Chartered Surveyors Worcester

Posted by admin in Worcestershire

Chartered Surveyors Worcester Worcestershire

Approximate Population: 93,700

Every three years, Worcester, Worcestershire becomes home to the Three Choirs Festival, which dates back to the 18th century and is credited with being the oldest music festival in Europe. The location of the festival rotates each year between the Cathedral Cities of the Three Counties – Gloucester, Hereford and Worcester. Famous for its championing of English music, especially that of Elgar, Vaughan Williams and Gustav Holst, Worcester last hosted the festival in August 2008.

The Worcester Festival is a relatively new venture established in 2003. Held in late August, the festival consists of a variety of music, theatre, cinema and workshops, as well as the already established Beer Festival, which now runs under the Worcester Festival name. The Victorian-themed Christmas Fayre is a major source of tourism every December. Elton John came to the Worcestershire Cricket Ground, New Road on Saturday 9 June 2006.

The 8th CAMRA Worcester Beer and Cider festival took place for three days from the 17 August 2006 and was held as usual on Pitchcroft Race Course. On entry there is a choice between a (free) half or pint glass, with this year’s having orange writing. Famous 18th century actress Sarah Siddons made her acting debut here at the Theatre Royal in Angel Street. Her sister, the novelist Ann Julia Kemble Hatton, otherwise known as Ann of Swansea, was born in the city. Matilda Alice Powles, better known as Vesta Tilley, a leading male impersonator and music hall artiste was born in Worcester.

In present-day Worcester the Swan Theatre stages a mixture of professional touring and local amateur productions. The Countess of Huntingdon’s Hall is a historic church now used as venue for an eclectic range of musical performances, while the Marrs Bar is a venue for gigs and stand-up comedy. Worcester also boasts two multi-screen cinemas (a six screen Vue Cinema complex located on Friar Street and an Odeon Cinema, boasting seven screens, at the heart of the city on Forgate Street).

Chartered Surveyors Worcester Worcestershire

Chartered Surveyors South Shields

Posted by admin in Tyne and Wear

Chartered Surveyors South Shields Tyne and Wear

Approximate Population: 90,000

South Shields, Tyne and Wear is situated in a peninsula setting, where the River Tyne meets the North Sea. It has six miles of coastline and three miles of river frontage, dominated by the massive, functional, if not beautiful, piers at the mouth of the Tyne. These are best viewed from the Lawe Top, which also houses two replicas of cannon captured from the Russians during the Crimean War, the originals having been melted during World War Two.

The town slopes gently from the Cleadon Hills down to the river. The Cleadon Hills are made conspicuous by the Victorian water pumping station (opened in 1860 to improve sanitation) and a now derelict windmill which can be seen from many miles away and also out at sea.

The town has extensive beaches including sand dunes as well as dramatic sandstone cliffs with grassy areas above known as The Leas, which cover three miles of this coastline and are a National Trust protected area. Marsden Bay, with its famous Marsden Rock, is one of the largest seabird colonies in Britain.

One of the most historic parts of the town is Westoe village, which consists of a quiet street of Georgian and Victorian houses, many being built by Victorian business leaders in the town, including those who owned mines and shipyards. This street was the setting for a number of books by the novelist Catherine Cookson. Westoe village was once a separate village about a mile from South Shields but urban sprawl has now consumed it along with the village of Harton slightly further along the same South Shields to Sunderland road.

Chartered Surveyors South Shields Tyne and Wear

Chartered Surveyors Sheffield

Posted by admin in South Yorkshire

Chartered Surveyors Sheffield South Yorkshire

Approximate Population: 530,300

Sheffield, South Yorkshire is governed at the local level by Sheffield City Council. It consists of 84 councillors, elected to represent 28 wards, each with three councillors. It is currently controlled by the Liberal Democrats who gained the council from NOC at the English Local Election 2008—the Liberal Democrats, taking 45 seats to Labour’s 36. The Green Party took three council seats, whilst the Conservative party lost their single seat. Since the 2008 election the leader of the council has been Paul Scriven. The city also has a Lord Mayor; though now simply a ceremonial position, in the past the office carried considerable authority, with executive powers over the finances and affairs of the city council. The current (2009/10) Lord Mayor is Graham Oxley.

