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I know the name of the person that sprayed "happy Xmas" on Lytham windmill. And also the name of the person that sprayed "Tim + Sharon" on the bowling green wall in Ashton Park, Preston.
Talking of Dickens, he stayed at the Bull & Royal on Church Street during the mill lockouts in the 1800s and used his experiences as the basis for "Hard Times". The Bull & Royal is still trading.
And on the subject of pubs, the city's Black Horse is the only pub in the UK with 3 public entrances on 3 different streets.
And talking of streets, there's a row of red telephone boxes on market street is the longest continuous row of the old style kiosks in the country.
And also the name of the person that sprayed "Tim + Sharon" on the bowling green wall in Ashton Park, Preston.
it, err, wasn't "Tim" by any chance was it 😉
Sticking with Dickens, the Cheeryble brothers in Nicholas Nickleby were based on the Grant Brothers in Ramsbottom, after he stayed at their home. It's now a pub called the Grants Arms
Ghandi stayed in Darwen when he visited England.
We are only a Town but better known as Smack City.
We are a good 10 miles from Burnley (Thank F-ck)
Our Council Estates are the dumping ground for all of Blackburns Scum.
Blackburn keep trying to re-name us Blackburn South (No ****in Chance)
We have our own Jubilee Tower on our very own Darwen moors which for some foooooookin reason TV reporters keep refering too as "The Moors Above Blackburn" Arghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh Knobs.
Fortunately Darwen has no inbreds but unfortunately has plenty of Dickheads.
Darwen has a large inferiority complex, mainly aimed towards Blackburn and Burnley.
Where am I?
first king of england was crowned there
only natural hot springs in the country
home of mbuk
Winchester
Widest High Street in Europe.
JK Rowling was born here.
The Queen got stuck up the road near here.
Now for an obvious one!
The river only flows one way. 🙂
Bath. But the first King of England fact is wrong. Well, open to interpretation.
Rudeboy - be a good chap & go get your ladders of the church 😉
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India Mill chimney in Darwen is based on the Campanille in Venice.
footstomper - you a Darrener too, then?
Corby doesn't have a train station. I thought that was the biggest town without one???
Darwen Tower is actually thunderbird 3.
footstomper - nix that, I know who you are now! lol!
Looks like you're right Tim, if the 2001 census is anything to go by.
Alright, I'll replace that with....
The spinning Jenny was invented in Leigh.
Our most famous resident has just fathered a child by his nanny. His wife's not too pleased as she had headphones on when he announced it was an open marriage (allegedly).
Elgin used to be on the coast and Lossiemouth was an island.
The moor where I live has been used as a hiding place for the remains of murdered children. And you can get some people proper angry by informing them correctly that it's not in Yorkshire.
swingers capital of the country in the 70's due to high influx of IT workers!
thanks IBM!
nothing happend since.
We're riding on the moor where AndyP lives tonight. And we will ensure it remains in Lancashire
We have the world's longest continuous parliment though those suffering under Gordon Brown may feel they have.
Snowslave...are you local?
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Manchester. Home of Vimto.
Biggleswade is where the first proper bike was made.........Apparently!
Vimto. Anagram of vomit.
[i]Vimto. Anagram of vomit. [/i]
One of only 2 words in the English language which feature an invisible 'P' too. (Hamster being the other)
AndyP, local to Manchester
Edinburgh is home to the office of "the Association of Master Bakers".
No joke.
As far as I know, Glasgow has the highest murder rate in Europe 🙁
Who says Vimpto?
Anyway, I used to live in the town where they filmed the League of Gentlemen. That documentary series popular a few years ago, widely mistaken for a comedy series.
It's near Glossop in Derbyshire which had (at the time) the highest crime rate per head of population in the UK.
Who says Vimpto?
People who say it properly
Who says 'Hampster'?
Proof, if ever it was needed, that 8.76 out of 10 facts are made up on the spot.
Sheffield, home of Basset's Allsorts.
Top of the Pops was originally broadcast by Jimmy Savile from a deconsecrated church on Dickenson Road, Rusholme, Manchester.
Jimmy Savile was a racing cyclist in his day, having competed in 300 races (including the 1951 Tour of Britain).
Salford is an older city than Manchester, in spite of many people believing it is just another 'burb of the great Manc sprawl.
Oldham, home of the tubular bandage
AndyP - you saying Saddleworth's not in Yorkshire... oooh! fighting talk! 😀
Chesterfield is famous for it's crooked spire, Jo Guest and not much else
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[i]
It is important to distinguish two elements in the spire’s ‘crookedness’ : The inclination and the twist. It is unfortunate that most people use the word ‘crooked’ unhelpfully, combining the above two features.
The inclination (lean) is due to a number of factors: the use of unseasoned (green) timber, the absence of skilled craftsmen (Black Death) and the neglect of cross-bracing.
The spiral twist is considered to be by design.[/i]
That last sentence I've only just found out, despite having grown up there!
If Cardinal Wolesey hadn't annoyed Henry VIII the new university would have been built in Ipswich not Cambridge.
At the turn of the 19/20 centuries at least 1 in 3 Ipswich males had been around both Capes (Horn and Good Hope).
