Cannock

Cannock
Market Place
Cannock  Cannock shown within Staffordshire
Population	27,883 (mid-2010 estimate)
OS grid reference	SJ980101
District	Cannock Chase
Shire county	Staffordshire
Region	West Midlands
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	CANNOCK
Postcode district	WS11
Dialling code	01543
Police	Staffordshire
Fire	Staffordshire
Ambulance	West Midlands
EU Parliament	West Midlands
UK Parliament	Cannock Chase
List of places: UK • England • Staffordshire

Cannock is the most populous of three towns in the district of Cannock Chase in the central southern part of the county of Staffordshire in the West Midlands region of England.

Cannock lies to the north of the West Midlands conurbation on the M6, A34 and A5 roads, and to the south of Cannock Chase, an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB). Cannock is served by a railway station on the Chase Line.

Population

Cannock had a 2010 mid-year estimated population of 27,883 (from the estimated headcounts of its four district council electoral wards). The Cannock South ward includes the civil parish of Bridgtown, but the rest of Cannock is unparished.

Cannock is part of Cannock Chase District's largest built-up area. The area is covered by nine district council electoral wards and part of another ward whose estimated population in 2001 was 60,814.

Cannock is also part of a wider built-up area which includes parts of South Staffordshire District. This is the Cannock urban subdivision of the Cannock/Great Wyrley Urban Area. Its population in the 2001 census was 65,022.

History

Cannock was called Chenet in the Domesday Book of 1086. It was called Chnoc c.1130, Cnot in 1156, Canot in 1157, and Canoc in 1198. Cannock is probably Old English cnocc meaning 'hillock', modified by Norman pronunciation by the insertion of a vowel to Canoc. The name may refer to Shoal Hill, north-west of the town.

Cannock was a small rural community until coal mining increased heavily during the mid to late 19th century. The area then continued to grow rapidly with many industries coming to the area because of its proximity to the Black Country and its coal reserves. Cannock's population continued to increase steadily in the 20th century and its slight fall since the 1981 census has been more than compensated for by house-building in the adjoining village of Heath Hayes. The last colliery to close in the town was Mid Cannock in 1967, and the last remaining colliery to close in the Cannock Chase area was Littleton (in Huntington) in 1993. There is now no heavy industry in the area, and Cannock is home to many commuters working in the surrounding towns and cities.

Cannock Chase German war cemetery is located nearby containing 4,885 German military dead from the First and Second World Wars. It is managed by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.

Geography

Cannock is on a south-west facing slope, falling from the highest point on Cannock Chase (244m) at Castle Ring, to about 148m in the town centre and 111m near Wedges Mills. The soil is light with a gravel and clay subsoil, and there are extensive coal measures.

Climate

Cannock has a moderate, temperate climate. See Penkridge weather station for details of average temperature and rainfall figures taken between 1971 and 2000 at the Met Office weather station in Penkridge (around 5 miles (8 km) north-west of Cannock).

Nearby cities, towns and villages

Cities and towns are in upper case. Only a few of the nearest villages are shown.

Demographics

In recent years it has become far more affluent and seen a population and housing increase, such as the new apartments built near the railway station and the ongoing housing development on the Cannock/Heath Hayes boundary. In keeping with the national trend, Cannock's housing is increasingly of a post-fordist era style, although various other periods of architecture are sited around the town, such as at Shoal Hill and Wolverhampton Road. The United Kingdom's second largest populated city, Birmingham, can be commuted to by train in around 35 minutes.

Amenities

Cannock has a reasonably sized town centre which includes some well known high street names. It also has outdoor and indoor markets and a shopping centre, however some of Cannock's other shopping facilities are to be found in out of town locations such as Longford Island Retail Estate and the Orbital Retail Park.

Cannock has a choice of nightclubs and bars, including Missoula (On the former site of Stones), Silks, Bank Bar & Lounge, Piques, Academy, Bar 77, Ubar, and Bar Sport, as well as several traditional pubs dotted around the town centre including the White Hart, The Royal Oak and Wetherspoons. There are also many restaurants, gastro pubs, and fast food establishments offering a wide choice of food.

Cannock has a leisure centre which contains a swimming pool and other sporting facilities. It also has an ice rink, Silverblades, although this is a small rink compared to other larger rinks to be found at Telford and Solihull. It also has a three-screen cinema which was recently renovated as part of an on-going attempt at redeveloping this part of the town centre.

Media

Cannock has a free weekly local newspaper, the Cannock & Rugeley Chronicle (an edition of the Cannock & Lichfield Chronicle). Another free weekly, the Chase Post (an edition of the Cannock Chase & Burntwood Post), ceased publication in November 2011.

The Express & Star is a paid-for local newspaper, published in Wolverhampton on weekdays.

Hyperlocal website ConnectCannock delivers local news via the internet, and also provides a business directory

Televised local news is provided through Midlands Today and Central Tonight, which also serve the wider area of the West Midlands.

