Reaching the highest points is one of the great rewards of ‘getting out’. Getting to the summit provides a real sense of achievement in itself, of course, through that feeling of hard work rewarded – even if the downward trip to come might be just as challenging as the upward one completed. For most people though, the great prize of reaching the top comes from the potential for distant vistas. The stretching of horizons, the birds eye view of landscapes that are difficult to make sense of except from on high, and the chance to look down upon the world around, are all exciting and affirming experiences at the end of the climb.

But we are not all hill walkers and climbers, and reaching the highest peaks in the UK is well beyond us. The ‘County Tops’, particularly in the lowland counties may be a realisable objective, but even this is not always possible or achievable. So how can we get the reward of height in an easier way? Well, one of the (usually!) easy county extremes that can be achieved by most of us is to travel to the highest road point in the county.

If you live in one of the upland parts of the UK then the highest road will be at a considerable altitude. The highest public road in England is the unclassified road from St John’s Chapel to Langdon Beck at Harthope Moor, in the Pennines of Co Durham, which reaches 629m (Grid Reference NY86273501). In Scotland, driving along the A93 from Braemar to Spittal of Glenshee takes you over the Cairnwell Pass, which at a height of 670m is the highest public road in the UK (Grid Reference NO14157745).The highest road in Wales is the Gospel Pass, an unclassified road in Powys between Hay-on-Wye and Abergavenny, which reaches 549m in height (Grid Reference SO23653525).

But most of us do not live in the upland parts of Britain, so the highest road in our own county will be at a more modest height. The highest road in Warwickshire, for example, is the minor road from Ilmington to Hidcote which reaches ‘only’ 260m at Ebrington Hill, 10km south west of Stratford-on-Avon (Grid Reference SP18724263). In Greater London the highest point you can reach by road is on the A233 Biggin Hill to Westerham road in the North Downs which reaches 245m close to Hawley’s Corner in the Borough of Bromley (Grid Reference TQ43635648).

And which county can lay claim to the lowest highest road? Well that’s Norfolk, where the highest road reaches only 103m –it’s the minor road (Sandy Lane) which runs south from West Runton on the north Norfolk coast and passes close to the highest point on the North Norfolk Ridge (Beacon Hill) about 1km south of the village (Grid Reference TG18594131). But Norfolk has only held that record since 1974 – the highest road in the historic county of Huntingdonshire, which ceased to exist in 1974, is the B645 at Three Shires Stone west of Covington, which reaches only 81m at the county boundary with Northamptonshire (Grid Reference TL04717057).

So where is the highest road in your own county?

Corrections

Whoops! In the last blog we identified St James Church in Louth (Lincolnshire) whose spire is 89.9m tall (Grid Reference TF32668739) as having the highest steeple of any parish church in the UK. We were wrong (it happens!). While this is the tallest Anglican parish church, the tallest parish church overall in the UK is actually the Roman Catholic St. Walburge Church in Preston, Lancashire, whose spire is 94m tall (Grid Reference SD52962985). This is the third highest spire of any church in the UK, after Salisbury and Norwich Cathedrals.

 And Finally….!

The Must Get Out More Question !

Where is the longest road tunnel in the UK?

 The Answer to the Last Question

Where are the tallest church towers/spires in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland?

In Scotland the tallest church spire is St.Mary’s Episcopal Cathedral, Palmerston Place, Edinburgh Built in 1874 it is the tallest building in Edinburgh and reaches a height of 90m. (Grid Reference NT24147351). The tallest ‘parish’ church is Barclay Viewforth  Churc h of Scotland church, also in Edinburgh, which reaches a height of 76m (Grid Reference NT24947261).

In Wales the tallest church is Llandaff Cathedral in Cardiff, which is 59.4m high (Grid Reference ST15587813), while the tallest ‘parish’ church is St.Giles Church in Wrexham, in North Wales, which is 41.1m high (Grid Reference SJ33545012)

In Northern Ireland the tallest church is St.Anne’s Cathedral, Belfast which is 72m tall (Grid Reference NW46282875), while the tallest ‘parish church’ is the Roman Catholic Sacred Heart Church in Omagh, Co Tyrone, which reaches 68.6m (Grid Reference NV57903587)

 

The Record Locations

You can use the Grid References provided to locate record locations on a map at www.streetmap.co.uk

One of the most impressive features of the landscape is the distant glimpse of a church tower or spire, outlined against the sky and the horizon. In our urban areas the churches reach high above the roofscape and, despite dating in some cases back to the Middle Ages, compete with some of the most modern office and apartment blocks for the prize of being the tallest building in town. In our rural areas they are the great focus of villages and the agricultural landscape, providing witness to the centuries over which people have worked the land. They are also a great friend to the traveller, for they are easy destinations to head towards and provide a comforting promise of nearby rest and refreshment in the village pub.

