Huddersfield West Yorkshire

Approximate Population: 146,234

Huddersfield was incorporated as a municipal borough within the ancient West Riding of Yorkshire in 1868.   The borough comprised the parishes of Almondbury, Dalton, Huddersfield, Lindley-cum-Quarmby and Lockwood. When the West Riding County Council was formed in 1889, Huddersfield became a county borough, exempt from county council control.

Huddersfield expanded in 1937, including parts of the Golcar, Linthwaite, and South Crosland urban districts.  The county borough was abolished in 1974 and its former area was combined with that of other districts to form the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees in West Yorkshire.

Attempts by the local council to gain support for city status were rejected by the town’s population in an unofficial referendum held by the local newspaper, the Huddersfield Daily Examiner. The council did not apply for that status in either the 2000 or 2002 competitions.  City status is given to districts, so it would have been Kirklees rather than Huddersfield that would have been declared a city.

According to the United Kingdom Census 2001 the population of the Huddersfield urban sub-area of the West Yorkshire Urban Area was 146,234, and the population of the former area of the county borough was 121,620. The wider South Kirklees area had a population of 216,011.

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Huddersfield West Yorkshire

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Doncaster South Yorkshire

Approximate Population: 67,977

During the 14th century a number of friars arrived in Doncaster who were known for their religious enthusiasm and preachings.   In 1307 Franciscan friars arrived and they were called Greyfriars because of the colour of their costumes.   Carmelites or Whitefriars arrived in the middle of the 14th century.   In the Mediaeval period other major features of the town included the Hospital of St Nicholas and leper colony of the Hospital of St James, a moot hall, grammar school, and the five-arched stone town bridge with a chapel dedicated to Our Lady of the Bridge.

By 1334, Doncaster was the wealthiest town in southern Yorkshire and the sixth most important town in Yorkshire as a whole, even boasting its own banker.   By 1379, it was already recovering from the Black Death and had a population of around 1,500 people, and by 1547, it had over 2,000.   The town was incorporated in 1461 and its first Mayor and corporation were established.

Today, many of Doncaster’s streets are named with the suffix ‘gate’.   The word ‘gate’ is derived from the old Danish word ‘gata’ which meant street. During Medieval times, craftsmen or tradesmen with similar skills, tended to live in the same street.   Baxter is an ancient word for baker thereby confirming that Baxtergate was indeed the bakers’ street.   It is assumed that ‘Frenchgate’ may be named after French speaking Normans who settled on this street.

Heavy Haulage Doncaster South Yorkshire

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Luton Bedfordshire

Approximate Population: 202,500

In the 20th century, the hat trade severely declined and was replaced by other industries. In 1905, Vauxhall Motors opened the largest car plant in the United Kingdom in Luton. Electrolux built a household appliances plant which was followed by other light engineering businesses.

In 1904 councillors Asher Hucklesby and Edwin Oakley purchased the estate at Wardown Park and donated it to the people of Luton. Hucklesby went on to become Mayor of Luton. The main house in the park became Luton Museum & Art Gallery.

The town had a tram system from 1908 until 1932 and the first cinema was opened in 1909. By 1914 the population had reached 50,000.

The original town hall was destroyed in 1919 during Peace Day celebrations at the end of World War I.   Local people including many ex-servicemen were unhappy with unemployment and had been refused the use of a local park to hold celebratory events.   They stormed the town hall setting it alight.   A replacement building was completed in 1936. London Luton Airport opened in 1938, owned and operated by the council.

Heavy Haulage Luton Bedfordshire

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Telford Shropshire

Approximate Population: 138,241

Telford  is a large new town in the borough of Telford and Wrekin and ceremonial county of Shropshire, England, approximately 13 miles (21 km) east of Shrewsbury, and 30 miles (48 km) west of Birmingham.  With a population of 138,241 people (2001 census), and a projected population growth within the next 20 years to over 200,000, Telford is by far the largest town in Shropshire, and one of the fastest growing towns in the United Kingdom.

It is named after Thomas Telford, the famous civil engineer.   The town was built in the 1960s and 1970s as a new town on previously industrial and agricultural land. Similarly to other planned towns of the era, Telford was created from the merger of other, smaller settlements, most notably the towns of Wellington, Oakengates, Madeley and Dawley.   Telford Shopping Centre, a modern shopping mall, was constructed at the new town’s geographical centre, along with an extensive Town Park.   The M54 motorway was completed in 1983, connecting the town with the West Midlands conurbation.

Telford now includes Ironbridge Gorge, a scenic tourist destination and UNESCO World Heritage Site.   The town advertises itself as “The Birthplace of Industry”, due to its proximity to Coalbrookdale, and local activity during the Industrial Revolution as part of the Shropshire Coalfield.   The River Severn flows along its southernmost boundary.

Heavy Haulage Telford Shropshire

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Manchester Greater Manchester

Approximate Population: 458,100

Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. Manchester was granted city status in 1853.   In 2007, the population of the Manchester local government district was estimated to be 458,100, whilst the surrounding Metropolitan County of Greater Manchester had an estimated population of 2,562,200.

Manchester itself lies at the centre of the wider Greater Manchester Urban Area, which at the 2001 census was shown to have a population of 2,240,230 (of which 394,269 lived within the Manchester subdivision), and it was the United Kingdom’s third largest conurbation at that census.

