Civilisation/British Isles Geography

England

Bedfordshire

Cardington is best known in connection with the Cardington airship works founded by Short Brothers during World War I, which later became an RAF base

Wrest Park is a country estate located near Silsoe

Whipsnade Zoo, near Dunstable, is owned by the Zoological Society of London

Berkshire

Maidenhead Railway Bridge was designed by Brunel, and completed in 1839

Donnington Castle was reduced to a ruin in the aftermath of the Second Battle of Newbury in the English Civil War

Slough is home to Europe's largest trading estate

Newbury is home to the world headquarters of Vodafone

Walbury Hill is the highest hill in Berkshire and the highest natural point in South East England

Buckinghamshire

Concrete cows in Milton Keynes were created in 1978 by Canadian-born artist, Liz Leyh

Milton Keynes was made a new town in 1967. The shopping centre is a Grade II listed building. It has a Peace Pagoda

Bekonscot Model Village and Railway is a model village built in the 1920s in Beaconsfield

Cambridgeshire

The green space of Parker’s Piece in Cambridge hosted the first ever game of association football

Bridge of Sighs is a covered bridge at St John’s College, Cambridge University

Duroliponte was a small town in the Roman province of Britannia on the site of what is now the city of Cambridge

Kettle’s Yard is an art gallery and house in Cambridge

Silicon Fen is the name given to the region around Cambridge, which is home to a large number of high-tech businesses focusing on software, electronics, and biotechnology

Stilton is a village within the historic county boundaries of Huntingdonshire

In 1974, under the Local Government Act 1972, Huntingdon and Peterborough merged with Cambridgeshire and Isle of Ely to form the new non-metropolitan county of Cambridgeshire

Cambridgeshire Guided Busway is the longest guided busway in the world

Cheshire

Chester Zoo was opened in 1931 by George Mottershead and his family. It is one of the UK's largest zoos

Eastgate is a permanently open gate through the Chester city walls, on the site of the original entrance to the Roman fortress of Deva Victrix. It includes the Eastgate clock

Chester’s central shopping area includes its unique Rows or galleries (two levels of shops) which date from medieval times

Chester Racecourse, known as the Roodee, is according to official records the oldest racecourse still in use in England. Horse racing at Chester dates back to the early 16th century. It is also thought to be the smallest racecourse of significance in England. The site was once a harbour during the Roman settlement of the city

Cestrian is a person from Chester

Tatton Park is a historic estate near Knutsford. It contains a mansion, Tatton Hall, a manor house dating from medieval times, Tatton Old Hall, gardens, a farm and a deer park of 2,000 acres

Northwich has a salt museum

Anderton Boat Lift provides a 50 feet vertical link between two navigable waterways: the River Weaver and the Trent and Mersey Canal

Burtonwood, near Warrington, was the largest airfield in Europe during WWII with the most USAAF personnel and aircraft maintenance facilities

Cheshire Ring canal ring, which includes sections of six canals in and around Cheshire and Greater Manchester

National Waterways Museum is in Ellesmere Port

Beeston Castle is a former Royal castle and is managed by English Heritage

Cornwall

Eden Project was conceived by Tim Smit and designed by architect Nicholas Grimshaw and engineering firm Anthony Hunt and Associates

Lost Gardens of Heligan are near Mevagissey. The gardens were created by members of the Tremayne family, over a period from the mid-18th century up to the beginning of the 20th century

Minack Theatre is an open-air theatre, constructed above a gully with a rocky granite outcrop jutting into the sea. The theatre is located near Porthcurno, four miles from Land's End. The theatre was the brainchild of Rowena Cade

St Austell is an important town in the china clay industry

Furry Dance (also known incorrectly as the Floral Dance) takes place in Helston

St Michael's Mount (from Cornish for ’grey rock in the woods’) is a tidal island 366 m off the Mount's Bay coast. Named after the Archangel St Michael. St Michael’s Mount is united with Marazion by a man-made causeway, passable only at mid to low tide

Eddystone Lighthouse is situated on the treacherous Eddystone Rocks, nine miles south west of Rame Head. The rocks are within the city limits of Plymouth. The current structure is the fourth lighthouse to be built on the site. The first and second lighthouses were both destroyed in accidents. The third lighthouse, also known as Smeaton's Tower, is perhaps the best known of the four, because of its influence on modern lighthouse design and its importance in the development of concrete as a building material. Its upper portions have been re-erected in Plymouth as a monument

Longships is the name given to a group of rocks situated 1.25 miles to the west of Land's End, in Penwit. A lighthouse is situated at Longships

Doctor Syntax’s head is the most westerly point of Land's End

Merry Maidens is a late Neolithic stone circle

Lanhydrock House is a late Victorian country house

Heights above sea level are calculated from the mean sea level at Newlyn

The Manacles is a reef off the Cornish coast

Porthcurno is a cable station

The Cribbar, also known as the Widow Maker, is a reef off Newquay. The Cribbar is best known for creating annual big waves, popular with surfers

Dozmary Pool on Bodmin Moor is one site that is claimed to be the home of the Lady of the Lake

Lizard Point is the most southerly point on mainland Great Britain

River Camel flows through Cornwall

Isles of Scilly

Isles of Scilly remain part of the ceremonial county of Cornwall, and some services have been combined with those of Cornwall. Since 1890 the islands have had a separate local authority

Isles of Scilly are known as ‘Islands of the Dead’ due to the large number of burial chambers

Bishop Rock is a small rock at the westernmost tip of the Isles of Scilly known for its lighthouse, and listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the smallest island with a building on it in the world

Hugh Town is the main settlement on the Isles of Scilly. The town is situated on the island of St. Mary's, which is the largest of the Isles of Scilly

Tresco is the second largest island

Only five of the Isles of Scilly are inhabited

Southernmost settlement of the United Kingdom is Troy Town Farm on St. Agnes

Midway between Land’s End and the Isles of Scilly is the supposed location of the mythical lost land of Lyonesse, referred to in Arthurian literature

Cumbria

The county of Cumbria was created in 1974 from the traditional counties of Cumberland and Westmorland

Kendal lies on the River Kent

Appleby was the county town of Westmorland

Windermere is the largest and longest lake in England

Belle Isle is the largest of 18 islands on Windermere

Derwent Island House is an 18th century Italianate house situated on Derwent Island, in Derwent Water, and in the ownership of the National Trust. It is open to the public five days a year

Ullswater is the second largest lake in England

Wastwater is the deepest lake in England

Windermere, Ullswater and Wastwater are all ribbon lakes, formed in a glacial trough after the retreat of ice at the start of the current interglacial

Bassenthwaite Lake is the only body of water in the Lake District to be technically defined as a "lake" and to use the word "lake" in its name

Ennerdale Water is the most westerly lake in the Lake District

Thirlmere was constructed in the 19th century by the Manchester Corporation to provide the city of Manchester with water supplies. The 96 mile-long Thirlmere Aqueduct still provides water to the Manchester area and remains the longest tunnel in the world

Blencathra, also known as Saddleback, is one of the most northerly mountains in the Lake District

Striding Edge is a ridge on Helvellyn

Scafell Pike is the highest mountain in England, at an elevation of 978 metres (3,209 ft) above sea level

Sca Fell is the second highest mountain in England

Helvellyn is the third highest mountain in England

Skiddaw is a mountain overlooking Keswick

Hardknot Pass in the Lake District is one of the steepest roads in England

Kirkstone Pass is the Lake District's highest pass that is open to motor traffic

Ambleside is at the north end of Windermere

Castlerigg Stone circle is near Keswick

The highest waterfall in England, Cautley Spout, in Howgill Fells, is almost 600 ft high

Walney Island is an island at the western end of Morecambe Bay. It forms part of the town of Barrow-in-Furness

Long Meg and Her Daughters is a Bronze Age stone circle near Penrith

Banna, now known as Birdoswald Roman Fort, is one of the best preserved of the 16 forts along Hadrian's Wall

Glenridding and Pooley Bridge are villages at the ends of Ullswater

Gosforth Cross has elaborate carvings which have been interpreted as representing characters and scenes from Norse mythology

Windscale is near the village of Seascale

Calder Hall was the first UK nuclear power station, at Sellafield. Opened by the Queen in 1956

Thermal Oxide Reprocessing Plant, or THORP, is a nuclear fuel reprocessing plant at Sellafield. THORP is owned by the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority and operated by Sellafield Ltd

St. Bees Head is the most westerly point of Northern England

Ruskin Museum is in Coniston

Cartmel is famous for sticky toffee pudding

In 2022 L’Enclume restaurant in Cartmel, run by chef Simon Rogan became the first restaurant in the UK outside London and the South-East to gain 3 Michelin stars

Carlisle was a Roman settlement was named Luguvalium

Oxenholme Lake District is a railway station in Oxenholme, near Kendal. The station is situated on the West Coast Main Line and is also the start of the Windermere Branch Line to Windermere

Dent railway station on the Settle and Carlisle line is the highest operational main line station in England

Derbyshire

Derby was made a city by the Queen in 1977

Buxton has a Doric-style building called The Crescent, built on the orders of the 5th Duke of Devonshire

Buxton was known as Aquae Arnemetiae in Roman times

Flash, near Buxton, is the highest village in England

Ladybower Reservoir is in the Upper Derwent Valley

Creswell Crags is a limestone gorge in North East Derbyshire. It contains the only known examples of Paleolithic cave art in Britain

Titan is located at Castleton in the Peak District and is the largest shaft of any known United Kingdom cave, being some 141m tall

Treak Cliff Cavern is a cave near Castleton. It has been a designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest for many years and by agreement with English Nature all the Blue John stone deposits on the visitor route are preserved. Blue John is a variety of fluorite

Derwent Valley Mills is a World Heritage Site. The modern factory, or 'mill', system was born here in the 18th century to accommodate the new technology for spinning cotton developed by Richard Arkwright

Eyam is a small village best known for being the ‘plague village’ that chose to isolate itself when the Black Death was found in the village in1665, rather than see the infection travel further north

Matlock is the administrative centre of Derbyshire

Royal Shrovetide Football Match is a "medieval football" game played annually on Shrove Tuesday and Ash Wednesday in the town of Ashbourne

Devon

Torbay is a borough that includes the resort towns of Torquay, Paignton and Brixham

Westward Ho! Is a village near Bideford. The village name comes from the title of Charles Kingsley's novel Westward Ho!

