Fencing Suppliers Stourbridge West Midlands

Approximate Population: 54,661

Stourbridge is a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley, in the West Midlands of England. Historically part of Worcestershire, Stourbridge was a centre of glass making, and today includes the suburbs of Amblecote, Lye, Norton, Oldswinford, Pedmore, Wollaston and Wollescote.

The population, as recorded in the United Kingdom Census 1991, was 54,661. Much of the population is now made up of commuters to Birmingham and the Black Country. Stourbridge is included in the Stourbridge constituency, currently held by the Labour party through Lynda Waltho.

Stourbridge is a part of the West Midlands metropolitan county and conurbation, in the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley. Stourbridge is located at the edge of the industrial Midlands, roughly between Kidderminster and Dudley.

Much of the town consists of suburban streets, broken by green spaces. Stourbridge borders on green belt land, and is often close to unspoiled countryside – for example, Stourbridge is closer to Shropshire than it is to Birmingham city centre. 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, or even further.

The town and surrounding area is at the south western extremity of the Black Country and the majority of the working-class population retain the region’s accent and dialect, although there is a larger middle-class population than nearby towns such as Dudley or Halesowen.

Stourbridge is home to two colleges – the prestigious King Edward VI College founded in 1552 and Stourbridge College of Further Education. In addition, there is a sixth form for both genders at Old Swinford Hospital founded in 1667 by Thomas Foley.

Stourbridge boasts a number of secondary schools including Redhill School, Old Swinford Hospital, Pedmore Technology College (previously known as The Grange School) and Ridgewood High School as well as Elmfield Rudolf Steiner School (includes: kindergarten, plus classes 1 to 11).

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Fencing Suppliers Dunstable Bedfordshire

Approximate Population: 33,805

Dunstable is a market town in Bedfordshire, England. It lies on the eastward tail spurs of the Chiltern Hills, 30 miles north of London. These geographical features form several steep chalk escarpments most noticeable when approaching Dunstable from the north.

The 19th century saw the straw hat making industry come to Luton and a subsequent decline in Dunstable, to be replaced in the early 20th century by the printing and motor vehicle industries with companies such as Waterlows and Vauxhall Motors respectively. But with the closure of the main factories and the decline of manufacturing in the area, this distinctiveness has been lost.

Shops were concentrated along the main High Street (Watling Street) until in 1966 The Quadrant Shopping Centre opened, becoming the main retail centre of Dunstable. Additionally in 1985 the Eleanor’s Cross retail area was developed to cater mainly for smaller independent shops.

With the rise of out-of-town retail parks, as with many other market towns the town centre has suffered a decline in trade. Few original independent shops remain. Of the oldest Moore’s Of Dunstable (opened in 1908) closed in 2008, leaving The Cottage Garden Flower Shop of Chiltern Road, established in 1898, as the oldest independent retail business still trading.

Since its opening in April 2007 the Grove Theatre has replaced the Queensway Hall as the town’s premier arts centre, located within the council owned Grove Gardens.

National and local productions take place regularly at this cornerstone of Dunstable’s cultural exploits. Additional facilities include units fit for six bars or restaurants along with a 1,000 seated auditorium.  (Currently a Wetherspoons entitled The Gary Cooper, an Italian, and a Dim Sum restaurant have opened.)

One of the town’s little gems is that of the Little Theatre, home of the Dunstable Rep Theatre Group that also hosts dramatic performances throughout the year. The auditorium, once part of the Chews Trust was fully opened in 1964 by Bernard Bresslaw. It sits next to the historic Chews House on High Street South.  The town also has numerous amateur dramatics societies that perform several shows a year. These include ‘The Square Drama Circle’ and ‘Dunstable Amateur Operatics Society’.

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Fencing Suppliers Maidenhead Berkshire

Approximate Population: 58,848

Maidenhead is a town within the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead, in Berkshire, England. It lies on the River Thames and is situated 25.7 miles (41.4 km) west of Charing Cross in London.

Maidenhead’s name, strictly speaking, refers to the busy riverside area where the ‘New wharf’ or ‘Maiden Hythe’ was built, perhaps as early as Saxon times. It has been suggested that the nearby Great Hill of Taplow was called the ‘Mai Dun’ by the Iron Age Brythons. The area of the town centre was originally known as ‘South Ellington’ and is recorded in the Domesday Book as Ellington in the hundred of Beynhurst.

The Maidenhead urban area includes urban and suburban regions within the bounds of the town, called Maidenhead Court, North Town, Furze Platt, Pinkneys Green, Highway, Tittle Row, Boyn Hill, Fishery and Bray Wick; as well as suburbs in surrounding civil parishes: Cox Green and Altwood in Cox Green parish, Woodlands Park in White Waltham parish, and part of Bray Wick in Bray parish. Bray village itself is still just about detached.

