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Crewe () is a railway town and civil parish in the unitary authority of
Cheshire East Cheshire East is a unitary authority area with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. The local authority is Cheshire East Council. Towns within the area include Crewe, Macclesfield, Co ...
in
Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's county t ...
, England. The Crewe built-up area had a total population of 75,556 in 2011, which also covers parts of the adjacent civil parishes of Willaston, Shavington cum Gresty and
Wistaston Wistaston is a civil parish and village in the unitary authority of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, in North West England. It is approximately west of Crewe town centre and east of Nantwich town centre. It has a pop ...
. Crewe is perhaps best known as a large railway junction and home to Crewe Works; for many years, it was a major railway engineering facility for manufacturing and overhauling locomotives, but now much reduced in size. From 1946 until 2002, it was also the home of Rolls-Royce motor car production. The Pyms Lane factory on the west of the town now exclusively produces
Bentley Bentley Motors Limited is a British designer, manufacturer and marketer of luxury cars and SUVs. Headquartered in Crewe, England, the company was founded as Bentley Motors Limited by W. O. Bentley (1888–1971) in 1919 in Cricklewood, North ...
motor cars. Crewe is north of London, south of Manchester city centre, and south of Liverpool city centre.


History


Medieval

The name derives from an
Old Welsh Old Welsh ( cy, Hen Gymraeg) is the stage of the Welsh language from about 800 AD until the early 12th century when it developed into Middle Welsh.Koch, p. 1757. The preceding period, from the time Welsh became distinct from Common Brittonic ...
word ''criu'', meaning ' weir' or 'crossing'. The earliest record is in the Domesday Book, where it is written as ''Creu''.


Modern

Until the Grand Junction Railway (GJR) company chose Crewe as the site for its locomotive works and railway station in the late 1830s, Crewe was a village with a population (c. 1831) of just 70 residents. Winsford, 7 miles (11 km) to the north, had rejected an earlier proposal, as had local landowners in neighbouring Nantwich, 4 miles (6 km) away. Crewe railway station was built in fields near to Crewe Hall and was completed in 1837. The modern urban settlement of Crewe was not formally planned out until 1843 by Joseph Locke to consolidate the " railway colony" that had grown up since around 1840–41 in the area near to the railway junction station opened in 1837, even though it was called Crewe by many, from the start. Crewe was thus named after the railway station, rather than the other way round. The new town of Crewe was founded next to the railway station in the township of Monks Coppenhall which, with the township of Church Coppenhall, formed the ancient parish of Coppenhall. The railway station was named after the '' township of Crewe'' (then, part of the ancient parish of Barthomley) in which it was located. Eventually, the ''township of Crewe'' became a civil parish in its own right also named, rather confusingly, Crewe. This civil parish changed its name to Crewe Green in 1974 to avoid confusion with the adjacent town, which had been made a municipal borough in 1877. The railway station remained part of the civil parish of Crewe, outside the boundary of the municipal borough until 1936. So, throughout its history, the town of Crewe has neither been part of, nor has it encompassed first the ''township of Crewe'', later the ''civil parish of Crewe'', and later still the ''civil parish of Crewe Green'' adjacent to it, even though these places were the direct origin of the name of the town via the railway station which was also not part of the town before 1936. An old, local riddle describes the somewhat unusual states of affairs: "The place which is Crewe is not Crewe, and the place which is not Crewe is Crewe." A new town grew up, in the parishes of Monks Coppenhall and Church Coppenhall, alongside the increasingly busy station, with the population expanding to reach 40,000 by 1871. GJR chief engineer Joseph Locke helped lay out the town. The town has a large park, Queen's Park (laid out by engineer Francis Webb), the land for which was donated by the
London and North Western Railway The London and North Western Railway (LNWR, L&NWR) was a British railway company between 1846 and 1922. In the late 19th century, the L&NWR was the largest joint stock company in the United Kingdom. In 1923, it became a constituent of the Lo ...
, the successor to the GJR. It has been suggested that their motivation was to prevent the rival
Great Western Railway The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a British railway company that linked London with the southwest, west and West Midlands of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament on 31 August 1835 and ran ...
building a station on the site, but the available evidence indicates otherwise. The railway provided an endowment towards the building and upkeep of Christ Church. Until 1897 its vicar, non-conformist ministers and schoolteachers received concessionary passes, the school having been established in 1842. The company provided a doctor's surgery with a scheme of health insurance. A gasworks was built and the works water supply was adapted to provide drinking water and a public baths. The railway also opened a cheese market in 1854 and a clothing factory for John Compton who provided the company uniforms, while
McCorquodale McCorquodale is a surname of Scottish origin. The name originates from Argyll in the West Highlands. People with the surname ''McCorquodale'' British family: * George McCorquodale (1817–1895), founder of McCorquodale printers. ** George Fr ...
of Liverpool set up a printing works. During World War II the strategic presence of the railways and Rolls-Royce engineering works (turned over to producing aircraft engines) made Crewe a target for enemy air raids, and it was in the flight path to Liverpool. The borough lost 35 civilians to these, the worst raid was on 29 August 1940 when some 50 houses were destroyed, close to the station.
Crewe crater Crewe () is a railway town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East in Cheshire, England. The Crewe built-up area had a total population of 75,556 in 2011, which also covers parts of the adjacent civ ...
on Mars is named after the town of Crewe. Crewe was described by author Alan Garner in his novel ''
Red Shift In physics, a redshift is an increase in the wavelength, and corresponding decrease in the frequency and photon energy, of electromagnetic radiation (such as light). The opposite change, a decrease in wavelength and simultaneous increase in fr ...
'' as "the ultimate reality". Crewe was mentioned in 1984 as the setting of the 19th episode ''The Flying Kipper'', in the first series of ''Thomas & Friends''.


