Bolsover

Coordinates: 53°13′49″N 1°17′15″W / 53.2304°N 1.2875°W / 53.2304; -1.2875

Bolsover
Bolsover Castle.
Bolsover  Bolsover shown within Derbyshire
Population	11,291
OS grid reference	SK475706
District	Bolsover
Shire county	Derbyshire
Region	East Midlands
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	CHESTERFIELD
Postcode district	S44
Dialling code	01246/ 01623/ 01773/ 01909
Police	Derbyshire
Fire	Derbyshire
Ambulance	East Midlands
EU Parliament	East Midlands
UK Parliament	Bolsover
List of places: UK • England • Derbyshire

Bolsover is a town in Derbyshire, England, near Chesterfield. It is 145 miles (233 km) from London, 18 miles (29 km) from Sheffield and 54 miles (87 km) from Manchester. It is the main town in the Bolsover district.

The civil parish for the town is called Old Bolsover. It includes the town and the New Bolsover model village, along with Carr Vale, Shuttlewood, Stanfree, Oxcroft and Whaley. Its population at the 2001 UK Census was 11,291.

History

Bolsover is mentioned in Domesday Book, where it is described as the property of William Peverel (or "Peveril"). The description refers to the villans, the ploughs, 8 acres (32,000 m²) of meadow, and woodland pasture, which is given as two leagues by a league.^[1]

William was possibly an illegitimate son of William the Conqueror. Bolsover became the seat of the Peverel family, and in the twelfth century a castle was built^{[citation needed]}. The present castle was erected in 1613.

The district of Bolsover is notable for three sites of historical importance: Bolsover Castle, Creswell Crags (home to Britain's only known Palaeolithic cave art) ^[2] and Creswell Model Village, an example of early twentieth century design from the Model village movement.

Two railway lines once served Bolsover, but both were early casualties. The Midland Railway (later part of the LMS), arrived first with their north-south running "Doe Lea Valley Line" from Staveley to Pleasley, opened in September 1890 and thus enabling a through service between Chesterfield and Mansfield to be operated, but services were withdrawn as early as September 1930^{[citation needed]}. The Bolsover station on this line was known as "Bolsover Castle" in its latter days.

The other line was the highly ambitious west-east running Lancashire, Derbyshire and East Coast Railway, later part of the Great Central Railway and subsequently the LNER. Only the middle section from Chesterfield to Lincoln was ever built, opening in March 1897 (the Bolsover station was "Bolsover South"), but the section between Chesterfield and Shirebrook was brought to a premature demise in December 1951 by the deteriorating state of its biggest engineering feature, the 2,624-yard (2,399-metre) Bolsover Tunnel which ran beneath the limestone ridge on which stands the castle. The tunnel was mostly filled in with colliery waste in 1966-7, and today only the eastern portal is visible, at the end of an unusually deep sheer-sided cutting in the village of Scarcliffe.

Economy

The major industry of the area used to be coal mining, but this has declined throughout all of England. Markham Colliery, just outside the town, closed in 1993. The Bolsover Colliery Company was one of the original companies in the original FT 30 list of companies. In August 2006, Bolsover was announced to have the seventh worst obesity rate in the UK.^{[citation needed]}

Politics

The MP for Bolsover is maverick hard-left socialist Dennis Skinner (Labour) who is nicknamed – sometimes affectionately – as the "Beast of Bolsover". Skinner, who is aged 77, has represented the seat since 1970. He is well known for his fast wit and his superb attendance record at the House of Commons.

Sport

The main sport competed in Bolsover is football with Bolsover Town and the greatly supported Sunday Club, Bolsover Old Boys playing their games at the 'Field of Dreams' on Mooracre Lane. With Bolsover being in close proximity to both the towns of Mansfield and Chesterfield, the fan base is mixed; however most of the town support Chesterfield FC and are known as Spireites although there always has been and is a growing minority of Mansfield Town FC supporters in the town which creates a great rivalry between the Stags and the Spireites. The Mansfield Town fans are often referred to as 'Scabs' which dates back to the miners strike.

Television

In 2007 Bolsover was chosen as the location to film the movie 'Summer' starring Robert Carlyle and Rachael Blake, it features two vibrant kids, wasted by their experience of education. Many scenes from the move were filmed on the 'Castle Estate' which is affectionately known by the Bolsover residents as the 'Wimps'^{[citation needed]} and lies just underneath Bolsover Castle. Other parts of the film have also been filmed in Whitwell, Bramley Vale and Shirebrook Community school, which are just a few miles from Bolsover. Summer is to be released on the 5th December 2008.^[3] The trailer for Summer was released in late November and contained a few scenes which showed the Castle Estate in Bolsover containing the top of Springfield Crescent and also Hyndley Road.^[4] In an interview in late November director Kenneth Glenaan and Robert Carlyle both agreed that Bolsover was the perfect setting for the film as it is a 'dangerous place, that has been left in the past'. It also said that going from Matlock to Bolsover is like going to a different country and claimed the castle estate is 'the land time forgot'.^[5]

Notable people

• Craig King - Professional Footballer for Hereford United
• Charlie Elliott MBE - English cricketer
• Steven Blakeley - Actor
• Mark Morris - Author
• Bill Leivers - Ex-Professional Footballer
• Ross McMillan - Professional Rugby Hooker for Coventry RFC

See also

• Bolsover (UK Parliament constituency)
• Bolsover castle
• List of places in Derbyshire

References

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (December 2008)

External links

Bolsover Old Boys FC http://www.bolsoveroldboys.co.uk