Norton Bridge is a village in Staffordshire , England. Until May 2004 it was served by Norton Bridge railway station .
125-727: The North Staffordshire Railway (NSR) was a British railway company formed in 1845 to promote a number of lines in the Staffordshire Potteries and surrounding areas in Staffordshire , Cheshire , Derbyshire and Shropshire . The company was based in Stoke-on-Trent and was nicknamed The Knotty ; its lines were built to the standard gauge of 4 ft 8 + 1 ⁄ 2 in ( 1,435 mm ). The main routes were constructed between 1846 and 1852 and ran from Macclesfield via Stoke to Colwich Junction joining
250-631: A landbridge now known as Doggerland , Great Britain has been inhabited by modern humans for around 30,000 years. In 2011, it had a population of about 61 million , making it the world's third-most-populous island after Honshu in Japan and Java in Indonesia , and the most populated island outside of Asia . The term "Great Britain" can also refer to the political territory of England , Scotland and Wales , which includes their offshore islands. This territory, together with Northern Ireland , constitutes
375-454: A Goidelic language, Manx . Northern Scotland mainly spoke Pritennic , which became Pictish , which may have been a Brythonic language. During the period of the Roman occupation of Southern Britain (AD 43 to c. 410 ), Common Brythonic borrowed a large stock of Latin words. Approximately 800 of these Latin loan-words have survived in the three modern Brythonic languages. Romano-British
500-452: A common ancestral language termed Brittonic , British , Common Brythonic , Old Brythonic or Proto-Brythonic , which is thought to have developed from Proto-Celtic or early Insular Celtic by the 6th century AD. Brythonic languages were probably spoken before the Roman invasion at least in the majority of Great Britain south of the rivers Forth and Clyde , though the Isle of Man later had
625-414: A crimson shade called Madder Lakewith yellow and vermilion lining. The knot emblem was replaced by the company coat of arms and the words North Stafford . The NSR coaching stock was, even until grouping, predominantly four and six wheeled vehicles. Four-wheeled carriages were the norm from the start and the last were constructed in the 1880s, although by then they had progressed from the unbraked coaches of
750-621: A description of a journey on a Burslem to Hanley train in Arnold Bennett's The Old Wives' Tale . Twentieth century construction included the Waterhouses branch line from Leekbrook Junction to Caldon Low quarries and Waterhouses from where the 2 ft 6 in ( 762 mm ) narrow gauge Leek and Manifold Valley Light Railway (L&MV) was constructed through the Hamps and Manifold river valleys to Hulme End near Hartington . Although
875-565: A merger. To avoid this the NSR had to agree to the running powers outlined above. A further attempt in 1851 got as far as a parliamentary bill being submitted for amalgamation until the select committee appointed to look at the bill reported against the idea. The LNWR made a further attempt in 1855 which failed because of concerted opposition by the MR, MS&L and GWR. Less than twenty years later, in 1870, these four companies all combined to look at taking over
1000-483: A need for materials, most noticeably clay, to be brought into the area. A corresponding need also arose for the resulting fragile pottery goods to be taken away from the area. This need had given rise in the mid to late 18th century of the construction of the Trent & Mersey Canal (T&M) and its various branches. Opened in 1777 it was a spectacular success and paid dividends reaching 75% in 1822. By 1845 this had fallen to
1125-663: A new approach to Parliament. They also incorporated in the scheme a proposal to join the Trent Valley Railway into the Potteries. To do this they promoted the North Staffordshire or Churnet Valley and Trent Junction Railway . This prospective company issued its prospectus on 30 April 1845 from offices at 1 Old Palace Yard, Westminster , London . There was to be a share capital of £2,350,000 (£294 million in 2023). in £20 shares (117,500 shares). The prospectus outlined
1250-481: A new flyover located just north of the present Norton Bridge Junction to rejoin the existing route to Stoke-on-Trent. The new junction was commissioned over the Easter 2016 weekend, 18 months ahead of schedule. [REDACTED] Media related to Norton Bridge at Wikimedia Commons 52°52′N 2°12′W / 52.867°N 2.200°W / 52.867; -2.200 This Staffordshire location article
1375-613: A new post of locomotive superintendent created with a locomotive engineer, Angus, in charge. Although only in post for two years Angus replaced all the wedge motions with Stephenson valve gear . There followed a long period of locomotive construction internally with all locomotives between 1875 and 1900 coming from the company works. The vast majority of these being tank engines although a small number of tender engines were constructed. Most engines, whether tank or tender locomotives were built with either 2-4-0 or 0-6-0 wheel arrangements. An urgent need for heavier goods engines prompted
SECTION 10
#17328489656331500-566: A peninsular extension of mainland Europe until catastrophic flooding between then and 130,000 years ago resulted in the creation of the English Channel and Britain becoming an island during warm interglacial periods like the Last Interglacial/Eemian (130–115,000 years ago), though it remained connected to mainland Europe during glacial periods when sea levels were low. Archaic humans repeatedly occupied Britain before abandoning
1625-494: A possible royal match in 1548, Lord Protector Somerset said that the English and Scots were, "like as twoo brethren of one Islande of great Britaynes again." In 1604, James VI and I styled himself "King of Great Brittaine, France and Ireland". Great Britain refers geographically to the island of Great Britain. Politically, it may refer to the whole of England , Scotland and Wales , including their smaller offshore islands. It
1750-459: A railway, or plateway , from Caldon Low limestone quarries to the canal basin at Froghall in the Churnet Valley . The Railway Mania of 1845 found the Potteries still without a railway, although the surrounding towns of Stafford , Crewe , Derby and Macclesfield were all connected to the fledgling railway system. The Staffordshire Potteries Railway promoted a route from Macclesfield to
1875-746: A result of this eventful geological history, the island shows a rich variety of landscapes . The oldest rocks in Great Britain are the Lewisian gneisses , metamorphic rocks found in the far north west of the island and in the Hebrides (with a few small outcrops elsewhere), which date from at least 2,700 My ago. South of the gneisses are a complex mixture of rocks forming the North West Highlands and Grampian Highlands in Scotland. These are essentially
