Crewe
In this update we will have a look at Crewe.
The town is laid in a rather boring part of the region. Located at the foothills of the Reddish Hills, it is mainly sourrunded by farms and forests. Except for the occasional group of tourist who would visit the village and the location just west of Upminster and the Abbey-Upon-Tyne International Airport nothing seemed to happen in this town. That is until recently, rather than just being happy the way the town evolved (around 2% unemployment and nearly 0% crime) the majors decided to take a drastic step.
Realising that the location near the airport and the M24 South as well as the location in the middle between Burton & Abbey-Upon-Tyne perfect for developing the town further, the city officials soon began to work out a plan to drive the city to economic succes.
Unlike other villages, Crewe soon began to lower corporate taxes dramatically and a number of firms start to settle there.
These days, Crewe also gets called "The European Silicon Valley" because of the number of High-Tech firms which settled here or opened up branches and European headquaters of overseas companys here.
The negative is obviously that the town lost a hughe amount of it's charm. Glass highrises are competing with the single storey shops in the old town centre. Also, by nightfall, the town is virtually dead since most of the workers commute from Abbey-Upon-Tyne, Burton or the surrounding villages such as Blackley and Ardwick.
The village now gives home to a rough 18.000 inhabitants and is divided into 2 boroughs: Crewe & Anchorage. It also has it's own football team: Crewe United Football Club and 2 rugby teams, Crewe Rugby Union FC & North Tyne Rugby League FC.
The trainstation and Crewe Church in the old city centre.
A broad overview of Crewe. At the, so to speak, end of the town you can see the Bronston Towers & Rylers Project, 2 housing projects build during the 60's & 70's. The majority of inhabitants in Crewe is very middle class though. Cuttin right through the town is the A56 - a dual carriageway that connects Abbey-Upon-Tyne with Burton. An important road, especially if the M24 is clocked up again.
A night shot of Crewe, facing the west and looking upon Crewe Comprehensive and Bulls Head Park.
These are all the new, and some old buildings located right next to the historic core of the town. Many people say that these buildings just seem out of place in such a small town, but the council is the opinion that - if they generate money - they are fine. The 2 towers in the middle are the newest addition; the dark one being the European Headquaters of a well known american software company whereas the white highrise houses a quite big german insurance company. You can also see a branche of IBM as well as Chase Banking.
A nightshot of the same buildings. Since in the 2000's, the companys try to make the buidlings beeing more representative, but most corporations sticked with the normal attitude towards their buildings as the cluster of office buildings on the right shows. In the backround you can see Bulls Head Park.
This is the japanese pavillion and a WWII statue in Bulls Head Park. This park was laid out when the first midrises were errected to have a sort of green part in the village centre that would give employees and residents the benefit of having a border between the residential area and the high rises that would not disturb the peace of the town and where they can all go to relax.
An overview of Anchorage, including the Crewe Centre, a shopping centre (only 30 minute drive from Abbey-Upon-Tyne: Take the exit Upminster at the M24 and follow the A56 towards Fieldhouse!) and the stadium for Crewe United FC and the rugby clubs, the Greyham Forest Stadium.
Since for most residents of Anchorage the actuall town centre is to far away, they prefer Gibbet Street, a shopping street located near the Greyham Forest Stadium.
In the Greyham Forests, and towering all over the village is KBL1567, the 3rd tallest building in the country and the highest communication tower in the country.
Just a shot from the countryside. Along the A254, which goes through the Wilbrahem Valley, the Crewe Cloister is located.
And here is an overview showing the entire town.
Comments and ratings are, as per usual, welcome and appreciated.
Feedback:
blakeway: Thanks a lot.
k50dude: Thanks. It just seems that features which are purely eycandy, such as golf courses, get quite often neglected in city building, so I tried to change that.
tigeria: Thanks man.
finlay: Glad you found it. It is a really good website and has some quite good stuff on it.
n_wilson: Thanks as well!
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