TAMWORTH 2017
www.visittamworth.co.uk
Tamworth has something for absolutely everyone
www.visittamworth.co.uk
TAMWORTH has a unique place in the historical landscape of the UK as the ancient capital of the kingdom of Mercia. Today it offers visitors the opportunity to Explore its rich past, nestled among the hustle and bustle of a traditional town centre, Enjoy some of the UK’s largest and well-known stores set over three retail parks and Play within the beauty and tranquillity of the splendid Castle Pleasure Grounds, where its magnificent floral displays, annual events and wildlife are there for all to see.
#visittamworth
Getting Here & Getting Around GETTING HERE By Road Tamworth lies in the south east corner of Staffordshire, just 18 miles north of Birmingham. The A5 links Tamworth to the A38 and M42 Junction 10. The M6 Toll links the M6 to the M42.
By Rail Tamworth Railway Station offers a frequent direct service to Birmingham New Street and London Euston. Tamworth is well connected to major rail networks, serviced by Virgin and London Midland. For National Rail Enquiries call 08457 48 49 50 or visit: www.nationalrail.co.uk
By Coach National Express operates a daily return service to London Victoria, Service 460. For information call 08717 81 81 81 or visit: www.nationalexpress.com
By Canal Tamworth sits on the Birmingham Fazeley Canal and the Coventry Canal, with an abundance of available moorings.For information call 01827 252 000 or email: enquiries.westmidlands@britishwaterways.co.uk
PARKING
There are ample car parks in the town centre and all are just a short walk from the shops and main attractions. All car parks are marked on the town centre map overleaf. Motorists using Tamworth Borough Council’s pay and display car parks can opt for ‘cashless’ payments by phone. Cashless payments can be made on the ‘Phone and Pay’ smartphone app or by calling local number: 01827 234567. Users can also register for the system online at www.phoneandpay.com Tamworth car parks are free if you display a valid disabled badge. Parking is free at Ventura Retail Park, but there are time restrictions on some car parks. Details listed in each car park.
GETTING AROUND On Foot Tamworth town centre is flat and easy to navigate, although there are varying paving surfaces. Whether walking, pushing a pram or using a mobility scooter, you can access all areas with the exception of the pathway to Tamworth Castle. This is a steep incline and may present a difficulty to some people.
By Bus Tamworth is serviced by two bus companies, providing a range of services to local major towns and villages. Arriva and Heartlands. For Traveline enquiries call 0871 200 22 33.
By Bicycle Tamworth has more than 34 kilometres of cycle paths in and around the town. For information, call Tamworth Tourist Information Centre 01827 709 581. Cycle Hire in the Castle Grounds: Dave Owen Cycles, Activity Centre, Castle Grounds, Tamworth B79 7ND. Call: 07896 504 141
DISABLED INFORMATION
Situated on Level 5 of Ankerside Car Park, Shopmobility lends wheelchairs and scooters to aid access to the town centre. Small mobility scooter can be hired for up to three weeks which can be dismantled for easy transport in a car. A bookable holiday hire service is also available. Open 9am-5pm Mon-Sat and 10am-4pm Bank Holidays. It is advisable to check and book prior to visit. For information and enquiries, call 01827 709 392 or visit: www.mercian-ability.org.uk
Coach & Group Visits Visiting Tamworth with a coach party or group? There is so much to see and do in Tamworth. Whether for just a day visit or for a base to travel from, Tamworth has a rich history, great shopping and it’s easy to get to. There’s a wide selection of places to visit, superb quality accommodation and plenty of places to eat and drink at prices to suit everyone. If you would like help to plan a group visit and put a package together, please contact Tamworth Guild of Town Guides who will be more than happy to assist. Email: tamworthguild.townguides@gmail.com
COACH PARKING We have seven coach parking bays situated in the Jolly Sailor Coach Park and if you let us know when you are visiting, we can issue a FREE coach pass. You can load and unload in Corporation Street in the town centre. All parking facilities are marked on the map overleaf.
To book a grou p visit, request brochures, appl y for a free coac h parking permit, or any other information, plea se contact Stac y Birt on 01827 70 9 583 or email: Stacy-birt@tam worth.gov.uk
Tamworth Castle Guided Tours This magnificent Norman Castle will take you back more than 900 years as you explore the maze of intact rooms, halls and chambers that still echo with events from Saxon beginnings, Norman dynasties, Tudor grandeur and great family influences. Castle Costume Guided Tour, min 20 people, pre-book price £5.50 per person. (Minimum charge applies, pre-booking essential) Daytime Castle Guided Tour, min 20 people, pre-book price £5.50 per person. Additional payment for the Costume Guide is required.