Governance

Crewe is within the United Kingdom Parliamentary constituency of
Crewe and Nantwich Crewe and Nantwich was, from 1974 to 2009, a Non-metropolitan district, local government district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Cheshire, England. It had a population (2001 census) of 111,007. It contained 69 civ ...
. Crewe is within the
ceremonial county The counties and areas for the purposes of the lieutenancies, also referred to as the lieutenancy areas of England and informally known as ceremonial counties, are areas of England to which lords-lieutenant are appointed. Legally, the areas i ...
of
Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's county t ...
. Since April 2009 Crewe has been administered by the unitary authority, Cheshire East Council; at parish level, since 4 April 2013, local matters have been dealt with by
Crewe Town Council Crewe Town Council is a parish council covering the town of Crewe in England. It comprises six wards, electing 20 councillors between them. The Council is based at 1 Chantry Court, Crewe where it generally holds its committee meetings. Full C ...
, which is based at 1 Chantry Court, Forge Street, Crewe, CW1 2DL. Crewe applied for City status as part of the Platinum Jubilee Civic Honours in 2022, however this application was denied and Crewe remains a town.


Climate

Like most of the United Kingdom, Crewe has an
oceanic climate An oceanic climate, also known as a marine climate, is the humid temperate climate sub-type in Köppen classification ''Cfb'', typical of west coasts in higher middle latitudes of continents, generally featuring cool summers and mild winters ( ...
, with warm summers and cool winters and relatively little temperature change throughout the year.


Economy

The railways still play a part in local industry at Crewe Works, which carries out train maintenance and inspection. It has been owned by
Bombardier Transportation Bombardier Transportation was a Canadian-German rolling stock and rail transport manufacturer, headquartered in Berlin, Germany. It was one of the world's largest companies in the rail vehicle and equipment manufacturing and servicing industry ...
since 2001. At its height, the site employed over 20,000 people, but by 2005 fewer than 1,000 remained, with a further 270 redundancies announced in November of that year. Much of the site once occupied by the works has been sold and is now occupied by a supermarket, leisure park, and a large new health centre. There is still an electric locomotive maintenance depot to the north of the railway station, operated by DB Cargo UK. The diesel locomotive maintenance depot, having closed in 2003, reopened in 2015 as a maintenance facility for Locomotive Services Limited, having undergone major structural repairs. The
Bentley Bentley Motors Limited is a British designer, manufacturer and marketer of luxury cars and SUVs. Headquartered in Crewe, England, the company was founded as Bentley Motors Limited by W. O. Bentley (1888–1971) in 1919 in Cricklewood, North ...
car factory is on Pyms Lane to the west of town. As of early 2010, there are about 3,500 working at the site. The factory used to produce Rolls-Royce cars, until the licence for the brand transferred from Bentley's owners Volkswagen to rival BMW in 2003. There is a BAE Systems Land & Armaments factory in the village of Radway Green near Alsager, producing
small arms A firearm is any type of gun designed to be readily carried and used by an individual. The term is legally defined further in different countries (see Legal definitions). The first firearms originated in 10th-century China, when bamboo tubes c ...
ammunition for the British armed forces. The headquarters of Focus DIY, which went into administration in 2011, was in the town. Off-licence chain Bargain Booze is also Crewe-based. It was bought-out in 2018 by Sir Anwar Pervez' conglomerate Bestway for £7m, putting drinks retailing alongside its Manchester-based Well Pharmacy. Several business parks around the town host light industry and offices. Crewe Business Park is a 67-acre site with offices, research and IT manufacturing. Major presences on the site include Air Products and Chemicals,
Barclays Barclays () is a British multinational universal bank, headquartered in London, England. Barclays operates as two divisions, Barclays UK and Barclays International, supported by a service company, Barclays Execution Services. Barclays traces ...
and
Fujitsu is a Japanese multinational information and communications technology equipment and services corporation, established in 1935 and headquartered in Tokyo. Fujitsu is the world's sixth-largest IT services provider by annual revenue, and the la ...
. The 12 acre Crewe Gates Industrial Estate is adjacent to Crewe Business Park, with smaller industry including the ice cream van manufacturer
Whitby Morrison Whitby Morrison, doing business as Whitby Specialist Vehicles Ltd, is a family-run British engineering company based in Crewe, Cheshire East. It has been described as "the world's leading ice cream van manufacturer". History Bryan Whitby (13 ...
. The Weston Gate area has light industry and distribution. Marshfield Bank Employment Park is to the west of the town, and includes offices, manufacturing and distribution. There are industrial and light industrial units at Radway Green. The town has two small shopping centres: the Victoria Centre and the Market Centre. There are outdoor markets throughout the week. Grand Junction Retail Park is just outside the centre of town. Nantwich Road provides a wide range of secondary local shops, with a variety of small retailers and estate agents. The Market Centre is the largest shopping centre in Crewe. It is situated in the heart of the town centre with a few national retailers, including
Wilko Wilko may refer to: People * Wilko Johnson (1947–2022), English musician * Wilko de Vogt (born 1975), Dutch football goalkeeper, mostly played for Dutch clubs * Wilko Risser (born 1982), Namibian-German football forward, mostly played for German ...
, Argos and Iceland. There are three large car parks nearby and Crewe bus station is a five-minute walk from the shopping centre. It has a weekly footfall of approximately 100,000 visitors.


