18 Facts About Rugeley

Rugeley is twinned with Western Springs, Illinois and, in July 1962, the towns made telephone history on national television when the chairman of Rugeley Urban District Council made the first telephone call via the new Telstar satellite to the Mayor of Western Springs.

Rugeley was considered royal land and Cannock Chase was considered a royal forest.

In 1189, Rugeley was sold to the Bishop of Lichfield and Coventry by King Richard I the Lionheart.

In 1532, the manor of Rugeley was inherited by the Chetwynd family who held it until 1764.

Rugeley was an agricultural community for hundreds of years and held regular sheep, cattle and horse fairs.

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St Augustine's Church in Rugeley has memorials to the Levett family, who live at nearby Milford Hall and who established the Rugeley Home and Cottage Hospital on Church Street in 1866.

Major roads into Rugeley are the A460 from Wolverhampton and the A51, via Tamworth, Lichfield to Stone before going through Nantwich and ending at Chester.

Some parts of Rugeley can receive good signals from the Waltham transmitting station near Melton Mowbray in Leicestershire, which carries BBC East Midlands and the East Midlands variant of ITV Central.

Many years up to 1980, Rugeley had its own newspaper: the Rugeley Times, published from Bow Street.

However, on the fringes of Rugeley there is more affluence, and some of the older Georgian streets including the conservation area of Crossley Stone or waterfront properties along the Trent and Mersey Canal.

Methodist church of Rugeley is named after St Paul and located close to the town centre on Lichfield Street.

Rugeley has a modern swimming pool and leisure centre, opened 2006 on Burnthill Lane.

Rugeley has a number of well known high street names like Boots, Argos, Greggs, Costa Coffee, McDonald's, Burger King, Subway Restaurant, Tesco and Morrisons among other well known retailers.

The Chase has many activities including hiking, camping, mountain bike trails and the local Go Ape which is located at Birches Valley, Rugeley which is the centre of both the Forestry Commission and Forest Live outdoor annual concerts.

Rugeley has a state-of-the-art health centre off Sandy Lane, a replacement for its predecessor on Horsefair.

Rugeley Rose Theatre is a theatre and community centre in Taylors Lane.

Rugeley suffered an increase in unemployment when Lea Hall Colliery closed in 1990.

Rugeley's future looks set to benefit from the recent closure and demolition of the power station.