Settlement Association

[DerekC]

The Boulton & Watt "Smethwick Engine" of 1779, said to be the oldest working steam engine in the world, is now in a museum in Birmingham. The oldest working engine still its original location, also by Boulton & Watt and dating from 1812, is at Crofton near Great Bedwyn in Wiltshire.

Edit: Amended as requested by @EbbwJunction1 in post #19861 (although Crofton does have a farm or two and a lock as well as a pumping station - incidentally well worth a visit!)

 

[EbbwJunction1]

I don't think there's actually a settlement called Crofton ... Mr W Pedia says this: "Crofton Pumping Station, near the village of Great Bedwyn in Wiltshire". I'd suggest that you might add the last bit to your posting so that we can carry on.

 

[DerekC]

Done - see edit note

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

The Boulton & Watt "Smethwick Engine" of 1779, said to be the oldest working steam engine in the world, is now in a museum in Birmingham. The oldest working engine still its original location, also by Boulton & Watt and dating from 1812, is at Crofton near Great Bedwyn in Wiltshire.

Edit: Amended as requested by @EbbwJunction1 in post #19861 (although Crofton does have a farm or two and a lock as well as a pumping station - incidentally well worth a visit!)

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

 

[Calthrop]

In Thatcham is the former Chapel of St. Thomas the Martyr, now known as the Old Bluecoat School. Stourbridge (West Midlands) also has a Bluecoat School, alias the Old Swinford Hospital.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

St Helens also has connections to the trade of glassmaking.

 

[Calthrop]

Isobel Roby of Windle, St. Helens, was hanged for witchcraft at Lancaster in 1612; at the same time as the more notorious alleged witches who supposedly did their occult thing in the vicinity of Pendle Hill.

 

[John Griffiths]

Kirkcaldy was also a place where linoleum was manufactured.

 

[Calthrop]

Nicknames for places on Scotland's east coast: Kirkcaldy is "the lang toun"; Peterhead, "the blue toun".

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Greenock was another of the Scottish whaling ports.

 

[Springs Branch]

The Municipal Buildings at Greenock include the impressive 245ft. Victoria Tower.
In addition to the well-known Victoria Tower forming part of the Houses of Parliament in Westminster, there is also a Victoria Tower overlooking Huddersfield in the West Yorkshire village of Almondbury.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Allerton in Merseyside also has a church that is dedicated to All Hallows.

 

[Calthrop]

Allerton's name derives from the Old English Alretune = alder enclosure. Also coming from Old English and that particular kind of tree, is the name of Alrewas, Staffordshire: Alor-waesse = alluvial land growing with alder trees.

 

[Springs Branch]

Ashby-de-la-Zouch is also the location of a noted arboretum.

 

[Calthrop]

Ashby-de-la-Zouch is also the location of a noted arboretum.

The above-bolded settlement was the subject of a comical song recorded in 1946 by the Merry Macs, including the line, "If you wanna smooch and be happy as a pooch, go to Ashby-de-la-Zouch by the sea" (A-de-la-Z is about as far as you can get from the sea, in Great Britain). Another "not-obvious jewel in the country's tourist crown" with an affectionately mocking song dedicated to it: has been Neasden (London Borough of Brent) -- long almost obsessively dwelt-on by Private Eye as the archetypal suburban dreary hole (the song, "Neasden / You won't be sorry that you breezed in": first performed by William Rushton).

 

[EbbwJunction1]

Neasden was one of the locations in the 1973 TV documentary Metro-Land. In it, Sir John Betjeman described Neasden as "home of the gnome and the average citizen. Another location was St John's Wood - perhaps surprisingly, there is no mention of Lord's Cricket Ground; instead, Betjeman concentrates on St John’s Wood as a Victorian suburb.

 

[John Griffiths]

Neasden was home to the factory manufacturing Ascot water heaters. These had originally been named Junkers, but were renamed, presumably because of a certain unpleasantness in the early twentieth century, and possibly also because Ascot sounded a bit posh. Another product given a totally unconnected but posh-sounding place name brand is Richmond sausages, originating in Liverpool.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Norwich also has both Anglican and Roman Catholic cathedrals.

 

[EbbwJunction1]

Have you not seen my follow on post from Neasden, please?

 

[John Griffiths]

My mistake, sorry, Ebbw and Xenophon.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Neasden was one of the locations in the 1973 TV documentary Metro-Land. In it, Sir John Betjeman described Neasden as "home of the gnome and the average citizen. Another location was St John's Wood - perhaps surprisingly, there is no mention of Lord's Cricket Ground; instead, Betjeman concentrates on St John’s Wood as a Victorian suburb.

Scratchwood is another settlement in the area that was known as the Great Middlesex Forest.

 

[John Griffiths]

Rothersthorpe is another historic name (and place) erased from the list of motorway service areas, to reduce the poetry of motorway driving and to please the marketing gurus.

 

[DerekC]

At Bagpath in Gloucestershire, as at Rothersthorpe, there is a mediaeval "ringwork" fortitification.

 

[Springs Branch]

Chalfont St Giles is also located at latitude 51° 38' N.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Little Missenden in Buckinghamshire also lies on the line of the River Misbourne.

 

[EbbwJunction1]

The West Tower of the Church of England Parish Church of St John the Baptist, Little Missenden has a ring of six bells. The third bell was cast in about 1380 by John Rufford of Toddington, Bedfordshire.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Duffus in Morayshire also had a motte and bailey castle constructed in the 12th century.

 

[Calthrop]

Gordonstoun School -- alma mater of Prince Charles -- is located close to Duffus. Windermere also has an independent school which is "big on" healthy outdoor activities.

 

[EbbwJunction1]

The civil parish of Windermere contains both the town of Windermere and the older lakeside town of Bowness-on-Windermere, the village of Troutbeck Bridge to the north and several hamlets to the south and the east.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Bothel in Cumbria is also on the route of the A591 road.