Crewe
Encyclopedia
Crewe is a railway town
within the unitary authority area
of Cheshire East
and the ceremonial county of Cheshire
, England. According to the 2001 census the urban area had a population of 67,683. Crewe is perhaps best known as a large railway junction and home to Crewe Works
, for many years a major railway engineering facility for manufacturing and overhauling locomotives, but now much reduced in size. From 1946 until 2002 it was also the home of Rolls-Royce
motor car production. The Pyms Lane factory on the west of the town now produces Bentley
motor cars exclusively.
, the modern urban settlement of Crewe was not formally planned out until 1843 by Joseph Locke
to consolidate the "railway colony" that had grown up since around 1840-41 in the area near to the railway junction station opened in 1837
, even though it was called Crewe by many, from the start. Crewe was thus named after the railway station, rather than the other way round.
Crewe was founded in the township of Monks Coppenhall which, with the township of Church Coppenhall, formed the ancient parish of Coppenhall
. The railway station was named after the township of Crewe
(then, part of the ancient parish of Barthomley
) in which it was located. Eventually, the township of Crewe became a civil parish in its own right also named, rather confusingly, Crewe. This civil parish changed its name to Crewe Green in 1974 to avoid confusion with the adjacent town, which had been made a municipal borough in 1877. The railway station remained part of the civil parish of Crewe, outside the boundary of the municipal borough until 1936. So, throughout its history, the town of Crewe has neither been part of, nor has it encompassed first the township of Crewe, later the civil parish of Crewe, and later still the civil parish of Crewe Green adjacent to it, even though these places were the direct origin of the name of the town via the railway station which was also not part of the town before 1936. An old, local riddle describes the somewhat unusual states of affairs: "The place which is Crewe is not Crewe, and the place which is not Crewe is Crewe."
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. Winsford
, 7 miles (11 km) to the north, had rejected an earlier proposal, as had local landowners in neighbouring Nantwich
, 4 miles (6 km) away. Crewe railway station was built in fields near to Crewe Hall
and was completed in 1837.
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.
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.
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. Nevertheless, the dominance of the railway industry was such that times of recession were keenly felt.
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".
, which carries out train maintenance and inspection. It has been owned by Bombardier Transportation
since 2001. At its height, the site employed over 20,000 people; in 2005 fewer than 1,000 remained, with a further 270 redundancies announced in November of that year. Much of the site once occupied by the works has been sold off and is now occupied by a supermarket, leisure park, and a large new health centre.
There is still an electric locomotive maintenance depot
to the north of the railway station, operated by DB Schenker Rail
. The diesel locomotive maintenance depot
is now closed and is used for storing surplus rolling stock.
The Bentley
car factory is on Pyms Lane to the west of town. As of early 2010, there are about 3,500 working at the site. The factory used to produce Rolls-Royce
cars, until the licence for the brand transferred from Bentley's owners Volkswagen
to rival BMW
in 2003.
There is a BAE Systems Global Combat Systems factory
in the village of Radway Green near Alsager
, producing small arms
ammunition for the British armed forces.
The headquarters of Focus DIY plc and the off-licence chain Bargain Booze are in the town.
There are a number of business parks around the town hosting light industry and offices. Crewe Business Park is a 67 acre site with offices, research and IT manufacturing. Major presences on the site include Air Products, Barclay's Bank, Fujitsu Services Ltd
and Focus DIY. The 12 acre Crewe Gates Industrial Estate is adjacent to Crewe Business Park, with smaller industry including the ice cream van
manufacturer Whitby Morrison. The Weston Gate area has light industry and distribution. Marshfield Bank Employment Park is to the west of the town, and includes offices, manufacturing and distribution. There are industrial and light industrial units at Radway Green.
The town has two small shopping centres; the Victoria Centre and the Market Centre. There are indoor and outdoor markets throughout the week. Grand Junction Retail Park is just outside the centre of town. Nantwich Road provides a wide range of secondary local shops, with a variety of small retailers and estate agents.
There were also plans to revamp the railway station moving it to Basford
. This was pending a public consultation by Network Rail
scheduled for autumn 2008, however, no such public consultation was made. The plan has now been abandoned and instead maintenance work is being carried out on the current station.
Cheshire East Council is completing a new regeneration master plan for Crewe.
Planning consent has been granted on Mill Street for a mixed use regeneration scheme by Clowes Developments in May 2010. It will include of a discount food store, retail and housing. Work on the first phase is likely to start late 2010 depending on the economic climate.
Crewe railway station is less than a mile from Crewe town centre, although it was not incorporated into the then Borough of Crewe until 1937. It is one of the largest stations in the North West
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
) (average journey time of around 1 hour 35 minutes), Edinburgh
, Cardiff
, Liverpool
, Manchester
, Birmingham
, Glasgow
, Derby
, Stoke-on-Trent
, Chester
, Wrexham
, Holyhead
and many other towns and cities.
Crewe is on the A500
, A530
and A534 roads, and is less than 10 miles (16.1 km) from the M6 motorway
.
The main bus company in Crewe is Arriva
, which also operates in the surrounding towns and villages. Smaller operators such as GHA Coaches
and D&G Coach and Bus run the shorter local routes.
railway yard for Crewe railway station
. The museum has three signal boxes and an extensive miniature railway with steam, diesel and electric traction. The most prominent exhibit of the museum is the British Rail
Class 370
Advanced Passenger Train
.
The grade-II-listed Edwardian Lyceum Theatre
is in the centre of Crewe. It was built in 1911 and shows drama, ballet, opera, music, comedy and pantomime. The theatre was originally located on Heath Street from 1882. The Axis Arts Centre is on the Manchester Metropolitan University
campus in Crewe. It relocated from the university's Alsager Campus when it closed. The centre has a programme of touring new performance and visual art work. The Box on Pedley Street is the town's main local music venue.
Both the Lyceum Theatre and the Axis Arts Centre feature galleries. The private Livingroom art gallery is on Prince Albert Street. The town's main library is on Prince Albert Square, opposite the Municipal Buildings.
Crewe has six Anglican
churches, three Methodist, one Roman Catholic (which has a weekly mass in Polish
) and two Baptist
.
There is a museum dedicated to Primitive Methodism
in the nearby village of Englesea-Brook
.