2000-699: A similar sense to fauna, and for similar reasons, the flora consists of fewer species compared to much larger continental Europe. The flora comprises 3,354 vascular plant species, of which 2,297 are native and 1,057 have been introduced. The island has a wide variety of trees , including native species of birch , beech , ash , hawthorn , elm , oak , yew , pine , cherry and apple . Other trees have been naturalised, introduced especially from other parts of Europe (particularly Norway) and North America. Introduced trees include several varieties of pine, chestnut , maple , spruce , sycamore and fir , as well as cherry plum and pear trees . The tallest species are
2125-511: A still impressive 30% despite the onset of railway development in the northwest England. In 1836 the canal carried 184,500 long tons (187,461 t ; 206,640 short tons ) of goods away and brought in 143,610 long tons (145,914 t; 160,843 short tons). It was the Trent and Mersey Canal Company that built the first railway in north Staffordshire when in 1776 it was granted powers in the Trent and Mersey Canal Act 1776 ( 16 Geo. 3 . c. 32) to build
2250-401: A very extended period of time. Changing latitude and sea levels have been important factors in the nature of sedimentary sequences, whilst successive continental collisions have affected its geological structure with major faulting and folding being a legacy of each orogeny (mountain-building period), often associated with volcanic activity and the metamorphism of existing rock sequences. As
2375-649: Is G. On the Internet, .uk is the country code top-level domain for the United Kingdom. A .gb top-level domain was used to a limited extent, but is now deprecated; although existing registrations still exist (mainly by government organizations and email providers), the domain name registrar will not take new registrations. In the Olympics, Team GB is used by the British Olympic Association to represent
2500-414: Is St Luke's which is a small church/village hall and a postbox. Also, Norton Bridge's only public house, "The Railway Inn" has now reopened and serves locally brewed beer. The Norton Bridge rail crash occurred on 16 October 2003. An intermodal train hauled by two Freightliner Class 86 (86631 and 86611) locomotives collided with another stationary freight train, after passing a red signal . The cabs of
2625-743: Is also more than 1000 species of bryophyte including algae and mosses across the island. The currently known species include 767 mosses, 298 liverworts and 4 hornworts . There are many species of fungi including lichen -forming species, and the mycobiota is less poorly known than in many other parts of the world. The most recent checklist of Basidiomycota (bracket fungi, jelly fungi, mushrooms and toadstools, puffballs, rusts and smuts), published in 2005, accepts over 3600 species. The most recent checklist of Ascomycota (cup fungi and their allies, including most lichen-forming fungi), published in 1985, accepts another 5100 species. These two lists did not include conidial fungi (fungi mostly with affinities in
SECTION 20
#17328489656332750-558: Is not technically correct to use the term to refer to the whole of the United Kingdom which includes Northern Ireland , though the Oxford English Dictionary states "...the term is also used loosely to refer to the United Kingdom." Similarly, Britain can refer to either all islands in Great Britain, the largest island, or the political grouping of countries. There is no clear distinction, even in government documents:
2875-508: Is subject to continuing urbanisation , which have contributed towards the overall loss of species. A DEFRA (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) study from 2006 suggested that 100 species have become extinct in the UK during the 20th century, about 100 times the background extinction rate . However, some species, such as the brown rat , red fox , and introduced grey squirrel , are well adapted to urban areas. Rodents make up 40% of
3000-855: Is the capital city of Scotland , and is the seat of the Scottish Government as well as the highest courts in Scotland . The Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh is the official residence of the British monarch in Scotland. Cardiff is the capital city of Wales , and is the seat of the Welsh Government . In the Late Bronze Age, Britain was part of a culture called the Atlantic Bronze Age , held together by maritime trading, which also included Ireland, France, Spain and Portugal. In contrast to
3125-577: Is the largest denomination in Wales . There are other non-conformist minorities, such as Baptists , Quakers , the United Reformed Church (a union of Congregationalists and English Presbyterians ), Unitarians . The first patron saint of Great Britain was Saint Alban . He was the first Christian martyr dating from the Romano-British period, condemned to death for his faith and sacrificed to
3250-519: Is the largest species, with roe deer and fallow deer also prominent; the latter was introduced by the Normans . Sika deer and two more species of smaller deer, muntjac and Chinese water deer , have been introduced, muntjac becoming widespread in England and parts of Wales while Chinese water deer are restricted mainly to East Anglia. Habitat loss has affected many species. Extinct large mammals include
3375-780: Is the name for the Latinised form of the language used by Roman authors. British English is spoken in the present day across the island, and developed from the Old English brought to the island by Anglo-Saxon settlers from the mid 5th century. Some 1.5 million people speak Scots —which was indigenous language of Scotland and has become closer to English over centuries. An estimated 700,000 people speak Welsh , an official language in Wales . In parts of north west Scotland, Scottish Gaelic remains widely spoken. There are various regional dialects of English, and numerous languages spoken by some immigrant populations. Christianity has been
3500-466: The British Olympic team . The Olympic Federation of Ireland represents the whole island of Ireland , and Northern Irish sportspeople may choose to compete for either team, most choosing to represent Ireland. Politically, Great Britain refers to the whole of England , Scotland and Wales in combination, but not Northern Ireland ; it includes islands, such as the Isle of Wight , Anglesey ,
3625-797: The Celtic languages to the island. During the Iron Age , Britain was inhabited by various different Celtic tribes . The Romans conquered most of the island (up to Hadrian's Wall in northern England) and this became the Ancient Roman province of Britannia . In the course of the 500 years after the Roman Empire fell, the Britons of the south and east of the island were assimilated or displaced by invading Germanic tribes ( Angles , Saxons , and Jutes , often referred to collectively as Anglo-Saxons ). At about
3750-464: The Churnet Valley and Willington lines had been opened. Work continued apace and by 3 April 1848 the first freight trains were run. Passenger services started on 17 April 1848 and the first passenger train left the temporary station at Wheildon Road, Stoke, hauled by locomotive No. 1 Dragon , heading for a temporary station at Norton Bridge on the London and North Western Railway (LNWR). The opening of
