Farnborough, Hampshire

Farnborough
Population
OS grid reference	SU871554
District	Rushmoor
Shire county	Hampshire
Region	South East
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	FARNBOROUGH
Postcode district	GU14
Dialling code	01252/01276
Police	Hampshire and Isle of Wight
Fire	Hampshire and Isle of Wight
Ambulance	South East Coast
UK Parliament	Aldershot

Farnborough is a town in the Rushmoor district of Hampshire, England. It is perhaps best known as the home of the Farnborough Air Show which takes place once every two years. The town is home to Farnborough Aerodrome and the international headquarters of BAE Systems.

Geography

Farnborough is situated in the northeast of Hampshire and near to the boundary with Surrey. The River Blackwater forms part of the boundary. It is located 55 km (34 miles) southwest of London and lies at the centre of the Blackwater Valley conurbation.

Farnborough has incorporated several sizeable villages as it has expanded, including Cove and Southwood, both of which are now considered suburbs. It is continuous with the garrison town of Aldershot to the south and with Frimley to the north. Based in the town is the council of the local government district of Rushmoor. The district has borough status and also covers nearby Aldershot.

Within Farnborough the only naturally occurring water significant feature is Cove Brook.

Suburbs

Southwood, Rafborough, Cove, Farnborough Park, Farnborough Street, West Heath, North Camp

History

Farnborough was founded in Saxon times and is mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1066. The name is formed from Ferneberga which means 'fern hill'.

The town is the home of Saint Michael's Abbey. The Imperial Crypt there is the burial place of Napoleon III (1808 - 1873), Emperor of the French, and his wife Eugénie de Montijo (1826 - 1920) and their son Napoléon Eugène, Prince Imperial, who was killed in South Africa aged 23, on (1st June 1879) by the Zulus. The crypt of St Peter's Old Parish Church is also believed to house the remains of many of the Earls of Anglesey.

Transport

There are multiple forms of public transport, most commonly the Public Bus.

File:Arms-farnborough.jpg

Arms of the former Farnborough Urban District Council

London can be reached by rail, via the M3 motorway, via the A325 and A30, by using a number of minor roads to avoid the traffic or by using a number of public footpaths indicated on the local Ordnance Survey maps. The main road, named Farnborough Road, enters the town from Camberley to the north, and continues into Aldershot to the south.

Rail

Farnborough is served by several railway stations:

• Farnborough railway station for London Waterloo, Basingstoke, Southampton, Bournemouth and Salisbury.
• Farnborough North railway station for Reading, Guildford and Shalford.
• North Camp railway station for Reading, Guildford and London Gatwick Airport.
• Ash Vale railway station for Camberley, Ascot, Aldershot, Farnham and Alton.

Air

A noted airshow takes place at Farnborough Airfield, situated between Farnborough and Fleet and the site of the historic Royal Aircraft Establishment. Closely associated with Farnborough Airfield is Samuel Cody. Cody, or Col Sam Cody as he was known, was one of the early pioneers of aviation. He died when he crashed his plane on Ball Hill, a site which is now within QinetiQ's Technology Park. A monument to the first jet fighter is sited on a roundabout along Ively Road. The replica Gloster E28/39 (based on the prototype) was erected as a tribute to its inventor, Sir Frank Whittle.

Farnborough Airfield was turned into a business airport operated by TAG Aviation. In October 2005, TAG applied to double their number of flights at weekends. Opposition to the business airport has been chronicled by Blackwater Environmental Justice and FARA was formed by the local community to oppose the airport expansion.

In 2006, the Airbus A380 flew over the town flanked by the world famous Red Arrows to open the show. The 2006 show also featured the Mikoyan_MiG-29 as well as other aircraft.

Politics

Farnborough contains the following wards: Fernhill (Conservative), Grange (Liberal Democrat), Mayfield (Liberal Democrat), St. Johns (Liberal Democrat), West Heath (Conservative), Empress (Conservative), Cove & Southwood (Conservative), Knellwood (Conservative) and St Marks (Liberal Democrat). The local MP is Gerald Howarth for Aldershot (Conservative) a shadow defence minister.

Media

Farnborough is served by three free local newspapers, The Surrey Hampshire Star, The Rush and The Courier, along with two locals available for purchase, The Farnborough Mail and the Farnborough News[1]. The local ITV region is Thames Valley News.

Farnborough Business Park

Adjacent to the airport there is a major development of the new Farnborough Business Park[2], which aims to have around 1.67 million sq ft of new office space. There are plans to make this area not only a major business centre, but also a new centrepiece for Farnborough. When completed it will include new housing, a De Vere run Village Hotel, symbolic office buildings, a Barons BMW and Mini dealership, a new aviation library and the refurbishing of the listed windtunnels on the site. Current tenants include: AgustaWestland, Imagine Homes, Red Hat, Autodesk and Defence Strategy & Solutions.

Education

There are four main public secondary schools; The Wavell School, Cove School, Fernhill School and Language College and Oak Farm Community School. There are also two private secondary schools; Salesian College (boys school) and Farnborough Hill [3] (girls school) both of which provide private sixth form education in expansion to the secondary schools. The town also is home to The Sixth Form College, Farnborough [4], which draws in around 3,000 students aged 16-19 from the surrounding area, as well as Farnborough College of Technology [5], specialises in GCSEs, A-levels and more vocational studies for students aged 16 onwards.

Retail

Farnborough has three main shopping centres; Kingsmead and Queensmead (which are currently undergoing redevelopment) and Princesmead.

Town Centre Study

In February 2007 Rushmoor Borough Council unveiled plans to radically alter the centre over the next two decades, in the hope of changing people's perception of Farnborough being a dull town to visit. The town centre study[6] outlines major changes to the council offices, Farnborough Main Train Station, the local road network and the continuation of the improvements to Farnborough's town centre, including the development of a Discovery Centre ( a Hampshire County Council initiative aimed at improving libraries in the county ).

One much-mooted idea is for the development of a major National Air Museum to be situated there, taking advantage of the town's almost unparalleled aviation heritage.

Sport

The football team Farnborough Town F.C., formerly Farnborough F.C., will play in the Southern Football League South & Southwest. [7] As Farnborough Town F.C The team came to national prominence in 2003 when they reached the 4th round of the FA Cup, where they played the previous season's Cup winners Arsenal at Highbury. They were drawn to play the tie at home but was switched on police advice. The match was won 5-1 by Arsenal. The town's second club, Farnborough North End F.C. play in the Wessex Football League.

Farnborough Rugby Football Club [8] is primarily a rugby union club based at Tile Barn Close in Farnborough. They play in Hampshire Division 1. They also have a Minis and Juniors section which caters for boys from 5 to 19 years of age and girls from 5 to 12 years of age. For the summer 2007 season they also fielded a successful Rugby League team, winning the Co-Op Southern Conference competition in their first year of entering.

Cricket team FACC currently based in nearby Frogmore are planning a relocation to Farnborough.

Camberley and Farnborough Hockey Club play in nearby Camberley (Kings International College), but draw many players from the region.

Gallery

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Twinned towns

Farnborough is twinned with:

• Meudon, France
• Oberursel, Germany
• Sulechow, Poland

See also

• Farnborough Aerodrome
• Farnborough Air Show
• Basingstoke Canal

External links

• Historic Farnborough
• Rushmoor Borough Council
• Camberley & Farnborough Hockey Club
• St Peter's Old Parish Church
• Community website for Farnborough