Stafford

This article is about the town of Stafford, England. For other uses, see Stafford (disambiguation)

Stafford is the county town of Staffordshire in England. It lies in the north of the West Midlands region, between Wolverhampton and Stoke-on-Trent. The population of Stafford town in 2001 was 60,049. The surrounding borough of Stafford has a population of about 120,000.

History

Stafford means 'ford by a staithe', from Old English staithe "landing place" and ford "ford". NOTE: West Stafford in Dorset is unconnected.The town's location was the only feasible place for a large army to cross the River Trent, and so was strategically important in the wider region. The original settlement was on an island in the middle of the marshes of the River Sow, a tributary of the Trent. There is still a large area of marshland just north of the town, which in both 1947 and 2000 saw floods.

In the year 913 Stafford was fortified by Ethelfleda, Lady of Mercia and daughter of Alfred the Great, becoming the new capital of Mercia (the previous capital having been in or near Stone). Queen Ethelfleda ruled Mercia from Stafford for five years as Queen of Mercia, after the death of her father and husband - at around this time the county of Staffordshire was first formed. King Alfred's son Edward, with the crucial aid of Ethelfleda, finally conquered and christianised the Vikings who had settled in the east of England.

Stafford Castle was built by the Normans on a nearby hilltop in 1070, four years after the invasion of 1066. It was first made of wood, and later rebuilt of stone. It has been rebuilt twice since, but now only 19th century ruins remain atop the impressive earthworks. Night-time illuminations create a landmark for motorists on the M6 motorway and train travellers on the West Coast Main Line. Stafford was considered part of the ancient Pyrehill hundred.One of the most important people to come from this area is Mark Stafford, who helped in the second world war in freeing the prisoners of Auschwitz. But in more recent years he has been finishing high school and hoping to great things.

Buildings and the town centre

Stafford town centre

The oldest building in Stafford is St Chad's church.

Opened in 1908, Victoria Park is a 13 acre (53,000 m²) Edwardian riverside park with an open-air paddling pool, bowling green, bird cages, greenhouse and two play areas.

In the main shopping street, Greengate Street, lies the Elizabethan Ancient High House, the largest timber-framed town house in England. The Ancient High House is now a museum, with changing exhibitions. Greengate Street is also the street with the most pubs in it.

The Apollo Cinema shows the usual big-budget films and has three screens.

The old Court House, the Shire Hall, found in the very centre of the town, is now a Library and Art Gallery, with tours available of the old Courtroom and an open 'Holding Cell'.

People

Famous people from Stafford include the 17th century author of The Compleat Angler, Izaak Walton, and the 18th century playwright Richard Brinsley Sheridan was once the local MP. Also, the 1853 Lord Mayor of London, Thomas Sidney, was born in the town.

In the early 1900s, the village of Great Haywood near Stafford was home to the wife of famous Lord of the Rings author J. R. R. Tolkien. He stayed with his wife, Edith, in her cottage in the village during the winter of 1916, and the surrounding areas were said to be an inspiration for some of his early works.

Climax Blues Band founder Colin Cooper was born in the town in 1939 and he still lives locally.

Stafford was the birthplace of Men Behaving Badly star Neil Morrissey, Freya Copeland of the soap Emmerdale and where comedian Dave Gorman was brought up. Author Storm Constantine is a long-time resident. Ozzy Osbourne lived nearby. Anthony Gardner, first team defender for Tottenham Hotspur FC, is also from Stafford.

Economy

A major activity in the town since 1903 has been heavy electrical engineering, particularly producing power station transformers, exported around the world. The works have been successively owned by Siemens, English Electric, GEC, GEC Alsthom, Alstom and most recently Areva. Every so often a delivery takes to the road. Each transformer weighs several hundred tons and so a sort of road train is used. The weight is spread by a 160-wheel cradle, pulled by an 8-wheel drive FAUN Goliath tractor unit and pushed by two more.

Bostik Findley, the adhesives manufacturer, has a large factory in the town.

Local employment is also provided by Stafford Prison, close to the town centre.

Stafford is home to the computing and IT campus of Staffordshire University, the main campus being in Stoke-on-Trent.

Stafford railway station is a stop for most inter-city trains on the West Coast Main Line; enabling easy commuting to the cities of Birmingham, Stoke-on-Trent, and Manchester.

Business news in Stafford is covered by The Express & Star newspaper.

Healthcare

The town is divided into a number of Primary Care Trusts, each served by a doctor's surgery.

The town's main hospital is Staffordshire General Hospital, formally known as Stafford District General Hospital, this provides a wide range of non-specialist medical and surgical services. Staffordshire General Hospital's Accident and Emergency unit is the only such facility in the town.

The St. George's Hospital is actually a combination of two historical hospitals - the Kingsmead Hospital (previously an Elderly Care facility) and the St. George's psychiatric hospital. This hospital provides mental health services, including an Intensive care unit, Secure units, an Eating disorder unit, an EMI unit, Drug and Alcohol Addiction services and open wards. There is a small outpatient facility, and this is the location of the town's AA meeting.

Education

Primary and Secondary education are provided by various different schools in the town.

Stafford College is a large College of Further Education. Stafford College also provides some Higher Education courses on behalf of Staffordshire University.

Staffordshire University have a large campus in the East of the town.

The Stafford knot

Arms of Staffordshire

Arms of Stafford

The arms of Staffordshire show a distinctive three looped knot and the county motto is the knot unites. However this is properly called the Stafford knot since it was the badge of the de Stafford family. The fanciful legend is that three convicted felons who had committed a crime together were due to be executed in Stafford jail. There was argument over who should be hanged first but the hangman solved the problem by devising this knot and hanging the three simultaneously. However; the knot can be seen on a 4 ft (1.2 m) high carved Anglo-Saxon cross in a Stoke churchyard. This strongly suggests it pre-dates the Norman and medieval period, being probably either i) a heraldic symbol of early Mercia or ii) a Celtic Christian symbol brought to Staffordshire by missionary monks from Lindisfarne (commemorated in the arms of Stafford).

The North Staffordshire Railway was referred to as the Knotty after the knot.

March 2006

March 2006 was busy and eventful time for the town (and borough) of Stafford.

On 28 March 2006, the town's Royal Air Force base was closed after a long and illustrious history. The event was marked by a fly past and a flag lowering ceremony.

In the late evening of 29 March 2006, four individuals were detained under anti-terror legislation at the town's district general hospital. Subsequently, on 30 March and 31 March 2006, vehicles, homes and properties linked to these four individuals have been searched by anti-terror police. A fifth man, whose admission to Staffordshire General Hospital led to the arrests, later died from his injuries, but all charges have been dropped and the four men released. Local rumours suggesting his injuries were due to semtex burns appear to have been unsubstantiated.

On 31 March 2006 Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II, visited Stafford in order to celebrate the 800th anniversary of the town's Royal Charter. A large security operation was enacted, and major roads in the town were closed for most of the day. The queen visited the town's main church and spent time on "walkabout" in the main market square, before visiting the British Legion and University.