Meriden, Wast Midlands
Coordinates: 52°26′16″N 1°38′59″W / 52.4379°N 1.6496°W
| Meriden | |
 The traditional centre o Ingland |
|
  Meriden
Meriden shown within the United Kingdom |
|
| Population | 2,734 (2001) |
|---|---|
| OS grid reference | |
| Metropolitan borough | Solihull |
| Metropolitan county | Wast Midlands |
| Region | |
| Country | Ingland |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| EU Parliament | |
| UK Parliament | Meriden |
| List of places: United Kingdom | |
Meriden is a veelage an ceevil parish in the Metropolitan Borough o Solihull, Wast Midlands, Ingland. It is locatit atween Solihull an the ceety o Coventry, an is approximately 10 km (6.2 mi) frae Birmingham Internaitional Airport.
The ceety o Meriden, Connecticut (near the centre o that state) is named efter the veelage.
Table o contents |
[edit] History an amenities
Till 1974 Meriden wis pairt o Warwickshire. The surroondin kintraside, kent as the Meriden Gap, forms a green belt atween the twa urban auries o Birmingham an Coventry. It gives its name tae the Meriden parliamentary constituency, which covers the Meriden Gap.
The A45 bypass opened in 1958.
In the Unitit Kingdom Census 2001 the population o the Meriden parish wis 2,734.
It is possibly the steid o an Iron Age field seestem.
The parish kirk is dedicatit tae Saunt Lawrence an wis apparently foondit bi Lady Godiva. It haes a Norman chancel wi gargoyles on its roof an a gowden weathercock.
Here the Heart of England Way lang-distance path wends its wey an brings the Staffordshire Heathlands thegither wi the Cotswolds an Forest o Arden.
Meriden is an aw hame tae a memorial tae aw the cyclists who dee'd in the First Warld War. An annual event, at which thoosans o cyclists pay their respects tae their fawen colleagues an commemorate these daiths, is held in the veelage. The memorial wis unveiled on 21 Mey 1921, in the presence o ower 20,000 cyclists.
Some moatit fermsteads an several timber-framed biggins can be seen in the veelage.
[edit] Triumph Motorcycles
Frae 1941, Meriden uised tae be hame tae the lairge Triumph Motorcycles production plant, whose Priory Street factory in Coventry wis earlier destroyed bi the Luftwaffe durin World War II.
As documentit in the beuk, Forty Summers Ago, the factory wis visitit bi Steve McQueen, Bud Ekins an the rest o the 1964 USA International Six Day Trials team tae collect their specially prepared Triumphs. Richard Gere, in an interview promotin his 2002 film Chicago, an aa claimed tae hae picked up his Triumph motorcycle frae the factory (misidentifyin it's location), too, albeit in the mid-1970s whilst tourin wi the Grease stage production [1].
In 1973, Triumph wirkers blockadit the factory frae the new awners, NVT, tae prevent closur. The govrenment loaned the subsequent Meriden Workers Co-Operative money tae buy the factory an later tae mercat the Triumph motorcycles they produced. Tradin later as Triumph Motorcycles (Meriden) Ltd., the co-operative eventually closed in the early-1983, the factory being demolished the follaein year.[2] The new company, Triumph Motorcycles Ltd which wis established in 1984, an muivit tae Hinckley, Leicestershire in 1988.
A hoosin estate haes been built on the steid o the Triumph motorcycle factory at Meriden. Road names on the estate include Triumph motorcycle model names such as Bonneville Close an Daytona Drive. A plaque commemoratin the steid's umwhile uise staunds ootside Bonneville Close.
[edit] Traditional Centre o Ingland
The veelage haes claimed tae be at the vera centre o England, and a 500-year-old (some sources say 200-year-old) sandstone pillar-shaped monument tae that effect staunds in the veelage green. This medieval veelage cross is a grade II leetit airtifact.[3]
In 2002 the Ordnance Survey defined the Geographical Centre of England tae be on Lindley Hall Farm, approximately 18 kilometres (11 mi) north at Fenny Drayton, Leicestershire.[4]
In 2003 the Ordnance Survey placed Church Flatts ferm, approximately 35 kilometres (22 mi) north, at Coton in the Elms, Derbyshire, as the furthest point frae the sea in Great Breetain.[5][6]
[edit] References
- ↑ http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-153489/Richard-Gere-Ive-finally-grown-up.html
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedTri - ↑ Template:IoEentry
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedBBC_2 - ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedBBC - ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedOS
[edit] Freemit airtins
