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85-562: Vauxhall Ellesmere Port is a motor vehicle assembly plant, located in the town of Ellesmere Port , in Cheshire West & Chester , United Kingdom . It has always built small/medium Vauxhall / Opel vehicles, including the Vauxhall Viva and Opel/Vauxhall Astra . It is owned by the global car manufacturer Stellantis . In 1070, William the Conqueror granted the lands of Hooton adjoining

170-535: A Methodist parish, 9 Jehovah Witnesses halls (including one offering English-language services), several evangelical churches, a Buddhist temple and a Jewish prayer house. Gliwice's Jewish population reached its height in 1929 at approximately 2,200 people, but started to decline in the late 1930s, as the Nazi Party gained power in Germany , of which Gliwice was then a part. In 1933, there were 1,803 Jews living in

255-487: A shingle factory, 8 chalk factories and 2 glassworks . Other features of the 19th century industrialized Gleiwitz were a gasworks , a furnace factory, a beer bottling company , and a plant for asphalt and paste. Economically, Gleiwitz opened several banks , Savings and loan associations , and bond centers. Its tram system was completed in 1892, while its theater was opened in 1899; until World War II , Gleiwitz' theatre featured actors from throughout Europe and

340-478: A synagogue , a mining school, a convent , a hospital , two orphanages , and a barracks . Gleiwitz was the center of the mining industry of Upper Silesia . It possessed a royal foundry , with which were connected machine factories and boiler works. Other industrialized areas of the city had other foundries, meal mills, and factories producing wire, gas pipes, cement, and paper. After the end of World War I , clashes between Poles and Germans occurred during

425-620: A Mr. Naylor, a wealthy Liverpool banker, for 82,000 guineas . British participation in World War I was declared on 4 August 1914. The British War Department requisitioned the estate for use as an army training ground. Allocating the site to the Royal Flying Corps as a training aerodrome for pilots, the War Department built one single and three double aircraft hangars , which were completed in 1917. The airfield closed in 1957 after

510-770: A congregation point for Jews who had survived The Holocaust , with the Jewish population standing at around a 1,000 people in 1945. Since then, the number of Jews in Gliwice has declined as survivors moved to larger cities or emigrated to Israel , the United States , and other western counties. Currently, Gliwice's Jewish community is estimated at around 25 people and is part of the Katowice Jewish Religious Community. Gliwice has one Jewish prayer house , where religious services are held every Sabbath and on holidays. It

595-554: A conurbation of 2.0 million people, and is the third-largest city of this area, with 175,102 permanent residents as of 2021. It also lies within the larger Katowice-Ostrava metropolitan area which has a population of about 5.3 million people and spans across most of eastern Upper Silesia, western Lesser Poland and the Moravian-Silesian Region in the Czech Republic . Gliwice is bordered by three other cities and towns of

680-569: A decrease of 1,236 over the previous year. Gliwice faces a continuous population decline since 1988, which is credited to very low birth rates (exceeded by death rates) and suburbanisation. Historically, Gliwice was ethnically diverse, initially inhabited by Poles , later it had a German majority as a result of German colonization , with a significant autochthonous Polish minority. In the Upper Silesian Plebiscite in 1921, 78.9 percent of voters opted for Germany (however 15.1 percent of

765-465: A first language. According to the 2011 census, the main religion of Ellesmere Port is Christianity with 72.1% of the population. 20% have no religion, 6% are unspecified, 0.4% are Muslim, 0.2% are Buddhist, 0.1% Hindu and 0.2% other. Ellesmere Port is located at the southern end of the Wirral Peninsula , in the county of Cheshire. Its suburbs include Overpool to the north west, Westminster to

850-756: A religion. The majority – 82.73 percent – belongs to the Catholic Church. This is significantly lower than the Polish average, which is 89.6 and 88.3 percent, respectively. According to the Catholic Church in Poland , weekly mass attendance in the Diocese of Gliwice is at 36.7 percent of obliged, on par with Polish average. Other larger denominations include Jehovah's Witnesses (0.56 percent or 1,044 adherents) and Protestants (0.37 percent or 701 adherents). Gliwice

935-417: A short period immediately after Reformation , Gliwice has always had a Catholic majority, with sizeable Protestant and Jewish minorities. According to the population estimate in 1861, 7,476 people (68.4 percent) were Catholic , 1,555 (14.2 percent) Protestant , and 1,892 Jewish (17.3 percent, highest share in city history). Currently, as of 2011 census, 84.7 percent of inhabitants claim they belong to

