Difference between revisions of "Civilisation/British Isles Geography"

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England
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== England ==
 
 
 
'''Bedfordshire'''
 
'''Bedfordshire'''
  
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Wrest Park is a country estate located near Silsoe
 
Wrest Park is a country estate located near Silsoe
  
Woburn Abbey is the family seat of the Duke of Bedford. Includes the historic landscape gardens and deer park by Humphrey Repton
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Whipsnade Zoo, near Dunstable, is owned by the Zoological Society of London
 
 
  
 
'''Berkshire'''
 
'''Berkshire'''
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Newbury is home to the world headquarters of Vodafone
 
Newbury is home to the world headquarters of Vodafone
  
HM Prison Reading, formerly known as Reading Gaol, was closed in 2013
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Walbury Hill is the highest hill in Berkshire and the highest natural point in South East England
  
 
'''Buckinghamshire'''
 
'''Buckinghamshire'''
  
Chequers is a country house near Ellesborough, to the south of Aylesbury
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Concrete cows in Milton Keynes were created in 1978 by Canadian-born artist, Liz Leyh
  
Hughendon Manor in High Wycombe was the home of Disraeli
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Milton Keynes was made a new town in 1967. The shopping centre is a Grade II listed building. It has a Peace Pagoda
 
 
Richard Temple, 1st Viscount Cobham, was known for his ownership of and modifications to the estate at Stowe Park. Head gardeners – Charles Bridgeman, followed by William Kent, followed by Capability Brown. Garden features – Temple of British Worthies, Temple of Ancient Virtue / Elysium Fields, Garden of Vice (with a statue of Venus), Cobham Monument
 
 
 
Concrete cows in Milton Keynes were created in 1978 by Canadian-born artist, Liz Leyh
 
  
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Bekonscot Model Village and Railway is a model village built in the 1920s in Beaconsfield
  
 
'''Cambridgeshire'''
 
'''Cambridgeshire'''
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The green space of Parker’s Piece in Cambridge hosted the first ever game of association football
 
The green space of Parker’s Piece in Cambridge hosted the first ever game of association football
  
Cambridge Corn Exchange is a convert venue with a seating capacity of 1,200
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Bridge of Sighs is a covered bridge at St John’s College, Cambridge University
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Duroliponte was a small town in the Roman province of Britannia on the site of what is now the city of Cambridge
  
Bridge of Sighs is a covered bridge at St John’s College, Cambridge University
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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
 
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
 
Stilton is a village within the historic county boundaries of Huntingdonshire
 
Ely Cathedral has an octagonal tower
 
 
Ely Cathedral is is known locally as ‘the ship of the Fens’
 
  
 
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
 
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
  
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Cambridgeshire Guided Busway is the longest guided busway in the world
  
 
'''Cheshire'''
 
'''Cheshire'''
  
Chester Cathedral was formerly St Werburgh's abbey church of a Benedictine monastery
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Chester Zoo was opened in 1931 by George Mottershead and his family. It is one of the UK's largest zoos
  
Chester Rows consist of covered walkways at the first floor behind which are entrances to shops and other premises
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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
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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
 
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
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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
 
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
  
The second highest pub in England is The Cat and Fiddle Inn, on Axe Edge Moor, on the A537 road near the Derbyshire–Cheshire boundary
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Northwich has a salt museum
  
Northwich has a salt museum
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Anderton Boat Lift provides a 50 feet vertical link between two navigable waterways: the River Weaver and the Trent and Mersey Canal
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Burtonwood, near Warrington, was the largest airfield in Europe during WWII with the most USAAF personnel and aircraft maintenance facilities
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Cheshire Ring canal ring, which includes sections of six canals in and around Cheshire and Greater Manchester
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National Waterways Museum is in Ellesmere Port
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Beeston Castle is a former Royal castle and is managed by English Heritage
  
 
'''Cornwall'''
 
'''Cornwall'''
 
Jamaica Inn was a coaching inn used by smugglers
 
  
 
Eden Project was conceived by Tim Smit and designed by architect Nicholas Grimshaw and engineering firm Anthony Hunt and Associates
 
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
 
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
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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
 
St Austell is an important town in the china clay industry
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Furry Dance (also known incorrectly as the Floral Dance) takes place in Helston
 
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
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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
 
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
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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
 
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 Lands End
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Doctor Syntax’s head is the most westerly point of Land's End
  
 
Merry Maidens is a late Neolithic stone circle
 
Merry Maidens is a late Neolithic stone circle
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Porthcurno is a cable station
 
Porthcurno is a cable station
  
St Michael’s Mount is united with Marazion by a man-made causeway, passable only at mid to low tide
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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
  
Truro Cathedral was the first Anglican church to be consecrated after the Reformation
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Dozmary Pool on Bodmin Moor is one site that is claimed to be the home of the Lady of the Lake
  
Pendennis Castle is one of Henry VIII's Device Forts, or Henrician castle. It was built between 1539 and 1545 to guard the entrance to the River Fal on its west bank, near Falmouth. St Mawes Castle is its opposite number on the east bank and they were built to defend Carrick Roads from the French and Spanish threats of future attack
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Lizard Point is the most southerly point on mainland Great Britain
  
Tintagel Castle was possibly occupied in the Romano-British period. The castle has a long association with Arthurian legends
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River Camel flows through Cornwall
  
'''Cumbria'''
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'''Isles of Scilly'''  
  
Windermere is the largest and longest lake in England
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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
  
Ullswater is the second largest lake in England
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Isles of Scilly are known as ‘Islands of the Dead’ due to the large number of burial chambers
  
Wastwater is the deepest lake in England
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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
  
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
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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
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Tresco is the second largest island
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Only five of the Isles of Scilly are inhabited
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Southernmost settlement of the United Kingdom is Troy Town Farm on St. Agnes
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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
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'''Cumbria'''
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The county of Cumbria was created in 1974 from the traditional counties of Cumberland and Westmorland
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Kendal lies on the River Kent
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Appleby was the county town of Westmorland
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Windermere is the largest and longest lake in England
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Belle Isle is the largest of 18 islands on Windermere
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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
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Ullswater is the second largest lake in England
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Wastwater is the deepest lake in England
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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
 
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
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Helvellyn is the third highest mountain in England
 
Helvellyn is the third highest mountain in England
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Skiddaw is a mountain overlooking Keswick
  
 
Hardknot Pass in the Lake District is one of the steepest roads in England
 
Hardknot Pass in the Lake District is one of the steepest roads in England
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Kirkstone Pass is the Lake District's highest pass that is open to motor traffic
 
Kirkstone Pass is the Lake District's highest pass that is open to motor traffic
  
Ambleside north end of Windermere
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Ambleside is at the north end of Windermere
 
 
Castlerigg Stone Circle is near Keswick
 
  
Kendal is on the River Kent
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Castlerigg Stone circle is near Keswick
  
 
The highest waterfall in England, Cautley Spout, in Howgill Fells, is almost 600 ft high
 
The highest waterfall in England, Cautley Spout, in Howgill Fells, is almost 600 ft high
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Long Meg and Her Daughters is a Bronze Age stone circle near Penrith
 
Long Meg and Her Daughters is a Bronze Age stone circle near Penrith
  
Windscale is near the village of Seascale
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Banna, now known as Birdoswald Roman Fort, is one of the best preserved of the 16 forts along Hadrian's Wall
 
 
Dent is the highest railway station on the National Rail network in England
 
  
 
Glenridding and Pooley Bridge are villages at the ends of Ullswater
 
Glenridding and Pooley Bridge are villages at the ends of Ullswater
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Gosforth Cross has elaborate carvings which have been interpreted as representing characters and scenes from Norse mythology
 
Gosforth Cross has elaborate carvings which have been interpreted as representing characters and scenes from Norse mythology
  
Muncaster Castle is a privately owned castle overlooking the Esk river, near the town of Ravenglas
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Windscale is near the village of Seascale
  
Hill Top is a house near Hawkshead. The house was once the home of Beatrix Potter who left it to The National Trust
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Calder Hall was the first UK nuclear power station, at Sellafield. Opened by the Queen in 1956
 
 
Dove Cottage is in Grasmere
 
  
Calder Hall was the first UK nuclear power station, at Sellafield. Opened by the Queen in 1956
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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
 
St. Bees Head is the most westerly point of Northern England
  
Carlisle was a Roman settlement was named Luguvalium
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Ruskin Museum is in Coniston
 
 
The county of Cumbria was created in 1974 from the traditional counties of Cumberland and Westmorland
 
  
Appleby was the county town of Westmorland
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Cartmel is famous for sticky toffee pudding
  
The Laurel & Hardy Museum is situated in Ulverston
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In 2022 ''L’Enclum''e 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 Castle was first built during the reign of William II. The act of driving out the Scots from Cumberland led to many attempts to retake the lands. The result of this was that Carlisle and its castle would change hands many times for the next 700 years
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Carlisle was a Roman settlement was named Luguvalium
  
Furness Abbey dates back to 1123 and was once the second wealthiest and most powerful Cistercian monastery in the country, behind only Fountains Abbey
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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
  
The Cumberland (or Derwent) Pencil Museum is in Keswick, and is home to a 26ft-long yellow colouring pencil.
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Dent railway station on the Settle and Carlisle line is the highest operational main line station in England
  
 
'''Derbyshire'''
 
'''Derbyshire'''
 
Haddon Hall is a country house on the River Wye at Bakewell, one of the seats of the Duke of Rutland, occupied by Lord Edward Manners and his family. Jane Eyre has been filmed at Haddon Hall
 
  
 
Derby was made a city by the Queen in 1977
 
Derby was made a city by the Queen in 1977
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Buxton has a Doric-style building called The Crescent, built on the orders of the 5th Duke of Devonshire
 
Buxton has a Doric-style building called The Crescent, built on the orders of the 5th Duke of Devonshire
  
International Gilbert and Sullivan Festival is held every summer at the Opera House in Buxton
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Buxton was known as Aquae Arnemetiae in Roman times
  
Renishaw Hall in Derbyshire is the home of the Sitwell family
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Flash, near Buxton, is the highest village in England
  
Renishaw Hall was as inspiration for DH Lawrence’s novel ''Lady Chatterley's Lover''
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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
 
Creswell Crags is a limestone gorge in North East Derbyshire. It contains the only known examples of Paleolithic cave art in Britain
 
Blue John caves are at Castleton. Blue John is a variety of fluorite
 
  
 
Titan is located at Castleton in the Peak District and is the largest shaft of any known United Kingdom cave, being some 141m tall
 
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
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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
 
 
Chatsworth House is the seat of the Duke of Devonshire, and has been home to his family, the Cavendish family, since Bess of Hardwick settled at Chatsworth in 1549
 
 
 
Built between 1590 and 1597 for Bess of Hardwick, Hardwick Hall was designed by the architect Robert Smythson. Known as ‘more glass than wall’ due to the large number of windows
 
 
 
Bolsover Castle was founded in the 12th century by the Peverel family. Rebuilt by William Cavendish in the 17th century
 
  
 
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
 
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
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Matlock is the administrative centre of Derbyshire
 
Matlock is the administrative centre of Derbyshire
  
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Royal Shrovetide Football Match is a "medieval football" game played annually on Shrove Tuesday and Ash Wednesday in the town of Ashbourne
  
 
'''Devon'''
 
'''Devon'''
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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!''
 
