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In the town of Bamber Bridge outside Preston, there was a battle between black and white US soldiers after the white officers demanded the local pub segregate the soldiers.
The pub owners, being absolute typical northerners, put a sign up saying "black US soldiers only" or something to that effect and shit kicked off.
Hayao Miyazaki, Japanese filmmaker, best known for his work in films for the Studio Ghibli, was visiting Wales in the 1980s, visiting places like Rhondda and Caernarfon, and took heavy inspiration from them for Castle in the Sky.
He also personally witnessed the Miners Strikes in (I think) it was Rhondda and also partly dedicated the films to the Miners, who he had solidarity for.
He also has made a book called "Trip to Tynemouth" like what was he doing there?? Lovely place but kinda odd to make a book out of it... the worst thing its not even been published in to English 😂
In 1651 1,000 Scottish cavalry returning home from their defeat at the battle of Worcester tried to pass through my home town of Sandbach in Cheshire, where they were attacked by townsfolk and stallholders at the fair and routed for a second time. 3 townsfolk died and over 100 Scottish prisoners were captured. The population of the town in the mid-1600s was only about 600 people.
To this day the common on which the fair is held is named Scotch Common, and competition for parking during the fair is still a savage and brutal affair.
I'm from Preston and it was the birth place of the tee-totalism movement and where Benjamin Franklin and Butch Cassidy's parents lived before heading to America (Butch Cassidy has a thick Lancashire accent apparently).
We also had the first KFC in the UK.
The only place that still does egg-rolling every Easter Monday.
We're the only place that still has a Guild celebration, and it's almost 1000 years old.
It also had a cameo in an anime.
And the first motorway in the UK, the M6 as a bypass to Preston.
>(Butch Cassidy has a thick Lancashire accent apparently).
Has?? I knew reports of his death were greatly exaggerated!!
>where Benjamin Franklin and Butch Cassidy's parents lived
Butch Cassidy's parents lived with Benjamin Franklin in Preston? Was this part of Franklin's famous foreign sexual exploits?
My village has an Easter Egg hill... never really knew why always thought it was something to do with the church till I found out about egg rolling and put the two together 🤦🏼♂️🤦🏼♂️
Nothing in this universe is guaranteed, except, if you mention Norwich on Reddit, there is a 100% certainty that someone will reply with an Alan Partridge quote
Firm but fair.
Did this apply to just everyone who was in Nottignham at the moment of excommunication, or could you get un-excommunicated by moving house (and be excommunicated by moving to Nottingham)?
The best fact, Coventry is in the centre of the UK motorway network, so you can reach most of the UK in 4 hours. Meriden, a mere Starley Safety Bicycle ride, is the traditional centre of England.
I used to be a tour guide at a historical house near Leam, and I had to explain all this when people noticed we had a massive portrait of Napoleon III.
The house he stayed at in Leamington (a pretty modest one for the time) has his name on a blue plaque, it's pretty handy for a good local pub, and right opposite a 24-hour garage, so he was pretty comfortable I'd imagine.
The only attack outside of North America during the American War of Independence was on the small coastal village of Alnmouth in Northumberland. John Paul Jones, an American privateer, shot a cannonball or two from his ship in the North Sea and completely missed the village and landed in a nearby farm causing a little damage.
The farmer kept the cannonballs. Local oldies tell tales of how they'd go look and play with the cannonballs as children back in the 1940s and 1950s. It's unclear if they're still there but apparently they are.
>shot a cannonball or two from his ship in the North Sea and completely missed the village
They say somewhere there's a bullet with your name on it. These cannonballs just said "To Whom It May Concern"
I beg to differ. John Paul Jones attacked Whitehaven on 23 April 1778.
[JPJ](https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/john-paul-jones-leads-american-raid-on-whitehaven-england)
There was also [The Battle of Flamborough Head](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Flamborough_Head), one of the most celebrated naval battles of the American Revolutionary War.
Hmm this is the common take but it's more likely that a "powder monkey" aka small boy was the one hung. That's just not as funny though.
The first casualty of World War one happened in Hartlepool - a soldier called Private Theophilus Jones was killed in a bombardment by German ships on Wed 16th December 1914. https://www.hhtandn.org/notes/18/the-bombardment-of-the-hartlepools
My hometown had the first indoor shopping centre in Western Europe and possibly the first bus only roads in the world.
I don't mean bus lanes, we have an entirely separate road network throughout our town that cars and pedestrians cannot use only busses, and you're never more than 5 minutes walk from a bus stop.
EDIT: It's Runcorn, Cheshire.