Developments

A planned redevelopment of Crewe's town centre, including the current bus station and main shopping area, was abandoned because of "difficult economic conditions" during 2008. There were also plans to revamp the railway station which involved moving it to Basford. This was pending a public consultation by Network Rail scheduled for autumn 2008, but no such public consultation was done. The plan was abandoned and maintenance work was carried out on the current station instead. Cheshire East Council developed a new regeneration master plan for Crewe, which included the opening of a new Lifestyle Centre, with a new swimming pool, gym and library. After a £3 million refurbishment, the Crewe Market Hall re-opened its doors on 19 May 2021, the start of many new developments in Crewe. Crewe has been proposed as the site of a transport hub for the new High Speed 2 line, with development planned for completion in 2027.


Transport

Crewe railway station is less than a mile from Crewe town centre, although it was not incorporated into the then Borough of Crewe until 1937. It is one of the largest stations in the North West and a major interchange station on the West Coast Main Line. It has 12 platforms in use and has a direct service to London Euston (average journey time of around 1 hour 35 minutes), Edinburgh, Cardiff, Liverpool, Manchester, Birmingham, Glasgow, Derby,
Stoke-on-Trent Stoke-on-Trent (often abbreviated to Stoke) is a city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Staffordshire, England, with an area of . In 2019, the city had an estimated population of 256,375. It is the largest settlement ...
,
Chester Chester is a cathedral city and the county town of Cheshire, England. It is located on the River Dee, close to the English–Welsh border. With a population of 79,645 in 2011,"2011 Census results: People and Population Profile: Chester Loca ...
, Wrexham and
Holyhead Holyhead (,; cy, Caergybi , "Cybi's fort") is the largest town and a community in the county of Isle of Anglesey, Wales, with a population of 13,659 at the 2011 census. Holyhead is on Holy Island, bounded by the Irish Sea to the north, and is ...
for the ferry connections to Dublin Port. Many other towns and cities also have railway connections to Crewe. Crewe is on the A500, A530 and A534 roads, and is less than from the M6 motorway. The main bus company in Crewe is D&G Bus following the reduction of funding given to Arriva North West, who still run longer distance services to Chester, Northwich, Macclesfield and Winsford. BakerBus formerly ran buses in Crewe, but their operations were sold to D&G in December 2014.
First Potteries First Potteries is a bus company based in Stoke-on-Trent operating services in North Staffordshire, England. It is a part of First Midlands and a subsidiary of FirstGroup. History The company began life as Potteries Motor Traction. As part ...
operate a single service (route 3) running to Stoke-on-Trent via Kidsgrove. The closest airport to Crewe is
Manchester Airport Manchester Airport is an international airport in Ringway, Manchester, England, south-west of Manchester city centre. In 2019, it was the third busiest airport in the United Kingdom in terms of passenger numbers and the busiest of those n ...
, which is away. Next closest is Liverpool John Lennon Airport, away.