Steeplechasing is now mostly associated with National Hunt horse racing, but traditionally it was a term used to describe any form of cross country sporting pursuit. Whether on foot or horseback, the ‘race’ was to be the first to reach the churches whose steeples were visible. So, steeplechasing is still something which can be done today – by car, by walking or by bike. Visiting the tallest churches in our own locality, county or region is an interesting way of exploring local histories and communities. Finding the tallest church towers or spires isn’t always easy, though, as the measured heights aren’t necessarily known or recorded.

So where are the record places in your own locality? In the West Midlands of England, a ‘steeplechase’ across the region’s six ceremonial counties in search of the tallest church towers and steeples would take in the following record places.

Herefordshire. St.Peter’s, Peterchurch has a spire that is 56.7m in height. This rural village sits in the “Golden Valley” of south west Herefordshire, 15km west of Hereford, and the church dates back to Norman times. The original spire was half removed in 1949 for safety reasons, but was replaced in 1972 with a spire built in fibreglass (Grid Reference SO34523854).

Shropshire. St Mary’s, St. Mary’s Place, Shrewsbury was founded before the 13^th century. The spire, which is 42m high, was added to the existing West Tower in the late 15^th century. The church became redundant in 1987 and is now managed by the Churches Conservation Trust (Grid Reference SJ49251264).

Staffordshire. Staffordshire’s tallest is the 76.8m high central spire of Lichfield Cathedral. The cathedral, dedicated to St Chad, the first Bishop of Mercia, has its origins in 669AD, but the present cathedral was constructed in the years following 1195 AD. The central spire was rebuilt in the late 17^th century (Grid Reference SK11500970).

Warwickshire. The county’s tallest spire is at St Gregory’s, Mill Lane, Tredington, 3km north of Shipston-on Stour, and is 64m high. The church dates from the 10^th century but is mostly 12^th-14^th century, while the unusual octagonal spire dates from the 15^th century (Grid Reference SP25924357).

West Midlands. The ceremonial county of the West Midlands, which includes the seven metropolitan boroughs of Wolverhampton, Walsall, Dudley, Sandwell, Birmingham, Solihull and Coventry, has the tallest spire in the region. The 90m spire of the original Coventry cathedral, built in the 14^th century and dedicated to St. Michael, made it the 7^th tallest church in the UK. Although the cathedral was destroyed by bombing in 1940, the tower, spire and part of the outer wall remain, sited alongside the modern Coventry Cathedral (Grid Reference SP33607900).

Worcestershire. Worcestershire’s tallest is the 62m tower of Worcester Cathedral. It is the third tower on the cathedral (the first fell down, and the second was taken down for safety reasons!), and was completed in 1374, although the origins of the cathedral are the Worcester Priory on the same site, dating from 680AD (Grid Reference SO85005450)

The tallest churches of the West Midlands are a diverse variety of cathedrals and parish churches, therefore. But where would you have to go to visit the tallest in the UK? Salisbury Cathedral, in Wiltshire has the tallest spire of all at 123m (Grid ReferenceSO14262951), while the tallest parish church is St James Church in Louth (Lincolnshire) whose spire is 89.9m tall (Grid Reference TF32668739.

And Finally….!

The Must Get Out More Question !

Where are the tallest church towers/spires in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland?

 

The Answer to the Last Question

Where in the UK is the oldest football ground in the world which is still in use?

(Hint- it isn’t a club ground in the main professional leagues in the UK!)

The oldest football ground in the world which is still in use is in Chapeltown, Lancashire, which is 5km north of Bolton in Greater Manchester. The pitch is opposite the Chetham Arms pub on High Street and is now part of the Tower Community Centre. Games were played as early as 1856, and it became the home of Turton FC from 1871. The pitch was taken over by Old Boltonians AFC in 1952. (Grid Reference SD73401580)

 

The Record Locations

You can use the Grid References provided to locate record locations on a map at www.streetmap.co.uk

For most of us late December and the New Year is a time for family, friends and festive celebration. Christmas Eve in particular brings a great sense of relief as, hopefully the shopping, wrapping, decoration and travelling is all done and the children (well, all of us actually, of course!) anticipate with excitement Father Christmas’ arrival. Obviously Santa Claus has to plan a complicated route from the North Pole to everybody’s house – so whose home is closest to Father Christmas and so perhaps most likely for early delivery and least likely to be forgotten?

Compass villages are those which are the easternmost, westernmost, southernmost and northernmost in a county, region or country. And it is the northernmost compass places that are closest to the North Pole and Father Christmas’ home. Where are the ‘Father Christmas First’ villages, therefore?

Overall in the UK it is the village of Skaw on the Isle of Unst in the Shetland Islands of Scotland (Grid Reference HP66171541).Skaw is a tiny hamlet on an island with only 630 residents, and is “only” 3230 km from the North Pole, which is quite close in terms of Santa Claus’ Christmas schedule.

