The original settlement of Crewe lies to the east of the modern town and was historically a township in the parish of Barthomley.

[5][6] The original settlement formally changed its name to Crewe Green in 1984 to distinguish it from the newer town to its west.

It has been suggested that their motivation was to prevent the rival Great Western Railway building a station on the site, but the available evidence indicates otherwise.

[12] "Described just before his retirement as 'the King of Crewe', Webb came to exercise control over the working lives of over 18,000 men - one third of the total LNWR workforce.

[14] In November 1889, the borough council debated a motion which accused LNWR managers of working with Crewe Tories "to crush Liberalism altogether out of the town": "... by intimidation and persecution of your Liberal workmen, and by making the chances of promotion depend upon subserviency to the Tory political demands of the Management, they have created a state of political serfdom in the works.

"[14] In December 1889, Liberal statesman William Ewart Gladstone wrote a letter to the Chronicle condemning the company's behaviour in the town.

The railway also opened a cheese market in 1854 and a clothing factory for John Compton who provided the company uniforms, while McCorquodale of Liverpool set up a printing works.

[37] Like most of the United Kingdom, Crewe has an oceanic climate, with warm summers and cool winters and relatively little temperature change throughout the year.

[38] The railways still play a part in local industry at Crewe Works, which carries out train maintenance and inspection.

There is still an electric locomotive maintenance depot to the north of the railway station, operated by DB Cargo UK.

[43] The factory used to produce Rolls-Royce cars, until the licence for the brand transferred from Bentley's owners Volkswagen to rival BMW in 2003.

Off-licence chain Bargain Booze is also Crewe-based; it was bought-out in 2018 by Sir Anwar Pervez' conglomerate Bestway for £7m,[44] putting drinks retailing alongside its Manchester-based Well Pharmacy.

Nantwich Road provides a wide range of secondary local shops, with a variety of small retailers and estate agents.

There are three large car parks nearby and Crewe bus station is a five-minute walk from the shopping centre.

A planned redevelopment of Crewe's town centre, including the current bus station and main shopping area, was abandoned because of "difficult economic conditions" during 2008.

[46] Cheshire East Council developed a new regeneration master plan for Crewe,[47] which included the opening of a new Lifestyle Centre, with a new swimming pool, gym and library.

However on 4 October 2023, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced the cancellation of this phase of the HS2 development at the Conservative Party Conference.

The station is served by several train operating companies: Crewe is on the A500, A530 and A534 roads; it is located less than 5 miles (8 km) from the M6 motorway.

The museum has three signal boxes and an extensive miniature railway with steam, diesel and electric traction.

Crewe has six Anglican churches, three Methodist, one Roman Catholic (which has a weekly Mass in Polish) and two Baptist.

There is a multiplex Odeon cinema on Phoenix Leisure Park on the edge of the town centre, as well as a Mecca bingo hall and a Tenpin bowling alley.

[65] Local news and television programmes are provided by BBC North West and ITV Granada from the Winter Hill TV transmitter.

The college also provides educational programmes for adults, leading to qualifications such as Higher National Diplomas (HNDs) or foundation degrees.

The campus offers undergraduate and postgraduate courses in five areas: business and management, contemporary arts, exercise and sport science, interdisciplinary studies, education and teacher training.

In 2013, the club won its first major silverware after beating Southend United 2–0 in the EFL Trophy final at Wembley.

From the early 1980s, Crewe Alexandra built a reputation for developing young players through its youth ranks: England internationals Geoff Thomas, Danny Murphy, David Platt, Rob Jones and Dean Ashton, plus Northern Ireland's Neil Lennon and Steve Jones, and Wales's Robbie Savage and David Vaughan all passed through the club.

Among their earlier most notable home-grown players was Frank Blunstone, born in the town in 1934, who was transferred from The Alex to Chelsea in 1953 and went on to win five England caps.

[75] Crewe Kings riders included Phil Crump (father of Jason Crump), Les Collins (brother of Peter Collins), Dave Morton (brother of Chris Morton), Geoff Curtis, John Jackson, Jack Millen and Dave Parry.

[76] The Crewe Railroaders are the town's American football team, currently competing in the BAFA Central League Division 2 and the subject of the film Gridiron UK, which premiered at the Lyceum Theatre on 29 September 2016.

They skate at Sir William Stanier Leisure Centre and compete with skaters and teams from all over the North West.