Culture

Crewe Heritage Centre is located in the old
LMS LMS may refer to: Science and technology * Labeled magnitude scale, a scaling technique * Learning management system, education software * Least mean squares filter, producing least mean square error * Leiomyosarcoma, a rare form of cancer * Lenz ...
railway yard for Crewe railway station. The museum has three signal boxes and an extensive miniature railway with steam, diesel and electric traction. The most prominent exhibit of the museum is the
British Rail Class 370 British Rail's Class 370 tilting trains, also referred to as APT-P (meaning Advanced Passenger Train Prototype), were the pre-production Advanced Passenger Train units. Unlike the earlier experimental gas-turbine APT-E unit, these units were ...
Advanced Passenger Train The Advanced Passenger Train (APT) was a tilting high speed train developed by British Rail during the 1970s and early 1980s, for use on the West Coast Main Line (WCML). The WCML contained many curves, and the APT pioneered the concept of activ ...
. The
Grade II-listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...
Edwardian Lyceum Theatre is in the centre of Crewe. It was built in 1911 and shows drama, ballet, opera, music, comedy and pantomime. The theatre was originally located on Heath Street from 1882. The Axis Arts Centre is on the Manchester Metropolitan University (MMU) campus in Crewe. It relocated from the university's Alsager Campus when it closed. The centre has a programme of touring new performance and visual art work. The Axis centre closed at the end of the spring 2019 season with the withdrawal of MMU from the Crewe campus. The Box on Pedley Street is the town's main local music venue. Both the Lyceum Theatre and the Axis Arts Centre feature galleries. The private Livingroom art gallery is on Prince Albert Street. The town's main library is on Prince Albert Square, opposite the Municipal Buildings. Crewe has six
Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...
churches, three Methodist, one Roman Catholic (which has a weekly Mass in
Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken *Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin screenwr ...
) and two Baptist. There is a museum dedicated to Primitive Methodism in the nearby village of Englesea-Brook. The Jacobean mansion Crewe Hall is located to the east of the town near Crewe Green. It is a grade I listed building, built in 1615–36 for Sir Randolph Crewe. Today, it is used as a hotel, restaurant and health club. There is a multiplex
Odeon Odeon may refer to: Ancient Greek and Roman buildings * Odeon (building), ancient Greek and Roman buildings built for singing exercises, musical shows and poetry competitions * Odeon of Agrippa, Athens * Odeon of Athens * Odeon of Domitian, Rome ...
cinema on Phoenix Leisure Park on the edge of the town centre, as well as a Mecca bingo hall. Queens Park is the town's main park; £6.5 million was spent on its restoration in 2010. It features walkways, a children's play area, crown green bowling, putting, a boating lake, grassed areas, memorials and a café. Jubilee Gardens are in Hightown and there is also a park on Westminster Street. In 2019, Crewe hosted Pride in the Park (previously held at
Tatton Park Tatton Park is an historic estate in Cheshire, England, north of the town of Knutsford. It contains a mansion, Tatton Hall, a medieval manor house, Tatton Old Hall, Tatton Park Gardens, a farm and a deer park of . It is a popular visitor attr ...
in 2018) in Queens Park. The 2020 event, which had been due to take place on 12 September, was cancelled on 20 May, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.


Media

The weekly '' Crewe Chronicle'', the ''Crewe and Nantwich Guardian'' and the daily ''
Sentinel Sentinel may refer to: Places Mountains * Mount Sentinel, a mountain next to the University of Montana in Missoula, Montana * Sentinel Buttress, a volcanic crag on James Ross Island, Antarctica * Sentinel Dome, a naturally occurring grani ...
'' newspapers all cover the town. The local radio station is The Cat broadcasting on 107.9FM from the Cheshire College South and West building covering the town along with Nantwich and other local settlements. Other radio stations that cover the area include
Silk 106.9 Cheshire's Silk 106.9 is an Independent Local Radio serving Macclesfield and parts of Cheshire East, East Cheshire, owned and operated by neighbouring station Dee 106.3, Chester's Dee Radio. It broadcasts a mix of current and classic hits alongs ...
from Macclesfield,
Signal 1 Signal 1 is an Independent Local Radio station owned and operated by Bauer as part of the Hits Radio network. It broadcasts to Staffordshire and South Cheshire. As of September 2022, the station has a weekly audience of 172,000 listeners a ...
and
Greatest Hits Radio Staffordshire & Cheshire Greatest Hits Radio Staffordshire & Cheshire is an Independent Local Radio station broadcasting from studios in Shelton, Stoke-on-Trent, to Staffordshire and Cheshire. The station was owned by Wireless Group and ran a "gold format" playlist ...
from Stoke-on-Trent and
BBC Radio Stoke BBC Radio Stoke is the BBC's local radio station serving Staffordshire and South Cheshire. It broadcasts on FM, DAB, Freeview and via BBC Sounds from studios in the Hanley area of Stoke-on-Trent. According to RAJAR, the station has a weekl ...
. Nantwich-based online-only station RedShift Radio also cover the area. Sonnet Radio is a Crewe based online-only station ran by volunteers. It covers Crewe and surrounding areas broadcasting 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The Crewe News is a hyperlocal blog publishing local news, business, events and sports news. Cheshire Live, an online news source that covers news across Cheshire, also has a section dedicated to Crewe news.


