River Severn

The river Severn flowing through Newtown.

Former St Mary

The former church of St Mary, location of Robert Owen's tomb.

WH Smith

Vintage style WH Smiths! A museum is above the shop.

Newtown Baptist Church

A town of many churches, though not all of them open.

Newtown / Y Drenewydd

The market town of Newtown (or Y Drenewydd if you prefer, which also means Newtown) is the largest settlement in Powys in the East of Wales close to the border.

Newtown

Information
County:	Powys
Community:	Newtown and Llanllwchaiarn
Population:	11,357 (2011 census)

Newtown's roots are in a 13th century hamlet built at a ford on the river Severn by Roger de Montgomerie. Newtown grew slowly until the advent of the textile industry in the town in the 18th century which caused a rapid growth in prosperity and population. The town had the largest woollen mills in Wales (the steam driven Cambrian Mills) but by the late 19th century was losing out to the North of England and the textile industry declined, especially after two damaging fires at the Cambrian Mills in the 1910s.

One of the textile mill owners of Newtown was Robert Owen. He was a philanthropist and social reformer and the creator of the co-operative movement. His tomb lies at the now ruined church of St Mary. Another notable business owner was Pryce Pryce-Jones who created the first mail order business in the world in Newtown.

Newtown is served by Newtown railway station on the Shrewsbury to Aberystwyth line. The Montgomery Canal used to terminate at Newtown (and was a big driver in the rise of the textile industry) however the canal in Newtown has been closed and the land built upon.

Robert Owen's tomb

Fishing boat

A jolly little boat at Leigh-on-Sea.

Coastal properties

Houses at the seaside.

Pier railway

Nearby Southend has a pier railway, in a cafe in Leigh-on-Sea you can see one of the old rail cars.

Way down to the sea

In Leigh-on-Sea.

Leigh-on-Sea

The town of Leigh-on-Sea is located on the Northern side of the Thames estuary, near to Southend-on-Sea.

Leigh-on-Sea

Information
County:	Essex
District:	Southend-on-Sea
Population:	22,509 (2011 census)

Leigh first appears in the Saxon period, though the Romans also lived in the area too. In the Domesday book Legra (as it was then known) was a minor coastal settlement of fishermen. Leigh grew slowly, having a fishing industry and some maritime trade plus a number of local farms.

By the 16th century Leigh was a coastal port on the main shipping route to London and became a prosperous trading place. However, by the mid-18th century the deep water access which Leigh relied upon on for larger boats was silting up, killing much of the trade. The old town of Leigh was largely demolished by the building of the railway from London to Southend, Leigh-on-Sea station opened in 1855.

Leigh has continued to grow in size and is now considered a district of Southend. The town is now largely residential, there is still a port though the boats moored at Leigh are now mostly of the leisure variety.

Old buoy

Long Eaton Cemetery

Chapel in the cemetery.

Broad Street Footbridge

Crossing over the canal.

The Sportsman

A pub in Long Eaton.

St Laurence

The parish church.

Long Eaton

Long Eaton is a Derbyshire town in the South Eastern corner of the county between Derby and Nottingham and located near the river Trent.

A boat on the Erewash Canal

Information
County:	Derbyshire
District:	Erewash
Population:	37,760 (2011 census)

The town has Saxon origins, it was known as Aitone (which may mean Farm between the streams) in the Domesday Book. It was a farming settlement and was at a crossing of the river Erewash. Long Eaton gained a market charter and grew slowly, a major setback being a great fire in 1694 which destroyed many houses in the town and buildings around the market place. A building which did survive is the parish church dedicated to St Laurence which dates back to the 12th century.

The town began to grow much faster after the arrival of new transport links and new industries. Firstly the Erewash Canal which opened in the 1779 and linked Long Eaton with the river Trent. The first Long Eaton railway station opened in 1839, the current station dates from 1888. The large Toton marshalling yards were near the town.

The town developed lace making and railway wagon construction as industries employing many people. By the early 20th century a quarter of the population of the town (then over 10,000) was employed in the lace-making industry.

Down the road

River Welland

In Stamford.

Vintage sign

In Stamford.

St Michael the Greater

Church in Stamford.

Stamford castle

Not much remains of Stamford castle.

Stamford

Stamford is a town at the South Western edge of Lincolnshire.

Stamford

Information
County:	Lincolnshire
District:	South Kesteven
Population:	19,701 (2011 census)

Stamford first appears in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle in 922 as Steanford, however the Romans are known to have forded the river Welland near to the current town much earlier. In the Domesday Book it appears as Stanford which means stony ford.

Stamford became known for it's woollen cloth in the medieval period and was an inland port on the Great North Road. The town gained a wall for protection. A castle was built in 1075 by the Normans though was demolished in the 16th century. Only a small fragment of it's wall survives. Stamford was granted an annual fair, it remains a fixture and is the largest street fair in the county.

