Atherstone North Warwickshire

Atherstone

Atherstone is a town in Warwickshire, England. Atherstone is located near the northernmost tip of Warwickshire, close to the border with Staffordshire and Leicestershire, and is the administrative headquarters of the borough of North Warwickshire.

Atherstone has a long history going back to Roman times. An important defended Roman settlement named Manduessedum existed at Mancetter near the site of modern day Atherstone, and the Roman road, the Watling Street (now known as the A5) ran through Atherstone. It is believed by some historians that the rebel Queen of the Britons Boudica was defeated at the Battle of Watling Street by the Romans in her final battle near Manduessedum. Atherstone was once an important hatting town, and became well known for its felt hats. The industry began in the 17th century, and at its height there were seven firms employing 3000 people. Due to cheap imports, the trade had largely died out by the 1960s, and ended completely in 1998.

In recent years Atherstone has been promoting itself as a book town. In part due to its central location in the UK (on the main A5 national route and close to the M42 motorway), Atherstone's economy has expanded rapidly since the 1990s, with several major companies such as TNT, Aldi, Bhs and 3M setting-up their head office operations and/or national distribution centres in Atherstone.

An annual tradition in Atherstone is Shrove Tuesday Football or mob football played on public highways with large crowds. The game celebrated its 800th anniversary in 1999.

North Warwickshire

North Warwickshire is a local government district and borough in Warwickshire, England. The main town in the district is Atherstone where the council is based. Other significant places include Coleshill, Polesworth and Kingsbury. North Warwickshire is a mostly rural area with several small towns. The area historically had a large coal mining industry, but this has almost died out.The boundaries of North Warwickshire are almost the same as the North Warwickshire parliamentary constituency. However the constituency also includes Bedworth. The local MP is Mike O'Brien.

The towns and villages of North Warwickshire include Ansley, Arley, Astley, Atherstone, Austrey, Baddesley Ensor, Baxterley, Bentley, Blythe End, Caldecote, Coleshill, Corley, Curdworth, Dordon, Fillongley, Furnace End, Gilson, Great Packington, Grendon, Warwickshire, Hartshill, Heath Whitacre, Kingsbury, Lea Marston, Little Packington, Mancetter, Maxstoke, Merevale, Middleton, Moxhull, Nether Whitacre, Newton Regis, Over Whitacre, Polesworth, Seckington, Shustoke, Shuttington, Warton, Water Orton, Whitacre Heath, Wiggins Hill, and Wishaw.