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Derby

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Geography of Great
Britain

                                     City of Derby
                                Image:EnglandDerby.png
                                                               Geography
                           Status:                   Unitary, City (1977)
                           Region:                          East Midlands
                Ceremonial County:                             Derbyshire
                             Area:
                           - Total                           Ranked 271st
                                                                78.03 km²
                        Admin. HQ:                                  Derby
                   Grid reference:                               SK354363
                         ONS code:                                   00FK
                                                            Demographics
                       Population:
               - Total (2005 est.)
                         - Density                  Ranked 47th
                                                                  233,700
                                                              2,995 / km²
                        Ethnicity:                 87.4% White
                                                             8.4% S.Asian
                                                         1.8% Afro-Carib.
                                                                Politics

                                                      Derby City Council
                                                http://www.derby.gov.uk/
                       Leadership:                       Leader & Cabinet
                        Executive:                   Labour (council NOC)
                              MPs: Margaret Beckett, Bob Laxton, Mark Todd

   Derby (pronounced "dar-bee" /dɑːbɪ/) is a city in the East Midlands of
   England. It lies on the banks of the River Derwent and is surrounded by
   the shire county of Derbyshire. In the 2001 census the population of
   the borough was 233,700, whilst that of the Derby Urban Area was
   229,407. Measured by Urban Area, Derby is the 18th largest settlement
   in England.

Status

   Traditionally, Derby is the county town of Derbyshire, although
   Derbyshire's administrative centre has in recent years been Matlock. On
   1 April 1997 Derby City Council became again a unitary authority (a
   status it had held, as a County Borough, up until 1974), with the rest
   of Derbyshire administered from Matlock.

History

Origins

   The City has Roman, Saxon and Viking connections. The Roman camp of
   'Derventio' was probably at Little Chester/Chester Green ( grid
   reference SK353375); later the town was one of the ' Five Boroughs'
   (fortified towns) of the Danelaw.

   The popular belief is that the name 'Derby' is a corruption of the
   Danish Deor-a-by (Village of the Deer), however some assert that it is
   a corruption of the original Roman name 'Derventio'. The town was also
   named 'Darby' or 'Darbye' on some of the oldest maps, eg. Speed's 1610
   map. The city is one of the few cities that have retained a name with a
   Viking origin, like York, which had the Viking name of Jorvik. The city
   recently celebrated its 2,000th year as a settlement.

   New research (throughout 2004) into the history and archaeology of
   Derby has provided evidence that the Vikings and Anglo-Saxons probably
   co-existed, occupying two areas of land surrounded by water. The Saxon
   Chronicles (c. 900) state that "Derby is divided by Water". These areas
   of land were known as "Northworthy" and Deoraby, and were located at
   the "Irongate" (North) side of the city. (Ron Mackeown of Derby
   Heritage Development Trust has produced a recent paper on this
   subject.)

The Middle Ages to the 18th century

   During the Civil War of 1642-1646 the town was garrisoned by
   Parliamentary troops commanded by Sir John Gell, 1st Baronet, who was
   appointed Governor of Derby in 1643. These troops took part in the
   defence of Nottingham, the siege of Lichfield, the battle of Hopton
   Heath and many other engagements in Nottinghamshire, Staffordshire and
   Cheshire, as well as successfully defending Derbyshire against royalist
   armies.

   Bonnie Prince Charlie made camp at Derby on 4 December 1745, whilst on
   his way south to seize the English crown. The Prince called at The
   George Inn on Irongate, where the Duke of Devonshire had set up his
   headquarters, and demanded billets for his 9000 troops.
   Statue of Bonnie Prince Charlie located on Cathedral Green
   Enlarge
   Statue of Bonnie Prince Charlie located on Cathedral Green

   He stayed at Exeter House, Exeter Street where he held his "Council of
   War". He had received misleading information about an army coming to
   meet him south of Derby. Although he wished to continue with his quest,
   he was overruled by his fellow officers. He abandoned his invasion at
   Swarkestone Bridge, on the River Trent, just a few miles south of
   Derby.

The Industrial Revolution

   Derby and Derbyshire were centres of Britain's industrial revolution.
   In 1717 Derby was the site of the first water powered silk mill in
   Britain, built by John Lombe and George Sorocold after Lombe had
   reputedly stolen the secrets of silk-throwing from Piedmont in what is
   now Italy (he is alleged to have been poisoned by Piedmontese in
   revenge in 1722).

