Tuxford - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Geography

Tuxford is a village and a civil parish

Civil parish

In England, a civil parish is a territorial designation and, where they are found, the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties...

on the southern edge of the Bassetlaw

Bassetlaw

Bassetlaw is the northernmost district of Nottinghamshire, England, with a population according to the 2001 UK census of 107,713. The borough is predominantly rural, with two towns: Worksop, site of the borough offices, and Retford...

district of Nottinghamshire

Nottinghamshire

Nottinghamshire is a county in the East Midlands of England, bordering South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

. It may also be considered a small town as it was historically a market town

Market town

Market town or market right is a legal term, originating in the medieval period, for a European settlement that has the right to host markets, distinguishing it from a village and city...

. Nearby larger towns are Retford

Retford

Retford is a market town in Nottinghamshire in the East Midlands of England, located 31 miles from the city of Nottingham, and 23 miles west of Lincoln, in the district of Bassetlaw. The town is situated in a valley with the River Idle and the Chesterfield Canal running through the centre of the...

and Newark-on-Trent

Newark-on-Trent

Newark-on-Trent is a market town in Nottinghamshire in the East Midlands region of England. It stands on the River Trent, the A1 , and the East Coast Main Line railway. The origins of the town are possibly Roman as it lies on an important Roman road, the Fosse Way...

. From Harvest Cottage, near the ECML, the southern boundary of the parish is also the boundary of Bassetlaw. It meets Weston

Weston, Nottinghamshire

Weston is a village in Nottinghamshire, England. It is located 10 miles south of Retford. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 312....

and follows Goosemoor Dyke. To the south, in Newark and Sherwood

Newark and Sherwood

Newark and Sherwood is a local government district of eastern Nottinghamshire, England. The district is predominantly rural, with some large forestry plantations, and the towns of Newark-on-Trent, Southwell and Ollerton....

, is Egmanton

Egmanton

Egmanton is a small village located one mile south of Tuxford and one mile north of Laxton in Nottinghamshire, England. The name derives from the Old English words for Ecgmund's farm/settlement.The nearest larger towns are Retford and Newark-on-Trent...

, on the opposite side of Goosemoor Dyke. At the point where the boundary crosses the railway to Ollerton

Ollerton

Ollerton is a town in Nottinghamshire, England, on the edge of Sherwood Forest in the area known as the Dukeries. It forms part of the civil parish of Ollerton and Boughton....

, it meets Kirton

Kirton, Nottinghamshire

Kirton is a village in Nottinghamshire, England. It is located east of Ollerton. According to the United Kingdom Census 2001 it had a population of 273 ....

. At Priors Park Fram where it crosses the A6075, it meets Walesby

Walesby, Nottinghamshire

Walesby is a village and civil parish in Nottinghamshire, England. At the time of the 2001 census it had a population of 1,255. It is located north of Newark. The parish church of St Edmund is Perpendicular in style The village is famous for its forest, part of which forms a Scout camp...

(in Newark and Sherwood). At Willoughby Hill next to the BT mast, on south of Farleys Wood, the parish boundary leaves the district boundary of Bassetlaw, and it meets West Markham. Directly south of West Markham, the boundary meets East Markham

East Markham

East Markham, historically also known as Great Markham, is a small village near Tuxford, Nottinghamshire. It lies about 8 km south of Retford...

and to the east is Fledborough.
The Great North Road runs through the village (now B1164), though the majority of traffic now uses the modern A1 trunk road, which splits the village in two. The village was bypassed in July 1967. The section of road, known as Carlton to Markham Moor, was built by Robert McGregor & Sons, with concreting aggregates supplied by Hoveringham

Hoveringham

Hoveringham is a small village in Nottinghamshire about northeast of Nottingham and on the west side of the River Trent, just off the A612 trunk road to Southwell...

Gravels (later bought by Tarmac). The eight-mile section was authorised by Tom Fraser

Tom Fraser

Tom Fraser PC was a Labour Member of Parliament for the Hamilton constituency between 1943 and 1967.He was Minister of Transport from October 16, 1964 until December 23, 1965...

with a contract for £2.7 million, but ended up costing £3.4 million. The section is notable for the first use in British construction of the slip form

Slip forming

This article is about pouring concrete in moving forms. See Slipform stonemasonry for another type of slip forming.Slip forming, continuous poured, continuously formed, or slipform construction is a construction method in which concrete is poured into a continuously moving form...

paver using pervious concrete

Pervious concrete

Pervious concrete is a special type of concrete with a high porosity used for concrete flatwork applications that allows water from precipitation and other sources to pass directly through, thereby reducing the runoff from a site and allowing groundwater recharge. The high porosity is attained by a...

