Fencing Suppliers Leamington Spa Warwickshire

Approximate Population: 45,114

Leamington Spa, properly Royal Leamington Spa, commonly Leamington and “Leam” to locals, is a spa town in central Warwickshire, England.

According to the 2001 census the town had a population of 45,114 making it the third largest town in the county after Nuneaton and Rugby. It is named after the River Leam which flows through the town.

Leamington is a relatively modern town. Until the beginning of the 1800s, Leamington was a village named Leamington Priors. Leamington was first mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Lamintone. For 400 years, the settlement was under the control of Kenilworth Priory, whence the older suffix.

Leamington would have probably remained as a small village near Warwick, had it not been for the rediscovery of the healing properties of spa waters (they had been known about in Roman times). The first spring to be used for commercial purposes was discovered in Leamington in 1784 by William Abbotts and Benjamin Satchwell, and steps were soon underway to develop the town.

Leamington Spa is administered by several local authorities, each with different responsibilities, the two main authorities are Warwickshire County Council and Warwick District Council. Since 2002 Leamington has also been a civil parish and therefore has its own Town Council.

Between 1875 and 1974 Leamington was a municipal borough. As part of the 1974 local government reform it was merged with Warwick, Kenilworth and surrounding rural areas into the Warwick district, the headquarters of which are based in Leamington.

Leamington is part of the Parliamentary constituency of Warwick and Leamington. Since the 1997 general election the sitting MP has been James Plaskitt of the Labour Party, but before then was considered a safe Conservative constituency, with former Prime Minister Anthony Eden once a Leamington MP. At the 2005 general election, James Plaskitt had a majority of just 266 votes.

Lillington, Milverton and Sydenham are the main suburban districts within Leamington Spa. Whitnash is a town which merges with Leamington directly to the south of the town and is generally considered as a suburb. Similarly, Cubbington (comprising of the old village Cubbington and New Cubbington) is a sizeable village which merges with the Leamington urban area to the northeast and is often regarded as a suburb of the town. The village of Radford Semele only 4km to the east is sometimes referred to as one of the town’s suburbs, however it does not quite merge with Leamington’s urban area at any point and is distinctly separate.

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Fencing Suppliers Grays Essex

Approximate Population: 36,601

Grays is the largest town in the borough and unitary authority of Thurrock in Essex and one of the Thurrock’s traditional (Church of England) parishes. It is situated approximately 20 miles (32km) to the east of London on the north bank of the River Thames.

The Grays and Chafford Hundred areas are set within three Victorian chalk pits; the largest two being the Lion Gorge, and the Warren Gorge. The area of the Chafford Hundred residential development is built on a Victorian landfill site.

Local sites of interest include the Thameside Theatre, the Thurrock History Museum, Grays Beach and the now-disused State Cinema (which was used as a location in the film Who Framed Roger Rabbit? and for sections of Jamiroquai’s video of “Deeper Underground” for the film Godzilla). The ancient local manor of Grays Thurrock was granted by Richard I in 1195 to Henry de Gray, a descendant of the Norman knight Anchetil de Greye.

Schools in Grays include; Chafford Hundred Campus, Gateway Academy, Grays Convent High School, William Edwards School & Sports College, Grays School Media Arts College, Deneholm Primary, Little Thurrock Primary, Quarry Hill Infant and Junior, St Thomas Of Canterbury Catholic Primary, Stifford Clays Infant and Junior, Stifford Primary, Thameside Infant and Junior School, Warren Primary School, Chafford Hundred Primary School and Treetops School.

The local sixth form college is Palmer’s College, whilst other colleges in Grays include Thurrock & Basildon College (Woodview Campus) and Thurrock Adult Community College.

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Fencing Suppliers Felixstowe Suffolk

Approximate Population: 29,349

Felixstowe is a seaside town on the North Sea coast of Suffolk, England. The town gives its name to the nearby Port of Felixstowe, which is the largest container port in the United Kingdom and is owned by Hutchinson Ports UK. The town is situated across the estuary of the River Orwell and River Stour from Harwich in Essex.

