95-633: Stagecoach Midlands is a bus operator providing local and regional services across the English Midlands , operating in the counties of Northamptonshire , Warwickshire and the West Midlands . The company is a subsidiary of the Stagecoach Group and is headquartered in Northampton . Stagecoach Midlands can trace its origins back to April 1927, when Stratford-on-Avon Motor Services was founded with
190-465: A flood relief channel . Nuneaton forms the largest part of the Nuneaton built-up area which also includes the large villages of Hartshill and Bulkington . It had a population of 132,236 at the 2001 Census . In the 2011 Census it had a considerably lower population of 92,698 because Hinckley ceased to be defined as part of the urban area. In the 2021 Census the urban area was recorded as having
285-632: A converted former Methodist Chapel in Stockingford. In addition to these, there is an active Bahá'i Faith group in Nuneaton. Several Eastern European Jewish families settled in the area after the First World War, due to the economic vitality of the town at the time. Economic migrants seeking technical and agricultural opportunities in North Warwickshire relocated to Nuneaton in the 1920s and 1930s, worshipping and paying for membership seats in
380-567: A decline in the Warwickshire coal industry after 1800, as it was exploited by Staffordshire coal producers to capture the local market. The local coal industry was not exploited to its maximum potential until the development of the railway network in the 19th century. The first railway to reach Nuneaton was the Trent Valley Railway which opened in 1847, linking Nuneaton to the growing national railway network at Rugby and Stafford . This
475-590: A dialect closer to "northern" but now more influenced by "southern". In a binary choice, the Watford Gap is often considered the dividing point between the north and south of England, with most of the Midlands population sitting above this point. The "midland" name has been used for: Nuneaton Nuneaton ( / n ə ˈ n iː t ən / nə- NEE -tən ) is a market town in Warwickshire , England, close to
570-683: A fleet of 163 buses operating from five depots in the counties of Buckinghamshire , Northamptonshire, Oxfordshire and Warwickshire. Some administrative assistance would be provided to the new company by neighbouring NBC operator United Counties . Prior to deregulation and the ensuing break-up of the National Bus Company, Midland Red South would be threatened in 1984 with competition in Stratford-upon-Avon by The Best of British (Travel UK) Ltd, which traded as Shakespeare Country Bus Services. The operator aimed to operate an hourly service from
665-459: A fleet of eleven Ford Transits based at Vanguard's depot. Midland Red South was included in the sale of Western Travel to Stagecoach in November 1993 for £9.25 million (equivalent to £23,800,000 in 2023). Stagecoach re-branded part of the company as Stagecoach Midland Red, adopting the company's national livery scheme, and set about simplifying the routes and improving the profitability of
760-601: A fleet of similar-specification Enviro400 MMCs delivered during 2019, as well as their £125.90 term-long bus pass. Corby Star was the brand name for a network of bus services operating within the town of Corby in Northamptonshire. Bus services based at the town's depot ran to all estates in Corby, with opportunities provided for passengers to transfer onto the X4 service, using a fleet of orange, red and blue-branded buses. The Corby Star
855-503: A grass verge before the bus accelerated down the street and crashed into a Sainsbury's branch. 76-year-old pedestrian Dora Hancox and 7-year-old top-deck bus passenger Rowan Fitzgerald were pronounced dead on scene while other passengers suffered serious injuries. Chander, aged 77 at the time, was found to have worked over 60 hours per week and had previously been warned by Stagecoach bosses after four bus crashes three years beforehand, however he had been allowed to continue driving buses with
950-451: A line to Coventry via Bedworth . A new railway station at Bermuda Park was opened south of the town centre in 2016 on the line towards Coventry, as part of the NUCKLE (Nuneaton, Coventry, Kenilworth and Leamington ) rail upgrade scheme. Historically, Nuneaton was also served by Chilvers Coton station , Abbey Street station and Stockingford station . Chilvers Coton station was located on
1045-769: A management restructure. However, the legal name for the Warwickshire operations remained as Midland Red (South) Ltd. with the other Stagecoach Midlands operations in Banbury maintained the historic legal name of United Counties Omnibus Company Ltd. until 2021, when Banbury's operations were moved under the Midland Red (South) licence. In December 2022, Stagecoach Midlands became a Transport for West Midlands contractor, taking on three former National Express West Midlands routes in Acocks Green , Chelmsley Wood , Kings Heath and Sutton Coldfield from 1 January 2023. The contract gain marks
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#17328447209211140-490: A new Nuneaton Parkway station between Nuneaton and Hinckley , which could open by 2034. The principal operator around Nuneaton is Stagecoach in Warwickshire and the depot is located next to the fire station on Newtown Road, just west from the bus station. Arriva Midlands also operate a number of routes around Nuneaton with buses running to Tamworth , Hinckley , Barwell , Leicester . MIRA , and Coventry . Arriva Midlands also operate service 78 to Walsgrave Hospital ,