National Marine Aquarium is in Plymouth

Her Majesty's Naval Base, Devonport (HMNB Devonport) is the largest naval base in Western Europe and is the sole nuclear repair and refueling facility for the Royal Navy

Devonport was formerly named Plymouth Dock

White Lady Waterfall at Lydford Gorge is on the River Lyd

Great Hangman is the highest sea cliff in England and the highest point on the South West Coast Path

Plymouth was the most bombed UK city in World War II

The town of Axminster gives its name to a type of carpet

Kents Cavern is a cave system in Torquay, and is notable both for its archaeological and geological features

Isca Dumnoniorum was the Roman name for Exeter

The practice of carrying flaming tar barrels through the streets takes place in Ottery St Mary

Tarka Line is a railway line from Exeter to Barnstable

Lundy is the largest island in the Bristol Channel. Lundy is England’s only marine nature reserve. It is owned by the National Trust

High Willhays is the highest point in Devon and is the highest point in England south of the Brecon Beacons

Dorset

Bournemouth was founded in 1810 by Lewis Trogonwell

Bournemouth was part of Hampshire until 1974

Dorchester was the site of the trial of Bloody Assizes (1685) and Tolpuddle Martyrs (1833)

Lyme Regis was granted a royal charter by Edward I in 1284

The town walls of Wareham were likely built by Alfred the Great in the 9th century to defend the town from the Danes

Kimmeridge is a village in the Purbeck district. The village stands on Jurassic shale cliffs, and gives its name to the division of the Jurassic period in which the beds were laid down, because of the quality of the cliffs and the fossils they yield. It is part of the Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site

Old Harry Rocks are chalk stacks located on the Isle of Purbeck directly east of Studland and to the north of Swanage

Fleet Lagoon is between Chesil Beach and the mainland

Durnovaria was the Roman name for Dorchester

Made by a turf-cut outline filled with chalk, the Cerne Abbas Giant depicts a large, naked man, with a substantial erect penis, typically described as a giant wielding a club

Sandbanks is a small peninsula crossing the mouth of Poole Harbour. Sandbanks has, by area, the fourth highest land value in the world

An ancient sycamore tree on the village green at Tolpuddle, known as the Martyrs' Tree, is said to be the place where the Martyrs swore their oath

Brownsea Island in Poole Harbour is one of the few places in southern England where indigenous red squirrels survive

Lulworth Cove is on the Jurassic Coast

Durdle Door is a natural limestone arch near Lulworth

Durham

Durham was the first UK city to introduce a congestion charge

Hamsterley Forest is a commercial forest operated by the Forestry Commission

High Force is a waterfall on the River Tees

Caldron Snout is a waterfall on River Tees. It lies on the boundary between County Durham and Cumbria

Dunelmian is a person from Durham

East Riding of Yorkshire

Hull has distinctive cream telephone boxes which can be seen across the city. KCOM produces its own 'White Pages' telephone directory

In 2019, Hull became the first UK city to have full fibre broadband available for all residents

Wyke on Hull was renamed Kings town upon Hull by King Edward I in 1299

Spurn Head is a narrow sand spit on the tip of the coast that reaches into the North Sea and forms the north bank of the mouth of the Humber estuary

Holderness is an area of rich agricultural land, but was marshland until it was drained in the Middle Ages

Humber Bridge spans the Humber (the estuary formed by the rivers Trent and Ouse) between Barton-upon-Humber on the south bank and Hessle on the north bank, connecting the East Riding of Yorkshire and North Lincolnshire. Humber Bridge opened in 1981. It is the longest single-span suspension bridge in the world which can be crossed on foot or by bicycle

Hornsea Wind Farm is sited 120 km off the east coast, and is planned to have a total capacity of up to 6 gigawatt

East Sussex

George V added the Regis suffix to Bognor

Long Man of Wilmington is at Windover Hill, in East Sussex. Holds two poles

Glyndebourne is near Lewes

Goodwood is associated with the Dukes of Richmond

The land on which Gatwick Airport stands was first developed as an aerodrome in the late 1920s. The Air Ministry approved commercial flights from the site in 1933, and the first terminal, "The Beehive" was built in 1935

Lewes is the administrative centre of East Sussex

Pevensey Castle is a medieval castle and former Roman Saxon Shore fort. Built around 290 AD, it was known to the Romans as Anderitum

Essex

Essex takes its name from the Old English for "East Saxons"

Maldon is famous for sea salt

Colchester is the oldest town in England. Granted city status in 2022

Colchester was famed for its oysters

Chelmsford was known as Caeseromagus in Roman times

The Rodings are a group of villages, the largest group in the country to bear a common name

Saffron Walden gets its name from the rare Crocus sativus, saffron crocus

Isle of Thanet is separated from the mainland by what became known as the Wantsum Channel, until the deposition of silt from the River Stour along the coast joined the Isle to the mainland

Canvey Island is separated from the mainland to the north and west by Benfleet, East Haven and Vange creeks

Camulodunum was the Roman name for Colchester

Colchester is on the River Colne

Wallasea Wetlands is sited on Wallasea Island

DP World London Gateway is a deep-water port in Thurrock opened in 2013

Gloucestershire

Crickley Hill is an important Neolithic and Iron Age site in the Cotswold Hills

Chedworth Roman Villa is one of the largest Roman villas in Britain

Westonbirt Arboretum is managed by the Forestry Commission. The arboretum was established in 1829 by Robert Stayner Holford

Clearwell Caves are ancient iron mines in the Forest of Dean

Kemble airfield is now known as Cotswold Airport, and is used as an F1 test track

St Mary's Parish churchyard in Painswick is notable for its ancient and numerous yew trees

The Roman name for Cirencester was Corinium, which is thought to have been associated with the ancient British tribe of the Dobunni

During the Middle Ages, Tetbury became an important market for Cotswold wool and yarn

Clifton Suspension Bridge spans the Avon Gorge, linking Clifton in Bristol to Leigh Woods in North Somerset. The bridge is built to a design by William Henry Barlow and John Hawkshaw, based on an earlier design by Isambard Kingdom Brunel and opened in 1864

Forest of Dean is one of the surviving ancient woodlands in England

Greater London

The administrative area was created on 1 April 1965 and has been the London region since 1 April 1994. It comprises the City of London and 32 London boroughs, of which 12 are Inner London and 20 Outer London boroughs. It covers 1,572 km² (607 sq miles) and has a population of 8.9 million

The Greater London Council (GLC) was the top-tier administrative body for Greater London from 1965 to 1986. It replaced the earlier London County Council (LCC) which had covered a much smaller area. The GLC was dissolved in 1986 by the Local Government Act 1985 and its powers were devolved to the London boroughs and other entities

The Greater London Authority (GLA) was established in 2000

Royal London boroughs – Kensington and Chelsea, Kingston upon Thames, Greenwich, Windsor and Maidenhead

HMS Belfast is moored near Tower Bridge in the Pool of London. Opened to the public in 1971, Belfast became a branch of the Imperial War Museum in 1978

HMS Wellington is moored alongside the Victoria Embankment, at Temple Pier, as the headquarters ship of the Honourable Company of Master Mariners

First bridge across the Thames was near Vauxhall, c. 1500 BC, where three rivers met

Romans built a bridge on the site of London Bridge c. 50 AD

Amen Corner is located off Ave Maria Lane, just to the west of St Paul's Cathedral and between the Old Bailey and Paternoster Square

Albemarle Street was the first one-way street in London

Leicester Square is named after the Earl of Leicester

Birdcage Walk is named after the Royal Menagerie and Aviary which were located there in the reign of King James I

Great Scotland Yard in St. James’s was the location of the rear entrance to the original headquarters of the Metropolitan Police Service

Green Park is the smallest royal park

Green Park was used as a dueling ground

Smithfield Market opened in 1868. Bartholomew Fair was held in Smithfield

London Stone is a historic landmark housed in Cannon Street in the City of London. It is an irregular block of limestone

St. Katherine Docks were designed by Thomas Telford and opened in 1828

Launched in 1991, The Green Plaque Scheme draws attention to particular buildings in Westminster associated with people of renown who have made lasting contributions to society

Pelicans in St James’s Park introduced in 1664 as a gift from the Russian Ambassador

London Wall was the defensive wall built by the Romans around Londinium

Cripplegate was a city gate in the London Wall and a name for the region of the City of London outside the gate. The area was almost entirely destroyed by bombing in World War II and today is the site of the Barbican Estate and Barbican Centre

Strand referred to the shallow bank of the once much wider River Thames, before the construction of the Victoria Embankment

Parish church of St Paul in Covent Garden is known as ‘the actor’s church’

Horse Guards Parade was formerly the site of the Palace of Whitehall's tiltyard, where tournaments (including jousting) were held in the time of Henry VIII. It was also the scene of annual celebrations of the birthday of Queen Elizabeth I

Savoy Court is the only street in the United Kingdom where vehicles are required to drive on the right

London and Greenwich Railway was opened between 1836 and 1838. It was the first steam railway to have a terminus in the capital, the first of any to be built specifically for passenger service, and the first example of an elevated railway

Originally, the Pool of London was the stretch of the River Thames forming the south side of the City of London. The term was later used more generally to refer to the stretch of the river between London Bridge and Rotherhithe, which constituted the furthest reach that could be reached by a tall-masted vessel

Vauxhall Bridge has a statue holding a model of St Paul’s

Hyde Park was created in 1536 by Henry VIII for hunting. He acquired the manor of Hyde from the canons of Westminster Abbey, who had held it since before the Norman Conquest; it was enclosed as a deer park and remained a private hunting ground until James I permitted limited access to gentlefolk, appointing a ranger to take charge. Charles I created the Ring, and in 1637 he opened the park to the general public

Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fountain in Hyde Park was designed by American landscape architect Kathryn Gustafson

Queen Elizabeth gates in Hyde Park opened in 1993

7/7 memorial in Hyde Park consists of 52 steel pillars

Denmark Street was Britain's "Tin Pan Alley" housing numerous music publishers' offices

Chamber of Horrors is at Madame Tussauds

Mermaid Tavern near St Paul’s was visited by poets, including Shakespeare. Meeting place of the ‘Friday Street Club’, a literary club founded in 1603 by Walter Raleigh. Burned down in the Great Fire of London

Trafalgar Square was originally to be called King William the Fourth’s Square. The first three plinths have statues of George IV, Henry Havelock and Charles James Napier. Fourth plinth used for a succession of works by contemporary artists, including Mark Wallinger, Rachel Whiteread, and Marc Quinn

St James's Park is the oldest Royal Park in London

Finsbury Circus is the largest public open space within the City's boundaries

Kings Cross was known as Battle Bridge until a statue of George IV was erected in 1835

Bethlem's origins are traced to its foundation in 1247, during the reign of Henry III, as the Priory of the New Order of St Mary of Bethlem in the city of London. The original location of the priory was in the parish of St Botolph, just beyond London's wall and where Liverpool Street station now stands. Bethlem was first used as a priory for the sisters and brethren of the Order of the Star of Bethlehem, from where the building took its name

London Zoo is the world's oldest scientific zoo. It was opened in 1828, and was originally intended to be used as a collection for scientific study. It was opened to the public in 1847. It is managed under the aegis of the Zoological Society of London

There is a statue of Guy the Gorilla located near London Zoo's main entrance

MI5 headquarters are at Thames House

Fitzrovia is situated between Marylebone and Bloomsbury and north of Soho. Probably named after the Fitzroy Tavern

London Silver Vaults opened as The Chancery Lane Safe Deposit in 1876

Canary Wharf takes its name from a quay that imported from the Canary Islands

Thames Tunnel connects Rotherhithe and Wapping. It was the first tunnel known successfully to have been constructed underneath a navigable river, and was built between 1825 and 1843 using Thomas Cochrane and Marc Isambard Brunel's newly invented tunneling shield technology, by him and his son Isambard Kingdom Brunel. Inspired by observing the actions of ship worms (Teredo navalis) at Chatham Dockyard, Mark Isambard Brunel created a device that was used to form tunnels underground

Thames Tideway Tunnel is a sewer under construction, running mostly under the tidal section (estuary) of the River Thames across Inner London

The Clink and Marshalsea were prisons in Southwark

Billingsgate Fish Market relocated to the Isle of Dogs in 1982

The Chelsea Physic Garden was established as the Apothecaries’ Garden in 1673. (The word ‘Physic’ refers to the science of healing.) It is the second oldest botanical garden in Britain, after the University of Oxford Botanic Garden, which was founded in 1621. Its rock garden is the oldest English garden devoted to alpine plants

Petticoat Lane Market is a fashion and clothing market located on Wentworth Street and Middlesex Street in East London

Mile End takes its name from a milestone signifying the point one mile east of the boundary of the City of London at Aldgate, although historically the stone's position was near Stepney Green tube station

St John’s Wood was once part of the Great Middlesex Forest. It was later owned by the Knights of St John of Jerusalem

Highgate Cemetery was established in 1839. Karl Marx, George Eliot and Ralph Richardson are all buried in Highgate cemetery

Hampstead Garden Suburb was founded by Henrietta Barnett in 1907

Bunhill Fields in Islington is a former burial ground

River Fleet is the largest of London's subterranean rivers. Its headwaters are two streams on Hampstead Heath

River Tyburn ran from South Hampstead, through Marylebone, Mayfair, St James's parish/district and Green Park to meet the tidal Thames at four sites

Woolwich Ferry opened in 1889

Millwall was originally known as Marshwall, its name derives from the large number of windmills built on the river wall, in the 19th century

