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Coordinates: 53°06'00?N 2°16'59?W? / ?53.1, -2.283
Alsager is a town and civil parish in Cheshire, England, to the north-west of the city of Stoke-on-Trent, and east of the railway town of Crewe. The town has a population of 12,578,[1] and is administered by Congleton Borough Council.
Going clockwise, starting from the north, the civil parish is bordered by the parishes of Betchton to the north, Church Lawton to the north-east and east, Kidsgrove in Staffordshire to the south-east, Audley Rural, in Staffordshire to the south, Barthomley to the south-west, Haslington to the west, and Hassall to the north-west.
Although Alsager is in Cheshire, it has a Stoke-on-Trent post code (ST7).
In the centre of Alsager is the lake, Alsager Mere. This isolated pool, once the focal point of the town, is now only accessible by two very small, fenced public viewing areas and by local residents who have gardens adjoining the waters.[2]
In the summer of 2007 Alsager was awarded Fairtrade Town status by the Fairtrade Foundation.
[edit] Transport
Alsager is close to junction 16 of the M6 motorway, and is also served by the local Crewe to Derby railway service (see Alsager railway station). Buses (the number 20) run to Crewe and Hanley every 20 minutes. Regional Route 70 passes to the west of the town. The 78 bus service links Alsager with Sandbach, Congleton and Rode Heath.
The Trent and Mersey Canal runs just to the north-east to the town, forming part of the Cheshire Ring Canal Walk and the South Cheshire Way footpath. The canal's towpath and the nearby 'Salt Line' are also national routes of the National Cycle Network.
[edit] Education
[edit] Manchester Metropolitan University
Alsager is home to the Contemporary Arts and Sports Science Departments of the Manchester Metropolitan University. The university absorbed the former Crewe & Alsager College of Higher Education, forming the Crewe and Alsager Faculty, now retitled MMU Cheshire. The Alsager Arts Centre is on campus, which promotes touring contemporary dance, music, theatre, live art, performance writing and visual art events to the public as well as members of the university community.
The university will vacate the site in the next five years, relocating to the university's Crewe campus, and the land sold for development. As yet no firm plans have been released and the uncertainty is concerning residents and businesses.
[edit] Alsager School
Alsager School is situated opposite the Manchester Metropolitan University campus and is attended by over 1600 pupils from the local area.[3]
Alsager is home to Alsager Town F.C. and Alsager Cricket Club. It also has a number of youth teams in the 'lads'n'dads' league. The English Cycling Team is based on the MMU campus. There is a thriving pool league. There is a swimming club. The MMU Sport Science Department is highly regarded and the Italian and Portuguese Football Teams trained there during the 1996 European Football Championship.
Alsager also hosts the UK's biggest 5 Mile Road Race each year in February. The event attracts many of the UK's top endurance athletes.[citation needed]
[edit] Art and Architecture
Housed on the Manchester Metropolitan University's campus, Alsager Arts Centre has an acclaimed public programme of touring new performance and visual art work presented in two intensive seasons - September to November and January to March. The core of the work is programmed into the Axis Theatre, the Dance Studio or the Arts Centre Gallery of the Alsager Campus of Manchester Metropolitan University, Cheshire. The centre is regularly funded by Arts Council England and Manchester Metropolitan University.[4]
Students exploring Situationism sometimes make 'interventions' in the town.[citation needed]
Artist James Lloyd was born in the town.
There are often art shows at the public library.
[edit] Pastimes and Leisure Pursuits
There is a strong tradition of allotment holding in the village, administered by the Alsager Gardens Association.[5]
[edit] History
The Church Lawton Barrows form part of a significant Bronze Age site near the town, though in the neighbouring civil parish and village of Church Lawton.[6] Alsager ('Eleacier' in the Domesday Book) was a small farming village until the 19th century when due to its rail connections and rural character, it became a home of choice for pottery works managers from the nearby Federation of Six Towns which later became the city of Stoke-on-Trent.[7] During World War II a large armaments factory was built outside the town at Radway Green, and it was expanded dramatically to house the influx of factory workers. In the 1960s baby boomers, often qualified in sciences or mathematics, moved to the area to work at ICL in Kidsgrove.
The churches are Christ Church (1789),[8] and St. Mary Magdalene (1898). There is also a Methodist Church.[9]
The Roman Catholic community is served from St Gabriel's Church. The parish is located in the Diocese of Shrewsbury (Central Cheshire Region - Local Pastoral Area 9)
Nearby is the historic Rode Hall and gardens, and the White Lion Pub in Barthomley.
- , a b Official 2001 Census figures. Neighbourhood Statistics website. Retrieval Date: 22 August, 2007.
- , Alsager Mere. Retrieval Date: 10 August, 2007.
- , Alsager School website. Retrieval Date: 10 August, 2007.
- , Alsager Arts Centre website. Retrieval Date: 10 August, 2007.
- , .Alsager Gardens Association website. Retrieval Date: 10 August, 2007.
- , Church Lawton Barrows. Retrieval Date: 10 August, 2007.
- , Scholes, R. (2000) Towns and villages of Britain: Cheshire. Sigma Press: Wilmslow, Cheshire. ISBN 1-85058-637-3.
- , Christ Church. Retrieval Date: 10 August, 2007.
- , Wesley Place Methodist Church Alsager website. Retrieval Date: 10 August, 2007.
[edit] External links
(Source: Wikipedia) |