around the edge of the shield was a "bordure" or border in a "vairy" pattern of red and ermine, from the arms of the Gresley family, who took their name from the parish. The dedication of the parish church to St George and St Mary's Church was represented by their symbols: a cross and fleur de lys respectively. The quartered ermine and red field of the shield was taken from the arms of the Stanhope family, Earls of Harrington. The Tudor roses were taken from the arms of Derbyshire County Council. Above the arms was a crest depicting a human arm holding a "billet or": a yellow brick for the local brick making industry. The arm rose from flames, indicative of mining of fireclay and coal. The Latin motto adopted: "E Terra Divitiæ" ("From the earth, riches") also referred to the mineral industries of Swadlincote. [C Wilfrid Scott-Giles, "Civic Heraldry of England and Wales", J M Dent & Sons, London 1953] The current arms of the South Derbyshire District Council which bear the motto "The Earth Our Wealth" also reflect this heritage and are borne on the left side of street signs.

Throughout the 1950s and 60s the town's famous Rink Venue (now demolished and the site of industrial units) played host to major British and American pop stars and the legendary Gene Vincent appeared in the town on 7 September 1963. Ringo Starr appeared in 1962 while he was the drummer for Rory Storm and The Hurricanes.Fact|date=July 2008

Governance

Swadlincote comprises four of the seventeen wards of the district of South Derbyshire. Between them the four wards return 11 out of the 36 district councillors. The wards are: Church Gresley (2 councillors), Newhall and Stanton (3), Midway (3) and Swadlincote (3). Of the eleven councillors elected in 2007, ten are members of the Labour Party, and one is a Conservative. [ [http://general.south-derbys.gov.uk/Councillors/pcsearch.asp "Find your councillor", South Derbyshire District Council, accessed December 14, 2007] ]

Swadlincote forms part of the South Derbyshire Westminster parliamentary constituency. Since 1997,the MP has been Mark Todd (Labour) who will not be standing in the next General Election. A famous previous MP is Edwina Currie (Conservative). Until 1987 the area formed part of the Belper constituency.

Economy

The town originally had a strong manufacturing heritage that made pipes and earthenware etcetera. It was the centre of the South Derbyshire coalfield but mining ceased in the early 1990s. Light manufacturing and service companies are sited on industrial estates.

Swadlincote contains a moderately sized town centre, typical of those in the Midlands, containing both national brands such as Woolworths, and small local businesses. The opening of a large Morrisons store on Coppice Side has been blamed for the closure of a number of small independent shops in the town. [cite web |url=http://www.burtonmail.co.uk/burtonmail-news/displayarticle.asp?id=70683 |title=Fears growing for town shops|accessdate=2008-07-17 |author=Keith Bull |work= |publisher=Burton Mail |date=2007-01-12 ] The town's indoor, and plans are now afoot for the development of a retail complex consisting of a cinema, DIY store and a nationally recognised clothing stores. [cite web |url=http://www.burtonmail.co.uk/burtonmail-news/displayarticle.asp?id=256361 |title=Town revamp plan revealed |accessdate=2008-07-17 author=Keith Bull |work= |publisher=Burton Mail |date=2008-02-14 ] A link road called Sir Herbert Wragg Way has been built, named after the area's mid twentieth century member of parliament.

Barracuda Group, opened a bar and restaurant at the old Empire Cinema site in April 2007. The venue is one of their "Smith & Jones" branded pubs and was named "The Paramount" after the bespoke car manufacturer based in the town in the 1950s. Local resident Joanne Clamp won a competition to name the pub. [cite web |url=http://www.burtonmail.co.uk/burtonmail-news/displayarticle.asp?id=76845 |title=New bar retains sense of history |accessdate=2008-07-17 |author=Keith Bull |work=Burton Times |publisher= |date=2007-03-13 ]

Transport

Swadlincote lies near the junction of A514 (Derby to A444) and A511 (Burton upon Trent to Ashby-de-la-Zouch) roads.

A railway between Burton upon Trent and Coalville via Swadlincote opened in 1845, linking the town via Coalville to Leicester. Today the nearest railway station is Burton upon Trent, about five miles away, as the railway between Burton and Leicester lost its passenger service under the Beeching Plan in the 1960s and now carries only freight. In the 1990s there was a plan to restart the passenger service as a branch of Leicestershire's Ivanhoe Line, but it was not implemented. [cite web |url=http://www.leics.gov.uk/index/your_council/council_plans_policies/structure_plan/panel_report/panel_report_chapter_7.htm |title=Chapter 7 - Accessibility and Transport |accessdate=2008-07-17 |work=Structure Plan |publisher=Leicestershire County Council |date=2001 ]

