Bromsgrove

From Free net encyclopedia

Template:GBthumb Bromsgrove is a town in north east Worcestershire, part of the West Midlands in England. It is the main settlement in the Bromsgrove district.

1 Background
2 Famous residents
- 2.1 Born in Bromsgrove
3 Sport
4 Economy
5 Attractions
6 Learning
7 Political
8 External links
9 References

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Background

The name Bromsgrove may derive from the Old English Brommsgraf, meaning a small wood frequented by highway robbers. An alternative source comes from the Domesday book of 1086 where the town is mentioned as Bremesgrave. Breme may have been a famous person and grave is a fortified clearing.

In its early days, Bromsgrove was a centre for the woollen trade, which went into decline before the 17th century.

Nail making was introduced by the French Huguenots in the 17th Century and became a thriving industry. At one point Bromsgrove was the world centre of nail making. Mechanisation quickly put the industry into decline. In 1840, the Birmingham and Gloucester Railway built a maintenance facility. It is now a dormitory town for Birmingham, with few places of interest. The fish and chip shop above which Lord Lucan was rumoured to have hidden in during the late 1970s has been demolished.

Bromsgrove currently has a fast growing population with a large over priced and over crowded developments like the Oakalls and Breme Park estates. The reason for the town's popularity is due to its positioning close to Birmingham and the excellent links to the A38 that cuts through the town, the M5 motorway bordering the west side and the M42 motorway starting at the north of the town. Bromsgrove also benefits from a relatively low crime rate.

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Famous residents

Kevin Ford, 1976, Warp Records artist

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Born in Bromsgrove

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Sport

Bromsgrove is home to Bromsgrove Rugby Football Club, one of the oldest clubs in the country. Bromsgrove also hosts Bromsgrove Rovers F.C. (football) and Bromsgrove Cricket Club.

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Economy

Many of Bromsgrove's residents find employment in Birmingham, Redditch, Worcester and other places along the motorway network. MG Rover was a major employer of Bromsgrove residents until its collapse in May 2005.

Bromsgrove is still home to LG Harris Ltd, a maker of quality paint brushes. Though now most brushes are made in China to save the company money.

Bromsgrove is also home to the towns "leading" 4 colour printers Digitec Creative Design and Print Solutions

New business parks in Aston Fields, Buntsford Hill and Harris's Business Park are helping to revitalise the local economy. Bromsgrove District Council is aiming to create a technology corridor along the A38 to take advantage of the area's excellent road links, partly to mitigate the effects of the MG Rover collapse.

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Attractions

The Avoncroft Museum of Buildings has its home in Bromsgrove.

Since 2005, Bromsgrove has its own arts centre, the Artrix.

Bromsgrove's nightlife scene was dominated by "Euphoria" (known to some locals as "Euph" or "Euthanasia"), a nightclub featuring a mixture of styles ranging from pure pop to commercial dance. As of 20 February 2006, Euphoria is now closed. Popular pubs in the town-centre include The Red Lion, The Golden Cross Hotel, The Hogs Head and the Wishing Well. There are several restaurants and shops also.

Bromsgrove enjoys a position near to the Lickey Hills, Clent Hills, Wasley Hills, rural Worcestershire and Birmingham.

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Learning

Bromsgrove is the main site of North East Worcestershire College, better known as NEW College.

Bromsgrove schools use a 3 tier education system (1st school, Middle School, High School). However, there are plans for this to be changed to a 2 tier system in the future.

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