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1020-685: A site near the Coliseum shopping park. Ellesmere Port was nearly included into the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral , in Merseyside , when that was formed on 1 April 1974. It was removed from the proposals before the Local Government Act 1972 had its first reading, and instead remained in Cheshire as part of the borough of Ellesmere Port and Neston . Plans were announced which proposed combining

1105-506: A strike was held at the plant by all union workers in protest at ongoing job losses. As of 2019, the plant employs about 1,100 people, still producing the current model Opel/Vauxhall Astra . PSA's intention was that Ellesmere Port would be one of two factories to build the new Astra in 2021; the Rüsselsheim plant in Germany would also build Opel Astras from 2021. PSA would pull production from

1190-644: Is also an infrequent service to Warrington . The Manchester Ship Canal joins the Mersey estuary north-west of Ellesmere Port at Eastham , but the town is also the northern terminus of the Shropshire Union Canal (which used to exchange goods with seagoing boats at what is now the National Waterways Museum). Speedway racing operated at the stadium in Thornton Road in the mid to late 1970s and in

1275-587: Is located in the house that the Jewish Religious Community elected in 1905. Notable members of the Jewish community in Gliwice include: Gliwice is a major applied science hub for the Metropolis GZM . Gliwice is a seat of: The Polish north–south A1 and east–west A4 motorways, which are parts of the European routes E75 and E40 , respectively, run through Gliwice, and their junction is located in

1360-615: Is part of the Ellesmere Port and Neston parliamentary constituency. As of 2021 , the current Member of Parliament (MP) is Justin Madders (Labour). The 2011 census records 27,134 households in Ellesmere Port, with 40.9% of the population aged between 30 and 59. It lists the ethnicity of the town as 95.2% White British, 0.8% White Irish, 1.6% White Other, 0.8% mixed ethnicity, 1.1% Asian, 0.2% Black and 0.1% other. 97.8% speak English as

1445-753: Is served by the local newspaper, Chester and District Standard (formerly The Ellesmere Port Standard). Ellesmere Port is located near the interchange of the M56 and the M53 motorways. The A41 road between Birkenhead and Chester , also passes through the area. The M56 carries the European Route E22 in this area. There is a bus station in the town centre with frequent services to Chester, Liverpool , Runcorn , Elton , Helsby , Frodsham , Birkenhead and Neston . There are also services to Mold , North Wales operated by Stagecoach. Occasional National Express coaches serve

1530-404: Is situated on site of the old Stanney High School by Cheshire Oaks, the Coliseum and M&S. The following people are natives of Ellesmere Port, or have lived there for a period of time. [REDACTED] Media related to Ellesmere Port at Wikimedia Commons [REDACTED] Ellesmere Port travel guide from Wikivoyage Gliwice Gliwice is the westernmost city of the Metropolis GZM ,

1615-567: Is the seat of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Gliwice , which has 23 parish churches in the city. Gliwice is also the seat of one of the three Armenian Church parishes in Poland (the other being in Warsaw and Gdańsk ), which is subject to the Holy See directly. Other denominations present in the city include a Greek Catholic Church parish, an Evangelical Church of Augsburg Confession parish,

1700-624: The 2011 Polish Census , 93.7 percent of people in Gliwice claimed Polish nationality, with the biggest minorities being Silesians (or both Poles and Silesians at the same time) at 9.7 percent (18,169 people) and Germans at 1.3 percent (2,525). 0.3 percent declared another nationality, and the nationality of 2.1 percent of people could not be established. These numbers do not sum up to 100 percent as responders were allowed to choose up to two nationalities. Most-common languages used at home were: Polish (97.7 percent), Silesian (2.3 percent), German (0.7 percent) and English (0.4 percent). Except for

1785-468: The Blue Planet Aquarium and Cheshire Oaks Designer Outlet . The town of Ellesmere Port was founded at the outlet of the never-completed Ellesmere Canal . The canal (now renamed) was designed and engineered by William Jessop and Thomas Telford as part of a project to connect the rivers Severn , Mersey and Dee . The canal was intended to be completed in sections. In 1795 the section between

