Waterlooville

Waterlooville is a town in Hampshire, England approximately 8 miles north of Portsmouth.

The town has a population itself of about 10,000 and is surrounded by Purbrook, Blendworth, Cowplain, Lovedean, Clanfield, Catherington, Crookhorn, Denmead, Hambledon, Horndean and Widley. It forms part of the South Hampshire conurbation. The old A3 London to Portsmouth road still goes through the town.

The town is twinned with Maurepas, Yvelines in France and Henstedt-Ulzburg in Germany.

History

Legend has it that it was named after the pub that stood at the centre of town, then known as Waitland End. The Heroes of Waterloo was named because on its opening day a long column of weary soldiers, who had just disembarked at Portsmouth returning home from the Battle of Waterloo in 1815, decided to stop there and celebrate their victory. According to local legend, many of them settled there; at any rate the public house was renamed in their honour and the area around the pub became known as Waterlooville.

The original "Heroes" public house was at a crossroads near the main bus-stop. A new pub has taken the name and is located at the northern end of the shopping precinct.

The local electrical shop, called Eric Jackson's Ltd, has been open since 1928 and is the oldest retailer in the town. The business now in its 3rd generation was started by Eric, then Michael and is now run by Peter Jackson.

The town centre was closed to traffic in 1981 when a bypass was constructed to take traffic away from the main shopping area. An underpass was constructed for pedestrians walking up along the Hambledon road. Between 1982–83 the old road was then fully converted to a pedestrian precinct. The bypass, initially anonymous, was named Maurepas Way sometime after the two towns were twinned in 1995.

In 2002 the local council allowed developers to build the Hambledon Road Retail Park and associated car park over the established primary pedestrian route. This resulted in pedestrians and cyclists having to negotiate the busy car park in order to do their regular business in town.

Near the town centre is the rebuilt St George's church. During the 1950s and 1960s the surrounding area saw extensive growth in housing, when large suburban public and private housing estates were constructed. This resulted in the original Victorian church failing to cope with the population growth. Plans for a new church were started and in 1970 the new church was built on the site of the old church. Parts of the old church were retained.

In July 2011 the town saw the consecration of its first Roman Catholic Church. For the preceding eighty years the growing Catholic community in the town had utilsed at first one aisle of, and ultimately the entire of the chapel at St Michaels convent. However the decision of the sisters of Our Lady of Charity to sell the main convent site coupled with the inadequate capacity led to a new church being required. The new church which is dedicated to "The Sacred Heart and St Peter the Apostle" sits to the north of the town centre on London Road.

Community

Transport

The main shopping precinct is served by First in Hampshire & Dorset bus routes 40/X40, 41, 45 and 45A, and Stagecoach services 37 and 39. The A3 Bus Corridor priority route (constructed between 2003–2007) serves the town. As of 2006^[update], the shopping precinct is closed to all road traffic other than buses.^[1]

The nearest train station is located in Bedhampton^[2] and is on the main train route between London and Portsmouth. For a time, South West trains provided a direct bus link to Petersfield railway station via Horndean, enabling quick access to fast London-bound trains, but now the link to Petersfield is Stagecoach service 37 via Clanfield. Havant railway station is served by Stagecoach service 39, and stations in Portsmouth by First services 40/X40, 41, 45 and 45A. For westbound trains the station at Cosham, served by the local bus services, is on the line between Portsmouth and Fareham.

Sport

The town's senior non-league football side is Havant & Waterlooville F.C. The team was drawn against Liverpool FC in the FA Cup in the 2007/08 season. Liverpool won the match 5-2, after Havant & Waterlooville had taken the lead with a goal from Richard Pacquette in the 8th minute. With Havant & Waterlooville F.C. twice leading Liverpool, the match was promoted by the English FA as a fine example of what the FA Challenge Cup is all about. Waterlooville also has a swimming pool which is home to Havant & Waterlooville Swimming Club. Waterlooville Cricket Club play their home games at Jubilee Park, they run 3 Saturday sides and have a thriving youth setup. They currently compete in Hampshire League division 1.

Hordean Hawks are based in Horndean, Waterlooville and who entered the Portsmouth Saturday Football League for the 1st time in the season 2010 to 2011, won the Division 3 Championship and the Len Day Cup at the 1st attempt.

Politics

The town is within the Borough of Havant and includes the Waterloo, Hart Plain, Cowplain, and Stakes wards.

The town is partly within 3 parliamentary constituencies Meon Valley constituency the current MP being the Conservative George Hollingbery, East Hampshire, the current MP being the Conservative Damian Hinds, and Havant with the MP being David Willetts, also a Conservative.

GEC Marconi built a site at Waterlooville for their Underwater Systems in the early 1980s, for the Stingray anti-submarine torpedo. A peace camp was set up near the construction site. After completion of the GEC building, a free music festival was held at Old Park Farm in Waterlooville called Torpedo Town. A second Torpedo Town festival was held in August 1987 at Bramdean Common near Winchester.

Development

Much of Waterlooville as well as Purbrook, Cowplain and Horndean, has 'spread' out from London Road. However to the west of Waterlooville and Purbrook, (the area bordered by Hambledon Road and London Road) contains much undeveloped land. As a result the centre of Waterlooville borders fields to the west just a few hundred meters away, while to the north, east and south it is bordered by housing estates and Cowplain and Purbrook respectively. This is due to the fact that Waterlooville, which is part of Havant Borough Council, is bordered by Winchester City Council and so has hindered any plans in the past. This is much evident with the lack of street lights on a stretch of Hambledon Road between Denmead and Waterloovlle.

However as of 2009, years of planning and joint involvement of Havant and Winchester councils are now becoming to fruition with the 'West of Waterlooville Major Development Area' housing scheme, starting with Maurepas Roundabout, being enlarged to accommodate for a new road and increased traffic that comes with the new homes. As of August 2009, major works have not begun on the main area of development, but construction is well underway on an attached development, on the site of Old Park Farm, opposite the Falcon Pub and nearby shops.

Education

Waterlooville contains ten primary schools: Morelands Primary School, Meadowlands Junior and Infants School, Padnell Infants and Junior School, Hart Plain Infants and Junior schools, Stakes Hill Infant School, Hulbert Junior School, Waite End Primary School, Purbrook Junior School, Queens Inclosure Primary and St. Peter's Catholic Primary.

It contains five secondary schools: Horndean Technology College, Cowplain Community School, Oaklands Catholic School, Purbrook Park School (Language College) and The Crookhorn College of Technology.

There are two colleges, Oaklands Catholic Sixth Form College and South Downs College.

Notable residents

• Michael Giles, drummer, King Crimson, born Waterlooville
• Beatrice Shilling, aeronautical engineer, born Waterlooville
• Simon Whitlock, darts player, born Cessnock, Australia

External links

• Waterlooville local information

References