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 – Snowden, 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
Isle of Man
Isle of Man is a self-governing British Crown Dependency. It is divided into six sheddings
Douglas is the capital and largest town of the Isle of Man
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 the mineshafts
Peel Castle originally constructed by 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
Jerriais is the language of Jersey
Mount Orgueil was built in the 13th century to protect Jersey from French invasion
Jersey is the largest and southernmost of the Channel Islands
St Helier is the capital of Jersey
The Bailiwick of Jersey consists of the island of Jersey, along with surrounding uninhabited islands and rocks including Les Minquiers
The Bailiwick of Guernsey also includes Alderney, Herm, Jethou, Brecqhou, Burhou, Lihou and Sark
Saint Peter Port is the capital of Guernsey as well as the main port
Alderney is the most northerly of the Channel Islands
Alderney is called Aurigny by the French
St Anne is the main town on Alderney
Alderney Railway is the only working railway in the Channel Islands. Two 1959 tube carriages
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
In 2011, Sark was designated as a Dark Sky Community and the first Dark Sky Island in the world
La Coupee is an isthmus joining Great Sark and Little Sark
Since 1993 the tenement of Brecqhou in the Channel Islands has been owned by the Barclay brothers
Cars and bicycles are banned from Herm
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
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
