Rugby is a town in
Warwickshire, in the West Midlands region of England, part of the United
Kingdom.
 Rugby has
always been a centre for the surrounding farming communities, and a
weekly cattle market continued to be held in the town until April 2008,
but it was the coming of the London & Birmingham Railway in 1838
which caused a significant expansion of the town. In 1840 a junction with
the Midland Counties Railway from Leicester was completed and in
consequence major railway yards and other heavy engineering industries
developed in the town.
The
decline of heavy engineering and the downgrading of the railway facilities
led to a decline in the town. However, efforts have been made to exploit
the central location of the town to attract new businesses and
distribution centres to the area.
 Local
Attractions:
Rugby
Art Gallery and Museum - a nationally-recognised collection
exploring the Roman past (by means of remains excavated at nearby
Tripontium), Rugby's cultural heritage and the great collection of Modern
Art.
The
James Gilbert Rugby Football Museum, town centre, opposite the main
entrance to Rugby School, tel 01788 540 795, open Mo-Sa 9am-5pm,
admission free - housed in the building where James Gilbert made the very
first rugby football in 1842, this little museum is especially popular
with rugby fans. Hand-made balls are still manufactured here and the
process may be viewed by visitors from Mondays to Wednesdays.
Rugby
School,
one of the most famous private schools in the country, is close to the
town centre, but not open to the general public. A walk round its
perimeter gives an excellent view of its imposing Victorian architecture
and also of the field on which the game of rugby football was first
played.
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