In England the most northerly settlement is Marshall Meadows (Grid Reference NT97915630), a hamlet on the coast of Marshall Meadows Bay, 4km north of Berwick-upon-Tweed in Northumberland. It sits very close to the England/Scotland border, and although remote within the UK is very close to the main A1 road and also the London to Edinburgh East Coast railway line. The hamlet has a hotel, a farm, a caravan site and a few isolated houses. Marshall Meadows is 3801km from the North Pole!

In Northern Ireland the most northerly settlement is Rathlin Island (village) which lies 8km off the north coast of County Antrim (Grid Reference NR34390678). The island has a population of c75, and is a 45 minute ferry trip from the nearest mainland town of Ballycastle. Rathlin Island is 3893km from the North Pole.

And in Wales the northernmost village is Talacre, near Prestatyn, in Flintshire, which is in the ceremonial county of Clwyd (Grid Reference SJ12368452). Its population is c150, and it is principally a holiday retreat on the North wales coast. It is 4078km from the North Pole.

Closer to home you might be interested in where the northern compass village is in your own county. In Greater London, for example, the northern compass village is Bulls Cross, 2km north of Enfield. It was first recorded as a village in 1465, but is most famous today as the home of Tottenham Hotspur FC’s training ground (Grid Reference TQ34209950).

Two questions arise from all of this. Firstly, if Skaw might expect Father Christmas first, who might expect to be last on his list in the UK? Most probably it’s the southernmost village which is St Agnes in the Isles of Scilly (in the county of Cornwall), which is 4458km from the North Pole (Grid Reference SV88770720).

The second question is “who gets the New Year first in the UK?”  In practice we all get it at the same time, as the clock strikes midnight in all places at the same moment across the whole of the UK. But actually of course, the true moment of the start of a new day (and year) progresses continuously from East to West, so the place in the UK which technically gets the New Year first is the easternmost compass settlement, which is the town of Lowestoft in Suffolk (Grid Reference TM54709210). The western compass settlement is the town of Belleek in County Fermanagh in Northern Ireland (Grid Reference NV00822544), which in universal time terms actually welcomes the New Year last in the UK – if true global time was in use this would be about 45 minutes after Lowestoft!

Happy New Year!!!

 

And Finally….!

The Must Get Out More Question !

Where in the UK is the oldest football ground in the world which is still in use?

(Hint- it isn’t a club ground in the main professional leagues in the UK!)

 

The Answer to the Last Question

Where is the remotest place in England i.e. the place that is furthest from a public road?

The most remote place in England is close to the summit of Glendhu Hill in Northumberland, which is 7.627km from the nearest classified road. It is close to the Scottish border to the west of Kielder Forest.

(Grid Reference NY58008558))

 

The Record Locations

You can use the Grid References provided to locate record locations on a map at www.streetmap.co.uk

 

A popular destination for anybody seeking to ‘get out more’ is to head for the local woods. At the last count 13% of all the land in the UK is covered by woodland – 10% in England, 15% in Wales, 19% in Scotland but only 8% in Northern Ireland. At county level it is perhaps surprising that the most wooded county in the UK is Surrey (22.4%), which is on the fringes of Greater London. The least wooded ceremonial county is Cambridgeshire with just 3.6% of its land under woodland, although amongst ‘modern counties’ the title of ‘least wooded’ falls to Eilean Sar, the Western Isles of Scotland, with less than 2% woodland.

The woodlands of our own home counties provide a rich range of ‘record locations’. These include the largest woodland area, the oldest tree, the broadest tree and the tallest tree for each county – and in many counties there are also examples of ‘champion trees’, which are the tallest, broadest or oldest of their species in the UK. Visiting the tallest tree in your own county can be a quite humbling experience as you realise the age and sheer size of the largest and oldest living things on the planet.

West Sussex is the second most wooded county in the UK (21.4%) and is home to a number of champion ‘tallest trees’ . The tallest is a Giant Redwood (Sequoiadendron giganteum) which stands in woodlands at the National Trust property Nymans Gardens, Handcross, 10km south of Crawley. This specimen is 51m tall and can be ‘visited’ when Nymans Gardens is open to the public (Grid Reference TQ27152954). Giant Redwoods are, of course, a non-native species in the UK and originate from North America – in many counties, though, they are the tallest trees to be found, having been popular additions to grand country estates during the 19^th century. West Sussex, interestingly, is also home to the tallest native tree in the UK, a specimen of the European Beech (Fagus sylvatica).  The tree is also in National Trust woodlands, on the Devil’s Dyke estate at Newtimber Holt, Newtimber, which is 5km north of Brighton on the South Downs. The tree was measured in 2015 at 46m tall (Grid Reference TQ27701260). Tree records, of course, can change, as record trees die or fall, or new record trees are discovered or simply overtake the old ones by growing!  The Newtimber beech took the record from a beech tree in Gloucestershire by 1m, for example, when it was eventually measured for the first time. Nearby at Newtimber Holt is an ash tree in the UK, which is 36.5m tall. This tree lost the record as the tallest of its species in the UK in July 2018, when an ash tree at Workman’s Wood near Painswick in Gloucestershire was measured at 41m tall (Grid Reference SO90001090). So Gloucestershire and West Sussex have ‘traded’ record trees in recent years!