   In 1759 Jedediah Strutt patented and built a machine called the Derby
   Rib attachment that revolutionised the manufacture of Hose. This
   attachment was used on the Rev. Lee's Framework knitting machine; it
   was placed in front of and worked in unison with Lee's Frame, to
   produce ribbed hose (stockings). The partners were Jedediah Strutt,
   William Woollatt had been joined in 1758 by John Bloodworth & Thomas
   Stafford, leading hosiers in Derby. The Patent was obtained in January
   1759, after three years Bloodworth & Stafford were paid off and Samuel
   Need, hosier of Nottingham joined the partnership the firm was known as
   Need, Strutt & Woollatt. The Patent expired in 1773, though the
   partnership continued until 1781 when Need died.

   Messrs Wright, the bankers of Nottingham, recommended that Richard
   Arkwright apply to Strutt & Need for finance for his Cotton Spinning
   Mill. The first Mill opened in Nottingham in 1770 this was driven by
   horses.

   In 1771 Richard Arkwright, Samuel Need and Jedediah Strutt built the
   world's first water-powered Cotton Spinning mill at Cromford,
   Derbyshire, developing a form of power that was the catalyst for the
   industrial revolution.

   This was followed in Derbyshire by Jedediah Strutt's Cotton Spinning
   Mills at Belper. They were: South Mill, the first, 1775; North Mill,
   1784, destroyed by fire on 12 January 1803, then rebuilt and started
   work again at the end of 1804; West Mill, 1792, commenced working 1796;
   Reeling Mill, 1897; Round Mill, which took 10 years to build, from 1803
   to 1813, and commenced working in 1816; and Milford Mills, 1778. The
   Belper and Milford Mills were not built in partnership with Arkwright.
   These mills were all Strutt owned and financed.

   The Belper North Mill of 1804 built by William Strutt, Jedediah's son,
   is the only original Strutt Mill still standing today. It is an
   iron-framed fire-proof Building. (Now a Visitor Centre, open Wed-Sun
   1pm to 5pm).

   Thomas Evans' mill at Darley Abbey (1783). Other famous 18th century
   figures with connections to Derby include Dr Johnson, the creator of
   the English dictionary, who married Elizabeth Porter at St. Werburgh's
   Church, Derby in 1735; the painter Joseph Wright, known as Wright of
   Derby, who was famous for his revolutionary use of light in his
   paintings and was an associate of the Royal Academy; and John
   Whitehurst, a famous clockmaker and philosopher. Erasmus Darwin,
   doctor, scientist, philosopher and grandfather of Charles Darwin was
   also to be found in Derby and Derbyshire at much the same time, though
   his practice was based in Lichfield, Staffordshire.

   The beginning of the next century saw Derby emerging as an engineering
   centre, with manufacturers such as James Fox, who exported machine
   tools to Russia.

   In 1840, the North Midland Railway set up its works in Derby and, when
   it merged with the Midland Counties Railway and the Birmingham and
   Derby Junction Railway, to form the Midland Railway, Derby became its
   headquarters.

   The connection with the railway encouraged others, notably Andrew
   Handyside, Charles Fox and his son Francis Fox. A list of the
   structures these three built reads like a "Who's Who" of famous
   buildings.

   Derby was one of the boroughs reformed by the Municipal Corporations
   Act 1835, and it became a county borough with the Local Government Act
   1888. The borough expanded in 1877 to include Little Chester and
   Litchurch, and then in 1890 to include New Normanton and Rowditch. The
   borough did not increase substantially again until 1968, when under a
   recommendation of the Local Government Boundary Commission it was
   expanded into large parts of the rural district of Belper, Repton and
   South East Derbyshire. This vastly increased Derby's population from
   132,408 in the 1961 census to 219,578 in the 1971 census.

   Despite being one of the areas of Britain furthest from the sea, Derby
   holds a special place in the history of marine safety - it was as MP
   for Derby that Samuel Plimsoll introduced his bills for a ' Plimsoll
   line' (and other marine safety measures). This failed on first
   introduction, but was successful in 1876 and contributed to Plimsoll's
   re-election as a deservedly popular MP.