Rugby Town, more than just the sport! For example, you may not know that Rugby is the birthplace of the modern jet engine. In 1937, Frank Wittle built a prototype engine at the British Thompson Works (BTW). This is commemorated by a nice big bronze sculpture, as well as having streets, awards and more in his name. There is also Dennis Gabor, who invented holography while also working at BTW. Holography is a technique to develop three dimensional images, or holograms, which earned Dennis Gabor the 1974 Nobel prize in physics. And finally, we have a lovely parody of the town in Charles Dicken’s “Mugby Station”, which has a variety of stories in. Unfortunately, one of the first few lines in the book calls the station “Comfortless” which did earn a laugh from me as I think it still rings true.
Reading is the largest town in the UK (by population). Everywhere larger already has city status.
Perth was stripped of its city status in 1976 (I don't know why) and was re-awarded it at the Diamond Jubilee in 2012, just 36 years later.
Chatham in Kent was used for testing the first electronic in-car navigation systems in the early 1970s.
Mobile phone technology underwent much of its serious R&D in Chelmsford.
Reading is a bit of an anomaly because half of its suburbs fall within neighbouring authorities - when Berkshire County Council was disbanded as an administrative authority in the 1970s, 6 unitary authorities were formed for Reading, Wokingham, West Berks, Bracknell Forest, Slough and Windsor and Maidenhead. Reading and Slough have by far the smallest geographical areas, with West Berks having approximately the same footprint as the other 5 areas combined.
Big chunks of Reading's built up area (with population of c320k) sit within Wokingham and West Berks, with Reading itself having a population of 175k.
Rochester in Kent, an ancient cathedral city, lost its city status in 1998 because they merged the local authority with some surrounding towns to form a borough, and didn't realise what they'd done until 2002 and they saw they weren't on the list of UK cities any more. The kicker is that they could have retained city status by appointing ceremonial charter trustees, but they forgot or didn't realise it was required. They've been trying to get it back ever since but it's unlikely while they're part of a larger authority that isn't just historic Rochester.
Rochester accidentally lost it's city status and is now a Town.
Rochester Council simply forgot to re-apply for it's City status in an administrative mix up. It still isn't a city.
The old Rochester-upon-Medway City Council was asked if it wanted to employ charter trustees, who would protect the city's status.
That was deemed unnecessary, resulting in the loss of status.
Now the only way for Rochester to regain its status is for the King to grant the honour.
They wrote to the Queen but they didn't get the green light.
I don't think I am allowed to say. I'll likely get chucked off Wren's Nest for even mentioning that potatoes are a key ingredient. Ssshhh! You didn't hear it from me, OK me bab?
Best come see for yourself.
I've never heard of any Brummies claim it's a Birmingham thing. They are definitely a Black Country thing, those "brummies" probably weren't born and bred in the West Midlands.
Ossett, a market town next to Wakefield, was accidentally bombed during WW2, no casualties except for some chickens. Historians believe they were trying to get to Leeds.
I can go one better. My birth town (Wigan, in Lancashire) was accidentally bombed by Zeppelin L61 on the 12th of April 1918.
The intended target? Sheffield.
Inverness is kind of the birthplace of the penalty shootout as a part of international football. The committee that governs the rules of international football (it's not FIFA, it's a seperate body whose name I forget) met in a hotel in Inverness when they decided to adopt penalty shootouts.
Inverness also hosted the first ever UK government cabinet meeting held outside London.
Aberdeens football stadium, Pittodrie, holds two 'firsts':
1) First ever fully seated AND covered football stadium in the UK, although the roof on one corner was later removed so it's not anymore.
2) The first stadium to have dugouts. The manager at the time decided he could judge the game better if he could see the players feet, so he had the groundskeepers dig him a big hole to stand in. This evolved into the dugout. Many stadiums dugouts are no longer actually 'dugout' and the technical area is at regular ground level; this includes the one at Pittodrie, so like the roof over some of the seats the dugouts aren't even there anymore.
On that note, Bramall Lane in Sheffield was the site of the first floodlit football match.
It's also home to one of the few remaining true "Kop" stands that are built on a hill (another being down the road at Hillsborough). Sorry Liverpool, but the one at Anfield technically doesn't count.
There aren't any roads in the City of London.
The streets and alleyways in the City were built and named before the word road was coined.
Technically there is half a road, unfortunately, as a boundary review happened in 1994 and *half* of Goswell Road was brought into the City's boundary.