3875-583: The CrossCountry services between the South Coast and Southwest and Manchester Piccadilly via Birmingham New Street . No regular freight service uses this route. In 2014 construction commenced on a scheme which takes the form of a diversionary route and flyover. The new route commences just north of Great Bridgeford and runs slightly west of the West Coast Main Line. The route then swings eastward on
North Staffordshire Railway - Misplaced Pages Continue
4000-937: The Douglas firs ; two specimens have been recorded measuring 65 metres or 212 feet. The Fortingall Yew in Perthshire is the oldest tree in Europe. There are at least 1,500 different species of wildflower . Some 107 species are particularly rare or vulnerable and are protected by the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 . It is illegal to uproot any wildflowers without the landowner's permission. A vote in 2002 nominated various wildflowers to represent specific counties. These include red poppies , bluebells , daisies , daffodils , rosemary , gorse , iris , ivy , mint , orchids , brambles , thistles , buttercups , primrose , thyme , tulips , violets , cowslip , heather and many more. There
4125-619: The Grand Junction Railway mainline at Norton Bridge plus a spur to Crewe. At the same time the Churnet Valley Railway promoted a line from Macclesfield to Derby with a branch to Stoke . After these two companies applied for the necessary powers to build the lines, Parliament suggested a pause of a year "to afford time for consideration and for maturing some more complete scheme for the accommodation of that important district". The two companies decided to join forces to make
4250-583: The Great Western Railway ); Alsager to Audley , Leycett and Keele, and Rocester to Ashbourne . Also opened in the 19th century was the only NSR line to achieve any degree of fame, the Potteries Loop Line from Etruria via Hanley , Cobridge , Burslem , Tunstall , Pitts Hill , Newchapel and Goldenhill to Kidsgrove Liverpool Road. Authorised in stages in 1864–65, it opened to traffic in 1873. Its fame came from several mentions and
4375-512: The Gregorian mission . It was the main religion for around a thousand years. There are over 5 million adherents today, 4.5 million Catholics in England and Wales and 750,000 in Scotland , although fewer than a million Catholics regularly attend mass . The Church of Scotland , a form of Protestantism with a Presbyterian system of ecclesiastical polity , is the third most numerous on
4500-473: The Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia . Judaism figured slightly more than Buddhism at the 2011 census, having 263,000 adherents (excluding Scotland's about 6000). Jews have inhabited Britain since 1070. However, those resident and open about their religion were expelled from England in 1290, replicated in some other Catholic countries of the era. Jews were permitted to re-establish settlement as of 1656, in
4625-559: The Isles of Scilly , the Hebrides and the island groups of Orkney and Shetland , that are part of England, Wales, or Scotland. It does not include the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands . The political union which joined the kingdoms of England and Scotland occurred in 1707 when the Acts of Union ratified the 1706 Treaty of Union and merged the parliaments of the two nations, forming
4750-692: The Kingdom of Great Britain , which covered the entire island. Before this, a personal union had existed between these two countries since the 1603 Union of the Crowns under James VI of Scotland and I of England . The oldest evidence for archaic humans in Britain are the Happisburgh footprints and associated stone tools found in Norfolk , dating to around 950–850,000 years ago. Prior to 450,000 years ago, Britain formed
4875-658: The Metropolitan Carriage, Wagon and Finance Company . Great Britain Great Britain (commonly shortened to Britain ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe , consisting of the countries England , Scotland and Wales . With an area of 209,331 km (80,823 sq mi), it is the largest of the British Isles , the largest European island and
5000-469: The Midland Railway (MR). For the NSR passenger traffic into Derby and Burton was authorised and good traffic as far afield as Wellingborough . The arrangements with these two companies allowed the NSR to run its longest passenger service, between Derby and Llandudno. These trains only ran 44 + 1 ⁄ 2 miles (72 km) on NSR rails, with 6 + 1 ⁄ 2 miles (10 km) over MR but with
5125-612: The Midland Railway line between Burton-upon-Trent and Derby forming a direct link between Manchester and Derby. The company was formally incorporated in April 1845 under the shorter name of the North Staffordshire Railway. As a way of eliminating opposition to the company's bills in Parliament, and to allow it to promote a line to Liverpool , the company made an agreement to take over the Trent & Mersey Canal Company. This
North Staffordshire Railway - Misplaced Pages Continue
5250-578: The Privy Council of England was drafting the proclamation of the new king, Charles I, a Scottish peer, Thomas Erskine, 1st Earl of Kellie , succeeded in insisting that it use the phrase "King of Great Britain", which James had preferred, rather than King of Scotland and England (or vice versa). While that title was also used by some of James's successors, England and Scotland each remained legally separate countries, each with its own parliament, until 1707, when each parliament passed an Act of Union to ratify
5375-454: The Treaty of Union that had been agreed the previous year. This created a single kingdom with one parliament with effect from 1 May 1707. The Treaty of Union specified the name of the new all-island state as "Great Britain", while describing it as "One Kingdom" and "the United Kingdom". To most historians, therefore, the all-island state that existed between 1707 and 1800 is either "Great Britain" or
5500-423: The Trent Valley Railway , with another branch to Norton Bridge , just north of Stafford , and from Crewe to Egginton Junction, west of Derby . Within these main connections with other railway companies, most notably the London and North Western Railway (LNWR), the company operated a network of smaller lines although the total route mileage of the company never exceeded 221 miles (356 km). The majority of
5625-547: The United Kingdom . The archipelago has been referred to by a single name for over 2000 years: the term ' British Isles ' derives from terms used by classical geographers to describe this island group. By 50 BC, Greek geographers were using equivalents of Prettanikē as a collective name for the British Isles. However, with the Roman conquest of Britain , the Latin term Britannia
5750-498: The Vulcan Foundry or Jones and Potts . Originally the resident engineers were responsible for the locomotive stock and the first four holders of this post were all primarily civil engineers. In 1863 the new general manager, Morris, commissioned an outside report on the NSR locomotive fleet which recommended the rebuilding of 50 engines. By the time this report was produced a new engineer, Johnson, had been appointed. He undertook