Westward Ho! Is a village near Bideford. The village name comes from the title of Charles Kingsley's novel ''Westward Ho!''
 
Castle Drogo, designed by Edwin Lutyens, was the last castle to be built in England
 
  
 
National Marine Aquarium is in Plymouth
 
National Marine Aquarium is in Plymouth
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Devonport was formerly named Plymouth Dock
 
Devonport was formerly named Plymouth Dock
  
Buckfast Abbey is on the River Dart
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White Lady Waterfall at Lydford Gorge is on the River Lyd
  
Royal Albert Memorial Museum is the largest museum in Exeter
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Great Hangman is the highest sea cliff in England and the highest point on the South West Coast Path
  
White Lady Waterfall at Lydford Gorge is on the River Lyd
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Plymouth was the most bombed UK city in World War II
  
Great Hangman  is the highest sea cliff in England and the highest point on the South West Coast Path
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The town of Axminster gives its name to a type of carpet
  
Plymouth was the most bombed UK city in World War II
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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
 
Isca Dumnoniorum was the Roman name for Exeter
  
Dartmoor prison was built to house prisoners of war
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The practice of carrying flaming tar barrels through the streets takes place in Ottery St Mary
  
Dartmouth Castle is one of a pair of forts, the other being Kingswear Castle, that guard the mouth of the Dart Estuary
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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
 
Lundy is the largest island in the Bristol Channel. Lundy is England’s only marine nature reserve. It is owned by the National Trust
  
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High Willhays is the highest point in Devon and is the highest point in England south of the Brecon Beacons
  
 
'''Dorset'''
 
'''Dorset'''
  
 
Bournemouth was founded in 1810 by Lewis Trogonwell
 
Bournemouth was founded in 1810 by Lewis Trogonwell
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Bournemouth was part of Hampshire until 1974
  
 
Dorchester was the site of the trial of Bloody Assizes (1685) and Tolpuddle Martyrs (1833)
 
Dorchester was the site of the trial of Bloody Assizes (1685) and Tolpuddle Martyrs (1833)
 
Maiden Castle is an Iron Age hill fort 1.6 miles south west of Dorchester. Hill forts were fortified hill-top settlements constructed across Britain during the Iron Age
 
 
Poundbury is an experimental new town on the outskirts of Dorchester. The development is built on land owned by the Duchy of Cornwall. It is built according to the principles of Prince Charles. Designed by Luxembourg architect Leon Krier
 
  
 
Lyme Regis was granted a royal charter by Edward I in 1284
 
Lyme Regis was granted a royal charter by Edward I in 1284
  
Lulworth Castle is an early 17th century mock castle. The stone building has now been re-built as a museum
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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  
 
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  
  
Sherborne's historic buildings include Sherborne Abbey, its manor house, and two castles: the ruins of a 12th century fortified palace and the 16th century mansion known as Sherborne Castle built by Walter Raleigh
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Old Harry Rocks are chalk stacks located on the Isle of Purbeck directly east of Studland and to the north of Swanage
 
 
Old Harry Rocks are chalk stacks located directly east of Studland and to the north of Swanage
 
  
 
Fleet Lagoon is between Chesil Beach and the mainland
 
Fleet Lagoon is between Chesil Beach and the mainland
  
 
Durnovaria was the Roman name for Dorchester
 
Durnovaria was the Roman name for Dorchester
 
Portland Castle is one of the Device Forts, built in 1539 by Henry VIII on the Isle of Portland
 
  
 
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
 
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
  
WikiMiniAtlas
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Sandbanks is a small peninsula crossing the mouth of Poole Harbour. Sandbanks has, by area, the fourth highest land value in the world
  
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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
  
'''Durham'''
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Brownsea Island in Poole Harbour is one of the few places in southern England where indigenous red squirrels survive
  
Durham Cathedral was founded in1093. The cathedral is regarded as one of the finest examples of Norman architecture and has been designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site along with nearby Durham Castle, which faces it across Palace Green
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Lulworth Cove is on the Jurassic Coast
  
Durham was the first UK city to introduce a congestion charge
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Durdle Door is a natural limestone arch near Lulworth
  
Lumley Castle is a 14th century castle at Chester-le-Street and a property of the Earl of Scarborough. It is a backdrop for Durham Cricket Ground
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'''Durham'''
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Durham was the first UK city to introduce a congestion charge
  
 
Hamsterley Forest is a commercial forest operated by the Forestry Commission
 
Hamsterley Forest is a commercial forest operated by the Forestry Commission
 
Beamish, the North of England Open Air Museum is located at Beamish, near the town of Stanley
 
  
 
High Force is a waterfall on the River Tees
 
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
 
Caldron Snout is a waterfall on River Tees. It lies on the boundary between County Durham and Cumbria
 
Auckland Castle (often known locally as The Bishop's palace) has been the official residence of the Bishop of Durham since 1832
 
 
Bowes Museum has a nationally renowned art collection and is situated in the town of Barnard Castle, Teesdale
 
  
 
Dunelmian is a person from Durham
 
Dunelmian is a person from Durham
  
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'''East Riding of Yorkshire'''
  
'''East Riding of Yorkshire'''
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Hull has distinctive cream telephone boxes which can be seen across the city. KCOM produces its own 'White Pages' telephone directory
  
The Deep is an aquarium situated at Sammy's Point, at the confluence of the River Hull and the Humber Estuary in Hull. It opened in 2002 and is billed as "the world's only submarium”
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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
 
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
 
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
 
Beverley Minster is one of the largest parish churches in the UK
 
  
 
Holderness is an area of rich agricultural land, but was marshland until it was drained in the Middle Ages
 
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
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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
  
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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'''
 
'''East Sussex'''
  
Ford open prison is at Arundel
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George V added the Regis suffix to Bognor
  
 
Long Man of Wilmington is at Windover Hill, in East Sussex. Holds two poles
 
Long Man of Wilmington is at Windover Hill, in East Sussex. Holds two poles
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Goodwood is associated with the Dukes of Richmond
 
Goodwood is associated with the Dukes of Richmond
 
De La Warr Pavilion is an International Style building constructed in 1935 and designed by the architects Erich Mendelsohn and Serge Chermayeff. It is located in Bexhill on Sea
 
  
 
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
 
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
 
Lewes is the administrative centre of East Sussex
 
From 1957 to 1988 the grounds of Herstmonceux Castle were the home of the Royal Greenwich Observatory, which then moved to Cambridge
 
  
 
Pevensey Castle is a medieval castle and former Roman Saxon Shore fort. Built around 290 AD, it was known to the Romans as Anderitum
 
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'''
+
Essex takes its name from the Old English for "East Saxons"
  
 
Maldon is famous for sea salt
 
Maldon is famous for sea salt
  
Colchester is the oldest town in England
+
Colchester is the oldest town in England. Granted city status in 2022
  
 
Colchester was famed for its oysters
 
Colchester was famed for its oysters
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 +
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
 
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
 
Saffron Walden gets its name from the rare ''Crocus sativus'', saffron crocus
 
Southend Pier is the longest pleasure pier in the world, extending 1.3 miles into the Thames Estuary
 
  
 
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
 
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
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Camulodunum was the Roman name for Colchester
 
Camulodunum was the Roman name for Colchester
  
Tilbury Fort was built to defend London from attack from the sea, particularly during the Spanish Armada and the Anglo-Dutch Wars. The defences were fully rebuilt as a bastion fort in the late 17th century
+
Colchester is on the River Colne
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Wallasea Wetlands is sited on Wallasea Island
  
 +
DP World London Gateway is a deep-water port in Thurrock opened in 2013
  
 
'''Gloucestershire'''
 
'''Gloucestershire'''
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Westonbirt Arboretum is managed by the Forestry Commission. The arboretum was established in 1829 by Robert Stayner Holford
 
Westonbirt Arboretum is managed by the Forestry Commission. The arboretum was established in 1829 by Robert Stayner Holford
 
Tewkesbury Abbey is one of the finest examples of Norman architecture in Britain, and has probably the largest Romanesque crossing tower in Europe
 
  
 
Clearwell Caves are ancient iron mines in the Forest of Dean
 
Clearwell Caves are ancient iron mines in the Forest of Dean
 
Catherine Parr is buried at Sudeley Castle in Winchcombe
 
  
 
Kemble airfield is now known as Cotswold Airport, and is used as an F1 test track
 
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
 
St Mary's Parish churchyard in Painswick is notable for its ancient and numerous yew trees
 
Bristol Temple Meads derives its name from the nearby Temple Church, which was built by the Knights Templar in the 12th century
 
 
Clifton Suspension Bridge spans the Avon Gorge, linking Clifton in Bristol to Leigh Woods in North Somerset. Designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel. Opened in 1864
 
  
 
The Roman name for Cirencester was Corinium, which is thought to have been associated with the ancient British tribe of the Dobunni
 
The Roman name for Cirencester was Corinium, which is thought to have been associated with the ancient British tribe of the Dobunni
 
Cirencester is the home of the Royal Agricultural University, the oldest agricultural college, founded in 1840
 
  
 
During the Middle Ages, Tetbury became an important market for Cotswold wool and yarn
 
During the Middle Ages, Tetbury became an important market for Cotswold wool and yarn
  
Highgrove House, the family residence of the Prince of Wales, is situated south west of Tetbury
+
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
 
 
Gatcombe Park is the country residence of Anne, Princess Royal located between the villages of Minchinhampton and Avening
 
  
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Forest of Dean is one of the surviving ancient woodlands in England
  
 
'''Greater London'''
 
'''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 km<sup>2</sup> (607 sq miles) and had a population of 8,174,000 at the 2011 census
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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 km<sup>2</sup> (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 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
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'''Apsley House''', also known as Number One, London, is the London townhouse of the Dukes of Wellington. It stands alone at Hyde Park Corner
 
  
'''Wellington Arch''', also known as Constitution Arch or (originally) the Green Park Arch, is a triumphal arch located to the south of Hyde Park. Built nearby between 1826 and 1830 to a design by Decimus Burton, it was moved to its present position in 1882–83. It once supported an equestrian statue of the 1st Duke of Wellington
+
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 ''Belfast''''' is moored near Tower Bridge in the Pool of London. Opened to the public in October 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
 
First bridge across the Thames was near Vauxhall, c. 1500 BC, where three rivers met
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Romans built a bridge on the site of London Bridge c. 50 AD
 
Romans built a bridge on the site of London Bridge c. 50 AD
  
Medieval London Bridge built by Peter de Colechurch in 1209. A chapel was built in the middle of the bridge and there were shops on both sides of the bridge
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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
  
'''London Bridge''' is the oldest station in London. Opened in 1836
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Albemarle Street was the first one-way street in London
  
'''Westminster Bridge''' was the second bridge built across Thames (1750), after London Bridge
+
Leicester Square is named after the Earl of Leicester
  