The Jacobean
mansion Crewe Hall
is located to the east of the town near Crewe Green
. It is a grade I listed building, built in 1615–36 for Sir Randolph Crewe
. Today, it is used as a hotel, restaurant and health club.
There is a multiplex Reel
cinema on Phoenix Leisure Park on the endge of the town centre, as well as a bowling alley.
Queen's Park is the town main park, and is currently undergoing a £6.5 million transformation. It features walkways, a children’s play area, crown green bowling, putting, a boating lake, grassed areas, memorials and a cafe. Jubilee Gardens are in Hightown and there is also a park on Westminster Street.
Crewe Carnival takes place each Summer.
and Signal 2
from Stoke-on-Trent and BBC Radio Stoke
. Nantwich-based community radio station The Cat covers news, sport and local issues for the people of Crewe. Crewe TV is a Hyperlocal
blog covering local events and issues.
model of secondary education, so all of the schools under its control cater for pupils of all levels of ability. Until the late 1970s Crewe had two grammar school
s, Crewe Grammar School for Boys, now Ruskin Sports College
and Crewe Grammar School for Girls, now King's Grove High School
. The town's two other secondary school
s are Sir William Stanier Community School
, a specialist
technology and arts college, and St. Thomas More Catholic High School
, specialising in mathematics and computing and modern foreign anguages.
Although there are eight schools for those aged 11–16 in Crewe and its surrounding area, South Cheshire College
is one of only two local providers of education for pupils aged 16 and over, and the only one in Crewe. The college also provides educational programmes for adults, leading to qualifications such as Higher National Diploma
s (HNDs) or foundation degrees. In the 2006-07 academic year 2,532 students aged 16–18 were enrolled, along with 3,721 adults.
Manchester Metropolitan University
's (MMU) Cheshire Faculty has one of its two campuses in Crewe, in a part of town which has been rebranded as the University Quadrant. The second campus, about 6 miles (9.7 km) away in Alsager
, is being moved to Crewe over the next few years as of 2009, as Crewe becomes the university's Cheshire base for courses in business and management, the arts, exercise and sport science, humanities and social studies, education and teacher training. Initial expansion of the Crewe campus to accommodate the extra students and staff included the opening of a £30-million student village in 2005, part of an estimated £70 million investment being made in the campus.
Crewe's local football
club is Crewe Alexandra. 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 Alexandra play in League Two (the fourth tier of English football) during 2009–2010 having been relegated at the end of the 2008–2009 season. The club has a reputation of developing young players through its youth ranks; in recent times the likes of Geoff Thomas
, Danny Murphy, Craig Hignett
, David Platt, Rob Jones
, Neil Lennon
and Dean Ashton
have all passed through the club, whilst internationals Bruce Grobbelaar
and Stan Bowles
were also on the books at one time in their careers. Probably their most famous home-grown player was Frank Blunstone
, born in the town in 1934, who was transferred from "The Alex" to Chelsea
in 1953, and went on to win five England caps.
Crewe's local rugby clubs are both based in or near Nantwich
. The Crewe & Nantwich Steamers
(formerly Crewe Wolves), who play in the Rugby League Conference
, are based at Barony Park, Nantwich, while Crewe and Nantwich RUFC play their home games at the Vagrants Sports Ground in Willaston
.
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 in the UK. Amongst their riders were Phil Crump
(father of Jason Crump
), Les Collins
(brother of Peter Collins
), Dave Morton
(brother of Chris Morton
), Geoff Curtis, John Jackson
, Jack Millen and Dave Parry. The stadium has since been demolished to be replaced by a retail park housing a number of national companies.
Crewe's main leisure facilities are at Sir William Stanier Leisuire Centre and Victoria Community Centre. Crewe Swimming Pool is on Flag Lane.
, France
Bischofsheim
, near Mainz
, Germany
Dzierżoniów
, Poland
(since 2005).
Railway town
A railway town is a settlement that originated or was greatly developed because of a railway station or junction at its site.In Victorian Britain, the spread of railways greatly affected the fate of many small towns...
within the unitary authority area
Unitary authority
A unitary authority is a type of local authority that has a single tier and is responsible for all local government functions within its area or performs additional functions which elsewhere in the relevant country are usually performed by national government or a higher level of sub-national...
of Cheshire East
Cheshire East
Cheshire East is a unitary authority area with borough status in the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England.The borough was established in April 2009 as part of the 2009 structural changes to local government in England, by virtue of an order under the Local Government and Public Involvement in...
and the ceremonial county of Cheshire
Cheshire
Cheshire is a ceremonial county in North West England. Cheshire's county town is the city of Chester, although its largest town is Warrington. Other major towns include Widnes, Congleton, Crewe, Ellesmere Port, Runcorn, Macclesfield, Winsford, Northwich, and Wilmslow...
, England. According to the 2001 census the urban area had a population of 67,683. Crewe is perhaps best known as a large railway junction and home to Crewe Works
Crewe Works
Crewe railway works is a British railway engineering facility built in 1840 by the Grand Junction Railway. It is located in the town of Crewe, in the county of Cheshire....
, for many years a major railway engineering facility for manufacturing and overhauling locomotives, but now much reduced in size. From 1946 until 2002 it was also the home of Rolls-Royce
Rolls-Royce Motors
Rolls-Royce Motors was created from the de-merger of the Rolls-Royce car business from Rolls-Royce Limited in 1973. The original Rolls-Royce Limited had been nationalised in 1971 due to the financial collapse of the company, caused in part by the development of the RB211 jet engine...
motor car production. The Pyms Lane factory on the west of the town now produces Bentley
Bentley
Bentley Motors Limited is a British manufacturer of automobiles founded on 18 January 1919 by Walter Owen Bentley known as W.O. Bentley or just "W O". Bentley had been previously known for his range of rotary aero-engines in World War I, the most famous being the Bentley BR1 as used in later...
motor cars exclusively.
History
Although the name Creu first appears in the Domesday BookDomesday Book
Domesday Book , now held at The National Archives, Kew, Richmond upon Thames in South West London, is the record of the great survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086...
, the modern urban settlement of Crewe was not formally planned out until 1843 by Joseph Locke
Joseph Locke
Joseph Locke was a notable English civil engineer of the 19th century, particularly associated with railway projects...
to consolidate the "railway colony" that had grown up since around 1840-41 in the area near to the railway junction station opened in 1837
Crewe railway station
Crewe railway station was completed in 1837 and is one of the most historic railway stations in the world. Built in fields near to Crewe Hall, it originally served the village of Crewe with a population of just 70 residents...