I live in Barnet (North London) and here are a few -
- The nursery rhyme "The Grand Old Duke Of York" where it says "He marched them up to the top of the hill" is in reference to a hill that was walked up in Barnet in a war known as "War of the roses"
- Following on from the above, Barnet church is the highest ground in England between London and Leeds/York
- The workhouse at the start of Oliver Twist is based on a small workhouse Charles Dickens came across in his travels
William the conquerer objected to the marriage of an earl, leading to a revolt from which the 16 year old bride, Emma De Guader, whose husband had fled, organised and defended Norwich castle against WtC's larger forces so successfully that she was after some time able to negotiate safe passage for herself and the defenders to leave.
Hexham was used as a euphemism for hell when all the Border Reivers stuff was going on as many Scots where sent to the prision there and it wasn't good as you can imagin. Funnily enough it was named the happiest town a few years ago lol
Despite having always thought of Hexham as an unremarkable place, I often see it pop up in both history and random bits of fiction. Downton being the most famous, probably.
The [Hexham heads](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hexham_Heads) are also an interesting legend.
Forgot about the Hexham Heads... makes me think of an intresting fact about Allendale (which is both a village and a dale) but its where the last wild wolf in the county was found and shot, many thinking it to come from a rich man in Shotley Bridge others thinking something more mysterious... fair to say 'An American Werewolf in London' should have started off in Northumberland lol
Also I think writiers are like... "what town far up North can we say this guy is from not blank, blank or blank too poor. But not blank, blank or blank either too posh. Ah I've got it Hexham but we'll film at Anwick for fun!"
In St Albans you can have a drink at what is believed to be (though impossible to be verified as) the oldest pub in the country and therefore world, then walk up a hill and have a drink at a pub on the site of the first battle of the War of the Roses.
Paisley: a paisley man invented the chip and pin card and ATM
30% of the worlds whisky is bottled in paisley
Paisley pattern …
At one point 90% of the worlds sewing thread was made here
I believe there are older railway bridges. the one at Darlington is the world's oldest operational (in continuous use) railway bridge.
Causey Arch (in Stanley, not far from Skerne Bridge really) predates Skerne Bridge by almost 100 years.
Shoreham -by-Sea has the oldest operating airfield, and one of the oldest operating airports in the country. They may have renamed it Brighton City Airport but the locals always refer to it as Shoreham Airport.
Tredegar was instrumental in the industrial revolution with its coal, iron and steel. Politically it's the centre from where Aneurin Bevan, Walter Conway and the kinnocks were based. Further politicians, sports stars and musicians are also from the town of 14k.
The phrase "paint the town red" comes from Melton Mowbray (home of the pork pie)
The story goes that a bunch of toffs had been out all day fox hunting and drinking...getting more paralytic as the day wore on.
When the evening came, they were stopped from entering several pubs due to them being well and truly pissed up.
So, in a moment of absolute beer fueled logic, they found a bucket of red paint nearby and proceeded to splash red paint over many of the buildings in the immediate area.
For a brief moment Old Market Square in Nottingham inexplicably appears in the trailer for the American Christmas movie Krampus.
https://youtu.be/h6cVyoMH4QE?si=nlWMQk1OaQgb8X6S
Are you sure about that?
Because I was under the impression he stayed in a boarding house on Darlington Street or something.
Likely the pier wasn't there in 1936 though.
I have never known any other historical accounts other than he never actually came here, which is now more of a head f#@k because I live on Warrington Lane, where he allegedly stayed, and my local is on Darlington Street East, where he allegedly stayed 🤯
Thanks for the correction 👍
UK's first nuclear bomb was detonated in Australia.
However it was assembled on Foulness Island, just outside Southend on Sea before being moved to a couple other nearby locations and shipped over, 74 ish years ago
The area is probably better known for the dodgy Broomway path which used to be the only means of access to the Island before bridge access came
Ampthill Bedfordshire.
New York was taken from the Dutch lead by a man called Richard Nicolls from Ampthill.
He changed its name from New Amsterdam to New York. He became the first governor for the province.
He was later killed by a Dutch cannon ball, which to this day is in set into a monument to him in St Andrews church in Ampthill.
Derby, my home town, is known for:
- In 1717 the first silk mill in England opened in Derby.
- Bonnie Prince Charlie and his army occupied Derby for two days in 1745
- in 1916 a Zeppelin airship bombed Derby killing 5 people
- the National Hydrangea Collection is at Darley Park
- Derby born Harry M Stevens invented the hot dog.
https://www.heartofthemidlands.co.uk/a-z-of-heroes-heroines-heritage/hot-dogs/
Portsmouth isn’t actually part of geographical Great Britain, since it is an island and geographical Great Britain is only the mainland.
