The Town Of Alfreton
Categories: Local Information
Alfreton is a town and civil parish in Amber Valley, Derbyshire, England, adjoining the Bolsover and North East Derbyshire districts. It is at the junction of the A38 and A61. It has a population of 22,000, which includes villages south of the A38. The Alfreton urban area (including South Normanton) totals 41,000.
Local economy
The main industry of Alfreton was coal mining but since the mines closed in the 1960s, it is light industry and warehousing. The Thorntons chocolate factory is based to the south of Alfreton, between Derby Road (B6179) and Nottingham Road (B600) on the site of Swanwick Colliery. A lot of the local area is involved with manufacturing and warehousing, due to its proximity to junction 28 of the M1. At the A38 junction with the A61, there is a BP service station with a Little Chef and Travelodge. The A38 previously terminated at Derby, being extended north to Alfreton, along the course of the former A61 in the early 1970s. The section to the M1 used to be the A615. The nearby Hayes Conference Centre provides some jobs. Alfreton town centre has six charity shops, which stock a wide variety of clothes, ornaments and jigsaws.
Transport
Alfreton's railway station was closed as part of the Beeching Axe. On 7 May 1973 a station was opened on the same site called Alfreton and Mansfield Parkway. When Mansfield regained its own station as part of the Robin Hood Line re-openings, the name was changed to Alfreton. Services run to London St Pancras in the morning and evening peaks with an hourly service also running to Liverpool and Norwich. A new hourly service has also been introduced and serves the Leeds to Nottingham route.
Politics
Alfreton is part of the Amber Valley constituency, the MP is Nigel Mills, (Conservative). The local council for Alfreton is Amber Valley Borough Council.
Notable residents
Benjamin Outram, civil engineer was born here in 1764
Robert Watchorn emigrated to America through Castle Garden. He served as the US Commissioner of Immigration at Ellis Island, between 1905 and 1909. He later worked as vice president of the Union Oil Company. Robert Watchorn was a benefactor of Alfreton after the first world war. In 1927, the Watchorn Memorial Primitive Church was founded and later a school, a manse and cottages, all in memory of his mother. A sports ground and pavilion were given in remembrance of his son. He also had the Lincoln Library built, now a Masonic Hall.
James Young patented a process to obtain oil from coal whilst working in Alfreton in 1848.
Tom Fox recently received an MBE from the Queen for his outstanding contribution to the youth in the Amber Valley area. He joined Derbyshire County Council over 30 years ago in 1972 and started working at Alfreton's Polygon Youth Centre. Although he retired from his youth worker job in 2006, he still helps out one night a week. The emphasis of the award was for his work with children with special needs.
Sally Pepper who presents the weather on the BBC's local evening news programme: East Midlands Today.
Norman Whitehead (1915–1983), was born and painted actively in the area during the 1930s.
William Mugliston (died 1788), born locally, was an eighteenth-century poet. His works are now largely forgotten, but reference to him can be found in an early history of Alfreton held at the Derbyshire County Archives in Matlock, Derbyshire. His most notable work is 'A Contemplative Walk with the Author's Wife and Children in the Park of George Moorewood Esq at Alfreton' (c 1782). He was featured in the 'Lady's Magazine' (sic). Other works include 'The Cruelty of Removing the Poor.
Education
The local secondary school is Alfreton Grange Arts College (ages 11–18) on Grange Street. The school was recently renamed, having previously been known as the Mortimer Wilson School for many decades.
Sport
The local football club is Alfreton Town, who are currently in the Conference North League.
Alfreton Cricket Club currently play in the Derbyshire Premier League and run 4 senior teams on Saturdays. They play on the picturesque Alfreton Park.
Alfreton has an active cycling club, organising a full programme of Audax events. They meet at Roger's Lane car park on Sundays at 9.00am and Wednesday evenings at 6.30pm.
Professional wrestling shows were often shown in Alfreton, with the likes of British legends as Big Daddy, Jackie Pallo and Blackjack Mulligan performing.
There is also a snooker club situated on High Street, as well as Alfreton Golf Club on Wingfield Road close to the cricket club.
Alfreton Leisure Centre was re-opened in May 2008. The centre offers brand-new top-class equipment, including a 60-station gym, sauna, dance studio, swimming pool, badminton and squash courts.
Alfreton is home to 1401 (Alfreton and Ripley) Squadron of the Air Training Corps.
Alfreton's rugby club (Amber Valley Rugby Club) is based at Somercotes, and as of 2010/11 season play in RFU Midlands 3 East (North).
Original information taken from Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfreton
Distributed under a Creative Commons licence
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0
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