, even though it was called Crewe by many, from the start. Crewe was thus named after the railway station, rather than the other way round.
Crewe was founded in the township of Monks Coppenhall which, with the township of Church Coppenhall, formed the ancient parish of Coppenhall
Ancient parishes of Cheshire
The Ancient Parishes of Cheshire refers to the group of parishes that existed in Cheshire, roughly within the period of 1200–1800. Initially, the ancient parishes had only an ecclesiastical function, but reforms initiated by King Henry VIII, developed by Queen Elizabeth I and expanded by...
. The railway station was named after the township of Crewe
Crewe Green
Crewe Green is a small village and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. The village lies 1½ miles to the east of the centre of Crewe...
(then, part of the ancient parish of Barthomley
Barthomley
Barthomley is a village and ancient parish, and is now a civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. According to the 2001 census the parish had a population of 202. The village is situated near junction 16 of the M6 motorway and by the...
) in which it was located. Eventually, the township of Crewe became a civil parish in its own right also named, rather confusingly, Crewe. This civil parish changed its name to Crewe Green in 1974 to avoid confusion with the adjacent town, which had been made a municipal borough in 1877. The railway station remained part of the civil parish of Crewe, outside the boundary of the municipal borough until 1936. So, throughout its history, the town of Crewe has neither been part of, nor has it encompassed first the township of Crewe, later the civil parish of Crewe, and later still the civil parish of Crewe Green adjacent to it, even though these places were the direct origin of the name of the town via the railway station which was also not part of the town before 1936. An old, local riddle describes the somewhat unusual states of affairs: "The place which is Crewe is not Crewe, and the place which is not Crewe is Crewe."
Until the Grand Junction Railway
Grand Junction Railway
The Grand Junction Railway was an early railway company in the United Kingdom, which existed between 1833 and 1846 when it was merged into the London and North Western Railway...
(GJR) company chose Crewe as the site for its locomotive works and railway station
Crewe railway station
Crewe railway station was completed in 1837 and is one of the most historic railway stations in the world. Built in fields near to Crewe Hall, it originally served the village of Crewe with a population of just 70 residents...
in the late 1830s, Crewe was a village with a population (c. 1831) of just 70 residents. Winsford
Winsford
Winsford is a town and civil parish within the unitary authority of Cheshire West and Chester and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. It lies on the River Weaver south of Northwich and west of Middlewich, and grew around the salt mining industry after the river was canalised in the...
, 7 miles (11 km) to the north, had rejected an earlier proposal, as had local landowners in neighbouring Nantwich
Nantwich
Nantwich is a market town and civil parish in the Borough of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. The town gives its name to the parliamentary constituency of Crewe and Nantwich...
, 4 miles (6 km) away. Crewe railway station was built in fields near to Crewe Hall
Crewe Hall
Crewe Hall is a Jacobean mansion located near Crewe Green, east of Crewe, in Cheshire, England. Described by Nikolaus Pevsner as one of the two finest Jacobean houses in Cheshire, it is listed at grade I...
and was completed in 1837.
Joseph Locke
Joseph Locke was a notable English civil engineer of the 19th century, particularly associated with railway projects...
helped lay out the town.
The town has a large park, Queen's Park (laid out by engineer Francis Webb
Francis Webb (engineer)
Francis William Webb was a British engineer responsible for the design and manufacture of locomotives for the London and North Western Railway .- Biography :...
), the land for which was donated by the London and North Western Railway
London and North Western Railway
The London and North Western Railway was a British railway company between 1846 and 1922. It was created by the merger of three companies – the Grand Junction Railway, the London and Birmingham Railway and the Manchester and Birmingham Railway...
, the successor to the GJR. It has been suggested that their motivation was to prevent the rival Great Western Railway
Great Western Railway
The Great Western Railway was a British railway company that linked London with the south-west and west of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament in 1835 and ran its first trains in 1838...
building a station on the site, but the available evidence indicates otherwise.
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
Cheese
Cheese is a generic term for a diverse group of milk-based food products. Cheese is produced throughout the world in wide-ranging flavors, textures, and forms....
market in 1854 and a clothing factory for John Compton who provided the company uniforms, while McCorquodale
McCorquodale
-People with the surname McCorquodale:*Alastair McCorquodale, Scottish athlete and cricketer.*Corky McCorquodale, professional poker player.*Joe McCorquodale, American politician.*Malcolm McCorquodale, 1st Baron McCorquodale, British politician....
of Liverpool
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
set up a printing works. Nevertheless, the dominance of the railway industry was such that times of recession were keenly felt.
Crewe crater on Mars
Mars
Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun in the Solar System. The planet is named after the Roman god of war, Mars. It is often described as the "Red Planet", as the iron oxide prevalent on its surface gives it a reddish appearance...
is named after the town of Crewe. Crewe was described by author Alan Garner
Alan Garner
With his first book published, Garner abandoned his work as a labourer and gained a job as a freelance television reporter, living a "hand to mouth" lifestyle on a "shoestring" budget...
in his book Red Shift
Red Shift (novel)
Red Shift is a fantasy novel by Alan Garner. It spans over a thousand years but one geographical area: Southern Cheshire, England. Garner evokes the essence of place, allowing his characters to echo each other through time, as if their destinies may be predefined by the soil on which they walk...
as "the ultimate reality". Bill Bryson
Bill Bryson
William McGuire "Bill" Bryson, OBE, is a best-selling American author of humorous books on travel, as well as books on the English language and on science. Born an American, he was a resident of Britain for most of his adult life before moving back to the US in 1995...
described Crewe as "the armpit of Cheshire" in his 1995 book "Notes from a Small Island".
Economy
The railways still play a part in local industry at Crewe WorksCrewe Works
Crewe railway works is a British railway engineering facility built in 1840 by the Grand Junction Railway. It is located in the town of Crewe, in the county of Cheshire....
, which carries out train maintenance and inspection. It has been owned by Bombardier Transportation
Bombardier Transportation
Bombardier Transportation is the rail equipment division of the Canadian firm, Bombardier Inc. Bombardier Transportation is one of the world's largest companies in the rail-equipment manufacturing and servicing industry. Its headquarters are in Berlin, Germany....
since 2001. At its height, the site employed over 20,000 people; in 2005 fewer than 1,000 remained, with a further 270 redundancies announced in November of that year. Much of the site once occupied by the works has been sold off and is now occupied by a supermarket, leisure park, and a large new health centre.