For much of its history the council was controlled by the Labour Party, and was noted for its leftist sympathies; during the 1980s administration under David Blunkett, the area gained the epithet the “Socialist Republic of South Yorkshire”. However, the Liberal Democrats controlled the Council between 1999 and 2001 and took control again in the May 2008 local elections.

The majority of council-owned facilities are now operated by independent charitable trusts. Sheffield International Venues runs many of the city’s sporting and leisure facilities, including Sheffield Arena and Don Valley Stadium. Sheffield Galleries and Museums Trust and the Sheffield Industrial Museums Trust take care of galleries and museums owned by the council.

The city returns six Members of Parliament to the House of Commons, though this will be reduced to five at the next election as one constituency, Hillsborough, will be abolished and its area redistributed among three other constituencies.

Chartered Surveyors Sheffield South Yorkshire

Chartered Surveyors Peterborough

Posted by admin in Cambridgeshire

Chartered Surveyors Peterborough Cambridgeshire

Approximate Population: 163,300

Christianity has the largest following in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, in particular the Church of England, with a significant number of parish churches and a cathedral. Recent immigration to the city has also seen the established Roman Catholic population increase substantially.

Other denominations are also in evidence; the latest church to be constructed is a £7 million “superchurch,” KingsGate, formerly Peterborough Community Church, which can seat up to 1,800 worshippers.In comparison with the rest of the country, Peterborough has a lower proportion of Christians, Buddhists, Hindus, Jews and Sikhs.

However, the city has a higher percentage of Muslims and people with no religion than the national average. The majority of Muslims reside in the Millfield and New England areas of the city, where two large mosques (including the Faidhan-e-Madina Mosque) are based. Peterborough also has both Hindu (Bharat Hindu Samaj) and Sikh (Singh Sabha Gurdwara) temples in these areas.

The Anglican Diocese of Peterborough covers roughly 1,200 square miles (3,100 km²), including the whole of Northamptonshire, Rutland, and the Soke of Peterborough (the area to the north of the River Nene). Historically in Huntingdonshire, the parts of the city south of the river fall within the Diocese of Ely, which covers the remainder of Cambridgeshire and western Norfolk. However, the current Bishop of Peterborough has been appointed Assistant Bishop in the Diocese of Ely, with pastoral care for these parishes delegated to him by the Bishop of Ely.[85][86] The city falls wholly within the Roman Catholic Diocese of East Anglia, which has its seat at the Cathedral Church of Saint John the Baptist, Norwich.

Chartered Surveyors Peterborough Cambridgeshire

Chartered Surveyors Newcastle

Posted by admin in Tyne and Wear

Chartered Surveyors Newcastle Tyne and Wear

Approximate Population: 271,600

Newcastle  is situated in the North East of England, in the ceremonial county of Tyne and Wear and the historical and traditional county of Northumberland. The city is located on the northern bank of the River Tyne at a latitude of 54.974° N and a longitude of 1.614° W.

The geology of the area is most famous for its large deposits of coal. Whilst the local bedrock consists mainly of carboniferous rocks, millstone grit and oolite are also present. The climate in Newcastle is temperate, although significantly warmer than some other locations at a similar latitude due to the warming influence of the Gulf Stream (via the North Atlantic Drift). Being in the rain shadow of the North Pennines, it is among the driest cities in the UK.

In large parts, Newcastle still retains a medieval street layout. Narrow alleys or ‘chares’, most of which can only be traversed by foot, still exist in abundance, particularly around the riverside. Stairs from the riverside to higher parts of the city centre and the extant Castle Keep, originally recorded in the 14th century, remain in places. Close, Sandhill and Quayside contain modern buildings as well as structures dating from the 15th-18th centuries, including Bessie Surtees House, the Cooperage and Lloyds Quayside Bars, Derwentwater House and the currently unused Grade I-listed 16th century merchant’s house at 28-30 Close.