During the 16th century the town went into decline as the woollen cloth trade fell away. New leather, weaving and rope making industries in the following century helped Stamford arrest it's decline and grow again.

The town was an important religious centre during the Middle Ages and has a number of historic churches including All Saints, which has Saxon origins, and St John the Baptist which dates from the 12th. Of more recent vintage is Stamford railway station which was opened in 1848.

Stamford

Centre of England (or not)

A marker for where the centre of England was once thought to be.

Headstone

A headstone in the parish church yard.

Monuments for cyclists

A memorial to cyclists who died in the Second World War.

St Laurence

The parish church.

Meriden

Meriden is a village in the West Midlands near to Solihull.

Jolly little orange house in Meriden

Information
County:	West Midlands
Metropolitan Borough:	Solihull
Population:	2719 (2011 census)

Located between Birmingham and Coventry, Meriden was identified as the centre of England in 1829 with a sandstone cross built to mark the exact point. More modern calculations have placed the centre in Leicestershire but Meriden still has it's monument which is supposed to denote the centre (though the monument has been moved anyway!)

The name Meriden is derived from the Old English for pleasant valley (Myrge Denu). Meriden has Saxon origins, being listed in the Domesday Book as Alspath and was the property of Lady Godiva. Alspath was a settlement atop a hill where the parish church is now, with the Meriden settlement at the foot of the hill. Over time the settlement at the foot of the hill overtook Alspath in importance due to the Chester road passing through it.

Meriden became a distribution point for the cattle driving trade in the 16th century. The village growing due to it's location on the Chester road. A number of inns were built to cater for the passing trade. The road bypassed the village in 1810 when Thomas Telford renovated the route.

At the top of the hill is the church of St Laurence. The oldest parts are Norman with additions in the following centuries.

Farmhouse in the old village centre atop the hill

Mystery field

Piles of rubble and some wide tracks, perhaps a sign of the cause of the rubble!

Milford railway station

My train departs.

Footbridge and level crossing

A choice of ways to cross the railway line.

Down the path

A footpath next to the railway line.

Milford

Milford is a village in the south west of Surrey near to Godalming.

A house near the station

Information
County:	Surrey
District:	Waverley
Population:	4156 (2011 census)

Milford remained a small hamlet during the medieval period but like many places across the country the arrival of transport links (in Milford's case the railway line between London and Portsmouth in the mid-19th century) helped Milford grow. The village was also on the A3 road (between London and Portsmouth) for many years until a bypass was built.

Milford was a hamlet of nearby Witley but Milford became a parish in it's own right in 1844. Milford railway station is on the Portsmouth Direct Line

Milford railway station

Stewartby railway station

On the Marston Vale Line.

Bricks no more

Remnants of the brick making industry which once dominated this area.

Level crossing

Rail crosses road at Stewartby.

Coat of arms

Heraldic flourish at Stewartby.

Stewartby

Stewartby is a model village in central Bedfordshire.

Stewartby

Information
County:	Bedfordshire
District:	Bedford
Population:	1190 (2011 census)

Stewartby was built for workers of the London Brick Company in the early 20th century, named after the Stewart family who were directors of the company at the time. Work began on the village in 1926, it being based around two farming settlements called Wootton Pillinge and Wootton Broadmead. The village was named Stewartby in 1935. At it's time the Stewartby brickworks was one of the largest in the world though it finally closed in 2008. The final chimneys were demolished in 2021.

Next to the village is a water park and some other leisure facilities. The village gained a sixth form college in 2013. The village has a station on the Marston Vale Line, this station was originally for Wootton Pillinge and opened in 1905.

Village hall

War memorial

In Lydney.

St Mary's Halt

A stop on the Dean Forest Railway, some of the preserved railway's wagons are stored here.

Severn

The (wide) river Severn at Lydney.

St Mary's church

The parish church of Lydney.

Lydney

Lydney is a town in the West of the county on the bank of the river Severn.

Under the house

Information
County:	Gloucestershire
District:	Forest of Dean
Population:	8,766

The name Lydney may be derived from the Old English Lydan Eg (Lludd's Island) though there are other possible origins. Settlement in the area dates back to the Iron Age, a fort was built in the area. Later on the Romans built a temple on the site. The Saxons built a settlement at Lydney, which by the time of the Domesday Book was known as Ledenei.

Located on the Severn, Lydney later gained docks to capitalise on the river trade. A railway bridge crossing the Severn was built near Lydney in 1870, the bridge was damaged beyond repair after being struck by oil tankers in 1960. Lydney railway station opened in 1851, one of a number of stations in the area. Another of these stations, Lydney Junction, is now the Southern terminus of the Dean Forest preserved railway.

The parish church dedicated to St Mary dates from the 13th century though most of the current church dates from the start of the 16th century.

On the way to the harbour

The Swan Inn

Pub in Islip.

Inside the church

Inside the church of St Nicholas in Islip.