.

The A6075 passes through east-west and connects the A57

A57 road

The A57 is a major road in England. It runs east from Liverpool to Lincoln, via Warrington, Cadishead, Irlam, Patricroft, Eccles, Salford and Manchester, then through the Pennines over the Snake Pass , around the Ladybower Reservoir, through Sheffield and past Worksop...

to Ollerton

Ollerton

Ollerton is a town in Nottinghamshire, England, on the edge of Sherwood Forest in the area known as the Dukeries. It forms part of the civil parish of Ollerton and Boughton....

and Mansfield

Mansfield

Mansfield is a town in Nottinghamshire, England. It is the main town in the Mansfield local government district. Mansfield is a part of the Mansfield Urban Area....

. The East Coast Main Line

East Coast Main Line

The East Coast Main Line is a long electrified high-speed railway link between London, Peterborough, Doncaster, Wakefield, Leeds, York, Darlington, Newcastle and Edinburgh...

passes close to the east.

History

Tuxford has formerly been known as Tuxford in the Clays, Tuckers Ford, and in the Domesday Book

Domesday Book

Domesday Book , now held at The National Archives, Kew, Richmond upon Thames in South West London, is the record of the great survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086...

as Tuxfarne.
The Church of England

Church of England

The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...

parish church of St Nicholas dates from the 12th century. Tuxford also has a Methodist

Methodist Church of Great Britain

The Methodist Church of Great Britain is the largest Wesleyan Methodist body in the United Kingdom, with congregations across Great Britain . It is the United Kingdom's fourth largest Christian denomination, with around 300,000 members and 6,000 churches...

church, whose current building was erected for another Free church

Free church

The term "free church" refers to a Christian denomination that is intrinsically separated from government . A free church does not define government policy, nor have governments define church policy or theology, nor seeks or receives government endorsement or funding for its general mission...

in 1841.

Tuxford's local library

Library

In a traditional sense, a library is a large collection of books, and can refer to the place in which the collection is housed. Today, the term can refer to any collection, including digital sources, resources, and services...

is housed in a 17th century building that was originally the Read Grammar School. The school was founded in 1669 by the bequest of Charles Read (1604–1669), who was born at Darlton

Darlton

Darlton is a small village and civil parish in Nottinghamshire, England. It is on the A57 road about north-east of Tuxford.The Church of England parish church of St Giles is 12th century and is in the Transitional style. In 1855 it was heavily restored by the architect T.C...

about 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) from Tuxford, and became a wealthy shipper in Kingston upon Hull

Kingston upon Hull

Kingston upon Hull , usually referred to as Hull, is a city and unitary authority area in the ceremonial county of the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It stands on the River Hull at its junction with the Humber estuary, 25 miles inland from the North Sea. Hull has a resident population of...

. Read also founded grammar schools at Corby Glen in Lincolnshire

Lincolnshire

Lincolnshire is a county in the east of England. It borders Norfolk to the south east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south west, Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire to the west, South Yorkshire to the north west, and the East Riding of Yorkshire to the north. It also borders...

and Drax in Yorkshire

Yorkshire

Yorkshire is a historic county of northern England and the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its great size in comparison to other English counties, functions have been increasingly undertaken over time by its subdivisions, which have also been subject to periodic reform...

. Read Grammar School in Tuxford closed in either 1912 or 1915. The building served for a time as a child welfare centre before becoming the local library.

Tuxford has a village lock-up

Village lock-up

Village lock-ups are historic buildings that were used for the temporary detention of people in rural parts of England and Wales. They were often used for the confinement of drunks who were usually released the next day or to hold people being brought before the local magistrate. A typical village...

: one of only three in Nottinghamshire. Built in 1823 it stands http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/118629 on the village green in Newcastle Street. It has two separate cells, one each for men and women, each with its own earth closet

Pit toilet

A pit toilet is a dry toilet system which collects human excrement in a large container and range from a simple slit trench to more elaborate systems with ventilation. They are more often used in rural and wilderness areas as well as in much of the developing world...