'''Big Ben''' is the world's largest four-faced, chiming clock and the third largest free-standing clock tower in the world. The main bell is officially known as the Great Bell. Completed in 1859. The designers were Edmund Beckett Denison and George Airy, the Astronomer Royal. Construction was entrusted to clockmaker Edward John Dent
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Birdcage Walk is named after the Royal Menagerie and Aviary which were located there in the reign of King James I
  
Big Ben is in the Elizabeth Tower. It may have been named after Sir Benjamin Hall, who oversaw the installation of the Great Bell
+
Great Scotland Yard in St. James’s was the location of the rear entrance to the original headquarters of the Metropolitan Police Service
  
'''Tower Bridge''' was designed by Horace Jones. John Wolfe-Barry was the structural engineer. Opened in 1894. Bascule bridge
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Green Park is the smallest royal park
  
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
+
Green Park was used as a dueling ground
  
Westminster Hall is the oldest building in Parliament and almost the only part of the ancient Palace of Westminster which survives in almost its original form. The Hall was built in 1097 under William II
+
Smithfield Market opened in 1868. Bartholomew Fair was held in Smithfield
  
'''Westminster Abbey''' is also The Collegiate Church of St Peter at Westminster
+
London Stone is a historic landmark housed in Cannon Street in the City of London. It is an irregular block of limestone
  
Henry VII Chapel is part of Westminster Abbey
+
St. Katherine Docks were designed by Thomas Telford and opened in 1828
  
The British tomb of The Unknown Warrior holds an unidentified British soldier killed on a European battlefield during World War I. He was buried in Westminster Abbey on 11 November 1920, the earliest such tomb honouring the unknown dead of WWI
+
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
  
'''Tower of London''' is also Her Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress
+
Pelicans in St James’s Park introduced in 1664 as a gift from the Russian Ambassador
  
The Tower of London is often identified with the White Tower, the original stark square fortress built by William the Conqueror in 1078
+
London Wall was the defensive wall built by the Romans around Londinium
  
White Tower is the oldest part of Tower of London
+
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
  
The Bloody Tower acquired its name in the 16th century, as it was believed to be the site of the murder of the Princes in the Tower
+
Strand referred to the shallow bank of the once much wider River Thames, before the construction of the Victoria Embankment
  
The Chapel Royal of St Peter ad Vincula (‘St Peter in chains’) is the parish church of the Tower of London, dating from 1520
+
Parish church of St Paul in Covent Garden is known as ‘the actor’s church’
  
'''Old Bailey''' is the name of the street where the Old Bailey stands, on the site of Newgate prison. On the dome above the Old Bailey stands a bronze statue of Lady Justice, executed by British sculptor F. W. Pomeroy. She holds a sword in her right hand and the scales of justice in her left hand
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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
  
Newgate – now the site of the Old Bailey
+
Savoy Court is the only street in the United Kingdom where vehicles are required to drive on the right
  
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
+
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
  
Albemarle Street was the first one-way street in London
+
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
  
Leicester Square is named after the Earl of Leicester
+
Vauxhall Bridge has a statue holding a model of St Paul’s
  
Queen’s Hall in Langham Place was destroyed by a bomb in 1941
+
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
  
College Green is a small grass-covered public area diagonally opposite the '''Palace of Westminster''', and is a common place for TV reporters to interview MPs
+
Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fountain in Hyde Park was designed by American landscape architect Kathryn Gustafson
  
St Stephen’s entrance is where people queue to get into Commons public galleries
+
Queen Elizabeth gates in Hyde Park opened in 1993
  
Somerset House is the HQ of Inland Revenue
+
7/7 memorial in Hyde Park consists of 52 steel pillars
  
Black Museum is a collection of criminal memorabilia kept at New Scotland Yard
+
Denmark Street was Britain's "Tin Pan Alley" housing numerous music publishers' offices
  
East Front of '''Buckingham Palace''' was originally constructed by Edward Blore and completed in 1850. It acquired its present appearance following a remodeling, in 1913, by Sir Aston Webb. SW1A 1AA – postcode of Buckingham Palace
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Chamber of Horrors is at Madame Tussauds
  
London Palladium is on Argyle Street
+
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
  
Statues in Parliament Square – Churchill, Lloyd George, Smuts, Palmerston, Derby, Disraeli, Peel, Canning, Lincoln, Mandela, Gandhi (unveiled in 2015)
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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
  
Green Park was used as a dueling ground
+
St James's Park is the oldest Royal Park in London
  
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
+
Finsbury Circus is the largest public open space within the City's boundaries
  
Equestrian statue of King Charles I was cast by the French sculptor Hubert Le Sueur in 1638, before the English Civil War. Following the war it was sold by Parliament to John Rivet, a metalsmith, to be broken down. However Rivet hid the statue until the Restoration, when it was placed on a pedestal at its current location in '''Charing Cross'''. On the pavement a few feet behind the equestrian statue of Charles I there is a plaque:  ‘On the site now occupied by the statue of King Charles was erected the original Queen Eleanor's Cross, a replica of which stands in front of Charing Cross station. Mileages from London are measured from the site of the original cross’
+
Kings Cross was known as Battle Bridge until a statue of George IV was erected in 1835
  
Pelicans in St James’s Park introduced in 1664 as a gift from the Russian Ambassador
+
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
  
Albert Memorial was designed by George Gilbert Scott in 1872
+
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
  
Golden Boy of Pye Corner is a monument near Smithfield, where the Great Fire of London stopped in 1666
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There is a statue of Guy the Gorilla located near London Zoo's main entrance
  
'''Marble Arch''' was designed in 1828 by John Nash as a triumphal entrance. When the palace was extended in the 1840s, the arch was moved to form an entrance to Hyde Park
+
MI5 headquarters are at Thames House
  
'''London Wall''' was the defensive wall built by the Romans around Londinium
+
Fitzrovia is situated between Marylebone and Bloomsbury and north of Soho. Probably named after the Fitzroy Tavern
  
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
+
London Silver Vaults opened as The Chancery Lane Safe Deposit in 1876
  
'''Barbican Centre''' is the largest performing arts centre in Europe. Opened by Queen Elizabeth II in 1982
+
Canary Wharf takes its name from a quay that imported from the Canary Islands
  
'''Strand''' referred to the shallow bank of the once much wider River Thames, before the construction of the Victoria Embankment
+
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
  
Parish church of St Paul in Covent Garden is known as ‘the actor’s church’
+
Thames Tideway Tunnel is a sewer under construction, running mostly under the tidal section (estuary) of the River Thames across Inner London
  
'''Clarence House''' was built between 1825 and 1827 to a design by John Nash. It was commissioned by Prince William, Duke of Clarence, who became William IV in 1830
 
  
Clarence House is the official residence of Prince Charles
 
  
'''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
+
The Clink and Marshalsea were prisons in Southwark
  
Savoy Court is the only street in the United Kingdom where vehicles are required to drive on the right
+
Billingsgate Fish Market relocated to the Isle of Dogs in 1982
  
'''Cleopatra’s Needle''' erected in 1878 on Victoria Embankment. Obelisk to Tuthmose III
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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
  
Euston is oldest mainline London terminus, and was opened in 1837
+
Petticoat Lane Market is a fashion and clothing market located on Wentworth Street and Middlesex Street in East London
  
Fenchurch Street was the first station to be constructed within walls of City of London, in 1841. It does not have a direct link to the London Underground
+
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
  
'''Paddington Station''' was completed in 1854
+
St John’s Wood was once part of the Great Middlesex Forest. It was later owned by the Knights of St John of Jerusalem
  
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 in between London Bridge and Rotherhithe, which constituted the furthest reach that could be reached by a tall-masted vessel
+
Highgate Cemetery was established in 1839. Karl Marx, George Eliot and Ralph Richardson are all buried in Highgate cemetery
  
'''Vauxhall Bridge''' has a statue holding a model of St Paul’s
+
Hampstead Garden Suburb was founded by Henrietta Barnett in 1907
  
'''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
+
Bunhill Fields in Islington is a former burial ground
  
Post Office Tower was built in 1965. Telecom Tower restaurant and observation gallery closed in 1980
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River Fleet is the largest of London's subterranean rivers. Its headwaters are two streams on Hampstead Heath
  
Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fountain in Hyde Park was designed by American landscape architect Kathryn Gustafson
+
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
  
Queen Elizabeth gates in Hyde Park opened in 1993
+
Woolwich Ferry opened in 1889
  
Denmark Street was Britain's "Tin Pan Alley" housing numerous music publishers' offices
+
Millwall was originally known as Marshwall, its name derives from the large number of windmills built on the river wall, in the 19th century
  
7/7 memorial in Hyde Park consists of 52 steel pillars
 
  
The central quadrangle of the '''British Museum''' was redeveloped to become the Queen Elizabeth II Great Court, commonly referred to simply as the Great Court, during the late 1990s. It was opened by Queen Elizabeth II in 2000. The court has a tessellated glass roof by Foster and Partners (Architects) and Buro Happold (Engineers) covering the entire court and surrounds the original circular British Museum Reading Room in the centre, now a museum. It is the largest covered square in Europe
 
  
Hunterian Museum is at the Royal College of Surgeons
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<u>Outer London</u>
  
'''St Bride's Church''' was designed by Christopher Wren in 1672 in Fleet Street. It has a long association with journalists and newspapers. Known as the ‘wedding cake’
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Kew Gardens was founded by Princess Augusta
  
St Andrew-by-the-Wardrobe is a Church of England church located on Queen Victoria Street. Rebuilt by Wren
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Palm house at Kew Gardens was designed by Richard Turner and Decimus Burton
  
One of the clock bells of '''St Paul’s Cathedral''' is called Great Tom. The largest monument in the cathedral is that to the Duke of Wellington by Alfred Stevens. The marble sarcophagus which holds the remains of Nelson was made for Cardinal Wolsey but was disused as the cardinal fell from favour. St Paul’s Cathedral is the cathedral of the Diocese of London. The south-west tower of St Paul’s contains four bells of which Great Paul, cast in 1881 by Taylor’s Bell Foundry of Loughborough, at 16½ tons was the largest bell in the British Isles until the casting of the Olympic Bell for the 2012 London Olympics
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Kew Gardens Great Pagoda by William Chambers was erected in 1762, from a design in imitation of the Chinese Taa
  
'''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
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Kew Gardens Nash Conservatory was originally at Buckingham Palace
  
'''Canary Wharf''' contains the UK's three tallest buildings: One Canada Square at 771 ft; and the HSBC Tower and the Citigroup Centre joint second tallest at 654 ft
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Marianne North Gallery of Botanic Art in Kew Gardens is named after the English Victorian biologist and botanical artist
  
Canary Wharf takes its name from a quay that imported from Canary Islands
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Bromley is the largest London borough by area (59 square miles)
  
Canary Wharf railway station is part of the Crossrail project. It was designed by Fosters
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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
  
'''St James's Park''' is the oldest Royal Park in London
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The name Croydon is derived from ‘crocus valley’, as it may have been a centre for the collection of saffron
  
Finsbury Circus is the largest public open space within the City's boundaries
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Teddington lock is the end of the tidal reach of the Thames
  