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1870-553: The House of Vasa , and in 1666 it fell to Austria again. In 1683 Polish King John III Sobieski stopped in the city before the Battle of Vienna . In the 17th and 18th century, the city's economy switched from trading and brewing beer to clothmaking, which collapsed after the 18th-century Silesian Wars . During the mid 18th century Silesian Wars , Gleiwitz was taken from the Habsburg monarchy by

1955-687: The Kingdom of Prussia along with the majority of Silesia. After the end of the Napoleonic Wars , Gleiwitz was administered in the Prussian district of Tost-Gleiwitz within the Province of Silesia in 1816. The city was incorporated with Prussia into the German Empire in 1871 during the unification of Germany . In 1897 Gleiwitz became its own Stadtkreis, or urban district. The first coke-fired blast furnace on

2040-617: The League of Nations . The New Synagogue was destroyed in 1938 during the Nazi November pogroms known as Kristallnacht . During the Holocaust , Jews from Gliwice were transported to Auschwitz-Birkenau in 1942 and 1943. Only 25 Jews from Gliwice's pre-war Jewish population survived World War II in the city, all of them being in mixed marriages with gentiles. Immediately after the War, Gliwice became

2125-749: The Polish insurrections in Silesia. Some ethnically Polish inhabitants of Upper Silesia wanted to incorporate the city into the Second Polish Republic , which just regained independence. On 1 May 1919, a Polish rally was held in Gliwice. Seeking a peaceful solution to the conflict, the League of Nations held a plebiscite on 20 March 1921 to determine which country the city should belong to. In Gleiwitz, 32,029 votes (78.7% of given votes) were for remaining in Germany, Poland received 8,558 (21.0%) votes, and 113 (0.3%) votes were declared invalid. The total voter turnout

2210-618: The River Mersey to Adam de Aldithly. Eventually they passed to the Stanley family through a series of marriages. After the Battle of Bosworth , Hooton had a new hall and the first Lord Derby in Lancashire. A second half-timbered hall was built in 1488. A third Italian-style hall was constructed circa 1778, but this later sold to cover the Stanley family's gambling debts in 1850. The hall was bought by

2295-500: The 13th century, Gliwice is one of the oldest settlements in Upper Silesia , with a preserved Old Town core. Gliwice's most historical structures include St Bartholomew's Church (15th century), Gliwice Castle and city walls (14th century), Armenian Church (originally a hospital, 15th century) and All Saints Old Town Church (15th century). Gliwice is also known for its Radio Tower , where Gleiwitz incident happened shortly before

2380-509: The 1980s; since March 2013, the stadium has been back in use for greyhound racing. Ellesmere Port Gunners raced in the lower tier Leagues. The Gunners' best season was their last, 1985, when they won the National League championship. The campaign was marred by a career-ending injury sustained by inspirational captain Joe Owen. Owen was hurt in a track crash at Birmingham. Ellesmere Port Town F.C.

2465-713: The Duchy of Bytom until 1354, later it was also ruled by other regional Polish Piast dukes until 1532, although in 1335 it fell under the suzerainty of the Bohemian Crown , passing with that crown under suzerainty of the Austrian Habsburgs in 1526. According to 14th-century writers, the town seemed defensive in character, when under rule of Siemowit of Bytom . In the Middle Ages the city prospered mainly due to trade and crafts, especially brewing . On 17 April 1433, Gliwice

2550-675: The EU, and ensuring that it is a profitable investment. In January 2021 Groupe PSA became part of Stellantis , which also incorporates brands from the former Fiat Chrysler Automobiles . Production of the Astra stopped in April 2022. The factory was retooled to produce the Vauxhall Combo-e , Citroën e-Berlingo , Peugeot e-Partner and FIAT E-Doblò electric vans in 2023. Their passenger car equivalents will start production on site in 2024. Vauxhall Motors F.C.

2635-452: The Ellesmere Port plant if Brexit renders the plant unprofitable. It was reported that PSA would build the Astra estate, which represents the bulk of Ellesmere Port production, in Rüsselsheim from 2022 as 95% of Astra estates are sold on the European continent. According to PSA, allocation of vehicle to Ellesmere Port would be contingent on the terms of the future trading relationship between the UK and

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2720-505: The European continent was constructed in Gleiwitz in 1796 under the direction of John Baildon . Gleiwitz began to develop into a major city through industrialization during the 19th century. The town's ironworks fostered the growth of other industrial fields in the area. The city's population in 1875 was 14,156. However, during the late 19th century Gleiwitz had: 14 distilleries , 2 breweries , 5 mills , 7 brick factories , 3 sawmills ,