A village has stood on the site since long before the Norman conquest.   The early history of Felixstowe, including its Roman, Anglo-Saxon, Norman and Medieval defences, is told under the name of Walton, because the name Felixstowe was given retrospectively, during the 13th century, to a place which had already been important for well over a thousand years.

It continued as a linchpin in England’s defence, as proved when in 1667 Dutch soldiers landed and failed to capture Landguard Ford.   The town only became a major port in 1886.   In addition to shipping, tourism increased, and a pier was constructed in 1905 but is soon to be demolished.

Indeed, during the late Victorian period (after circa 1880) it became a fashionable resort, a trend initiated by the opening of Felixstowe railway station, the pier, (see above) and a visit by the then German imperial family.   It remained so until the late 1930s.   In 1953, 38 died in the town in the North Sea flood.

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Fencing Suppliers Hastings East Sussex

Approximate Population: 86,200

Hastings is a town and Borough on the coast of East Sussex in England. It includes originally separate settlements, as well as the inevitable growth of the town through the building of new estates.

In historical terms, Hastings can claim fame through its connection with the Norman conquest of England; and also because it became one of the medieval Cinque Ports. Hastings was, for centuries, an important fishing port; although much reduced, it has the largest beach-based fishing fleet in England. As with many other such places, the town became a watering place in the 1760s, and then, with the coming of the railway, a seaside resort. The Town is sometimes referred to as “the birthplace of television” since the pioneer of television, John Logie Baird, lived at 21 Linton Crescent from 1922 to 1924.

The attraction of Hastings as a tourist destination continues; although the numbers of hotels has decreased, it caters for wider tastes, being home to internationally-based cultural and sporting events, such as chess and running. It has set out to become “a modern European town” and seeks to attract commercial business in the many industrial sites round the borough.

The earliest mention of Hastings is found in the late 8th century in the form Hastingas. This is derived from the Old English tribal name Hæstingas, meaning “Hæsta’s people”, “the family/followers of Hæsta”. Symeon of Durham records the victory of Offa in 771 over the Hestingorum gens, that is, “the people of the Hastings tribe”, and the same tribe gave their name to Hastingleigh in Kent. An alternative form of the name, Hæstingaceaster, is found in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle entry for 1050.

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Fencing Suppliers Nottingham Nottinghamshire

Approximate Population: 288,700

Nottingham is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands. It is located in the ceremonial county of Nottinghamshire, England and is one of only eight members of the English Core Cities Group.

In the 15th century, Nottingham had established itself as the centre of a thriving export trade in religious sculpture made from alabaster.   The town became a county corporate in 1449, giving it effective self-government, in the words of the charter, “for eternity”.   The Castle and Shire Hall were expressly excluded and technically remained as detached Parishes of Nottinghamshire.

During the Industrial Revolution, much of Nottingham’s prosperity was founded on the textile industry; in particular, Nottingham was an internationally important centre of lace manufacture.   However, the rapid and poorly planned growth left Nottingham with the reputation of having the worst slums in the British Empire outside India.   Residents of these slums rioted in 1831, in protest against the Duke of Newcastle’s opposition to the Reform Act 1832, setting fire his residence, Nottingham Castle.

In common with the UK textile industry as a whole, Nottingham’s textile sector fell into headlong decline in the decades following World War II, as British manufacturers proved unable to compete on price or volume with the output of factories in the Far East and South Asia.   Very little textile manufacture now takes place in Nottingham, but the City’s heyday in this sector endowed it with some fine industrial buildings in the Lace Market district. Many of these have been restored and put to new uses.

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Fencing Suppliers Staines Surrey

Approximate Population: 24,097

Staines is a Thames-side town in the Spelthorne borough of Surrey and part of the London Commuter Belt of South East England. It is a suburban development within the western bounds of the M25 motorway and located 17 miles west south-west of Charing Cross in London.

The name Staines is thought to derive from Old English for ’stones’, due to a long-lost site of monoliths in nearby Stanwell. Others believe the name to derive from ‘St Anne’s in the Thames’.