. Ventilation to each cell is via two circular holes, with iron bars on the front and back walls. In 1884 an extension was added to the back of the lock-up to house Tuxford's fire engine

Fire apparatus

A fire apparatus, fire engine, fire truck, or fire appliance is a vehicle designed to assist in fighting fires by transporting firefighters to the scene and providing them with access to the fire, along with water or other equipment...

. Early maps show that also behind the lock-up was the village pinfold

Pinfold

Pinfold, in Medieval Britain, is an area where stray animals were rounded up if their owners failed to properly supervise their use of common grazing land...

, which remained in use until the 1920s.

Dominion Steel and Coal Corporation

Dominion Steel and Coal Corporation

The Dominion Steel and Coal Corporation was a Canadian coal mining and steel manufacturing company.Incorporated in 1928 and operational in 1930, DOSCO was predated by the British Empire Steel Corporation which was a merger of the Dominion Coal Company, the Dominion Iron and Steel Company and the...

(Dosco) make mining equipment in the village.

Tuxford Windmill is a tower windmill

Tower mill

A tower mill is a type of windmill which consists of a brick or stone tower, on top of which sits a roof or cap which can be turned to bring the sails into the wind....

, built in 1820 and restored to working order between 1982 and 1993. It is open to visitors daily except Tuesdays throughout the year. The mill with its large white sails dominates Tuxford's skyline. The mill produces flour

Flour

Flour is a powder which is made by grinding cereal grains, other seeds or roots . It is the main ingredient of bread, which is a staple food for many cultures, making the availability of adequate supplies of flour a major economic and political issue at various times throughout history...

which is sold from the mill shop. The mill bakery produces cakes, soups & rolls. A wooden post mill

Post mill

The post mill is the earliest type of European windmill. The defining feature is that the whole body of the mill that houses the machinery is mounted on a single vertical post, around which it can be turned to bring the sails into the wind. The earliest post mills in England are thought to have...

once stood close by. It was moved from Grassthorpe

Grassthorpe

Grassthorpe is a small village and civil parish in the Newark and Sherwood district of Nottinghamshire, England.-History:The River Trent has often flooded the area....

in 1874, continued working until about 1926 and was demolished in 1950.

Stone Road End Mill was a brick-built four-storey tower windmill, built before 1840. The mill was out of use by 1906 and now only the 38 foot high tower remains.

Railway stations

Despite its small size, Tuxford had three railway stations but all are now closed. The Great Northern Railway opened the East Coast Main Line through Tuxford in 1852. The GNR's station at Tuxford was served by local trains between Newark-on-Trent

Newark-on-Trent

and Retford

Retford

. In 1897 The Lancashire, Derbyshire and East Coast Railway

Lancashire, Derbyshire and East Coast Railway

The Lancashire, Derbyshire and East Coast Railway was a British railway company built toward the end of the era of British railway construction. It opened its line from Chesterfield to Lincoln in 1897....

opened its line through Tuxford, linking Sheffield

Sheffield

Sheffield is a city and metropolitan borough of South Yorkshire, England. Its name derives from the River Sheaf, which runs through the city. Historically a part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, and with some of its southern suburbs annexed from Derbyshire, the city has grown from its largely...

and Chesterfield

Chesterfield

Chesterfield is a market town and a borough of Derbyshire, England. It lies north of Derby, on a confluence of the rivers Rother and Hipper. Its population is 70,260 , making it Derbyshire's largest town...

with Lincoln

Lincoln, Lincolnshire

Lincoln is a cathedral city and county town of Lincolnshire, England.The non-metropolitan district of Lincoln has a population of 85,595; the 2001 census gave the entire area of Lincoln a population of 120,779....

. The LDECR called its station Tuxford Town, and the GNR renamed its station Tuxford North. In 1907 the Great Central Railway

Great Central Railway

The Great Central Railway was a railway company in England which came into being when the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway changed its name in 1897 in anticipation of the opening in 1899 of its London Extension . On 1 January 1923, it was grouped into the London and North Eastern...

took over the LDECR and renamed Tuxford Town Tuxford Central

Tuxford Central railway station

Tuxford Central railway station is a former railway station in Tuxford, Nottinghamshire. It was opened by the Lancashire, Derbyshire and East Coast Railway in March 1897 and closed by British Railways in September 1955....

