Galgate

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Galgate
A6 Galgate.jpg
A6 in Galgate, looking north
Galgate is located in Lancashire
Galgate
Galgate
 Galgate shown within Lancashire
OS grid reference SD485555
Civil parish Ellel
District Lancaster
Shire county Lancashire
Region North West
Country England
Sovereign state United Kingdom
Post town LANCASTER
Postcode district LA2
Dialling code 01524
Police Lancashire
Fire Lancashire
Ambulance North West
EU Parliament North West England
UK Parliament Lancaster and Fleetwood
List of places
UK
England
Lancashire

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Galgate /ˈɡɒlɡət/ is a village in the City of Lancaster, just south of Lancaster University, and about 3 miles (4.8 km) south of Lancaster itself in the English county of Lancashire.

Etymology

The name Galgate is from Old English Gal-gata, meaning the road to Scotland. Another, similar view is that the name is a shortening of Galloway Gate, i.e. the road to Galloway. A popular opinion within Galgate is that it stands for Gallows Gate, the last village which condemned people passed through before reaching Lancaster and their place of execution.

Transport

The A6 Preston to Lancaster road runs north-south through the centre of the village, and junction 33 of the M6 is nearby.

A major railway from Preston to Lancaster passes on a viaduct over the village. The village once had its own station (Galgate railway station) but it closed in 1939 and now the nearest station is Lancaster.

The Lancaster Canal also runs through the village and has a marina for narrowboats.

Industry

Galgate once had a thriving silk industry and many of the installations still stand. One story told, is that because the rhubarb grown locally was used for dyeing the silk, Galgate's community newsletter is named 'Rhubarb City News'. Rhubarb is a prolific plant in Galgate, but this idea that it was used to dye silk seems to have no evidence to support it.

Community

Due to its proximity to the Lancaster University campus, some students choose to rent houses in the village. There are at least two buses an hour towards Lancaster and Garstang.

Residents in Galgate worked to raise money to build a new village hall, between the football pitch and the cricket ground, on the recreation field behind the Plough Inn. This opened in August 2012.

Each year, the Galgate Gaslight and Horticultural Society holds an annual village show (the 2011 show marked the 150th anniversary of the society).

Research for an investment company in 2011 claimed that Galgate was the third best place in England and Wales to bring up children.[1]

People

In July 2002 ten-year-old Jade Slack, who was visiting a friend in the village, died of a drug overdose. She became the UK's youngest[citation needed] ecstasy victim after taking five of the tablets, believing them to be sweets.[2] Former Radio 4 Gardener's Question Time panellist Fred Downham is a long-term resident of the village. Alan Milburn, Blairite minister, lived in the village whilst studying at Lancaster University.

References

  1. (26 September 2011) "Where is the best place to live in England and Wales", Channel 4 News, retrieved 9 December 2011
  2. (17 September 2003) "Couple cleared of killing Jade", BBC News, accessed 16 April 2015

External links