1235-886: A part of it and outside the ring road, lies the medieval church of St. Nicolas – a grade I listed building. Chilvers Coton contains All Saints' Church, where Mary Ann Evans ( George Eliot ) worshipped and Justin Welby , now Archbishop of Canterbury , served as a curate . This was badly damaged by bombing during the Second World War , and rebuilt largely by German prisoners of war . There are also Anglican churches in Weddington (St James's), Attleborough (Holy Trinity), Stockingford ( St Paul's ), Galley Common (St Peter's), Abbey Green (St Mary's), and more recently built (1954), in Camp Hill St Mary's and St John's . There are two parishes in
1330-448: A population of 99,372, and comprising Nuneaton, Bulkington and Hartshill. On 19 July 2022, it recorded its highest ever temperature of 38 °C during the 2022 United Kingdom heat wave . Towns close to Nuneaton include Bedworth , Atherstone and Hinckley , with Tamworth , Rugby , Coleshill and Lutterworth a little further afield. Within the borough boundaries: Adjacent or adjoining places, some of which fall outside
1425-415: A primitive form of steam engine , to pump water from coal pits was recorded at Griff Colliery in 1714; this was the first recorded use of a steam engine in Warwickshire. Another major problem facing the industry was poor transport. Sir Roger Newdigate , who owned several local coal mines, developed a turnpike road to Coventry in the 1750s, which partially resolved this problem. Early on Newdigate recognised
1520-417: A single blue-liveried 14-seat Chevrolet LM bus. Later that year, amid expansions to its operating area, the company began operating a service between Stratford-on-Avon and Royal Leamington Spa . In 1931, Stratford-on-Avon Motor Services was acquired by Balfour Beatty , where as a subsidiary of the company's Midland General operation, it would become Stratford-upon-Avon Blue Motors Limited, operating under
1615-466: A small market town. It later developed into an important industrial town due to ribbon weaving and coal mining. The author George Eliot was born on a farm on the Arbury Estate just outside Nuneaton in 1819 and lived in the town for much of her early life. Her novel Scenes of Clerical Life (1858) depicts Nuneaton. The George Eliot Hospital is named after her, and there is also a statue of her in
1710-564: A symbol of Mercia as early as the reign of Offa . By the 13th century, the saltire had become the attributed arms of the Kingdom of Mercia. The arms are blazoned Azure, a saltire Or , meaning a gold (or yellow) saltire on a blue field. The saltire is used as both a flag and a coat of arms. As a flag, it is flown from Tamworth Castle , the ancient seat of the Mercian kings . The flag also appears on street signs welcoming people to Tamworth ,
1805-565: Is 9 miles (14 km) north of Coventry , 18 miles (29 km) east of Birmingham and 16 miles (26 km) south-west of Leicester . The town centre lies 2 miles (3 km) south-west of the Leicestershire border (which is defined by the A5 road the former Roman Watling Street ), 9 miles (14 km) south-east of Staffordshire , and 12 miles (19 km) south-south-east from Derbyshire ’s southernmost point. Nuneaton lies very close to
1900-873: Is a mosque on Frank Street, Chilvers Coton, and two gurdwaras (Sikh temples): the Nuneaton Guru Nanak Gurdwara in Park Avenue, Attleborough, and the Shri Guru Tegh Bahadur Gurdwara in Marlborough Road, Chilvers Coton. There are also two Hindu temples in Nuneaton: the Shree Hindu Gujrati Samaj on Upper Abbey Street, and a second Hindu temple, the Watford Kantha Swami Hindu Temple, which opened in 2021, using
1995-744: Is furthest away from the coast than anywhere else in England, it typically receives mostly light winds, with warm days and cold nights. Sometimes the Midlands can have very cold nights such as a minimum of −18.7 °C (−1.7 °F) in Pershore on 20 December 2010. The previous day had a maximum of only −8.2 °C (17.2 °F), also in Pershore. Hot days are also possible, such as a maximum of 34 °C (93 °F) in Pershore on 19 July 2006. There can also be very mild winters nights, such as in Bidford-on-Avon when
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#17328447209212090-498: Is near the M6 , the M42 and M69 motorways and the main A5 trunk road ( Watling Street ), which also acts as a border with Leicestershire and the neighbouring town of Hinckley. The A444 provides a high-speed dual-carriageway route into the town from the south and also acts as the often busy town centre ring road . The A47 links the town with neighbouring Hinckley and onwards to Leicester, and
2185-422: Is no single definition for the Midlands. If defined as being made up of the statistical regions of East Midlands and West Midlands , it includes the counties of Derbyshire , Herefordshire , Leicestershire , most of Lincolnshire (with the exception of North and North East Lincolnshire ), Northamptonshire , Nottinghamshire , Rutland , Shropshire , Staffordshire , Warwickshire , Worcestershire and