. Dukeries Junction station was built where the two railways cross, and was a split-level affair with platforms on both lines, existing solely as an interchange point surrounded by open fields with no proper road access. Its name was taken from The Dukeries

The Dukeries

The Dukeries was a district in the county of Nottinghamshire which was so called because it used to contain four ducal seats close to one another. It is south of the town of Worksop which has been called The Gateway to the Dukeries...

district of Nottinghamshire.

In March 1950 British Rail

British Rail

British Railways , which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was the operator of most of the rail transport in Great Britain between 1948 and 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the "Big Four" British railway companies and lasted until the gradual privatisation of British Rail, in stages...

ways closed Dukeries Junction station. It had had minimal use throughout its life. In July 1955 BR closed Tuxford North and withdrew passenger services from the former LDECR line in September of the same year, resulting in the closure of Tuxford Central. The LDECR line through Tuxford is now disused.

Amenities

There is a Co-op

Co-op UK

The United Kingdom is home to a widespread and diverse co-operative movement, with over 3 million individual members. Modern co-operation started with the Rochdale Pioneers' shop in the northern English town of Rochdale in 1844....

on Newcastle Street. Village pubs are the Game Keepers Lodge and Newcastle Arms (presently closed and sold to a local businesswoman in Autumn 2011) in the Market Place, Sun Inn on Newcastle Street and the Fountain Hotel on Lincoln Road near the railway. In addition, because of its proximity to the A1, Tuxford is regarded as an excellent 'stop-off' by holiday makers heading either north or south. As a result of which, the village boasts two excellent caravan parks both of which provide facilities for touring caravans, tents, trailer tents and motorhomes. Greenacres Caravan Park located on the fringe of the village also provides static holiday homes for those who wish to more permanently enjoy the glorious surrounding Nottinghamshire countryside.

Education

Tuxford Academy opened as a County Secondary School (Secondary modern school

Secondary modern school

A secondary modern school is a type of secondary school that existed in most of the United Kingdom from 1944 until the early 1970s, under the Tripartite System, and was designed for the majority of pupils - those who do not achieve scores in the top 25% of the eleven plus examination...

) in 1958 and became a comprehensive

Comprehensive school

A comprehensive school is a state school that does not select its intake on the basis of academic achievement or aptitude. This is in contrast to the selective school system, where admission is restricted on the basis of a selection criteria. The term is commonly used in relation to the United...

in 1976. It performs very well compared with most of Nottinghamshire, and especially with most of Bassetlaw. Tuxford School recently underwent a full re-build, completed in March 2007. A company called Transform Schools (mainly represented by building company Balfour Beatty) spent millions of pounds re-building six secondary schools within the Bassetlaw area as part of a PFI funded project. The new Tuxford School is located on what used to be the old school field along with a field next to it which has been bought over. The site where the old school stood has now been converted into the new school playing field and nature areas.
Tuxford Academy has, surprisingly, only had three head teachers during its lifetime to date: Bernard Woodward, Keith Atkinson, and Chris Pickering. The school has steadily increased in size (now 1450 students) and reputation, and is one of the highest performing state secondary schools in Nottinghamshire, having gained an OfSTED grade of 'outstanding' in May 2009. It has been designated as a National Support School, is a specialist Technology College and Training School, and leads loose federations of secondary and primary schools in Nottinghamshire. It is well known for its welcoming atmosphere and innovative practices in education. Tuxford also has a community primary school.

Sport

Tuxford has four youth football teams. Tuxford Gladiators are an U9s team and Tuxford YFC are under 14's both teams compete in the Newark Youth League. These two teams are managed by a local firefighter

Firefighter

Firefighters are rescuers extensively trained primarily to put out hazardous fires that threaten civilian populations and property, to rescue people from car incidents, collapsed and burning buildings and other such situations...

and police sergeant. Tuxford YFC under 15's also play in the Mansfield League and the under 12s play in Newark.

The footballer Craig Disley
Craig Disley
Craig Edward Disley is an English footballer who plays for Conference National side Grimsby Town as a midfielder. He has previously played for Mansfield Town, Bristol Rovers and Shrewsbury Town.-Mansfield Town:...

comes from Tuxford. He played for Mansfield Town 1999-2004 and now plays for Grimsby Town.
On 7th November 2011, the London 2012 Olympic Organising Committee announced that the Olympic Torch will travel through Tuxford on 28th June 2012 on its way from Lincoln to Nottingham.

External links

News items

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