There is still an electric locomotive maintenance depot
Crewe Electric TMD
Crewe Electric TMD is an AC electric locomotive Traction Maintenance Depot situated to the north of Crewe railway station. The depot is situated on the south side of the Crewe to Chester railway line opposite Crewe Works on Victoria Avenue. The depot is operated by EWS...
to the north of the railway station, operated by DB Schenker Rail
DB Schenker Rail (UK)
DB Schenker Rail , before 2009 known as English, Welsh and Scottish Railway is a British rail freight company. EWS was established by a consortium led by Wisconsin Central Transportation Corporation in 1996 by acquisition of five of the six freight companies created by the privatisation of British...
. The diesel locomotive maintenance depot
Crewe Diesel TMD
Crewe Diesel Traction Maintenance Depot or Crewe Diesel TMD was a diesel-electric locomotive Traction Maintenance Depot situated to the south of and visible from Crewe railway station. The depot is owned by EWS. The depot code is CD...
is now closed and is used for storing surplus rolling stock.
The Bentley
Bentley
Bentley Motors Limited is a British manufacturer of automobiles founded on 18 January 1919 by Walter Owen Bentley known as W.O. Bentley or just "W O". Bentley had been previously known for his range of rotary aero-engines in World War I, the most famous being the Bentley BR1 as used in later...
car factory is on Pyms Lane to the west of town. As of early 2010, there are about 3,500 working at the site. The factory used to produce Rolls-Royce
Rolls-Royce Motors
Rolls-Royce Motors was created from the de-merger of the Rolls-Royce car business from Rolls-Royce Limited in 1973. The original Rolls-Royce Limited had been nationalised in 1971 due to the financial collapse of the company, caused in part by the development of the RB211 jet engine...
cars, until the licence for the brand transferred from Bentley's owners Volkswagen
Volkswagen
Volkswagen is a German automobile manufacturer and is the original and biggest-selling marque of the Volkswagen Group, which now also owns the Audi, Bentley, Bugatti, Lamborghini, SEAT, and Škoda marques and the truck manufacturer Scania.Volkswagen means "people's car" in German, where it is...
to rival BMW
BMW
Bayerische Motoren Werke AG is a German automobile, motorcycle and engine manufacturing company founded in 1916. It also owns and produces the Mini marque, and is the parent company of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars. BMW produces motorcycles under BMW Motorrad and Husqvarna brands...
in 2003.
There is a BAE Systems Global Combat Systems factory
ROF Radway Green
The former Royal Ordnance Factory , Radway Green, now part of BAE Systems Global Combat Systems, manufactures small arms ammunition for the British armed forces...
in the village of Radway Green near Alsager
Alsager
Alsager is a town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England, to the north-west of the city of Stoke-on-Trent, and east of the railway town of Crewe...
, producing small arms
Small arms
Small arms is a term of art used by armed forces to denote infantry weapons an individual soldier may carry. The description is usually limited to revolvers, pistols, submachine guns, carbines, assault rifles, battle rifles, multiple barrel firearms, sniper rifles, squad automatic weapons, light...
ammunition for the British armed forces.
The headquarters of Focus DIY plc and the off-licence chain Bargain Booze are in the town.
There are a number of business parks around the town hosting light industry and offices. Crewe Business Park is a 67 acre site with offices, research and IT manufacturing. Major presences on the site include Air Products, Barclay's Bank, Fujitsu Services Ltd
Fujitsu
is a Japanese multinational information technology equipment and services company headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. It is the world's third-largest IT services provider measured by revenues....
and Focus DIY. The 12 acre Crewe Gates Industrial Estate is adjacent to Crewe Business Park, with smaller industry including the ice cream van
Ice cream van
An ice cream van or ice cream truck is a commercial vehicle which serves as a travelling retail outlet for ice cream, usually during the summer. Ice cream vans are often seen parked at public events, or near parks, beaches, or other areas where people congregate...
manufacturer Whitby Morrison. The Weston Gate area has light industry and distribution. Marshfield Bank Employment Park is to the west of the town, and includes offices, manufacturing and distribution. There are industrial and light industrial units at Radway Green.
The town has two small shopping centres; the Victoria Centre and the Market Centre. There are indoor and outdoor markets throughout the week. Grand Junction Retail Park is just outside the centre of town. Nantwich Road provides a wide range of secondary local shops, with a variety of small retailers and estate agents.
Developments
A planned redevelopment of Crewe's town centre, including the current bus station and main shopping area have currently been abandoned because of "difficult economic conditions".There were also plans to revamp the railway station moving it to Basford
Basford, Cheshire
Basford is a civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England, just south of Crewe. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 266.-Governance:...
. This was pending a public consultation by Network Rail
Network Rail
Network Rail is the government-created owner and operator of most of the rail infrastructure in Great Britain .; it is not responsible for railway infrastructure in Northern Ireland...
scheduled for autumn 2008, however, no such public consultation was made. The plan has now been abandoned and instead maintenance work is being carried out on the current station.
Cheshire East Council is completing a new regeneration master plan for Crewe.
Planning consent has been granted on Mill Street for a mixed use regeneration scheme by Clowes Developments in May 2010. It will include of a discount food store, retail and housing. Work on the first phase is likely to start late 2010 depending on the economic climate.
Transport
North West England
North West England, informally known as The North West, is one of the nine official regions of England.North West England had a 2006 estimated population of 6,853,201 the third most populated region after London and the South East...
and a major interchange station on the West Coast Main Line
West Coast Main Line
The West Coast Main Line is the busiest mixed-traffic railway route in Britain, being the country's most important rail backbone in terms of population served. Fast, long-distance inter-city passenger services are provided between London, the West Midlands, the North West, North Wales and the...
. It has 12 platforms in use and has a direct service to London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
(Euston
Euston railway station
Euston railway station, also known as London Euston, is a central London railway terminus in the London Borough of Camden. It is the sixth busiest rail terminal in London . It is one of 18 railway stations managed by Network Rail, and is the southern terminus of the West Coast Main Line...