'''St Mary-le-Bow''' is a church on Cheapside. According to tradition a true Cockney must be born within earshot of the sound of Bow Bells (which refers to this church's bells rather than St Mary and Holy Trinity, Bow Road, in Bow)
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Richmond was named after Henry VII’s Yorkshire earldom
  
'''St Martin-in-the-Fields''' is an English Anglican church at the north-east corner of Trafalgar Square. It is dedicated to Saint Martin of Tours. There has been a church on the site since the medieval period. The present building was constructed in a Neoclassical design by James Gibbs in 1722–24
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Richmond Park is the largest royal park. It has a colony of green parakeets
  
'''Downing Street''' is named after George Downing, MP who served as Postmaster-General in Cromwell’s army
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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
  
Ayrton light is the light at the top of the Clock Tower in the Palace of Westminster
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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
  
Mermaid Tavern, near St Paul’s – 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
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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
  
Mermaid Theatre was a theatre at Puddle Dock, in Blackfriars, in the City of London and the first built there since the time of Shakespeare. The 20th century theatre was the life's work of actor Bernard Miles
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London City Airport is in the borough of Newham
  
'''Kings Cross''' was known as Battle Bridge until a statue of George IV was erected in 1835
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Heathrow Airport is in the borough of Hillingdon
  
Burlington Arcade was built to the order of Lord George Cavendish, younger brother of the 5th Duke of Devonshire, who had inherited the adjacent Burlington House. The Arcade opened in 1819
+
Surbiton was the first suburb built around a railway line
  
Chamber of Horrors is at '''Madame Tussauds'''
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Croydon is the most populous London borough
  
'''Waterloo Station''' opened in 1848. 19 platforms
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West Norwood Cemetery has catacombs
  
The first bridge on the site of '''Waterloo Bridge''' was designed in 1809 by John Rennie for the Strand Bridge Company and opened in 1817 as a toll bridge. The new bridge was designed by Giles Gilbert Scott and opened in 1945
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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)
  
Design Museum is near Tower Bridge. The museum covers product, industrial, graphic, fashion and architectural design. It was founded in 1989 and claims to be the first museum of modern design
+
Scratchwood Services on the M1 are now known as London Gateway Services
  
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
+
'''Greater Manchester'''
  
Bethlem was first as a priory for the sisters and brethren of the Order of the Star of Bethlehem, from where the building took its name. Its first site was in Bishopsgate
+
Manchester had a population of 552,000 at the 2021 census
  
'''London Library''' is the world's largest independent lending library. It is located in the St James area of the City of Westminster and was founded in 1841 by a group of men who included Thomas Carlyle
+
Manchester was known as Cottonopolis due to the large production of cotton
  
'''55 Broadway''' is a building overlooking St. James's Park. It was designed by Charles Holden and built in 1929. It was built as a headquarters building for the Underground Electric Railways Company of London, the main forerunner of London Underground
+
The Trafford Centre opened in 1998 and is the third largest shopping centre in the UK by retail size
  
'''Tower 42''' was originally known as the National Westminster Tower. The tower, designed by Richard Seifert and opened in 1981, is located at 25 Old Broad Street
+
Canal Street is the centre of the Manchester Gay Village
  
30 St Mary Axe (known informally as '''The Gherkin''' and previously as the Swiss Re Building) was opened in 2004. It stands on the former site of the Baltic Exchange
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Ancoats is an industrial suburb of Manchester
  
20 Fenchurch Street is a 38-storey skyscraper on Fenchurch Street. It has been nicknamed ‘'''The Walkie-Talkie'''’ because of its distinctive shape.  Completed in 2014, the building is 160 m tall. Costing over £200 million, it is designed by architect Rafael Vinoly
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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
  
'''The Pinnacle''' or '''TwentyTwo''' (known informally as the Helter-Skelter and formerly called the Bishopsgate Tower) is a 62-storey 278 m (912 ft) skyscraper. Construction started on the site at 22-24 Bishopsgate in 2008 but not completed until 2020 due to the Great Recession.
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Barton Swing Aqueduct is a moveable navigable aqueduct that carries the Bridgewater Canal across the Manchester Ship Canal
  
122 Leadenhall Street was completed in 2014. The skyscraper was designed by Richard Rogers and is known as ‘'''The Cheesegrater'''’ because of its distinctive wedge shape.  It is also known as the Leadenhall Building.  It stands 225m (738ft) tall and has 45 floors.
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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
  
52-54 Lime Street is a 190m (620ft) tall skyscraper which was completed in 2018. Due to its angular shape, it has been nicknamed ‘'''The Scalpel'''’.
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Peel Tower stands on Holcombe Moor, above Ramsbottom. Memorial tower to Sir Robert Peel
  
'''The Shard''' in Southwark is the tallest building in the UK and the seventh-tallest in Europe.  It was designed by Renzi Piano and was completed in 2012.  It is 309.6m (1,016ft) tall and was opened to the public in 2013.  There is an open-air observation deck on the 72nd floor (244m/801ft)
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River Mersey starts at the confluence of the River Tame and River Goyt in Stockport
  
Bevis Marks in the City of London is the oldest synagogue in Britain. Completed in 1701
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River Irwell is a tributary of the River Mersey. The Irwell marks the boundary between Manchester and Salford
  
Victoria Coach Station was opened at its present site in Buckingham Palace Road in 1932, by London Coastal Coaches Limited. The building is in a distinctive Art Deco style, the architects for which were Wallis, Gilbert and Partners
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'''Hampshire'''
  
Strata SE1 is a 148-metre, 43-storey residential building at Elephant and Castle. Designed by BFLS (formerly Hamiltons). Strata SE1 is one of the first buildings in the world to incorporate wind turbines as part of its structure
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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
  
'''Westminster Bridge''' opened in 1862. Oldest London bridge still in use. Designed by Thomas Page
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HMNB Portsmouth is an operational Royal Navy base and is home to two-thirds of the UK's surface fleet
  
Richard Burbage built the original '''Globe Theatre'''. Redesigned by Sam Wanamaker
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Southampton was built on the site of the Roman city of Clausentum
  
Julia Barfield and David Marks designed the '''London Eye'''
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Mayflower Memorial is in Southampton
  
'''Nelson’s Column''' was designed by architect William Railton in 1838, and built by the firm Peto & Grissell
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Winchester and Southampton are on the River Itchen
  
'''The Monument''' was designed by Christopher Wren and Robert Hooke. Its 202 foot height marks the monument's distance to the site of Thomas Farriner, the king's baker's shop in Pudding Lane, where the fire began. Wren and Hooke built the monument to double as a scientific instrument. It has a central shaft meant for use as a zenith telescope and for use in gravity and pendulum experiments that connects to an underground laboratory for observers to work. The top of the Monument is reached by a narrow winding staircase of 311 steps
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Spithead is the area east of the Solent
  
'''Royal Albert Hall''' was designed by civil engineers Captain Francis Fowke and Major-General Henry Scott of the Royal Engineers and built by Lucas Brothers.  Opened by Queen Victoria in 1871
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Venta Belgarum was the Roman name for Winchester, capital of Wessex
  
'''Victoria and Albert Museum''' has its origins in the Great Exhibition of 1851, with which Henry Cole, the museum's first director, was involved in planning; initially it was known as the Museum of Manufactures, first opening in 1852 at Marlborough House. Moved to South Kensington in 1857
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Calleva Atrebatum (or Silchester Roman Town) was an Iron Age settlement and subsequently a town in the Roman province of Britannia
  
'''Natural History Museum''' opened in 1881
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Selborne is a village in Hampshire linked with the naturalist Revd. Gilbert White
  
Millbank Prison was used largely as a holding facility for people convicted of a crime who were being transported to Australia, a practice that ended in 1868. It was opened in 1816, designed according to principles laid down by the philosopher, Jeremy Bentham, and closed in 1890. The National Gallery of British Art was built on the prison site in 1897, now called '''Tate Britain'''
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'''Herefordshire'''
  
MI5 headquarters are at Thames House
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Hereford lies on the River Wye, 16 miles east of the border with Wales
  
River Fleet is the largest of London's subterranean rivers. Its headwaters are two streams on Hampstead Heath
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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
  
Fitzrovia is situated between Marylebone and Bloomsbury and north of Soho. Probably named after the Fitzroy Tavern
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'''Hertfordshire'''
  
'''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
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Letchworth was the first Garden City and the first place in United Kingdom to have a roundabout
  
The Clink, Marshalsea – both in Southwark
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Welwyn Garden City was founded in 1920
  
Billingsgate Fish Market relocated to the Isle of Dogs in 1982
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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
  
Olympia opened in the 19th century and was originally known as the National Agricultural Hall
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St Albans is on the River Ver
  
St George Wharf Tower, also known as the Vauxhall Tower, is the tallest residential building in the UK (181 m)
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Three Rivers is a local government district based in Rickmansworth
  
Earls Court Exhibition Centre opened in 1937
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Stevenage was designated the United Kingdom's first New Town under the New Towns Act of 1946
  
William Crabtree designed the Peter Jones store in Sloane Square
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Waltham Cross takes its name from the Eleanor Cross which stands in its centre
  
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
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The Plough Roundabout in Hemel Hempstead is sometimes known as the Magic Roundabout
  
Petticoat Lane Market is a fashion and clothing market located on Wentworth Street and Middlesex Street in East London
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'''Isle of Wight'''
  
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
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The island is historically part of Hampshire
  
St John’s Wood – once part of the Great Middlesex Forest, it was later owned by the Knights of St John of Jerusalem
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Newport is the county town of the Isle of Wight
  
'''Highgate Cemetery''' was established in 1839. Karl Marx, George Eliot and Ralph Richardson are all buried in Highgate cemetery
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Isle of Wight has many dinosaur fossils
  
Hampstead Garden Suburb was founded by Henrietta Barnett in 1907
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St Catherine’s Point is the southernmost point
  
Wandsworth Prison was known as ‘the Surrey house of correction’
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Carisbrooke was for centuries the capital
  
The current Hammersmith Bridge was designed by Joseph Bazalgette
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St Boniface Down is the highest point
  
Royal Observatory, '''Greenwich''' was commissioned in 1675 by King Charles II. At that time the king also created the position of Astronomer Royal. Flamsteed House, the original part of the Observatory, was designed by Sir Christopher Wren
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Isle of Wight was known as Vectis in Roman times
  
Queen’s House is a former royal residence built between 1616 and 1619 in Greenwich. Built by Inigo Jones for Anne of Denmark, the queen of King James I of England
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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 Royal Naval College, Greenwich, was a Royal Navy training establishment between 1873 and 1998
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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
  
''Cutty Sark'' and ''Gypsy Moth IV'' are at Greenwich Pier
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Isle of Wight has an annual Garlic Festival
  
Eltham Palace is within the Royal Borough of Greenwich. It is an unoccupied royal residence and owned by the Crown Estate
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Isle of Wight natives are known as caulkheads. Residents not born on the island are known as overners
  
Millwall was originally known as Marshwall, its name derives from the large number of windmills built on the river wall, in the 19th century
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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
  
Peckham Library was designed by Will Alsop
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'''Kent'''
  