2280-594: Is often labelled as "Central England", typically used interchangeably with "the Midlands". Additionally, there are two informal regions known as the South Midlands and North Midlands , which are not NUTS statistical regions of the United Kingdom and their definition varies by using organisation. The former includes the southern parts of the East Midlands and northern parts of Southern England . The latter covers
2375-476: Is roughly covered by the metropolitan county of the West Midlands (which also includes the city of Coventry ); with the related City Region extending into neighbouring areas of Shropshire , Staffordshire , Warwickshire and Worcestershire . Various parts of the Midlands, particularly Warwickshire and Leicestershire, are on occasion referred to as the Heart of England, especially in tourist literature given that
2470-482: Is to some extent a commuter town for nearby Coventry and Birmingham. However a relatively large number of businesses involved in the automotive, aerospace and engineering supply chains industries are active in the area. MIRA Limited , formerly the Motor Industry Research Association, is based on a disused wartime airfield on the A5 , to the north of the town. One of the biggest developments in
2565-476: The Cobden–Chevalier Treaty , which removed duties on imported French silks. This caused a slump in the local economy which lasted nearly two decades. Another major industry which grew in the local area was coal mining . Nuneaton was located in the Warwickshire coalfield , and mining was recorded locally as early as 1338. However the lack of efficient transport and the primitive mining techniques kept
2660-538: The Long Mynd , Clee Hills and Stiperstones ridge. Wenlock Edge , running through the middle of the Shropshire Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB), is a long, low ridge, which extends for over 15 miles (24 km). The Peak District reaches heights of between 300 m (1,000 ft) and 600 m (2,000 ft); Kinder Scout is the highest point at 636 m (2,086 ft). Further south,
2755-722: The North Sea . The Midlands correspond broadly to the early-medieval kingdom of Mercia , and later became important in the Industrial Revolution of the 18th and 19th centuries. They are now split into two official regions, the West Midlands and East Midlands . The Midlands' biggest city, Birmingham , is the second-largest in the United Kingdom . Other important cities include Coventry , Derby , Leicester , Lincoln , Nottingham , Stoke-on-Trent , Wolverhampton , and Worcester . A saltire (diagonal cross) may have been used as
2850-845: The University of Warwick via the A46 , although weekend variations of the routes take services away from the A46. From its launch in 2005, the service used specially branded Alexander bodied Volvo Olympians , however in October 2012, these were replaced with a fleet of ten new Alexander Dennis Enviro400s , coinciding with services being increased in frequency to cope with rising student demand. These buses were complemented with part of an order of eight Alexander Dennis Enviro400 MMCs in conventional fleet livery in November 2016. Following an investment in 17 Enviro400 MMCs featuring revised Unibus branding in late 2019, replacing
2945-517: The geographic centre of England , which since 2002 has been recognised as being at Lindley Hall Farm , about 3 miles (5 km) north of Nuneaton, across the county border in Leicestershire. The River Anker runs through the town. Nuneaton town centre was historically prone to regular flooding from the Anker, with especially bad floods in 1932 and 1968. This was relieved in 1976 by the construction of
Stagecoach Midlands - Misplaced Pages Continue
3040-511: The southwest . The highest point of the hills is the Worcestershire Beacon at 425 m (1,394 ft) above sea level (OS Grid reference SO768452). The Cotswolds – designated an AONB in 1966. – extend for over 90 miles (140 km) through Oxfordshire , Gloucestershire , Wiltshire , Somerset , Warwickshire , and Worcestershire . They reach a highest point of 330 m (1,082 ft) at Cleeve Hill . Areas of lower hills, in
3135-584: The trading name Stratford Blue. In June 1935, British Electric Traction (BET) subsidiary Midland Red purchased both Stratford Blue and the Leamington Green Bus Company from Balfour Beatty. Stratford Blue was kept separate from the main Midland Red operation and continued to operate as an independent subsidiary, surviving into Midland Red becoming the largest bus operator within the National Bus Company (NBC) on 1 January 1969, following
3230-688: The "ancient capital of Mercia". It was also flown outside Birmingham Council House during 2009 while the Staffordshire Hoard was on display in the city before being taken to the British Museum in London. The cross has been incorporated into a number of coats of arms of Midlands towns, including Tamworth , Leek and Blaby . It was recognised as the Mercian flag by the Flag Institute in 2014. There
3325-403: The 148 service, serving Coventry and Leicester. The 148 reuses the same Gold-specification Enviro200 MMCs that were delivered for the original 48. Service X4 was launched in 2000 as a Stagecoach Express service named "Cross Country", sharing the name with Stagecoach East 's X5 service , which the X4 once connected with at Milton Keynes. The X4 became a Stagecoach Gold route in November 2011 with