) (average journey time of around 1 hour 35 minutes), Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
, Cardiff
Cardiff
Cardiff is the capital, largest city and most populous county of Wales and the 10th largest city in the United Kingdom. The city is Wales' chief commercial centre, the base for most national cultural and sporting institutions, the Welsh national media, and the seat of the National Assembly for...
, Liverpool
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
, Manchester
Manchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
, Birmingham
Birmingham
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
, Glasgow
Glasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
, Derby
Derby
Derby , is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands region of England. It lies upon the banks of the River Derwent and is located in the south of the ceremonial county of Derbyshire. In the 2001 census, the population of the city was 233,700, whilst that of the Derby Urban Area was 229,407...
, Stoke-on-Trent
Stoke-on-Trent
Stoke-on-Trent , also called The Potteries is a city in Staffordshire, England, which forms a linear conurbation almost 12 miles long, with an area of . Together with the Borough of Newcastle-under-Lyme Stoke forms The Potteries Urban Area...
, Chester
Chester
Chester is a city in Cheshire, England. Lying on the River Dee, close to the border with Wales, it is home to 77,040 inhabitants, and is the largest and most populous settlement of the wider unitary authority area of Cheshire West and Chester, which had a population of 328,100 according to the...
, Wrexham
Wrexham
Wrexham is a town in Wales. It is the administrative centre of the wider Wrexham County Borough, and the largest town in North Wales, located in the east of the region. It is situated between the Welsh mountains and the lower Dee Valley close to the border with Cheshire, England...
, Holyhead
Holyhead
Holyhead is the largest town in the county of Anglesey in the North Wales. It is also a major port adjacent to the Irish Sea serving Ireland....
and many other towns and cities.
Crewe is on the A500
A500 road
The A500 is a major primary A road in Staffordshire and Cheshire, England. It is dual carriageway for most of its length and connects Nantwich, junctions 16 and 15 of the M6 motorway with the city of Stoke-on-Trent...
, A530
A530 road
The A530 road is a road linking the A525 east of Whitchurch, Shropshire, England with the A559 east of Northwich, in Cheshire. The road follows the route:*A525*Nantwich*Crewe*Middlewich*A559...
and A534 roads, and is less than 10 miles (16.1 km) from the M6 motorway
M6 motorway
The M6 motorway runs from junction 19 of the M1 at the Catthorpe Interchange, near Rugby via Birmingham then heads north, passing Stoke-on-Trent, Manchester, Preston, Carlisle and terminating at the Gretna junction . Here, just short of the Scottish border it becomes the A74 which continues to...
.
The main bus company in Crewe is Arriva
Arriva
Arriva plc is a multinational public transport company owned by Deutsche Bahn and headquartered in Sunderland, United Kingdom. It has bus, coach, train, tram and waterbus operations in 12 countries across Europe, employs more than 47,500 people and services over 1.5 billion passenger journeys each...
, which also operates in the surrounding towns and villages. Smaller operators such as GHA Coaches
GHA Coaches
GHA Coaches is a bus and coach operator serving North East Wales and surrounding areas in the United Kingdom. Their current total of bus operations has increased dramatically in recent years after purchases of other local bus operators such as Bryn Melyn, Chaloner's, Hanmers Coaches and Vale of...
and D&G Coach and Bus run the shorter local routes.
Culture
The Crewe Heritage Centre is located in the old LMSLondon, Midland and Scottish Railway
The London Midland and Scottish Railway was a British railway company. It was formed on 1 January 1923 under the Railways Act of 1921, which required the grouping of over 120 separate railway companies into just four...
railway yard for Crewe railway station
Crewe railway station
Crewe railway station was completed in 1837 and is one of the most historic railway stations in the world. Built in fields near to Crewe Hall, it originally served the village of Crewe with a population of just 70 residents...
. The museum has three signal boxes and an extensive miniature railway with steam, diesel and electric traction. The most prominent exhibit of the museum is the British Rail
British Rail
British Railways , which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was the operator of most of the rail transport in Great Britain between 1948 and 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the "Big Four" British railway companies and lasted until the gradual privatisation of British Rail, in stages...
Class 370
British Rail Class 370
British Rail's Class 370 tilting trains, also referred to as APT-P , were the pre-production Advanced Passenger Train units...
Advanced Passenger Train
Advanced Passenger Train
The Advanced Passenger Train was an experimental tilting High Speed Train developed by British Rail during the 1970s and early 1980s....
.
Lyceum Theatre (Crewe)
The Lyceum Theatre is an Edwardian theatre in Heath Street, Crewe, Cheshire, England. It originated as a converted Roman Catholic Church in 1876. The church was replaced in 1887 by a purpose-built theatre, which burnt down in 1910. The theatre was rebuilt the following year, and was refurbished...
is in the centre of Crewe. It was built in 1911 and shows drama, ballet, opera, music, comedy and pantomime. The theatre was originally located on Heath Street from 1882. The Axis Arts Centre is on the Manchester Metropolitan University
Manchester Metropolitan University
Manchester Metropolitan University is a university in North West England. Its headquarters and central campus is in the city of Manchester, but there are outlying facilities in the county of Cheshire. It is the third largest university in the United Kingdom in terms of student numbers, behind the...
campus in Crewe. It relocated from the university's Alsager Campus when it closed. The centre has a programme of touring new performance and visual art work. The Box on Pedley Street is the town's main local music venue.
Both the Lyceum Theatre and the Axis Arts Centre feature galleries. The private Livingroom art gallery is on Prince Albert Street. The town's main library is on Prince Albert Square, opposite the Municipal Buildings.
Crewe has six Anglican
Church of England
The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...
churches, three Methodist, one Roman Catholic (which has a weekly mass in Polish
Polish language
Polish is a language of the Lechitic subgroup of West Slavic languages, used throughout Poland and by Polish minorities in other countries...
) and two Baptist
Baptist
Baptists comprise a group of Christian denominations and churches that subscribe to a doctrine that baptism should be performed only for professing believers , and that it must be done by immersion...
.
There is a museum dedicated to Primitive Methodism
Primitive Methodism
Primitive Methodism was a major movement in English Methodism from about 1810 until the Methodist Union in 1932. The Primitive Methodist Church still exists in the United States.-Origins:...
in the nearby village of Englesea-Brook
Englesea-Brook
Englesea-Brook is a small rural village in the unitary authority of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. Located close to Crewe, and to junction 16 of the M6 motorway, it is a quaint little village with character aplenty and a history closely tied to the local foundations...