5875-433: The brown bear , grey wolf and wild boar ; the latter has had a limited reintroduction in recent times. There is a wealth of birdlife , with 628 species recorded, of which 258 breed on the island or remain during winter. Because of its mild winters for its latitude, Great Britain hosts important numbers of many wintering species, particularly waders , ducks , geese and swans . Other well known bird species include
6000-520: The golden eagle , grey heron , common kingfisher , common wood pigeon , house sparrow , European robin , grey partridge , and various species of crow , finch , gull , auk , grouse , owl and falcon . There are six species of reptile on the island; three snakes and three lizards including the legless slowworm . One snake, the adder , is venomous but rarely deadly. Amphibians present are frogs , toads and newts . There are also several introduced species of reptile and amphibian. In
6125-548: The mammal species . These include squirrels , mice , voles , rats and the recently reintroduced European beaver . There is also an abundance of European rabbit , European hare , shrews , European mole and several species of bat . Carnivorous mammals include the red fox , Eurasian badger , Eurasian otter , weasel , stoat and elusive Scottish wildcat . Various species of seal , whale and dolphin are found on or around British shores and coastlines. The largest land-based wild animals today are deer . The red deer
6250-420: The ninth-largest island in the world . It is dominated by a maritime climate with narrow temperature differences between seasons. The island of Ireland , with an area 40 per cent that of Great Britain, is to the west – these islands, along with over 1,000 smaller surrounding islands and named substantial rocks , comprise the British Isles archipelago . Connected to mainland Europe until 9,000 years ago by
6375-520: The pagan gods . In more recent times, some have suggested the adoption of St Aidan as another patron saint of Britain. From Ireland, he worked at Iona amongst the Dál Riata and then Lindisfarne where he restored Christianity to Northumbria . The three constituent countries of the United Kingdom have patron saints: Saint George and Saint Andrew are represented in the flags of England and Scotland respectively. These two flags combined to form
SECTION 50
#17328489656336500-694: The " Kingdom of Great Britain ". Great Britain lies on the European continental shelf, part of the Eurasian Plate and off the north-west coast of continental Europe , separated from this European mainland by the North Sea and by the English Channel , which narrows to 34 km (18 nmi; 21 mi) at the Straits of Dover . It stretches over about ten degrees of latitude on its longer, north–south axis and covers 209,331 km (80,823 sq mi), excluding
6625-623: The 1840s with the introduction of the communication cord in 1869 and the simple vacuum brake in 1883. The first bogie coaches were introduced in 1906 for use on the Derby–Llandudno service and these were followed by further examples until 1923. By 1919 all carriages, except 13 four-wheelers used on miners' trains, had been fitted with steam heating and a number of vehicles had been fitted with through pipes to allow use in trains equipped with Westinghouse brakes . Most carriages were constructed at Stoke but some were purchased from companies such as
6750-511: The 4th century BC. The term used by Pytheas may derive from a Celtic word meaning "the painted ones" or "the tattooed folk" in reference to body decorations . According to Strabo, Pytheas referred to Britain as Bretannikē , which is treated a feminine noun. Marcian of Heraclea , in his Periplus maris exteri , described the island group as αἱ Πρεττανικαὶ νῆσοι (the Prettanic Isles). The Greco-Egyptian scientist Ptolemy referred to
6875-538: The Angles. Germanic speakers referred to Britons as Welsh . This term came to be applied exclusively to the inhabitants of what is now Wales, but it also survives in names such as Wallace and in the second syllable of Cornwall . Cymry , a name the Britons used to describe themselves, is similarly restricted in modern Welsh to people from Wales, but also survives in English in the place name of Cumbria . The Britons living in
7000-491: The Ascomycota but known only in their asexual state) or any of the other main fungal groups (Chytridiomycota, Glomeromycota and Zygomycota). The number of fungal species known very probably exceeds 10,000. There is widespread agreement among mycologists that many others are yet to be discovered. London is the capital of England and the United Kingdom as a whole, and is the seat of the United Kingdom's government . Edinburgh
7125-434: The Church is the monarch of the United Kingdom, as the Supreme Governor . It has the status of established church in England. There are just over 26 million adherents to Anglicanism in Britain today, although only around one million regularly attend services. The second largest Christian practice is the Latin Church of the Catholic Church , which traces its history to the 6th century with Augustine of Canterbury and
7250-412: The L&MV was nominally independent the NSR both worked and operated the line. Finally in 1910, the short Trentham Park branch line was built from Stoke-on-Trent to Trentham Park. It was authorised as part of an alternative line to Newcastle-under-Lyme but construction work beyond Trentham was quickly abandoned owing to rising costs. The same act of Parliament also transferred the Cheadle Railway to
7375-414: The LNWR sheds at Stafford, Liverpool Edge Hill and Manchester Longsight and the GNR shed at Nottingham Colwick. Up to 1882 locomotives were a bright green with black and white lining with a Staffordshire knot emblem on the tank or tender sides. Longbottom introduced a new livery of a red brown with black, yellow and vermilion lining. Longbottom was succeeded by Adams who changed the livery once more to
7500-411: The LNWR. In 1849 an agreement was reached where LNWR traffic could work over the NSR system but in exchange a certain amount of the LNWR London trains had to be routed via Stoke. These Manchester to London Euston restaurant car expresses were unique in often being hauled by NSR tank engines from Manchester to Stoke-on-Trent where the LNWR express engines took over for the run via Stone, Sandon, Colwich, and
7625-455: The London area sinking at double this partly due to the continuing compaction of the recent clay deposits. Animal diversity is modest, as a result of factors including the island's small land area, the relatively recent age of the habitats developed since the last glacial period and the island's physical separation from continental Europe , and the effects of seasonal variability. Great Britain also experienced early industrialisation and
SECTION 60