3420-407: The 1880s onwards with the rapid development of an array of industries. These included brick and tile making, brewing , the production of hats and leather goods. and engineering . At the time of the first national census in 1801 Nuneaton was one of the largest towns in Warwickshire, with a population of 5,135. By 1901 this had grown to 24,996. Nuneaton was an ancient parish , which covered
3515-557: The 19th and early 20th centuries. Nuneaton obtained a market charter in around 1160 from Henry II which was reconfirmed in 1226, causing Nuneaton to develop into a market town and become the economic focal point of the local villages. In 1485, the Battle of Bosworth , the last significant battle of the Wars of the Roses , was fought around 5 miles (8 km) to the north-west of Nuneaton, across
3610-614: The A4254 – Eastern Relief Road – provides direct access from the east of Nuneaton to the south, avoiding the town centre. The town has two railway stations. The main Nuneaton railway station , located near the town centre, is an important railway junction and is served by the West Coast Main Line running from London to the North West, the cross-country Birmingham to Peterborough Line and by
3705-779: The Black Country conurbation at 271 m (889 ft) and the Wrekin just south of Wellington in Telford at 407 m (1,335 ft). Upland areas lie in the west and north of the region with the Shropshire Hills to the west, close to the England–Wales border and the Peak District area of the southern Pennines in the north of the region. The Shropshire Hills reach a height of 540 m (1,771 ft) at Brown Clee Hill and includes
3800-508: The Conservatives once more gained a majority; winning ten seats from Labour and one from an independent. However, the pendulum swung back again in the May 2024 elections, when Labour again won back control of the council, winning 15 seats. Nuneaton's traditional industries like textiles, mining and manufacturing have declined significantly in the post-war years. Due to its transport links, Nuneaton
3895-457: The Coventry line, a short distance north of the new Bermuda Park station, and was closed in 1965. Abbey Street station and Stockingford station were on the line towards Birmingham and were both closed in 1968. In January 2017, there were proposals to open a new station at Stockingford, at a different location from the former one, which could open by 2023. Warwickshire County Council have also proposed
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3990-784: The Dove House Farm estate into Stratford town centre, as well as a town service within Stratford, which were both to compete with Midland Red South's existing network. However, the registration of these services was strongly opposed by the Traffic Commissioners for the West Midlsnds following the appeals of Midland Red South, David R. Grasby Coach Hire, Warwickshire County Council and Wellesbourne Parish Council. Following deregulation on 26 October 1986, in December 1987, Midland Red South
4085-555: The Enviro400s on the service, Stagecoach Midlands launched the U12 service on 2 January 2020, which runs between Coventry and the University of Warwick at a frequency of up to every 15 minutes, as well as launching a term-long bus pass for £99. The route and bus pass operated in direct competition with National Express Coventry 's 11, 11U and 12X services, which operated every 10 to 15 minutes with
4180-557: The French Abbey of Fontevraud , who established a Benedictine nunnery here, which became known as Nuneaton Priory . This led to Etone becoming known as Nuneaton. A document from 1272 referred to the town as Nunne Eton . The nunnery was closed in 1539 during King Henry VIII's Dissolution of the Monasteries , and subsequently fell into ruin. However part of the Abbey church was rebuilt in
4275-684: The Midlands as the region is bordered by Wales to the west. It is also where the Midlands' lowest points can be found as some places fall below sea level, with the lowest points being near Thorpe Tilney in North Kesteven and Stickford in East Lindsey . The Midlands has a temperate maritime climate , with cold, cloudy, wet winters and comfortable, mostly dry, mostly sunny summers. The temperature usually ranges from −0.4 °C (31.3 °F) during winter nights to 24.1 °C (75.4 °F) during summer days. Due to its geographical location, which
4370-423: The Nuneaton and Bedworth borough was less prosperous than the rest of Warwickshire, reflecting the long established north–south divide in the county. The average annual workplace wage in Nuneaton and Bedworth was £21,981, the lowest in the county and below the Warwickshire average of £28,513 (and UK £28,296) although the productivity gap had narrowed with the rest of Warwickshire since 2009. Nuneaton's name reflects
4465-686: The Spon End Synagogue in Coventry and the Orthodox Synagogue in Leicester. Prior to World War Two, hundreds of children gained passage to the UK via the Kindertransport , with a number of children being fostered in Nuneaton and subsequently settling in the immediate area, North Warwickshire and Market Bosworth. Provincial Jewish life in Nuneaton and Bedworth has waned since the 1970s, with the majority of