.
The Jacobean
Jacobean architecture
The Jacobean style is the second phase of Renaissance architecture in England, following the Elizabethan style. It is named after King James I of England, with whose reign it is associated.-Characteristics:...
mansion Crewe Hall
Crewe Hall
Crewe Hall is a Jacobean mansion located near Crewe Green, east of Crewe, in Cheshire, England. Described by Nikolaus Pevsner as one of the two finest Jacobean houses in Cheshire, it is listed at grade I...
is located to the east of the town near Crewe Green
Crewe Green
Crewe Green is a small village and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. The village lies 1½ miles to the east of the centre of Crewe...
. It is a grade I listed building, built in 1615–36 for Sir Randolph Crewe
Ranulph Crewe
Sir Ranulph Crewe was an English judge and Chief Justice of the King’s Bench.-Early life and career:...
. Today, it is used as a hotel, restaurant and health club.
There is a multiplex Reel
Reel Cinemas
Reel Cinemas is a cineplex in the United Arab Emirates operated by Emaar Properties and Cathay Cineplex . It was first opened in The Dubai Mall on August 22, 2009. It opened its second cinema in Dubai Marina Mall and on July 22, 2010 featuring a premier section as well with reclinable seats and...
cinema on Phoenix Leisure Park on the endge of the town centre, as well as a bowling alley.
Queen's Park is the town main park, and is currently undergoing a £6.5 million transformation. It features walkways, a children’s play area, crown green bowling, putting, a boating lake, grassed areas, memorials and a cafe. Jubilee Gardens are in Hightown and there is also a park on Westminster Street.
Crewe Carnival takes place each Summer.
Media
The weekly Crewe Chronicle, the Crewe and Nantwich Guardian and the daily Sentinel newspapers all cover the town. Local radio stations are Silk 106.9 from Macclesfield, Signal 1Signal 1
Signal One is a British Independent Local Radio station broadcasting from studios in Shelton, Stoke-on-Trent to Staffordshire and Cheshire on 96.4 , 96.9 and 102.6 MHz FM for Cheshire, Stafford and North Staffordshire respectively. It also broadcasts on the Stoke "UTV-EMAP Stoke-on-Trent"...
and Signal 2
Signal 2
Signal 2 is a British Independent Local Radio station broadcasting from studios in Shelton, Stoke-on-Trent to Staffordshire and Cheshire. The station is owned by UTV Radio and runs a "gold format" playlist. It is the sister station of Signal 1....
from Stoke-on-Trent and BBC Radio Stoke
BBC Radio Stoke
BBC Radio Stoke is a BBC Local Radio station in England, for the area of North and Mid Staffordshire, north east Shropshire and South Cheshire. The station began broadcasting programmes on 14 March 1968 as BBC Radio Stoke-on-Trent....
. Nantwich-based community radio station The Cat covers news, sport and local issues for the people of Crewe. Crewe TV is a Hyperlocal
Hyperlocal
The term hyperlocal can be used as a noun in isolation or as a modifier of some other term . It connotes having the character of being oriented around a well defined, community scale area with primary focus being directed towards the concerns of its residents...
blog covering local events and issues.
Education
Cheshire has adopted the comprehensive schoolComprehensive school
A comprehensive school is a state school that does not select its intake on the basis of academic achievement or aptitude. This is in contrast to the selective school system, where admission is restricted on the basis of a selection criteria. The term is commonly used in relation to the United...
model of secondary education, so all of the schools under its control cater for pupils of all levels of ability. Until the late 1970s Crewe had two grammar school
Grammar school
A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and some other English-speaking countries, originally a school teaching classical languages but more recently an academically-oriented secondary school.The original purpose of mediaeval...
s, Crewe Grammar School for Boys, now Ruskin Sports College
Ruskin Sports College
Ruskin Sports College is a mixed comprehensive secondary school in Crewe, Cheshire, England, for pupils aged 11 to 16 years.-Admissions:In September 2005 there were 696 pupils on roll at Ruskin Sports College, a number which has risen steadily over the past few years.-History:The school was founded...
and Crewe Grammar School for Girls, now King's Grove High School
King's Grove High School
King’s Grove High School is a state-run secondary school on Buchan Grove in Crewe, Cheshire, England. The school has been awarded specialist Business and Enterprise College status.-History:...
. The town's two other secondary school
Secondary school
Secondary school is a term used to describe an educational institution where the final stage of schooling, known as secondary education and usually compulsory up to a specified age, takes place...
s are Sir William Stanier Community School
Sir William Stanier Community School
Sir William Stanier Community School is a secondary school located in Crewe, Cheshire.- Establishment :Sir William Stanier Community School was officially established when Coppenhall High School & Victoria Community Technology School merged together in 2008...
, a specialist
Specialist school
The specialist schools programme was a UK government initiative which encouraged secondary schools in England to specialise in certain areas of the curriculum to boost achievement. The Specialist Schools and Academies Trust was responsible for the delivery of the programme...
technology and arts college, and St. Thomas More Catholic High School
St. Thomas More School (Crewe)
St Thomas More Catholic High is a voluntary aided comprehensive school for 11 to 16 year olds, situated close to the centre of Crewe, in Cheshire. There are nearly 700 pupils on the roll at the current time....
, specialising in mathematics and computing and modern foreign anguages.
Although there are eight schools for those aged 11–16 in Crewe and its surrounding area, South Cheshire College
South Cheshire College
South Cheshire College is a further education college, located in Crewe, England. The College is a single campus situated in a residential area about one mile from Crewe town center. The College is the sole provider of post-16 education in Crewe. It also attracts students from Nantwich, Alsager,...
is one of only two local providers of education for pupils aged 16 and over, and the only one in Crewe. The college also provides educational programmes for adults, leading to qualifications such as Higher National Diploma
Higher National Diploma
A Higher National Diploma is a higher education qualification in the United Kingdom. This qualification can be used to gain entry into universities, and is considered equivalent to the first or second year of a university degree course....
s (HNDs) or foundation degrees. In the 2006-07 academic year 2,532 students aged 16–18 were enrolled, along with 3,721 adults.
Manchester Metropolitan University
Manchester Metropolitan University
Manchester Metropolitan University is a university in North West England. Its headquarters and central campus is in the city of Manchester, but there are outlying facilities in the county of Cheshire. It is the third largest university in the United Kingdom in terms of student numbers, behind the...