2805-684: The Hungarian insurgents (see also Hungary–Poland relations ). The earliest population estimate of Gliwice from 1880, gives 1,159 people in 1750. The same source cites population to have been 2,990 in 1810, 6,415 in 1838, and 10,923 in 1861. A census from 1858 reported the following ethnic makeup: 7,060 - German , 3,566 - Polish , 11 - Moravian , 1 - Czech . Since the Industrial Revolution , Gliwice saw rapid economic growth which fuelled fast population increase. In 1890, Gliwice had 19,667 inhabitants, and this number has increased over twofold over

2890-586: The Merseyside region was one, and this being a large, flat site within the vicinity suitable for a factory of significant size. The first plant director, American Tom Williams, was already familiar with the site from his days as a World War II pilot in the US Air Force . The first components flowed off the production line in November 1962. However, the site was quickly developed as the small-car production centre, with

2975-552: The Opel dealer network. After the launch of the Vauxhall Astra in 1981, a further £65M investment in 1984 allowed commencement of the second generation Astra. After the consolidation of the European management, design functions and vehicle models in 1986 of the Opel and Vauxhall companies under parent company General Motors Europe , over half of the production output of the plant has been exported. For much of its existence thereon within

3060-531: The Opel/Vauxhall production network, Ellesmere Port was the sister facility to Opel's Bochum plant in Germany; from the 1973 Opel Kadett C onward, the two factories were the lead plants for the Kadett/Astra platform through the last six model generations. Following Bochum's closure in 2014, Ellesmere Port became the sole lead plant for the Astra K, which was released in 2016. In 1996, it was the first car plant in

3145-693: The Queen's cinema adjacent to Ellesmere Port railway station in the 1960s the town's only cinema had been a single screen in the EPIC Leisure Centre. Since 1974 Ellesmere Port has been an unparished area when the civil parish of Ellesmere Port was abolished and all its functions were assumed by the new district of Ellesmere Port and Neston . The district was abolished in 2009, and the town no longer has its own council. In August 2012, Marks & Spencer opened their largest store (apart from Marble Arch in London) on

3230-622: The River Mersey at Netherpool and the River Dee at Chester was opened. However the canal was not finished as first intended; it never reached the River Severn. Upon reevaluation it was decided that the costs to complete the project were not projected to be repaid because of a decrease in expected commercial traffic. There had been a loss of competitive advantage caused by steam engine-related economic advances (nationally, regionally and locally) during

3315-586: The Soviet Union at the Potsdam Conference , Gliwice fell inside Poland's new borders after Germany's defeat in the war. It was incorporated into Poland's Silesian Voivodeship on 18 March 1945, after almost 300 years of being outside of Polish rule. In 1956, Gliwice was the site of a manifestation of solidarity with the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 , and local Poles raised funds and donated blood for

3400-565: The Station Road/Dock Street area, to an area that had once been home to a stud farm (indeed, the former Ellesmere Port and Neston Borough Council officially referred to the town centre as Stud Farm for housing allocation purposes) around the crossroads of Sutton Way/Stanney Lane and Whitby Road. The foundation stone for Ellesmere Port Civic Hall was laid by the Chairman of Ellesmere Port Borough Council, Horace Black, on 2 May 1953. It

3485-693: The UK for Sport Relief saw him pass through Little Sutton village centre and Hooton. The footage is only minutes long however. In 2012 Ellesmere Port played host to the Paralympic Flame as part of the Paralympic Torch Relay celebrations. West Cheshire Colleges campus in Ellesmere Port was one of the drop off points for the flame as well as the EPIC leisure centre and the David Lloyd Leisure Centre. Events included sporting demonstrations and

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3570-449: The amount of 14,000 thalers . Although the original lease was for a duration of 18 years, it was renewed in 1580 for 10 years and in 1589 for an additional 18 years. Around 1612, the Reformed Franciscans came from Kraków , and then their monastery and Holy Cross Church were built. The city was besieged or captured by various armies during the Thirty Years' War . In 1645 along with the Duchy of Opole and Racibórz it returned to Poland under

3655-433: The announcement was made that as a result of its commitment to new operating practices Ellesmere Port had been awarded the mandate to produce the new Astra from 2015 alongside Opel's Gliwice (Poland) plant, securing the existing 2,100 jobs with a possibility of adding a further 700 jobs to allow for a 51-week/3-shift production pattern. The awarding of the Astra project carried an obligation to improve operator performance (to

