Hednesford
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Hednesford | |
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| Population | 6,312 (2001 census) |
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| OS grid reference | |
| District | Cannock Chase |
| Shire county | Staffordshire |
| Region | West Midlands |
| Constituent country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | Walsall |
| Postcode district | WS12 |
| Dial code | 01543 |
| Police | Staffordshire |
| Fire | Staffordshire |
| Ambulance | Staffordshire |
| UK Parliament | Cannock Chase |
| European Parliament | West Midlands |
| List of places: UK • England • Staffordshire | |
Hednesford (pronounced "Hensford") is a small town in Staffordshire, England, within Cannock Chase district. It adjoins Cannock Chase to the north, and the town of Cannock to the south.
The town is best known for Hednesford Hills Raceway, the stock car track built on the site of a disused reservoir, which has brought tens of thousands of race fans to the area since the mid 1950s and still attracts crowds of several thousand to its major events. The town's semi-professional football team, Hednesford Town F.C., currently play in the Northern Premier League and won the FA Trophy in 2004.
Hednesford was an important coal mining community for over a century. The oldest sections of the town surround the hilltop areas of the existing town, however, the lower part of the town became the focal point as the community grew with the mining industry.
Between 1914 and 1918 two huge army training camps were built in the area and over a quarter of a million British and Commonwealth troops passed through destined for the Western Front. In 1938 a Royal Air Force training camp was established to train technicians in maintenance and repair of airframes and engines. No. 6 School of Technical training became better known as RAF Hednesford. The camp was later used for resettlement of Hungarian refugees fleeing from the Russian invasion of Budapest, in 1956. The site is now a part of Cannock Chase Country Park.
Hednesford now spreads across a swathe of the northern fringe of Cannock, from Pye Green across to Heath Hayes. The commercial life of Hednesford has suffered a rapid decline since the 1980s as it lost out to larger towns and cities nearby. The main street of Hednesford, Market Street, has become particularly dilapidated over the 1990s despite attempts at cosmetic face lifts. Hednesford has recently become a town over-filled with industrial parks and small company headquarters with local property seemingly dominated by the Pritchard company. Plans are currently in the pipeline to carry out major redevelopment work in the town.
| Unitary authorities: | Stoke-on-Trent |
| Boroughs/Districts: | Cannock Chase • East Staffordshire • Lichfield • Newcastle-under-Lyme • South Staffordshire • Stafford • Staffordshire Moorlands • Tamworth |
| Cities/Towns: | Biddulph • Burntwood • Burton upon Trent • Cannock • Cheadle • Eccleshall • Hednesford • Kidsgrove • Leek • Lichfield • Newcastle-under-Lyme • Penkridge • Rugeley • Stafford • Stoke-on-Trent Burslem • Fenton • Hanley • Longton • Stoke • Tunstall • Stone • Tamworth • Uttoxeter See also: List of civil parishes in Staffordshire |