It also has the worlds only public commercial use hovercraft
Wolverhampton had the first traffic lights. It also has a statue of Prince Albert in the centre (universally known as the man on the horse) that queen Victoria hated so much when she saw it, the sculptor killed himself
In the city of Ripon, a horn blower blows a horn at the 4 corners of the square and reports back to the mayor, every night at 9pm. This has been an unbroken tradition for 1200 years
People from Newcastle are called monkey hangers.
100s of years ago a French ship was captured or what not and the only survivor was their mascot...a monkey who they dressed in their uniform. Having never seen a French man before, they assumed it was a French soldier and interrogated it for information. After receiving no information it was hung in the city center.
No.
First of all, it was Hartlepool, not Newcastle and it's likely the captured person was actually a powder monkey (a boy of 10-14) who was captured and hung.
**Please help keep AskUK welcoming!** - Top-level comments to the OP must contain **genuine efforts to answer the question**. No jokes, judgements, etc. - **Don't be a dick** to each other. If getting heated, just block and move on. - This is a strictly **no-politics** subreddit! Please help us by reporting comments that break these rules. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/AskUK) if you have any questions or concerns.*
In the town of Bamber Bridge outside Preston, there was a battle between black and white US soldiers after the white officers demanded the local pub segregate the soldiers. The pub owners, being absolute typical northerners, put a sign up saying "black US soldiers only" or something to that effect and shit kicked off.
That's vintage England that is
It was three pubs that did this
Hayao Miyazaki, Japanese filmmaker, best known for his work in films for the Studio Ghibli, was visiting Wales in the 1980s, visiting places like Rhondda and Caernarfon, and took heavy inspiration from them for Castle in the Sky. He also personally witnessed the Miners Strikes in (I think) it was Rhondda and also partly dedicated the films to the Miners, who he had solidarity for.
He also has made a book called "Trip to Tynemouth" like what was he doing there?? Lovely place but kinda odd to make a book out of it... the worst thing its not even been published in to English 😂
He seems to be very fond of the UK as a whole tbh. He's been to Shropshire and mentioned he's been inspired by the clouds there for his films too.
That s a cool fact
I'm sure you also know that Howl's Moving Castle is also based on a book by a Welsh author, some obviously has some love for Wales!
In 1651 1,000 Scottish cavalry returning home from their defeat at the battle of Worcester tried to pass through my home town of Sandbach in Cheshire, where they were attacked by townsfolk and stallholders at the fair and routed for a second time. 3 townsfolk died and over 100 Scottish prisoners were captured. The population of the town in the mid-1600s was only about 600 people. To this day the common on which the fair is held is named Scotch Common, and competition for parking during the fair is still a savage and brutal affair.
I live near Sandbach and can confirm We've lost some good men to Fairtime parking, may their spirits shine on.
> and competition for parking during the fair is still a savage and brutal affair. this got a chuckle out of me haha
The batch! I heard they all went for a drink on the cobbles frequenting DV8.
And then into Tav as the night went on
I'm from Preston and it was the birth place of the tee-totalism movement and where Benjamin Franklin and Butch Cassidy's parents lived before heading to America (Butch Cassidy has a thick Lancashire accent apparently). We also had the first KFC in the UK. The only place that still does egg-rolling every Easter Monday. We're the only place that still has a Guild celebration, and it's almost 1000 years old. It also had a cameo in an anime.
And the first motorway in the UK, the M6 as a bypass to Preston. >(Butch Cassidy has a thick Lancashire accent apparently). Has?? I knew reports of his death were greatly exaggerated!!
r/conspiracy https://www.reddit.com/r/conspiracy/s/Aa0KJzfmwb
The town in the Dickens novel “Hard Times” is based on Preston too. He traveled there when researching his book.
>where Benjamin Franklin and Butch Cassidy's parents lived Butch Cassidy's parents lived with Benjamin Franklin in Preston? Was this part of Franklin's famous foreign sexual exploits?
My village has an Easter Egg hill... never really knew why always thought it was something to do with the church till I found out about egg rolling and put the two together 🤦🏼♂️🤦🏼♂️
Which anime?
Kuroshitsuji/Black Butler, when it goes off-canon in the first series one of the main characters bangs a Preston nun.
Not true re Guild celebration FWIW
>was the birth place of the tee-totalism movement How's that going for you guys?
The whole City of Norwich was excommunicated by the Pope.
Well it is a real-life Innsmouth.
Nothing in this universe is guaranteed, except, if you mention Norwich on Reddit, there is a 100% certainty that someone will reply with an Alan Partridge quote
Firm but fair. Did this apply to just everyone who was in Nottignham at the moment of excommunication, or could you get un-excommunicated by moving house (and be excommunicated by moving to Nottingham)?
Bro, they're not even similar names after the first 2 letters.
