Kidderminster
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Kidderminster is a town in the Wyre Forest district of Worcestershire, England. The 2001 census recorded a population of 55,182 in the town.
The modern carpet industry was founded in the area in 1785 by Brintons, and the carpet industry became extremely important to the local economy, so much so that the local newspaper is still named the Kidderminster Shuttle after the shuttles used on the carpet looms. Although much declined in recent years, the industry is still a significant employer in the area, with Brintons still employing several hundred people.
Kidderminster stands on the junction of the River Stour and the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal. The preserved Severn Valley Railway runs from the town to Bridgnorth.
Kidderminster was the birthplace of Lant Carpenter, Josiah Mason, and Rowland Hill. The Puritan minister Richard Baxter spent many years in the town, and there is a statue to him outside the church at which he was based.
It is notable that in the United Kingdom general election, 2001, the town returned Dr Richard Taylor as an independent MP for the Wyre Forest parliamentary constituency. Only a handful of independent MPs have been elected since World War II and Taylor had fought the election to protest against the proposed reduction in services at a Kidderminster hospital. He held his seat at the 2005 election, the first independent MP to do so since 1949.
Kidderminster Harriers F.C. is the town's football club, the first in the county's history to reach Football League status; however they were relegated to the Conference National after the 2004-05 season.