Recent history (post 1900)

   Derby was awarded city status in 1977 by Queen Elizabeth II to mark the
   25th anniversary of her ascension to the throne. The Queen presented
   the "charter scroll" in person on July 28, 1977. Prior to that, Derby
   was one of the few towns in England that were not cities, but boasted a
   cathedral.

   On 17 February 2003, Derby was granted Fairtrade City status.

   Derby holds a special place in the history of the Labour movement - it
   was one of two seats (the other being Keir Hardie's in Merthyr Tydfil)
   gained by the recently-formed Labour Representation Committee at the
   1900 General Election. The MP was Richard Bell, general secretary of
   the Railway Servants Union. Bell was succeeded by Jimmy Thomas and he
   in turn by the distinguished polymath and Nobel Laureate Philip
   Noel-Baker.

   Derby has also become a significant cultural centre for the Deaf
   Community in the UK. Many Deaf people relocate to Derby because of its
   strong Sign Language using community. It is estimated that the deaf
   population in Derby is at least three times higher than the national
   average, and that only London has a larger deaf population. The Royal
   School for the Deaf on Ashbourne Rd provides education in British Sign
   Language and English.

Landmarks

   Derby Cathedral boasts the second-highest cathedral tower in the
   country.

   Derby Heritage Centre, formerly the Tudor Grammar School, told the
   story of Derby from Roman times till today. Unfortunately the owner,
   Richard Felix, has closed it so that he can focus on his Television
   career. Derby Gaol is a visitor attraction based in the dungeons of the
   Derbyshire County Gaol which dates back to 1756. The Heritage Centre
   has now been converted into a hairdresser's salon. However the new
   owner has a great interest in local history and has preserved all of
   the building's original features.

   Derby Industrial Museum is situated in Derby Silk Mill and shows the
   industrial heritage and technological achievement of Derby, including
   Rolls-Royce aero engine, railways, mining, quarrying, foundries etc.
   Pickford's House Museum
   Enlarge
   Pickford's House Museum

   Pickford's House Museum was built by architect Joseph Pickford in 1770.
   It was his home and business headquarters. Derby Museum and Art Gallery
   shows paintings by Joseph Wright, as well as fine Royal Crown Derby
   porcelain, local regiments and archaeology. Pickford also designed St
   Helen's House in King Street.

   The Eagle Centre is the city's main indoor shopping centre and is
   currently being extended.

   Much of the skyline of the inner city changed radically in 1968 when
   the inner ring road with its two new crossings of the River Derwent was
   built. The route of the ring road went through the magnificent St.
   Alkmund's church and its wonderful Georgian church yard, the only
   Georgian square in Derby. Both were demolished to make way for the
   road, a move still criticised today. Thus the editor (Elizabeth
   Williamson) of the 2nd edition of Pevsner for Derbyshire wrote:-
   '...the character and cohesion of the centre has been completely
   altered by the replacement of a large number of C18 houses in the
   centre by a multi-lane road. As a traffic scheme this road is said to
   be a triumph; as townscape it is a disaster.'

Economy

   This is a chart of trend of regional gross value added of Derby at
   current basic prices published (pp.240-253) by Office for National
   Statistics with figures in millions of British Pounds Sterling.
   Year Regional Gross Value Added^ Agriculture^ Industry^ Services^
   1995 2,509                       2            1,130     1,377
   2000 3,965                       1            1,819     2,145
   2003 4,421                       1            1,806     2,614

   ↑  includes hunting and forestry

   ↑  includes energy and construction

   ↑  includes financial intermediation services indirectly measured

   ↑  Components may not sum to totals due to rounding

Industry

   Derby's two biggest employers, Rolls-Royce plc (known almost
   universally in the area as 'Royce's', not 'Rolls') and the Toyota Motor
   Corporation, are both in the manufacturing trade. Egg, the Internet and
   telephone bank, has its national base in Derby.

   As already noted, Derby was for many years a significant railway
   centre, being the former headquarters of the Midland Railway, with both
   British Rail workshops and research facilities in the town. Although
   much less important than in years gone by, train manufacture continues
   in Derby and Derby station retains an important strategic role in the
   rail network. Moreover many major rail manufacturers retain a presence
   and, as reported in the Derby Evening Telegraph, the city is favoured
   as a possible national centre.

