Swadlincote

Coordinates: 52°46′26″N 1°33′25″W / 52.774°N 1.557°W / 52.774; -1.557

Swadlincote
Hill Street
Swadlincote  Swadlincote shown within Derbyshire
Population	36,000 (2004 est.)
OS grid reference	SK298197
District	South Derbyshire
Shire county	Derbyshire
Region	East Midlands
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	SWADLINCOTE
Postcode district	DE11
Dialling code	01283
Police	Derbyshire
Fire	Derbyshire
Ambulance	East Midlands
EU Parliament	East Midlands
UK Parliament	South Derbyshire
List of places: UK • England • Derbyshire

Swadlincote is a town and unparished area in the district of South Derbyshire, Derbyshire, England. It is the main town of the district and the site of the South Derbyshire District Council's administrative headquarters based on Civic Way. 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.^[1]

It is made up of the settlements of Swadlincote, Church Gresley, Midway and Newhall.

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.^[2]

The town's first local government was formed in 1871, with the creation of Swadlincote and District local board of health.^[3] 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.^[4]

Coat of arms of Swadlincote Urban District Council

The Urban District Council was granted a coat of arms in 1947. The design reflected the fact that Swadlincote was formed out of 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.^[5]The current arms of the South Derbyshire District Council which bear the motto "The Earth Our Wealth" also reflect this heritage and are borne on the left side of street signs.

Throughout the 1950s and 60s the town's famous Rink Venue (now demolished and the site of industrial units) 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.^{[citation needed]}

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.^[6]

Swadlincote forms part of the South Derbyshire Westminster parliamentary constituency. Since 1997,the MP has been Mark Todd (Labour) who will not be standing in the next General Election. A famous previous MP is Edwina Currie (Conservative). Until 1987 the area formed part of the Belper constituency.^[4]

Economy

The town originally had a strong manufacturing heritage that made pipes and earthenware etc. It was the centre of the South Derbyshire coalfield but mining ceased in the early 1990s (Rawdon colliery closed in 1993). Light manufacturing and service companies are sited on industrial estates.

Swadlincote contains a moderately sized town centre, typical of those in the Midlands, containing both national brands such as Boots, Somerfield and small local businesses as well previously having a Woolworths before the collapse of the chain. The opening of a large Morrisons store on Coppice Side has been blamed for the closure of a number of small independent shops in the town.^[7]. Plans are now afoot for the development of a retail complex consisting of a cinema, DIY store and a nationally recognised clothing stores.^[8] A link road called Sir Herbert Wragg Way has been built, named after the area's mid twentieth century member of parliament.

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.^[9] This has competition from J.D. Wetherspoon's 'Sir Nigel Gresley' as well as long time public houses, The Bear and The Forester's Arms.

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 under the Beeching Plan in the 1960s 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 was not implemented.^[10]

Swadlincote is served by the Arriva Midlands and Midland Classic bus companies.^{[11] [12]}

Education

There are many schools in Swadlincote including Granville Community School at Woodville, William Allitt at Newhall, Pennine Way Junior School in Church Gresley, Belmont and Springfield Junior Schools and The Pingle School; the largest secondary school with 1500 pupils located on Coronation Street.

Sports and attractions

The Ski Slope

The main attractions within the boundaries of Swadlincote are the local parks such as Maurice Lea and Eureka, the Green Bank Leisure Centre, the large dry ski slope and The 50s American diner, the largest American diner in the UK^{[citation needed]} 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 F.C. (formerly Gresley Rovers), a semi-professional football team based at Moat Street, Church Gresley. The town has two paranormal investigation teams, the most well known of which (Swadlincote Paranormal Investigations) was founded by Stephen Griffiths who is the paranormal investigator for Living TV's Living With The Dead.

Local youth organisations include No 1211 (Swadlincote) Squadron of the Air Training Corps located on Eureka Park.^{[citation needed]}

Accent and dialect

The area around Swadlincote has historically had a distinct dialect. ^{[13] [14]}

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 'Ay Up Me Duck' (Hello, my Dear) are in common use in the Swadlincote area, as they are throughout some parts of 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.(Query: " mi'duck " may come from the Saxon" mi duka (my lord)).^{[citation needed]} Although 'duck' can be used to converse 'male to male', it is now more commonly used when talking to a member of the opposite sex only.

The word 'youth' (pronounced 'yow-th') is commonly used to describe any person. Unlike 'duck', however - which is always a term of endearment - the word is sometimes used scornfully as well as endearingly.^{[citation needed]}

One example of the dialect is the pronunciation of the word 'Tree', which is pronounced as 'Tray', and Tray - which is pronounced as 'Tree'."Saturday" is "Satdee" ,"Tuesday" is "Tuesdee" and "three" is "threy". "Mardy" means soft or crybaby and a passage or alley is a "jitty". "Ah" is "yes" and "can't/wouldn't/shan't" are "canna/wunna/shunna". "Something" is "summat".^{[citation needed]}

Recently, people have been moving to the town from South Staffordshire eg Tamworth and Lichfield, who use Swadlincote as a dormitory site, working elsewhere. This dialect can be heard alongside the traditional one.^{[citation needed]}

Notable residents

• Jack Bodell, former British Heavyweight Champion, born 11 August 1940 in Swadlincote.^[15]
• Carl Dickinson, born 31 march 1987 in Swadlincote, footballer who plays for English Premier League club Stoke City.
• Jean (Emmeline) Hanson, (1919 – 1973), Professor of Biology at the University of London, born in Newhall.^[16]
• Joe Jackson, born 11 August 1954, musician and singer-songwriter, lived first year of life in Swadlincote.^[17]
• Ben Warren, (1879–1917), England international footballer, born in Newhall.^[18]

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Swadlincote