East Sussex is much less wooded than West Sussex (c10%), but its record height trees match those of its neighbour. The county has two trees which share the title of tallest. Like West Sussex, one is a Giant Redwood, at Beauport Park, near Hastings, which was measured as 45.5m tall in 2014 (Grid Reference TQ77901428). The tree was planted by the Lamb family, who owned the estate, using one of the first batch of Giant Redwood seeds brought to the UK by botanist William Lobb in the mid-1850s. The equal tallest tree in the county is also one with a great heritage. The Grand Fir (Abies grandis) tree at Eridge Park, just north of Crowborough, was measured at 45.5m in April 2016, but its growth has been well monitored. The tree was planted by Benjamin Disraeli, the Prime Minister in 1868, and by 1909 it was 23m tall. Measurements by various methods between 1957 and 2016 have recorded it as between 45.5m and 46m tall. (Grid Reference TQ56483597). Unfortunately you can’t visit this tree unless you are attending an event at Eridge Park, as the woodlands are private – but in winter you can see the top of the tree from the nearby A22 road at Eridge.

So where is the tallest tree in the UK? Well its a Douglas Fir tree in Reelig Glen near Inverness, which is 66.4m tall and is the tallest coniferous tree in Europe. It only became the tallest tree in 2014 when it grew to exceed the height of the 64m Dughall Mor Douglas Fir which is only 50m away. The trees are in woodland on the northern slopes of The Aird, 8km west of Inverness (Grid Reference NH55924246)

If you want to find out more about the record trees in your own county, there are two great sources

www.monumentaltrees.org

www.treeregister.org

 

And Finally….!

The Must Get Out More Question !

Where is the remotest place in England i.e. the place that is furthest from a public road?

 

The Answer to the Last Question

Where is the oldest family business in the UK based, and when was it founded?

The oldest family business in the UK is R.J.Balson and Sons Ltd, a family butchers which was established in 1515AD in Bridport in Dorset. It has been owned and managed by 25 generations of the same family.

(Grid Reference SY46199302)

 

The Record Locations

You can use the Grid References provided to locate record locations on a map at www.streetmap.co.uk

 

Over the last million years or so there have been long periods of time when what is now the British Isles was uninhabitable. The spread of ice sheets during these most recent phases of The Ice Age covered much of the land, and the rest was permafrost and tundra like the Canadian Arctic today. In the warmer phases, though, our human ancestors moved north from what is now mainland Europe, and evidence of their times and lives emerges from archaeological digs around the country. In every one of our counties that evidence shows when and where our earliest ancestors lived

Greater Manchester is one of our most densely populated counties and is home to 2.7million people today. The oldest evidence of human occupation is mostly found on the moorlands in the east of the county on the edges of The Pennines. Human tools dating from the Mesolithic period have been found in several sites around Rochdale and Oldham, and also in the peat of Kersal Moss in Salford in the west of Greater Manchester. At Mellor Iron Age fort, which sits on a spur above the River Goyt north of Mellor, 7km east of Stockport, excavations have revealed over 200 bladed flint tools dating from 8000 to 6000BC showing that Mesolithic humans occupied the site long before it became an Iron Age fort. (Grid Reference SJ98208893).So our earliest ancestors in Greater Manchester were living in the area some 10,000 years ago.

Further south our oldest ancestors arrived rather earlier,. “Londoners”, for example, have been around much longer than “Mancunians”! In Greater London there is evidence of human occupation which dates back to about 400,000 years ago. An archaeological dig at Wantsunt Pit in Galloway Drive, Crayford, on Dartford Heath in the London Borough of Bexley revealed hand axes in the ancient river gravels. Their shape and size indicated they were of the Acheulian style, which dates them to the period between 424,000 and 374,000 years ago. This was a period known as the Hoxnian interglacial, when the ice sheets temporarily retreated, and the evidence shows that human ancestors migrated into the region from further south as the climate improved (Grid Reference TQ51637390).

Lanarkshire is one of Scotland’s most densely populated ceremonial (and historic) counties. At Howburn Farm, about 7km north of Biggar in the south of the county, archaeologists discovered over 5000 flint tools during excavations between 2005 and 2009. These have been dated to the late Palaeolithic period about c12000 years BC, which makes them evidence of the earliest inhabitants not only in Lanarkshire but also in Scotland. (Grid Reference NT07364401).

In comparison to the oldest inhabitants of Wales, though, the earliest “Scots” are mere newcomers. The oldest human evidence in Wales has been dated to the Lower Palaeolithic period of about 225,000 years ago, and comprises a jawbone, teeth and handaxes of a Neanderthal, found between 1978 and 1995 in a cave at Bontnewydd near St.Asaph in the ceremonial county of Clwyd / historic county of Denbighshire. (Grid Reference SJ01537108).

