Located in the county of Warwickshire, and around halfway between Birmingham and Leicester, is the town of Atherstone.

Geographically, Atherstone is situated along the Roman road known as Watling Street which stretched from the Kent coast to Shropshire, a large section of which is now the A5. It is around a mile away from the village of Mancetter, a former Roman settlement which is speculated to be the location of the defeat of Queen Boudica circa 60 or 61 AD.

At the heart of the town is St Mary's Church, dating from the 12th century, with various sections rebuilt up to the 18th century. In 1246 a market charter was granted to Atherstone by Henry III.

In 1485 Henry Tudor, who later became King Henry VII, rested in Atherstone the night before defeating Richard III at Bosworth Field. Accounts say Henry stayed in a pub on Long Street, while his 11,000-strong army camped in a meadow north of the church. After victory on the battlefield, Henry effectively ended the Wars of the Roses by uniting the houses of Lancaster and York with his marriage to Elizabeth of York, thus beginning the Tudor era.

By the late 16th century, Atherstone had become an industrial town and home to several trades including leather, cloth, metalworking and brewing. The arrival of the Coventry Canal in 1769 gave Atherstone a link to neighbouring towns and cities. The canal is open to this day with a walkable stretch located just over the road from the town centre.

In 1847 the railway arrived in Atherstone courtesy of the London and Northwestern Railway. Today this is situated on the West Coast Main Line running between London Euston and Glasgow Central and Edinburgh Waverley. Central Birmingham is accessible via train in just under an hour (with a change at Tamworth or Nuneaton) and direct trains to London Euston take just under 90 minutes.

Atherstone hosts an annual event known as the Atherstone Ball Game. This tradition dates all the way back to 1199 when a match took place between Warwickshire and Leicestershire. Today the game is a free-for-all played on Long Street between 3 and 5pm on Shrove Tuesday. Hundreds compete and the winner is declared at 5 o'clock with the title going to the person who has possession of the ball when the whistle sounds. The only rule is participants are not allowed to kill each other!

👇 SUBSCRIBE TO 4K EXPLORER FOR NEW VIDEOS EVERY WEEK 👇
[ Ссылка ]

Filmed: 14th July 2022

Link to the walk on Google Maps: [ Ссылка ]

Filmed on a Sony FDR-AX700 with a Zhiyun Crane 2 and a Sony ECM-XYST1M Stereo Microphone.

TIMESTAMPS:

0:00 Long Street
2:46 Church Street
4:00 St Mary's Church
4:24 Sheepy Road
5:04 Market Street
6:41 Long Street

свернуть