There has been a crossing of the River Thames at Staines since Roman times. Claudius led the Romans into Britain in 43 A.D and they settled in Staines the same year. Soon after this invasion the first Staines Bridge was constructed to provide an important Thames crossing point on main road from Londinium (London) to Calleva Atrebatum, near the present-day village of Silchester. The Roman name for Staines was “ad Pontes” (plural “at the bridges”) implying that there was more than one bridge and it is believed that these bridges traversed Church Island.

Staines was the major producer of linoleum, a type of floor covering, after the formation of the Linoleum Manufacturing Company in 1864 by its inventor, Frederick Walton. Linoleum became the main industry of the town and was a major employer in the area up until the 1960s. In 1876 about 220 and in 1911 about 350 people worked in the plant. By 1957 it employed some 300 people and in 1956 the factory produced about 2.675 m2. of linoleum each week. The term ‘Staines Lino’ became a world-wide name but the factory was closed around 1970 and is now the site of the Two Rivers shopping centre. A bronze statue of two lino workers in Staines High Street commemorates the Staines Lino Factory. The Spelthorne Museum in Staines has a display dedicated to the Linoleum Manufacturing Company.

Staines was the site of the Staines air disaster in 1972, at the time the worst air crash to have occurred on British soil, until the Lockerbie disaster of 1988. The crash was commemorated in June 2004, with the opening of a dedicated garden, created at the request of relatives, near to the crash site, and the unveiling of a stained glass window at St. Marys Church, where a memorial service was held.

Staines has a fairly compact town centre mainly focused on a wide pedestrianised High Street, housing most familiar names such as Waterstones, Marks & Spencer, Debenhams, T.K. Maxx, JD Sports, Sony, McDonald’s, Argos, PCworld,Tesco, Waitrose Monsoon and HMV where Hard-Fi organised a C.D signing on 10 March 2008. Smaller independent units can be found in Church Street including Iris Bloomfield Florists and Refresh Juice Cafe, Clarence Street and the eastern end of the High Street. A market in the pedestrianised High Street is held every Wednesday and Saturday. It is one of the largest and busiest street markets in Surrey. A moderately-sized shopping centre (Elmsleigh) is directly behind the High Street. A retail park was opened in 2002 called Two Rivers which is bisected by the confluence of the rivers Wraysbury and Colne. Retailers include Waitrose as well as a Vue cinema, gym and cafes.

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Fencing Suppliers Wandsworth Greater London

Approximate Population: 280,500

Wandsworth is a town (an inner suburb) on the south bank of the River Thames in south-west London.   Wandsworth takes its name from the River Wandle, which enters the Thames at Wandsworth.

Wandsworth appears in Domesday Book of 1086 as Wandesorde and Wendelesorde.   It was held partly by William, son of Ansculf and partly by St Wandrille’s Abbey.   Its domesday assets were: 12 hides. It had 5½ ploughs, 22 acres of meadow.  

It rendered £9. Since at least the early 16th century, Wandsworth has offered accommodation to consecutive waves of immigration; from Protestant Dutch metalworkers fleeing persecution in the 1590s, to recent Eastern European members of the European Union.

An influx of French Huguenot refugees in the early 17th century is remembered in many local street names.   There is a band of small and expensive terraced housing (known as The Tonsleys) behind Old York Road — the former centre of old Wandsworth — rising to an area of grander, terraced, semi-detached and detached housing along the roads bounded by West Side Wandsworth Common, Earlsfield Road and East Hill.   In contrast, at the base of East Hill is a collection of high-rise council blocks.

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Fencing Suppliers Halesowen West Midlands

Approximate Population: 57,918

Halesowen is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley, in the West Midlands, England.

The population, as measured by the United Kingdom Census 2001, was 57,918. Halesowen is included in the Halesowen and Rowley Regis constituency and is currently held by the Labour party through Sylvia Heal.

Halesowen is a part of the West Midlands metropolitan county and conurbation, in the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley. Halesowen is located approximately ten miles (16 km) to the southwest of Birmingham at the edge of the industrial Midlands.