And where is the earliest evidence of humans anywhere in the British Isles? Well, that was found at Happisburgh on the west coast of Norfolk in 2014 in the shape of footprints in sediments found on the shoreline. The footprints were dated to c800,000 years old, and were left as human ancestors travelled through the area during one of the warmer periods in the Ice Age (Grid Reference TG38083128).

However, although there are isolated examples of very early ancestors, most of them would have been ‘temporary’ visitors who migrated back to Europe when the Ice Age turned cold again. For most of us our earliest ancestors were migrants to the British Isles some time in the last 8000 to 10,000 years. Where is the earliest evidence of human ancestors in your own county?

 

And Finally….!

The Must Get Out More Question !

Where is the oldest family business in the UK based, and when was it founded?

 

The Answer to the Last Question

Where is the largest inland island in the UK?

The largest “inland island” in the UK is the island of Inchmurrin, which lies in Loch Lomond, north of Glasgow in the ceremonial county of Dumbartonshire. It is 120ha in size, and has a long history of human occupation, from a 7^th century monastery to a 14^th century castle to its current tourist cottages and restaurant.

(Grid Reference NS37908710)

 

The Record Locations

You can use the Grid References provided to locate record locations on a map at www.streetmap.co.uk

The UK is often described as an Island Nation, and the idea of island living and island culture is rooted strongly in our history and culture. The British Isles is made up of islands of all different shapes and sizes, from the largest (Great Britain) downwards. Every county has its largest island, too. For many that is an offshore island sitting off the coast in the neighbouring oceans or in an estuary or bay. For others the biggest island sits inland, perhaps in a lake or in some cases as an island within one of the county’s rivers. Let’s look at some examples.

Drive into Portsmouth from any direction and it would be easy not to notice that you’ve actually driven on to an island. Portsmouth sits mostly on Portsea Island, low lying and made from the sands, clays and gravels of the north side of The Solent. Its island location has been a key factor in Portsmouth’s history as a naval base. Portsea Island is not only the largest island in Hampshire but is the fifth largest offshore island in England. What’s more, with 147,000 people living on Portsea Island’s 2400ha, it is the most populated offshore island in the UK (Grid Reference SU65500150).

The largest island in Greater London is perhaps more recognisable as an island. Sitting in the stream of the River Thames as it winds through the capital are a number of small river islands (or ‘eyots’ (pronounced ‘eights’) as they are known). Several are well known, such as Chiswick Eyot on the Boat Race course, and Eel Pie Island, but the largest is Platts Eyot at Sunbury in the Borough of Richmond-upon-Thames, which is 3.2ha in size (Grid Reference TQ13306910). Platt’s Eyot is large enough to have both residential areas and a boatyard on the island, and is accessible by the footbridge from Sunbury Road.

Some of the county record islands are extremely small, of course. Derbyshire’s largest island is Sandy Point which lies within the River Trent, 1km south east of Willington, south of Derby, and is less than 0.5ha in size. (Grid Reference SK3060280). Similarly Warwickshire’s largest island is only about 0.5ha in size. Barton Island lies within the main channel of the River Avon, 3km south east of Bidford-on-Avon in the south west of the county. It is visible from Welford Rd, 1km east of Barton, but can only be visited if you have access to a boat! (Grid Reference SP11325139).

And where is the largest island in the British Isles other than Great Britain and Ireland? The third largest island is Lewis and Harris in the Outer Hebrides, lying off the west coast of Scotland. At 2179 square kilometres in size, it is about 1% of the size of Great Britain, and is home to about 20,000 people. It is now part of the Western Isles local authority, but was historically split between the counties of Ross and Cromarty (Lewis) and Inverness-shire (Harris) (Grid Reference NB30762955).

What is the largest island in your own home county?

 

And Finally….!

The Must Get Out More Question !

Where is the largest inland island in the UK?

 

The Answer to the Last Question

Where are (a) the largest and (b) the smallest theatres in the UK?

The largest theatre in the UK is the Hammersmith Apollo in Queen Caroline Street, Hammersmith, London W6 9QH, which has a capacity of 3326. The Apollo opened in 1932 as the Gaumont Palace.(Grid Reference TQ23407836)

The smallest permanent theatre in the UK (and which claims also to be the smallest theatre in the world) is The Theatre of Small Convenience in Great Malvern, Worcestershire. Opened in 1999 in a disused public convenience in Edith Walk, it is 5m long and 3m wide and can hold an audience of 12.     (This excludes venues such as pubs and churches which ‘pop up’ as theatres for festivals in towns around the UK) (Grid Reference SO77504600)

 

The Record Locations

You can use the Grid References provided to locate record locations on a map at www.streetmap.co.uk

The history of theatre in Britain is long and distinguished, and it is easy to argue that we have one of the richest theatre cultures in the world. Although it is typically in the big cities where the most famous, and the largest, theatres are found, most towns have their own theatres which are certainly a key part of the arts culture of the local community and may provide venues for touring national performances and groups. So where are the record theatre locations nationally, and in your own locality and county?