Transport

Road

   Derby's central location in England means it has extensive transport
   links with other areas of the country. The M1 motorway passes
   approximately ten miles to the east of the city, linking Derby
   southwards to the London area and northwards to Sheffield and Leeds.
   Other major roads passing through or near to Derby include the A6
   (historically the main route from London to Carlisle, also linking to
   Leicester and Manchester), A38 ( Bodmin to Mansfield via Bristol and
   Birmingham), A50 ( Warrington to Leicester via Stoke on Trent), A52 (
   Newcastle-under-Lyme to Mablethorpe, including Brian Clough Way linking
   Derby to Nottingham) and A61 (Derby to Thirsk via Sheffield and Leeds).

Rail

   As already noted, the railway has served Derby since 1840 being the
   junction of what were then the two main lines from London to Yorkshire
   and the North East. The present day station is Derby Midland with
   frequent expresses to London, the North East and South West, provided
   by Midland Mainline, Virgin Trains and Central Trains.

   Formerly the Great Northern Railway's "Derbyshire and North
   Staffordshire Extension", ran through Derby Friargate Station, from
   Nottingham to Eggington Junction. Today, there remain small local
   stations at Peartree and Spondon, although services are fairly limited.

Air

   Nottingham East Midlands Airport (previously known simply as "East
   Midlands Airport") is situated about fifteen miles from Derby city
   centre, making Derby the closest city to the airport. Its proximity to
   Derby, the fact that the airport is in Leicestershire, and the
   traditional rivalry between the three cities, meant that there was a
   great deal of controversy locally about the airport's decision to
   append Nottingham to its name in 2004. The airport is served by several
   budget airlines, including bmibaby (for which East Midlands is one of
   its main bases), Ryanair and easyJet, with services to a variety of
   internal and European destinations.

Bus and coach

   Derby's former bus station was an innovative art deco design by borough
   architect C.H. Aslin. Originally built in 1933, it was closed in 2005
   despite the protests of environmentalists and conservationists. The
   unique cafe building is planned to be rebuilt at Crich Tramway Museum.
   A new smaller, bus station is set to be built on the site as part of
   the controversial Riverlights development. As a result of this work,
   services are currently using a number of temporary stops on streets
   around the Morledge area.

   Local bus services in and around Derby are run by a number of
   companies, but principally Trent Barton and Arriva Midlands. The city
   is not particularly well served by long distance coaches, although it
   is on National Express's London to Manchester and Yorkshire to the
   South West routes. Additionally, there is an important regional route
   between Manchester and Nottingham covered by Trent Barton's TransPeak
   service.

Culture, entertainment and sport

   The annual open-air concert at Darley Park is one of the biggest free
   concerts of its kind. The Derby Jazz group caters for the jazz interest
   in the city and is regarded as one of the UK's leading live jazz
   organizations. There is also a summer rock music festival ' Ponce in
   the Park' which takes place in late July every year.

   QUADis a new Visual Arts and Media Centre currently under construction
   in Derby. Work has commenced on the QUAD building and is due to be
   complete in 2008. The new building will house two digital cinema
   screens showing the best in independent and Hollywood cinema, two
   gallery spaces housing contemporary visual arts, a mac studio,
   participation spaces, digital editing suites, artists studio and a
   darkroom.

   Derby Arboretum was the first public park in the country, and is
   thought to have been one of the inspirations for Central Park in New
   York. Although it suffered from neglect in the 1990s, it has recently
   undergone extensive improvement and renovation.
   Pride Park Stadium
   Enlarge
   Pride Park Stadium

   Famous Derby sporting institutions include Derby County Football Club,
   currently playing in the Football League Championship. Derby County won
   the First Division title (then the highest achievement in English
   football) in 1972 and 1975. "The Rams", as Derby County are known, also
   won the FA Cup in 1946. The have played at Pride Park Stadium since
   1997.

   Derbyshire County Cricket Club are based at the County Ground in Derby
   and play almost all home matches there, although matches at
   Chesterfield were re-introduced in 2006. One of the designated first
   class county sides, they have won the County Championship once, in
   1936.

   Derby also has clubs in both codes of rugby. In rugby union, Derby RFC
   play in Midlands Division Two East (the seventh level of English rugby)
   at their Haslams Lane ground. Rugby league team Derby City RLFC were
   formed in 1990. They play and train at the Asterdale Sports Centre,
   Spondon and compete in the Midlands Premier Division of the National
   Rugby League Conference.

