| Blisworth | |
Blisworth Tunnel on the Grand Union Canal - north entrance from inside the tunnel |
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Blisworth
Blisworth shown within Northamptonshire |
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| Population | 1,786 (2001 Census) 1,870 (est.2010)[1] |
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| OS grid reference | SP727534 |
| - London | 66 mi (106 km) |
| Parish | Blisworth |
| District | South Northamptonshire |
| Shire county | Northamptonshire |
| Region | East Midlands |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | NORTHAMPTON |
| Postcode district | NN7 |
| Dialling code | 01604 |
| Police | Northamptonshire |
| Fire | Northamptonshire |
| Ambulance | East Midlands |
| EU Parliament | East Midlands |
| UK Parliament | South Northamptonshire |
| List of places: UK • England • Northamptonshire | |
Blisworth is a village and civil parish in the South Northamptonshire district of Northamptonshire, England. The West Coast Main Line, from London Euston to Manchester and Scotland, runs alongside the village partly hidden and partly on an embankment. The Grand Union Canal passes through the village and the north portal of the Blisworth tunnel is near Stoke Road.
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It is about 5 miles (8.0 km) south of Northampton, 4 miles (6.4 km) north of Towcester and 10 miles (16 km) north of Milton Keynes. The M1 motorway junction 15 is about 2 miles (3.2 km) north east.
The 2001 census[3] showed there were around 1,786 people in the parish (the 2010 estimated population is 1,870[1]), 880 male and 906 female, and 792 dwellings. There are also a few small businesses in and around the village. Just to the north of the village on Northampton Road there is a small garden centre and nursery and a large derelict site, the location of a former abattoir, a garage and small industrial estate
The local district council is South Northamptonshire Council (SNC)[4] where Blisworth is in Blisworth and Roade ward together with the small hamlet of Courteenhall. The ward elects two members, currently Conservative. The Northamptonshire County Council (NCC) division has one member, also Conservative. There is also a local Parish Council with eleven elected members.
The parliamentary constituency was Daventry prior to the 2010 General Election the Boundary Commission put the village in the new parliamentary constituency of South Northamptonshire.
The village has its own primary school, Blisworth Community Primary School,[5] with around 200 children. The school takes in a number of children from surrounding areas including the southern outskirts of Northampton. The local secondary school, Roade School,[6] is the only Sports College in Northamptonshire. Apart from Blisworth, the catchment area extends to Grange Park, Stoke Bruerne and several other villages.
There is a small well-stocked supermarket/post-office/newsagent, being the only shop. There is a modern well-equipped doctor's surgery in Stoke Road serving several surrounding villages as well as Blisworth itself.
The village has a pub, The Royal Oak. A second pub, The Sun, Moon and Stars, near the canal closed at least 50 years ago. A third pub, the Grafton Arms, is now a private dwelling. After several years of neglect the listed building was the subject of a compulsory purchase order by South Northants Council in 2007 and may now be restored partly for accommodation and perhaps some community use.[7] There is also a hotel - "The Walnut Tree Inn" - which was the original Blisworth Station Hotel. It is opposite the site of the former station.
The village has two churches, one Church of England, where the church parish includes Stoke Bruerne and the other a Baptist Chapel.
Blisworth also has a football club, Blisworth F.C.
There is an annual Canal Festival held in the village every August, held to help celebrate the part that the canal has played in Blisworth's history. This festival is organised by the Blisworth Canal Partnership who's aims are to promote, maintain and improve Blisworth's Canal environment.
The village is the site of the Blisworth Tunnel of the Grand Union Canal and one of the longest on the English canal system. The tunnel runs south to the nearby village of Stoke Bruerne. The canal runs to the south-west side of the village and a bridge carries the main road though the village. The bridge is partly original, partly widened, as the main road carried the A43 trunk road until a by-pass was constructed.
The A43 (Northampton-Oxford) Milton Malsor and Blisworth by-pass was opened on 21 May 1991. The by-pass runs to the west of the two villages, now following a newly-created route from Tiffield. The road joins the M1 London to Yorkshire motorway at a new junction created at that time, 15A, at West Hunsbury, Northampton. From Northampton to Blisworth the by-pass closely follows the trackbed of the Blisworth to Northampton railway, long since closed. The new road makes a slight detour near the Northampton arm of the canal at the 'staircase' of locks near Rothersthorpe. The road's construction followed many years of long campaigns in the two villages.
The London and Birmingham Railway, under the surveying and construction control of Robert Stephenson, bypassed Northampton and opened a station in Blisworth in 1839. In 1842, after much discussion, Lord Grafton agreed to fund a new station as long as it was a "first class" station - ie, all trains stopped at it. Ford Lane became Station Road, the location of Blisworth station. In 1845 a branch line on to Peterborough was completed via Northampton, and in 1866 a single-track line was built to Banbury. Blisworth station closed in January 1960 and both branch lines have also long since gone. The main railway line remains, electrified in the 1960s and is now part of the West Coast Main Line running 125 mph trains from London Euston to Glasgow. The Northampton Loop of the line leaves the main line at Roade, north of Roade cutting[8] and just south of Blisworth, taking trains on into Northampton and further north to re-join the main line at Rugby. The Stratford-upon-Avon and Midland Junction Railway[9] ran from Blisworth station south to Towcester, Banbury and Stratford upon Avon but closed in the 1960s. Much of the infrastructure such as cuttings and bridges remain along the route.
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