#17328489656337750-447: The MS&L was no stronger financially than the NSR. Only two years later some NSR shareholders proposed a merger with the MR, the board dismissed the proposal with the chairman reminding shareholders that The NSR had a small mileage and had to collect traffic for the large companies which surrounded it. They made profits from good mileages while the NSR had to do a great deal for comparatively little return. The quote about little return
7875-535: The NSR Liverpool plan was the short branch to Sandbach from Harecastle. On 26 June 1846, the three NSR acts were passed with the total of £2,900,000 in share capital being shared amongst the three lines, with seven years allowed for the completion of each line. The North Staffordshire Railway (Pottery Line) Act 1846 ( 9 & 10 Vict. c. lxxxv) provided for the construction of the line from Macclesfield to Colwich with branches to Norton Bridge , Newcastle, Silverdale and Crewe. Parliamentary approval for building railways
8000-420: The NSR and the Great Western Railway (GWR) expanding into Shropshire running rights were agreed for NSR trains to run to Hodnet and Wellington and in return GWR goods trains could run to Stoke. There were several proposals made either to the NSR or by it, to merge or lease or sell the company to other railway companies. The first was in 1849 when the LNWR, using its financial strength, made suggestions about
8125-404: The NSR consisted of 1,750,000 long tons (1,780,000 t) of goods, nearly 4,000,000 long tons (4,100,000 t) of coal and coke and over 2,000,000 long tons (2,000,000 t) of other minerals. Among the 1,750,000 long tons (1,780,000 t) of goods was 150,000 long tons (150,000 t) of pottery, over five-sixths of the entire production in Britain. Under the Railways Act 1921 , the NSR
8250-519: The NSR decided early on that it was advantageous to carry out its own maintenance work in all departments and also to undertake much of its own new construction work. Stoke railway works were opened in 1849, capable of producing carriages , wagons and other equipment. Construction of locomotives followed later, commencing in 1864. Ownership of the Trent & Mersey canal made the NSR the biggest canal owning railway with 130 miles (209 km) of waterways owned. The T&M owned Rudyard Lake which
8375-399: The NSR following a decision by the NSR board to sell or lease the company. The four rival companies were unable to agree on who would take what share of the NSR and the proposal floundered. In 1875, the MS&L proposed an amalgamation which initially found favour with the NSR board and shareholders but eventually fell through when the MS&L finances were investigated and it was found that
8500-399: The NSR is given below . The Macclesfield, Bollington and Marple Railway (MB&M) was a joint line which the NSR participated in. A short line of just under 11 miles (18 km) it was opened with the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway (MS&L) in 1869 to give the NSR access to Manchester independently of the LNWR. As relationships between the NSR and the LNWR grew better
8625-429: The NSR locomotives were the two engines of the Leek & Manifold and the three engines that worked the Caldon Low quarries. The former were purchased from Kitson and Company and the latter from Henry Hughes and W. G. Bagnall . At grouping 196 steam locomotives including the L&MV and Caldon Low engines were absorbed into the LMS along with the three railmotors and one battery electric locomotive. This last engine
8750-408: The NSR made use of as a leisure complex, building a golf course, in 1905, on land adjoining the lake. A further area of interest, again via ownership of the T&M, was the lease on Caldon Low quarries. Associated with the quarry was the 3 ft 6 in ( 1,067 mm ) tramway that ran from the quarries to Froghall making the NSR the operator of lines of three different gauges. Although
8875-476: The NSR owned three hotels; the North Stafford in Stoke (opposite Stoke station), the Churnet Valley in Leek and the Hotel Rudyard at Rudyard. NSR motive power came from a mixture of sources. Before the establishment of Stoke works there was a complete reliance on outside contractors. The first locomotives were either purchased from contractors building the line or firms such as Sharp Brothers and Company , B. Hick and Son , Kitson, Thompson and Hewitson ,
9000-419: The NSR principally served the urban areas of the Potteries, it did promote the area for tourism, especially the Churnet Valley which local hoteliers had labelled as "Staffordshire's little Switzerland". The company issued a 150-page guide called Picturesque Staffordshire to support this promotion and dispel the widespread held idea that the county was dull and bleak In addition to the tourist traffic generated
9125-532: The NSR running rights to Nottingham , Colwick , Leicester and Peterborough . Apart from excursion trains to Nottingham and goods trains to Colwick, the NSR did not take advantage of these powers. Although the NSR had joint ownership of the MB&;M with the MS&;L the NSR did not have running powers over the rest of the MS&L and was content to let the MS&L handle all traffic north of Middlewood. Finally with both
9250-567: The NSR's plans for two main lines. The Pottery Line running from a junction with the Manchester & Birmingham railway at Congleton to the Grand Junction Railway at Colwich was promoted, as "giving the most ample accommodation to the towns of Tunstall , Burslem , Newcastle-under-Lyme , Hanley , Stoke , Fenton , Longton and Stone ". The Churnet Line was to run from Macclesfield though Leek , Cheadle and Uttoxeter to join
9375-433: The NSR. The Cheadle Railway was a small local company constructed with NSR's backing, built at great cost over a period of twelve years. It was a short line from Cresswell to Cheadle , this line, only 4 miles (6 km) long, included a very difficult tunnel. The line was opened from Cresswell to Totmonslow on 7 November 1892 and to Cheadle on 1 January 1901. A full list of authorisation and opening dates for sections of
9500-570: The North Staffordshire Railway Act 1847 ( 10 & 11 Vict. c. cviii) was passed. This act was necessary was because of problems encountered with the construction of the Crewe branch. The opportunity was taken to authorise several other deviations and small branches. It also consolidated the previous acts and importantly, forced the NSR to ensure that all lines were completed by specifying that ordinary dividends were not to exceed 5% until
9625-504: The Stoke to Derby route also remains in use , however most of the less important lines built by the company have since been closed. The area of north Staffordshire known today as the City of Stoke-on-Trent was already a thriving industrial area before the arrival of the railways. The establishment of the pottery industry and the development of coal and ironstone mines in the 18th century had provided
9750-537: The UK government yearbooks have used both Britain and United Kingdom . GB and GBR are used instead of UK in some international codes to refer to the United Kingdom, including the Universal Postal Union , international sports teams, NATO , and the International Organization for Standardization country codes ISO 3166-2 and ISO 3166-1 alpha-3 , whilst the aircraft registration prefix