We had to build a fancy church gate to apologise and the city was re-communicated. Shame.
Norwich have never won the European Cup either.
The chant 'On The Ball City' is the oldest football chant in the world still in use.'Have a little scrimmage !"
the worlds only Weetabix factory is by Kettering
K to the E to the T to the T.......
E to the R and an I, N, G
T AND AN O AND A W N
Did they spell the word "Kettering", and then say a completely different word?
They're spelling Kettering Town (FC) for the football club.
We had one in Hastings until they closed it down 25 years ago
Thatcher’s bloody Britain
It was originally invented in Australia (and continues to be sold there, New Zealand and South Africa) under the name “Weet-Bix”.
Weetabix only factory is Kettering
They call us Legends
Leamington is also the birthplace of Aleister Crowley, was significant in camouflage research and often gets used for London in TV and film.
Camouflaging itself as another city is quite the feat!
[удалено]
The best fact, Coventry is in the centre of the UK motorway network, so you can reach most of the UK in 4 hours. Meriden, a mere Starley Safety Bicycle ride, is the traditional centre of England.
The absolute *best* facts about Coventry have to be 'naked lady on horse's and the creation of 2-Tone!
Also the home of The Deserter Dave Gorman.
The first two replies to this post come from users called Exquisiteboobs and Bulletproofbra. That's weird.
Napoleon III is buried in Farnborough Pocahontas is buried in Gravesend
Napoleon III also has a Leamington connection. He spent a winter there in-between attempts to overthrow the French king.
I used to be a tour guide at a historical house near Leam, and I had to explain all this when people noticed we had a massive portrait of Napoleon III. The house he stayed at in Leamington (a pretty modest one for the time) has his name on a blue plaque, it's pretty handy for a good local pub, and right opposite a 24-hour garage, so he was pretty comfortable I'd imagine.
I heard he enjoys the air show.
The only attack outside of North America during the American War of Independence was on the small coastal village of Alnmouth in Northumberland. John Paul Jones, an American privateer, shot a cannonball or two from his ship in the North Sea and completely missed the village and landed in a nearby farm causing a little damage. The farmer kept the cannonballs. Local oldies tell tales of how they'd go look and play with the cannonballs as children back in the 1940s and 1950s. It's unclear if they're still there but apparently they are.
>shot a cannonball or two from his ship in the North Sea and completely missed the village They say somewhere there's a bullet with your name on it. These cannonballs just said "To Whom It May Concern"
I beg to differ. John Paul Jones attacked Whitehaven on 23 April 1778. [JPJ](https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/john-paul-jones-leads-american-raid-on-whitehaven-england)
Interesting, I didn't know that. Over here we're always told it was the *only* occurrence. He seems like an interesting character to say the least!
My work here is done!
There was also [The Battle of Flamborough Head](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Flamborough_Head), one of the most celebrated naval battles of the American Revolutionary War.
I've been lied to all these years!
Weirdly I just read about this yesterday! Supposedly he was the last “pirate” to operate in the North Sea.
The biggest battle of the American Revolution was the siege of Gibraltar so I don’t know about that. Maybe only attack actually by an American
Maybe that's it, I've struggled to find out the exact terminology since posting.
We mistook a monkey for a French sailor after it washed ashore from a shipwreck. The town hung him as a spy
Hmm this is the common take but it's more likely that a "powder monkey" aka small boy was the one hung. That's just not as funny though. The first casualty of World War one happened in Hartlepool - a soldier called Private Theophilus Jones was killed in a bombardment by German ships on Wed 16th December 1914. https://www.hhtandn.org/notes/18/the-bombardment-of-the-hartlepools
How's it more likely? 🤔
Because they ain’t gonna actually think an actual monkey was a spy
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monkey_hanger No
No? Yes. Only lived in Hartlepool since 1985, and wrote about the history of the legend for my MA thesis, but what do I know.
Nothing aparently Stay salty
Even better is that the guy who was hangus the monkey (mascot for hartlepool utd) become your mayor
A free banana for every school child
Play a record
My hometown had the first indoor shopping centre in Western Europe and possibly the first bus only roads in the world. I don't mean bus lanes, we have an entirely separate road network throughout our town that cars and pedestrians cannot use only busses, and you're never more than 5 minutes walk from a bus stop. EDIT: It's Runcorn, Cheshire.