Education

Cheshire has adopted the
comprehensive school A comprehensive school typically describes a secondary school for pupils aged approximately 11–18, that does not select its intake on the basis of academic achievement or aptitude, in contrast to a selective school system where admission is res ...
model of secondary education, so all of the schools under its control cater for pupils of all levels of ability. Until the late 1970s Crewe had two grammar schools, Crewe Grammar School for Boys, now Ruskin High School and Crewe Grammar School for Girls, now
the Oaks Academy The Oaks Academy (formerly King's Grove High School) is a mixed secondary school located on ''Buchan Grove'' in Crewe, Cheshire, England.http://www.kings-grove.cheshire.sch.uk/website/index.php History Grammar school The site was the former C ...
(formerly Kings Grove School). The town's two other secondary schools are
Sir William Stanier School Sir William Stanier School is a Mixed-sex education, co-educational secondary school located in Crewe in the English county of Cheshire. The school is named after William Stanier, a former railway engineer, and Chief Mechanical Engineer of the L ...
, a
specialist Specialist may refer to: Occupations * Specialist (rank), a military rank ** Specialist (Singapore) * Specialist (arena football) * Specialist degree, in academia * Specialty (medicine) * Designated market maker, in the American stock market * ...
technology and arts academy, and St. Thomas More Catholic High School, specialising in mathematics and computing and modern foreign languages. Although there are eight schools for those aged 11–16 in Crewe and its surrounding area,
South Cheshire College South Cheshire College is a former further education college, located in Crewe, Cheshire, England. The College was a single campus situated in a residential area about one mile from Crewe town centre. It also served students from Nantwich, Als ...
is one of only two local providers of education for pupils aged 16 and over, and the only one in Crewe. The college also provides educational programmes for adults, leading to qualifications such as Higher National Diplomas (HNDs) or foundation degrees. In the 2006–07 academic year 2,532 students aged 16–18 were enrolled, along with 3,721 adults. Manchester Metropolitan University's (MMU) Cheshire Faculty is based in Crewe, in a part of town which has been rebranded as the ''University Quadrant''. The campus offers undergraduate and postgraduate courses in five areas: business and management, contemporary arts, exercise and sport science, interdisciplinary studies, education and teacher training. The campus underwent a £70 million investment in its facilities and buildings in 2015. The campus was used as a pre-games training camp for the London 2012 Olympic Games. Since 2016, there has been a University Technical College for 14-19 year olds interested in automotive or railway engineering. Though rated Good by
Ofsted The Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (Ofsted) is a Non-ministerial government department, non-ministerial department of Government of the United Kingdom, His Majesty's government, reporting to Parliament of the U ...
, the
Crewe Engineering and Design UTC Crewe Engineering and Design UTC is a university technical college located in Crewe, Cheshire, England. The UTC is sponsored by Manchester Metropolitan University Manchester Metropolitan University is located in the centre of Manchester ...
fails to attract students.


