Stourbridge

From Free net encyclopedia

Stourbridge is a town in the West Midlands, England. Surburbs of the town include Wollaston, Norton, Amblecote, Oldswinford, Lye, Pedmore and Wordsley. Nearby are the towns of Dudley, Kidderminster, Wolverhampton, Birmingham, Bridgnorth and Bromsgrove, and the villages of Kinver, Hagley and Kingswinford.

The population, as measured by the 1991 Census, was 54,661. Much of the population is now made up of commuters to Birmingham and the Black Country.

1 Geography
2 Boundary Changes
3 Stourbridge Glass
4 Transport
5 Education
6 Newspapers
7 Radio
8 Leisure
9 Landmarks
10 Famous people
11 See also
12 Note
13 External links

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Geography

Stourbridge is a part of the West Midlands metropolitan county and conurbation, in the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley. Stourbridge is located to the south-west of Birmingham at the very edge of the industrial midlands, roughly between Kidderminster and Dudley.

Much of the town is made up of Suburban streets, broken by green spaces. Stourbridge borders on green belt land, and is often surprisingly close to unspoiled countryside. Good examples are Clent Hills, Kinver Edge and large areas of farmland to the south and west. It has been said that you could go west from Stourbridge and not encounter another built-up area until past the border with Wales.

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Boundary Changes

Originally the town was in the ancient parish of Oldswinford, Worcestershire. But since 1974 it has been part of the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley. It remains part of Worcestershire for postal and cricket purposes; a significant minority in the town still consider themselves to live in Worcestershire.

Stourbridge takes its name from the River Stour, which flows through the town and for centuries formed the border between Worcestershire and Staffordshire. But the border was moved a couple of miles north in 1966, when Amblecote Urban District Council (previously in Staffordshire) was incorporated into the Borough of Stourbridge. This arrangement lasted eight years until 1974, when Stourbridge was swallowed up by Dudley Metropolitan Borough and became part of the wider West Midlands county.

There have been numerous campaigns to re-instate Stourbridge into the ceremonial county and administrative county of Worcestershire (or the previous Hereford and Worcester) since 1974.

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Stourbridge Glass

The town gives its name to local glass production, which has been manufactured since the early 1600s. However most of the glass industry was actually located in surrounding areas including Wordsley, Amblecote and Oldswinford. The rich natural resources of coal and fireclay for lining furnaces made it the perfect location for the industry. It was probably the presence of fireclay that attracted glassmakers to the area. The canals also facilitated the importing of large amounts of fine sand from Ireland. Stourbridge glass is recognised as amongst the finest in the world. The glass has been used countless times as gifts for royalty and visiting dignitaries.

What is thought to be the only complete remaining Glass Cone of its kind, the Red House Glass Cone stands on the Stourbridge Canal at Wordsley. It is the site of the Red House Glass Museum and there are regular demonstrations of "blowing" glass in the traditional way.

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Transport

Stourbridge lies on the River Stour and is linked by the Stourbridge Canal to the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal. The canal is navigable, by narrowboat.

Stourbridge Junction, the town's main railway station, is on the former Oxford-Worcester-Wolverhampton Line. Just past the station is the spectacular Stambermill Viaduct over the River Stour and the A491 road. However, the railway no longer carries passengers on the Dudley line, as it closed in 1962, and is now used solely as a freight line. Instead, the line now runs to Birmingham via the stations of the Black Country.

The town is served by an unusually short railway branch line, the Stourbridge Town Branch Line, with a shuttle service from nearby Stourbridge junction (the town's main station) on the Birmingham - Kidderminster line to Stourbridge Town station in the town centre. The line formerly continued to an interchange basin with the Stourbridge Canal. The old Stourbridge Town station, when demolished, was recovered and materials used for buildings at Birmingham Railway Museum. On Sundays only, as part of a pilot scheme, a gas-powered Parry People Mover operates on the line.

The famous Stourbridge Lion locomotive, was built in Stourbridge at the foundry of Foster, Rastrick and Co in 1828. It arrived in New York on May 13th, 1829 and beacame the first steam locomotive to run on a commercial line in the United States. The locomotive is quite famous in the USA, but surprisingly few people in Stourbridge have ever heard of it. A clock has recently been unveiled in the town to celebrate the engine. It is currently on display at the B&O Railroad Museum Baltimore MD, on loan from the Smithsoniam Institute, Washington DC.

The town is served by National Route 54 of the National Cycle Network.

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Education

Stourbridge is home to two colleges - King Edward VI College founded in 1552 and Stourbridge College of Further Education. In addition there is a 6th form centre at Old Swinford Hospital founded in 1667.

Stourbridge boasts a number of excellent secondary schools including Redhill, Old Swinford Hospital, and Ridgewood.

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Newspapers

From the 1860s until the late 1960s the area was covered by the County Express newspaper (archives are on microfilm in Stourbridge Library). Today Stourbridge is covered by the Stourbridge News, the Express & Star and to a lesser extent the Stourbridge Chronicle.

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Radio

The Stourbridge area is served by commercial and BBC radio stations broadcasting from Wolverhampton, Birmingham as well as from within Worcestershire, Staffordshire and Shropshire.

Stourbridge FM was established in early 2001 to campaign for a commercial radio station broadcasting to and from the Stourbridge area. Stourbridge FM carried out three experimental broadcasts from the end of 2001 until early 2003. By February 2004, Stourbridge FM had disbanded and the remaining volunteers established a new steering group known as the Stourbridge Radio Group to apply for a non-profit making community radio licence for the area.

The Stourbridge Radio Group won a community radio licence on 11th October 2005 . The radio station will be known as The 'Bridge and aims to commence broadcasting within 2006.

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Leisure

Stourbridge Football Club and Stourbridge Cricket Club both share the War Memorial Athletic Ground, and Stourbridge Rugby Club play at Stourton Park in nearby Stourton.

The Picture House The Picture House

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