4560-427: The Stagecoach Midlands network. Service 48 between Coventry and Nuneaton via Bedworth was originally launched in 2000 as part of Coventry City Council 's PrimeLines scheme, operating using a fleet of Alexander ALX200 bodied Dennis Dart SLF single-deck buses bought new for the service. After the PrimeLines branding had been dropped, service 48 became part of the Stagecoach Gold network in February 2018 with
4655-413: The Stratford services by once again reviving the Stratford Blue fleetname. In February 2007, Stagecoach in Warwickshire purchased the Stratford operation from Ensignbus, once again giving them a depot in the town. In 2010, Stagecoach in Warwickshire merged with Stagecoach East and Stagecoach in Northants to create Stagecoach Midlands. The Warwickshire headquarters was moved from Rugby to Northampton after
4750-487: The Welsh border reaches over 700 m (2,000 ft) high, at Twyn Llech (Black Mountain), which at 703 m (2,306 ft) is thus the highest point in Herefordshire . The Precambrian Malverns are formed of some of the oldest rock in England (dating from the Cryogenian period, at around 680 million years old) and extend for 8 miles (13 km) through two West Midlands counties ( Worcestershire and Herefordshire ) as well as northern Gloucestershire in
4845-535: The West Midlands metropolitan boroughs. Other definitions include a slightly larger area and the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica describes Gloucestershire as "West Midland", Bedfordshire as "South Midland", and Huntingdonshire as "East Midland" counties respectively. Cheshire is also occasionally recognised as being in the Midlands, while a lot of what was historically part of southern Mercia ( Gloucestershire , Oxfordshire , Buckinghamshire , Bedfordshire , Hertfordshire , Huntingdonshire , and Cambridgeshire )
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#17328447209214940-417: The X6 service in July 2019. Services X46 and X47 are also Stagecoach Gold services, serving Northampton and Raunds via Wellingborough , Rushden and Higham Ferrers . The services formerly travelled further to Thrapston , though this part of the route was dropped due to low passenger numbers. The Unibus brand is used for services U1, U2, U12 and U17, operating predominantly between Leamington Spa and
5035-417: The architect and town planner Frederick Gibberd was appointed to create a masterplan to redevelop the bomb damaged town centre. The redevelopment, which continued until the 1960s included the features typical of town planning from that era, including a new ringroad, indoor shopping centre , administrative centre and library. Nuneaton continued to expand in the latter 20th century. In the early postwar years
5130-406: The border in nearby Leicestershire . King Edward VI School was established in 1552 by a royal charter by King Edward VI . The school was originally a fee-paying school, although the county council provided some scholarships, and became non-fee-paying as a result of the Education Act of 1944 . The voluntary aided school had around 400 boys in the 1960s. In 1974 the grammar school closed and
5225-419: The borough boundaries: Nuneaton is part of the constituency of the same name in the House of Commons . The constituency is currently represented by the Labour Party Member of Parliament (MP), Jodie Gosling who was first elected in the 2024 general election . From 1935 to 1983 , Nuneaton was a safe Labour seat, but it has become more marginal. Between 1983 and 1992 , the Conservative Party held
5320-429: The ceremonial county of Lincolnshire, actually come under the Yorkshire and the Humber region and are therefore not in the officially recognised East Midlands region. The two regions of the Midlands have a combined population of 10,350,697 (2014 mid-year estimate), and an area of 11,053 sq mi (28,630 km ). The largest Midlands conurbation , which includes the cities of Birmingham and Wolverhampton ,
5415-456: The community leaving for larger Jewish centres of Britain, with remaining members being elderly and non-observant. At the 2021 census , there were 88,813 residents in Nuneaton. In terms of ethnicity in 2021: In terms of religion, 50.7% of Nuneaton residents identified as Christian , 40.2% said they had no religion , 4.1% were Muslim , 1.8% were Hindu , 1.6% were Sikh , 0.7% were Buddhists , and 0.8% were from another religion. The town
5510-450: The company; he was diagnosed with dementia following the crash and was found unfit to stand trial before the Traffic Commissioner. As of June 2024, Stagecoach Midlands operates 323 buses from seven depots and outstations in Corby, Kettering, Leamington Spa, Nuneaton, Northampton, Rugby and Stratford-upon-Avon. Midlands The Midlands is the central part of England , bordered by Wales , Northern England , Southern England and
5605-416: The county border with Leicestershire to the north-east. Nuneaton's population at the 2021 census was 88,813, making it the largest town in Warwickshire . Nuneaton's urban area, which also includes the large villages of Bulkington and Hartshill , had a population of 99,372 at the 2021 census. Nuneaton gained its name from a medieval nunnery which was established in the 12th century, when it became
5700-442: The delivery of 13 Alexander Dennis Enviro400 bodied Scania N230UD double-decker buses . Running from Peterborough to Milton Keynes via Kettering , the X4 was formerly the longest bus route in Northamptonshire, however from May 2018, the X4 was shortened to run only between Northampton and Peterborough via Corby , with the Milton Keynes section dropped in favour of the X7 service to Leicester; this route would itself be replaced by