Outer London

Kew Gardens was founded by Princess Augusta

Palm house at Kew Gardens was designed by Richard Turner and Decimus Burton

Kew Gardens Great Pagoda by William Chambers was erected in 1762, from a design in imitation of the Chinese Taa

Kew Gardens Nash Conservatory was originally at Buckingham Palace

Marianne North Gallery of Botanic Art in Kew Gardens is named after the English Victorian biologist and botanical artist

Bromley is the largest London borough by area (59 square miles)

Chislehurst caves, in the borough of Bromley, are entirely man-made and were dug and used as chalk and flint mines. In World War II they became an underground city of some 15,000 inhabitants

The name Croydon is derived from ‘crocus valley’, as it may have been a centre for the collection of saffron

Teddington lock is the end of the tidal reach of the Thames

Richmond was named after Henry VII’s Yorkshire earldom

Richmond Park is the largest royal park. It has a colony of green parakeets

Bushy Park in the Borough of Richmond upon Thames is the second largest of London's Royal Parks, after Richmond Park. It is immediately north of Hampton Court Palace

Garrick's Temple to Shakespeare is a garden folly erected in 1756 on the north bank of the River Thames at Hampton in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames

New Spitalfields Market is located in Leyton, London Borough of Waltham Forest. Opened in 1991, it is Europe's leading horticultural market specializing in exotic fruit and vegetables

London City Airport is in the borough of Newham

Heathrow Airport is in the borough of Hillingdon

Surbiton was the first suburb built around a railway line

Croydon is the most populous London borough

West Norwood Cemetery has catacombs

The ‘Magnificent Seven’ is an informal term applied to seven large cemeteries in London. They were established in the 19th century to alleviate overcrowding in existing parish burial grounds. Kensal Green (1832), West Norwood (1836), Highgate (1839), Abney Park (1840), Nunhead (1840), Brompton (1840), and Tower Hamlets (1841)

Scratchwood Services on the M1 are now known as London Gateway Services

Greater Manchester

Manchester had a population of 552,000 at the 2021 census

Manchester was known as Cottonopolis due to the large production of cotton

The Trafford Centre opened in 1998 and is the third largest shopping centre in the UK by retail size

Canal Street is the centre of the Manchester Gay Village

Ancoats is an industrial suburb of Manchester

Bridgewater Canal was commissioned by Francis Egerton, 3rd Duke of Bridgewater, to transport coal from his mines in Worsley to Manchester. It was opened in 1761. Bridgewater Canal connects Runcorn, Manchester and Leigh

Barton Swing Aqueduct is a moveable navigable aqueduct that carries the Bridgewater Canal across the Manchester Ship Canal

When the Manchester Ship Canal opened in 1894 it was the largest river navigation canal in the world, and enabled the newly created Port of Manchester to become Britain's third busiest port. Principal engineer was Edward Williams

Peel Tower stands on Holcombe Moor, above Ramsbottom. Memorial tower to Sir Robert Peel

River Mersey starts at the confluence of the River Tame and River Goyt in Stockport

River Irwell is a tributary of the River Mersey. The Irwell marks the boundary between Manchester and Salford

Hampshire

Portsea Island contains a large proportion of the city of Portsmouth. The third largest by population of any island in the British Isles after the mainlands of Great Britain and Ireland, it has the highest population density

HMNB Portsmouth is an operational Royal Navy base and is home to two-thirds of the UK's surface fleet

Southampton was built on the site of the Roman city of Clausentum

Mayflower Memorial is in Southampton

Winchester and Southampton are on the River Itchen

Spithead is the area east of the Solent

Venta Belgarum was the Roman name for Winchester, capital of Wessex

Calleva Atrebatum (or Silchester Roman Town) was an Iron Age settlement and subsequently a town in the Roman province of Britannia

Selborne is a village in Hampshire linked with the naturalist Revd. Gilbert White

Herefordshire

Hereford lies on the River Wye, 16 miles east of the border with Wales

Symonds Yat is on the River Wye. The name is said to come from Robert Symonds, a 17th century sheriff of Herefordshire and ‘yat’ as an old word for a gate or pass

Hertfordshire

Letchworth was the first Garden City and the first place in United Kingdom to have a roundabout

Welwyn Garden City was founded in 1920

St Albans was the first major town on the old Roman road of Watling Street for travellers heading north and became the Roman city of Verulamium. The medieval town grew up on the hill around the Benedictine foundation of St Albans Abbey. This is the spot where tradition has it that St Alban, the first British Christian martyr, was beheaded

St Albans is on the River Ver

Three Rivers is a local government district based in Rickmansworth

Stevenage was designated the United Kingdom's first New Town under the New Towns Act of 1946

Waltham Cross takes its name from the Eleanor Cross which stands in its centre

The Plough Roundabout in Hemel Hempstead is sometimes known as the Magic Roundabout

Isle of Wight

The island is historically part of Hampshire

Newport is the county town of the Isle of Wight

Isle of Wight has many dinosaur fossils

St Catherine’s Point is the southernmost point

Carisbrooke was for centuries the capital

St Boniface Down is the highest point

Isle of Wight was known as Vectis in Roman times

River Medina is the main river, rising at St Catherine’s Down in the south of the Island and flowing through Newport, towards the Solent at Cowes

The Needles is a row of three distinctive chalk stacks that rise out of the sea off the western extremity of the Isle of Wight, close to Alum Bay. The Needles Lighthouse, built in 1859, stands at the outer, western end of the formation. The formation takes its name from a fourth needle-shaped pillar called Lot’s Wife that collapsed in a storm in 1764. Alum Bay is well known for its multi-coloured sand cliffs

Isle of Wight has an annual Garlic Festival

Isle of Wight natives are known as caulkheads. Residents not born on the island are known as overners

The Island Line is part of the UK National Rail network, running 14 km from Shanklin to Ryde Pier Head, where there is a connecting ferry service to Portsmouth Harbour. The line utilises old ex-London Underground rolling stock

Kent

Dubris was the Roman name for Dover

Chatham Dockyard is located on the River Medway. Chatham was established as a royal dockyard by Elizabeth I in 1567. Chatham provided over 500 ships for the Royal Navy, and was at the forefront of shipbuilding, industrial and architectural technology. Closed in 1984

Isle of Sheppey is separated from Kent by the Swale estuary

Rochester, Chatham and Gillingham are the Medway towns

Rochester lost its city status in 1998 due to an administrative error

The Medway divides Kent into two parts. Those born in west Kent are labelled ‘Kentish Men’ while those born in east Kent are ‘Men of Kent’

Canterbury was the site of the first Anglo-Saxon cathedral. St. Augustine’s Abbey is also in Canterbury

Durovernum was the Roman name for Canterbury

Canterbury in on the River Stour

The Stade is a shingle beach in Hastings

The Pantiles is a shopping centre in Tunbridge Wells

Deal has a time ball

Goodwin Sands lies six miles off the Deal coast. More than 2,000 ships are believed to have been wrecked upon the Goodwin Sands

Pilgrims' Way is the historic route supposed to have been taken by pilgrims from Winchester to the shrine of Thomas Becket at Canterbury

Whitstable is famous for its oysters, which have been collected in the area since at least Roman times

Romney Marsh is a sparsely populated wetland area in the counties of Kent and East Sussex

Maidstone is the administrative centre of Kent

The Scenic Railway is located at the site of the former Dreamland Amusement Park, Margate. It is the oldest roller coaster in the United Kingdom

A colony of yellow-tailed scorpions live in Sheerness dockyard

Lancashire

The Fylde is a coastal plain in western Lancashire. It is roughly a 13 mile square-shaped peninsula, bound by Morecambe Bay to the north, the Ribble estuary to the south, the Irish Sea to the west, and the Bowland hills to the east.

Furness is an exclave of the historic county of Lancashire, lying to the north of Morecambe Bay

Blackpool is on the Fylde peninsula

Bolton was called Bolton-le-Moors

Forest of Bowland, also known as the Bowland Fells, is mostly in north-east Lancashire. A small part lies in North Yorkshire. Once described as the ‘Switzerland of England’, it has been designated an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty since 1964

The three main rivers in Lancashire are the Ribble, Wyre and Lune, which all drain west to the Irish Sea

Lancaster is the county town and stands on the River Lune

Fleetwood is on the River Wyre

Leicestershire

Ratae was the Roman name for Leicester

Jewry Wall is the ruins of a Roman wall in Leicester

Leicester became a city in 1919

Charnwood Forest is bounded by Leicester, Loughborough, and Coalville

River Soar is a major tributary of the Trent. It flows through Leicester

Lincolnshire

Lincolnshire was historically divided into Kesteven, Holland and Lindsey

Lindum was the Roman name for Lincoln

Lincoln is on the River Witham

Brigg Horse Fair is the surviving continuation of the medieval fair which was in existence at least as early as 1205

In July 2022 temperatures at Coninsby hit 40.3C – the highest figure ever recorded in the United Kingdom

Fossdyke, connects the River Trent at Torksey to Lincoln and may be the oldest canal in England that is still in use

Merseyside

Liverpool was given its charter by King John in 1207

Liverpool (Speke) Airport, as the airport was originally known, started scheduled flights in 1930 with a service by Imperial Airways. The old terminal building is now the Crowne Plaza Liverpool John Lennon Airport Hotel

‘Above us only sky’ is painted on the roof of Liverpool John Lennon Airport

Hope Street connects the Anglican and Catholic cathedrals in Liverpool

Liverpool Maritime Mercantile City was a UNESCO designated World Heritage Site. It comprises six locations in the city centre of Liverpool including the Pier Head, Albert Dock and William Brown Street. Removed from the list in 2021 after UNESCO decided that developments including a planned new football stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock had resulted in a "serious deterioration" of the historic site

Liverpool Biennial is the largest international contemporary art festival in the UK

The Merseyrail network has extensive underground sections within the city centre

Queensway tunnel under the River Mersey was opened by George VI

Southport Flower Show held at Victoria Park is the largest independent flower show in the UK

Hilbre Island is the largest of a group of three islands at the mouth of the estuary of the River Dee, which is a part of the estuary. It is a Site of Special Scientific Interest

The Wirral is a peninsula bounded by the River Dee to the west (forming the boundary with Wales), the River Mersey to the east, and the Irish Sea to the north

Birkenhead Park is a major public park located in the centre of Birkenhead. It was designed by Joseph Paxton and opened in 1847. It is the first publicly funded civic park in the world

Norfolk

During the 14th century, King's Lynn ranked as the third most important port in England, behind Southampton and London. It was considered as important to England during the Middle Ages as Liverpool was during the Industrial Revolution. Sea trade with Europe was dominated by the Hanseatic League of ports

Bishop’s Lynn became King’s Lynn during the reign of Henry VIII

Castle Rising is a ruined medieval fortification in the village of Castle Rising, near King’s Lynn

King's Lynn is mainly on the east bank of the River Great Ouse close to where it flows into the Wash

Norwich is the only English city in a National Park (Norfolk Broads)

Little Snoring is a village in Norfolk

North Norfolk Railway, also known as the ‘Poppy Line’, is a heritage steam railway running between Sheringham and Holt

Great Yarmouth is noted for bloaters and kippers

Cromer is famous for the Cromer crab, which forms the major source of income for the local fishermen

Grime's Graves is a large Neolithic flint mining complex in Norfolk, though Brandon, Suffolk, is the nearest town. It was worked between circa 3000 BC and circa 1900 BC, although production may have continued well into the Bronze and Iron Ages (and later) owing to the low cost of flint compared with metals

Our Lady of Walsingham is a title used for Mary, the mother of Jesus. The title derives from the belief that Mary appeared in a vision to Richeldis de Faverches, a devout Saxon noblewoman, in 1061 in the village of Walsingham in Norfolk. There are both Roman Catholic and Anglican shrines in Walsingham

Snettisham Hoard is a series of discoveries of Iron Age precious metal, found in Norfolk. The hoard consists of metal, jet and over 150 gold torc fragments