Tamworth Tourist Information Centre, Marmion House, Lichfield Street, Tamworth, Staffordshire. B79 7BZ
Discover Tamworth GUIDED WALKING TOURS WITH TAMWORTH’S GREEN BADGE GUIDES A variety of public walking tours will take place during 2017 including Anglo Saxon Tamworth, Historic Buildings, Personalities & Heroes and Ghost Tours. Please check at www.visittamworth.co.uk, Tamworth Information Centre, our website or Facebook page for dates, prices and further information. Looking for something different? Contact us to enquire about private tours of the above or general town/church/castle tours, tailored to your needs.
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This 12th century bridge has been beautifully restored as a defined walkway with a traditionally carved historic timeline laid within the paving, connecting the historic town centre with the modern retail experience. Just a 10 minute walk connects the two.
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Odeon Cinema - 50 Bolebridge Sreet, Tamworth B79 7PB. Tel: 0333 014 4501 www.odeon.co.uk 10 screen state-of-the-art cinema providing both 2D and 3D cinema experience.
SnowDome & Leisure Island - Leisure Island, Riverdrive, Tamworth B79 7ND Tel: 0844 800 0011 www.snowdome.co.uk Ultimate real snow and ice experience all year round, swimming, gym and luxury spa.
Namco FunScape Bowling & Games Castle Grounds, River Drive, Tamworth B79 7ND Tel: 01827 68448 www.namcofunscape.com/location/tamworth Ten-pin bowling, soft play, sand pit, retro video arcade and amusements.
Castle Pleasure Grounds, Castle Grounds, River Drive, Tamworth, B79 7ND, Adventure playground, skate park, tennis courts, crazy golf, table tennis, the Planet Walk, Bandstand, Dave Owen Cycle Hire and Repairs. For equipment and cycle hire tel: 07896 504141
Canals. The Coventry Canal and the Birmingham/Fazeley Canal both pass through Tamworth with most of the towpaths accessible.
Local Nature Reserves. Tamworth has nine Nature Reserves, two of which sit around the town centre, Broad Meadow and Tameside.
Explore the area With easy access by road, rail, cycleway, canal and air, this means you are never more than 30 minutes away from exploring the tourism heartland of the Midlands.
Nearby attractions: Ash End House Children’s Farm Belfry Golf Course Broomey Croft Children’s Farm Cannock Chase Conkers Drayton Manor Theme Park Heart of the Country Shopping Village Jump Xtreme Trampoline Centre Kingsbury Water Park Lichfield Cathedral Middleton Hall and Craft Centre
Midland Karting National Forest Adventure Farm National Memorial Arboretum NEC and Birmingham NPF Bassetts Pole Paintball Centre Pooley Country Park Resorts World Staffordshire Regiment Museum SkyTrail at Planters Garden Centre Twycross Zoo
Tamworth Castle - Holloway, Ladybank, Tamworth B79 7NA Tel: 01827 709626 www.tamworthcastle.co.uk (limited opening times) Six wealthy and influential families have owned this Norman Motte and Bailey Castle which has also welcomed royal visits from King Henry II, Edward III, James I and his son Prince Charles. The castle is packed full of mystery and adventure, a truly interactive historic experience.
Town Hall - Market Street, Tamworth, B79 7LY (this building is not open to the public) Built in 1701 by Thomas Guy of Guy’s Hospital London with further extensions added in the 18th and 19th centuries, some funded in part by Sir Robert Peel.
St Editha’s Church - 29 Church St, Tamworth B79 7BX, Tel: 01827 68339 One of the largest and oldest churches in the Midlands, it has a rare double helix spiral staircase and very unique stained glass windows designed by preRaphaelite Sir Edward Burne-Jones and William Morris.
Tamworth people through the ages Sir Robert Peel (Statue on Market Street, Tamworth B79 7LR) Born in 1788, he became MP in 1809 and Home Secretary in 1822, was twice Prime Minister, in 1834-35 and again in 1841-46. Today he is acknowledged as one of our greatest statesmen and is noted for his Tamworth Manifesto, the Corn Laws and Repeal Act. He is probably best remembered as the founder of the modern Police force and also as both founder and betrayer of the Conservative Party and the real founder of the Liberal Party. William MacGregor. A Godly man who was 89 years old when he passed away at his home, Bolehall Manor. His civic life and dedicated service to the people of Tamworth spanned more than 60 years. Colin Grazier (memorial stands on St Editha’s Church Square, three anchors each representing the three seamen) One of three British seamen who retrieved the vital German code books from a sinking U-boat that enabled Bletchley Park’s codebreakers to crack Enigma ciphers and so win the Battle of the Atlantic. Recognised as a pivotal moment in world history and one which shortened the Second World War by as much as two years.