The city has an extensive neoclassical centre, largely developed in the 1830s by Richard Grainger and John Dobson, and recently extensively restored. Broadcaster and writer Stuart Maconie describes Newcastle as England’s best-looking city and Grey Street, which curves down from Grey’s Monument towards the valley of the River Tyne, was voted as England’s finest street in 2005 in a survey of BBC Radio 4 listeners. A portion of Grainger Town was demolished in the 1960s to make way for the Eldon Square Shopping Centre, including all but one side of the original Eldon Square itself.

Chartered Surveyors Newcastle Tyne and Wear

Chartered Surveyors Liverpool

Posted by admin in Merseyside

Chartered Surveyors Liverpool Merseyside

Approximate Population: 435,500

As with other major British cities, Liverpool, Merseyside has a large and diverse population. At the 2001 UK Census the recorded population of Liverpool was 441,900, whilst a mid-2007 estimate by the ONS had the city’s population as 435,500, which would make it the sixth largest district in the UK (N.B. This figure includes only those areas officially within the city boundaries). Liverpool’s population peaked in 1930s with 846,101 recorded in the 1931 census.

Since then the city has experienced negative population growth every decade, with at its peak over 100,000 people leaving the city between 1971 and 1981. Between 2001 and 2006 it experienced the ninth largest percentage population loss of any UK unitary authority, although it has been suggested that overall the city’s population is now stabalising after rapid decline in the 1980s and 1990s. In common with many cities, Liverpool’s population is younger than that of England as a whole, with 42.3 per cent of its population under the age of 30, compared to an English average of 37.4 per cent. 65.1 per cent of the population is of working age.

Liverpool is home to Britain’s oldest Black community, dating to at least the 1730s. The city also contains the oldest Chinese community in Europe; the first residents of the city’s Chinatown arrived as seamen in the nineteenth century. The city is also known for its large Irish and Welsh populations. In 1813, 10 per cent of Liverpool’s population was Welsh, leading to the city becoming known as “the capital of North Wales”.

Following the start of the Irish Potato Famine, two million Irish people migrated to Liverpool in the space of one decade, many of them subsequently departing for the United States. By 1851, more than 20 per cent of the population of Liverpool was Irish.  At the 2001 Census, 1.17 per cent of the population were Welsh-born and 0.75 per cent were born in the Republic of Ireland, while 0.54 per cent were born in Northern Ireland, but many more Liverpudlians are of Welsh or Irish ancestry.

Chartered Surveyors Liverpool Merseyside

Chartered Surveyors Felixstowe

Posted by admin in Suffolk

Chartered Surveyors Felixstowe Suffolk

Approximate Population: 29,349

Felixstowe, Suffolk is administered by Suffolk County Council, Suffolk Coastal District Council, and Felixstowe Town Council. Suffolk Coastal District Council, the local authority, is based in Woodbridge, although it has a part-time office in Felixstowe, which is open Mondays and Wednesdays. The local parish council, Felixstowe Town Council, is based in the Town Hall, on the seafront at Undercliff Road West. Felixstowe is twinned with the German towns Wesel and Salzwedel.

Landguard Fort is a scheduled ancient monument and major visitor attraction with a proud history and a nearby nature reserve. At the opposite end of the town is Felixstowe Ferry Golf Club which is amongst the oldest in the UK, having been established in 1881. The Rt. Hon. Arthur Balfour, Captain of the Golf Club in 1889, became Captain of the R&A in 1894 and British Prime Minister from 1902–1908.

Felixstowe has a pebbly beach, which has rapidly eroded in recent years, extending from the port at Landguard Fort to Felixstowe Ferry, an old fishing hamlet on the River Deben. A promenade runs along part of the beach, from the nature reserve in the south-west to Cobbolds Point (Maybush Lane in east), with traditional beach huts along most of that length. An amusement arcade with snooker halls and food outlets dominate the southern end. The pier, now disused except for a cafe and amusement arcade, stands before a leisure centre, with swimming pool, owned by the local council, now managed by a contractor.