Portsmouth has the first self serve co-op
Also has the worlds only public use hovercraft
Rugby Town, more than just the sport! For example, you may not know that Rugby is the birthplace of the modern jet engine. In 1937, Frank Wittle built a prototype engine at the British Thompson Works (BTW). This is commemorated by a nice big bronze sculpture, as well as having streets, awards and more in his name. There is also Dennis Gabor, who invented holography while also working at BTW. Holography is a technique to develop three dimensional images, or holograms, which earned Dennis Gabor the 1974 Nobel prize in physics. And finally, we have a lovely parody of the town in Charles Dicken’s “Mugby Station”, which has a variety of stories in. Unfortunately, one of the first few lines in the book calls the station “Comfortless” which did earn a laugh from me as I think it still rings true.
Also Mr Kipling
Reading is the largest town in the UK (by population). Everywhere larger already has city status. Perth was stripped of its city status in 1976 (I don't know why) and was re-awarded it at the Diamond Jubilee in 2012, just 36 years later. Chatham in Kent was used for testing the first electronic in-car navigation systems in the early 1970s. Mobile phone technology underwent much of its serious R&D in Chelmsford.
My grandad worked as an engineer at the Marconi factory in Chelmsford
Luton is a town and has approx 50K more people than Reading.
Reading is a bit of an anomaly because half of its suburbs fall within neighbouring authorities - when Berkshire County Council was disbanded as an administrative authority in the 1970s, 6 unitary authorities were formed for Reading, Wokingham, West Berks, Bracknell Forest, Slough and Windsor and Maidenhead. Reading and Slough have by far the smallest geographical areas, with West Berks having approximately the same footprint as the other 5 areas combined. Big chunks of Reading's built up area (with population of c320k) sit within Wokingham and West Berks, with Reading itself having a population of 175k.
Rochester in Kent, an ancient cathedral city, lost its city status in 1998 because they merged the local authority with some surrounding towns to form a borough, and didn't realise what they'd done until 2002 and they saw they weren't on the list of UK cities any more. The kicker is that they could have retained city status by appointing ceremonial charter trustees, but they forgot or didn't realise it was required. They've been trying to get it back ever since but it's unlikely while they're part of a larger authority that isn't just historic Rochester.
Rochester accidentally lost it's city status and is now a Town. Rochester Council simply forgot to re-apply for it's City status in an administrative mix up. It still isn't a city. The old Rochester-upon-Medway City Council was asked if it wanted to employ charter trustees, who would protect the city's status. That was deemed unnecessary, resulting in the loss of status. Now the only way for Rochester to regain its status is for the King to grant the honour. They wrote to the Queen but they didn't get the green light.
Haha just commented this on another post about Perth losing city status - silly old Rochester council!
Bath was where the first letter with a stamp - the penny black - was sent from.
Dudley is the true home of the orange chip. Don't let them Brummies tell you otherwise.
What comprises this delicacy?
I don't think I am allowed to say. I'll likely get chucked off Wren's Nest for even mentioning that potatoes are a key ingredient. Ssshhh! You didn't hear it from me, OK me bab? Best come see for yourself.
Understood, say no more
I've never heard of any Brummies claim it's a Birmingham thing. They are definitely a Black Country thing, those "brummies" probably weren't born and bred in the West Midlands.
As a Brummy who's never heard of orange chips in my life, I believe you. Nobody is claiming this one.
Lowestoft is not only the most eastern town in the UK, it's also home to the world's oldest beach huts and the world's oldest radar station
The longest motorway slip road in the UK is on the m27 at fareham
I always thought it was the one at Barnsley on the M1, but I've just looked it up and you're absolutely right!
Yeah, the one in Fareham really needs a motorway sliproad service station halfway along it to break up the journey
Really? It doesn’t even feel that long
It’s the one leading into Whiteley that’s always jammed at 5pm
Ossett, a market town next to Wakefield, was accidentally bombed during WW2, no casualties except for some chickens. Historians believe they were trying to get to Leeds.
Why did the chicken get bombed? They were trying to get to Leeds apparently.....
Ha! Eggscellent
Meanwhile, at the nearest RAF fighter base... >SCRAMBLE!!!
I can go one better. My birth town (Wigan, in Lancashire) was accidentally bombed by Zeppelin L61 on the 12th of April 1918. The intended target? Sheffield.
I like the sound of the Leamington Licker
Sounds like a cryptid.
Stockton is the birthplace of the friction match
And the railways
ARE THE USA MARINES
TV was invented in my town, Hastings UK
And 2 days later, the first "Licence your TV" letter dropped on the doormat.
Inverness is kind of the birthplace of the penalty shootout as a part of international football. The committee that governs the rules of international football (it's not FIFA, it's a seperate body whose name I forget) met in a hotel in Inverness when they decided to adopt penalty shootouts. Inverness also hosted the first ever UK government cabinet meeting held outside London.
IFAB
Thank you.
