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Burton-upon-Trent, Staffordshire
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Burton-upon-Trent is
a large town straddling the River Trent in the east of Staffordshire,
England, which originally grew up around the monastery of St. Modwin.
The town has a population of 60,500 (2001 estimate). It is the
administrative centre for the East Staffordshire district.
For centuries,
Burton has been associated with the brewing industry due to the quality
of the local water. This comes from the high proportion of dissolved
salts in the water, predominately caused by the gypsum in the
surrounding hills. Much of the open land within and around the town is
protected from chemical treatment to help preserve this water quality.
The town is still home to three brewers:
Coors, a brewery from the USA which produces Bass beer under licence from Interbrew,
Marston's, now owned by Wolverhampton and Dudley Breweries, and
Bridge Brewery, a local company
A by-product of the
brewing industry, figuratively and literally, is the presence of the
Marmite factory in the town. This in turn generated the production of
Bovril. Together with the breweries this can give the area a
distinctive smell.
The development of
rail links to Liverpool enabled brewers to export their beer throughout
the British Empire. The accidental shipwreck of a cargo boat carrying
India Pale Ale (an ale specially brewed to keep during the long sea
voyage to India) resulted in barrels being washed ashore. The
popularity of these fortuitous samples resulted in the domestic
marketing of such ale, and began the gradual transformation of English
drinking tastes.
Previously,
Englishmen had drunk mainly stout and porter - dark beers flavoured
with roasted barley and similar to Guinness - but bitter (a development
of pale ale) came to predominate. This extensively hopped, lighter beer
was easier to store and transport, and so favoured the growth of larger
breweries.
Burton came to
dominate this trade, and at its height one quarter of all beer sold in
Britain was produced here. Although over 30 breweries are recorded in
1880, a process of mergers and buy-outs resulted in three main
breweries remaining by 1980: Bass, Ind Coopes and Marstons. Today
(2004) only Burton Bridge brewery remains as an independent brewer.
The fame of Burton
ales gave rise to the English euphemism "gone for a burton" meaning to
die - a World War II humorous suggestion that a missing comrade had
merely nipped out for a beer.
The town has a
non-league association football club, Burton Albion. The Burton &
District Cricket League has many notable clubs, which include among
others Lichfield Cricket Club
The Burton suburb of Branston is where the well-known Branston Pickle was invented and also has a golf course.
Claymills pumping
station on the north side of Burton is a restored Victorian sewage
pumping station, adjacent to the modern sewage works.
The town lies within the National Forest.
Photos of Burton-upon-Trent
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