Kidderminster Shuttle

Kidderminster

[kid-er-min-ster]

Kidderminster is a town in the Wyre Forest district of Worcestershire, England. It is located approximately seventeen miles south-west of Birmingham city centre. The 2001 census recorded a population of 55,182 in the town. The town is twinned with the town of Husum, Germany.

The town centre area has undergone substantial redevelopment in recent years, with the commercial retail area of 'Weaver's Wharf' attracting many visitors and shoppers. 'Slingfield Mill', a Grade II listed building, has been converted into a retail outlet and incorporated into 'Weaver's Wharf'.

History

A parliamentary report of 1777 listed Kidderminster Borough as having a parish workhouse accommodating up to 70 inmates. Under the so-called Gilbert's Act of 1782 Kidderminster Union was established for the purpose of relieving the indigent poor.

Kidderminster has two so-called "Commissioner Churches". The first was St. George's church, on Radford Avenue. This was designed by Francis Goodwin and built in 1821-1824, finally being consecrated in April 1824. It had the third largest grant by the Commission, of just over £17,000.00, of any church outside London. The second church was St. John's church, on the Bewdley Road. This church was built in 1843 and the architect was Matthew Steele, although the grant in this case was just over £4,000.

Under the Local Government Act 1972, it was proposed for Kidderminster to be part of the West Midlands metropolitan county, but it was scrapped after the proposed county boundary was trimmed back to Stourbridge.

Geography

The River Stour and the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal both flow through Kidderminster town centre.

Economy

The modern carpet industry was founded in the area in 1785 by Brintons, and the carpet industry became extremely important to the local economy, so much so that the local newspaper is still named The Shuttle after the shuttles used on the carpet looms. Although much declined in recent years, the industry is still a significant employer in the area, with Brintons still employing several hundred people and the biggest employer of the town.

Kidderminster is also the home of Victoria Carpets plc. The "Vic" has factories in Munster, Ireland and in Dandenong, Australia and is a worldwide exporter of bespoke carpets for hotels and large commercial venues. One notable user of Victoria carpet is the Eiffel Tower.

The local commercial radio station is The Wyre, which started broadcasting on 12 September 2005, and broadcasts from studio's in Kidderminster. It competes alongside Wyvern FM, whose presence is minimal in the town, Sunshine Radio, and BBC Hereford & Worcester.

There are several things which are key parts of the unique make-up of the town, one of these are the huge former British Sugar Corporation silos sited in their now redundant site on the Stourport Road, these silos can be seen from the Malvern Hills, nearly thirty miles away.

There is Co-op and a doctors surgery on Franche Road (A442) in Franche, a Morrisons on Oxford Street in the centre of the town, a Sainsburys on Carpet Trades Way near the river, Tesco and Aldi are in the town centre on either side of New Road.

In Summerfield on the outskirts of Kidderminster is the ROXEL site where solid rocket motors are manufactured. The site has manufactured the motors for the Rapier missile, Seawolf missile, Starstreak and ASRAAM missile systems. Over the years the site has been owned by IMI, Royal Ordnance and British Aerospace but is now part of the Roxel Group, headquartered in Paris and with a sister site outside Bordeaux.

The SEALINE yacht company manufactures boats for the luxury market and is Kidderminster's second largest single employer.

Politics

The Wyre Forest District Council is currently run by a minority Conservative Party group, who hold eighteen of the council's forty two seats. In addition there are still Kidderminster Health Concern candidates on the council.

Kidderminster is an unparished area within Wyre Forest District, but Charter Trustees maintain the traditions of the town and elect a Mayor.

It is notable that in the United Kingdom general election, 2001, the town returned Dr Richard Taylor as an independent MP for the Wyre Forest parliamentary constituency. Only a handful of independent MPs have been elected since World War II and Taylor had fought the election to protest against the proposed reduction in services at Kidderminster Hospital. He held his seat at the 2005 election, the first independent MP to do so since 1949.

Famous residents

The Puritan minister Richard Baxter, (born November 12, 1615 - died December 8, 1691) began his ministry in Kidderminster in April 1641 and spent the next 19 years in the town. There is a statue to him outside the parish church where he was based. It states his wish 'for unity and comprehension in religion'.

Kidderminster was the birthplace of Lant Carpenter on September 2, 1780.

Sir Josiah Mason, an English pen-manufacturer, was born in Mill Street on February 23 1795. Sir Rowland Hill, the inventor of the Penny Black and the modern postal system, was born in Blackwell Street on December 3, 1795 . There is a statue, sculpted by Sir Thomas Brock, to him in Vicar Street outside the Town Hall. There is a pub in the Bull Ring called The Penny Black in his honour.

Edward Bradley, the English humorist of the mid-Victorian era, was born in Kidderminster in 1827. He died on December 11 1889.

Captain Eustace Jotham and Private John Francis Young were Victoria Cross winners in 1915 and 1918 and were born in Kidderminster.