At the national scale, the oldest theatres in the UK are:

England                                The Theatre Royal, in Drury Lane London is the oldest theatre. The original theatre was built in 1662, while the current building, opened in 1812, is the fourth theatre on the site.

Scotland                              The Theatre Royal in Dumfries dates from 1793

Northern Ireland             The Grand Opera House, Belfast, was opened in 1895

Wales                                   The Savoy Theatre, Monmouth, dates from 1832

 

Elsewhere in the country, the oldest theatres in each of the English regions are

North West England       The Grand Theatre in Lancaster, Lancashire (1782)

North East England         The Tyne Theatre and Opera House, Newcastle-upon-Tyne (1867)

Yorkshire and Humberside The Grand Theatre, Richmond, North Yorkshire (1788)

West Midlands                 Birmingham Town Hall (1834)

East Midlands                   The Theatre Royal, Nottingham (1865)

East Anglia                        The Theatre Royal in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk (1819)

South West England       The Theatre Royal, Bristol, which is the oldest continuously operating theatre in the UK. It is home to the Bristol Old Vic theatre company, and opened in 1766.

South East England         The Theatre Royal, Margate, in Kent (1787)

Each of these theatres continues to present plays, concerts and other events today. Visiting any of those in the list just requires a visit to their website for an indication of current performances and their location.

 

And Finally….!

The Must Get Out More Question !

Where are (a) the largest and (b) the smallest theatres in the UK?

 

The Answer to the Last Question

Where is the highest altitude football stadium in the Premier League, Football League or Scottish League?

The highest altitude football stadium in the top leagues in the UK is The Hawthorns, home of West Bromwich Albion FC, in West Bromwich in the West Midlands. It was built in 1900, and sits at an altitude of 168m above sea level (Grid Reference SP02509020).

The highest football stadium in the senior Scottish leagues is the Excelsior Stadium, which is the home of Airdrieonians FC in Airdrie, Lanarkshire. It was built in 1998, and sits at an altitude of 148m above sea level. (Grid Reference NS77436473)

 

The Record Locations

You can use the Grid References provided to locate record locations on a map at www.streetmap.co.uk

As we enter the autumn it is not only the natural seasons which change – it is a time at which our sporting focus shifts from summer to winter sports. Rugby union and football take over again as cricket and golf become mere summer weather memories, and National Hunt racing becomes the focus rather than the flat racing of the summer months. Sporting venues range from the ultra modern, like the new Tottenham Hotspur soccer stadium in London when it finally opens, to the historic like the racecourse at Chester (The Roodee) which dates back to 1511. In every sport there will be the smallest, largest, oldest, highest and newest ‘record’ venues, and every county has its own record sporting locations. Typically the oldest venues relate to horse racing or golf, which are some of the longest established sports in the UK.

In the large metropolitan counties like Greater London venues are on a large scale of course, and are easy to visit, sometimes with official organised tours (although getting tickets for events might be more problematical!). Unsurprisingly the largest sports stadium in London is Wembley Stadium in north west London – the new stadium completed in 2007 is the largest stadium in the UK and has a capacity of 90,000 (Grid Reference TQ19308560). Three other stadiums in Greater London have capacities over 50,000 -Twickenham (82,000), the London Stadium (66,000) and the Emirates Stadium (60,000), and the new Tottenham Hotspur Stadium will have a capacity of 62,000. But where is the oldest sporting venue in Greater London? Interestingly it dates from 1625, and is the Real Tennis court at Hampton Court Palace in Richmond-upon-Thames – and this was built to replace the original one constructed in 1528 for Cardinal Wolsey. The club is a private members club, but it is open for visitors to view (Grid Reference TQ15726863).

In the rural counties the record sporting ancestry may be less obvious, and the venues are typically less grand. Worcestershire, in the West Midlands has a range of sporting venues with a long history. The oldest is Worcester race course, the Pitchcroft next to the River Severn, where horse racing was first held in 1718, and which has held at least annual race meetings since 1755 (Grid Reference SO84205530). The county is also home to a world record historical sporting venue. The village of Shelsley Walsh in the west of the county is the world’s oldest operational motor sport venue, for its Motor Hill Climb events have been operated since 1905 over the 1km  1 in 9.14 hill to the west of the village (Grid Reference SO72106310). And the largest sports stadium in Worcestershire? Well that’s the Sixways Stadium in Worcester, the home of Worcester Warriors rugby union club, which was opened in 1975, and has a capacity of about 12,000 (Grid Reference SO88905750).

What are the oldest and largest sporting venues in your own county?

 

And Finally….!

The Must Get Out More Question !

Where is the highest altitude football stadium in the Premier League Football League or Scottish League?

