Settlement Association

[Calthrop]

Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, is also twinned with a settlement in the German State of Bavaria. Campbeltown's "twin" is Kuemmersbruck; Stoke's is Erlangen. (One does wonder who is responsible for choosing twin towns, and by what criteria -- re Campbeltown / Kuemmersbruck, Bavaria is a very long way from the sea...)

 

[John Griffiths]

Like Stoke-on-Trent, Plymouth gained city status in 1928.

 

[Calthrop]

The rather saucily-inclined painter Beryl Cook (1926 -- 2008) lived for the latter half of her life in Plymouth; she and her works became closely identified with the place. She was born in Egham, Surrey.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Neweham Courtnay in Oxfordshire also has a university owned arboritium.

 

[Calthrop]

Neweham Courtnay in Oxfordshire also has a university owned arboritium.

The Anglo-Irish writer Oliver Goldsmith published in 1770 his doleful poem The Deserted Village -- per Wiki, concerning the demolition of a medieval village (given by the author, the fictional name of "sweet Auburn") and the destruction of adjacent farms, to become a wealthy man's garden: expressing fears that this would become a common practice and lead to the ruin of the peasantry. There is some evidence that Goldsmith may here, have been referring to the above-bolded N.C. -- which did receive around that time, this treatment from the landowner; though I gather that he had built, a new replacement village on a different site. An alternative theory has the author referring under the "Auburn" pseudonym, to a tiny village in Ireland: near Ballymahon, Co. Longford. "You pays your money...", I suppose ...

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Finea in County Westmeath also lies on the line of the River Inny.

 

[John Griffiths]

When we're in the Irish Midlands it's not long before our old pal Percy French turns up, and indeed Finea Bridge is mentioned in his song Come Back Paddy Reilly, as is Ballyjamesduff, Co Cavan.

 

[Calthrop]

John Wesley -- in the course of his missionary journeyings during his long life -- preached in Ballyjamesduff, and had a church built there. Things would seem to have gone less to his liking in Belturbet, also in Co. Cavan: which he passed through in 1760, and described it thus -- "a town in which there is neither Papist nor Presbyterian, but, to supply that deficit there are Sabbath-breakers, drunkards and common swearers in abundance". (One might reckon, per present-day general perceptions: that in this overall part of the world, old John was -- for obvious reasons -- pretty well on a hiding to nothing with his mission; but perhaps things were rather different three-centuries-odd ago.)

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Ballyshannon in County Donegal also lies on the line of the River Erne,

 

[Calthrop]

Ballyshannon is one of those places which manage to be twinned with not just one, but two, settlements in the same foreign country. Ballyshannon's French "twins" are Grenay (Pas-de-Calais departement); and Sene [acute accents, which I can't do, on both "e" 's] in the departement of Morbihan in Brittany. Sene would appear to be a bastion of the Breton language; at a guess, similarly re Ballyshannon and Irish -- hence the hook-up. Also with a twin settlement in Morbihan, is Fareham, Hampshire -- its "twin" thus, being Vannes.

 

[D6130]

Stockton-on-Tees also has - or had....as it burned down several years ago - a church dedicated to the Holy Trinity.

 

[Calthrop]

Stratford-upon-Avon also has an artificial tropical environment, open to the public, specialising in exotic butterflies.

 

[D6130]

Prescot in Merseyside also has a theatre and museum dedicated to the works of William Shakespeare. (The Bard of Avon is reputed to have lived there for a short time in his early years).

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Askrigg also has historical links to clockmaking.

 

[D6130]

Askrigg was one of the principal outdoor filming locations for the 1980s BBC TV adaptation of James Herriot's semi-autobiographical book 'AlI Creatures Great and Small'. Most of the outside shots for the recent remake were filmed in Grassington, North Yorkshire.

 

[John Griffiths]

Askrigg was the location for 'Darrowby' in the 1978-90 BBC series All Creatures Great and Small. In the 2020 Channel 5 remake, Grassington stood in for Darrowby.

Great minds and all that...

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Newtonmore in the Highland region also has a folk museum.

 

[johnnychips]

Whereas Newtonmore is allegedly the most central settlement in Scotland, Meriden is supposed to be the equivalent in England.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Solihull in the West Midlands was also once administered by the Hundred of Hemlingford.

 

[John Griffiths]

Solihull lies on the River Blythe; Barston, in the Metropolitan Borough of Solihull, lies in a meander of the same river.

Strictly speaking, in the area of land enclosed by said meander.

 

[Calthrop]

Solihull lies on the River Blythe; Barston, in the Metropolitan Borough of Solihull, lies in a meander of the same river.

Strictly speaking, in the area of land enclosed by said meander.

Neston, Cheshire (on the Wirral Peninsula) also has a pub called the Malt Shovel.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Irby in Merseyside was also once under the jurisdiction of the Wirral Poor Law Union.

 

[Springs Branch]

Irby is served by the 175 bus route, which is worked by a local Wirral-based operator A2B Travel.
A2B Travel is based in the Birkenhead suburb of Prenton.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Thornton Hough in Merseyside was also once administered by the Hundred of Wirral.

 

[Calthrop]

Winterton, North Lincolnshire -- north of Scunthorpe -- also has a church dedicated to All Saints.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Newark-on-Trent in Nottinghamshire also hosts an agricultural show.

 

[Calthrop]

The Newark Torc -- a fine example in silver and gold, of an Iron Age torc (neck ring), discovered near Newark-on-Trent in 2005 -- is reckoned comparable in archaeological and material value, with the Snettisham Great Torc, made of electrum: "star feature" of the Iron Age hoard of such pieces discovered in 1950, at Snettisham, Norfolk (north of King's Lynn).

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Little Paxton in Cambridgeshire also has a post-mounted illustrated village sign.

 

[Calthrop]

The Paxton Pits Nature Reserve near Little Paxton is a notably good place for encountering nightingales; as is Fingringhoe Wick Nature Reserve at Fingringhoe, Essex (south of Colchester).

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Narberth in Pembrokeshire also has a church that is dedicated to St Andrew.