Immediately surrounding Maidenhead are to the east, on the opposite side of the river, the village of Taplow. A few miles further on is Slough. To the north the Cookhams (Cookham Village, Cookham Rise & Cookham Dean). Also in this area is the wealthy area of Pinkneys Green. These lie south of the Berkshire-Buckinghamshire border, which is formed by the River Thames (which then bends southwards to form the Maidenhead-Taplow border). To the south is the village of Holyport. Continuing by road to the South-East leads to the town of Windsor.

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Fencing Suppliers Brighton East Sussex

Approximate Population: 155,919

Brighton is a town in East Sussex on the south coast of England and, with its neighbours Hove and Portslade, forms the City of Brighton and Hove.

The ancient settlement of Brighthelmston dates from before the Domesday Book (1086), but it emerged as a health resort during the 18th Century and became a destination for day-trippers after the arrival of the railway in 1841. Brighton experienced rapid population growth reaching a peak of over 160,000 by 1961. Modern Brighton forms part of a conurbation stretching along the coast, with a population of around 480,000.

Eight million tourists a year visit Brighton. The town also has a substantial business conference industry. Brighton has two universities and a medical school.

In the Domesday Book, Brighton was called Bristelmestune and a rent of 4,000 herring was established. In June 1514 Brighthelmstone was burnt to the ground by French raiders during a war between England and France. Only part of the St Nicholas Church and the street pattern of the area now known as “The Lanes” survived. The first drawing of Brighthelmstone was made in 1545 and depicts what is believed to be the raid of 1514. During the 1740s and 1750s, Dr Richard Russell of Lewes began prescribing seawater at Brighton. By 1780, development of the Georgian terraces had started and the fishing village became the fashionable resort of Brighton. Growth of the town was further encouraged by the patronage of the Prince Regent (later King George IV) after his first visit in 1783. He spent much of his leisure time in the town and constructed the Royal Pavilion during the early part of his Regency.

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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 Greenwich Greater London

Approximate Population: 232,700

Greenwich is a district in south-east London, England, on the south bank of the River Thames in the London Borough of Greenwich. It is best known for its maritime history and as giving its name to the Greenwich Meridian (0° longitude) and Greenwich Mean Time.

The town became the site of a Royal palace, the Palace of Placentia from the 15th century, and was the birthplace of many in the House of Tudor, including Henry VIII and Elizabeth I. The palace fell into disrepair during the English Civil War and was rebuilt as the Royal Naval Hospital for Sailors by Sir Christopher Wren and his assistant Nicholas Hawksmoor. These buildings became the Royal Naval College in 1873, and they remained an establishment for military education until 1998 when they passed into the hands of the Greenwich Foundation. The historic rooms within these buildings remain open to the public; other buildings are used by University of Greenwich and the Trinity College of Music.

The town became a popular resort in the 17th century with many grand houses, such as Vanbrugh castle established on Maze Hill, next to the park. From the Georgian period estates of houses were constructed above the town centre. The maritime connections of Greenwich were celebrated in the 20th century, with the sitting of the Cutty Sark and Gipsy Moth IV next to the river front, and the National Maritime Museum in the former buildings of the Royal Hospital School in 1934. Greenwich formed part of Kent until 1889 when the County of London was created.

The town and hospital lie on a broad platform to the south of the outside of a broad meander in the River Thames, with a safe deep water anchorage lying in the river. To the south, the land rises steeply, 100 feet (30 m) through the park to the town of Blackheath. The higher areas consist of a sedimentary layer of gravely soils, known as the Blackheath Beds, that spread through much of the south east over a chalk outcrop – with sands, loam and seams of clay at the lower levels by the river.

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Fencing Suppliers Lowestoft Suffolk

Approximate Population: 57,746

Lowestoft is a coastal town in Suffolk, East Anglia, England, lying between the eastern edge of The Broads National Park at Oulton Broad and the North Sea within the parliamentary constituency of Waveney. It is home to Lowestoft Ness, the most easterly point of the United Kingdom.

Lowestoft is Suffolk’s second largest town and is divided in two by Lake Lothing, home of its port, divided into an inner- and outer- harbour by a bascule bridge carrying the A12 through the town. Both north and south sides of the town contain a variety of business and residential areas, with the main shopping centre lying just to the north and the award-winning Blue Flag beaches to the south.