3740-451: The border with Poland – the nearby Knurów was already in Poland. During the interbellum the city witnessed not only anti-Polish , but also anti-French incidents and violence by the Germans. In 1920, local Polish doctor and city councillor Wincenty Styczyński  [ pl ] , protested against the German refusal to treat French soldiers stationed in the city. In January 1922, he himself treated French soldiers shot in

3825-418: The borough of Ellesmere Port and Neston with the Chester and Vale Royal districts to form a new "West Cheshire" unitary authority . The new unitary authority came into being on 1 April 2009 as Cheshire West and Chester . The Conservatives won control of this council in shadow elections in May 2008, winning a majority of seats in the Ellesmere Port area for the first time. At national level, Ellesmere Port

3910-435: The bus station. Most services are operated by Stagecoach Merseyside & South Lancashire with one service operated by Helms of Eastham and another by Arrowebrook Coaches. Ellesmere Port railway station is on the Wirral line of the Merseyrail network and has a train service to Chester via Hooton and also Liverpool via Birkenhead. The line was electrified from Hooton to Ellesmere Port by British Rail in 1994. There

3995-501: The city in the interbellum, including a local branch of the Union of Poles in Germany , Polish banks and a scout troop . On 9 June 1933, Gliwice was the site of the first conference of the Nazi anti-Polish organization Bund Deutscher Osten in Upper Silesia. In a secret Sicherheitsdienst report from 1934, Gliwice was named one of the main centers of the Polish movement in western Upper Silesia. Polish activists were increasingly persecuted starting in 1937. The Gleiwitz incident

4080-428: The city of Lwów (Lviv), Volhynia , Polesie , the Wilno region (Vilnius region) and the Grodno region. In addition, Poles from other regions of Poland, including the vicinity of Kielce , Rzeszów , Łódź or Poznań , as well as Poles from other countries, settled in Gliwice. Many of these new inhabitants were academics from the Lwów Polytechnic who created the Silesian University of Technology . According to

4165-415: The city, both commemorated with monuments. During the final stages of the war, 124 inhabitants committed suicide fearing the advancing Red Army . On 24 January 1945, Gliwice was occupied by the Red Army. Soviet troops then murdered over 1,000 civilians, mostly women, children and elders. In February 1945, the Soviets carried out deportations of local men to Soviet mines. Under borders changes dictated by

4250-420: The city. On 9 April 1922, 17 Frenchmen died in an explosion during the liquidation of a German militia weapons warehouse in the present-day Sośnica district. Styczyński, who defended the rights of local Poles and protested against German acts of violence against Poles, was himself murdered by a German radical/militant on 18 April 1922. Nevertheless, various Polish organizations and enterprises still operated in

4335-451: The city. In addition the Polish National roads 78 and 88 also run through the city. The Gliwice Canal ( Kanał Gliwicki ) links the harbour to the Oder River and thus to the waterway network across much of Germany and to the Baltic Sea . There is also an older Kłodnica Canal ( Kanał Kłodnicki ) which is no longer operational. Other notable clubs: The city's President (i.e. Mayor) is Adam Neumann. He succeeded Zygmunt Frankiewicz who

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4420-445: The city; this number had dropped by half (to 902) by 1939 due to emigration. Between 1933 and 1937, Jews living in Upper Silesia enjoyed somewhat less legal persecution compared to Jews in other parts of Germany, thanks to the Polish-German Treaty of Protection of Minorities' Rights in Upper Silesia. This regional exception was granted thanks to the Bernheim petition that Gliwice citizen Franz Bernheim filed against Nazi Germany with

4505-448: The club plays today. Ellesmere Port Ellesmere Port ( / ˈ ɛ l z m ɪər / ELZ -meer ) is a port town in the Cheshire West and Chester borough in Cheshire , England. Ellesmere Port is on the south eastern edge of the Wirral Peninsula , six miles (ten kilometres) north of Chester , on the bank of the Manchester Ship Canal. The town had a population of 61,090 in the 2011 census . Ellesmere Port also forms part of

4590-426: The disbandment of the Royal Auxiliary Air Force , with the site sold to Vauxhall Motors. The former RAF site was bought by General Motors -owned Vauxhall Motors, who developed their plant as a sub-assembly and engine production centre to supply their existing Dunstable and Luton factories. The location was chosen in part to the then government policy of relocating industry to areas of higher unemployment, of which

