Tuesday, 5 March 2013 - 11:12 am (CET/MEZ) Berlin | Author/Destination: Great Britain / Großbritannien Category/Kategorie: GeneralReading Time: 5minutes
The grade II* listed Jacobean mansion of Hartwell adjoining the southwest of the town was the residence of descendant of guillotined Marie-Antoinette, Louis XVIII during his exile (1810–1814). Bourbon Street in Aylesbury is named after the king. Louis’s wife, Marie Josephine of Savoy died at Hartwell in 1810 and is buried in the churchyard there, the only French Queen to be buried on English soil.
Traditionally the town was a commercial centre with a market dating back to the Saxon period. This is because it was established on the main Akeman Street which became an established trade route linking London to the southwest. In 1814, the Aylesbury arm of the Grand Union Canal from Marsworth was opened bringing major industry to the town for the first time. At the same time the Wendover arm was built leading to nearby Wendover. By the late 19th century, the printers and bookbinders, Hazell, Watson and Viney and the Nestlé dairy were the two main employers in the town, employing more than half the total population.
Today, the town is still a major commercial centre and the market still meets on the cobbles of the old Market Square four days a week. Nestle and Hazell, Watson and Viney and US Automotive parts producer TRW have gone – the latter left the town in 2006. However three major industrial and commercial centres make sure the town has one of the lowest unemployment rates in the country.
Aylesbury Waterside Theatre, a new £42 million theatre, with 1,200 seat auditorium, opened in October 2010. In addition to this, the surrounding area is being redeveloped as part of the £100 million Waterside project. When this is completed, originally planned for June 2010, there will be 260,000 sq ft (24,000 m²) of new retail floor space and 1,100 new jobs created, although when this will be completed now is unclear.
A live music nightclub in Aylesbury was prominent in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s – renamed the Friars’ Club in 1969 – which hosted many of the top bands of the time including Jimi Hendrix, the Rolling Stones, Cream, Otis Redding, The Clash, Hawkwind, Queen, Genesis, U2, David Bowie, Marillion & The Ramones. Friars’ Club celebrated its 40th anniversary in 2009, by holding three special concerts that reflected the various phases of the club’s musical history. The first concert in June featured the Edgar Broughton Band, the Groundhogs and the Pretty Things. In October, Stiff Little Fingers, Penetration and the Disco Students appeared to celebrates the punk/new wave era. In November, Kid Creole & the Coconuts and China Crisis played.
In 2005 the town won £1million funding to be one of six Cycling Demonstration towns in England, which was match-funded by Buckinghamshire County Council. This allows Buckinghamshire County Council to promote the use of cycling amongst the general public, as well as provide facilities for cyclists, such as bike lockers, bike stands as well as Tiger and Toucan road crossings. Cycle Aylesbury, the team created to undertake the Cycling Demonstration town work, recently opened the first of their Gemstone Cycleways, which are a network of routes running from Aylesbury Town Centre to various locations around the town, including Stone, Bierton, Wendover and Watermead.