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UttoxeterUttoxeter is a market town in East Staffordshire, in the Midlands of England. Population is approximately 12,000. The main employers in Uttoxeter are JCB, makers of agricultural machinery, and Elkes biscuit factory. Also nearby is Alton Towers Theme Park, and the Peak District national park. Uttoxeter racecourse holds regular race meetings, over hurdles. The most famous event to have occurred in Uttoxeter is the penance of Samuel Johnson. Johnson's father ran a bookstall on Uttoxeter market, and young Samuel once refused to help out on the stall. When Johnson was older, he stood in the rain (without a hat) as a penance for his failure to assist his father. This event is commemorated with the Johnson Memorial, which stands in the Market Place, in the town centre. The town also saw the last surrender (Royalist to Parliamentarian) of the English Civil War in 1646. At one time it was also the terminus of a branch of the Caldon Canal (aka the Uttoxeter Canal), although most signs of this, apart from an area of Uttoxeter called "The Wharf", have now disappeared - largely through the canal having been used in the 19th Century as the route of a new railway. External links
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