Seahenge, also known as Holme I, was a prehistoric monument located in the village of Holme-next-the-Sea, near Old Hunstanton

Northamptonshire

Cultural Quarter of Northampton is in the centre of the town. It is sometimes referred to as Derngate, which was the name of a gate in the old town walls located there

Blisworth Tunnel is on the Grand Union Canal. It is the third-longest navigable canal tunnel on the UK canal network after Standedge Tunnel and Dudley Tunnel

Corby was designated a New Town in 1950. Corby is famous for its Scottish heritage based on decades of incoming steel workers and was for a time known locally as ‘Little Scotland’

The boundary with Lincolnshire is England's shortest ceremonial county boundary, at 20 yards (18 metres)

Northumberland

The curlew is the official symbol of Northumberland National Park

Chillingham Cattle are a rare breed of cattle that live in a large enclosed park at Chillingham Castle

Cheviot Hills are at the northern end of the Northumberland National Park

Berwick-upon-Tweed is the northernmost town in England

Kielder Water is the largest artificial lake in the United Kingdom by capacity and it is surrounded by Kielder Forest, the largest man-made woodland in Europe. It was planned in the late 1960s to satisfy an expected rise in demand for water to support a booming UK industrial economy

The monastery of Lindisfarne (Holy Island) was founded by Irish monk Saint Aidan, who had been sent from Iona off the west coast of Scotland to Northumbria at the request of King Oswald. The priory was founded before the end of 634 and Aidan remained there until his death in 651

Corbridge was a Roman settlement

Vindolanda was a Roman auxiliary fort just south of Hadrian’s Wall. Located near the modern village of Bardon Mill, it guarded the Stanegate, the Roman road from the River Tyne to the Solway Firth. It is noted for the Vindolanda tablets, among the most important finds of military and private correspondence (written on wooden tablets) found anywhere in the Roman Empire

Housesteads Roman Fort is the remains of an auxiliary fort on Hadrian’s Wall. Its ruins are at Housesteads in the civil parish of Bardon Mill

Cilurnum is considered to be the best preserved Roman cavalry fort along Hadrian's Wall. The site is now preserved as Chester's Roman Fort

North Yorkshire

Micklegate Bar is part of the walls of York

Whip-Ma-Whop-Ma-Gate is a street in York

The Shambles in York is a meandering, narrow medieval street

York is at the confluence of River Ouse and River Foss

Harrogate spa water contains iron, sulphur and common salt

Middlesbrough was the first town to owe its existence to the railway, to ship coal

Hole of Horcum is a deep natural hollow in North York Moors National Park

Vale of Pickering is drained by the River Derwent

Ilkley and Otley are in Wharfedale

Richmond is in Swaledale

Hawes is in Wensleydale

Wensleydale is the only Yorkshire dale not to be named after the river that flows through it

The tradition of the Ripon Hornblower has endured since the year 886

Ripon is on the River Ure

Whitby is at the mouth of the River Esk

Dalby Forest is in North York Moors National Park

Cleveland Hills is a range of hills on the edge of the North York Moors overlooking Cleveland and Teesside

Flamborough Head is a promontory on the Yorkshire coast, between the Filey and Bridlington bays of the North Sea. It is a chalk headland, with sheer white cliffs

Danes Dyke is a long ditch at Flamborough Head

Gaping Gill is a cave at the foot of Ingleborough

Nine Standards Rigg is the summit of Hartley Fell, a fell in the Pennine Hills. It lies near to the boundary between Cumbria and North Yorkshire. The name is derived from a group of standing stones or cairns, the Nine Standards, located near the summit

Yorkshire’s Jurassic coast is a source of jet, which comes from monkey puzzle trees

Whernside is a mountain in the Yorkshire Dales and is one of the Yorkshire Three Peaks, the other two being Ingleborough and Pen-y-Ghent. It is the highest point in North Yorkshire

Malham Tarn is a glacial lake in the Yorkshire Dale. It is the highest lake in England

Malham Cove is a large curved limestone formation. The waterfall at Malham Cove is the highest ‘single drop waterfall’ above ground in England

Kellingley colliery closed in 2015, marking the end of deep-pit coal mining in Britain

Ampleforth is situated on the edge of the North York Moors National Park

Ribblehead Viaduct carries the Settle-Carlisle Railway across Batty Moss in the valley of the River Ribble

Nottinghamshire

Nottingham has links to the legend of Robin Hood and to the lace-making, bicycle and tobacco industries

The square by the National Ice Centre in Nottingham is named Bolero Square after Torvill and Dean's gold medal-winning performance

Ye Olde Trip To Jerusalem in Nottingham claims to be the oldest drinking establishment in England

Sherwood Forest was made a Royal Hunting Forest by William the Conqueror

Major Oak is a large English oak tree near the village of Edwinstowe in the heart of Sherwood Forest. According to local folklore, it was Robin Hood's shelter where he and his merry men slept

The Dukeries is a district in Nottinghamshire so called because it contained four ducal seats

Oxfordshire

The rivers Cherwell and Thames (known as the Isis) run through Oxford

Parson's Pleasure in the University Parks at Oxford, was a secluded area for male-only nude bathing on the River Cherwell

Saint Frithuswith, also known as Frideswide, is the patron saint of Oxford

Witney is associated with the manufacture of blankets

Hidcote Manor Garden is located at the village of Hidcote Bartrim, near Chipping Campden. It is one of the best-known and most influential Arts and Crafts gardens in Britain. Created by Lawrence Johnston, it is owned by the National Trust

At one time Banbury had many crosses, but these were destroyed by Puritans in1600. Banbury remained without a cross until the current Banbury Cross was erected in 1859 at the centre of the town to commemorate the marriage of Victoria, Princess Royal (eldest child of Queen Victoria) to Prince Frederick of Prussia

Liddington white horse was a monument to King Alfred

Wayland's Smithy is a Neolithic long barrow and chamber tomb site located near the Uffington White Horse. The site is associated with Wayland or Wolund, a Germanic smith-god

Rutland

Rutland has the smallest population of any normal unitary authority in mainland England and only the City of London is smaller in terms of area. The only towns in Rutland are Oakham, the county town, and Uppingham. The Latin motto Multum in Parvo or ‘much in little’ was adopted by the county council in 1950

Rutland Water is one of the largest artificial lakes in Europe. By surface area it is the largest reservoir in England, but by capacity it is exceeded by Kielder Water

Rutland Water was created by the damming of the Gwash Valley

Shropshire

Shropshire was known as Salop from 1974 to 1980

Viroconium was a Roman town, one corner of which is now occupied by Wroxeter. At its peak, Viroconium is estimated to have been the fourth largest Roman settlement in Britain, a civitas with a population of more than 15,000

Shrewsbury is the county town. Birthplace of Charles Darwin

Shrewsbury lies on the River Severn

Telford is a New Town and was originally known as Dawley New Town

Ironbridge Gorge, to the south of Telford, is known as the ‘Birthplace of Industry’

Wenlock Edge is a limestone escarpment near Much Wenlock

Brown Clee Hill is the highest point in Shropshire

Long Mynd, The Wrekin, and the Stiperstones are hills in Shropshire

Shropshire is the largest landlocked county in England

Ludlow is on the River Teme

Somerset

Bath is the only destination in the UK to have the whole city designated a World Heritage site by UNESCO

Glastonbury Tor is topped by the roofless St Michael's Tower. The Tor is mentioned in Celtic mythology, particularly in myths linked to King Arthur

Cheddar Gorge is a limestone gorge in the Mendip Hills. Britain’s oldest complete human skeleton, Cheddar Man, estimated to be over 9,000 years old, was found there in 1903

The two main caves of Cheddar Gorge open to the public are owned by Longleat Estate. The extensive Gough's Cave and the smaller Cox's Cave, are both named after their respective discoverers

Jacob’s ladder leads to the top of Cheddar Gorge

Weston comes from the Anglo-Saxon for the west tun or settlement; super Mare is Latin for ‘upon sea’ and was added to distinguish it from the many other settlements named Weston

Wincanton is twinned with Ankh-Morpork, from the Discworld novels

Wells is often described as England's smallest city, but is actually second smallest to the City of London in area and population

Priddy Circles are a linear arrangement of four circular earthwork enclosures near the village of Priddy on the Mendip Hills

Vale of Porlock is part of Exmoor National Park

Quantock Hills west of Bridgwater were England's first Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, designated in 1956. Highest point is Will’s Neck

Wookey Hole Caves are a series of limestone caverns on the southern edge of the Mendip Hills near Wells

Black Down is the highest hill in the Mendip Hills

Steep Holm is an English island lying in the Bristol Channel. Nearby is Flat Holm island, that is part of Wales

South Yorkshire

Doncaster and Sheffield airport was named in honour of Robin Hood, in 2004. The airport closed in 2022

It is claimed that Sheffield was built on seven hills

The name Sheffield derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it

Sheffield has an international reputation for metallurgy and steel-making

Danum was the Roman name for Doncaster

Doncaster is the second largest settlement in South Yorkshire after Sheffield. It is situated in the Don Valley

Staffordshire

Etruria is the site of the Wedgwood factory in Stoke, and is named after Etruria in Italy

Spode is a brand of pottery and homewares based in Stoke

Portmeirion Pottery was founded in 1960 when pottery designer Susan Williams-Ellis (daughter of Sir Clough Williams-Ellis) and her husband, Euan Cooper-Willis took over a small pottery decorating company in Stoke called A. E. Gray Ltd

The federation of Stoke-on-Trent was the 1910 amalgamation of the six Potteries towns of Burslem, Tunstall, Stoke-upon-Trent, Hanley, Fenton and Longton

Poole Pottery is now based in Stoke

Trentham Gardens are formal Italianate gardens, part of an English landscape park on the Trentham Estate

Leek is known as the Queen of the Moorlands

Tamworth was the principal centre of royal power of the Anglo-Saxon Kingdom of Mercia during the 8th and 9th centuries

Flash is the highest village in Britain

Cannock Chase is an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and is managed by Forestry England

River Trent rises within the Staffordshire Moorlands district, near the village of Biddulph Moor

Stafford is on the River Sow, a tributary of the River Trent

Suffolk

Ipswich is located on the estuary of the River Orwell

Bury St Edmunds was the burial place of King Edmund (St Edmund the Martyr), who was slain by the Danes in 869

Sutton Hoo, near Woodbridge, is the site of two 6th and early 7th century cemeteries. One contained an undisturbed ship burial, including a wealth of Anglo-Saxon artifacts, now held in the British Museum

Port of Felixstowe is the United Kingdom's busiest container port, dealing with over 40% of Britain's containerized trade. In 1967, it set up Britain's first container terminal

Dedham Vale is a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty on the Essex-Suffolk border. It comprises an area around the River Stour and is known as ‘Constable Country’

Built just outside Felixstowe, at the mouth of the river Orwell, Landguard Fort, or Langer Fort as it was originally known, was designed to guard the entrance to Harwich. In 1667 the Dutch landed a force of 2,000 men on Felixstowe beach and advanced on the fort, but were repulsed

Lowestoft Ness is the most easterly point of the UK

In the Anglo-Saxon period, Dunwich was the capital of the Kingdom of the East Angles

Orford Ness is a shingle spit on the Suffolk coast, linked to the mainland at Aldeburgh

Surrey

Surrey is divided by the chalk ridge of the North Downs, running east-west. The ridge is pierced by the rivers Wey and Mole

Box Hill is a summit of the North Downs

Between 1893 and 2020, Surrey County Council was headquartered at Kingston upon Thames (now part of Greater London) but is now based in Reigate

Surrey is the most wooded county in England

The highest elevation in Surrey is Leith Hill near Dorking

In 1849 Brookwood Cemetery was established near Woking to serve the population of London, connected to the capital by its own railway service. It soon developed into the largest burial ground in the world. Woking was also the site of Britain's first crematorium, which opened in 1878, and its first mosque, founded in 1889