 

The Answer to the Last Question

What is the easternmost settlement in each of the four home countries (England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland)?

The easternmost settlements in each of the home countries are

England and the UK    Lowestoft, Norfolk   1°45’23””E (Grid Reference TM55179326)

Northern Ireland         Portavogie, Co Down 5°26’33”W (Grid Reference NW76971269)

Scotland                          Bruray, on the Out Skerries islands east of Shetland 0°45’16”W

                                           (Grid Reference HU68687175))

Mainland Scotland      Peterhead, Aberdeenshire 1°46’28”W

                                           (Grid Reference NK13624612)

Wales                               Chepstow, Gwent 2°40’06””W   (Grid Reference ST53849406)

 

The Record Locations

You can use the Grid References provided to locate record locations on a map at www.streetmap.co.uk

 

Going down to the West Country for some summer sunshine? Heading to North Wales for a walking holiday in the mountains?  Enjoying a break in Edinburgh for some music, culture and the arts? Whatever your choice for ‘getting away’, it is a chance to explore somewhere new – and some of the big attractions are the more famous ‘record’ locations in the places we visit.  Falmouth in Cornwall holds the record for sunshine hours in June (382 in 1925). Snowdon, the highest mountain in Wales at 1085m, is a ‘honeypot’ for walkers in North Wales. Edinburgh Castle draws many to the Scottish capital and is the biggest tourist attraction in Scotland (1.6 million visitors a year). But wherever you go for your get away trip, there are many less well known record locations to visit.

Winding through the lanes of North Devon leads to some of the remote villages, beaches, hills and views that have attracted visitors to this part of south west England since tourism began. From the resorts of Ilfracombe, Woolacombe and Westward Ho! via Barnstaple and Bideford to Clovelly, and beyond to Bude (which is actually in Cornwall), is a piece of England that embodies romantic images of the best of Britain. Tucked away within this region, though, are also some of the county record locations for Devon, which adds a fascinating dimension to a holiday here.

Clovelly is renowned for its steep main street and ‘chocolate box’ image, but just to the south of the village, high on the plateau above it, is one of Devon’s county record locations. Where the A39 meets the B3237 stands Clovelly Dykes, an Iron Age enclosure consisting of concentric dykes up to 2.5m high. This is the largest of the 350 Iron Age sites in Devon, covering 8.1ha, and has been interpreted as a farming settlement rather than a defensive or ‘fort’ site (Grid Reference SS31102350).

Follow the A39 road west of Clovelly and take the B road that runs to the village of Hartland. Drive a little further and you reach the hamlet of Stoke, and here in this tiny rural settlement are two more of Devon’s county records. The first is the parish church of St Nectan’s, which dates from 1360. Its claim to fame is its 39m high tower, built in 1420, which makes it the tallest church in Devon. Its tower has earned it the nickname of the “Cathedral of North Devon”, and has provided a navigation point for ships in the Bristol Channel for many centuries (Grid Reference SS23492475). The hamlet of Stoke is certainly ‘off the beaten track’, tucked remotely in Hartland parish in the westernmost parts of the county, 5km south of Hartland Point. Its location gives it a second ‘county record’ as it is also the remotest settlement in mainland Devon as measured by distance to the nearest towns. By road, Stoke is 25.5km from Bideford, 25.7km from Holsworthy and 24.8km from Bude, which makes it very much a ‘get away from it all’ holiday location.

Drive south from Hartland for half an hour and you reach the village of Welcombe, an agricultural village which is home to about 250 people. Its claim to fame is that it is the most westerly village on the mainland of Devon (Grid Reference SS22801840). From here its still 2km down to the coast, though, at Welcombe Mouth, from where a short walk northwards takes you to Knap Head and the Knap’s Longpeak promontory (Grid Reference SS20801880). This is the westernmost point of mainland Devon (4°33’06”W), with its sea cliffs famous for excellent climbing (not for the faint hearted or inexperienced, of course). And where exactly, you might ask is the actual westernmost point in Devon?  Well, it’s not on the mainland but lies 19km off the west coast on the island of Lundy, which you can also visit but it requires a day trip by ship from Ilfracombe or Bidedford.

Welcombe lies close to the county boundary with Cornwall. Some 7km to the south east through some delightful country lanes and on the A39 trunk road is the Devon village of East Youlstone. East Youlstone is close to another Devon county record location – the point where the longest river enters the county.  From the middle of East Youlstone, follow the minor road to West Youlstone. After about 1km the road crosses a river at the county boundary (Grid Reference SS27001559). This is the famous River Tamar, which is the longest river in both Devon and Cornwall, and which forms the county boundary for almost its entire length (and has done since 936AD). The river actually rises in Cornwall but enters Devon in Woolley Wood just north of this bridge, and flows as the county boundary for 95.3km southwards to Plymouth Sound.