Halesowen was recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086 as being larger than Birmingham. The manor and town was known as Hala (from the Anglo-Saxon word “halh”, meaning nook or remote valley), until it was gifted by King Henry II to Welsh Prince David Owen and became known as Halas Owen. The parish of Halesowen, which incorporated other townships later to become independent parishes, was an exclave of the county of Shropshire, but grew to become a town and was transferred to the jurisdiction of Worcestershire by the Counties (Detached Parts) Act 1844. Included in the boundaries was the ancient village of Brettle.

The principal industry of Halesowen was traditionally nail making, an industry that was performed on a small scale individually in the backyards of a large number of nail makers. Halesowen also had, along with most other areas of the Black Country, a large number of above and underground coal mines. In more recent years, the arrival of a junction of the motorway network allowed Halesowen to attract a number of large organisations to the town.

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Fencing Suppliers North Walsham Norfolk

Approximate Population: 11,998

North Walsham is a market town and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. It is within the North Norfolk district, and is situated some 12 km south of Cromer and the same distance north of Wroxham. The city of Norwich lies 30 km to the south.

The civil parish has an area of 17.27 km² and in the 2001 census had a population of 11,998 in 5,245 households. For the purposes of local government, the parish falls within the district of North Norfolk.

North Walsham was an Anglo-Saxon settlement. Both North Walsham and the neighbouring Worstead became very prosperous from the 12th century through the arrival of weavers from Flanders. “Walsham” was a light-weight cloth for summer, and “Worsted” a heavier cloth. The 14th-century “wool churches” are a testament to the prosperity of the local mill owners. North Walsham’s church of St. Nicholas was originally dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary and is one of the UK’s largest parish churches. It was also the site of a wayside shrine to St. Thomas of Canterbury. This church had the second-tallest steeple in Norfolk until its collapse in 1724. Plans for its rebuilding were abandoned at the outbreak of World War II. The ruined tower dominates the town centre and is a famous landmark of the area, visible from many miles away.

North Walsham was formerly a traditional market market town and an important hub in the centre of North Norfolk’s agricultural economy, but the town today reflects the trend towards homogeneity and suburban anonymity characteristic of many small British towns that have lost their primary role and function.

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Fencing Suppliers Wymondham Norfolk

Approximate Population: 12,539

Wymondham is an historic market town and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. It lies 9 miles (14 km) to the south west of the city of Norwich, on the A11 road to Thetford and London.

Wymondham’s most famous inhabitant was Robert Kett (or Ket), who in 1549 led a rebellion of peasants and small farmers who were protesting the enclosure of common land. He took a force of almost unarmed men, and fought for and held the City of Norwich for six weeks until defeated by the King’s forces. He was hanged from Norwich Castle. Kett’s Oak, said to be the rallying point for the rebellion, may still be seen today on the road between Wymondham and Hethersett.

The civil parish of Wymondham has an area of 44.31 km² and in the 2001 census had a population of 12,539 in 5,477 households. This relatively large parish includes one nearby village, Spooner Row.

Wymondham is governed by a town council of 15 councillors. The town is split into five wards each of which returns three members. Since the last election (2007) fourteen councillors are members of the Conservative Party and one is from the Liberal Democrats. The current mayor is Len Elston.

For the purposes of local government, Wymondham civil parish falls within the district of South Norfolk returning five district councillors, one for each ward.The town as a whole returns one county councillor to Norfolk County Council – Daniel Cox, who is also the Leader of Norfolk County Council.

As of 2009, several notable residents living in or close to Wymondham include / have included George Szirtes, a prize winning poet; Clarissa Upchurch, the artist; Oliver Winterbottom, a designer of TVR and Lotus cars; John Ottaway, a commonwealth gold medallist bowls player who is still a member of the Wymondham Dell Bowls Club; Donald Topley a former county cricketer with Essex, Simon Beaufoy, the writer of the film ‘The Full Monty’ and ‘Slumdog Millionaire’; Bill Bryson, the travel writer; Justin Hawkins, singer with The Darkness; and the late Edwin Gooch, MP and President of the National Union of Agricultural and Allied Workers.

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