Glossop

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For other uses, see Glossop (disambiguation).
Glossop
Approaching Glossop from the north
PopulationExpression error: "32,428 (2001 Census)" must be numeric
OS grid referenceSK0393
District
Shire county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townGLOSSOP
Postcode districtSK13
Dialling code01457
PoliceDerbyshire
FireDerbyshire
AmbulanceNorth West
UK Parliament
List of places
UK
England
Derbyshire

Glossop is a historic market town within the High Peak borough of Derbyshire, England. It has a total resident population of 32,428.

Lying about 14 miles (23 km) east of the city of Manchester and 24 miles (38.6 km) west of the city of Sheffield, Glossop is close to Derbyshire's borders with South Yorkshire, West Yorkshire, Greater Manchester, and Cheshire .

Glossop is described as "the gateway to the Peak District National Park" (from the east of the National Park) as it is surrounded by some of the most magnificent scenery of the Peak District.

History

The town was initially developed by the Romans, and was known as Ardotalia. In the 19th Century the remains of a Roman-built fort, named Melandra Castle by modern historians. The fort was discovered by an amateur historian in the Gamesley area of the town. The fort was first built in the last quarter of the 1st century AD. It stands on high ground above the River Etherow. The extensive site has been excavated, revealing fort walls, a shrine and the fort headquarters. The site has been landscaped to provide parking and picnic areas. Glossop is mentioned in the Domesday Book and became the property of the monks of Basingwerk Abbey in North Wales. Later on, it became the property of the Dukes of Norfolk who have been closely involved with the town ever since.

Old Glossop seen from the Woodhead Road

Old Glossop is the name given to the original old town (Glossop itself was formerly Howard Town). This most attractive area has some fine 17th- and 18th-century cottages clustered around the Market Square and Cross. The church is Norman in origin and has an 18th-century sundial (and reputedly a ghost in the vicarage). Glossop Brook runs through the centre of the village. There is a history trail around Old Glossop, which is also the starting point of "Doctor's Gate", which is a bridleway leading from Shire Hill up to the Snake Pass and Pennine Way. In the early part of the 20th century, the Glossop Estate was sold by the Duke of Norfolk, and Glossop became a town in its own right.

Glossop's Cenotaph in Norfolk Square.

On 6 April 2007 a huge blaze devastated the Wren's Nest mill in the centre of the town. It restarted around 7am after originally breaking out the previous night, allegedly through suspicious circumstances. The apartments were only recently converted from its former use as a (disused) cotton mill by a local business tycoon. Ironically, the Mill building is only the surviving half of the original mill complex, the other half of which was destroyed in a blaze in 1995.

Government and Politics

File:Glossop Market Arcade.jpg
Glossop's Market Arcade in the Town Hall.

Glossop is represented by three tiers of government, European Parliament ("Europe"), UK Parliament ("national"), and a multi-tier "local" level with High Peak Borough Council ("district") and Derbyshire County Council ("county") providing the majority of public services. The villages of Tintwistle and Charlesworth have a further level of local government in the form of Parish Councils, which have certain limited powers.

Europe

The Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) for the East Midlands constituency since 2004 have been:

National

The Member of Parliament for the High Peak constituency since 1997 has been Tom Levitt MP, representing Labour. His majority in the 2005 General Election was 735 over the Conservative candidate Andrew Bingham.

Local Government

Glossop has a two-tier local government, with a county council based in Matlock, namely Derbyshire County Council and a borough council based in Chapel-en-le-Frith, namely High Peak Borough Council.

Glossop was included in the "South East Lancashire Special Review Area" under the Local Government Act 1958, and the Redcliffe-Maud Report of 1969 recommended to include it in a South East Lancashire–North East Cheshire metropolitan area. Glossop was not ultimately included in the Greater Manchester area established by the Local Government Act 1972. Local people voted to stay within the County of Derbyshire in 1973 (Sharpe 2005). The county council, originally based in Derby, moved to Matlock in the late 1950s to facilitate easier travelling to the county hall from the northern extremities such as Glossop and the High Peak.

=High Peak Borough Council

The High Peak Borough Council was formed on April 1, 1974 by absorbing the municipal boroughs of Buxton and Glossop, the urban districts of New Mills and Whaley Bridge and the rural district of Chapel-en-le-Frith, all of which had previously been in the administrative county of Derbyshire, as well as the rural district of Tintwistle which had been in the administrative county of Cheshire.