It's not as flat around here as people think as most of my local rides have 400m of ascent in them.
OK some more facts -
I was originally from Saddleworth, so.....
The Wrigleys family were from Saddleworth, one of their sons went to America to make his fortune and made Wrigleys chewing gum.
Platt Brothers in Oldham, were the manufacturers of Spinning machines. They sold the rights to make/sell their machines to a Mr Toyoda in Japan. He then formed the Toyota Motor Company from the proceeds.
Bernard Cribbins is from Oldham
Eric Sykes was from Oldham
Phil Larder, the former England Rubgy coach, used to be the PE teacher at Saddleworth School (when my older brother went there).
(OK I admit it they're not obvious at all!)
More Dickens-related facts: Frederick Dickens - Charles Dickens' beloved scapegrace brother is buried in the West Cemetery in Darlington.
L**ds is the largest town in England to have no interesting facts about it whatsoever.
The University of Cambridge was established well before Henry VIII was born, although he did alter their focus.
Where I live has a 1940's War Weekend every year and it grinds the town to a halt. All thanks to a poxy steam railway. 👿
The Wrigleys family were from Saddleworth, one of their sons went to America to make his fortune and made Wrigleys chewing gum.
Along with Nuclear Submarines, Wrigleys is now one of Plymouth's most famous products. When the wind blows the right way my local cheeky trails smell of juicy fruit.
Also Plymouth was the location of quite surely the most boring and depressing stage ever of the TDF: to celebrate the new cross channel ferry link with Roscoff via Brittany Ferries (originally set up by a conglomerate of Breton farmers as a means of getting there wares over here), they shipped the whole 'caravan' over here in 1974 and went up and down the newly-finished A38 Plympton bypass three times. Yes, a straight (and at the plymouth end there is nearly a cat 1 climb: woo!) three lane dual carriageway up and down for a bit. I am so proud to live here.
Far better though is Newnham park being here too, and that back in the day Tinker Juarez could be seen 'loosening up' riding past my house (2 miles away!) before races.
[i]AndyP - you saying Saddleworth's not in Yorkshire... oooh! fighting talk! [:-D] [/i]
I most certainly am. Have at ye
(dusts off Wars of the Roses reenactment gear ready to give another yorkie a good kicking) 😉
[i]Who says 'Hampster'?
Proof, if ever it was needed, that 8.76 out of 10 facts are made up on the spot. [/i]
8.76 out of 10 people do. The correct 8.76 out of 10, natch.
Essex. It's sh*t. 'tis a fact 🙂
Thornton, birthplace of the Brontes. To cycle out to the moor I have to go through Egypt, the Walls of Jericho, Jerusalem and Moscow
Blackpool has more hotel beds than Portugal.
Back in 1879, Blackpool holidaymakers stood in awe of EIGHT arc lamps, an experimental display described as artificial sunshine. The first street lighting in the whole world.
Coronation Street weddings are held at the church in Prestwich, next door to the Church Inn, where the great Hit the North plot was hatched.
St.Ives whilst it does not have as many facts as nearby Cambridge, is the home of the rhyme
As I was going to St Ives
I met a man with seven wives
Each wife had seven sacks
Each sack had seven cats
Each cat had seven kits
Kits, cats, sacks, wives
How many were going to St Ives?
It also has a chapel on the bridge with purple neon lights inside but is generally a bit average.
[i]As I was going to St Ives
I met a man with seven wives[/i]
seven [b]knives[/b], you fool.
As I was going to St Ives
I met a man with seven wivesseven knives, you fool.
And how do you propose these knives carry seven sacks?
Michigan is the Hockey capital of the USA,
Home to 1/3 of the worlds fresh water,
You are never more than 5 miles from a lake or large body of water,
Has more coastline than the rest of the country,
And today I saw sunshine, rain, hail, and snow all in the same day...
Julianwilson my home town produces most of the nuclear submarines for our navy and emlyn Hughes was born there too
Swindon is the birthplace of both the Railways and the National Health Service.
[i]And how do you propose these knives carry seven sacks? [/i]
[b]racks[/b]. Knife racks. Magnetic ones.
The Mill below our house was Charles Dickens' inspiration for Oliver Twist
MrNutt - MemberSwindon is the birthplace of both the Railways and the National Health Service.
swindon is a shit hole
Swindon is the birthplace of both the Railways and the National Health Service.
says who?
Home to the oldest football team (Sheffield FC) and the team that has been at their current ground the longest (Hallam FC).
Sheffield FC is in Dronfield
I like where I live; an hour by bike to the Peaks, lots of local good stuff, 24 minutes to Manchester, and the chippies are the bestest in the world. In fact, some claim that the worlds first chippy was here...
These used to be built where I live.
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racks. Knife racks. Magnetic ones.
I'm lost here, is this your own version. 😀
Joe none of the colleges at Cambridge are as old as the university, hence the Ipswich fact(?) Good old Wolesey got as far as building a gate and then quite lost his way!
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To have been a rival to Oxbridge but for his downfall
It's one of only 5 Chartist settlements built as a new model village for the oppressed working classes in 1847.