5795-447: The delivery of a fleet of Gold specification Alexander Dennis Enviro200 MMCs . During 2020, the 48 service was split into 3 different routes, with the Nuneaton to Atherstone segment becoming the 48A, the main Coventry to Nuneaton service becoming the 48C, and the Nuneaton to Leicester service becoming the 48L. In March 2023, services 48C and 48L were merged back together with funding from the Warwickshire Enhanced Bus Partnership to form
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#17328447209215890-405: The early 19th century the industry was struggling to compete against the factory produced textiles from northern manufacturers, and the local weavers strongly resisted adopting factory production methods as they valued their independence. Nevertheless, in 1851 46% of Nuneaton's workforce was still employed by the ribbon trade. The industry was finally wiped out after 1860 by cheap imports, following
5985-399: The early 20th century; in 1911 one third of the male workforce in Nuneaton were employed as miners. The industry, however, declined rapidly in the 1950s and 1960s, with the last coal mine in Nuneaton closing in 1968, although Newdigate colliery at Bedworth lasted until 1982. The last Warwickshire coal mine at nearby Daw Mill closed in 2013. Nuneaton underwent a period of rapid growth from
6080-406: The effect that Christianity has had upon the town's history. Although the Benedictine nunnery which gave the town its name was destroyed at the time of the Reformation , the remaining fragments were incorporated into the Anglican church building now known as the Abbey Church of St Mary the Virgin in Manor Court Road. This is a Victorian construction. Near the town centre, but unusually not
6175-548: The first time the Stagecoach Group have operated regular bus services in Birmingham for many years. As of December 2022, Stagecoach Midlands operates Stagecoach Gold services 148, X4 and services X46 and X47. Stagecoach Midlands was one of two Stagecoach Group operations, the other being Stagecoach West Scotland , which would be the first to launch a Stagecoach Gold (then branded 'Goldline') high-specification express bus service. The 'Goldline' G1 service from Warwick to South Farm commenced operations on 12 November 2007 following
6270-556: The geographic centre of England is generally considered to lie within this arc. Different areas of the Midlands have their own distinctive character, giving rise to many local history and industrial heritage groups. Nottingham played a notable part in the English Civil War , which is commemorated in a number of place names (Parliament Terrace, Parliament Street, Standard Hill). Areas such as Derbyshire's Amber Valley and Erewash combine attractive countryside with industrial heritage and are home to historic canals and sites associated with
6365-464: The hamlets of Attleborough and Stockingford as well as the town itself. The parish was made a local board district in 1850, which was Nuneaton's first modern form of local government; previously it had been governed by its vestry and manorial court . The local board's main responsibilities were to provide the town with infrastructure such as paved roads, clean drinking water, street lighting and sewerage. The neighbouring parish of Chilvers Coton
6460-432: The industry on a small scale. Mining did not start to develop on a larger scale until the 17th century, with the dawn of the Industrial Revolution , which led to greater demand for fuel and technical advancement. A major problem was the drainage of water from coal pits as they were dug deeper. The use of a waterwheel to drive drainage pumps was recorded as early as 1683. The first recorded use of an atmospheric engine ;
6555-423: The latter on 10 January 1982 around Newport in Shropshire where it dropped to a minimum of −26.1 °C (−15.0 °F). Due to being neither Northern England or Southern England , the Midlands have had cultural elements from both sides in the North–South divide , such as dialect (see also West Midlands English and East Midlands English ). A study has shown that some Midlands areas have traditionally had
6650-544: The launch of a fleet of 11 Optare Solo midibuses by Stagecoach Group chief executive Brian Souter. The route operated at a frequency of around every 10 minutes Monday to Saturday during the day, running every half-hour on evenings and on Sundays. From mid-2015, the G1's fleet was replaced with 14 new Optare Solo SRs , featuring a new livery to reflect the revised 'Gold' branding. Service G1 would eventually lose its Gold branding and vehicles from 5 January 2019, renumbered to service 1 as part of wide-ranging service changes across
6745-427: The mining industry. The Black Country , broadly the boroughs of Dudley , Sandwell , Wolverhampton and Walsall , played an important part in the Industrial Revolution . The historic counties ceased to be used for any administrative purpose in 1899 but remain important to some people, notably for county cricket . The area is predominantly low-lying and flat apart from isolated hills such as Turners Hill within