Education

   Like most of the UK, Derby operates a non-selective primary and
   secondary education system with no middle schools. Students attend
   infant and junior school (often in a combined primary school) before
   moving onto a comprehensive secondary school. Many secondaries also
   have sixth forms, allowing students to optionally continue their
   education by taking A Levels after the end of compulsory education at
   age 16. For those who want to stay in education but leave school, the
   large Derby College provides a number of post-16 courses.

   Outside the state sector, there are three fee-paying independent
   schools, Derby Grammar School, which caters for boys and considers
   itself, quite spuriously, a continuation of Derby School (which was one
   of the oldest schools in the country), Derby High School, which caters
   for girls (and also boys at primary level only),and Ockbrook School
   which is an independent school for girls aged 3-18 and boys aged 3-11.

   There is also one secondary school, Landau Forte College, that is
   independent of the local authority but partially state-funded. It is
   one of 15 City Technology Colleges set up by the Conservative
   government in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

   The University of Derby is the city's university.

   In 2003 the University of Nottingham opened a graduate entry medical
   school based in the Derby City hospital.

Trivia

   Has been named "Ghost capital of Britain" with over 1,000 paranormal
   sightings recorded in recent years

Districts of Derby

     * Allenton
     * Allestree
     * Alvaston
     * Arleston
     * Boulton
     * Breadsall Hilltop
     * Chaddesden
     * Chellaston
     * Crewton
     * Darley Abbey
     * Derwent Heights
     * Heatherton Village
     * Little Chester (aka Chester Green)
     * Littleover
     * Mackworth Estate

                                           * Markeaton
                                           * Mickleover
                                           * Normanton
                                           * Oakwood
                                           * Osmaston
                                           * Pear Tree
                                           * Rose Hill
                                           * Shelton Lock
                                           * Sinfin
                                           * Spondon
                                           * Strutt's Park
                                           * Sunny Hill
                                           * West End
                                           * Wilmorton

Places of interest

     * Alvaston Park
     * Darley Abbey
     * Derby Arboretum
     * Derby Canal
     * Derby Cathedral
     * Derby Industrial Museum (Silk Mill)
     * Elvaston Castle
     * Derby Friargate Station (of which all that remains is Handyside's
       bridge across Friargate).
     * Markeaton Park Light Railway, a heritage railway
     * Pride Park Stadium
     * River Derwent

Famous residents

     * Alan Bates (1934-2003), actor
     * Ronald Binge (1910-1979), composer
     * Steve Bloomer (1874-1938), footballer
     * Henry Cavendish (1731-1810), scientist
     * Brian Clough, OBE (1934-2004), football player and manager
     * William John Coffee (1774-1846), artist and sculptor
     * Erasmus Darwin (1731–1802), physician
     * John Flamsteed (1646-1719), astronomer
     * Sir Charles Fox (1810-1874), engineer
     * Sir Francis Fox (1844-1927), engineer
     * James Fox (1780-1830) engineer
     * Andrew Handyside (1806-1887) iron founder
     * Geoff Hoon (1953- ), politician
     * Arthur Keily (1921- ) Marathon runner
     * William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne (1779-1848), former Prime
       Minister of the United Kingdom
     * John Lombe (1693-1722), industrial pioneer
     * Captain Godfrey Meynell, recipient of the Victoria Cross
     * Jyoti Mishra, musician with White Town
     * Sir Howard Newby (1941- ) educationalist and sociologist
     * Florence Nightingale (1820-1910), pioneer of modern nursing
     * Samuel Richardson (1689–1761), novellist
     * Sir Henry Royce (1863-1933), co-founder of Rolls-Royce
     * George Sorocold, engineer
     * Herbert Spencer (1820–1903), philosopher
     * Harry Stevens (1856-1934) one of the claimants to be inventor of
       the hotdog
     * Jedediah Strutt (1726-1797), industrial pioneer
     * Sir Frank Whittle (1907–1996), Engineer
     * Sir Henry Wilmot, recipient of the Victoria Cross
     * Joseph Wright (1734-1797), painter
     * Alastair Yates, BBC presenter
     * Lianna Fowler,model

Twin cities

     * Germany - Osnabrück, Germany
     * India - Kapurthala, India (friendship link)

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