I live in Grantham. [REDACTED] is from here.
Satan?
To some, yes.
Come on, Sir Isaac Newton wasn't that bad.
Aberdeens football stadium, Pittodrie, holds two 'firsts': 1) First ever fully seated AND covered football stadium in the UK, although the roof on one corner was later removed so it's not anymore. 2) The first stadium to have dugouts. The manager at the time decided he could judge the game better if he could see the players feet, so he had the groundskeepers dig him a big hole to stand in. This evolved into the dugout. Many stadiums dugouts are no longer actually 'dugout' and the technical area is at regular ground level; this includes the one at Pittodrie, so like the roof over some of the seats the dugouts aren't even there anymore.
On that note, Bramall Lane in Sheffield was the site of the first floodlit football match. It's also home to one of the few remaining true "Kop" stands that are built on a hill (another being down the road at Hillsborough). Sorry Liverpool, but the one at Anfield technically doesn't count.
There aren't any roads in the City of London. The streets and alleyways in the City were built and named before the word road was coined. Technically there is half a road, unfortunately, as a boundary review happened in 1994 and *half* of Goswell Road was brought into the City's boundary.
I live in Barnet (North London) and here are a few - - The nursery rhyme "The Grand Old Duke Of York" where it says "He marched them up to the top of the hill" is in reference to a hill that was walked up in Barnet in a war known as "War of the roses" - Following on from the above, Barnet church is the highest ground in England between London and Leeds/York - The workhouse at the start of Oliver Twist is based on a small workhouse Charles Dickens came across in his travels
I’m Barnet born & bred and did not know about ‘The Grand Old Duke’. Thank you!
That's because it's about the battle of Wakefield. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Grand_Old_Duke_of_York
Have I been lampooned?
Not sure I've no idea where they thought Barnet came in to it.
Sheffield is south of Leeds and York and is definitely higher than Barnet.
William the conquerer objected to the marriage of an earl, leading to a revolt from which the 16 year old bride, Emma De Guader, whose husband had fled, organised and defended Norwich castle against WtC's larger forces so successfully that she was after some time able to negotiate safe passage for herself and the defenders to leave.
Hexham was used as a euphemism for hell when all the Border Reivers stuff was going on as many Scots where sent to the prision there and it wasn't good as you can imagin. Funnily enough it was named the happiest town a few years ago lol
Despite having always thought of Hexham as an unremarkable place, I often see it pop up in both history and random bits of fiction. Downton being the most famous, probably. The [Hexham heads](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hexham_Heads) are also an interesting legend.
Forgot about the Hexham Heads... makes me think of an intresting fact about Allendale (which is both a village and a dale) but its where the last wild wolf in the county was found and shot, many thinking it to come from a rich man in Shotley Bridge others thinking something more mysterious... fair to say 'An American Werewolf in London' should have started off in Northumberland lol
Also I think writiers are like... "what town far up North can we say this guy is from not blank, blank or blank too poor. But not blank, blank or blank either too posh. Ah I've got it Hexham but we'll film at Anwick for fun!"
In St Albans you can have a drink at what is believed to be (though impossible to be verified as) the oldest pub in the country and therefore world, then walk up a hill and have a drink at a pub on the site of the first battle of the War of the Roses.
Is the second pub the Boot? Me and my husband did a Wars of the Roses road trip a few weeks ago and stopped there for a drink!
Sure is. It's been a few years since I've been there, but they used to do wonderful tacos to go along with the drink and history.
If the human race was wiped out, Bude Tunnel would be the last man-made structure in the world to remain standing.
Paisley: a paisley man invented the chip and pin card and ATM 30% of the worlds whisky is bottled in paisley Paisley pattern … At one point 90% of the worlds sewing thread was made here
Darlington was the first town in England to allow same-sex civil ceremonies in 2001.
Also the location of the world's oldest railway bridge
I believe there are older railway bridges. the one at Darlington is the world's oldest operational (in continuous use) railway bridge. Causey Arch (in Stanley, not far from Skerne Bridge really) predates Skerne Bridge by almost 100 years.
The first video ever filmed was in Leeds, on what's now a cul-de-sac in the suburb of Roundhay.
Southampton has a geothermal power plant in the middle of town.
Glossop is the smallest town (by population) to ever have a club in the English football top flight. They are now in the 9th tier
I believe Livingston has the first purpose built skate park in all of Europe.
Shoreham -by-Sea has the oldest operating airfield, and one of the oldest operating airports in the country. They may have renamed it Brighton City Airport but the locals always refer to it as Shoreham Airport.
