Bedworth

Bedworth is a market town in the Borough of Nuneaton and Bedworth, Warwickshire, England. It is situated between Coventry, 5.5mi to the south, and Nuneaton, 3mi to the north. In the 2001 census the town had a population of 32,268.GeographyBedworth lies 101mi northwest of London, 19mi east of Birmingham and 15mi north northeast of the county town of Warwick.Bedworth has six main suburban districts, namely Collycroft, Mount Pleasant, Bedworth Heath, Coalpit Field, Goodyers End and Exhall. Exhall is a generic name for the area surrounding junction 3 of the M6 motorway, comprising parts of both Bedworth and Coventry. Much of what is now considered Exhall within south Bedworth is also referred to as Hayes Green by locals and on older maps of the area.The River Sowe rises in Bedworth flowing through Exhall, northern and eastern Coventry, Baginton and Stoneleigh, before joining the River Avon south of Stoneleigh.HistoryOriginally a small market town with Saxon origins, Bedworth developed into an industrial town in the 18th and 19th centuries, due largely to coal mining and the overspill of ribbon weaving and textile industries from nearby Coventry. The opening of the Coventry Canal in 1769 and later, the railway in 1850 enhanced the town's growth. Bedworth was for many years primarily a coal mining town, but the last colliery was closed in 1994. In the middle of the 19th century, the large number of public houses, and thirsty miners lead to the town being called 'Black Bedworth'.