6840-484: The need arose for low-cost housing, and in response to this around 2,500 council houses were built during the 1950s, the largest such development was at Camp Hill , where 1,400 new houses were built by 1956, while around 1,100 new council houses were built at new estates at Hill Top, Caldwell and Marston Lane by 1958. Following this, Nuneaton's expansion was largely driven by private developments at Weddington , St Nicolas Park , Whitestone and Stockingford . Nuneaton
6935-609: The neighbouring parish of Weddington . In 1974, the Municipal Borough of Nuneaton was merged with Bedworth Urban District to create a non-metropolitan district with borough status which was initially called Nuneaton, but changed its name to Nuneaton and Bedworth in 1980. Nuneaton suffered severe bomb damage during The Blitz in the Second World War between 1940 and 1942. The heaviest bombing raid on Nuneaton took place on 17 May 1941, when 130 people were killed, 380 houses were destroyed, and over 10,000 damaged. In 1947
7030-528: The northern parts of the West and East Midlands, along with some southern parts of Northern England . The West Midlands and East Midlands regions are NUTS 1 statistical regions and were formerly constituencies of the European Parliament . Local government in the Midlands is as follows: The unitary authorities of North Lincolnshire and North East Lincolnshire (not shown), while classed as part of
7125-478: The operation, which included the closure of the depots in Coventry and Stratford in 1999. Upon the national rebranding of the Stagecoach Group in November 2000, Stagecoach Midland Red became Stagecoach in Warwickshire for operations from Leamington Spa, Nuneaton and Rugby and Stagecoach in Banbury for operations in Banbury. For a long time, Midland Red shared a management team with Stagecoach Oxford , but this
7220-763: The passing of the Transport Act 1968 which merged the government-owned Transport Holding Company with the BET. However, in January 1971, the NBC would merge the Stratford Blue operation into Midland Red's southern division as part of a cost-saving rationalisation of some of the NBC's operations' subsidiaries. Midland Red was split by the NBC into five separate companies on 1 September 1981, with Midland Red South, headquartered in Rugby , formed with
7315-518: The period of Conservative control was relatively short lived. The Labour Party won two seats from the Conservative Party in the 2010 local elections , giving no party overall control of the council (but leaving the Labour Party as the largest grouping). In 2012 Labour gained a further 8 seats to regain overall control which they lost again to no overall control in 2018. In the May 2021 elections,
7410-514: The potential of canals as a means for transporting bulk cargoes. He developed a system of private canals on his land on the Arbury Estate from 1764 to transport coal, and helped promote the Coventry Canal , which opened from Coventry to Nuneaton in 1769, before being finally completed to Staffordshire in 1790. He also helped promote the Oxford Canal . Ironically, the new canal system led to
7505-540: The range 200 m (600 ft) - 300 m (1000 ft), include Charnwood Forest in Leicestershire , Cannock Chase in Staffordshire , and the Lincolnshire Wolds (100 m (300 ft) - 200 m (600 ft)); the latter having some prominence despite their modest altitude given their location in typically low-lying Lincolnshire near to the east coast. Lincolnshire is the only coastal county in
7600-444: The seat, until losing it back to Labour. For the next 18 years, the Labour Party (in the form of Bill Olner ) was the local representative at Parliament, until his retirement. The Conservatives won it back at the 2010 general election , with Marcus Jones holding the seat until 2024. There are two-tiers of local government covering Nuneaton; Nuneaton and Bedworth Borough Council as the lower tier and Warwickshire County Council as
7695-455: The temperature at 6 pm was as high as 15.2 °C (59.4 °F) on 9 January 2015. At 8 am the following morning the temperature was still at 13 °C (55 °F). Both the highest and lowest temperature ever recorded in England were in the Midlands, the former on 19 July 2022 around Coningsby in Lincolnshire where it reached a maximum temperature of 40.3 °C (104.5 °F), and
7790-610: The town centre. Nuneaton was originally an Anglo-Saxon settlement known as 'Etone' or 'Eaton', which translates literally as 'settlement by water', referring to the River Anker . 'Etone' was listed in the Domesday Book as a small farming settlement with a population of around 150. In the early 12th century, the settlement came under the control of the Beaumont family , and in around 1155 Robert de Beaumont granted his manor of Etone to
7885-550: The town serving the Catholic community in Nuneaton. Our Lady of the Angels on Coton Road, was opened in 1838 (originally as St Mary's). The building, designed by Joseph Hansom , was extensively remodeled in 1936. The Parish of St Anne's, Chapel End, Nuneaton was created in 1949 out of the Parish of Our Lady of the Angels (which originally covered the whole town). The original church building
7980-518: The town's history, the multimillion-pound Ropewalk Shopping Centre , opened in September 2005 in the hope that it will give the town extra income from the shopping, attract more visitors and retailers, and attract shoppers as an alternative to larger retail centres such as Birmingham, Coventry, Leicester and Solihull. An older shopping centre, the Abbeygate Shopping Centre in the town centre