Thomas Guy. Born in 1644, educated at Tamworth Grammar School and became an MP from 1695-1707. Built his Almshouses in Lower Gungate, the Town Hall in Market Street and most famously Guy’s Hospital in London.
Our History Anglo-Saxon Times
Tamworth, The Ancient Capital of Mercia The Anglo-Saxons came to Staffordshire in the late 6th century, as groups of settlers or tribes. Mercia, or Mierce in AngloSaxon, means boundary and the area grew from a number of these separate tribal settlements. The Mercians gradually conquered most of the other Midland tribes to become a powerful kingdom stretching from the Humber to the Thames. The rest of the country was ruled by the kingdoms of Northumbria and Wessex. Tamworth was the heartland of the Mercian Kingdom which had a royal church at Repton, a religious centre at Lichfield and the King’s main residence at Tamworth. It is certain that the Mercian Kings spent more time at Tamworth than anywhere else, and it is thought that there was a royal palace at Tamworth by the end of the 7th century, situated on the site close to St Editha’s Church. Originally, this palace would have been a timber hall with a chapel and somewhere for horses to be stabled. Evidence from signed charters also show that the Mercian royal families were regularly in Tamworth during the festivals of Christmas and Easter, between 751 and 857 AD. The most well-known Mercian Kings are Penda (625-655), Wulfhere (657-674), Aethelred (674-704), Aethelbald (716-757) and Offa (757-796).
Tamworth is also known to have been important within Mercia, as it had a water mill which ground grain for food for the settlement and its livestock. The mill is believed to be the earliest post-Roman water mill found in Britain. It was powered by the River Anker and used mill stones traded to King Offa from the French King Charlemagne, in exchange for English woollen cloaks. Mercian power began to decline after the death of King Offa and by the 10th century it lost its independence, becoming part of the Kingdom of Wessex, to create the Kingdom of England.
Aethelfled Aethelfled, the daughter of King Alfred the Great, has been described as ‘our greatest woman General’ and one of the most effective leaders we ever had who commanded troops for eight years, drove back the marauding Danes and ruled a country as well. To strengthen her line of communication across England she established a chain of fortified posts, and in the early summer of 913AD, with her Mercians, marched to Tamworth and here, at the junction of its two rivers, established a fortification. We know it today as Tamworth Castle. She became Queen of Mercia, although she never claimed to be queen for sound political and personal reasons and assumed the title ‘Lady of the Mercians’. She died in Tamworth in 918 AD, an event which resulted in Mercia being merged into Wessex. A statue of her sits at the foot of Tamworth Castle.
What’s On APRIL
8-21 11 22 29-1
Castle Egg Hunt Reynard The Fox St George’s Day Extravaganza Storytelling with Ruby
Tamworth Castle Tamworth Bandstand Tamworth Castle Grounds Tamworth Castle
MAY
20 27-31
Tamworth Busking Launch Dragon Hunt
Tamworth Town Centre Tamworth Castle
JUNE
1-2
Dragon Hunt
Tamworth Castle
JULY
1 2 9 22 23 29
Tamworth Jam Wilnecote St Johns Band Tamworth Wind Band Amington Band The Jays Tamworth Voices
Tamworth Bandstand Tamworth Bandstand Tamworth Bandstand Tamworth Bandstand Tamworth Bandstand Tamworth Castle Grounds
AUGUST
5 12 18 19 20
Outdoor Cinema 58s Blues Band Shoe Kangaroo & the Big Bad Boot Brindley Hunt Liquid Brass
Tamworth Castle Grounds Tamworth Bandstand Tamworth Bandstand Tamworth Bandstand Tamworth Bandstand
SEPTEMBER 2 9 9-10
We Love Tamworth Summer Reading Challenge Food & Drink Festival
Tamworth Castle Grounds Tamworth Library Tamworth Castle Grounds
NOVEMBER 4 26
Firework Extravaganza Christmas Lights Festival
Tamworth Castle Grounds St Editha’s Square
More info/box office 01827 709618 www.visittamworth.co.uk N.B. All details were correct at time of print and are subject to change. Please check the website for latest information.
2017 Tamworth’s Food & Drink Festival Tamworth Castle Grounds 9th & 10th September 2017