9875-519: The Uttoxeter–Ashbourne line to run through coaches from Buxton to London via Nuneaton. As well as the running power agreements with the LNWR there was a very short joint line of 32 chains (644 m) at Middlewood and three jointly owned stations; Ashbourne, Colwich and Macclesfield Goods. Equally important in terms of traffic but not as extensive in terms of route were the running power agreements with
10000-638: The area during cooler periods. Modern humans arrived in Britain about 40,000 years ago, as evidenced by remains found in Kents Cavern in Devon, following the disappearance of Neanderthals . Prior to 9,000 years ago Britain retained a land connection to the continent, with an area of mostly low marshland ( Doggerland ) joining it to what are now Denmark and the Netherlands . During the Mesolithic period, Britain
10125-503: The areas now known as Wales, Cumbria and Cornwall were not assimilated by the Germanic tribes, a fact reflected in the survival of Celtic languages in these areas into more recent times. At the time of the Germanic invasion of southern Britain , many Britons emigrated to the area now known as Brittany , where Breton , a Celtic language closely related to Welsh and Cornish and descended from
10250-702: The basis of the Great Britain royal flag of 1604. Saint David is the patron saint of Wales. There are many other British saints. Some of the best known are Cuthbert , Columba , Patrick , Margaret , Edward the Confessor , Mungo , Thomas More , Petroc , Bede , and Thomas Becket . Numerous other religions are practised. The 2011 census recorded that Islam had around 2.7 million adherents (excluding Scotland with about 76,000). More than 1.4 million people (excluding Scotland's about 38,000) believe in Hinduism , Sikhism , or Buddhism —religions that developed in
10375-579: The bed of the North Sea was dry and acted as a land bridge, now known as Doggerland , to the Continent. It is generally thought that as sea levels gradually rose after the end of the last glacial period of the current ice age, Doggerland reflooded cutting off what was the British peninsula from the European mainland by around 6500 BC. Great Britain has been subject to a variety of plate tectonic processes over
10500-603: The breaching of the Weald-Artois Anticline , a ridge that held back a large proglacial lake , now submerged under the North Sea. Around 10,000 years ago, during the Devensian glaciation with its lower sea level , Great Britain was not an island, but an upland region of continental north-western Europe, lying partially underneath the Eurasian ice sheet. The sea level was about 120 metres (390 ft) lower than today, and
10625-531: The ceremony was a field in Etruria . A roped off enclosure for directors was created and the remainder of the field was reserved for invited guests. A mile-long procession headed by John Lewis Ricardo , Member of Parliament for Stoke-on-Trent and chairman of the NSR Company, formed. On Ricardo's arrival, the crowds broke through the roped off area and Ricardo was pushed and shoved. During the actual cutting he buckled
10750-473: The company to go to contractors and a small number of 0-6-0 designs were purchased from Nasmyth, Wilson and Company . In 1903 five 0-6-2T engines were purchased from Vulcan Foundry and with the exception of two locomotives for shunting purchased from Kerr Stuart in 1919 these were the last engines not to be built by the company at Stoke. Apart from engine No 1 of 1848 being named Dragon only two other NSR engines were ever named, in 1882 Class C 2-4-0 No. 55
10875-659: The continental region which approximates to modern Brittany and had been settled in the fifth and sixth centuries by Celtic Briton migrants from Great Britain. The term Great Britain was first used officially in 1474, in the instrument drawing up the proposal for a marriage between Cecily , daughter of Edward IV of England , and James , son of James III of Scotland , which described it as "this Nobill Isle, callit Gret Britanee". The Scottish philosopher and historian, John Major (Mair), published his 'History of Great Britain, both England and Scotland' ( Historia majoris Britanniae, tam Angliae quam Scotiae ) in 1521. While promoting
11000-834: The four constructed in 1923) and the battery electric locomotive. Both formed part of the national collection at the National Railway Museum but in 2016 ownership of the New L class locomotive was transferred to the Foxfield Railway where the locomotive is now on display. The largest locomotive depot was at Stoke, with 125 engines at grouping. The next largest was Alsager with an allocation of 15 engines. Other NSR depots existed at Macclesfield, Derby, Uttoxeter, Burton and Crewe. Stoke also had sub-sheds at Market Drayton , Leekbrook and Ashbourne. NSR engines were also sub-shedded at other companies depots, with arrangements existing at
11125-702: The generally accepted view that Celtic originated in the context of the Hallstatt culture , since 2009, John T. Koch and others have proposed that the origins of the Celtic languages are to be sought in Bronze Age Western Europe, especially the Iberian Peninsula. Koch et al.'s proposal has failed to find wide acceptance among experts on the Celtic languages. All the modern Brythonic languages (Breton, Cornish, Welsh) are generally considered to derive from
11250-405: The improvements but the results were unsatisfactory and Johnson left in 1870 after only five years in post. The only significant event of Johnson's tenure was the building of the first engines at Stoke works when three 0-6-0T engines were built in 1868. Johnson's successor, Dodds, fared no better as his patented wedge motion, a type of valve gear , was unsuccessful. Dodds was dismissed in 1875 and
11375-413: The interregnum which was a peak of anti-Catholicism. Most Jews in Great Britain have ancestors who fled for their lives , particularly from 19th century Lithuania and the territories occupied by Nazi Germany . Norton Bridge, Staffordshire At present, Norton Bridge has very few amenities for residents. There is a children's park which has been recently upgraded. In addition to the park there
11500-555: The island with around 2.1 million members. Introduced in Scotland by clergyman John Knox , it has the status of national church in Scotland. The monarch of the United Kingdom is represented by a Lord High Commissioner . Methodism is the fourth largest and grew out of Anglicanism through John Wesley . It gained popularity in the old mill towns of Lancashire and Yorkshire , also amongst tin miners in Cornwall . The Presbyterian Church of Wales , which follows Calvinistic Methodism ,
11625-451: The language of the emigrants, is still spoken. In the 9th century, a series of Danish assaults on northern English kingdoms led to them coming under Danish control (an area known as the Danelaw ). In the 10th century, however, all the English kingdoms were unified under one ruler as the kingdom of England when the last constituent kingdom, Northumbria, submitted to Edgar in 959. In 1066, England