Lord Burlington's finest architectural creation, Chiswick House, is inspired in part by several buildings of Andrea Palladio
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Dubris was the Roman name for Dover
  
Kenwood House is a former stately home, in Hampstead. The house is best known for the artwork it houses, and for summer open-air concerts
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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
  
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Isle of Sheppey is separated from Kent by the Swale estuary
  
Outer London
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Rochester, Chatham and Gillingham are the Medway towns
  
'''ExCeL''' London (Exhibition Centre London) is located on the northern quay of the Royal Victoria Dock in London Docklands, between Canary Wharf and London City Airport, in the borough of Newham
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Rochester lost its city status in 1998 due to an administrative error
  
Old Wembley Stadium built by McAlpines
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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’
  
'''Wembley Stadium''' was designed by architects HOK Sport and Foster and Partners with engineers Mott MacDonald, and built by Multiplex
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Canterbury was the site of the first Anglo-Saxon cathedral. St. Augustine’s Abbey is also in Canterbury
  
The White Horse Bridge is the name of the new footbridge that crosses Wembley Stadium railway station leading up to Wembley Stadium
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Durovernum was the Roman name for Canterbury
  
Scratchwood Services now known as London Gateway Services
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Canterbury in on the River Stour
  
'''Kew Gardens''' was founded by Princess Augusta
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The Stade is a shingle beach in Hastings
  
Palm house at Kew Gardens was designed by Richard Turner and Decimus Burton
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The Pantiles is a shopping centre in Tunbridge Wells
  
Kew Gardens Great Pagoda by William Chambers was erected in 1762, from a design in imitation of the Chinese Taa
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Deal has a time ball
  
Kew Gardens Nash Conservatory was originally at Buckingham Palace
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Goodwin Sands lies six miles off the Deal coast. More than 2,000 ships are believed to have been wrecked upon the Goodwin Sands
  
Marble Hill House is a Palladian villa built between 1724 and 1729 in Twickenham
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Pilgrims' Way is the historic route supposed to have been taken by pilgrims from Winchester to the shrine of Thomas Becket at Canterbury
  
Strawberry Hill was the first Gothic building. Horace Walpole’s ‘little gothic castle’
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Whitstable is famous for its oysters, which have been collected in the area since at least Roman times
  
Syon House derives its name from Syon Abbey, a medieval monastery of the Bridgettine Order, founded in 1415. It belongs to the Duke of Northumberland. The interior of the house was designed by the architect Robert Adam in the 1760s
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Romney Marsh is a sparsely populated wetland area in the counties of Kent and East Sussex
  
Royal Small Arms Factory (RSAF) was a UK government-owned rifle factory in the London Borough of Enfield. The factory produced British military rifles, muskets and swords from 1816. It closed in 1988
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Maidstone is the administrative centre of Kent
  
Bromley is the largest London borough by area (59 square miles)
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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
  
The name Croydon is derived from ‘crocus valley’, is may have been a centre for the collection of saffron
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A colony of yellow-tailed scorpions live in Sheerness dockyard
  
Teddington Lock is the end of the tidal reach of the Thames
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'''Lancashire'''
  
Richmond was named after Henry VII’s Yorkshire earldom
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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.
  
Richmond Park has a colony of green parakeets
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Furness is an exclave of the historic county of Lancashire, lying to the north of Morecambe Bay
  
Ham House was completed in 1610. Owned by Earl of Dysart
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Blackpool is on the Fylde peninsula
  
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
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Bolton was called Bolton-le-Moors
  
West Norwood Cemetery has catacombs
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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 ‘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. Includes West Norwood, Highgate, and Brompton
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The three main rivers in Lancashire are the Ribble, Wyre and Lune, which all drain west to the Irish Sea
  
Brent Cross Shopping Centre opened in 1976
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Lancaster is the county town and stands on the River Lune
  
Hindu temple in Neasden was the largest outside India when it was constructed
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Fleetwood is on the River Wyre
  
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'''Leicestershire'''
  
'''Greater Manchester'''
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Ratae was the Roman name for Leicester
  
Free Trade Hall in Manchester was built to celebrate repeal of Corn Laws
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Jewry Wall is the ruins of a Roman wall in Leicester
  
The M.E.N. (Manchester Evening News) Arena is currently Europe's second-largest indoor arena
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Leicester became a city in 1919
  
Beetham Tower (or Hilton Tower) is a 47-storey mixed-use skyscraper in Manchester. When it was completed in 2006, it was the tallest residential building in the UK
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Charnwood Forest is bounded by Leicester, Loughborough, and Coalville
  
Alan Turing Memorial is situated in the Sackville Park in Manchester
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River Soar is a major tributary of the Trent. It flows through Leicester
  
Manchester was known as Cottonopolis due to the large production of cotton
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'''Lincolnshire'''
  
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
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Lincolnshire was historically divided into Kesteven, Holland and Lindsey
  
Peel Tower stands on Holcombe Moor, above Ramsbottom
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Lindum was the Roman name for Lincoln
  
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Lincoln is on the River Witham
  
'''Hampshire'''
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Brigg Horse Fair is the surviving continuation of the medieval fair which was in existence at least as early as 1205
  
Stratfield Saye House has been the home of the Dukes of Wellington since 1817
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In July 2022 temperatures at Coninsby hit 40.3C – the highest figure ever recorded in the United Kingdom
  
Portchester Castle is a medieval castle and former Roman fort at Portchester to the east of Fareham in Hampshire
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Fossdyke, connects the River Trent at Torksey to Lincoln and may be the oldest canal in England that is still in use
  
Sandham Memorial Chapel is in the village of Burghclere. The chapel is famous for its series of paintings by the English artist Stanley Spencer which were inspired by his experiences during World War I, during which he served as an orderly with the Royal Army Medical Corps
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'''Merseyside'''
  
Tricorn shopping centre, Portsmouth was an example of brutalist architecture
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Liverpool was given its charter by King John in 1207
  
UK Air Traffic Control Centre is located at Swanwick
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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
  
At a height of 170 m above sea level, Spinnaker Tower in Portsmouth is 2.5 times higher than Nelson's Column, making it the tallest accessible structure in the United Kingdom outside of London. Designed by local firm HGP Architects and the engineering consultants Scott Wilson
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‘Above us only sky’ is painted on the roof of Liverpool John Lennon Airport
  
Jane Austen’s house is at Chawton, Alton
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Hope Street connects the Anglican and Catholic cathedrals in Liverpool
  
Mayflower Memorial is in Southampton
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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
  
National Oceanographic Centre is in Southampton
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Liverpool Biennial is the largest international contemporary art festival in the UK
  
''Mary Rose'', ''Victory'', HMS ''Warrior'' (Britain’s first iron-clad steamship) are at Portsmouth Historic Dockyard
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The Merseyrail network has extensive underground sections within the city centre
  
Spithead is the area east of the Solent
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Queensway tunnel under the River Mersey was opened by George VI
  
Venta Belgarum – Roman name for Winchester, capital of Wessex
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Southport Flower Show held at Victoria Park is the largest independent flower show in the UK
  
Calleva Atrebatum (or Silchester Roman Town) was an Iron Age oppidum and subsequently a town in the Roman province of Britannia
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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
  
Southampton was built on the site of the Roman city of Clausentum
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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
  
Portsea Island contains a large proportion of, the city of Portsmouth, and has the largest population of any island in England
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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
  
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'''Norfolk'''
  
'''Herefordshire'''
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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
  
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
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Bishop’s Lynn became King’s Lynn during the reign of Henry VIII
  
Hereford Cathedral Library is also well known for its chained books as it is the only library of this type to survive with all of the chains, rods and locks still intact
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Castle Rising is a ruined medieval fortification in the village of Castle Rising, near King’s Lynn
  
Hereford Mappa Mundi dates from c. 1285. It is currently on display at Hereford Cathedral. It is the largest medieval map known still to exist
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King's Lynn is mainly on the east bank of the River Great Ouse close to where it flows into the Wash
  
Goodrich Castle is a Norman medieval castle situated to the north of the village of Goodrich
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Norwich is the only English city in a National Park (Norfolk Broads)
  
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Little Snoring is a village in Norfolk
  
'''Hertfordshire'''
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North Norfolk Railway, also known as the ‘Poppy Line’, is a heritage steam railway running between Sheringham and Holt
  
Woburn Abbey was originally founded as a Cistercian abbey in 1145
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Great Yarmouth is noted for bloaters and kippers
  
Letchworth was the first Garden City and the first place in UK to have a roundabout
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Cromer is famous for the Cromer crab, which forms the major source of income for the local fishermen
  
Welwyn Garden City was founded in 1920
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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
  
Natural History Museum at Tring was the private museum of Lionel Walter, 2nd Baron Rothschild. Today it is under the control of the Natural History Museum. It houses one of the finest collections of stuffed mammals, birds, reptiles and insects in the UK
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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
  
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 mediaeval 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
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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
  
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Seahenge, also known as Holme I, was a prehistoric monument located in the village of Holme-next-the-Sea, near Old Hunstanton
  
'''Isle of Wight'''
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'''Northamptonshire'''
  
Newport is the county town of the Isle of Wight
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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
  
Ryde is the largest town of the Isle of Wight
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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
  
Isle of Wight has many dinosaur fossils
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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’
  
St Catherine’s Point is the southernmost point of Isle of Wight
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The boundary with Lincolnshire is England's shortest ceremonial county boundary, at 20 yards (18 metres)
  
Carisbrooke was for centuries the capital of the Isle of Wight
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'''Northumberland'''
  
St Boniface Down is the highest point on the Isle of Wight
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The curlew is the official symbol of Northumberland National Park
  
Isle of Wight was known as Vectis in Roman times
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Chillingham Cattle are a rare breed of cattle that live in a large enclosed park at Chillingham Castle
  
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
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Cheviot Hills are at the northern end of the Northumberland National Park
  
Carisbrooke Castle is a historic motte-and-bailey castle. Charles I was imprisoned at the castle in the months prior to his trial
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Berwick-upon-Tweed is the northernmost town in England
  
Osborne House was built between 1845 and 1851 for Queen Victoria and Prince Albert as a summer home and rural retreat. Prince Albert designed the house himself in the style of an Italian Renaissance palazzo. The builder was Thomas Cubitt, the London architect and builder whose company built the main façade of Buckingham Palace for the royal couple in 1847
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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 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
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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
  
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Corbridge was a Roman settlement
  
'''Kent'''
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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
  
Dover Castle was founded in the 12th century and has been described as the "Key to England" due to its defensive significance throughout history. It is the largest castle in England
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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
  
Deal Castle is a 16th century coastal artillery fort, located between Walmer Castle and the now lost Sandown Castle
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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
  
Down House is the former home of Charles Darwin. In Darwin's day Downe was a parish in Kent: since 1965 has lain within the London Borough of Bromley
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'''North Yorkshire'''
  
Lullingstone Roman Villa was built during the Roman occupation of Britain, situated near the village of Eyneford
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Micklegate Bar is part of the walls of York
  
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
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Whip-Ma-Whop-Ma-Gate is a street in York
  