Sport

Crewe's local
football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
club is Crewe Alexandra. During the late 20th century the club enjoyed something of a renaissance under the management of Dario Gradi, playing in the First Division – the second tier of the professional pyramid – for five seasons from 1997 to 2002. Crewe Alexandra will play in
League Two The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...
(the fourth tier), having been relegated from League One in April 2022. In 2013 the club won its first major silverware after beating Southend United 2–0 in the
EFL Trophy The English Football League Trophy, known for sponsorship purposes as the Papa Johns Trophy after restaurant chain Papa John's Pizza, is an annual English association football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL Le ...
final at Wembley. From the early 1980s, Crewe Alexandra built a reputation for developing young players through its youth ranks: England internationals Geoff Thomas, Danny Murphy, David Platt, Rob Jones and Dean Ashton, plus Northern Ireland's Neil Lennon and
Steve Jones Steve or Steven Jones may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Steve Jones (English presenter) (born 1945), English musician, disk jockey, television presenter, and voice-over artist *Steve Jones (musician) (born 1955), English rock and roll guita ...
, and Wales's Robbie Savage and David Vaughan all passed through the club. Among their earlier most notable home-grown players was
Frank Blunstone Frank Blunstone (born 17 October 1934) is an English former footballer who played as an outside left for Crewe Alexandra, Chelsea and the England national team. Playing career After surprisingly rejecting Wolverhampton Wanderers in favour of h ...
, born in the town in 1934, who was transferred from "The Alex" to Chelsea in 1953, and went on to win five England caps. Internationals Bruce Grobbelaar and
Stan Bowles Stanley Bowles (born 24 December 1948) is an English former professional footballer who as a player in the 1970s was known for his skills as a forward, and also gained a reputation as one of the game's great non-conformists and mavericks. Club ...
were also on the books at one time in their careers. Crewe's local rugby clubs are both based in or near Nantwich. The
Crewe & Nantwich Steamers Crewe & Nantwich Steamers is a rugby league club in Nantwich, Cheshire. They play in the North West Division of the Rugby League Conference and run a second team in the North West Merit League. History Crewe Wolves entered the Northern Divisi ...
(formerly Crewe Wolves), who played in the Rugby League Conference, were based at Barony Park, Nantwich, while Crewe and Nantwich RUFC play their home games at the Vagrants Sports Ground in Willaston. Speedway racing was staged in Crewe in the pioneer days of the late 1920s to early 1930s; the stadium in Earle Street also operated from 1969 until 1975 when the Crewe Kings raced in British League Division Two, then the National League. At the time the track was the longest and fastest in the UK. Crewe Kings riders included Phil Crump (father of Jason Crump), Les Collins (brother of Peter Collins),
Dave Morton David James Morton (born 24 September 1953 in Eccles, Lancashire, England) is a former international motorcycle speedway rider who started his career with the Crewe Kings. He represented England at test level. His brother Chris Morton was also ...
(brother of Chris Morton), Geoff Curtis, John Jackson, Jack Millen and Dave Parry. Grand Junction Retail Park occupies the site of the now demolished stadium. The
Crewe Railroaders The Crewe Railroaders are an American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field w ...
are the town's American football team, currently competing in the BAFA Central League Division 2 and the subject of the film ''Gridiron UK'', which premiered at the Lyceum Theatre on 29 September 2016. Crewe also has its own
roller derby Roller derby is a roller skating contact sport played by two teams of fifteen members. Roller derby is played by approximately 1,250 amateur leagues worldwide, mostly in the United States. Game play consists of a series of short scrimmages (jam ...
team, Railtown Loco Rollers, founded in September 2013. They skate at Sir William Stanier Leisure Centre and compete with skaters and teams from all over the North West. Crewe's main leisure facility is the Crewe Lifestyle Centre, which now houses Crewe's main public swimming pool after the Flag Lane premises closed in 2016. Other notable leisure facilities include Sir William Stanier Leisure Centre and Victoria Community Centre.


Notable people


Politicians

*
Thomas Nevitt Thomas Nevitt (May 1864 – 13 September 1932) was a member of both the Queensland Legislative Council and Queensland Legislative Assembly. Nevitt was born at Crewe, Cheshire, to James Nevitt and his wife Ellen (née Warburton) and was educate ...
(1864 in Crewe – 1932) member of the Queensland Legislative Council * William Edwin Wheeldon (1898 in Crewe – 1960) British co-operator and municipal politician from Birmingham and MP * Gwyneth Patricia Dunwoody (1930 – 2008) British Labour Party politician, MP for
Exeter Exeter () is a city in Devon, South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter was established as the base of Legio II Augusta under the personal comm ...
from 1966 to 1970, then for
Crewe Crewe () is a railway town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East in Cheshire, England. The Crewe built-up area had a total population of 75,556 in 2011, which also covers parts of the adjacent civil parishes of Willaston ...
, later
Crewe and Nantwich Crewe and Nantwich was, from 1974 to 2009, a Non-metropolitan district, local government district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Cheshire, England. It had a population (2001 census) of 111,007. It contained 69 civ ...
from 1974 * Janet Elizabeth Ann Dean (born 1949 in Crewe) British Labour Party MP for Burton from 1997 to 2010 * Tom Levitt (born 1954 in Crewe) Labour Party politician who was the MP for High Peak * Carol Jean Mountford (born 1954 in Crewe), known as ''Kali'', Labour Party politician and MP for Colne Valley * Anthony Edward Timpson (born 1973) British Conservative MP for
Crewe and Nantwich Crewe and Nantwich was, from 1974 to 2009, a Non-metropolitan district, local government district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Cheshire, England. It had a population (2001 census) of 111,007. It contained 69 civ ...
(
2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...
–2017) and Eddisbury (from 2019). * Paul Christopher Maynard (born 1975 in Crewe) British Conservative MP for
Blackpool North and Cleveleys Blackpool North and Cleveleys is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2010 by Paul Maynard, a Conservative. Constituency profile The seat covers residential suburbs of the seaside town of Blackpool, and ...
and Rail Minister * Lauren Jane Moss (born 1987 in Crewe) Australian politician