Although not born in the town the front man of Led Zeppelin, Robert Plant has close associations with Kidderminster, particularly Kidderminster College of Further Education.

Drummer Andy Edwards was born in Kidderminster, and worked with Plant between 1999 and 2001 before becoming a member of well known progressive rock band IQ in 2005.

Solo guitarist Robbie Blunt, another Robert Plant collaborator, also has association with Kidderminster.

Singer Jess Roden was born in Kidderminster.

Birmingham DJ Tony De Vit was born in Kidderminster.

Stan Webb, blues guitarist and founder of Chicken Shack, resides in the town.

Roger LaVern, keyboard player with pop group The Tornados of 'Telstar' fame was born Roger LaVern Jackson in November 1938 in Kidderminster.

Noted film director and screenwriter Robert Hamer, perhaps best known for his celebrated 1949 comedy Kind Hearts and Coronets, starring Dennis Price and Alec Guinness, was born in Kidderminster on 31 March, 1911.

Former Formula One driver Peter Collins was born in Kidderminster on November 6, 1931. During his career Collins drove for the HWM, Vanwall, Maserati and Ferrari teams and won 3 of his 33 Grands Prix. Tragically his promising career was cut short during the 1958 German Grand Prix, when Collins spun off the track and sustained a fatal head injury in the accident that followed.

Tom Watson (born 8 January, 1967), is the Labour Party Member of Parliament (MP) for West Bromwich East. He was educated at King Charles I High School in Kidderminster. In September 2006 Watson was the subject of national media attention after resigning his junior ministerial post in an effort to force Prime Minister Tony Blair to name the date he would step down from office.

Jon Turley (born April 26, 1971), an author who writes children's books, has lived in Kidderminster since the mid 1990s and was born some fifteen miles away in Worcester.

The film actress Sammi Davis was born in Kidderminster in 1964.

Rachel Jones, the current live producer of BBC Radio 1's The Chris Moyles Show, was born in the town.

Celebrity chef Rustie Lee also lives in the town.

Transport

There are two railway stations in the town, sharing the same approach road. The main Network Rail station is just called Kidderminster with trains to Birmingham, Worcester and London. The other station is that of the preserved Heritage Railway line, Severn Valley Railway, and their station is called Kidderminster Town. The Severn Valley Railway runs from the town to Bridgnorth.

Kidderminster is on the A456 which runs from Birmingham to Woofferton, Shropshire, a few miles south of Ludlow.

Kidderminster is on the A449 road which runs from Newport in south Wales to Stafford and crosses the A456 at the Land Oak. It is also on the A448 road which runs to Bromsgrove.

A major change in the town centre road infrastructure was the construction of the ring road in the 1970s and 1980s, which relieved the town's growing congestion problem. Unusually, the final phase of the ring road was never completed.

The Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal passes through the town.

There are direct bus links with towns including Halesowen, Bewdley, Stourport and Bromsgrove. There is also a direct bus link with Birmingham city centre.

Education

As part of educational restructuring in the Wyre Forest district, Kidderminster's schools are currently (2007) changing from a three-tier system of first, middle and high schools to the two-tier system more common in the UK as a whole with primary schools and secondary schools. (Several first and middle schools are being closed or merged into new primaries, but the three high schools will all continue as secondaries). These are King Charles I School, Wolverley C E Secondary School,and Baxter College (formerly Harry Cheshire High School). All these schools have, and will retain, sixth forms.

Independent schools include Heathfield School in Wolverley and the girls-only Holy Trinity School on the A456 Birmingham Road.

Kidderminster College is based on Market Street in the town centre, having moved from older premises in Hoo Road in 2003.

Sport

Cricket

Kidderminster Victoria CC is a local cricket club.

Football

Formed in 1886, Kidderminster Harriers F.C. is the town's professional football club. Local rivals of the Harriers were traditionally Worcester City and Bromsgrove Rovers, and in recent years also Cheltenham Town and Hereford United, although currently both Cheltenham and Hereford are in divisions above Kidderminster. In 2005 the Harriers were relegated to the Conference National after five years in the Football League Two division. The Kidderminster & District League has operated since 1984 and draws teams from Worcestershire and South Staffordshire.

Rugby

Kidderminster Carolians RFC is a local rugby union club, currently playing in Midlands Division 3 West Northern Section.

Field Hockey

Kidderminster Hockey club was founded in 1892 and in 2006 was still going strong. There are five men's hockey teams, a ladies and a junior team.

Food & drink

There are many pubs and drinking establishments in Kidderminster. There are also two nightclubs, with 'Mirage' being the longest-standing in the town, having opened in the early-mid 1990s, while the recently renamed and relaunched DY10 (formerly 'Redwoods') takes its name from the postcode for the town; there is also a pool bar 'Q2' in Green Street. There are also longer licensed bars such as the Watermill and NU Bar, which are very popular places in the town. The Players Bar recently closed following poor profits since opening almost in 2005.