Idea was great, just did''t work though
every house had 3 or 4 acres to be self sufficient plus school house, meeting house store & chapel.
But people moving out from the northern working cities who won the lottery for each house just could'nt take it
Shame really could have been great modern utopia
Sandwich my point was that the uni was founded, and some of the colleges (Peterhouse 1281 I think) before Henry VIII was born so he couldn't really have unfounded it. I did my 3yrs there, albeit at an ex-ladies college!
Most of these were made in my hometown...
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also this famous boat was made here,despite the sea being about 30 miles away.....
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That's what happens when I rely on local dodgy folklore. 😳
While we're on a Dickens theme The Great White Horse Hotel was mentioned in the Pickwick Papers after he stayed there. It's a Starbucks now 😡
Wells once had 3 railway stations. But since 1963 it's had none.
The cathedral astronomical clock is amazing: [url= http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wells_Cathedral_clock ]Click[/url]
Derby's Bold Lane multi-storey car park was once voted one of the top 10 most secure places in the world, alongside Fort Knox, Air Force One and Area 51!
As recently as the 1970s the district of where coolhandluke lives had one of the highest proportions of derelict land, mainly in the form of slag heaps left over from coal mining
Nice!
[url= http://www.bbc.co.uk/wiltshire/content/articles/2008/06/27/nhs_swindon_60th_feature.shtml ]BBC says Swindon birthplace of NHS[/url]
and also, there are the "seven wonders of Swindon"
which are:
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1: The Tower of Brunel
Originally known as the David Murray John Building, this 88 storey collosus is not only the highest building in Wessex but it also has a very reasonably priced cafeteria. For more information, [url= http://www.jasperfforde.com/swindon/7ws_1.html ]click HERE[/url]
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2: The Hanging Baskets of Babbington
Surely one of Swindon's finest areas of horticultural calm, the famous hanging baskets of Babbington draw in excess of 70,000 visitors a year. For more details, [url= http://www.jasperfforde.com/swindon/7ws_2.html ]click HERE[/url]
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3: The Double Helix of Carfax
Not only the first stressed spiral concrete construction in the world, but also the inspiration for Frank Lloyd Wright's clearly inferior Guggenheim museum in New York. To learn more, [url= http://www.jasperfforde.com/swindon/7ws_3.html ]click HERE[/url]
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4: The Lighthouse on Alexandra Road
Constructed during the Great Global Warming Scare of 1832, this famous Swindon landmark is unique for being the only lighthouse in the world invisible from any navigable waterway. More details, [url= http://www.jasperfforde.com/swindon/7ws_4.html ]click HERE[/url]
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5: The Statue of Vavoom at the Bus Station
Just one of eight bronze colossi that once lined the procession route to the 1980 Swindon World Fair, the statue of local celebrity Lola Vavoom has to be seen to be believed. To learn more, [url= http://www.jasperfforde.com/swindon/7ws_5.html ]click HERE[/url]
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6: The Cathedral of St Zvlkx (site of)
Despite the fact that nothing whatsoever remains above ground, the medieval cathedral that once graced this site was an equal to Chartres or York. On-site tours available. For details, [url= http://www.jasperfforde.com/swindon/7ws_6.html ]click HERE[/url]
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7: The Elgin Llamas
One of the more visible members of Swindon's spectacular urban wildlife, the demand from Peru for their immediate return is hotly contested by the City Council. For more details, [url= http://www.jasperfforde.com/swindon/7ws_7.html ]click HERE[/url]
the uni was founded, and some of the colleges (Peterhouse 1281 I think) before Henry VIII was born so he couldn't really have unfounded it.
The one I went to (Tit Hall) was founded nearly 150 years before he was born!
LOL at the swear filter getting that one (without even the right number of letters!)
Preston North End had the first black player in English football - a goal keeper in the 1890s.
The man that owns the company that makes those inflatable bananas (as well as kiss-me-quick hats) lives just outside Preston. Coincidence? I hope so.
Derby had the first factory in the world (Silk Mill), only statue of 'Bonnie' Prince Charlie in the world (this is as far south as he got)
Advanced Passenger Train was designed here.
Cricket is paid at The Racecourse and until recently football at the Baseball Ground.
Richmond Upon Thames has the only view in England protected by an act of Parliament, 1902 as it happens.
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The last formal duel ever fought in California took place in Fairfax in 1861. The town is named for an English landowner named Lord Charles Snowden Fairfax, on whose property the duel took place. In the exchange, Daniel Showalter killed Charles Piercy at a party where the insult had apparently taken place during lunch and satisfaction was reached before tea time.
PNE footy pitch used to be astro turf and the football museum is based there. Also I've met sir Tom Finney. The chap who played R2D2 in star wars lives less than two miles from me. I can see St wallburgs church from my house, an the spire is the second tallest in europe. The M6 does by pass the city. Most likey for the best. Preston isn't in the "LP" guide book to great britain. The KFC was the first in the UK. Prestons bus station is on the list of buildings you must see before you die. Preston is the newest city in the Uk. The Uni has 30,000 students making in the 6th biggest in the uk.