From Cobbolds Point to Felixstowe Ferry there is a walkway and path, although it is necessary to walk inland and to rejoin the coastal path at Jacobs Ladder, where the path then runs before beach huts and the golf course. At Cobbolds Point the coastal protection work now prevents pedestrian access along the beach. At low tide from this walkway it is possible to glimpse the seaweed-covered remains of a Roman fort in the water about 50 m from the coast.

Chartered Surveyors Felixstowe Suffolk

Chartered Surveyors Bristol

Posted by admin in Bristol

Chartered Surveyors Bristol Bristol

Approximate Population: 416,400

Bristol City Council consists of 70 councillors representing 35 wards. They are elected in thirds with two councillors per ward, each serving a four-year term. Wards never have both councillors up for election at the same time, so effectively two-thirds of the wards are up each election. The Council has long been dominated by the Labour Party, but recently the Liberal Democrats have grown strong in the city and as the largest party took minority control of the Council at the 2005 election.

In 2007, Labour and the Conservatives joined forces to vote down the Liberal Democrat administration, and as a result, Labour ruled the council under a minority administration, with Helen Holland as the council leader. In February 2009, the Labour group resigned, and the Liberal Democrats took office with their own minority administration. At the council elections on 4 June 2009 the Liberal Democrats gained four seats and, for the first time, overall control of the City Council. The Lord Mayor is Lib Dem Councillor Chris Davis.

Bristol constituencies in the House of Commons cross the borders with neighbouring authorities, and the city is divided into Bristol West, East, South and North-west and Kingswood. Northavon also covers some of the suburbs, but none of the administrative county. At the next General Election, the boundaries will be changed to coincide with the county boundary. Kingswood will no longer cover any of the county, and a new Filton and Bradley Stoke constituency will include the suburbs in South Gloucestershire. There are four Labour and one Liberal Democrat Members of Parliament.

Bristol has a tradition of local political activism, and has been home to many important political figures. Tony Benn, a veteran left-wing politician, was Member of Parliament (MP) for Bristol South East from 1950 until 1983. Edmund Burke, MP for the Bristol constituency for six years from 1774, famously insisted that he was a Member of Parliament first, rather than a representative of his constituents’ interests. In 1963, there was a boycott of the city’s buses after the Bristol Omnibus Co. refused to employ black drivers and conductors.

Chartered Surveyors Bristol Bristol

Chartered Surveyors Birkenhead

Posted by admin in Merseyside

Chartered Surveyors Birkenhead Merseyside

Approximate Population: 83,729

The Laird School of Art in Birkenshead, Merseyside was the first public school of art outside London and was given to the town by John Laird. It opened on 27 September 1871. The Williamson Art Gallery was opened in 1928 and houses a fine collection of paintings, porcelain and pottery.

In 1856, Birkenhead Library was opened as the country’s first public library in an unincorporated borough. The library was situated in Hamilton Street until 1909, when it moved to a new building in Albion Street, near Birkenhead Market. In the 1930s, this building (along with much of the surrounding area) was demolished to make way for the entrance to the Queensway Tunnel. The present library, Birkenhead Central Library, is situated on Borough Road and was opened by King George V in 1934.

Despite being in England, Birkenhead hosted Wales’ National Eisteddfod in 1917 as well as an unofficial National Eisteddfod event in 1879. As in Liverpool,migrants from Wales, especially north Wales, contributed greatly to the growth of the town and its cultural development in the 19th century. The first local Birkenhead Eisteddfod, a precursor of the national events, took place in 1864. The 1917 National Eisteddfod was notable for the award of the chair to the poet Ellis Humphrey Evans, known as Hedd Wyn.

The winner was announced, and the crowd waited for the winner to accept congratulations before the chairing ceremony, but no winner appeared. It was then announced that Hedd Wyn had been killed the previous month on the battlefield in Belgium, and the bardic chair was draped in black. These events were portrayed in the Academy Award nominated film Hedd Wyn, and were apparently intended as a protest against the war policies of Prime Minister David Lloyd George, who was present. There is a commemorative stone for the event in Birkenhead Park. The first meeting of the international Celtic Congress also took place at the Birkenhead Eisteddfod.

Chartered Surveyors Birkenhead Merseyside