4675-404: The docks and the first main street was Dock Street, which now houses the National Waterways Museum. Station Road, which connected the docks with the village of Whitby, also gradually developed and as more shops were needed, some of the houses became retail premises. The main employer at this time was Burnell's Iron Works which had been set up at the end of the nineteenth century. This was followed by

4760-460: The expanding industrial areas growing up around the canal and its docks attracted more workers to the area, the town itself continued to expand. By the mid-20th century, thanks to the opening of the Manchester Ship Canal in 1894 and the Stanlow Oil Refinery in the 1920s, Ellesmere Port had expanded so that it now incorporated the villages of Great and Little Sutton, Hooton, Whitby, Overpool and Rivacre as suburbs. The town centre itself had moved from

4845-470: The first Vauxhall Viva rolling off of the new assembly line in June 1964. What became known locally as the North Road factory has been responsible since for building all of the successive models, including from 1975 all variants of the Vauxhall Chevette . Employment at the plant peaked that year, at 12,000. In 1980, the plant exported the first Opel badged cars from the UK, with 2,000 Ellesmere Port-built Chevettes exported for sale in West Germany through

4930-417: The first decade of canal construction. During or before the construction of the canal the village of Netherpool changed its name to the Port of Ellesmere, and by the early 19th century, to Ellesmere Port. Settlements had existed in the area since the writing of the Domesday Book in the 11th century, which mentions Great Sutton , Little Sutton , Pool (now Overpool ) and Hooton . The settlement of Whitby

5015-439: The future for Ellesmere Port remains uncertain as substantial overcapacity and uncompetitive structural costs remain a threat to Opel/VM as the company searched for new ownership of its entire European operations. In 2017 the European operations of General Motors were sold to Groupe PSA . In 2018, PSA cut several hundred jobs at the factory amid uncertainty about the future viability of production after Brexit. On 23 November 2018,

5100-480: The invasion of Poland, the assets of local Polish banks were confiscated by Germany. The Germans formed a Kampfgruppe unit in the city. It was also the cremation site of many of around 750 Poles murdered in Katowice in September 1939. In early 1940, the advanced shaped charge explosive developed for the attack on Fort Ében-Émael as part of the Blitzkreig attack on the Maginot Line on May 10, 1940 were tested at places in Gleiwitz to ensure secrecy. During

5185-483: The metropolitan area: Zabrze , Knurów and Pyskowice . It is one of the major college towns in Poland, thanks to the Silesian University of Technology , which was founded in 1945 by academics of Lwów University of Technology . Over 20,000 people study in Gliwice. Gliwice is an important industrial center of Poland. Following an economic transformation in the 1990s, Gliwice shifted from steelworks and coal mining to automotive and machine industry . Founded in

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5270-456: The mid-1980s, the Port Arcades, a covered shopping mall was built in the town centre. By the 1990s, it was the retail sector rather than the industrial that was attracting workers and their families to the town. This was boosted with the building of the Cheshire Oaks outlet village and the Coliseum shopping park, which also included a multiplex cinema; prior to this since the closure of the cinema in Station Road, Little Sutton (King's cinema) and

5355-409: The next 10 years to 52,362 in 1900. Gliwice gained its status of a large city ( Großstadt in German) in 1927, when population reached 102,452 people. In 1945, with the approaching Red Army, a significant number of residents were either evacuated or fled the city at their own discretion. Following the Yalta Conference , Gliwice, along most of Silesia , was incorporated into communist Poland , and

5440-600: The north, Rossmore to the north east, with Whitby and Wolverham to the south. Local news and television programmes are provided by BBC North West and ITV Granada . Television signals are received from the Winter Hill TV transmitter. With its close proximity with North Wales , BBC Wales and ITV Cymru Wales can also be received from the Moel-y-Parc TV transmitter. Local radio stations are BBC Radio Merseyside on 95.8 FM, Capital North West & Wales on 97.1 FM, Heart North West on 105.4 FM, Smooth Radio North West on 100.4 FM, and Dee Radio on 106.3 FM. The town

5525-452: The opening of the Vauxhall Motors car plant in 1962. Opened as a components supplier to the Luton plant, passenger car production began in 1964 with the Vauxhall Viva . The plant is now Vauxhall's only car factory in Britain, since the end of passenger car production at the Luton plant in 2004 (where commercial vehicles are still made). Ellesmere Port currently produces the Vauxhall Astra model on two shifts, employing 2,500 people. In

