House Share

Aberdeen Scotland

Approximate Population: 202,370

Aberdeen is locally governed by Aberdeen City Council, which comprises forty-three councillors who represent the city’s wards and is headed by the Lord Provost who is currently Provost Peter Stephen.

From May 2003 until May 2007 the council was run with a Liberal Democrat and Conservatives coalition.   Following the May 2007 elections the Liberal Democrats formed a new coalition with the Scottish National Party.  The council consists of: 15 Liberal Democrat, 13 SNP, 10 Labour, 4 Conservative councillors and a single independent councillor.

Aberdeen is represented in the Parliament of the United Kingdom by three constituencies: Aberdeen North, Aberdeen South and Gordon, of which the first two are wholly within the Aberdeen City council area while the latter also encompasses a large swathe of Aberdeenshire.

In the Scottish Parliament the city is represented again by three constituencies, all of which are solely within the council area: Aberdeen North, Aberdeen Central and Aberdeen South and by a further seven MSPs elected as part of the North East Scotland electoral region.

In the European Union, the city is represented by seven MEPs, as part of the all inclusive Scotland constituency in the European Parliament.

House Share Aberdeen Scotland

House Share

Chichester West Sussex

Approximate Population: 23,731

It has been argued that Chichester was a bridgehead for the Roman invasion of Britain. The city centre stands on the foundations of the Romano-British city of Noviomagus Reginorum, capital of the Civitas Reginorum, and near to the Roman Palace of Fishbourne.

According to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle it was captured towards the close of the fifth century, by Ælle, and renamed after his son, Cissa. It was the chief city of the Kingdom of Sussex. The Roman Road of Stane Street, connecting Fishbourne Palace with London, passes through the city centre.

The city streets have a cross-shaped layout, inherited from the Romans: radiating outwards from the medieval market cross lead the North, South, East and West shopping streets. Quite a lot of the city walls are in place, and may be walked along over what still remains .

An amphitheatre was built close to what would have been the city walls, outside the East Gate in around 80 AD. The remains are now buried under land currently used as a park, but the bank of the amphitheatre is clearly discernible and a notice board in the park gives more information.

House Share Chichester West Sussex

House Share

St. Helens Merseyside

Approximate Population: 102,629

St Helens is a large town in Merseyside, England.   It is the largest settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of St Helens with a population of just over 100,000 of an urban area with a total population of 176,843 at the time of the 2001 Census.

Historically a part of Lancashire, the area grew during the 18th and 19th century as a significant centre for coal mining, and glassmaking.  Both prior and during this time it was also home to a cotton and linen industry (notably sail making) that did not last through the mid 19th century as well as salt, lime and alkali pits, copper smelting, and brewing.

The town and borough is notable for being the site of the first fully man made canal opened in autumn 1757, and also the first competition for steam locomotives, in Rainhill Trials.

Today, St Helens is very much a commercial town. The main industries have since left, become outdated, or have been outsourced leaving the float and patterned rolled glass producer Pilkingtons, a world leader in their industry, as the town’s one remaining large industrial employer. Previously the town had been home to Beechams (now part of GlaxoSmithKline), Ravenhead glass (bought out by the Belgian nationalised Durobor), United Glass Bottles (U.G.B.), Triplex (owned by Pilkington, farmed out to India), Daglish Foundry (closed and demolished 1939), and Greenall’s (now located in nearby Warrington).

House Share St. Helens Merseyside

House Share

Rochdale Greater Manchester

Approximate Population: 95,796

In Rochdale, demand for cross-Pennine trade (e.g. to support the local cotton, wool and silk industries) led to the building of George Stephenson’s Summit Railway Tunnel and the Rochdale Canal (from Manchester to Yorkshire – re-opened in 2003 after years of neglect, including its division by a motorway).   The Manchester and Leeds Railway opened a station, but the line passed about a mile south of the town centre.   The station remains open, but much reduced from its heyday.   Trains run south (to Manchester Victoria), east (to Halifax, Bradford and Leeds) and to Manchester Victoria via the Manchester to Rochdale via Oldham Line, (also known as the Oldham Loop).

Rochdale is to be served by an extension of the Manchester Metrolink tram system, which would see the Oldham Loop converted from heavy rail to light rail.   This extension was deferred in 2004 on grounds of cost. In July 2006, however, ministers approved plans for extension from Manchester Victoria as far as the planned Rochdale Rail Station stop just outside the station. Approval for extension into Rochdale town centre, extended down Drake Street and terminating opposite Rochdale bus station, as well as into Oldham town centre, is expected in 2008.

House Share

Rochdale Greater Manchester

House Share

Huddersfield West Yorkshire

Approximate Population: 146,234

Huddersfield was incorporated as a municipal borough within the ancient West Riding of Yorkshire in 1868.   The borough comprised the parishes of Almondbury, Dalton, Huddersfield, Lindley-cum-Quarmby and Lockwood. When the West Riding County Council was formed in 1889, Huddersfield became a county borough, exempt from county council control.

Huddersfield expanded in 1937, including parts of the Golcar, Linthwaite, and South Crosland urban districts.  The county borough was abolished in 1974 and its former area was combined with that of other districts to form the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees in West Yorkshire.

Attempts by the local council to gain support for city status were rejected by the town’s population in an unofficial referendum held by the local newspaper, the Huddersfield Daily Examiner. The council did not apply for that status in either the 2000 or 2002 competitions.  City status is given to districts, so it would have been Kirklees rather than Huddersfield that would have been declared a city.

According to the United Kingdom Census 2001 the population of the Huddersfield urban sub-area of the West Yorkshire Urban Area was 146,234, and the population of the former area of the county borough was 121,620. The wider South Kirklees area had a population of 216,011.

House Share

Huddersfield West Yorkshire

House Share Rotherham South Yorkshire

Approximate Population: 117,262

From 2007 the town centre underwent an extensive urban regeneration project known as the “Rotherham Renaissance”: the buildings include apartments, retail units, outdoor cafés, and a new theatre.  The Guest and Chrimes factory site forms a significant part of the project, incorporating residential space, commercial space and council offices.   Forge Island (current Tesco site) is planned to form an anchor project containing a new Cultural Centre, retail & apartments.   In June 2007 construction began on the new St. Anne’s Leisure Complex and is currently well into construction with all the frame work up.   In October 2007 plans were announced for a new railway station which is planned to open in 2010.    The Renaissance will take up to 25 years to complete.

The project is well into work and is starting to show.   As of July 2008 one of the main apartment shopping buildings on Domine Lane is nearly completed and will be opening in October.   It is dominating the skyline of the town centre.   Next to this is Keppel Wharf which is similar hight to the Domine Lane complex.   This has started recently but is already as high as Dinine Lane and will take a year to complete.   The Imperial Buildings are well into its renovation.   The Guest and Chrimes site is almost cleared, and the All Saints Building has been prepared for demolition.

House Share Rotherham South Yorkshire