11750-418: The larger island as great Britain (μεγάλη Βρεττανία megale Brettania ) and to Ireland as little Britain (μικρὰ Βρεττανία mikra Brettania ) in his work Almagest (147–148 AD). In his later work, Geography ( c. 150 AD ), he gave the islands the names Alwion , Iwernia , and Mona (the Isle of Man ), suggesting these may have been the names of the individual islands not known to him at
11875-528: The largest religion by number of adherents since the Early Middle Ages : it was introduced under the ancient Romans, developing as Celtic Christianity . According to tradition, Christianity arrived in the 1st or 2nd century . The most popular form is Anglicanism (known as Episcopalism in Scotland). Dating from the 16th-century Reformation , it regards itself as both Catholic and Reformed . The Head of
12000-548: The leading locomotive were badly damaged but the driver escaped with only minor injuries, although he had to be cut from the wreckage by the fire brigade. Norton Bridge Junction is where trains towards Stoke-on-Trent and Manchester Piccadilly are routed away from the West Coast Main Line . The primary uses of this route are the West Midlands Trains service from London Euston to Crewe via Stoke-on-Trent and
12125-403: The line gave the Potteries a railway link with Birmingham and London which made it an instant success with the public. Profits for the first two months were £1,668, "exceeding expectations". The remaining lines under the original acts were opened in stages but all were completed and open by the end of 1852 when the Stoke to Newcastle and Newcastle to Knutton sections opened. A few months after
12250-555: The main line to London Euston . The NSR received a payment for every through passenger on these trains and employed a small army of ticket inspectors to examine and clip (with its distinctive 'P' clip) every ticket during the Stoke-on-Trent station stop. The agreement did give the NSR access to destinations such as Llandudno , Manchester, Stafford, Wolverhampton and Buxton . NSR goods trains were able to run to places such as Liverpool and Rugby . The LNWR also used running rights over
12375-579: The majority, 67 + 1 ⁄ 2 miles (109 km) over the LNWR. In 1867, an independent local company built the Stafford and Uttoxeter Railway , later incorporated into the Great Northern Railway (GNR). The GNR built its GNR Derbyshire and Staffordshire Extension from Nottingham and Derby Friargate via Mickleover to Egginton Junction with running powers over the NSR from Etwall, through Uttoxeter , to Bromshall Junction. The GNR granted
12500-489: The much smaller surrounding islands. The North Channel , Irish Sea , St George's Channel and Celtic Sea separate the island from the island of Ireland to its west. The island is since 1993 joined, via one structure, with continental Europe: the Channel Tunnel , the longest undersea rail tunnel in the world. The island is marked by low, rolling countryside in the east and south, while hills and mountains predominate in
12625-463: The name of 'Britanniæ.'" The name Britain descends from the Latin name for Britain, Britannia or Brittānia , the land of the Britons. Old French Bretaigne (whence also Modern French Bretagne ) and Middle English Bretayne , Breteyne . The French form replaced the Old English Breoton, Breoten, Bryten, Breten (also Breoton-lond, Breten-lond ). Britannia
12750-464: The opening of the first line, the imposing permanent station in Winton Square, Stoke was opened on 9 October 1848. Stoke station then became the headquarters of the NSR. Later branches constructed in the nineteenth century included lines from Stoke-on-Trent to Congleton via Smallthorne and Biddulph ; Stoke-on-Trent to Leek ; Newcastle to Silverdale , Keele and Market Drayton (junction with
12875-416: The other companies that adjoined it. None of these came to fruition and the NSR remained an independent company up to 1923 when it became part of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway Company . The main routes of the NSR are still in use today; the routes connecting Stoke-on-Trent with Macclesfield, Crewe, Stafford and Colwich Junction remain in use as important parts of the West Coast Main Line , whilst
13000-490: The passenger traffic was local although a number of LNWR services from Manchester to London were operated via Stoke. Freight traffic was mostly coal and other minerals but the line also carried the vast majority of china and other pottery goods manufactured in England. As the NSR was surrounded by other larger railway companies, there were in the 19th century several attempts emanating from other companies or proposals from NSR shareholders to amalgamate with one or more of
13125-539: The reason for the line lessened as the MB&M route to Manchester was 5 miles (8 km) longer than the LNWR route. Both passenger and freight traffic was handled by the MS&L (or, as it later became, the Great Central Railway ) with the buildings maintained by the NSR. As a company with only a small route mileage the NSR made extensive use of running powers and in exchange granted running powers to other companies. The earliest agreements were reached with
13250-465: The remains of folded sedimentary rocks that were deposited between 1,000 My and 670 My ago over the gneiss on what was then the floor of the Iapetus Ocean . In the current era the north of the island is rising as a result of the weight of Devensian ice being lifted. Counterbalanced, the south and east is sinking, generally estimated at 1 mm ( 1 ⁄ 25 inch) per year, with
13375-562: The same source as the Goidelic term Cruithne used to refer to the early Brythonic -speaking inhabitants of Ireland. The latter were later called Picts or Caledonians by the Romans . Greek historians Diodorus of Sicily and Strabo preserved variants of Prettanike from the work of Greek explorer Pytheas of Massalia , who travelled from his home in Hellenistic southern Gaul to Britain in
13500-569: The same time, Gaelic tribes from Ireland invaded the north-west, absorbing both the Picts and Britons of northern Britain, eventually forming the Kingdom of Scotland in the 9th century. The south-east of Scotland was colonised by the Angles and formed, until 1018, a part of the Kingdom of Northumbria . Ultimately, the population of south-east Britain came to be referred to as the English people , so-named after
13625-474: The silver spade and had difficulty removing the sod. Finally, his hat blew away. Construction work went ahead under the supervision of the consulting engineer, George Parker Bidder . By February 1847 there were 1,318 men and 60 horses working between Macclesfield and Colwich and they had removed 80,000 cubic yards (61,000 m) of earth, driven 843 yards (771 m) of tunnel heading and erected 12,000 yards (10,973 m) yards of fencing. On 2 July 1847