5610-557: The outbreak of World War II and which is thought to be the world's tallest wooden construction, as well as Weichmann Textile House, one of the first buildings designed by world-renowned architect Erich Mendelsohn . Gliwice hosted the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2019 which took place on 24 November 2019. In Slavic languages , the root gliw or gliv suggests terrain characterized by loam or wetland . In South Slavic languages, glive or gljive refers to mushrooms, with gljivice meaning little mushrooms. Gliwice

5695-445: The parade of the Paralympic flame. Construction began in January 2014 for the new multimillion-pound Sports Village in Stanney Grange which initially was to incorporate an Olympic sized swimming venue (now smaller), tennis courts, football pitches and other sport halls, and will be the new home of Cheshire Phoenix , the local professional British Basketball League team from the start of the 2015/16 BBL Championship season. The village

5780-414: The remaining German population was expelled . Ethnic Poles, some of them themselves expelled from the Polish Kresy (which were incorporated into Soviet Union ), started to settle down in Gliwice. Population estimates reached their pre-war levels in 1950, at 119,968 people. Gliwice's population peaked in 1988 at 223,403 inhabitants. As of December 31, 2016, Gliwice's population stood at 182,156 people,

5865-446: The same level as Gliwice's 'ILO 100' workrate) which would close the overall productivity gap to Opel's Bochum plant. Although Bochum had superior productivity, Ellesmere Port's labour costs were around 20% lower than Bochum. This fact, along with GM Europe's desire to have a hedge for the Euro against the British pound, resulted in Ellesmere Port securing another five years for the future of the plant. Like most automotive plants in Europe,

5950-427: The setting up of the Mersey Ironworks factory by the Wolverhampton Corrugated Iron Company In 1905 who settled on Ellesmere Port as a way of exploiting the company's international trade through the nearby ports of Birkenhead and Liverpool. Initially 300 workers and their families came from Wolverhampton and the surrounding areas to work in the factory, settling in a specially built worker's village named “Wolverham”. As

6035-416: The vote in Gliwice was cast by non-residents, who are believed to overwhelmingly vote for Germany across the region). After Germany's defeat in World War II, the Germans either fled or were displaced to Allied-occupied Germany in accordance with the Potsdam Agreement . Polish inhabitants remained in Gliwice, and were joined by Poles displaced from former eastern Poland annexed by the Soviet Union , including

6120-594: The war, the Germans operated a Dulag transit camp for Polish prisoners of war, and a Nazi prison in the city, and established numerous forced labour camps, including a Polenlager camp solely for Poles, a camp solely for Jews , a penal "education" camp, a subcamp of the prison in Strzelce Opolskie , and six subcamps of the Stalag VIII-B/344 prisoner of war camp . From July 1944 to January 1945, Gliwice

6205-612: The wider Birkenhead urban area , which had a population of 325,264 in 2011. The town was originally established on the River Mersey at the entrance to the Ellesmere Canal . As well as a service sector economy, it has retained large industries including Stanlow oil refinery , a chemical works and the Vauxhall Motors car factory. There are also a number of tourist attractions including the National Waterways Museum ,

6290-466: The world to be certified for its environmental management systems. There had been fears that the plant could close in 2014, as the new Astra model came into production in 2015. However, compared to its sister site in Bochum, Ellesmere Port in 2012 was reported to be producing 47 cars an hour over two shifts a day (a company record), while Bochum was producing 30 cars an hour over three shifts a day. In May 2012

6375-568: Was a township in the ancient parishes of Eastham and Stoak , within the Wirral Hundred . The township, which included the hamlets of Ellesmere Port and Whitbyheath, became a civil parish in 1866. To enhance the economic growth of the area, the Netherpool, Overpool and Whitby civil parishes were abolished on 1 April 1911 to become parts of the new civil parish of Ellesmere Port. The first houses in Ellesmere Port itself, however, grew up around

6460-593: Was a false-flag attack on a radio station in Gleiwitz on 31 August 1939, staged by the German secret police, which served as a pretext, devised by Reinhard Heydrich under orders from Hitler, for Nazi Germany to invade Poland , and which marked the start of the Second World War . Shortly after the outbreak of the war, on 4 September 1939, the Einsatzgruppe I entered the city to commit atrocities against Poles . After

