Blythe Bridge () is a village in

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation ''Staffs''.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It borders Cheshire to the north-west, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, ...

, England, south-east of

Stoke-on-Trent Stoke-on-Trent (often abbreviated to Stoke) is a city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Staffordshire, England. It has an estimated population of 259,965 as of 2022, making it the largest settlement in Staffordshire ...

Etymology

Blythe Bridge is so called as it is built around the site of a bridge over the River Blithe (spelt differently from the name of the village itself), a small river which passes directly through the village.

Today

Facilities

It has a

high school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., ...

and

sixth form In the education systems of Barbados, England, Jamaica, Northern Ireland, Trinidad and Tobago, Wales, and some other Commonwealth countries, sixth form represents the final two years of secondary education, ages 16 to 18. Pupils typically prepa ...

library A library is a collection of Book, books, and possibly other Document, materials and Media (communication), media, that is accessible for use by its members and members of allied institutions. Libraries provide physical (hard copies) or electron ...

, as well as a

public house A pub (short for public house) is in several countries a drinking establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption Licensing laws of the United Kingdom#On-licence, on the premises. The term first appeared in England in the ...

, The Black Cock on Uttoxeter Road. The Smithfield and The White Cock were demolished due to the construction of two housing estates and The Duke of Wellington is now a Tesco Express. The village also has a

bakery A bakery is an establishment that produces and sells flour-based baked goods made in an oven such as bread, cookies, cakes, doughnuts, bagels, Pastry, pastries, and pies. Some retail bakeries are also categorized as Coffeehouse, cafés, servi ...

, mortgage shop, betting shop, newsagents, motor garage, GP surgery, a micropub, a few hairdressers and some fast-food outlets. The library is joined to Blythe Bridge High School and Blythe Bridge Youth Centre. The Duke of Wellington is now a Tesco Express after its closure as a pub in early 2013.

Media

Blythe Bridge is covered b
The Blythe and Forsbrook Times
a weekly newspaper. It is produced by Times, Echo and Life Publications (established 1896), which publish the only independent family owned and run newspapers in North Staffordshire.

Schools

* Blythe Bridge High School
Springcroft Primary School
*Forsbrook Primary School *William Amory Primary School

Transport

Rail

Train services are available at Blythe Bridge railway station, which was opened by the

North Staffordshire Railway The North Staffordshire Railway (NSR) was a Great Britain, British railway company formed in 1845 to promote a number of lines in the Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire Potteries and surrounding areas in Staffordshire, Cheshire, Derbyshire and Shro ...

on 7 August 1848, on the Crewe to Derby

railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

line. The station buildings and signal box have been demolished. The line currently runs from Crewe to

Newark-on-Trent Newark-on-Trent () or Newark is a market town and civil parish in the Newark and Sherwood district in Nottinghamshire, England. It is on the River Trent, and was historically a major inland port. The A1 road (Great Britain), A1 road bypasses th ...

in Nottinghamshire. A

Heritage railway A heritage railway or heritage railroad (U.S. usage) is a railway operated as living history to re-create or preserve railway scenes of the past. Heritage railways are often old railway lines preserved in a state depicting a period (or periods) ...

, Foxfield Light Railway operate north of the village, with the southern terminus, Caverswall Road, being north of the main line station along Blythe Bridge Road.

Road

The

Uttoxeter Uttoxeter ( , ) is a market town and civil parish in the East Staffordshire borough of Staffordshire, England. It is near to the Derbyshire county border. The town is from Burton upon Trent via the A50 and the A38, from Stafford via the A51 ...

Road, a former major motorway link route ( M1 to M6) was partially relieved by the A50 dual-carriageway. The bypass road opened in 1975, and then the section to Uttoxeter in 1985.

Air

The nearby Meir Aerodrome closed in 1973 and the land was used to build the large Meir Park housing estate.

Nearby places

* Barlaston * Cheadle * Draycott in the Moors * Forsbrook * Fulford *

Lightwood Lightwood may refer to: Trees * ''Acacia implexa'', Australian tree * Fatwood, the resinous core of the pine tree, in the Southern United States Places United Kingdom * Lightwood, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire * Lightwood, Derbyshire * Li ...

* Longton *

Meir Meir () is a Jewish male given name and an occasional surname. It means "one who shines". It is often Germanized as Maier, Mayer, Mayr, Meier, Meyer, Meijer, Italianized as Miagro, or Anglicized as Mayer, Meyer, or Myer. Alfred J. Kolatch, ''T ...

Notable people

* Ernest Albert Egerton VC (1897 in Longton – 1966 in Blythe Bridge) recipient of the

Victoria Cross The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious decoration of the Orders, decorations, and medals of the United Kingdom, British decorations system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British ...

buried in Blythe Bridge * Alan Weston (1907 in Leicester – 1997 in Blythe Bridge) cricketer, right-handed batsman *

The Sutherland Brothers The Sutherland Brothers (Gavin and Iain Sutherland) were a Scottish folk and soft rock duo. From 1973 to 1978, they performed with rock band Quiver, and recorded and toured as Sutherland Brothers & Quiver. Under this combined moniker, the gro ...

(active 1968–1979) a folk and rock music duo, wrote Rod Stewarts hit

Sailing Sailing employs the wind—acting on sails, wingsails or kites—to propel a craft on the surface of the ''water'' (sailing ship, sailboat, raft, Windsurfing, windsurfer, or Kitesurfing, kitesurfer), on ''ice'' (iceboat) or on ''land'' (Land sa ...

, may have lived there * Rachel Shenton (born 1987) actress and screenwriter – won the Academy Award for live action short film at the

90th Academy Awards The 90th Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored the best films of 2017, and took place at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California. The ceremony was held on March 4, ...

for The Silent Child * Ollie Shenton (born 1997) footballer who played as a midfielder for

Stoke City F.C. Stoke City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England. The team competes in the , the second level of the English football league system. Founded as Stoke Ramblers in 1863, the cl ...

* Ben Brereton (born 1999) went to school in Blythe Bridge, professional footballer SoccerBase Database
Retrieved 15 February 2018 for

Villarreal Villarreal (officially, in ) is a city and municipality in the province of Castellón which is part of the Valencian Community in the east of Spain. The town is located at 42 m above sea level, 7 km to the south of the province's capital ( ...

* Baylee Dipepa (born 12 January 2007) professional footballer for Port Vale F.C.

References

External links

* {{authority control Staffordshire Moorlands Villages in Staffordshire