8075-466: The upper tier. Nuneaton is an unparished area and so there is no tier of administration below the Borough council. Nuneaton and Bedworth council was once solidly controlled by the Labour Party, but has in more recent years become more volatile: It was Labour controlled from its creation in 1974, until the 2008 local elections , when the Conservatives gained control, ending 34 years of Labour rule. However,
8170-485: Was enhanced by the arrival of French Huguenot immigrants in the latter part of the century, who brought with them new techniques. This industry operated as a cottage industry , with the weavers working from top-shops ; a type of building which was specific to the local area, and had living space in the two lower floors, and a workshop with very large windows on the top floor. This industry flourished for nearly two centuries, albeit with periodic booms and slumps. However, by
8265-528: Was fined £2.3 million in December 2018 and later had its vehicle authorisation cut from 227 to 200 for 28 days in March 2019 by the West Midlands Traffic Commissioner for violating health and safety laws. On 3 October 2015, bus driver Kailash Chander mistook the brake pedal of his Dennis Trident 2 double-decker bus for the accelerator, hitting a parked bus on Trinity Street and driving across
8360-416: Was first opened in the 1960s, and was formerly known as Heron Way. The European headquarters of Holland & Barrett are based in the town, as is the UK head office of FedEx . While Bermuda Park, which is south of Nuneaton, is the location of the national distribution centres of Dairy Crest and RS Components . Nuneaton is also the location of several international online marketing companies. In 2017
8455-541: Was followed by a branch line to Coventry in 1850. In 1864 a line was opened from Birmingham to Leicester via Nuneaton, and this proved to be the most important for the local economy, as it linked Nuneaton with the rapidly growing town (later city) of Birmingham . Due largely to this, the local coal industry expanded rapidly in the latter half of the 19th century, with production from the Warwickshire coalfield expanding nearly tenfold between 1860 and 1913 from around 545,000 tons to over five million tons. The industry peaked in
8550-432: Was made a separate local board district at the same time. The two local board districts of Nuneaton and Chilvers Cotton were merged in 1893. The following year, all such districts were converted into urban districts . The Nuneaton and Chilvers Coton Urban District was elevated to become a municipal borough in 1907 under the single name of Nuneaton. The borough was enlarged several times, notably in 1931 when it absorbed
8645-459: Was re-established as a sixth form college . In 1543, Nuneaton was recorded as containing 169 houses, with a population of around 800. By 1670 this had grown to 415 households, with a population of 1,867, and by 1740 the population had risen further to 2,480. In the mid-17th century, a silk ribbon weaving industry became established in the local area which included Nuneaton, Bedworth , Coventry and much of North Warwickshire . This industry
8740-677: Was replaced with the existing church, which was opened in 2000. In the town, Baptist , Methodist , Wesleyan Reform Union , the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints , Pentecostal , the Salvation Army , United Reformed and Christadelphian churches serve their respective congregations. A Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses is located in the Stockingford area and Christadelphians in Whitestone . In addition to Christianity, there are also followers of Islam , Sikhism and Hinduism . There
8835-610: Was sold by the National Bus Company in a management buyout to the Western Travel Group, the holding company of former NBC operator Cheltenham & Gloucester Omnibus . During Western Travel ownership, Midland Red South opened a garage in Coventry and also revived the Stratford Blue name, and following the acquisition of Bedworth coach operator Vanguard Coaches in September 1989, began operating its first minibus services in Coventry in competition with West Midlands Travel , using
8930-515: Was split in July 2002 with the Banbury operations becoming part of Stagecoach in Oxfordshire . Meanwhile, Guide Friday, a nationwide operator of open-top sightseeing bus tours which ran such services in Stratford, had established a small number of local and tendered bus services in the town following Stagecoach's closure of Stratford depot. Guide Friday was eventually purchased by Ensignbus , who rebranded
9025-606: Was unique within the Stagecoach Group due to the purchase of five East Lancs OmniDekka bodied Scania N94UD double-deckers for use on the network, a body and chassis combination which the group did not ordinarily purchase. From 2018, however, the Corby depot was reduced to being an outstation for only local bus services, with the main intertown services being transferred to Kettering depot. Buses painted in Corby Star livery would slowly begin to be painted into standard fleet livery following this transfer of services. Stagecoach Midlands
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