High Peak Borough Council is a Conservative Party controlled council, following the 2007 English Local Elections brought an end to four years of there being No Overall Control.

The current Leader of High Peak Borough Council is Councillor Tony Ashton[1] (representing Sett ward in Buxton) and his Deputy Leader is Emily Thrane.[2]

The current Mayor of High Peak Borough Council, the civic leader, is Councillor Robin Baldry, who has represented Cote Heath Ward on High Peak Borough Council since 2007. He is also a Derbyshire County Councillor representing Buxton West. His Mayoress is his wife, Linda Baldry, who is also a High Peak Borough Councillor representing Corbar.

Geography

Glossop nestles in the foothills of the Pennines, with Bleaklow to the northeast and Kinder Scout to the south. It lies on Glossop Brook, a tributary to the River Etherow, in the area commonly known as the Dark Peak. Glossop is the largest town within the borough of High Peak, and is very similar to other north Derbyshire towns in relation to its terrain and scenery.

In addition to Glossop proper, there are several districts and villages. These include:

Demography

Glossop has a population of 32,428 according to the 2001 census[3][4]

Economy

The open moorlands of the Dark Peak lie directly to the east of Glossop and it is not surprising that the town is often dubbed "The Gateway to the Peak". The town is skirted on three sides by the Peak National Park and provides a convenient stopping place for the many thousands of tourists who visit the Park each year. The moorland setting is a haven for walkers of all abilities.

The town has a permanent Tourist Information Centre, which is currently located on Henry Street, sharing the Glossop Heritage Centre.

Landmarks

Manor Park's rose garden.
Howard Park in winter.

Manor Park commands spectacular views of the surrounding countryside and is just a short walk from Glossop's centre. The park is a holder of the prestigious Green Flag Award, the national standard for parks and green spaces in England and Wales to recognise and reward the best green spaces in the country.[5] Howard Park, another holder of the Green Flag Award, is described by the Award organisation as "a good example of visionary layout from the Victorian era retaining many original features".[6]

Transport

Class 323 Networker entering the station

The main road through Glossop is the A57. To the west, this road (with the parallel M67 motorway) leads to Manchester, while Sheffield lies to the east, via the Snake Pass. The B6105 leads north then east, along the Woodhead Pass and eventually to the South Yorkshire town of Barnsley and the M1 motorway. Chapel-en-le-Frith and Buxton lie to the south, along the A624.

Public transport is governed by Derbyshire County Council, with rail travel and some bus services being subcontracted out to GMPTE.

Glossop has regular train services operating from the town's station. The trains runs every half-hour (every 20 minutes during peak times) to Manchester Piccadilly and Hadfield along the remaining stub of the former Woodhead railway. This line has been electrified for over fifty years. A recently formed Friends group, Friends of Glossop Station, is working to bring back the station into the heart of the community and encouraging greater use of environmentally friendly public transport. The group has already carried out many jobs to make the station more attractive, such as the installation of planting pots, re-painting the station railings and general tidy-up parties. The trains operated on the line are 3 car Class 323 Electric Multiple Units built in 1992 - 1993 by Hunslet TPL just before its collapse.

Other public transport connections include regular bus services running to towns in Tameside, and an infrequent service to Manchester. There is also an hourly bus service to Buxton, New Mills and Whaley Bridge to the south and infrequent services running to other towns and cities such as Macclesfield. The Bus Services in Glossop are run primarily by Stagecoach Manchester and Speedwellbus[1], although other companies also operate some Services. See Derbybus or GMPTE. There are infrequent Sunday services to local tourist attractions such as Chatsworth House and the local villages such as Castleton.