Guildford prospered as a result of the wool trade and the town was granted a charter of incorporation by Henry VII in 1488

In 1881 Godalming became the first town in the world with a public electricity supply

St George’s Hill is a private estate in Weybridge

Surrey Hills was the first Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Designated in 1958

Brookwood Cemetery, also known as the London Necropolis, is a burial ground is the largest cemetery in the United Kingdom. Brookwood originally was accessible by rail from a special station – the London Necropolis railway station – next to Waterloo station

Tyne and Wear

The first settlement in what is now Newcastle was Pons Aelius, designating the bridge across the Tyne and given the family name of the Roman Emperor Hadrian who founded it in the 2nd century AD

Monkchester is an old name for Newcastle-upon-Tyne

Because of its strategic position, Robert Curthose, son of William the Conqueror, erected a wooden castle there in the year 1080 and the town was henceforth known as Novum Castellum or New Castle

Grainger Town is the historic heart of Newcastle

The county is governed by five metropolitan boroughs: Gateshead, Newcastle upon Tyne, Sunderland, North Tyneside and South Tyneside

Tyne and Wear Metro opened in 1980 and now had 60 stations

Warwickshire

Rollright Stones are a complex of three Neolithic and Bronze Age megalithic monuments located near to the village of Long Compton on the borders of Oxfordshire and Warwickshire. Constructed from local oolitic limestone, the three separate monuments, now known as The King's Men, The King Stone and The Whispering Knights, are each distinct in their design and purpose, and were each built at different periods in prehistory

Stratford-upon-Avon has Anglo-Saxon origins, and developed as a market town during the medieval period. The original charters of the town were granted in 1196

The first real theatre in Stratford was a temporary wooden affair built in 1769 by the actor David Garrick for his Shakespeare Jubilee celebrations of that year

Royal Leamington Spa is named after the River Leam, which flows through the town. In 1838 Queen Victoria granted the town a 'Royal' prefix

West Midlands

Birmingham became a city in 1889

Birmingham Bull Ring Centre was the first indoor city centre shopping centre in the UK. Opened in 1964

Birmingham has more miles of canals than Venice

Gas Street Basin is a canal basin in the centre of Birmingham

Gravelly Hill Interchange, popularly known as Spaghetti Junction, is junction 6 of the M6 motorway. The interchange was opened in 1972

In 1528, a charter of King Henry VIII gave Sutton Coldfield the right to be known as "The Royal Town of Sutton Coldfield"

Coventry was the world's first twin city, when it formed a twinning relationship with the Russian city of Stalingrad (now Volgograd) during World War II. It was also subsequently twinned with Dresden

A sandstone cross at Meriden claims that the village is at the centre of England

Black Country conurbation covers Sandwell, Dudley, Walsall and Wolverhampton

West Sussex

Fishbourne Roman Palace was built in the 1st century AD, around thirty years after the Roman conquest on the site of a Roman army supply base established at the Claudian invasion in 43 AD. It includes the perfectly preserved dolphin mosaic. Excavated by Barry Cunliffe. It was the residence of Tiberius Claudius Cogidubnus or Togidubnus, a pro-Roman local chieftain who was installed as king of a number of territories following the first stage of the conquest

Chichester is the administrative centre of West Sussex

Chichester stands on the foundations of the Romano-British city of Noviomagus Reginorum

Petworth Park has England’s largest herd of fallow deer

Arundel castle has been the seat of the Earls of Arundel and the Dukes of Norfolk

River Arun flows past Arundel Castle, to join the English Channel at Littlehampton

West Yorkshire

Leeds was built around the River Aire

Kirkgate Market in Leeds is the largest covered market in Europe

Leeds Bradford International Airport was formerly known as Yeadon Aerodrome

Middleton Railway in Leeds was founded in 1758 and is the world's oldest continuously working railway

Bradford grew in the 19th century as an international centre of textile manufacture, particularly wool

Bradford became the first UNESCO City of Film in 2009

Halifax is known as ‘toffee town’

Stott Hall Farm is a farm located between the eastbound and westbound carriageways of the M62 motorway in Calderdale

Top Withens is a ruined farmhouse near Haworth which is said to have been the inspiration for the location of the Earnshaw family house Wuthering Heights

Standedge Tunnel connects Marsden and Diggle, on the Huddersfield Narrow canal. It is Britain’s highest, longest (3 miles) and deepest canal tunnel

Rhubarb Triangle is an area located between Wakefield, Morley and Rothwell. Only a few decades ago, over 90% of the world's forced rhubarb crop was grown in this small area

The National Coal Mining Museum, the Yorkshire Sculpture Park and Nostell Priory are within the Wakefield metropolitan area, as is Walton Hall, a Georgian mansion set in what was the world's first nature reserve, created by the explorer Charles Waterton

Denby Dale is known for baking giant pies, a tradition first started in 1788 to celebrate the recovery of King George III from his mental illness

Boston Spa has a branch of the British Library that houses most of the UK’s newspaper archive

Wiltshire

Old Sarum (Sorviodunum) is the site of the earliest settlement of Salisbury

Stonehenge stones are arranged in a series: the two outer groups form circles (including the heel stone); the third and fourth groups form a horseshoe shape. Within the curve of the horseshoe is the alter stone. The outer circle of Stonehenge constructed of sarsen stone (a type of sandstone). The inner circle is constructed of smaller bluestones (dolerites). The Sun rises over the Heel Stone at Stonehenge at the solstice

Aubrey holes are a ring of 56 chalk pits at Stonehenge named after the seventeenth-century antiquarian John Aubrey

The Station Stones are elements of Stonehenge. Originally there were four stones, resembling the four corners of a rectangle that straddles the inner sarsen circle

Cecil Chubb was the last private owner of Stonehenge, which he donated to the British government in 1918

Woodhenge consists of six concentric circles of wooden posts, two miles from Stonehenge

Durrington Walls is the site of a large Neolithic settlement and later henge enclosure located two miles north-east of Stonehenge. At 500m in diameter, the henge is the largest in Britain and recent evidence suggests that it was a complementary monument to Stonehenge

Nile clumps are trees planted near Stonehenge in positions of ships in the Battle of the Nile

Avebury contains three stone circles, one of which is the largest megalithic stone circle in the world. John Aubrey and William Stukeley are responsible for initiating modern study of the Avebury monument

Silbury Hill is a prehistoric artificial chalk mound near Avebury. It is the tallest prehistoric human-made mound in Europe

West Kennet Long Barrow is a Neolithic tomb or barrow, situated on a prominent chalk ridge, near Silbury Hill. The site was recorded by John Aubrey in the 17th century and by William Stukeley in the 18th century

Longleat was the first safari park outside Africa, and opened in 1966

In 941, King Athelstan was buried in Malmesbury Abbey

Warminster has hill forts, including Battlebury Camp

Dundas Aqueduct carries the Kennet and Avon Canal over the River Avon and the Wessex Main Line railway from Bath to Westbury, near Limpley Stoke

Caen Hill Locks are a flight of locks on the Kennet and Avon Canal, between Rowde and Devizes. The 29 locks have a rise of 237 feet in 2 miles

The Magic Roundabout in Swindon was constructed in 1972 and consists of five mini-roundabouts arranged in a circle

Worcestershire

Worcester lies on the River Severn

The Malvern Hills, which run from the south of Worcestershire into Herefordshire, are made up mainly of volcanic igneous rocks

Malvern is a spa town

In the early 18th century, carpet weaving was introduced to Kidderminster, and this rapidly became the staple trade of the town

Tenbury Wells is known for its ‘Chinese-gothic’ Pump Room buildings, built in 1862, which reopened in 2001

Tardebigge Locks is the longest flight of locks in the UK, comprising 30 narrow locks on a 3.6 km stretch of the Worcester and Birmingham Canal

Wyre Forest straddles the borders of Worcestershire and Shropshire

National Trails

Cleveland Way	The Cleveland Way in North Yorkshire runs 110 miles between Helmsley and the Brigg at Filey, skirting the North York Moors National Park
Coast to Coast	Devised by Alfred Wainwright, the Coast to Coast Walk passes through the Lake District National Park, the Yorkshire Dales National Park, and the North York Moors National Park. Wainwright recommends that walkers dip their booted feet in the Irish Sea at St Bees and, at the end of the walk, in the North Sea at Robin Hood's Bay
Cotswold Way	Cotswold Way is a long-distance footpath, running along the escarpment of the Cotswold Hills (the 'Cotswold Edge'). It was officially designated as a National Trail in 2007. Cotswold Way runs from Bath to Chipping Campden
England Coast Path	England Coast Path is a proposed long-distance National Trail which will follow the coastline of England. When complete, it will be 4,500 km in length
Hadrian’s Wall Path	Hadrian’s Wall Path is a long distance footpath which runs for 135 km, from Wallsend on the east coast of England to Bowness-on-Solway on the west coast. Passes through the Roman forts of Birdoswald, Housesteads, and Chesters
North Downs Way	North Downs Way runs from Farnham to Dover, along the Surrey Hills and Kent Downs
Peddars Way and Norfolk Coast Path	Peddars Way passes through Suffolk and Norfolk and follows the route of a Roman road
Pennine Bridleway	The Pennine Bridleway runs parallel with the Pennine Way but provides access for horse riders and cyclists as well as walkers
Pennine Way	Pennine Way was first long distance footpath. Final section of the path opened in 1965 Pennine Way National Trail is a walk starting from Edale in Derbyshire through three National Parks finishing at Kirk Yetholm across the Scottish Border
The Ridgeway	The Ridgeway is an ancient trackway described as Britain's oldest road. At 85 miles, the route follows the chalk hills between Overton Hill, near Avebury, and Ivinghoe Beacon in Buckinghamshire
South Downs Way	The South Downs Way runs for 100 miles from Winchester in Hampshire to Eastbourne in East Sussex
South West Coast Path	The South West Coast Path is England's longest waymarked long-distance footpath and a National Trail. It stretches for 630 miles from Minehead in Somerset, along the coasts of Devon and Cornwall, to Poole Harbour in Dorset
Thames Path	The Thames Path follows the River Thames from its source in Gloucestershire to the Woolwich foot tunnel in London over a distance of 185 miles
Yorkshire Wolds Way	Yorkshire Wolds Way runs 79 miles from Hessle to Filey, around the Yorkshire Wolds

Monarch’s Way is a 615 mile long-distance footpath that approximate the escape route taken by King Charles II in 1651 after being defeated in the Battle of Worcester

Sandstone Trail is a 55 km long-distance walkers' path, following sandstone ridges running north–south from Frodsham in central Cheshire to Whitchurch just over the Shropshire border

Cumbria Way is a 112 km footpath passing through Coniston and Keswick

National Parks

The Broads	Britain's largest nationally protected wetland, in Norfolk and Suffolk
Dartmoor	Dartmoor is in the county of Devon
Exmoor	Exmoor is an area of hilly open moorland in west Somerset and north Devon
Lake District	Second National Park, designated in May 1951. Largest National Park in England
New Forest	Smallest National Park. It was proclaimed a royal forest by William the Conqueror
Northumberland	The national park encompasses much of the Cheviot Hills and adjoins the Southern Uplands of Scotland
North York Moors	The northern and western boundaries are defined by the Cleveland Hills edging the Tees lowlands and the Hambleton Hills above the Vale of Mowbray
Peak District	First National Park, designated in April 1951
South Downs	Most recent National Park, designated in 2009
Yorkshire Dales	Most of the park is in North Yorkshire, with a sizeable area in Cumbria and a small part in Lancashire. In 2020, the park was named as an International Dark Sky Reserve

High points

High Willhays is the highest point on Dartmoor, Devon, at 621m above sea level, and the highest point in Great Britain south of the Brecon Beacons

Brown Willy is the highest point of Bodmin Moor and of Cornwall as a whole, at 420m

Dunkery Beacon is the highest hill on Exmoor, and the highest point in Somerset, at 519m

