Crewe

Coordinates: 53°05′56″N 2°26′24″W / 53.099, -2.44

Crewe
Crewe town centre looking towards the Market Hall
Crewe shown within Cheshire
Population	67,683 (2001 Census)
OS grid reference	SJ705557
- London	173.5mi
District	Crewe and Nantwich
Shire county	Cheshire
Region	North West
Constituent country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	CREWE
Postcode district	CW1
Dialling code	01270
Police	Cheshire
Fire	Cheshire
Ambulance	North West
European Parliament	North West England
UK Parliament	Crewe and Nantwich
List of places: UK • England • Cheshire

Crewe is a town in Cheshire, England, the largest town in the borough of Crewe and Nantwich, in which it is the only unparished area. According to the 2001 census the urban area had a population of 67,683. It is twinned with Mâcon in France and Bischofsheim, near Mainz, Germany.

Crewe is perhaps best known as a large railway junction and former home to a major railway works. From 1946 until 2002 it was also the home of Rolls-Royce motor car production. At the end of 2002 Rolls-Royce production ceased at Crewe; the Pyms Lane factory on the west of the town now produces Bentley motor cars exclusively.

Until the Grand Junction Railway (GJR) company chose Crewe as the site for its locomotive works and railway station in the late 1830s, Crewe was a village with a population (c. 1831) of just 70 residents.^[1] Winsford, seven miles to the north, had rejected an earlier proposal, as had local landowners in neighbouring Nantwich, four miles away. Crewe railway station was built in fields near to Crewe Hall and was completed in 1837.

Crewe War Memorial, in the site it was moved to in 2006, after a local political crisis. It is one of only two war memorials in Britain featuring Britannia.

A new town grew up, in the parishes of Monks Coppenhall and Church Coppenhall, alongside the increasingly busy station, with the population expanding to reach 40,000 by 1871. GJR chief engineer Joseph Locke helped lay out the town.^[1]

The town has a large park, Queen's Park (laid out by engineer Francis Webb), the land for which was donated by the London and North Western Railway, the successor to the GJR. It has been suggested that their motivation was to prevent the rival Great Western Railway building a station on the site, but the available evidence indicates otherwise.^[2]

The railway provided an endowment towards the building and upkeep of Christ Church. Until 1897 its vicar, non-conformist ministers and schoolteachers received concessionary passes, the school having been established in 1842. The company provided a doctor's surgery with a scheme of health insurance. A gasworks was built and the works water supply was adapted to provide drinking water and a public baths. The railway also opened a cheese market in 1854 and a clothing factory for John Compton who provided the company uniforms, while McCorquodale of Liverpool set up a printing works.^[1] Nevertheless, the dominance of the railway industry was such that times of recession were keenly felt.

The renovated Lyceum Theatre is a fine example of Edwardian theatre design.

Crewe crater on Mars is named after the town of Crewe. Crewe was described by author Alan Garner in his book Red Shift as 'the ultimate reality'. Bill Bryson described Crewe as "the armpit of Cheshire" in his 1995 book "Notes from a Small Island".

This article does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed. (December 2007)

There are plans to revamp the town centre; following delays and an enquiry into the Compulsory Purchase Orders of land and buildings, according to the latest news (see Crewe blog) this is due to start in around 2010, with almost half the town centre to be rebuilt and a new street created. There are also plans to revamp the railway station. This is pending a public consultation by Network Rail scheduled for autumn 2008. Any scheme to shift Crewe station to Basford would not start until around 2014. Plans to revamp Queens Park are already underway, with railings to be replaced by November 2008 and bridge/perimeter work on course to be completed by Wrekin by Spring 2009.

One of the most important attractions in Crewe is The Railway Age railway museum, which has a preserved Advanced Passenger Train, which can be seen from the main railway line.

Crewe railway station is less than a mile from Crewe town centre, although politically it was not incorporated into the then-Borough of Crewe until 1937. It is one of the largest stations in north-west England and a major interchange station on the West Coast Main Line. It has 12 platforms in use and has a direct service to London (Euston) (2/hour, the average duration is now 1 hour 45 minutes), Liverpool, Manchester, Birmingham, Glasgow, Cardiff, Stoke-on-Trent, Chester and many other towns and cities.

Crewe is on the A530 and A534 and less than 10 miles from the M6 motorway.

The main bus company in Crewe is Arriva, which operates in Crewe and the surrounding towns and villages.

A smaller operator from Staffordshire called D&G Coach And Bus LTD runs the smaller local routes.

First PMT operates bus service 20 from Hanley to Leighton Hospital every 20 minutes.

Crewe's sporting claim to fame is that it is home to Crewe Alexandra F.C.,^[3] for a long time one of English football's perpetual under-achievers. During the late 20th century the club enjoyed something of a renaissance under the management of Dario Gradi, playing in the First Division – the second tier of the professional pyramid – for five seasons from 1997–2002. They were relegated to the Second Division in the 2002–03 season, but were promoted back to the First Division after only one season. At the end of the 2005–06 season, Crewe were relegated to the third tier (renamed to League One) again.

Crewe is also home to Crewe Wolves Rugby League Club, and also the Crewe and Nantwich Rugby Union Football Club (or Crewe and Nantwich RUFC) who play in the Rugby League Conference.^[4]

Speedway racing was staged in Crewe in the pioneer days of the late 1920s/early 1930s. The venue was the stadium in Earle Street which also operated in the 1970s. The Crewe Kings raced in the lower division (British League Division Two, then the National League) from 1969 until 1975. At the time the track was the longest and fastest track in the UK.^[5]

• Beechwood Primary School
• Berkeley primary School
• Brierley Primary School
• Edleston Primary School
• Gainsborough Primary and Nursery School
• Hungerford Primary School
• Leighton Primary School
• Mablins Lane Community Primary School
• Monks Coppenhall Primary and Nursery School
• Oakefield Primary School and Nursery
• Pebble Brook Primary School
• Shavington Primary School
• Springfield School
• St Mary's Catholic Primary School (Crewe)
• Underwood West Primary School
• Vine Tree Primary School

• King's Grove High School
• Ruskin Sports College
• Shavington High School
• Sir William Stanier Community School
• St. Thomas More School (Crewe)

• South Cheshire College^[6]

• MMU Cheshire

The Australian Olympic gold medal-winning swimmer Neil Brooks was born in Crewe; World BMX and track cycling champion Shanaze Reade is also from the town.

Suffragette, Ada Nield Chew began her activism in Crewe by writing a series of letters to the Crewe Chronicle, signed A Crewe Factory Girl, critical of the pay and conditions of women working in factories. At that time in 1894 she herself was working in Compton Bros. clothing factory in Crewe.^[7]

Notes

Bibliography

• St Michael's Church, Coppenhall

• Crewe and Nantwich Borough Council. Retrieval date: 14 July, 2007.
• Crewe blog, photos of Crewe. Retrieval date: 14 July, 2007.
• Crewe Guardian newspaper. Retrieval date: 14 July, 2007.
• The Railway Age museum. Retrieval date: 14 July, 2007.
• Polish Community in Crewe (in Polish). Retrieval date: 14 July 2007.