Settlement Association

[Calthrop]

Awful hackneyed riddle, for which apologies:

Q: Who are the lightest men in the British Isles?

A: The men of Cork are light;

The men of Ayr (air) are lighter --

But there are lighter men (lightermen = those who operate the cargo-carrying boats called "lighters") yet, on the River Thames.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Gougane Barra also lies on the line of the River Lee.

 

[Calthrop]

There is also a forest park (Tollymore F.P.) at Bryansford, Co. Down.

 

[EbbwJunction1]

The village has a successful Gaelic Football team, Bryansford GAC; they play their home matches at St. Patricks Park in the nearby town of Newcastle, Co. Down.

 

[Calthrop]

The songwriter / singer / comedian Percy French (1854 -- 1920) is regarded with affection in Newcastle, thanks to his song The Mountains of Mourne (the town is close by, and a "gateway" to, said range). There is a similar Percy French connection with Ballyjamesduff, Co. Cavan -- there's a statue of him there.

 

[Springs Branch]

Ballyjamesduff won the Irish Tidy Towns competition twice in 1966 and 1967.
(The village must have gone downhill a bit after that, because it hasn't won the award since)

Another more recent Tidy Town winner has been Kenmare, Co. Kerry.

 

[Calthrop]

In the Harry Potter books: one of the British Isles' thirteen supreme teams in the wizards' sport of Quidditch, is the Kenmare Kestrels. Another team in that select list is the Appleby Arrows (referencing Appleby-in-Westmorland).

 

[EbbwJunction1]

Appleby was the county town of Westmoreland; the Assize Courts met there, although the former County Council had it's headquarters in Kendal.

 

[Calthrop]

In the confectionery department: Kendal has its Mint Cake; Pontefract, its eponymous "cakes" -- liquorice discs.

 

[EbbwJunction1]

The local newspaper for Pontefract shares it's name with the neighbouring town of Castleford (the Pontefract and Castleford Express).

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Keighley also lies on the line of the River Aire.

 

[EbbwJunction1]

The English historian, Asa Briggs, Baron Briggs was born in Keighley on 7th May 1921 and died, aged 94, on 15th March 2016 in Lewes, East Sussex.

 

[Calthrop]

Ottery St. Mary, Devon, is also big on celebrating November 5th.

 

[EbbwJunction1]

Continuing with celebrations, Pixie Day is an old tradition which takes place in Ottery St. Mary annually in June. The day commemorates a legend of pixies being banished from the town to local caves known as the 'Pixie's Parlour'.

The legend originates from the early days of Christianity, when a local bishop decided to build a church in Otteri (Ottery St. Mary), and commissioned a set of bells to come from Wales, and to be escorted by monks on their journey. On hearing of this, the pixies were worried, as they knew that once the bells were installed it would be the death knell of their rule over the land. So they cast a spell over the monks to redirect them from the road to Otteri to the road leading them to the cliff's edge at Sidmouth. Just as the monks were about to fall over the cliff, one of the monks stubbed his toe on a rock and said "God bless my soul" and the spell was said to be broken.

The bells were then brought to Otteri and installed. However, the pixies' spell was not completely broken; each year on a day in June the 'pixies' come out and capture the town's bell ringers and imprison them in Pixies' Parlour to be rescued by the Vicar of Ottery St Mary.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Exmouth also became a "rather genteel" seaside resort in 18th century.

 

[John Griffiths]

Another -mouth resort, though a bit later, is Tynemouth, still seen as more genteel than rival resorts Cullercoats and Whitley Bay.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Hull also has a noted aquarium.

 

[John Griffiths]

John Prescott, Lord Prescott, MP for Hull (N) for ages, was born in Prestatyn.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Chepstow also lies on the route of the Offa's Dyke long distance footpath.

 

[johnnychips]

Whereas Chepstow hosts the Welsh Grand National, Aintree hosts the English one.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Shrewsbury also has a church that is dedicated to St Giles.

 

[Springs Branch]

Shrewsbury ......

There is apparently still dispute regarding whether the town's name should be pronounced ‘Shroosbury’ or ‘Shrowsbury’.

Another settlement with a pronunciation challenge for newcomers is Kirkcudbright - allegedly pronounced 'Kir-koo-bree', not 'Kir-cud-bright'.

 

[EbbwJunction1]

However, it's pronounced, Kirkcudbright was an early family home for T. E. Lawrence. He was born on 16th August 1888 in Tremadog, Caernarfonshire, and lived in infancy with his family between 1889 and 1891 in Craigville, St Mary's Street.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Beddgelert in Gwynedd also lies on the line of the River Glaslyn.

 

[EbbwJunction1]

Alfred Bestall MBE, one of the illustrators and storytellers of the comic strip character Rupert Bear between 1935 and 1965, lived in the village for many years. He was born in Mandalay, Burma on 14th December 1892 and died on 15th January 1986, aged 93, at Wern Manor Nursing Home in Porthmadog; he is buried in Brookwood Cemetery, also known as the London Necropolis, in Brookwood, Surrey.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Dogmersfield in Hampshire also lies on the line of the Basingstoke Canal.

 

[EbbwJunction1]

Dogmersfield is on an unmarked (although named) road, which under different names but still unmarked passes through Church Crookham.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Beckenham also has a place of worship called Christ Church.

 

[EbbwJunction1]

Christ Church is one of several places of worship in Beckenham. The principal parish church is St George's, which was extensively rebuilt by W Gibbs Bartleet (1829 – 1906) between 1885 and 1887, although an earlier building dates back to 1100. He was also responsible for the rebuilding of the medieval church of St. Laurance, Upminster in 1863.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Stifford in Essex was also once administered by the ancient Hundred of Chafford.