Isle of Sheppey separated from Kent by the Swale estuary
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The Shambles in York is a meandering, narrow medieval street
  
Rochester, Chatham and Gillingham are the Medway towns
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York is at the confluence of River Ouse and River Foss
  
Rochester lost its city status in 1998 due to an administrative error
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Harrogate spa water contains iron, sulphur and common salt
  
The Charles Dickens Centre is in Rochester
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Middlesbrough was the first town to owe its existence to the railway, to ship coal
  
Rochester cathedral is a Norman church. The bishopric is second oldest in England: only Canterbury is older
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Hole of Horcum is a deep natural hollow in North York Moors National Park
  
There are three Medway Viaducts, two of which carry the two carriageways of the M2 motorway. The other viaduct carries High Speed 1 across the River Medway near Rochester
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Vale of Pickering is drained by the River Derwent
  
Canterbury was the site of the first Anglo-Saxon cathedral. St. Augustine’s Abbey is also in Canterbury
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Ilkley and Otley are in Wharfedale
  
Bell Harry Tower is in Canterbury cathedral
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Richmond is in Swaledale
  
Durovernum was the Roman name for Canterbury
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Hawes is in Wensleydale
  
Leeds Castle, near Maidstone, was built in 1119 by Richard de Crevecoeur to replace the earlier Saxon manor of Esledes. The castle became a royal palace for King Edward I and his queen, Eleanor of Castile in 1278. In 1321 King Edward II besieged the castle after his queen was refused admission. Henry VIII transformed the castle for his first wife, Catherine of Aragon
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Wensleydale is the only Yorkshire dale not to be named after the river that flows through it
  
Hever Castle, in Kent was the seat of the Boleyn family
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The tradition of the Ripon Hornblower has endured since the year 886
  
Chartwell, located two miles south of Westerham, Kent, was the home of Winston Churchill
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Ripon is on the River Ure
  
The Stade is a shingle beach in Hastings
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Whitby is at the mouth of the River Esk
  
Dubris was the Roman name for Dover
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Dalby Forest is in North York Moors National Park
  
The Pantiles is a shopping centre in Tunbridge Wells
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Cleveland Hills is a range of hills on the edge of the North York Moors overlooking Cleveland and Teesside
  
Deal has a time ball
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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
  
Goodwin Sands lies six miles off the Deal coast. More than 2,000 ships are believed to have been wrecked upon the Goodwin Sands
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Danes Dyke is a long ditch at Flamborough Head
  
Queen Elizabeth II Bridge was opened in 1991
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Gaping Gill is a cave at the foot of Ingleborough
  
Pilgrims' Way is the historic route supposed to have been taken by pilgrims from Winchester to the shrine of Thomas Becket at Canterbury
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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
  
Walmer Castle was built by Henry VIII in 1539–40 as an artillery fortress to counter the threat of invasion from Catholic France and Spain. It was part of his programme to create a chain of coastal defences along England's coast known as the Device Forts or as Henrician Castles. In 1708 Walmer Castle took on a new role as the residence of the Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports. Duke of Wellington died in Walmer Castle
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Yorkshire’s Jurassic coast is a source of jet, which comes from monkey puzzle trees
  
Whitstable is famous for its oysters, which have been collected in the area since at least Roman times
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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
  
Romney Marsh is a sparsely populated wetland area in the counties of Kent and East Sussex
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Malham Tarn is a glacial lake in the Yorkshire Dale. It is the highest lake in England
  
Maidstone is the administrative centre of Kent
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Malham Cove is a large curved limestone formation. The waterfall at Malham Cove is the highest ‘single drop waterfall’ above ground in England
  
The Scenic Railway is located at the site of the former Dreamland Amusement Park, Margate. It was opened in1920. The ride is now almost unique, as a brakeman is still required to travel with the train to control its speed, as there are no brakes on the track. It is the oldest roller coaster in the UK
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Kellingley colliery closed in 2015, marking the end of deep-pit coal mining in Britain
  
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Ampleforth is situated on the edge of the North York Moors National Park
  
'''Lancashire'''
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Ribblehead Viaduct carries the Settle-Carlisle Railway across Batty Moss in the valley of the River Ribble
  
Blackpool illuminations started in 1879
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'''Nottinghamshire'''
  
Blackpool Tower was constructed in 1894, and is 158 m high
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Nottingham has links to the legend of Robin Hood and to the lace-making, bicycle and tobacco industries
  
Midland Hotel, Morecambe was built by the London, Midland and Scottish Railway in 1933, to the designs of architect Oliver Hill, with sculpture by Eric Gill
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The square by the National Ice Centre in Nottingham is named Bolero Square after Torvill and Dean's gold medal-winning performance
  
Built in the Brutalist architectural style between 1968 and 1969, designed by Keith Ingham and Charles Wilson of Building Design Partnership, Preston bus station has a capacity of 80 double-decker buses
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Ye Olde Trip To Jerusalem in Nottingham claims to be the oldest drinking establishment in England
  
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.
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Sherwood Forest was made a Royal Hunting Forest by William the Conqueror
  
Furness is an exclave of the historic county of Lancashire, lying to the north of Morecambe Bay
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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
  
Blackpool is on Fylde peninsula
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The Dukeries is a district in Nottinghamshire so called because it contained four ducal seats
  
Bolton was called Bolton-le-Moors
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'''Oxfordshire'''
  
Church of St Peter and St Paul in Ormskirk is one of only three parish churches in England to have a tower and a spire, and is unique in that it has both at the same end of the building. (The other two are St Mary’s Church, Purton, and St Andrew’s Church, Wanborough)
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The rivers Cherwell and Thames (known as the Isis) run through Oxford
  
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
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Parson's Pleasure in the University Parks at Oxford, was a secluded area for male-only nude bathing on the River Cherwell
  
''Singing Ringing Tree'' is a wind powered sound sculpture resembling a tree set in the landscape of the Pennine hill range overlooking Burnley. Completed in 2006, it is part of the series of four sculptures within the Panopticons arts and regeneration project created by the East Lancashire Environmental Arts Network
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Saint Frithuswith, also known as Frideswide, is the patron saint of Oxford
  
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Witney is associated with the manufacture of blankets
  
'''Leicestershire'''
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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
  
Ratae was the Roman name for Leicester
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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
  
The remains of King Richard III are buried in Cathedral Church of St Martin, Leicester, usually known as Leicester Cathedral
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Liddington white horse was a monument to King Alfred
  
New Walk Museum and Art Gallery in Leicester has the largest collection of German Expressionist artwork in the UK
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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
  
Leicester became a city in 1919
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'''Rutland'''
  
Charnwood forest is bounded by Leicester, Loughborough, and Coalville
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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
  
Gartree prison is in Market Harborough
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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
  
Ashby de la Zouch Castle was a Royalist stronghold during the English Civil War
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Rutland Water was created by the damming of the Gwash Valley
  
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'''Shropshire'''
  
'''Lincolnshire'''
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Shropshire was known as Salop from 1974 to 1980
  
Lincolnshire was historically divided into Kesteven, Holland and Lindsey
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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
  
Lincoln Cathedral is known as St Mary's Cathedral. Building commenced in 1088. The central spire collapsed in 1549 and was not rebuilt
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Shrewsbury is the county town. Birthplace of Charles Darwin
  
Great Tom of Lincoln is a bell in Lincoln cathedral
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Shrewsbury lies on the River Severn
  
Dean’s Eye and Bishop’s Eye are rose windows in Lincoln Cathedral
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Telford is a New Town and was originally known as Dawley New Town
  
Lindum – Roman name for Lincoln
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Ironbridge Gorge, to the south of Telford, is known as the ‘Birthplace of Industry’
  
Brigg Horse Fair is the surviving continuation of the medieval fair which was in existence at least as early as 1205
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Wenlock Edge is a limestone escarpment near Much Wenlock
  
RAF officers are trained at RAF College Cranwell
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Brown Clee Hill is the highest point in Shropshire
  
Bolingbroke Castle was the birthplace of Henry IV
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Long Mynd, The Wrekin, and the Stiperstones are hills in Shropshire
  
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Shropshire is the largest landlocked county in England
  
'''Merseyside'''
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Ludlow is on the River Teme
  
International Slavery Museum is in Liverpool
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'''Somerset'''
  
Tommy Steele sculpted ''Eleanor Rigby'', which he gave to the City of Liverpool as a tribute to the Beatles. The statue stands in Stanley Street, Liverpool, not far from the Cavern Club
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Bath is the only destination in the UK to have the whole city designated a World Heritage site by UNESCO
  
The Liver Building is crowned with twin clock towers, each topped with a cormorant-like liver bird designed by Carl Bernard Bartels
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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
  
St George’s Hall is on Lime Street in the centre of Liverpool, opposite Lime Street railway station. It is a building in neoclassical style which contains concert halls and law courts, and is a Grade I listed building
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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
  
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
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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
  
Liverpool Cathedral is the second longest cathedral in the world (after St Peter’s Basilica) and has the largest pipe organ in the UK
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Jacob’s ladder leads to the top of Cheddar Gorge
  
Liverpool Maritime Mercantile City is 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
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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
  
Tate Liverpool opened in 1988 and is housed in a converted warehouse within the Albert Dock
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Wincanton is twinned with Ankh-Morpork, from the Discworld novels
  
Panoramic 34 is a restaurant and bar located on the 34th floor of the Beetham West Tower, Liverpool. It is one of the UK’s highest restaurants
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Wells is often described as England's smallest city, but is actually second smallest to the City of London in area and population
  
The Silver Jubilee Bridge crosses the River Mersey and the Manchester Ship Canal at Runcorn Gap between Runcorn and Widnes
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Priddy Circles are a linear arrangement of four circular earthwork enclosures near the village of Priddy on the Mendip Hills
  
Ashworth Hospital is a high-security psychiatric hospital in Maghull, Merseyside
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Vale of Porlock is part of Exmoor National Park
  
Queensway tunnel under the River Mersey was opened by George VI
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Quantock Hills west of Bridgwater were England's first Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, designated in 1956. Highest point is Will’s Neck
  
Southport Flower Show held at Victoria Park is the largest independent flower show in the UK
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Wookey Hole Caves are a series of limestone caverns on the southern edge of the Mendip Hills near Wells
  
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. Site of Special Scientific Interest
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Black Down is the highest hill in the Mendip Hills
  
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Steep Holm is an English island lying in the Bristol Channel. Nearby is Flat Holm island, that is part of Wales
  
'''Norfolk'''
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'''South Yorkshire'''
  
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
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Doncaster and Sheffield airport was named in honour of Robin Hood, in 2004. The airport closed in 2022
  
Castle Rising is a ruined medieval fortification in the village of Castle Rising, near King’s Lynn
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It is claimed that Sheffield was built on seven hills
  
King's Lynn is mainly on the east bank of the River Great Ouse close to where it flows into the Wash
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The name Sheffield derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it
  
Maddermarket theatre is in Norwich
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Sheffield has an international reputation for metallurgy and steel-making
  
Little Snoring is a village in Norfolk
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Danum was the Roman name for Doncaster
  