Beacon Batch on Black Down is the highest point in the Mendips

Haddington Hill is the highest point in Chilterns

Cleeve Hill is the highest point in Cotswolds

Cross Fell is the highest point in the Pennine Hills and the highest point in England outside of the Lake District

The North Downs are a ridge of chalk hills that stretch for 120 miles from Hampshire through Surrey to Kent. They form the northern part of the Wealden dome. Botley Hill is the highest point in the North Downs

The South Downs extend about 70 miles through East Sussex, West Sussex, and part of Hampshire. Butser Hill is the highest point in the South Downs

Kinder Scout is the highest point in the Peak District

Quantock – from Celtic for ‘rim’ or ‘circle’. The highest point on the Quantocks is Will's Neck, at 384m

The Cheviot in Northumberland is the highest point in England outside Cumbria

Black Down in West Sussex is the highest point in the South Downs National Park

Rivers

River Thames is 215 miles long and is the longest river entirely in England and the second longest in the United Kingdom, after the River Severn. The usually quoted source of the Thames is at Thames Head, north of Kemble parish church, near Cirencester. Seven Springs, near Cheltenham, where the river Churn rises, is also sometimes quoted as the Thames' source

Source of the River Trent is in Staffordshire between Biddulph and Mow Cop. It flows through the Midlands (forming a once-significant boundary between the North and South of England) until it joins the River Ouse at Trent Falls to form the Humber Estuary, which empties into the North Sea below Hull and Immingham. The Trent is unusual amongst English rivers in that it flows north (for the second half of its route), and in exhibiting a tidal bore, the ‘Trent Aegir’

River Tame is the largest tributary of the Trent

The source of the (Warwickshire) Avon is from a spring near the village of Naseby in Northamptonshire. It joins the River Severn at Tewkesbury

River Severn is 220 miles long. The Severn Bore is a tidal bore which forms upstream of the port of Sharpness

There are four rivers named Derwent – in Derbyshire, Cumbria, Yorkshire, and on the border between Durham and Northumberland

There are four rivers named Avon – in Warwickshire, Hampshire, Devon, and Bristol

There are four rivers named Ouse – in Yorkshire, Sussex, Great Ouse (Northamptonshire and East Anglia), and Little Ouse (a tributary of the Great Ouse)

River Ouse (Yorkshire) is formed by the confluence of the Ure and the Swale

River Tamar is spanned by the Royal Albert Bridge, built by Brunel

River Dove forms part of the border between Staffordshire and Derbyshire

River Waveney forms the border between Suffolk and Norfolk, for much of its length within The Broads National Park

River Medway divides Kentish Man (west of the river) from Man of Kent (east of the river)

River Tees forms much of the border between Yorkshire and Durham

River Ax is in Somerset

River Arun is in West Sussex

The modern accepted start of the Mersey is at the confluence of the Tame and Goyt, in central Stockport

River Wear flows through Bishop Auckland, Durham, and Chester-le-Street

River Nidd is a tributary of the River Ouse in North Yorkshire

River Calder rises in the Pennines before joining the River Aire near Castleford

River Ure flows through Wensleydale

River Lune flows through Cumbria and Lancashire

River Dart rises on Dartmoor and flows to the sea at Dartmouth

Canals

Grand Union Canal is the principal navigable waterway between London and the Midlands. Starting in London, one arm runs to Leicester and another ends in Birmingham

Trent and Mersey Canal runs through Derbyshire, Staffordshire, and Cheshire. The endpoint is the Bridgewater Canal. On the Cheshire stretch of the canal is the Anderton Boat Lift

Leeds and Liverpool Canal crosses the Pennines and is 127 miles long

Kennet and Avon Canal is made up of two lengths of navigable river linked by a canal. From Bristol to Bath the waterway follows the natural course of the River Avon before the canal links it to the River Kennet at Newbury, and from there to Reading on the River Thames

Roads

M1 – 193 miles

M4 – 189 miles

M6 – 226 miles

M25 – 117 miles

M25 is Europe's second longest orbital road after the Berliner Ring

Preston Bypass was the United Kingdom’s first motorway. It opened in 1958

Watling Street was a Roman road that ran from Dover through St Albans to Wroxeter, in Shropshire

Fosse Way runs from Exeter to Lincoln

Ermin Street runs from London to York

Ermin Street meets the Fosse Way at Lincoln

Dere Street was a Roman road that ran for 226 miles from Eboracum (York) to the Antonine Wall

The Severn Bridge opened in 1966, and replaced Aust-Beachley car ferry

Established in 1990, the newly created National Forest is an area of 200 square miles of Leicestershire, Derbyshire and Staffordshire. It stretches from Leicester in the east to Burton upon Trent in the west, and links the ancient forests of Needwood and Charnwood

Vale of Belvoir is an area of natural beauty on the borders of Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire

Wolds refers to a range of hills which consists of open country overlying a base of limestone or chalk. There are at least two such areas (Lincolnshire Wolds and Yorkshire Wolds), both remnants of a much larger chalk system. They are geologically a single range but are physically separated by the River Humber

The Jurassic Coast is a World Heritage Site on the English Channel coast. The site stretches from Orcombe Point near Exmouth in East Devon to Old Harry Rocks

Wansdyke is a series of early medieval defensive linear earthworks. There are two main parts: an eastern dyke which runs between Savernake Forest and Morgan’s Hill in Wiltshire, and a western dyke which runs from Monkton Combe to the ancient hill fort of Maes Knoll in Somerset

Whin Sill is a layer of dolerite in County Durham and Northumberland. It stretches from Teesdale northwards towards Berwick

The Wash is a bay where Norfolk meets Lincolnshire and both border the North Sea. One of Britain's broadest estuaries, it is fed by the rivers Witham, Welland, Nene and Great Ouse

Wales

Cardiff was made a city in 1905, and proclaimed the capital of Wales in 1955

The original motte-and-bailey Cardiff Castle was built in the late 11th century by Norman invaders on top of a 3rd century Roman fort

Rivers in Cardiff – Taff, Rhymney and Ely

Swansea was made a city in 1969, to commemorate the investiture of the Prince of Wales

The Welsh name for Swansea is Abertawe, meaning "mouth of the Tawe”

Swansea was once nicknamed ‘Copperopolis’ for its copper production industry

Gower Peninsula is administratively part of Swansea. In 1956, Gower became the first area in the United Kingdom to be designated an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty

Worm’s Head is part of the Gower Peninsula

Newport (Welsh: Casnewydd) is the third largest city in Wales

Until the rise of Cardiff from the 1850s, Newport was Wales' largest coal-exporting port

Newport was the site of the last large-scale armed insurrection in Britain, the Newport Rising of 1839 led by the Chartists

Newport was granted city status in 2002 to mark Queen Elizabeth II’s Golden Jubilee

Caerleon is situated on the River Usk in Newport. Caerleon is the site of a notable Roman legionary fortress, Isca Augusta, and an Iron Age hill fort. The Wales National Roman Legion Museum and Roman Baths Museum are in Caerleon

Hay-on-Wye in Powys has many shops selling second hand and specialist books, and is the location of the Hay Festival

St Winefride's Well is a well located in the town of Holywell, Flintshire. It claims to be the oldest continually visited pilgrimage site in Great Britain

Agincourt Square in Monmouth is the birthplace of Henry V

Blaenavon Ironworks is within the Blaenavon Industrial Landscape World Heritage Site

Big Pit: National Coal Museum is an industrial heritage museum in Blaenavon

Great Orme is a prominent limestone headland next to the town of Llandudno. Its English name derives from the Viking word for ‘sea serpent’

Great Orme is the only Bronze Age copper mine in Britain open to the public. Great Orme Tramway is a funicular railway built in 1902

St Davids in Pembrokeshire is the smallest city in the UK. St Davids lost its city status between 1886 and 1994

St Asaph in Denbighshire was awarded city status in 2012. It is the second smallest city in Britain

Brecon is the third largest town in Powys, after Newtown and Ystradgynlais

Llyn Peninsula extends 48 km into the Irish Sea from north west Wales, south west of the Isle of Anglesey. It is part of the modern county and historic region of Gwynedd

Bardsey Island lies off the Llyn peninsula. The island is the site of a monastery founded by Saint Cadfan in the sixth century, and of Bardsey Bird and Field Observatory

Caldey Island near Tenby is best known for its monastery

Thomas Telford built the Ellesmere Canal

Pontcysyllte Aqueduct carries the Llangollen Canal over the valley of the River Dee in Wrexham. Completed in 1805, it is the longest and highest aqueduct in Britain. It was built by Thomas Telford and William Jessop

Barry is in the Vale of Glamorgan

Cwmbran is the only New Town in Wales

Llanwddyn was flooded to create Lake Vyrnwy in 1888, to provide water for Liverpool

Lake Vyrnyw’s stone-built dam was the first of its kind in the world

Capel Celyn was a rural community in Gwynedd, in the Afon Tryweryn valley. The village was flooded in 1965 to create a reservoir, Llyn Celyn, in order to supply Liverpool with water for industry

Elan Valley Reservoirs provide drinking water for Birmingham

Ynys Mon, Anglesey's Welsh name, was first recorded as Latin Mona by Roman sources

Llanfair PG is on Anglesey

Holyhead is on Holy Island

Llangefni is the county town of Anglesey

Skerries are a group of islands off the coast of Anglesey

Puffin Island is an uninhabited island off the eastern tip of Anglesey

Swellies is a stretch of the Menai Strait notable for its difficulty in safely navigating its shoals and rocks due to the whirlpools and tidal surges

There are over 10,000 breeding pairs of puffins on Skomer and Skokholm Islands, off the coast of Pembrokeshire, making them one of the most important puffin colonies in Britain

Grasholm Island is the westernmost point in Wales and is known for its huge colony of gannets

Cardigan Bay is a large inlet of the Irish Sea, indenting the west coast of Wales between Bardsey Island, Gwynedd in the north, and Strumble Head, Pembrokeshire at its southern end. It is the largest bay in Wales

Snowdon (Welsh: Yr Wyddfa) is 1085 m high. The Welsh name for Snowdon means "the tumulus", which may refer to the cairn thrown over the legendary giant Rhitta Gawr after his defeat by King Arthur

Snowdon Mountain Railway is the only public rack and pinion railway in the UK

Carnedd Llewelyn is the second highest peak in Wales

Cader Idris lies at the southern end of the Snowdonia National Park near the town of Dolgellau

Horseshoe Pass is a mountain pass in Denbighshire

Pendine Sands is a beach on the shores of Carmarthen Bay. The first person to use Pendine Sands for a world land speed record attempt was Malcolm Campbell

Three Welsh Peaks Challenge – Snowdon, Pen y Fan, Cader Idris

National Trails

Glyndwr’s Way	The trail runs for 135 miles through Powys. Its name derives from the early 15th century Welsh prince and folk hero Owain Glyndŵr, whose parliament sat in Machynlleth in 1404
Offa’s Dyke Path	The path loosely follows the Wales-England border. Offa's Dyke is thought to have been constructed in the late 8th century on the orders of King Offa of Mercia
Pembrokeshire Coast Path	The path runs for 186 miles

National Parks

Brecon Beacons (Welsh: Bannau Brycheiniog)	Includes the Black Mountains and Pen y Fan, the highest peak in South Wales
Pembrokeshire Coast	It is the only national park in the United Kingdom to consist largely of coastal landscapes. Includes the Preseli Hills
Snowdonia or Eryri	First National Park in Wales, designated in October 1951

Cambrian Way is a long distance footpath running 275 miles from Cardiff to Conwy

Launched in 2012, the Wales Coast Path is 870 miles (1,400 km) long and was heralded as the first dedicated coast path in the world to cover the entire length of a country's coastline

Teifi, Towy and Usk are the three longest rivers in Wales. Which river is the longest is disputed

River Usk is the deepest river in the British Isles at its mouth

River Severn is known as Hafren in Welsh

River Severn and Rye Wye both rise on Plynlimon, the highest point of the Cambrian Mountains

