If
you stick a pin in the center of a map of England,
then it will be close to the town of Burton-upon-Trent.
Burton straddles the Roman road Rykneld Street (A38),
half way between the cities of Lichfield and
Derby, in the rural county of Staffordshire.
The town is also on the edge of the new 'National
Forest', an area of 200square miles, where a new
forests are been planted.About 5 miles away to the south west of Burton near the village of Alrewas is the new 'National Memorial Arboretum', this is well worth a visit and has moving tributes to wartime service men.
As the town name suggests, Burton straddles the river Trent, with the river Dove near by. In 1777 the 'Trent and Mersey' canal was opened, this now carries many holiday makers through Burton, (Do stop and have a look around)
Entry into the town by road from the south west, brings you through the village of Branston. Said to be the home of the famous pickle.
As a Salvationist and a teetotaler, I can not fully support the famous
industries of Burton.
But you can not mention Burton and neglect its heritage, the brewery
trade.
In its heyday, the early 1900's, when there was 31 breweries. The brewery
and their associated trades, employed a large majority of the town folk.
But with changing times, mergers, closures, modernisation etc. the two
remaining breweries of 'Coores' (formally Bass & Ind Coope) and
'Marston's' are still major employers, but not the only employers in
the town.
Burton now has a wide variety of trades. But with the closures and running
down of some other large business there is a lot of unemployment in
the town. But on the good side we have recently had 'Toyota' build a
car plant on the outskirts of Burton.