Rugby

Rugby School is one of England's oldest and most prestigious public schools, and was the setting of Thomas Hughes's semi-autobiographical masterpiece Tom Brown's Schooldays. A substantial part of the 2004 dramatisation of the novel, starring Stephen Fry, was filmed on location at Rugby School.

In the 19th century, Rugby became famous for its once hugely important railway junction which was the setting for Charles Dickens's story Mugby Junction.

The town also inspired Thomas Hughes, (author of Tom Brown's Schooldays) to set up a colony in America, for the younger sons of the English gentry, who couldn't inherit under the laws of primogeniture. He named the town Rugby. The town of Rugby, Tennessee, still exists today.

Rugby has always been a centre for the surrounding farming communities, and a weekly cattle market continued to be held in the town until 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 now demolished Rugby Radio Station would have been the radio station that would broadcast a firing message for Britain's nuclear submarine Polaris, should it have been necessary, according to declassified information. The radio station was key in linking London to New York.

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.

Rugby Local Council website

Rugby has major rail and road networks close by, a large reason for attracting industry, such as Rugby Cement to the region.

By train:

1 Rugby railway station. Rugby is often the reason accredited to why Rugby expanded to a size greater and engulfed the nearby village of Dunchurch. The railway station is mainly used for freight and commuters to and from nearby cities for work with an annual usage 1.6 million people; despite this Rugby enjoys one of the best and latest railway stations in the country, consisting of 6 platforms. (updated Oct 2022)

Rugby railway station is located less than a mile from the town centre (the Clock Tower), with the entrance to Rugby School about 400 yards further on.

Upon exiting the station, the town center can be accessed by walking up the hill the station is located on. On the large roundabout at the top, turn right on to Clifton Road (Lawrence Sheriff school will be on your right), the town center can be accessed by walking onwards.

Situated on the West Coast main line there are express services to and from London Euston approximately hourly operated by Avanti West Coast. The typical journey time is 51 minutes. There are direct services to Liverpool, Holyhead, Manchester and Glasgow, in the weekday peak hours. Advanced booking of tickets and travel outside of peak periods (6-10AM, 4-8PM) is strongly recommended to avoid the highest fares. Booking is strongly advised.

London Northwestern Railway operate train services also, note that these are slower than Avanti West Coast services and stop frequently. Although London Northwestern Railway trains are comfortable, Avanti West Coast are preferable and it is often cheaper to buy "Avanti West Coast Only tickets". Services by London Midland include services terminating at Birmingham New Street, Liverpool Lime Street, Crewe and London Euston. See [1] for live departure boards.

By road:

Rugby's central location in England has resulted in an excellent road network.