Education

Glossop educational facilities include:

Secondary Schools

Primary Schools

  • All Saints RC Primary School
  • Charlesworth School
  • Dinting C of E Primary School
  • Duke of Norfolk's C of E Primary School
  • Gamesley Community Primary School
  • Hadfield Infant School
  • Hadfield Nursery School
  • Padfield County Primary School
  • Simmondley Primary School
  • St Andrew's C of E Junior School
  • St Charles RC Primary School
  • St James's C of E Primary School (formerly Whitfield Primary School)
  • St Luke's C of E Primary School
  • St Margaret's RC Primary School
  • St Mary's RC Primary School

Adult Learning

Public libraries

Culture and Sport

The Glossop Victorian Weekend, Glossop Carnival and Bank Holiday Markets are held annually in the town. The Victorian Weekend is the biggest weekend event in Glossop and was featured on the BBC's Songs of Praise. The weekend includes many activities, including a Grand Victorian Costume Competition and a Shop Window Competition.[7]

Running parallel with the Victorian Weekend is Glossop Beer Festival, run by The Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) and featuring over 30 beers and a barbecue in Glossop's Labour Club.[8]

In recent years, Glossop has become quite well known musically for staging jazz and world music festivals.

In 2005 The Moon and Sixpence introduced the 5 daze in May festival to Glossop. Landlord Paul Keegan and Landlady Julie Gordon have now made this an annual event.

Glossop has a range of other cultural activities including Peak Film Society, an innovative new film club.

Glossop North End, the town's then professional football club, was the first football side in the world to play in, and register its strip as, all-white in colour, well before Real Madrid. The club were members of the Football league between 1898 and 1915. Glossop is one of the smallest towns in England to have had a Football League club.

Public services

File:Pvwg.jpg
Policing in Glossop

Glossop is served by the Tameside and Glossop NHS Trust. The trust operates Tameside General Hospital in Ashton-under-Lyne and an ambulance station within the town. The trust serves two separate communities because there are no district general hospitals (hospitals with Accident and Emergency Department) within the borough of High Peak, and patients would have to travel over 20 miles to another hospital within the county.

Policing in Glossop and the surrounding area is provided by Derbyshire Constabulary. The force covers an area of over 1,000 square miles with a population of just under one million. To police the county the force is divided into four territorial divisions. The territorial division for Glossop is B Division, based in the town of Buxton. The senior officer for this area is Divisional Commander Roger Flint.

Glossop's police officers are based at the new-look station on Ellison Street, which has a custody suite, five cells and a community room for meetings or for any major incidents. The senior officer for Glossop is Inspector Stuart Thompson.

Calls for service in the rural areas usually increase during the summer as the population is boosted by approximately twenty million visitors each year to the Peak District and its surrounds. Winter weather on the unforgiving high ground around Glossop and Kinder Scout can also cause problems for traffic and residents.

In addition to statutory police officers and a team of volunteer Special Constables, Glossop has six Police Community Support Officers. As uniformed civilian staff, they do not have the powers of police officers but support the police in dealing with issues such as dropping litter, dog fouling, cycling offences and throwing fireworks.

In addition to the Emergency services, Glossop also has a volunteer Mountain Rescue Team, which is frequently called upon to assist in emergencies on Bleaklow or Kinder Scout.

Literature and the Media

Town twinning

Glossop is twinned with the spa town of Bad Vilbel, which is in the state of Hesse in the south-west of Germany, only 10km from the city of Frankfurt. Each town has a Twinning Association which organise annual visits to one town by the other. Residents from Bad Vilbel will be in Glossop in the summer of 2007.

File:Glossop-Bad Vilbel Twinning Assoc.JPG

The Glossop/Bad Vilbel Twinning Association was established in 1985 and the formal twinning ceremonies were held in Glossop and Bad Vilbel in 1987. The aims of the association are:

"To promote and foster friendship and understanding between the people of Glossop and district and those of Bad Vilbel and district in Germany.

"To encourage visits by individuals and groups to and from the linked towns, particularly by children and young people, and the development of personal contacts, and by doing so to broaden the mutual understanding of the cultural, recreational, educational and commercial activities of the linked towns."

Notable people

References

  1. ^ The Glossop Advertiser, 15th May 2008
  2. ^ The Glossop Advertiser, 15th May 2008
  3. ^ Office for National Statistics
  4. ^ Derbyshire County Council estimates
  5. ^ Green Flag Awards website
  6. ^ Green Flag Awards website
  7. ^ Glossop's Victorian weekend
  8. ^ Glossop's beer festival
  9. ^ Hilary Mantel Biography at British Council site
  10. ^ Vivienne Westwood's biography at IMDb accessed June 2007

Bibliography

Sharpe, N. 2005. Glossop Remembered. Landmark Publishing: London.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Glossop.
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