Biddulph

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Biddulph
Staffordshire

Biddulph High Street
Location
Grid reference: SJ8857
Location: 53°6’52"N, 2°10’24"W
Data
Population: 17,241  (2001)
Post town: Stoke-on-Trent
Postcode: ST8
Dialling code: 01782
Local Government
Council: Staffordshire Moorlands
Parliamentary
constituency:
Staffordshire Moorlands

Biddulph is a town in Staffordshire, about seven miles north of Stoke-on-Trent and south-east of Congleton, Cheshire.

Origin of the name

Biddulph's name may come from the Old English bi dylfe meaning "by the pit or quarry". A local theory has it that the name Biddulph is a corruption of the Saxon Bidulfe, signifying "Wolf Slayer", and as a result the Biddulph family crest is a wolf rampant.

The town

A new supermarket opened in Biddulph in November 2010 and several derelict and semi-derelict buildings are currently being refurbished or rebuilt by private developers or by the council, all in line with the intentions of the "Town Centre Area Action Plan" of 2007,[1] which aims to reverse the spiral of decline that has threatened the long-term viability of the town centre since the early 1990s.

A new café for youngsters, 'Biddulph Young People’s Place' opened in March 2011 at Kingsfield First School after a year of planning and fund-raising.

in 2011 Biddulph, which has a population of approx. 20,000, was left without a post office for 4 months when the small supermarket in which it was situated closed down. A temporary Post Office was eventually set up in the town hall car park. [2]

Main sights

Biddulph Grange

Within the bowl created by the ridges of Mow Cop and Biddulph Moor, there are ancient burial mounds; evidence of the Civil War; the bubonic plague; Black Bull Colliery; tombs of possible Crusader knights; an Iron Age fort; and the site of a meeting of the Methodist movement with John and Charles Wesley.

Near Biddulph is Biddulph Grange, a house and landscaped gardens owned by the National Trust.

References

  1. ↑ Biddulph Town Centre Area Action Plan, Staffordshire Moorlands District Council (February 2007)
  2. ↑ "Temporary Post Office opens in Biddulph after four-month wait". This is Staffordshire. 2011-10-28. http://www.thisisstaffordshire.co.uk/Temporary-Post-Office-opens-Biddulph-month-wait/story-13688954-detail/story.html. Retrieved 2013-05-29.