The town has two piers, situated on the south beach. The southerly pier, called the Claremont Pier, originally served as a port of call for steamers travelling to and from London. The pier structure itself has been closed for many years, now in a state of disrepair and not open to the public, though the building at the land end still hosts an arcade, bar, club and fish restaurant. Just over half a mile (1 km) to the north of that is the South Pier (so called because it is placed on the south side of the outer harbour).

Lowestoft railway station is centrally placed within the town, as well as also being within walking distance of the beach, providing services to Norwich along the Wherry Line and Ipswich on the East Suffolk Line. Some services also continue on through to London Liverpool Street along the main line from Ipswich. All services are operated by National Express East Anglia.

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Fencing Suppliers Margate Kent

Approximate Population: 57,008

Margate is a seaside resort town within the Thanet district of East Kent, England. It lies 38.1 miles (61.3 km) east-northeast of Maidstone, along the North Foreland of the coastline of the United Kingdom.

Margate was recorded as “Meregate” in 1264 and as “Margate” in 1299, but the spelling continued to vary into modern times. The name is thought to refer to a pool gate or gap in a cliff where pools of water are found, often allowing swimmers to jump in. The cliffs of the Isle of Thanet are composed of chalk, a fossil-bearing rock.

The town’s history is tied closely to the sea and it has a proud maritime tradition. Margate was a “limb” of Dover in the ancient confederation of the Cinque ports. It was added to the confederation in the 15th century. Margate has been a leading seaside resort for at least 250 years. Like its neighbour Ramsgate, it has been a traditional holiday destination for Londoners drawn to its sandy beaches.

Since 1983, the Member of Parliament for North Thanet, covering northern Thanet and Herne Bay, has been the Conservative, Roger Gale. At the 2005 General Election, in North Thanet the Conservatives won a majority of 7,634 and 49.6% of the vote. Labour won 32.2% of the vote, Liberal Democrats 14.4% and United Kingdom Independence Party 3.9%.

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Fencing Suppliers Bournemouth Dorset

Approximate Population: 163, 444

Bournemouth  is a large coastal resort town in the Borough of Bournemouth in Dorset, England.   The town has a population of 163,444 according to the 2001 Census, making it the largest settlement in Dorset.   With Poole it forms the main part (discluding Christchurch) of the South East Dorset conurbation.   It is also the largest town on the English south coast between Southampton and Plymouth.

The town was founded by Lewis Tregonwell in 1810 and grew steadily until becoming a proper town in 1870, with the arrival of the railway.   Originally part of Hampshire, it became part of Dorset with the reorganisation of local government in 1974.   Since 1997 the town has been administered by a unitary authority, meaning that it has autonomy from Dorset County Council.

Bournemouth’s location on the south coast of England has made it a popular destination for tourists.  The town is a regional centre of business, home of the Bournemouth International Centre and financial companies that include: Liverpool Victoria and Standard Life Healthcare.

Bournemouth appears as Sandbourne in Thomas Hardy’s novels. Tess lived in Sandbourne with Alec d’Urberville, and the town also features in The Well-Beloved and Jude the Obscure. It is also mentioned in So Long, and Thanks for all the Fish, the fourth book of the Hitch-Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy trilogy. In James Herbert’s horror novel The Fog, the entire population of Bournemouth runs into the sea and drowns in a mass suicide. In Andy McDermott’s thriller The Secret of Excalibur, a car chase through the town centre and beach front leads to the destruction of the IMAX Cinema. It is also mentioned in Roald Dahl’s The Witches.

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Fencing Suppliers Rochdale Greater Manchester

Approximate Population: 95,796

In Rochdale, demand for cross-Pennine trade (e.g. to support the local cotton, wool and silk industries) led to the building of George Stephenson’s Summit Railway Tunnel and the Rochdale Canal (from Manchester to Yorkshire – re-opened in 2003 after years of neglect, including its division by a motorway).  

The Manchester and Leeds Railway opened a station, but the line passed about a mile south of the town centre.   The station remains open, but much reduced from its heyday.   Trains run south (to Manchester Victoria), east (to Halifax, Bradford and Leeds) and to Manchester Victoria via the Manchester to Rochdale via Oldham Line, (also known as the Oldham Loop).

Rochdale is to be served by an extension of the Manchester Metrolink tram system, which would see the Oldham Loop converted from heavy rail to light rail.   This extension was deferred in 2004 on grounds of cost. In July 2006, however, ministers approved plans for extension from Manchester Victoria as far as the planned Rochdale Rail Station stop just outside the station.

Approval for extension into Rochdale town centre, extended down Drake Street and terminating opposite Rochdale bus station, as well as into Oldham town centre, is expected in 2008.

Fencing Suppliers Rochdale Greater Manchester