Everything about Swadlincote totally explained
Swadlincote is a town
unparished area in the
district of
South Derbyshire,
Derbyshire,
England. It is the main town of the district and the site of the district council's administrative headquarters. 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.
It is made up of separate settlements - Swadlincote,
Church Gresley, Midway and
Newhall.
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.
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.
The town's first local government was formed in 1871, with the creation of Swadlincote and District
local board of health. 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.
The Urban District Council was granted a
coat of arms in 1947. The design reflected the fact Swadlincote was formed out 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.
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 in the 20th century 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 wasn't implemented.
Swadlincote is served by the
Arriva Midlands and Midland Classic bus companies.
Education
There are many schools in Swadlincote including Granville Community School, William Allitt, Pennine Way, Springfield Junior school and
The Pingle School; the largest with 1500 pupils.
Attractions and Locations
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 area contains most of the shops needed for everyday life and essentials, although there are few facilities for extensive shopping. For this most occupants travel to Burton, which like Swadlincote is easily reached using the local bus service. Swadlincote contains a large proportion of shops selling
cards in relation to its size; this is often the subject of in-jokes amongst the residents.
Morrisons open a store in the town in October 2006 which is stage 1 of a facelift of this town. The store is located on Coppice Side road in the town. Plans are now afoot for the development of a retail complex consisting of a cinema, DIY store and a nationally recognised clothing stores, such as
Next.
The main attractions within the boundaries of Swadlincote are the local parks,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.
Greenbank leisure centre is currently operated by Sport Leisure Management (SLM) and they're currently working to renovate the centre for June 2008. The swimming pool is open every day of the week to the public and the leisure centre also offers many different types of swimming lessons to the public. Greenbank offers many different Clubs ranging from a swimming club to a football club.
The town has its own Paranormal Investigation Team which holds regular events in the town and its surrounding areas that are open to the public. During these events the team often brings well-known TV personalities along including Richard Felix and Phil Whyman.
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.
Throughout the 1950s and 60s the town's famous Rink Venue 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.
Accent and dialect
The area around Swadlincote has historically had a distinct dialect.
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 'Me Duck' are in common use in the Swadlincote area, as they're throughout some parts 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.
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.
One example of the dialect is the pronunciation of the word 'Tree', which is pronounced as 'Tray', and Tray - which is pronounced as 'Tree'.
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. 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.
- Benjamin Warren, an England international footballer, was born here in 1879.
- Jean (Emmeline) Hanson, Professor of Biology at the University of London, was born in Newhall in 1919.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Swadlincote'.
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