Scotland

Edinburgh is known as the ‘Athens of the north’

The Salisbury Crags are a series of 150 foot cliffs at the top of a subsidiary spur of Arthur’s Seat which rise in the middle of Holyrood Park

Stone of Scone is at Edinburgh Castle. Legends consider the Stone of Scone to be the Stone of Jacob, which he used as a pillow

Mons Meg is a cannon at Edinburgh Castle

Princes Street is named after the sons of King George III, the Duke of Rothesay (later King George IV) and Frederick, Duke of York

Waverley station is named after the hero of the Walter Scott novels

Edinburgh new town was designed by James Craig

Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland

Glasgow has the largest economy in Scotland and the third-highest GDP per capita of any city in the UK

Sauchiehall Street, Buchanan Street, and Argyle Street are the main shopping streets in the city centre of Glasgow

The Barras is a market in the Gallowgate area of Glasgow

St Enoch Station was the first public building in Glasgow to be lit by electric light

Glasgow International Airport was formerly known as Glasgow Abbotsinch Airport

Aberdeen is Scotland's third most populous city

Since the discovery of North Sea oil in 1969, Aberdeen has been known as the offshore oil capital of Europe

Aberdeen is known as the ‘granite city’

Aberdeen is UK’s busiest heliport

Dundee is the fourth-largest city in Scotland by population

Dundee is promoted as 'One City, Many Discoveries' in honour of Dundee's history of scientific activities

Robert Falcon Scott’s ship RSS (Royal Research Ship) Discovery is at the Discovery Point Antarctic Museum in Dundee

The landscape of Dundee is dominated by The Law (an Iron Age Hill Fort) and the Firth of Tay

Stirling is a former capital of Scotland

Bannockburn is on the outskirts of Stirling

The Trossachs is a small woodland glen in the Stirling council area. The name is used generally to refer to the wider area of wooded glens and braes with quiet lochs, lying to the east of Ben Lomond. The Lake of Menteith, in the strictest sense Scotland's only natural lake, lies about six miles to the south east of the glen

Perth is the administrative centre of Perth and Kinross. Perth has been known as the ‘Fair City’ since the publication of the story Fair Maid of Perth by Walter Scott

Perth became a city in 2012

Scone is a village in Perth and Kinross. Stone of Scone was kept in Scone Abbey

Dunsinane Hill is near the village of Collace in Perthshire. It is mentioned in William Shakespeare’s play Macbeth

Dunfermline became a city in 2022

Until the 17th century, Dunfermline served as the royal capital of Scotland

Inverness is Gaelic for ‘Mouth of the River Ness’

Inverness is the administrative centre for the Highland council area. It is the northernmost city in the UK and lies within the Great Glen

Peterhead is at the easternmost point in mainland Scotland. It is the biggest fishing port in the United Kingdom for total landings by UK vessels

Pentland Hills is a range of hills to the south west of Edinburgh. The range is around 20 miles in length, and runs south west from Edinburgh towards Biggar and the upper Clyde Valley. The highest peak is Scald Law

Lammermuir Hills form a natural boundary between Lothian and the Scottish Borders

Lochnagar is a mountain in the Grampians, located about five miles south of the River Dee near Balmoral

Rhinns of Galloway is a peninsula in southwest Scotland

Galloway refers to the former counties of Wigtownshire (or historically West Galloway) and Kirkcudbrightshire (or historically East Galloway)

Galloway Forest Park is a Dark Sky Park

In the late 1950s and early 1960s, Scotland saw the creation of several ‘post-war new towns’, namely Cumbernauld, East Kilbride, Glenrothes, Irvine and Livingston

Thurso is the most northerly railway station in Britain

Solway Firth is between Cumbria and Dumfries and Galloway

Ross and Cromarty was abolished in 1975 and reorganized in 1996. It is part of the Highlands and Islands region

Ullapool is a town in Ross and Cromarty, Highland

Gruinard Island, near Ullapool, was made dangerous for all mammals by experiments with the anthrax bacterium, until it was decontaminated in the late 20th century

Fort William grew up as a settlement next to a fort constructed to control the population after Oliver Cromwell's invasion during the English Civil War, and then to suppress the Jacobite uprisings of the 18th century. The fort was named Fort William after William of Orange, and the settlement that grew around it was called Maryburgh, after his wife

Dufftown, in Moray, produces more malt whisky than any other town in Scotland

Findhorn Ecovillage is an experimental architectural community project based at The Park, in Moray

Glenrothes is the administrative centre of Fife

Fife is still commonly known as the Kingdom of Fife within Scotland

Dull in Perthshire is paired with Boring in Oregon and Bland in New South Wales

Brig o’ Doon is a medieval bridge in Ayrshire over the River Doon

Fortingall Yew in Perthshire is the one of the oldest living trees in Britain

Mumrills was the site of the largest Roman fort on the Antonine Wall

Knoydart is a peninsula in Lochaber, Highland. Known as ‘Scotland’s last great wilderness’

Campbeltown is a town and former royal burgh in Argyll and Bute. It lies by Campbeltown Loch on the Kintyre peninsula

Alloa lies on the north bank of the Firth of Forth

Corrour railway station on the West Highland Line is Britain’s highest mainline railway station

Bass Rock in the Firth of Forth is home to 10% of world’s gannets

Beattock Summit is a high point of the West Coast Main Line railway and of the A74(M) motorway as they cross from Dumfries and Galloway to South Lanarkshire

Established in 1951, Beinn Eighe in the Highlands was the first National Nature Reserve in Great Britain

Caledonian Canal runs 62 miles from northeast to southwest. Only one third of the entire length is man-made, the rest being formed by Loch Dochfour, Loch Ness, Loch Oich, and Loch Lochy. These lochs are part of the Great Glen. There are 29 locks (including eight at Neptune's Staircase, Banavie), four aqueducts and 10 bridges in the course of the canal. Constructed by Thomas Telford. Completed in 1822

The Great Glen follows a large geological fault known as the Great Glen Fault. It bisects the Scottish Highlands into the Grampian Mountains to the southeast and the Northwest Highlands to the northwest

Highland Boundary Fault is a major fault zone that traverses Scotland from Arran and Helensburgh on the west coast to Stonehaven in the east

Crinan Canal provides a navigable route between the Clyde and the Inner Hebrides

Mid-Scotland Ship Canal was a proposed scheme for construction of a canal between the Firths of Forth and Clyde in 1920s

National Parks

Cairngorms	Britain’s largest national park. Established in 2003. Expanded into Perth and Kinross in 2010
Loch Lomond and The Trossachs	Established in 2002. Ben More is the highest point

Scotland’s Great Trails are analogous to the National Trails of England and Wales

Scottish National Trail is a long-distance trail between the Scottish Borders and Cape Wrath

West Highland Way is a long distance footpath with the official status of Long Distance route. It is 96 miles long, running from Milngavie north of Glasgow to Fort William

Glenfinnan Viaduct forms part of the Mallaig extension of the West Highland Railway which was constructed between 1897 and 1901. The 21-arch single track viaduct was one of the largest engineering undertakings using concrete without reinforcing when it was built by Sir Robert McAlpine. Featured in the Harry Potter films

The Jacobite is a steam locomotive hauled tourist train service that operates over part of the West Highland Railway Line

Pass of Drumochter is the main mountain pass between the northern and southern central Scottish Highlands. The A9 passes through, as does the Highland Main Line, the railway between Inverness and the south of Scotland

The summit of Ben Nevis, at 1,344 metres (4,409 ft) above sea level, features the ruins of an observatory, which was permanently staffed between 1883 and 1904

Ben Nevis is the highest point in Grampians and the highest mountain in UK

Ben Macdui is the second highest mountain in the UK, and the highest point in the Cairngorms

Braeriach in the Cairngorms is the third-highest mountain in UK

Lairig Ghru is a mountain pass that divides the Cairngorms into two halves

The Sphinx is a long-lasting snow patch in the Cairngorms

A Munro is a Scottish mountain over 3000 feet. Named after Hugh Munro, who compiled the first list in 1891

There are 282 Munros, including 13 island Munros – 12 on Skye, 1 on Mull (Ben More)

A Corbett is a separate mountain over 2500 feet. A Graham is a separate mountain over 2000 feet

A Marilyn is a mountain or hill in the with a relative height of at least 150 m

Glen Coe is the remains of an ancient supervolcano

Moray Firth is a roughly triangular inlet (or firth) of the North Sea, north and east of Inverness

A830, sometimes known as the Road to the Isles, is a road in Lochaber, in the Highlands, which connects the town of Fort William to the port of Mallaig

Loch Lomond is the largest lake by volume in British Isles

Inchconnachan island in Loch Lomond has a population of wallabies

Inchmurrin, in Loch Lomond, is Britain’s largest lake island

Loch Ness is the second-largest Scottish loch by surface area after Loch Lomond, but due to its great depth is the largest by volume. It has the largest volume of any body of freshwater in Great Britain

Loch Ness forms part of the Caledonian Canal

Bona Narrows lighthouse, that was once one of Britain's smallest manned lighthouses, stands on the shore of Loch Ness

Fort Augustus is known as the ‘gateway to Loch Ness’

Loch Morar is the deepest freshwater body in the British Isles, with a maximum depth of 1017 ft

Loch Awe is the longest freshwater loch in Scotland

Urquhart Castle overlooks Loch Ness

Dunnet Head is a peninsula that includes the most northerly point of the mainland of Great Britain (Easter Head). The point lies in Caithness on the north coast

Cape Wrath is a cape in Sutherland, Highland. It is the most northwesterly point on the island of Great Britain

Corrachadh Mor is a small hillock on the Ardnamurchan peninsula in Lochaber, Highland, notable for adjoining the most westerly point on the island of Great Britain

Old Man of Stoer is a sea stack of sandstone in Sutherland

First Scottish lighthouse was built in 1634 on Isle of May

Bell Rock Lighthouse is the world's oldest surviving sea-washed lighthouse and was built on Bell Rock (also known as Inchcape) in the North Sea, 12 miles off the coast of Angus, and east of the Firth of Tay. The lighthouse was built by Robert Stevenson between 1807 and 1810

Longest rivers in Scotland – Tay, Clyde, Spey, Tweed, Dee

River Tay is the longest river wholly in Scotland. Dundee and Perth are on the River Tay. It is the largest river in British Isles by measured discharge

River Clyde runs through Glasgow and flows into the Firth of Clyde

River Spey rises in the Highlands and flows into the Moray Firth. It is important for salmon fishing and whisky production

River Tweed flows primarily through the Borders region

River Tay and River Dee meet near Blair Atholl

Aberdeen is on the River Dee

River Forth (Gaelic for ‘black river’) rises in the Trossachs and flows through Stirling

River Esk is a river in Dumfries and Galloway that enters Cumbria and flows into the Solway Firth

River E is a river in the Highlands

M8 – Glasgow to Edinburgh

M80 – Glasgow to Stirling

M9 – Edinburgh to Stirling

M90 – Edinburgh to Perth

Mainland is the largest island of Shetland. Lerwick is Shetland’s only burgh, and lies on the island

Yell is the second largest island in Shetland after the Mainland

Up Helly Aa is a fire festival in Shetland, at which a replica of a Viking longship is burned

There was a tsunami in the Shetland Islands 7,000 years ago

Fair Isle is administratively part of Shetland, although it is closer to Orkney. It is the remotest inhabited island in the UK

The ZE postcode area, also known as the Lerwick postcode area, is a group of postal districts covering the Shetland Islands

Foula Island in the Shetlands still uses the Julian calendar. Christmas Day is January 6 and New Years Day is January 13 (Gregorian)

Unst is Britain’s most northerly populated island

Unst bus shelter, also known as Bobby's Bus Shelter, is equipped with a sofa and a television

Muckle Flugga lighthouse was designed and built by brothers Thomas and David Stevenson in 1854

Muckle Flugga is a small rocky island north of Unst. It is often described as the northernmost point of the British Isles, but the smaller islet of Out Stack is actually farther north

