Settlement Association

[John Griffiths]

In January 1908, the Workers' Educational Association (WEA) began holding classes in two English towns. One was Longton; the other was Rochdale, Lancashire (now Greater Manchester).

 

[Calthrop]

Stocks -- the old confinement-and-punishment device -- or the remains of them; are still there and to be seen, in Rochdale; and in Stow-on-the-Wold, Gloucestershire. (Wiki emphasises that Rochdale's stocks are no longer in use -- that's reassuring to learn ...)

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Stretton-on- Dunsmore in Warwickshire also lies on the route of the Roman road known as Fosse Way.

 

[Calthrop]

Baptised as an infant at Stretton-on-Dunsmore, was Joseph Elkington (1740 -- 1806), specialist in land drainage. Elkington used this expertise in collaborations with the more famous landscape architect Lancelot "Capability" Brown (1716 -- 1783); Brown was born in Kirkharle, Northumberland (roughly intermediate between Hexham and Morpeth).

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Otterburn in Northumberland was also once under the jurisdiction of the Bellingham Poor Law Union.

 

[Calthrop]

Part of the seemingly endless strife between armed bands, over many centuries, in the Anglo / Scottish border regions -- often apparently "everyone against everyone else" -- was the Battle of Otterburn on August 5th 1388: this one, Scots versus English (the English lost). The old ballad about that engagement mentions in passing, one of the various one-time, long-abolished, early medieval "Shires" in these parts: that of Bamburgh, Northumberland (settlement on the coast, between Seahouses and Lindisfarne).

 

[John Griffiths]

Bamburgh was voted best seaside resort in Britain in a 2022 poll of Which magazine subscribers (It came top in 2021 as well). Second place went to Llandudno, Clwyd.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Llangwstenin in Caernarfonshire was also once administered by the Hundred of Creuddyn.

 

[Calthrop]

There is a vineyard -- Gwinllan Conwy "of that ilk" -- at Llangwstenin. Another settlement in Wales which has a vineyard (by the name of Parva Farm) is Tintern, Monmouthshire.

 

[John Griffiths]

<Applauds Calthrop for correct usage of 'of that ilk', so rarely encountered>

Tintern Abbey was one of the many places painted by JMW Turner. Another favoured location for his work was Margate.

 

[Calthrop]

A useful bunch, those Scots, for some of their expressions !

Hope I'm OK with the following -- wherein "scenic railways", are not really railways in any RailUKforums sense. At Margate's Dreamland Amusement Park: The Scenic Railway roller coaster is one of only two such in Britain, which were inaugurated in the early 20th century and are still in operation today. The other is at Great Yarmouth.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Beccles in Suffolk also lies on the route of the Angles Way long-distance footpath.

 

[EbbwJunction1]

In 1749, Catherine Suckling married the Reverend Edmund Nelson, a former curate of St Michael's Church, Beccles, at the church. Their son, Horatio, was born in 1758 at the rectory in Burnham Thorpe, Norfolk.

I wonder what happened to him?

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

North Creake in Norfolk also lies on the line of the River Burn.

 

[John Griffiths]

Algarkirk in Lincolnshire (Parts of Holland) also had a population of 386 at the time of the 2011 census.

 

[DerekC]

Algakirk had one of the last woad mills in England, converting to steam in the 19th Century and closing in 1932. The Woad Farm Chippy in Boston, Lincolnshire also seems to have closed, but is not listed by Historic England.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Fishtoft in Lincolnshire was also once under the jurisdiction of the Boston Poor Law Union.

 

[EbbwJunction1]

The parish church is dedicated to the Saxon saint St Guthlac. It is a member of the St Guthlac Fellowship; formed in 1987, this is a group of churches sharing a dedication to St Guthlac. Another Lincolnshire church that is a member is St Guthlac's Church, Little Ponton.

 

[John Griffiths]

Actor Richard Todd (1919-2009) is buried in the churchyard at Little Ponton. He was born in Dublin.

 

[EbbwJunction1]

"The Ace with the Bass" (that's the popular name) is a statue in Harry Street, Dublin of Philip Parris Lynott (1949 – 1986), the Irish singer, bassist, and songwriter. Phil Lynott was born in Hallam Hospital, West Bromwich, but grew up in Dublin with his grandparents.

 

[DerekC]

West Bromwich is, of course, home to a famous football club which appends "Albion" to the name of the town. Rather less well known was Ossett Albion AFC, which four years ago merged with Ossett Town AFC to form Ossett United. (Ossett is, as all the world knows, in West Yorkshire)

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Wishaw in Lanarkshire also has a church that is dedicated to St Ignatius.

 

[Calthrop]

Wishaw has a hostelry called the Cross Keys: an Irish pub, much frequented by supporters of Glasgow Celtic football team; with on-screen viewing of said outfit's matches amply supplied. Rowde, Wiltshire -- near Devizes -- also has a Cross Keys pub: this one, so far as I know, without any particular national / religious / sporting affiliation.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Kintbury in Berkshire also lies on the line of the Kennet and Avon Canal.

 

[Calthrop]

Public trips by horse-drawn canal boat are run from Kintbury, in season; the same is done on the Llangollen Canal, from Llangollen.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Cynwyd in Denbighshire also lies on the line of the River Dee.

 

[Calthrop]

Cynwyd is located on the B4401 road. Llandderfel, Gwynedd, is just barely off the same road (it lies some miles south-west of Cynwyd, and incidentally also on the Dee).

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Llanuwchllyn in Merionethshire was also once administered by the Hundred of Penllyn.

 

[John Griffiths]

Michael D Jones was born in Llanuwchllyn in 1822. Trained for the Presbyterian ministry in Carmarthen, he was ordained in Cincinatti, Ohio, ministered in Wales, succeeded his father as Principal of Bala Independent College, and in the 1860s moved to Argentina where on 28 July 1865 he founded the Welsh settlement Y Wladfa in the province of Chubut, Patagonia.

 

[Calthrop]

The renowned architect John Nash (1752 -- 1835) lived for a while in the late-ish 18th century, in Carmarthen. One of the very many projects which he carried out during his career, involved improving and "domesticating" the structure of Shane's Castle at Randalstown, Co. Antrim (Shane's Castle was for a spell late last century, the location of a new-created "recreational" 3ft. gauge railway).