Swadlincote is served by the Arriva Midlands and Midland Classic bus companies. [cite web |url=http://www.derbysbus.info/places_index/swadlincote.html |title=Public Transport in Derbyshire and the Peak District |accessdate=2008-07-17 |work= |publisher=Derbyshire County Council |date= ] [cite web |url=http://www.derbysbus.info/images/swdlncte.pdf |title=Swadlincote |accessdate=2008-07-17 |work=Derbyshire Public Transport Maps |publisher=Derbyshire County Council |date= ]

Education

There are many schools in Swadlincote including Granville Community School at Woodville, William Allitt at Newhall, Pennine Way,Belmont and Springfield Junior Schools and The Pingle School; the largest with 1500 pupils located on Coronation Street.

ports and attractions

The main attractions within the boundaries of Swadlincote are the local parks such as Maurice Lea and Eureka, the Green Bank Leisure Centre, the large dry ski slope and The 50s American diner all within easy reach of the town centre. The town has only one museum; Sharpe's Pottery Centre, a visitors centre that informs people of the town's pottery heritage. Swadlincote is also home to Gresley Rovers, a semi-professional football team based at Moat Street, Church Gresley.

Local youth organisations include No 1211 (Swadlincote) Squadron of the Air Training Corps located on Eureka Park.Fact|date=August 2008

Accent and dialect

The area around Swadlincote has historically had a distinct dialect. [ [http://www.bbc.co.uk/derby/content/articles/2005/08/18/voices05_derbyshire_accent_feature.shtml "Dicovering the Derbyshire Accent" BBC Derby, accessed December 14, 2007] ] [ [http://www.landshapes.org/index.php?fuseaction=viewreference.main&reference=9A77C7D8&type_id=5&z_id=&pe_id=11&from=text&page_no=5 "Swadlincote dialect", Landshapes (The National Forest), accessed December 14, 2007] ]

The accent, rather like that of Burton upon Trent, is akin to that of the nearby city of Derby, and the terms of endearment 'Duck', and 'Ay Up Me Duck' (Hello,My Dear) are in common use in the Swadlincote area, as they are throughout some parts of Derbyshire and much of North Staffordshire. Presumably it was initially the miners who used the term in this particular context. For example, an inhabitant enquiring about your well-being may ask "How are you, (me) duck?". This can be likened to the Geordie use of 'pet', which is interesting as both use the analogy of an animal.(Query: " mi'duck " may come from the Saxon" mi duka (my lord)).Fact|date=August 2008

The word 'youth' (pronounced 'yow-th') is commonly used to describe any young person. Unlike 'duck', however - which is always a term of endearment - the word is sometimes used scornfully as well as endearingly.Fact|date=August 2008

One example of the dialect is the pronunciation of the word 'Tree', which is pronounced as 'Tray', and Tray - which is pronounced as 'Tree'."Saturday" is "Satdee" ,"Tuesday" is "Toozdee" and "three" is "threy"."Mardy" means soft or crybaby and a passage or alley is a "jitty"."Ah" is "yes" and "can't/wouldn't/shan't" are "canna/wunna/shunna"."Something" is "summat".Fact|date=August 2008

Recently, people have been moving to the town from South Staffordshire eg Tamworth and Lichfield, who use Swadlincote as a dormitory site, working elsewhere. This dialect can be heard alongside the traditional one.Fact|date=August 2008

Notable residents

* Jack Bodell, heavyweight boxer, was born here. Bodell was British Heavyweight Champion, among his most notable matches was a bout against Henry Cooper in 1967, which Bodell lost. [ [http://www.boxrec.com/boxer_display.php?boxer_id=018894 Jack Bodell at Boxrec.com] accessed June 2007] Jack also appeared in episode 37 of "Monty Python".
* John Hurt, lived in Woodville from the ages of five to thirteen. His father was the vicar of local St Stephen's church.
* Ann Beverley, Sid Vicious's mother, moved to Swadlincote in her later life before she finally committed suicide. [cite web | url=http://www.punk77.co.uk/Books/ronwatts.htm | title=Interview with Ron Watts - Punk Music Promoter | accessdate=2007-11-01]
*Benjamin Warren, an England international footballer, was born here in 1879. [ [http://www.englandstats.com/playerreport.php?pid=1021 Ben Warren's England profile] ]
*Jean (Emmeline) Hanson, Professor of Biology at the University of London, was born in Newhall in 1919. [ [http://www.kcl.ac.uk/depsta/iss/archives/collect/10ha70-1.html King's College London Archives Services - Summary Guide] ]

References

External links

* [http://www.derbyshirect.com/swadlincote Community Transport (Swadlincote)]
* [http://www.south-derbys.gov.uk/ South Derbyshire District Council]
* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/voices/recordings/group/derby-swadlincote.shtml Recordings of Swadlincote dialect speakers (BBC Voices), accessed December 14, 2007]
* [http://www.catholic-church.org.uk/swadlincote/parish.htm The Roman Catholic Parish of St Peter and St Paul, Swadlincote]