's (MMU) Cheshire Faculty has one of its two campuses in Crewe, in a part of town which has been rebranded as the University Quadrant. The second campus, about 6 miles (9.7 km) away in Alsager
Alsager
Alsager is a town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England, to the north-west of the city of Stoke-on-Trent, and east of the railway town of Crewe...
, is being moved to Crewe over the next few years as of 2009, as Crewe becomes the university's Cheshire base for courses in business and management, the arts, exercise and sport science, humanities and social studies, education and teacher training. Initial expansion of the Crewe campus to accommodate the extra students and staff included the opening of a £30-million student village in 2005, part of an estimated £70 million investment being made in the campus.
Sport
Football (soccer)
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...
club is Crewe Alexandra. During the late 20th century the club enjoyed something of a renaissance under the management of Dario Gradi
Dario Gradi
Dario Gradi MBE is an Italian-born English football manager and former player, who was serving as manager of the Crewe Alexandra F.C. Academy. He is a former manager of Crewe Alexandra, with whom he has been associated for almost thirty years.Gradi is notable for his 24-year first spell as manager...
, 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 Alexandra play in League Two (the fourth tier of English football) during 2009–2010 having been relegated at the end of the 2008–2009 season. The club has a reputation of developing young players through its youth ranks; in recent times the likes of Geoff Thomas
Geoff Thomas
Geoff Thomas born Manchester, England is a former English footballer, who won nine caps for the full England team and captained Crystal Palace to the FA Cup final in 1990...
, Danny Murphy, Craig Hignett
Craig Hignett
Craig Hignett, , is an English former professional footballer who now works as an agent and a commentator on BBC Radio 5 Live...
, David Platt, Rob Jones
Rob Jones
Robert Marc Jones is a Welsh-born former England international footballer who made his name whilst he was with Liverpool.-Playing career:...
, Neil Lennon
Neil Lennon
Neil Francis Lennon is a former footballer from Northern Ireland. He is the current manager and former captain of Celtic....
and Dean Ashton
Dean Ashton
Dean Ashton is a former English professional footballer. He made over 240 appearances as a forward in the Football League and Premier League for Crewe Alexandra, Norwich City and , and was also capped by England. He was highly praised as a talented centre forward, but had a career frustrated by...
have all passed through the club, whilst internationals Bruce Grobbelaar
Bruce Grobbelaar
Bruce David Grobbelaar is a former football goalkeeper and manager.He played for a number of clubs in a career which spanned for more than 20 years at professional level, most notably Liverpool during their dominant period in the 1980s and early 1990s.-Early years:In his teenage years, Grobbelaar...
and Stan Bowles
Stan Bowles
Stanley Bowles was a leading English footballer who gained a reputation as one of the game's greatest mavericks. He was a cousin of Paul Bowles.-Career:...
were also on the books at one time in their careers. Probably their most famous home-grown player was Frank Blunstone
Frank Blunstone
Frank Blunstone is an English former international footballer who played for Crewe Alexandra and Chelsea as an outside left....
, born in the town in 1934, who was transferred from "The Alex" to Chelsea
Chelsea F.C.
Chelsea Football Club are an English football club based in West London. Founded in 1905, they play in the Premier League and have spent most of their history in the top tier of English football. Chelsea have been English champions four times, FA Cup winners six times and League Cup winners four...
in 1953, and went on to win five England caps.
Crewe's local rugby clubs are both based in or near Nantwich
Nantwich
Nantwich is a market town and civil parish in the Borough of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. The town gives its name to the parliamentary constituency of Crewe and Nantwich...
. The Crewe & Nantwich Steamers
Crewe & Nantwich Steamers
Crewe & Nantwich Steamers is a rugby league club in Nantwich, Cheshire. They play in the North West Division of the Rugby League Conference and run a second team in the North West Merit League.-History:...
(formerly Crewe Wolves), who play in the Rugby League Conference
Rugby League Conference
The Rugby League Conference , was a series of regionally based divisions of amateur rugby league teams spread throughout England, Scotland and Wales.The RLC was founded as the 10-team Southern Conference League in 1997, with teams from the southern midlands and the...
, are based at Barony Park, Nantwich, while Crewe and Nantwich RUFC play their home games at the Vagrants Sports Ground in Willaston
Willaston
Willaston could be*Willaston, Cheshire East, England*Willaston, Cheshire West, England*Willaston, Flintshire, Wales*Willaston, Isle of Man*Willaston, Oxfordshire*Willaston, South Australia...
.
Speedway racing
Motorcycle speedway
Motorcycle speedway, usually referred to as speedway, is a motorcycle sport involving four and sometimes up to six riders competing over four anti-clockwise laps of an oval circuit. Speedway motorcycles use only one gear and have no brakes and racing takes place on a flat oval track usually...
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
Crewe Kings
The Crewe Kings were a Speedway team which operated from 1969 until their closure in 1975.-Brief history:The team first competed in 1969 promoted by Maury Littlechild for Allied Presentations who also promoted the Rayleigh Rockets, the Sunderland Stars and the Reading Racers. Littlechild died on...
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 in the UK. Amongst their riders were Phil Crump
Phil Crump
Philip John "Phil" Crump in Mildura, Victoria is a retired Australian Motorcycle speedway rider who attained 3rd place in the 1976 World Championship...
(father of Jason Crump
Jason Crump
Jason Phillip Crump is an Australian international motorcycle speedway rider. He is a three-time Speedway World Champion, a World Cup winner and a former World Under-21 Champion.-Family:...
), Les Collins
Les Collins
Leslie 'Les' Collins is a former Speedway rider. He finished runner-up in the 1982 Speedway World Championship as well as winning the Intercontinental Final in 1982, the British Under-21 Championship in 1977 and the British League Riders Championship in 1980.-Crewe, Stoke & Belle Vue:Les started...
(brother of Peter Collins
Peter Collins
Peter Collins may refer to:* Peter Collins * Peter Collins * Peter Collins * Peter Collins...
), Dave Morton
Dave Morton
David James Morton is a former international motorcycle speedway rider who started his career with the Crewe Kings. Represented England at test level. Brother Chris also rode....
(brother of Chris Morton
Chris Morton
Christopher John Morton MBE is a former motorcycle speedway rider. He rode bikes from a young age at the farm of Peter Collins' parents.-Brief career summary:...