North Norfolk Railway, also known as the ‘Poppy Line’, is a heritage steam railway running between Sheringham and Holt
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Doncaster is the second largest settlement in South Yorkshire after Sheffield. It is situated in the Don Valley
  
Houghton Hall in Norfolk once contained part of Sir Robert Walpole’s picture collection, which his grandson the 3rd Earl sold in 1779 to Catherine the Great of Russia to pay off some of the estate's accumulated debt. Now displayed in the Hermitage
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'''Staffordshire'''
  
Great Yarmouth is noted for bloaters and kippers
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Etruria is the site of the Wedgwood factory in Stoke, and is named after Etruria in Italy
  
Great Yarmouth is home to the Grade I listed Norfolk Naval Pillar, known locally as Nelson's Monument or Nelson's Column. This tribute to Admiral Lord Horatio Nelson was completed in 1819, 24 years before the completion of Nelson's Column in London
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Spode is a brand of pottery and homewares based in Stoke
  
Cromer is famous for the Cromer crab, which forms the major source of income for the local fishermen
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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
  
Holkham Hall in Norfolk was constructed in the Palladian style for Thomas Coke, 1st Earl of Leicester by the architect William Kent, aided by the architect and aristocrat Lord Burlington
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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
  
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
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Poole Pottery is now based in Stoke
  
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
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Trentham Gardens are formal Italianate gardens, part of an English landscape park on the Trentham Estate
  
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Leek is known as the Queen of the Moorlands
  
'''Northamptonshire'''
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Tamworth was the principal centre of royal power of the Anglo-Saxon Kingdom of Mercia during the 8th and 9th centuries
  
Sulgrave Manor is the ancestral home of George Washington
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Flash is the highest village in Britain
  
Kirby Hall is an Elizabethan country house, located near Corby. Kirby was owned by Sir Christopher Hatton, Lord Chancellor to Queen Elizabeth I
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Cannock Chase is an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and is managed by Forestry England
  
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
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River Trent rises within the Staffordshire Moorlands district, near the village of Biddulph Moor
  
Fotheringhay Castle was a favoured residence of the Dukes of York, and Richard III was born here in 1452. It was also the final place of imprisonment of Mary, Queen of Scots, who was tried and executed in the castle in 1587
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Stafford is on the River Sow, a tributary of the River Trent
  
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'''Suffolk'''
  
'''Northumberland'''
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Ipswich is located on the estuary of the River Orwell
  
Curlew is the official symbol of Northumberland National Park
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Bury St Edmunds was the burial place of King Edmund (St Edmund the Martyr), who was slain by the Danes in 869
  
Chillingham Cattle are a rare breed of cattle that live in a large enclosed park at Chillingham Castle
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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
  
In 1464 during the Wars of the Roses, Bamburgh Castle became the first castle in England to be defeated by artillery, at the end of a nine-month siege by Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick
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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
  
RNLI Grace Darling Museum is in Bamburgh
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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’
  
Cheviot Hills are at the northern end of the Northumberland National Park
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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
  
Berwick-upon-Tweed is the northernmost town in England
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Lowestoft Ness is the most easterly point of the UK
  
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
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In the Anglo-Saxon period, Dunwich was the capital of the Kingdom of the East Angles
  
Belsay Castle is a 14th century medieval castle The castle was abandoned as a residence in the early 19th century when Sir Charles Monck built Belsay Hall close by
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Orford Ness is a shingle spit on the Suffolk coast, linked to the mainland at Aldeburgh
  
Alnwick Castle is the seat of the Duke of Northumberland, built following the Norman conquest
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'''Surrey'''
  
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
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Surrey is divided by the chalk ridge of the North Downs, running east-west. The ridge is pierced by the rivers Wey and Mole
  
Corbridge was a Roman settlement
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Box Hill is a summit of the North Downs
  
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
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Between 1893 and 2020, Surrey County Council was headquartered at Kingston upon Thames (now part of Greater London) but is now based in Reigate
  
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Surrey is the most wooded county in England
  
'''North Yorkshire'''
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The highest elevation in Surrey is Leith Hill near Dorking
  
Middlesbrough transporter bridge carries a travelling 'car', suspended from the bridge, across the river in 90 seconds. Built in 1911
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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
  
Middlesbrough was the first town to owe its existence to the railway, to ship coal
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Guildford prospered as a result of the wool trade and the town was granted a charter of incorporation by Henry VII in 1488
  
Castle Howard is a stately home in North Yorkshire 15 miles north of York. Most of it was built between 1699 and 1712 for the 3rd Earl of Carlisle, to a design by Sir John Vanbrugh and Nicholas Hawksmoor. Contains the ‘temple of the four winds’
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In 1881 Godalming became the first town in the world with a public electricity supply
  
The nave of York Minster contains the West Window, constructed in 1338, and over the Lady Chapel in the east end is the Great East Window, finished in 1408, the largest expanse of medieval stained glass in the world
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St George’s Hill is a private estate in Weybridge
  
The Five Sisters is a stained glass window in York Minster
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Surrey Hills was the first Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Designated in 1958
  
The Shambles in York is a meandering, narrow medieval street
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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
  
York is at the confluence of River Ouse and River Foss
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'''Tyne and Wear'''
  
York Castle is a fortified complex comprising, over the last nine centuries, a sequence of castles, prisons, law courts and other buildings on the south side of the River Foss. The now-ruinous keep of the medieval Norman castle is commonly referred to as Clifford's Tower. Built originally on the orders of William I to dominate the former Viking city of York
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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
  
Drax is situated in North Yorkshire near the River Ouse between Selby and Goole. Its generating capacity of 3960 megawatts is the highest of any power station in the United Kingdom and Western Europe
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Monkchester is an old name for Newcastle-upon-Tyne
  
Fountains Abbey in North Yorkshire is a ruined Cistercian monastery, founded in 1132
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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
  
Rievaulx Abbey is a former Cistercian abbey located near Helmsley in North Yorkshire. It was one of the wealthiest abbeys in England and was dissolved by Henry VIII in 1538
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Grainger Town is the historic heart of Newcastle
  
Byland Abbey is a ruined abbey and a small village in the Ryedale district of North Yorkshire
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The county is governed by five metropolitan boroughs: Gateshead, Newcastle upon Tyne, Sunderland, North Tyneside and South Tyneside
  
Harrogate spa water contains iron, sulphur and common salt
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Tyne and Wear Metro opened in 1980 and now had 60 stations
  
Hole of Horcum is a deep natural hollow in North York Moors National Park
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'''Warwickshire'''
  
Vale of Pickering is in North Yorkshire, and is drained by the River Derwent
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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
  
Stephen Joseph theatre is in Scarborough
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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
  
Grand Hotel in Scarborough is designed around the theme of time: four towers to represent the seasons, 12 floors for the months of the year, 52 chimneys symbolize the weeks, and originally there were 365 bedrooms, one for each day of the year. The hotel itself is in the shape of a 'V' in honour of Queen Victoria
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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
  
Ilkley and Otley are in Wharfedale
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Royal Leamington Spa is named after the River Leam, which flows through the town. In 1838 Queen Victoria granted the town a 'Royal' prefix
  
Richmond is in Swaledale
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'''West Midlands'''
  
Hawes is in Wensleydale
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Birmingham became a city in 1889
  
Wensleydale is the only Yorkshire dale not to be named after the river that flows through it
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Birmingham Bull Ring Centre was the first indoor city centre shopping centre in the UK. Opened in 1964
  
Flamingo Land is a theme park and resort located in the village of Kirby Misperton
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Birmingham has more miles of canals than Venice
  
Middleham Castle in Wensleydale was the main home of Richard III and Anne Neville
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Gas Street Basin is a canal basin in the centre of Birmingham
  
Richmond Castle was used during the First World War as the base of the Non-Combatant Corps made up of conscientious objectors
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Gravelly Hill Interchange, popularly known as Spaghetti Junction, is junction 6 of the M6 motorway. The interchange was opened in 1972
  
Dalby Forest is in North York Moors National Park
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In 1528, a charter of King Henry VIII gave Sutton Coldfield the right to be known as "The Royal Town of Sutton Coldfield"
  
Cleveland Hills is a range of hills on the edge of the North York Moors overlooking Cleveland and Teesside
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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
  
Tan Hill Inn is the highest pub in England (528 m), and is on the Pennine Way
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A sandstone cross at Meriden claims that the village is at the centre of England
  
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
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Black Country conurbation covers Sandwell, Dudley, Walsall and Wolverhampton
  
Danes Dyke is a long ditch at Flamborough Head
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'''West Sussex'''
  
Gaping Gill is at the foot of Ingleborough
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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
  
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
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Chichester is the administrative centre of West Sussex
  
Yorkshire’s Jurassic coast is a source of jet, which comes from monkey puzzle trees
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Chichester stands on the foundations of the Romano-British city of Noviomagus Reginorum
  
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
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Petworth Park has England’s largest herd of fallow deer
  
During the English Civil War, Helmsley Castle was besieged by Thomas Fairfax in 1644. Parliament ordered the castle to be slighted to prevent its further use
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Arundel castle has been the seat of the Earls of Arundel and the Dukes of Norfolk
  
Following the death of Richard, Duke of York, at Wakefield in 1460, his younger sons, George, Duke of Clarence, and Richard, Duke of Gloucester, came into Warwick the “Kingmaker”, and both lived at Middleham Castle in Wensleydale with Warwick's own family
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River Arun flows past Arundel Castle, to join the English Channel at Littlehampton
  
Richmond Castle stands in a commanding position above the River Swale. The castle was constructed from 1071 onwards following the Norman Conquest
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'''West Yorkshire'''
  
Whitby Abbey is a ruined Benedictine abbey. It was disestablished during the Dissolution of the Monasteries. The first monastery was founded in 657 AD by the Anglo-Saxon era King of Northumbria, Oswy as Streoneshalh
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Leeds was built around the River Aire
  
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Kirkgate Market in Leeds is the largest covered market in Europe
  
'''Nottinghamshire'''
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Leeds Bradford International Airport was formerly known as Yeadon Aerodrome
  
Museum of Costume and Textiles is in Nottingham
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Middleton Railway in Leeds was founded in 1758 and is the world's oldest continuously working railway
  
In Nottingham, the square by the National Ice Centre is named Bolero Square
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Bradford grew in the 19th century as an international centre of textile manufacture, particularly wool
  
Ye Olde Trip To Jerusalem in Nottingham claims to be the oldest drinking establishment in England
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Bradford became the first UNESCO City of Film in 2009
  
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
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Halifax is known as ‘toffee town’
  
The Dukeries is a district in Nottinghamshire so called because it contained four ducal seats
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Stott Hall Farm is a farm located between the eastbound and westbound carriageways of the M62 motorway in Calderdale
  
Rampton Secure Hospital is a high-security psychiatric hospital
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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
  
Charles I was captured during the English Civil War at Southwell Minster
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Standedge Tunnel connects Marsden and Diggle, on the Huddersfield Narrow canal. It is Britain’s highest, longest (3 miles) and deepest canal tunnel
  
Newstead Abbey was formerly an Augustinian priory. Converted to a domestic home following the Dissolution of the Monasteries, it is now best known as the ancestral home of Lord Byron
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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
  