6545-656: Was captured by the Duke Bolko V , who joined the Hussites after they captured Prudnik . After the dissolution of the Duchy of Opole and Racibórz in 1532, it was incorporated as Gleiwitz into the Habsburg monarchy . Because of the vast expenses incurred by the Habsburg monarchy during their 16th century wars against the Ottoman Empire , Gleiwitz was leased to Friedrich Zettritz for

6630-542: Was designed in the modernist style and completed in 1955. The Ellesmere Port Council Offices were constructed just to the southwest of the civic hall and completed in 1969. In the 20th century, a number of new housing estates were developed, many of them on the sites of former farms such as Hope Farm and Grange Farm. Many estates consisted of both council housing and privately owned houses and flats. Ellesmere Port, in more recent times has had an influx of immigrants from Liverpool . Thus demand for housing increased with

6715-450: Was first mentioned as a town in 1276, however, it was granted town rights earlier by Duke Władysław Opolski of the Piast dynasty . It was located on a trade route connecting Kraków and Wrocław and was part of various Piast -ruled duchies of fragmented Poland : Opole until 1281, Bytom until 1322, from 1322 to 1342 Gliwice was a capital of an eponymous duchy, afterwards again part of

6800-531: Was founded in 1963, shortly after the opening of the new plant. Early in its history, it played in the Ellesmere Port League and the Wirral Combination , but it soon grew too strong for those leagues. By 1970, the club had achieved several promotions and played on the company-owned Hooton Park . In 1987 it opened its own ground at Rivacre Park , opened by then England manager Bobby Robson , where

6885-480: Was listed as 97.0%. This prompted another insurrection by Poles. The League of Nations determined that three Silesian cities: Gleiwitz (Gliwice), Hindenburg (Zabrze) and Beuthen (Bytom) would remain in Germany, and the eastern part of Upper Silesia with its main city of Katowice (Kattowitz) would join restored Poland. After delimiting the border in Upper Silesia in 1921, Gliwice found itself in Germany, but near

6970-872: Was mayor for 26 years (1993–2019) before being elected as a Polish Senator. Gliwice has 21 city districts, each of them with its own Rada Osiedlowa . They include, in alphabetical order: Bojków, Brzezinka, Czechowice, Kopernik, Ligota Zabrska, Łabędy, Obrońców Pokoju, Ostropa, Politechnika, Sikornik, Sośnica , Stare Gliwice, Szobiszowice , Śródmieście, Żwirki I Wigury, Trynek, Wilcze Gardło, Wojska Polskiego, Wójtowa Wieś, Zatorze, Żerniki. Members of Parliament ( Sejm ) elected from Bytom/Gliwice/Zabrze constituency include: Brzeziński Jacek (PO), Chłopek Aleksander (PiS), Gałażewski Andrzej (PO), Głogowski Tomasz (PO), Kaźmierczak Jan (PO), Martyniuk Wacław (LiD), Religa Zbigniew (PiS), Sekuła Mirosław (PO), Szarama Wojciech (PiS), Szumilas Krystyna (PO). There are honorary consulates of Germany , Kyrgyzstan and Slovakia in Gliwice. Gliwice

7055-596: Was once of town's main football team before the founding of Vauxhall Motors F.C. in 1963. Ellesmere Port Town F.C. was founded in 1948 and folded in 1973. The club's main achievements were playing in the Northern Premier League (The 7th tier in the English Football Pyramid) and reaching the F.A. Cup First Round in the 1971–1972 season, losing 3–0 to Boston United. Vauxhall Motors F.C. are the local football team. In 2009 Eddie Izzard and his run around

7140-449: Was one of the most famous theatres in the whole of Germany . Despite Germanisation policies, the Poles established various Polish organizations, including the "Sokół" Polish Gymnastic Society , and published local Polish newspapers. According to the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica , Gleiwitz's population in 1905 was 61,324. By 1911, it had two Protestant and four Roman Catholic churches,

7225-492: Was the location of four subcamps of the Auschwitz concentration camp . In the largest subcamp, whose prisoners were mainly Poles, Jews and Russians , nearly 100 either died of hunger, mistreatment and exhaustion or were murdered. During the evacuation of another subcamp, the Germans burned alive or shot 55 prisoners who were unable to walk. There are two mass graves of the victims of the early 1945 death march from Auschwitz in

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