13750-581: The time of writing Almagest . The name Albion appears to have fallen out of use sometime after the Roman conquest of Britain , after which Britain became the more commonplace name for the island. After the Anglo-Saxon period, Britain was used as a historical term only. Geoffrey of Monmouth in his pseudohistorical Historia Regum Britanniae ( c. 1136 ) refers to the island of Great Britain as Britannia major ("Greater Britain"), to distinguish it from Britannia minor ("Lesser Britain"),
13875-452: The western and northern regions. It is surrounded by over 1,000 smaller islands and islets . The greatest distance between two points is 968.0 km ( 601 + 1 ⁄ 2 mi) (between Land's End , Cornwall and John o' Groats , Caithness ), 838 miles (1,349 km) by road. The English Channel is thought to have been created between 450,000 and 180,000 years ago by two catastrophic glacial lake outburst floods caused by
14000-502: The word are quotations of the periplus by later authors, such as those within Strabo's Geographica , Pliny's Natural History and Diodorus of Sicily's Bibliotheca historica . Pliny the Elder (AD 23–79) in his Natural History records of Great Britain: "Its former name was Albion; but at a later period, all the islands, of which we shall just now briefly make mention, were included under
14125-476: Was conquered by the Normans , who introduced a Norman -speaking administration that was eventually assimilated. Wales came under Anglo-Norman control in 1282, and was officially annexed to England in the 16th century. On 20 October 1604 King James , who had succeeded separately to the two thrones of England and Scotland, proclaimed himself "King of Great Brittaine, France , and Ireland". When James died in 1625 and
14250-523: Was accurate. In 1877 the NSR dividend was only 2% compared with the dividend of 6% paid by the LNWR to its shareholders. A year later the dividend fell to its lowest ever point of only 1.625%. However it recovered and after 1881 never fell below 3%. In 1891 the NSR paid a 5% dividend for the first time, a level not to be reached again until 1913. In 1913 the NSR ranked as the eighteenth largest company by route mileage with 216 miles (348 km). Passenger numbers stood at 7,200,000 and goods traffic handled by
14375-564: Was achieved by T&M shares being swapped for preference shares in the NSR. These preference shares paid a guaranteed annual dividend of 5% once the entire railway was open. The total purchase cost of the T&;M to the NSR £1,170,000. On 25 November 1845 the Derby and Crewe Railway was absorbed into the NSR scheme. This was a line that was being supported by the Grand Junction Railway (GJR) running between Derby and Crewe via Uttoxeter and Stoke. It
14500-541: Was built at Stoke in 1917 for shunting the copper works at Oakamoor . Four engines under construction at Stoke in 1923 were completed and also added to the LMS stock. Although many of the locomotives were not old, due to the LMS policy of standardisation all NSR engines had been withdrawn from service by 1939. The one exception was the battery electric shunting locomotive which remained in service until 1963. Two NSR locomotives are preserved. NSR No. 2, an 0-6-2T New L class (one of
14625-503: Was by Aristotle (384–322 BC), or possibly by Pseudo-Aristotle , in his text On the Universe , Vol. III. To quote his works, "There are two very large islands in it, called the British Isles, Albion and Ierne ". The first known written use of the word Britain was an ancient Greek transliteration of the original Proto-Celtic term in a work on the travels and discoveries of Pytheas that has not survived. The earliest existing records of
14750-498: Was inhabited by hunter gatherers. Neolithic farmers , of Anatolian origin, arrived in Britain around 4000 BC, replacing the pre-existing hunter gatherers. Around 2000 BC, the Bronze Age Bell Beaker Culture arrived in Britain, which genetic evidence suggests was associated with another episode of nearly complete population replacement. Later significant migration to southern Britain around 1000 BC may have brought
14875-588: Was named Colin Minton Campbell and Class C No. 54 John Bramley Moore after the chairman and deputy chairman of the company, respectively. The NSR also used a small number of railmotors with three being purchased in 1905 from Beyer, Peacock and Company . They were used on routes such as the Stoke–Newcastle service but were not a success. The vehicles did survive until grouping but had been taken out of service for some time some years earlier. In addition to
15000-412: Was needed to allow for compulsory purchase of the land needed for construction. This act also vested the Trent & Mersey Canal in the NSR. Allocated capital for this work was £1,500,000. The second act, the North Staffordshire Railway (Harecastle and Sandbach) Act 1846 (9 & 10 Vict. c. lxxxiv) provided for the construction of the line from Harecastle to Sandbach , allocated capital for these works
15125-565: Was one of the eight major companies designated to form the North Western, Midland and West Scottish Group. This group became the London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS). The act came into force on 1 January 1923 but along with the Caledonian Railway , the NSR amalgamation into the LMS was delayed until 1 July 1923 due to certain legal requirements not being completed by the due date. In common with most other British railway companies,
15250-573: Was to eliminate the opposition of the Grand Junction company to the other NSR proposals that the NSR agreed to absorb the Derby and Crewe . However part of the deal was that the proposed line from Harecastle to Liverpool was abandoned. Despite having arranged to purchase the T&M canal for a considerable sum, to obtain support for the Liverpool extension the NSR agreed to the GJR demand. All that survived of
15375-592: Was used by the Romans from the 1st century BC for the British Isles taken together. It is derived from the travel writings of Pytheas around 320 BC, which described various islands in the North Atlantic as far north as Thule (probably Norway ). The peoples of these islands of Prettanike were called the Πρεττανοί, Priteni or Pretani . Priteni is the source of the Welsh language term Prydain , Britain , which has
15500-487: Was used for the island of Great Britain, and later Roman-occupied Britain south of Caledonia . The earliest known name for Great Britain is Albion ( Greek : Ἀλβιών ) or insula Albionum , from either the Latin albus meaning "white" (possibly referring to the white cliffs of Dover , the first view of Britain from the continent) or the "island of the Albiones ". The oldest mention of terms related to Great Britain
15625-577: Was £200,000. Finally the North Staffordshire Railway (Churnet Valley) Act 1846 (9 & 10 Vict. c. lxxxvi) authorised the construction of the line from North Rode to Burton, a branch from Tutbury to Willington Junction near Derby, and the line between Uttoxeter and Stoke; £1,200,000 of capital was allocated to this. To start the construction work, there was an official sod-cutting ceremony. This took place in September 1846 The site chosen for
#632367