Noss is a small, previously inhabited island in Shetland. It has been a national nature reserve since 1955

Ronas Hill is the highest point in Shetland

St Ninian's Isle is a small tied island connected by the largest tombolo in the UK to the south-western coast of the Mainland

Mainland is the main island of Orkney. Both of Orkney's burghs, Kirkwall and Stromness, lie on the island

Orkney means ‘seal island’

The shortest scheduled flight in the world is between Westray and Papa Westray in the Orkneys, a distance of 2.8 km

Skara Brae is a large stone-built Neolithic settlement, located on the Bay of Skaill on the west coast of Mainland, Orkney. It consists of ten clustered houses, and was occupied from roughly 3180 – 2500 BC. It is Europe's most complete Neolithic village

Maes Howe is a Neolithic chambered cairn and passage grave situated on Mainland

Ring of Brodgar is a Neolithic henge and stone circle on the Mainland

North Ronaldsway is the most northerly of the Orkney Islands

Pentland Firth separates the UK from the Orkney Islands

The South Isles surround Scapa Flow. Hoy, to the west, is the second largest of the Orkney Isles

The North Isles consists of a large number of moderately sized islands. The largest island is Sanday

Ward Hill is the highest point in Orkney

The Outer Hebrides is a chain of more than 100 islands and small skerries located about 70 km west of mainland Scotland

The Outer Hebrides are also known as the Western Isles

Lewis and Harris is the third largest British island

The northern part of the island of Lewis and Harris is called Lewis, the southern is Harris and both are frequently referred to as if they were separate islands

Stornoway is the main town of the Western Isles and the capital of Lewis and Harris

Callanish is a stone circle on the Isle of Lewis. Dating from around 2000 BC, the overall layout of the monument recalls a distorted Celtic cross

St Kilda was populated until 1930. It became a World Heritage Site in 1986

St Kilda is the only World Heritage Site in the UK to hold joint status for both its natural and cultural qualities

Hirta is the largest island of St Kilda

The Minch, also called The North Minch, is a strait separating the north-west Highlands from Lewis and Harris in the Outer Hebrides. The Lower Minch is to the south and separates Skye from the lower Outer Hebrides: North Uist, Benbecula, South Uist, and Barra

Barra's airport is the only airport in the world to have scheduled flights landing on a beach

Castlebay is the chief port and chief settlement on the Isle of Barra

Benbecula lies between the islands of North Uist and South Uist. The main settlement is Balivanich

The Inner Hebrides are a chain of islands and skerries located off the west coast of mainland Scotland

Skye is the largest of the Inner Hebrides islands

Black and Red Cuillins are mountains on the Isle of Skye

Sgurr Alasdair is the highest peak of the Black Cuillin, and the highest peak on the Isle of Skye and in all the Scottish islands

Portree is the largest town on the Isle of Skye

Trotternish is the northernmost peninsula of the Isle of Skye. Its most famous feature is the Trotternish landslip

The Storr is a rocky hill on the Trotternish peninsula

Sound of Sleat separates Skye from the mainland

Tobermoray is the capital of Isle of Mull

Firth of Lorn separates Mull from the mainland

Iona lies off the tip of Mull

Islay is the southernmost island of the Inner Hebrides. Known as "The Queen of the Hebrides”

Port Ellen is the largest settlement on Islay and Bowmore is the administrative centre

There are nine active whisky distilleries on Islay

The main settlement on Jura is the east coast village of Craighouse. The Jura distillery, producing Isle of Jura single malt whisky, is in the village

Gulf of Corryvreckan is a narrow strait between the islands of Jura and Scarba. It is known for large whirlpools

Fingal’s Cave is on the island of Staffa. It was supposedly created by Irish giant Finn MacCoul

Small Isles are a small archipelago of islands in the Inner Hebrides. The four main islands are: Canna, Rum, Eigg, and Muck. The largest is Rum

Eigg is owned by its residents

Rum is known for its deer rutting

Skerryvore is a remote reef that lies off the west coast of Scotland, 12 miles south west of the island of Tiree. Skerryvore is also the name given to the lighthouse on the skerry, built between 1838 and 1844 by Alan Stevenson

Coll is an island located west of Mull in the Inner Hebrides

Colonsay is located north of Islay and south of Mull

Arran is known as ‘Scotland in miniature’

Lamlash is the largest village on Isle of Arran

Brodick is the location of the Ferry Terminal on Isle of Arran

Goat Fell is the highest point of Isle of Arran

Bute is an island in the Firth of Clyde

Rothesay is the principal town on the Isle of Bute

The Cumbraes are a group of islands in the Firth of Clyde. The islands belong to the traditional county of Bute and the modern unitary authority of North Ayrshire. The main islands in the group are: Great Cumbrae and Little Cumbrae. These two islands are separated from each other by a broad sound called The Tan and from the Scottish mainland by a shipping channel known as the Fairlie Roads

Ailsa Craig is a granite islet at the mouth of the Firth of Clyde, 10 miles off the Ayrshire coast. Nicknamed ‘Paddy’s Milestone’ for its location halfway between Glasgow and Belfast. Gaelic for ‘Fairy Rock’. Curling stones are made from granite quarried from Ailsa Craig

Stroma is the most southerly of the islands in the Pentland Firth between the Orkney islands and Caithness. Stroma is now abandoned

Gigha is an island off the west coast of Kintyre and is privately owned

Northern Ireland

Ulster is composed of nine counties. Six of these (almost 57% of the land area) make up Northern Ireland: Antrim, Armagh, Down, Fermanagh, Londonderry and Tyrone. The three remaining counties (about 43% of the land area) are in the Republic of Ireland: Cavan, Donegal and Monaghan

County towns

Antrim	Antrim
Armagh	Armagh
Down	Downpatrick
Fermanagh	Enniskillen
Londonderry	Coleraine
Tyrone	Omagh

Fermanagh is the only county of Northern Ireland that does not border Lough Neagh

Belfast (meaning ‘mouth of the sandbanks’) is the capital and largest city. Most of Belfast, including the city centre, is in County Antrim, but parts of East and South Belfast are in County Down. It is on the flood plain of the River Lagan

Belfast City Airport was renamed in 2006 in honour of George Best

Derry, officially Londonderry, is the second-largest city

The old walled city of Derry lies on the west bank of the River Foyle

In 2013, Derry became the inaugural UK City of Culture

Lisburn is the third-largest city. It is 8 miles southwest of Belfast, on the River Lagan, which forms the boundary between County Antrim and County Down

Lisburn is the birthplace of Ireland's linen industry, which was established in 1698 by Louis Crommelin and other Huguenots

Armagh has Roman Catholic and Protestant archbishops

Newry is a city standing on the Clanrye river in counties Down and Armagh

Bangor was granted city status in 2022

Dark Hedges is an avenue of beech trees in County Antrim. Used as a location in Game of Thrones

Burr Point in County Down is the easternmost point in Ireland

Giant’s Causeway is a lava plateau in County Antrim created by volcanic activity. Legend has it that the Irish warrior Finn MacCoul built the causeway to walk to Scotland to fight his Scottish counterpart Benandonner. It has the same hexagonal basalt columns as Fingal’s Cave in Scotland

Slieve Donard is the highest mountain (850 m) in Northern Ireland, in the Mountains of Mourne, a granite mountain range in County Down

Sperrin Mountains are located in the centre of Northern Ireland, stretching from the western shoreline of Lough Neagh in County Tyrone to the southern portions of County Londonderry

Sawel Mountain is the highest peak in the Sperrin Mountains

Rathlin Island is an island off the coast of County Antrim and the northernmost point of Northern Ireland. It is the only inhabited offshore island of Northern Ireland

Lough Neagh is the largest lake in Northern Ireland at 392 km², supplying 40% of its water. It is the largest lake by area in the British Isles

Lough Erne is the name of two connected lakes in County Fermanagh. It is the second-biggest lake system in Northern Ireland

Lough Foyle is the estuary of the River Foyle. It lies between County Londonderry in Northern Ireland and County Donegal in the Republic of Ireland

Strangford Lough is a large sea loch or inlet in County Down. It is the largest inlet in the British Isles

River Bann is the longest river in Northern Ireland, and flows through Lough Neagh

Beaufort’s Dyke is a trench between Northern Ireland and Scotland that has been used as a munitions dump

M1 – Belfast to Dungannon

Crown Dependencies

The Crown Dependencies are three island territories in the British Islands that are self-governing possessions of the British Crown: the Isle of Man, the Channel Islands of the Bailiwick of Guernsey, and the Bailiwick of Jersey

The Bailiwicks are not part of the United Kingdom and have a Lieutenant Governor as the representative of the British monarch, who remains the head of state

Isle of Man

Isle of Man is a self-governing British Crown Dependency. It was divided into six sheadings

Douglas is the capital and largest town of the Isle of Man

Castletown was the capital of the Isle of Man until 1869

There is a colony of wallabies on the Isle of Man

Isle of Man is known in its native language (Manx) as Ellan Vannin

Snaefell is the highest point on Isle of Man. Means ‘snow mountain’

Snaefell has the only electric mountain top railway in UK

Laxey Wheel (also known as Lady Isabella) is a large waterwheel built on the Isle of Man. Designed by Robert Casement, it is 72 feet 6 inches in diameter. It was built in 1854 to pump water from mineshafts

Peel Castle was originally constructed by the Vikings. The castle stands on St Patrick’s Isle which is connected to the town by a causeway

Calf of Man is an island off the southwest coast of the Isle of Man. The word 'calf' derives from the Old Norse word ‘kalfr’ which means a small island lying near a larger one. Calf of Man is home to a breeding population of Manx Shearwaters

Chicken Rock is the southernmost island administered by the Isle of Man. It lies southwest of the Calf of Man. There is a lighthouse on the island

The Isle of Man has become a centre for emerging private space travel companies

Isle of Man airport is at Ronaldsway

All ferries are operated by the Isle of Man Steam Packet Company

Scotland is the nearest country to the Isle of Man

Channel Islands

Channel Islands are known in France an Iles Anglo-Normandes

The islands were the only part of the British Commonwealth to be occupied during World War II

Channel Islands are under jurisdiction of Diocese of Winchester

Bailiwick of Guernsey

The Bailiwick comprises three separate jurisdictions: Guernsey (incorporating Herm), Alderney and Sark

The Bailiwick of Guernsey also includes Jethou, Brecqhou, Burhou, and Lihou

Saint Peter Port is the capital of Guernsey as well as the main port

Alderney is the most northerly of the Channel Islands, and is the closest of the Channel Islands to France and England

Alderney is known in France as Aurigny

St Anne is the main town on Alderney

Alderney Railway is the only working railway in the Channel Islands. The carriages are London Underground 1959 Stock

Sark has a hereditary overlord known as the Seigneur or Dame

Sark is a car-free zone where the only vehicles allowed are horse-drawn vehicles, bicycles and tractors

Sark was designated as a Dark Sky Community and the first Dark Sky Island in the world in 2011

La Coupee is an isthmus joining Great Sark and Little Sark

The tenement of Brecqhou had been owned by the Barclay brothers since 1993. David Barclay died in 2021, leaving his brother Frederick as the sole tenant

Cars and bicycles are banned from Herm. Quad bikes and tractors used for staff and luggage transport respectively are allowed

Jersey (Bailiwick of Jersey)

The Bailiwick of Jersey consists of the island of Jersey, along with surrounding uninhabited islands and rocks including Les Minquiers

Jersey is the largest and southernmost of the Channel Islands

Jerriais is the language of Jersey

Jersey's unicameral legislature is the States Assembly

St Helier is the capital of Jersey

Mount Orgueil was built in the 13th century to protect Jersey from French invasion

Gerald Durrell founded what is now called the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust and the Jersey Zoo (now Durrell Wildlife Park)

Les Platons is the highest point of Jersey, and the Channel Islands

St Aubin’s Bay lies off the south coast of Jersey