Cannock is served by the national radio stations, and West Midlands "regional" licences Kerrang! Radio and Heart West Midlands. It has no local radio station.

In November 2001, a group set up a 28 day trial broadcast of Chase FM, hoping to get a full-time commercial radio licence for the town. As well as the 28 day broadcast, the group provided roadshows in the town centre, including turning on the xmas lights, and broadcast live from Silks Nightclub. They returned for another trial in July 2002. Both of these trials were received well, however Ofcom decided there would be no more commercial radio licences.

Many of the group reformed in 2010 and are planning to obtain one of the newer community radio licences to cover the town. An internet-only version of the station is online at chasefm.net

Transport

Cannock is located close to the M6, M6 toll and M54 motorways. There is an extensive network of local buses radiating out from Cannock town centre. The town's main bus operator is Arriva Midlands, who operate the majority of services to and from Cannock bus station. Cannock railway station closed in 1965 as part of the Beeching Axe. It reopened in 1989 and is part of the Rugeley - Cannock - Walsall - Birmingham line operated by London Midland. There are two trains per hour from the station to Rugeley, Walsall, and Birmingham.

Sports

Cannock Hockey Club is one of the leading field hockey clubs in England, and supplies England internationals.^{[citation needed]}

Education

Cannock Chase High School is a non-denominational mixed comprehensive with around 1600 pupils aged 11–18.

Cardinal Griffin Catholic High School is a voluntary aided Roman Catholic secondary school with around 950 pupils aged 11–18.

Chase Academy is an independent co-educational boarding school with a day nursery as well as over 200 pupils up to age 19.

South Staffordshire College is a further education college which provides courses to students from age 14 up to adults. It was created by a merger of Cannock Chase Technical College and centres of further education in Tamworth, Lichfield and Rodbaston.

Notable people

Entertainment

• Carole Ashby (born 1955), actress
• Ritch Battersby (born 1968), drummer in The Wildhearts and Grand Theft Audio
• Emily Dormer (born 1980), actress
• Steve Edge (born 1972), actor
• Mel Galley (1948–2008), former Whitesnake guitarist and songwriter
• Jenny Hinks, made it to the West End Musical Hairspray as part of the ensemble and understudying roles
• Elgar Howarth (born 1935), conductor and composer
• Glenn Hughes (born 1951), former Deep Purple bassist/vocalist
• Robert Lloyd (born 1959), vocalist in The Prefects and The Nightingales
• Helen Norgrove (born 1973), first £125,000 winner on TV game show 'Don't Forget The Lyrics'
• Ben Wilby (born 2002), actor in the film Nativity! (2009)

Sport

• Malcolm Beard (born 1942), retired professional footballer
• Andy Bishop (born 1982), professional footballer
• Luke Chapman (born 1991), professional footballer
• Stan Collymore (born 1971), retired professional footballer
• Billy Gallier (1932-2011), footballer/football manager
• Mick Gosling (born 1972), winner of Britain's Strongest Man contest in 2005
• Richard Gosling (born 1974), winner of Britain's Strongest Man contest in 2003
• Deiniol Graham (born 1969), retired professional footballer
• Gerry Hitchens (1934-1983), professional footballer
• Steve James (born 1961), retired professional snooker player
• Gordon Lee (born 1934), retired professional footballer/football manager
• Dave Norton (born 1965), retired professional footballer
• Geoff Palmer (born 1954), retired professional footballer
• Kevin Pietersen (born 1980), South African-born English cricketer who played for Cannock Cricket Club in 2000
• Jim Rhodes (born 1946), professional golfer
• Alec Talbot (1902–1975), professional footballer
• Kris Taylor (born 1984), professional footballer
• Arthur Wharton (1865-1930), England's first black professional footballer, trained as a missionary at a school in Cannock

Other

• John Kerr Butter (1856–1920), Scottish physician, police surgeon and zoologist who kept a menagerie of exotic animals at his home in Wolverhampton Road
• Walter Colman (1600–1645), Franciscan friar
• Raymond Furnell (1936–2006), curate of Cannock 1965-69, later dean of York Minster
• Jennie Lee (1904–1988), MP for Cannock 1945-1970 who, as Minister in the Department of Education and Science, became the driving force for the creation of the Open University
• Jed Mercurio (born 1966), BAFTA-nominated author, TV & Film Producer. Created popular television series "Cardiac Arrest" and "Bodies". Recent novel "American Adulterer" presented fictional focus on the life of assassinated US president John F Kennedy
• Frank Edward Tylecote CBE (1879–1965), physician, Professor of Medicine at Manchester University, and early researcher into link between smoking and lung cancer

Twin town

• Datteln, Germany, since 1971. See German page de:Datteln.

External links

• BBC Domesday Reloaded - Domesday Reloaded - Overview of Cannock
• Cannock Wolves Supporters Club
• ConnectCannnock - Hyperlocal blog for the area
• Cannock Community Radio - Chase FM