North Devon is both remote and beautiful and a popular holiday destination in south west England. Alongside its famous coast and landscape, though, it is also home to some of the less well known record locations for Devon. What are the record locations close to your favourite holiday destination?

And Finally….!

The Must Get Out More Question !

What is the easternmost settlement in each of the four home countries (England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland)?

The Answer to the Last Question

Where and when did the last invasion of Britain by a hostile foreign force take place?

The last military invasion of Britain was at Fishguard in Wales on 22-24 February 1797, in what is now Ceredigion. This was in the historic county of Cardiganshire and the ceremonial county of Dyfed. It was launched by the French army to distract Britain into withdrawing troops from Ireland, and so provide support for those pursuing a united Ireland. The French landed at Carregwastad Head, 3km west of Fishguard, but were defeated by Baron Cawdor within two days.

(Grid Reference SM92644053)

The Record Locations

You can use the Grid References provided to locate record locations on a map at www.streetmap.co.uk

It’s easy to think that the ‘record’ locations in each of our counties relate just to the natural landscape – the highest place, the longest river or the tallest tree, for example. But there are of course many record locations that relate to the history of our locality, each of which tells part of the story of the communities and lives of our county ancestors – from the oldest buildings to the ancient churches, monasteries and castles, from prehistoric times to the modern day.

Most of us know the dates and names of some of the great battles of British history, and of course every one of those fought in the UK has a location and a battlefield site, whether it be the Battle of Culloden, fought near Inverness in April 1746, which was the last battle fought on British soil, or the Battle of Hastings, fought in 1066 at what is now Battle in East Sussex. Most counties have their own oldest battlefield, whether dating to a major pitched battle or a local skirmish – so what are the oldest battlefields in your own county?

Some of the oldest recorded battles in Britain took place in locations that historians haven’t quite identified. The Battle of Mons Graupius took place in AD83 or 84 between the Romans and the Caledonian army (the Romans won!) somewhere in the Mounth area of Aberdeenshire, but nobody quite knows where, even though it was a huge battle and is well recorded in the Roman histories.

The oldest known battlefields are more recent. The Battle of Heavenfield took place in AD633 between the Northumbrian army and the Welsh army (the Northumbrians won!) on a battlefield 6km north of Hexham in Northumberland, right next to Hadrians Wall, at a site you can visit (Grid Reference NY93576954) on the B6318 road east of the village of Chollerfold. Much further south, the Battle of Maldon was fought between the Viking invaders and the Anglo-Saxons on 11^th August 991AD (the Vikings won!). The site, just south of Maldon in Essex, is the marshy land on the south bank of the River Blackwater, near to what is now South House Farm, opposite Northey Island where the Vikings were camped (Grid Reference TL86720553).

Somerset, in south west England, is a county where some of the historic battlefields are of great importance in the county’s own history and also of national importance. Two important battles from the Anglo Saxon era are believed to have taken place in Somerset, although their precise location is not known. The Battle of Peonnum took place in AD660 between the West Saxons and the local Britons, with the battlefield believed to be either at Penselwood near Wincanton  or at Penn near Yeovil. In AD 878 the Battle of Cynwith between the West Saxons and the Vikings has been interpreted by historians as taking place at Cannington Hill in Somerset, but no clear site has been identified (and it may have been at Countisbury in Dorset).

The oldest known battlefield site in the county is much more recent and dates from the 5^th July 1643. The Battle of Lansdowne was fought as part of the English Civil War 8km north of Bath (the Royalists won!), and is commemorated at the site just south of the helpfully named village of Battlefield (Grid Reference ST72307020).

Probably of greater importance, though, is the site of the Battle of Sedgemoor, at Weston Zoyland near Bridgwater. The battle on 6^th July 1685 was the last pitched battle ever recorded in England, and was fought between the troops of James II and the supporters of the Duke of Monmouth in the so-called Monmouth Rebellion (the King’s troops won!). The site is well marked on local maps and has several interpretation boards (Grid Reference ST35103560).

Visiting the sites and understanding the lie of the land is possible for both the Battle of Lansdowne and the Battle of Sedgemoor from the maps and descriptions at www.battlefieldsofbritain.co.uk  or at the Battlefields Trust website (www.battlefieldstrust.com ). These sites can be used to identify the ‘record’ battlefields in your own county, too.

And Finally….!

The Must Get Out More Question !

Where and when did the last invasion of Britain by a hostile foreign force take place?

The Answer to the Last Question

Where is the longest section of straight road in the UK?

The longest section of straight road in the UK is part of the A15 in Lincolnshire. This section runs 22.71km (14.11 miles) from Scawby, just south of the junction with the M180 (Junction 4), south east of Scunthorpe, to Brattleby, 7km north of Lincoln. The A15 here follows the line of the Roman road Ermine Street that ran from London to Lincoln and on to York

(Grid Reference SE95700532 to SK97108266)

The Record Locations

You can use the Grid References provided to locate record locations on a map at www.streetmap.co.uk