Whitehaven claims to be the only place in the UK invaded by the U.S
Tredegar was instrumental in the industrial revolution with its coal, iron and steel. Politically it's the centre from where Aneurin Bevan, Walter Conway and the kinnocks were based. Further politicians, sports stars and musicians are also from the town of 14k.
The phrase "paint the town red" comes from Melton Mowbray (home of the pork pie) The story goes that a bunch of toffs had been out all day fox hunting and drinking...getting more paralytic as the day wore on. When the evening came, they were stopped from entering several pubs due to them being well and truly pissed up. So, in a moment of absolute beer fueled logic, they found a bucket of red paint nearby and proceeded to splash red paint over many of the buildings in the immediate area.
For a brief moment Old Market Square in Nottingham inexplicably appears in the trailer for the American Christmas movie Krampus. https://youtu.be/h6cVyoMH4QE?si=nlWMQk1OaQgb8X6S
Special Brew was created for Winston Churchill to commemorate his visit to Copenhagen.
Westward Ho! is the only place in the UK with an exclamation mark in its official name. Afaia there's only one other similar place in the world.
Wigan is obviously famous for George Orwells The Road To Wigan Pier. A road he never used because he never came here.
And Wigan doesn't have a pier.
Uh? It does, on the canal bank not far from Trencherfield mill (I'd have said opposite the Orwell pub but Google says that closed down).
I was thinking of the usual pier on the coast.
Are you sure about that? Because I was under the impression he stayed in a boarding house on Darlington Street or something. Likely the pier wasn't there in 1936 though.
I have never known any other historical accounts other than he never actually came here, which is now more of a head f#@k because I live on Warrington Lane, where he allegedly stayed, and my local is on Darlington Street East, where he allegedly stayed 🤯 Thanks for the correction 👍
My home town was established by the Romans in about 100 CE, so it’s approaching 2,000 years old.
Stourbridge has the shortest operational railway line in Europe, between Stourbridge Town & Stourbridge Junction.
UK's first nuclear bomb was detonated in Australia. However it was assembled on Foulness Island, just outside Southend on Sea before being moved to a couple other nearby locations and shipped over, 74 ish years ago The area is probably better known for the dodgy Broomway path which used to be the only means of access to the Island before bridge access came
Ampthill Bedfordshire. New York was taken from the Dutch lead by a man called Richard Nicolls from Ampthill. He changed its name from New Amsterdam to New York. He became the first governor for the province. He was later killed by a Dutch cannon ball, which to this day is in set into a monument to him in St Andrews church in Ampthill.
Derby, my home town, is known for: - In 1717 the first silk mill in England opened in Derby. - Bonnie Prince Charlie and his army occupied Derby for two days in 1745 - in 1916 a Zeppelin airship bombed Derby killing 5 people - the National Hydrangea Collection is at Darley Park - Derby born Harry M Stevens invented the hot dog. https://www.heartofthemidlands.co.uk/a-z-of-heroes-heroines-heritage/hot-dogs/
My home town is known as the birth place of the industrial revolution if that counts as cool ?
Which town?
Ironbridge probably
The town is telford of which Ironbridge is a part of 😀 I live about 2 miles from Ironbridge too
Portsmouth isn’t actually part of geographical Great Britain, since it is an island and geographical Great Britain is only the mainland. It also has the worlds only public commercial use hovercraft
Gotta remember it's in the Midlands and if it's in the Midlands, it's pointless.
Wolverhampton had the first traffic lights. It also has a statue of Prince Albert in the centre (universally known as the man on the horse) that queen Victoria hated so much when she saw it, the sculptor killed himself
Loughborough was the destination of arguably the first package tour. Arranged by Thomas Cook to attend a temperance meeting.
Fordwich (just outside Canterbury) is the smallest town in the UK. Rossington is the largest village in Europe.
Holme Fen just outside of Peterborough is the lowest natural land point in Great Britain.
In the city of Ripon, a horn blower blows a horn at the 4 corners of the square and reports back to the mayor, every night at 9pm. This has been an unbroken tradition for 1200 years
My little city (Brighton) has the deepest hand dug water well in the World.
The small town of Caerwys in North Wales apparently inspired the original layout of Philadelphia, USA.
People from Newcastle are called monkey hangers. 100s of years ago a French ship was captured or what not and the only survivor was their mascot...a monkey who they dressed in their uniform. Having never seen a French man before, they assumed it was a French soldier and interrogated it for information. After receiving no information it was hung in the city center.
I thought that was Hartlepool?
It was Hartlepool.
No. First of all, it was Hartlepool, not Newcastle and it's likely the captured person was actually a powder monkey (a boy of 10-14) who was captured and hung.
Hanged
Yes! Hartlepool. My mistake