Public service and commerce

*
William Hope William Hope may refer to: *William Johnstone Hope (1766–1831), prominent and controversial British Royal Navy officer and politician *Sir William Hope, 14th Baronet (1819–1898), British Army officer * William Hope (VC) (1834–1909), Scottish ...
(1863 – 1933) pioneer of spirit photography, based in Crewe, member of the
Crewe Circle William Hope (1863 – 8 March 1933) was a pioneer of so-called "spirit photography". Based in Crewe, England, he was a member of the well known Spiritualism, spiritualists group, the Crewe Circle. He died in Salford, Greater Manchester, Salford ...
*
Ada Nield Chew Ada Nield Chew (28 January 1870 – 27 December 1945) was a campaigning socialist and a British suffragist. Her name is on the plinth of Millicent Fawcett's statue in Parliament Square, London. Life Nield was born on a White Hall Farm, Talk ...
, (1870 – 1945)
suffragette A suffragette was a member of an activist women's organisation in the early 20th century who, under the banner "Votes for Women", fought for the right to vote in public elections in the United Kingdom. The term refers in particular to members ...
wrote a series of letters to the ''Crewe Chronicle'', signed ''"A Crewe Factory Girl"'' *
Blaster Bates Blaster Bates was the name used by Derek Macintosh Bates (5 February 1923 – 1 September 2006), an English explosives and demolition expert and raconteur, who was born in Crewe. He made a series of sound recordings from the 1960s to 1980 ...
a.k.a. Derek Macintosh Bates (1923 in Crewe – 2006), an English explosives and demolition expert and raconteur * Harold Hankins CBE FREng (1930 in Crewe – 2009) was a British electrical engineer and the first Vice-Chancellor of UMIST. *Professor
Christine Dean Christine Dean FRCPsych (born 1939) is an English psychiatrist consulting at the Priory Hospital, Roehampton, the British Association of Performing Arts Medicine (BAPAM), The Helen Bamber Foundation, in her private practice and as a medical membe ...
BA. MD. FRCPsych (born in Crewe 1939) London psychiatrist, attended Crewe County Grammar School * Chris Hughes (born 1947) one of Britain's top quizzers, featuring in '' Eggheads''. Lives in Crewe * Mark Price, Baron Price (born 1961 in Crewe) businessman, was MD of Waitrose and Deputy Chairman of John Lewis Partnership


Arts

* William Cooper (real name Harry Summerfield Hoff), (1910 – 2002) novelist, lived at 99 Brooklyn Street * John Mark Ainsley (born 1963 in Crewe) English lyric tenor of baroque music and the works of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart *
Carl Ashmore Carl Stuart Ashmore (born 17 August 1968) is an English children's author. He is best known for his book ''The Time Hunters''. Early life and education Ashmore was born in the town of Crewe, Cheshire in 1968. He is a graduate of Bournemouth Un ...
(born 1968) children's author *
Any Trouble Any Trouble are a British rock band, originating from Crewe, England, best known for their early 1980s recordings.
a British rock band, originating from Crewe in 1975, best known for their early 1980s recordings *
Carey Willetts Carey Willetts (born January 1976 in Crewe, Cheshire, England) is an English musician, songwriter and producer. He has released work under the name "Boxes", and was the bassist in the English indie band Athlete, with whom he has won an Ivor Nove ...
(born 1976 in Crewe) British musician, songwriter, and producer. * Lee Oakes (born 1976) British actor, from Haslington near Crewe * Mackenzie Taylor (1978–2010) British comic, writer and director. Born in Crewe * Adam Peter Rickitt (born 1978) English actor, singer and model and charity fundraiser