Manchester has the second most populous Larger Urban Zone (LUZ) in the UK with an estimated population in the 2004 Urban Audit of 2,539,100 and is the fourteenth most populated in Europe.   Forming part of the English Core Cities Group, often described as the second city of the UK, and the “Capital of the North”, Manchester today is a centre of the arts, the media, higher education and commerce.   In a poll of British business leaders published in 2006, Manchester was regarded as the best place in the UK to locate a business.

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Manchester Greater Manchester

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Rochdale Greater Manchester

Approximate Population: 95,796

In Rochdale, demand for cross-Pennine trade (e.g. to support the local cotton, wool and silk industries) led to the building of George Stephenson’s Summit Railway Tunnel and the Rochdale Canal (from Manchester to Yorkshire - re-opened in 2003 after years of neglect, including its division by a motorway).   The Manchester and Leeds Railway opened a station, but the line passed about a mile south of the town centre.   The station remains open, but much reduced from its heyday.   Trains run south (to Manchester Victoria), east (to Halifax, Bradford and Leeds) and to Manchester Victoria via the Manchester to Rochdale via Oldham Line, (also known as the Oldham Loop).

Rochdale is to be served by an extension of the Manchester Metrolink tram system, which would see the Oldham Loop converted from heavy rail to light rail.   This extension was deferred in 2004 on grounds of cost. In July 2006, however, ministers approved plans for extension from Manchester Victoria as far as the planned Rochdale Rail Station stop just outside the station. Approval for extension into Rochdale town centre, extended down Drake Street and terminating opposite Rochdale bus station, as well as into Oldham town centre, is expected in 2008.

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Rochdale Greater Manchester

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Cheltenham Gloucestershire

Approximate Population: 110,013

The oldest school in Cheltenham is Pate’s Grammar School (founded in 1574).  Cheltenham College (founded in 1841) was the first of the major public schools of the Victorian period.  The school was the setting in 1968 for the classic Lindsay Anderson film if…..  It also hosts the annual Cheltenham Cricket Festival, first staged in 1872, and the oldest cricket festival in the world.  The most famous school in the town, according to the The Good Schools Guide, is Cheltenham Ladies’ College (founded in 1853).

Dean Close School was founded in 1886 in memory of the Reverend Francis Close (1797-1882), a former rector of Cheltenham and the founder of Cheltenham’s great tradition of education.  The town also includes several campuses of the University of Gloucestershire, one other public and six other state schools, plus institutions of further education.

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Cheltenham Gloucestershire

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Approximate Population: 138,288

The design of the coat of arms originated in a seal from the late 1300s and were recorded by Clarenceux King of Arms during the heraldic visitation of Dorset in 1563.  The wavy bars of black and gold represent the sea and the dolphin is sign of Poole’s maritime interests.  The scallop shells are the emblem of Saint James and are associated with his shrine at Santiago de Compostela – a popular destination for Christian pilgrims departing from Poole Harbour in the Middle Ages.

The arms were confirmed by the College of Arms on 19 June, 1948, and at the same time the crest (a mermaid supporting an anchor and holding a cannon ball) was granted.   Following local government reorganisation in 1974, the 1948 arms were transferred to Poole Borough Council.   In 1976, the council received the grant of supporters for the coat of arms.

The supporters refer to important charters given to the town; to the left is a gold lion holding a long sword representing William Longespee who in 1248 granted the town’s first charter; on the right is a dragon derived from the Royal Arms of Elizabeth I who granted Poole county corporate status in 1568. The Latin motto – Ad Morem Villae De Poole, means: According to the Custom of the Town of Poole, and derives from the Great Charter of 1568.

Heavy Haulage Poole Dorset

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Approximate Population: 111,076

Exeter is a city, district and county town of Devon, England.   Exeter is located approximately 37 miles (60 km) northeast of Plymouth, and 70 miles (110 km) southwest of Bristol, on the River Exe.   The city has a population of 111,076 according to the 2001 Census.

Exeter was the most south-westerly Roman fortified settlement in Britain and has existed since time immemorial.   Exeter Cathedral, founded in 1050 is Anglican.

Tourism forms a vital part of the city’s economy, and in 2004 Exeter was granted Fairtrade City status.   Exeter has been identified as one of the top ten most profitable locations for a business to be based.  The city has good transport links, with Exeter St David’s railway station, Exeter Central railway station, the M5 motorway and Exeter International Airport connecting the city both nationally and internationally.  Its proximity to Cornwall, a big tourist draw in the UK, also adds to its attraction.

Heavy Haulage Exeter Devon

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Hull Humberside

Approximate Population: 257,000

Kingston upon Hull, almost invariably referred to as Hull, is a city and unitary authority area in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England.  It is located 25 miles (40 km) from the North Sea on the River Hull at its junction with the Humber estuary.  Hull has a resident population of 257,000 (2007 est.).   Renamed Kings town upon Hull by King Edward I in 1299, the town and city of Hull has served as market town,[3] military supply port, trading hub, fishing and whaling centre, and industrial metropolis.  Hull was an early theatre of battle in the English Civil Wars, and was the backdrop to events leading to the abolition of the slave trade in Britain.

The city was unique in the United Kingdom in having a municipally owned telephone system from 1902, sporting cream, not red, telephone boxes. After suffering heavy damage during the Second World War, Hull weathered a period of post-industrial decline, during which the city gained unfavourable results on measures of social deprivation, education and policing.   However, the city has embarked on a programme of regeneration and renewal and a range of sporting and cultural activities is available.

Heavy Haulage Hull Humberside

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