), Geoff Curtis, John Jackson
John Jackson
-Politicians:* John Jackson , mayor of Tampa, Florida* John Jackson , Member of Parliament for Plymouth Devonport, 1910–1918* John Edward Jackson, British diplomat...
, Jack Millen and Dave Parry. The stadium has since been demolished to be replaced by a retail park housing a number of national companies.
Crewe's main leisure facilities are at Sir William Stanier Leisuire Centre and Victoria Community Centre. Crewe Swimming Pool is on Flag Lane.
Notable people
- Neil BrooksNeil BrooksNeil Brooks is a former Australian sprint freestyle swimmer best known for winning the 4 × 100 m medley relay at the 1980 Olympics in Moscow as part of the Quietly Confident Quartet. Brooks was as much known for his swimming achievements as he was for disciplinary incidents...
, AustraliaAustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n OlympicOlympic GamesThe Olympic Games is a major international event featuring summer and winter sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The Olympic Games have come to be regarded as the world’s foremost sports competition where more than 200 nations participate...
swimming gold medallist - Ada Nield ChewAda Nield ChewAda Nield Chew was a British suffragette.Ada Nield was born on a farm near Butt Lane in North Staffordshire on 28 January 1870, daughter of Willam and Jane Nield. She left school at the age of eleven to help her mother take care of house and family...
, suffragetteSuffragette"Suffragette" is a term coined by the Daily Mail newspaper as a derogatory label for members of the late 19th and early 20th century movement for women's suffrage in the United Kingdom, in particular members of the Women's Social and Political Union...
who 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 was working in Compton Brothers' clothing factory in Crewe. - Mark CuetoMark CuetoMark John "Frank" Cueto is an English international rugby union player. He plays on the wing for Sale Sharks and England.-Biography:...
, international rugby and lions player currently playing for the Sale SharksSale SharksSale Sharks are a professional rugby union club who play in England in the Aviva Premiership.The club is an offshoot of Sale FC, which is based at Heywood Road in Sale, Greater Manchester, but Sharks currently play in Stockport at Edgeley Park, ground sharing with Stockport County F.C.Part of the... - David GilfordDavid GilfordDavid Gilford is an English professional golfer.Gilford was born in Crewe. He won the English Amateur in 1984 and turned professional in 1986....
, European Tour and Ryder CupRyder CupThe Ryder Cup is a biennial golf competition between teams from Europe and the United States. The competition is jointly administered by the PGA of America and the PGA European Tour, and is contested every two years, the venue alternating between courses in the United States and Europe...
golfer (1991, 1995) is from Crewe. - Chris Hughes one of Britain's top quizzers, featuring in Eggheads, and noted karaokeKaraokeis a form of interactive entertainment or video game in which amateur singers sing along with recorded music using a microphone and public address system. The music is typically a well-known pop song minus the lead vocal. Lyrics are usually displayed on a video screen, along with a moving symbol,...
singer with four octaveOctaveIn music, an octave is the interval between one musical pitch and another with half or double its frequency. The octave relationship is a natural phenomenon that has been referred to as the "basic miracle of music", the use of which is "common in most musical systems"...
vocal range. - John Edward MorrisJohn Morris (cricketer)John Morris is a former English cricketer, who played for England in three Tests and eight ODIs from 1990 to 1991...
, former English cricketer who played in 3 Tests and 8 ODIs from 1990 to 1991. A stocky, right-handed, middle-order batsman, Morris played most of his first-class cricket for DerbyshireDerbyshire County Cricket ClubDerbyshire County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the England and Wales domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Derbyshire...
. - Shanaze ReadeShanaze ReadeShanaze Danielle Reade is a professional British Bicycle Motocross racer and track cyclist whose prime competitive years began in 2002. She has won the UCI BMX World Championships three times...
, world BMXBMXBicycle motocross or BMX refers to the sport in which the main goal is extreme racing on bicycles in motocross style on tracks with inline start and expressive obstacles, and it is also the term that refers to the bicycle itself that is designed for dirt and motocross cycling.- History :BMX started...
and track cyclingTrack cyclingTrack cycling is a bicycle racing sport usually held on specially built banked tracks or velodromes using track bicycles....
champion. - Adam RickittAdam RickittAdam Peter Rickitt is an English actor, singer-songwriter and model.-Biography:Rickitt was born in Crewe, Cheshire, the youngest of four brothers. His father is co-owner of an estate agency...
, former Coronation StreetCoronation StreetCoronation Street is a British soap opera set in Weatherfield, a fictional town in Greater Manchester based on Salford. Created by Tony Warren, Coronation Street was first broadcast on 9 December 1960...
actor. - Ashley ShawAshley ShawStuart Ashley Shaw is an English cricketer. Shaw is a right-handed batsman who bowls left-arm fast-medium. He was born in Crewe, Cheshire and educated there at Shavington High School....
, cricketer - Beth TweddleBeth TweddleElizabeth "Beth" Kimberly Tweddle MBE is an English gymnast. Tweddle is a three time world champion having won the 2010 World Championships and 2006 World Championshipson the uneven bars and the 2009 World Championships on the floor...
, world champion gymnastGymnasticsGymnastics is a sport involving performance of exercises requiring physical strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, and balance. Internationally, all of the gymnastic sports are governed by the Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique with each country having its own national governing body...
, was coached in her formative years at the Camm Street Gymnastics Centre in Crewe.
Town twinning
MâconMâcon
Mâcon is a small city in central France. It is prefecture of the Saône-et-Loire department, in the region of Bourgogne, and the capital of the Mâconnais district. Mâcon is home to over 35,000 residents, called Mâconnais.-Geography:...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
Bischofsheim
Bischofsheim (Mainspitze)
Bischofsheim is a municipality in Groß-Gerau district in Hesse, Germany with a population of more than 12,000.- Location :Bischofsheim lies south of the Main and east of the Rhine in the so-called Mainspitze triangle, a narrow piece of land between the Main and Rhine where the former empties into...
, near Mainz
Mainz
Mainz under the Holy Roman Empire, and previously was a Roman fort city which commanded the west bank of the Rhine and formed part of the northernmost frontier of the Roman Empire...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
Dzierżoniów
Dzierzoniów
Dzierżoniów is a town in southwestern Poland. It is situated in Lower Silesian Voivodeship...
, Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
(since 2005).