Sport

* John Warburton (1903–?), English Football League player, mostly for Wrexham and Crewe Alexandra. *
Frank Blunstone Frank Blunstone (born 17 October 1934) is an English former footballer who played as an outside left for Crewe Alexandra, Chelsea and the England national team. Playing career After surprisingly rejecting Wolverhampton Wanderers in favour of h ...
(born 1934 in Crewe), English footballer who played for Crewe Alexandra, Chelsea and England.Profile at englandfc.com
/ref> * Sir Philip Craven MBE (born 1950), president of the
International Paralympic Committee The International Paralympic Committee (IPC; german: Internationales Paralympisches Komitee) is an international non-profit organisation and the global governing body for the Paralympic Movement. The IPC organizes the Paralympic Games and fun ...
(IPC) 2001–2017, lives in Shavington. *
Neil Brooks Neil Brooks (born 27 July 1962) is an Australian former sprint freestyle swimmer best known for winning the 4 × 100 m medley relay at the 1980 Olympics in Moscow as part of the '' Quietly Confident Quartet''. Brooks was as m ...
(born in Crewe 1962), Australian Olympic swimming gold medallist *
John Edward Morris John Edward Morris, M.M. (1889–1987) was an American Roman Catholic priest who served as the Prefect of Peng-yang in Korea from 1930 to 1936. Born in the United States on 1 January 1889, Morris was ordained a priest for the Roman Catholic Di ...
(born 1964), former English cricketer, played most for Derbyshire. *
David Gilford David Gilford (born 14 September 1965) is an English professional golfer. Gilford was born in Crewe. In 1981, aged just 15, he won the Carris Trophy, English Boys Under-18 Open Amateur Stroke-Play Championship, at Moor Park. He won the Engli ...
(born 1965), European Tour and
Ryder Cup The Ryder Cup is a biennial men's golf competition between teams from Europe and the United States. The competition is contested every two years with the venue alternating between courses in the United States and Europe. The Ryder Cup is named af ...
golfer (1991, 1995) is from Crewe *
Mark Rivers Mark Rivers (born 26 November 1975) is an English former professional footballer who played as a forward from 1994 until 2006 notably for Crewe Alexandra and Norwich City. Career Crewe Alexandra Mark Rivers was a product of the Crewe Alexandra ...
(born 1975 in Crewe), English footballer who played as a forward for Crewe Alexandra and Norwich City. *
Kevin Street Kevin Street (born 25 November 1977) is an English footballer who played in the Football League as a midfielder for Crewe Alexandra, Luton Town, Bristol Rovers and Shrewsbury Town. Playing career Street, a strong passing central midfielder, b ...
(born 1977 in Crewe), English footballer who played for Crewe Alexandra and Shrewsbury Town, among others. *
Neil Critchley Neil Critchley (born 18 October 1978) is an English former footballer who played in the Football League First Division for Crewe Alexandra. He was most recently the head coach of EFL Championship side Queens Park Rangers. He has previously ...
(born 1978 in Crewe), a former Crewe Alexandra footballer and now head coach at Queens Park Rangers. * Mark Cueto MBE (born 1979), international rugby and lions player currently playing for the
Sale Sharks Sale Sharks is a professional rugby union club from Greater Manchester, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. Originally founded in 1861 as Sale Football Club, now a distinct amateur club, they adopted the n ...
*
Craig Jones Craig Jones may refer to: * Craig Jones (grappler) (born 1991), Australian grappler and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt competitor * Craig Jones (musician) (born 1972), American musician * Craig Jones (motorcyclist) (1985–2008), English motorcycle ...
(1985 in Crewe – 2008), English motorcycle racer who grew up in Northwich *
Shanaze Reade Shanaze Danielle Reade (born 23 September 1988 in Crewe, Cheshire, United Kingdom) is a British former bicycle motocross (BMX) racer and track cyclist whose prime competitive years began in 2002. She has won the UCI BMX World Championships th ...
(born 1988), world
BMX BMX, an abbreviation for bicycle motocross or bike motocross, is a cycle sport performed on BMX bikes, either in competitive BMX racing or freestyle BMX, or else in general street or off-road recreation. History BMX began during the earl ...
and track cycling champion *
Muthu Alagappan Muthu Alagappan (born ) was a medical resident who is known for his professional basketball analytics. He was born in England and raised in Texas. During college at Stanford University, he began an internship at big data startup company Ayasdi, ...
(born c. 1990 in Crewe), medical student known in the US for his professional basketball analytics *
Bryony Page Bryony Kate Frances Page (born 10 December 1990) is a British individual trampoline gymnast. She is the 2021 women's individual trampoline world champion, and part of the British team that won team gold at the 2013 world championships. Page be ...
(born 1990 in Crewe), an Olympic silver medal-winning trampolinist, raised in the village of Wrenbury, 8.5 miles from the town.


Town twinning

* Bischofsheim, near Mainz, Germany * Dzierżoniów, Poland ''(since 2005)''


See also

*
Listed buildings in Crewe The railway town of Crewe in Cheshire, England, contains 34 buildings recorded in the National Heritage List for England as designated listed buildings. Each is at Grade II, the lowest of the three gradings given to listed buildings, and ap ...
* Crewe Alexandra F.C.


References

Notes Bibliography * * * * * * * *


External links


Crewe Town Council
*
Crewe Heritage Centre railway museum
{{authority control Towns in Cheshire Railway towns in England Civil parishes in Cheshire