Settlement Association

[D6130]

Sanquhar is home to the oldest post office in the world, established in 1712 and still in use. The oldest post office in England - although no longer in use as such - is reputed to be the medieval building in Tintagel, Cornwall, which is now used as holiday accommodation.

 

[Calthrop]

Tintagel is one of those British places, pronunciation of which sometimes gives problems to visitors from abroad -- many attracted to Tintagel as a tourist spot. My brother, who used to live in those parts, was delighted once to be asked by an American tourist, the way to "Tingletangle". Another settlement (this one emphatically not a tourist-trap) sometimes bothersome to non-Brits in this way, is Loughborough -- occasionally pronounced by Americans, Australians, and others, as "Loogabarooga".

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Nottingham also had medieval period framework knitters.

 

[EbbwJunction1]

St Barnabas Gaelic Athletic Club is Nottingham's sole provider of gaelic sports (football and hurling). Founded in 1947, it was initially set up to provide a social outlet for Irish immigrants who had moved to Nottingham; the club now attracts members from the surrounding region. The club is affiliated to and enters into competitions organised by Warwickshire GAA, which covers both the West and East Midlands of England, with its headquarters at Pairc na hEireann near Bickenhill in Solihull.

 

[Calthrop]

Concerning another "satellite settlement" of Solihull, with a particular connection with Bickenhill: about 150 years ago, the part of Bickenhill parish called Ulverley (with occasional alias of Lyndon), was detached from Bickenhill and merged with Solihull parish. This area's "U-name" as above, stemmed from its being called in Anglo-Saxon times Ulverlei = "Wulfhere's clearing". By the 13th century, name had been changed (other than parish-nomenclature-wise) to "Oulton", = "old town", to distinguish it from the "new town" of Solihull then coming into being nearby. In time, "Oulton" morphed into the settlement's present-day name of Olton.

 

[EbbwJunction1]

The lovely Felicity Kendal was born in Olton on 25th September 1946. In 1975, she had her big break on television with the BBC sitcom The Good Life. Outdoor filming took place in the northern Greater London suburb of Northwood, although the series was set in Surbiton, south-western Greater London. The producers searched extensively for a suitable pair of houses, eventually chancing on Kewferry Road, Northwood.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Ickenham was also once administered by the Hundred of Elthorne.

 

[Calthrop]

Ickenham lies on the River Pinn -- a tributary, with riverine complications, of the River Colne of these parts. Further up the Pinn from Ickenham, lies appropriately-named Pinner.

 

[DerekC]

Pinner used to hold an annual donkey derby. Stubbington in Hampshire still does.

 

[D6130]

The first recorded cricket match in Hampshire was played in Stubbington in 1733, but the birth of the modern game is more associated with the village of Hambledon, some ten miles to the North-East.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Adgestone on the Isle of Wight also has a vineyard.

 

[Calthrop]

Adgestone on the Isle of Wight also has a vineyard.

Slight desperation finding a non-vineyard association: the name perhaps brings to mind, Adge Cutler (1930 -- 1974), leader of "the comic folk band the Wurzels" -- though Mr. Cutler and the others were not from the Isle of Wight: their originating place and strong motif, was Somerset -- Cutler resided in Nailsea.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Wraxall in Somerset was also once administered by the Hundred of Portbury.

 

[Calthrop]

Wraxall in Somerset was also once administered by the Hundred of Portbury.

The original meaning of the name Wraxall is thought to be "a nook of land frequented by buzzards". Eaglescliffe in County Durham, though, is -- disappointingly -- nothing to do with birds of prey. The village is a creation of the railway age: its name, a variant (uncertain whether deliberate or accidental) of the adjacent village of Egglescliffe -- meaning "in the old tongue", church on a hill.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Callwen in the Swansea region also has a church that is dedicated to St John the Baptist.

 

[Calthrop]

Callwen in the Swansea region also has a church that is dedicated to St John the Baptist.

While Callwen's church is, as per above, dedicated to St. J. the B.; the name features in the Celtic-countries speciality -- which rather delights me -- of saints of considerable obscurity, and in some cases, of questionable reality. There was -- by some accounts anyway -- around the 6th century, a Welsh Saint Callwen (per Wiki, "there is some doubt about whether she existed"). Callwen's slightly better-attested-as-genuine sister Saint Gwenfyl (they were allegedly children or descendants of one Brychan), is said to have founded a chapel named Capel Gwenvyl, "which no longer exists", subordinate ecclesiastically to Llanddewi Brefi, Ceredigion (near Tregaron).

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Whitby in North Yorkshire is another settlement where a Synod of the early Christian church in Britain was held.

 

[D6130]

Cruden Bay in Aberdeenshire is another settlement associated with Bram Stoker's novel "Dracula".

 

[Calthrop]

Reputedly, Cruden Bay was the site of a battle in 1012, at which the Scots under King Malcolm II defeated the Danes; and thus got its name, from the Gaelic Croch Dain = "slaughter of Danes". There was an almost-contemporary similar event with a similar result at what is now the Dublin suburb of Clontarf, in 1014: Brian Boru, High King of Ireland, defeated the Vikings of Dublin.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Blanchardstown in the Fingal area also lies on the line of the River Tolka.

 

[EbbwJunction1]

The Royal Canal passes along the southern edge of Blanchardstown proper from east to west; further west, it also passes through Maynooth.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Robertstown in County Kildare also hosts an annual antiques and vintage fair.

 

[Calthrop]

A little way from Robertstown is Mondello Park, Ireland's only international motorsport venue. One of England's several such venues is Donington Park, near Castle Donington, Leicestershire.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Cambridge also has a church that is dedicated to St Edward, King and Martyr.

 

[EbbwJunction1]

Another Church of England parish church in Cambridge is St Mary the Great. It is known locally as Great St Mary's or simply GSM to distinguish it from "Little St Mary's". The present building was constructed between 1478 and 1519, with the tower finished later, in 1608. There have been several restorations over the years, with one being carried out by the English architect Anthony Salvin (1799 – 1881) in 1857. This was quite late in his career, which started with the construction of Mamhead House in Mamhead, Devon for Robert William Newman in 1827.

 

[Springs Branch]

The estate of Mamhead House includes an obelisk, erected in the 18th century as a philanthropic marine navigation aid.

Another notable obelisk is Captain Cook's Monument located on Easby Moor and technically in the parish of Little Ayton, North Yorks.

 

[EbbwJunction1]

Little Ayton is connected by a network of named but unclassified roads which provide links to a number of small villages in that area. One of these places is the hamlet of Easby which, in another connection with Little Ayton, also has a population of less than 100 people.

 

[Calthrop]

Little Ayton is connected by a network of named but unclassified roads which provide links to a number of small villages in that area. One of these places is the hamlet of Easby which, in another connection with Little Ayton, also has a population of less than 100 people.

There is, some 25 miles west of Easby as above-bolded; another Easby, near Richmond -- also with a population of less than 100.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Keld in North Yorkshire also lies on the line of the River Swale.

 

[D6130]

Marsden in West Yorkshire also lies on the line of the Pennine Way long distance footpath.