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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
  
'''Oxfordshire'''
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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
  
Oxford Cathedral – chapel of Christ Church. Smallest cathedral in England
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Boston Spa has a branch of the British Library that houses most of the UK’s newspaper archive
  
Tom Tower is a bell tower in Christ Church, Oxford named for its bell, Great Tom
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'''Wiltshire'''
  
Ashmolean Museum is the world's first university museum. Its first building was built in 1678–83 to house the cabinet of curiosities that Elias Ashmole gave to the University of Oxford
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Old Sarum (Sorviodunum) is the site of the earliest settlement of Salisbury
  
Bodleian Library second in size in Britain only to the British Library with over 11 million items. Re-founded by Sir Thomas Bodley in 1602
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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
  
Sheldonian Theatre was built from 1664 to 1668 after a design by Christopher Wren for the University of Oxford
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Aubrey holes are a ring of 56 chalk pits at Stonehenge named after the seventeenth-century antiquarian John Aubrey
  
Pitt Rivers Museum is a museum displaying the archaeological and anthropological collections of the University of Oxford
+
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
  
Radcliffe Camera is a building of Oxford University, designed by James Gibbs in neo-classical style and built in 1737–49 to house the Radcliffe Science Library
+
Cecil Chubb was the last private owner of Stonehenge, which he donated to the British government in 1918
  
Most of Oxford Castle was destroyed in the English Civil War and by the 18th century the remaining buildings had become Oxford's local prison. The prison closed in 1996 and was redeveloped as a hotel
+
Woodhenge consists of six concentric circles of wooden posts, two miles from Stonehenge
  
Witney is associated with manufacture of blankets
+
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
  
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
+
Nile clumps are trees planted near Stonehenge in positions of ships in the Battle of the Nile
  
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
+
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
  
Liddington white horse was a monument to King Alfred
+
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
  
'''Rutland'''
+
Longleat was the first safari park outside Africa, and opened in 1966
  
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
+
In 941, King Athelstan was buried in Malmesbury Abbey
  
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
+
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
  
'''Shropshire'''
+
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
  
Shropshire was known as Salop from 1974 to 1980
+
The Magic Roundabout in Swindon was constructed in 1972 and consists of five mini-roundabouts arranged in a circle
  
Ditherington Flax Mill, located in Shrewsbury, is the oldest iron framed building in the world. As such, it is seen as the ‘grandfather of skyscrapers’. The architect was Charles Bage
+
'''Worcestershire'''
  
The Iron Bridge was built by Abraham Darby in 1779. It was the first bridge of its size to be made out of cast iron. John Wilkinson was a prime mover initiating the building of the Iron Bridge. Connected Coalbrookdale and Broseley
+
Worcester lies on the River Severn
  
Coalport China Museum presents the history of Coalport China, a manufacturer of fine English chinaware which was based on the site between 1795 and 1926
+
The Malvern Hills, which run from the south of Worcestershire into Herefordshire, are made up mainly of volcanic igneous rocks
  
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
+
Malvern is a spa town
  
''The Quantum Leap'' is a sculpture situated next to the River Severn in Shrewsbury. It was created in 2009 to celebrate the bicentenary of the birth of evolutionist Charles Darwin
+
In the early 18th century, carpet weaving was introduced to Kidderminster, and this rapidly became the staple trade of the town
  
Boscobel House famous for its role in the escape of Charles II after the Battle of Worcester in 1651. The Royal Oak stands near the house, in a farmer's field. It is now believed to be a direct descendant of the original tree used by Charles and William Careless to hide from the Parliamentary soldiers
+
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
  
'''Somerset'''
+
Wyre Forest straddles the borders of Worcestershire and Shropshire
  
UK Hydrographic Office is based in Taunton
 
  
Cadbury Castle, formerly known as Camalet, is a Bronze and Iron Age hillfort. It is associated with King Arthur's supposed court at “Camelot”
 
  
Priddy Circles are a linear arrangement of four circular earthwork enclosures near the village of Priddy on the Mendip Hills in Somerset
+
<u>National Trails</u>
 +
{| class="wikitable"
 +
|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
  
Jacob’s ladder leads to the top of Cheddar Gorge
+
''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
 +
|}
  
Wells cathedral was built between 1175 and 1490. Much of the structure is in the Early English style and is greatly enriched by the deeply sculptural nature of the mouldings and the vitality of the carved capitals in a foliate style known as ‘stiff leaf’. The exterior has a splendid Early English facade and a large central tower
 
  
Wells Cathedral has a clock with mechanical knights who exchange blows every hour
 
  
Bath Abbey was founded in the 7th century, reorganized in the 10th century and rebuilt in the 12th and 16th centuries. It is one of the largest examples of Perpendicular Gothic architecture
+
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
  
Royal Crescent is a row of 30 terraced houses laid out in a sweeping crescent in Bath designed by the architect John Wood and built between 1767 and 1774. Number 1 Royal Crescent is a historic house museum
+
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
  
The Circus is an example of Georgian architecture in Bath, begun in 1754 and completed in 1768
+
Cumbria Way is a 112 km footpath passing through Coniston and Keswick
  
Pulteney Bridge in Bath has shops built across its full span on both sides. Designed by Robert Adam
+
<u>National Parks</u>
 +
{| class="wikitable"
 +
|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
 +
|}
 +
<u>High points</u>
  
Holburne Museum was Bath’s first public art gallery
+
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
  
''Willow Man'' is a large outdoor sculpture by Serena de la Hey, situated in a field by the M5 motorway near Bridgwater. It stands 40 feet, made of willow withies on a steel frame
+
Brown Willy is the highest point of Bodmin Moor and of Cornwall as a whole, at 420m
  
Cleeve Abbey is a medieval monastery located near the village of Washford
+
Dunkery Beacon is the highest hill on Exmoor, and the highest point in Somerset, at 519m
  
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
+
Beacon Batch on Black Down is the highest point in the Mendips
  
 +
Haddington Hill is the highest point in Chilterns
  
'''South Yorkshire'''
+
Cleeve Hill is the highest point in Cotswolds
  
Doncaster and Sheffield airport was named in honour of Robin Hood, in 2004
+
Cross Fell is the highest point in the Pennine Hills and the highest point in England outside of the Lake District
  
Sheffield was built on seven hills
+
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
  
Clock-tower of Sheffield Town Hall is surmounted by a statue of Vulcan
+
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
  
Wentworth Castle is a the former seat of the Earls of Strafford, near Barnsley
+
Kinder Scout is the highest point in the Peak District
  
Danum Roman name for Doncaster
+
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
  
'''Staffordshire'''
+
Black Down in West Sussex is the highest point in the South Downs National Park
  
Lichfield Cathedral is the only medieval English cathedral with three spires, known as the ‘ladies of the veil’
+
<u>Rivers</u>
  
Etruria is the site of the Wedgwood factory in Stoke, and is named after Etruria in Italy
+
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
  
Spode is a brand of pottery and homewares based in Stoke
+
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’
  
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
+
River Tame is the largest tributary of the Trent
  
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
+
The source of the (Warwickshire) Avon is from a spring near the village of Naseby in Northamptonshire. It joins the River Severn at Tewkesbury
  
Shugborough is the ancestral home of the Earls of Lichfield. It is situated near Stafford
+
River Severn is 220 miles long. The Severn Bore is a tidal bore which forms upstream of the port of Sharpness
  
Tutbury Castle is a largely ruinous medieval castle at Tutbury, Staffordshire, in the ownership of the Duchy of Lancaster
+
There are four rivers named Derwent – in Derbyshire, Cumbria, Yorkshire, and on the border between Durham and Northumberland
  
Trentham Gardens are formal Italianate gardens, part of an English landscape park on the Trentham Estate
+
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)
  
'''Suffolk'''
+
River Ouse (Yorkshire) is formed by the confluence of the Ure and the Swale
  
Bury St Edmunds was the burial place of King Edmund (St Edmund the Martyr), who was slain by the Danes in 869
+
River Tamar is spanned by the Royal Albert Bridge, built by Brunel
  
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
+
River Dove forms part of the border between Staffordshire and Derbyshire
  
The original Framlingham Castle was destroyed by Henry II. Its replacement was successfully taken by King John in 1216 after a short siege. By the end of the 13th century, Framlingham had become a luxurious home
+
River Waveney forms the border between Suffolk and Norfolk, for much of its length within The Broads National Park
  
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
+
River Medway divides Kentish Man (west of the river) from Man of Kent (east of the river)
  
Dedham Vale is a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty on the Essex-Suffolk border in east England. It comprises an area around the River Stour and is known as ‘Constable Country’
+
River Tees forms much of the border between Yorkshire and Durham
  
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 2000 men on Felixstowe beach and advanced on the fort, but were repulsed
+
River Ax is in Somerset
  
National Horseracing Museum is located in Newmarket
+
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
  
'''Surrey'''
+
River Wear flows through Bishop Auckland, Durham, and Chester-le-Street
  
Surrey is divided by the chalk ridge of the North Downs, running east-west. The ridge is pierced by the rivers Wey and Mole
+
River Nidd is a tributary of the River Ouse in North Yorkshire
  
Box Hill is a summit of the North Downs
+
River Calder rises in the Pennines before joining the River Aire near Castleford
  
Woking Palace is a former manor house of the Royal Manor of Woking. The manor was in the gift of the Crown, and was held by numerous nominees of the Crown until 1466 when Lady Margaret Beaufort and her second husband, Sir Henry Stafford obtained the Manor by royal grant
+
River Ure flows through Wensleydale
  
JFK Memorial at Runnymede was designed by Geoffrey Jellicoe
+
River Lune flows through Cumbria and Lancashire
  
Holloway Sanatorium was an institution for the treatment of the insane near the town of Virginia Water
+
River Dart rises on Dartmoor and flows to the sea at Dartmouth
  
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
+
<u>Canals</u>
  
In 1881 Godalming became the first town in the world with a public electricity supply
+
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
  
Guildford Cathedral was designed by Edward Maufe
+
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
  
'''Tyne and Wear'''
+
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
  
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
+
<u>Roads</u>
  
Monkchester is an old name for Newcastle-upon-Tyne
+
M1 – 193 miles
  
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
+
M4 – 189 miles
  
Grainger Town is the historic heart of Newcastle
+
M6 – 226 miles
  
MetroCentre opened in 1986. It has more than 340 shops occupying two million square feet of retail floor space, making it the largest shopping and leisure centre in the UK
+
M25 – 117 miles
  
The Gateshead Millennium Bridge is a pedestrian and cycle bridge spanning the River Tyne between Gateshead on the south bank, and Newcastle upon Tyne on the north bank. The award-winning structure was conceived by architects Wilkinson Eyre, with structural engineers Gifford. It is nicknamed the Blinking Eye Bridge
+
M25 is Europe's second longest orbital road after the Berliner Ring
  
The Sage Gateshead is a centre for musical education, performance and conferences. It opened in 2004. Known as ‘the slug’. The venue is part of the Gateshead Quays development, which also includes the BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art and the Gateshead Millennium Bridge
+
Preston Bypass was the United Kingdom’s first motorway. It opened in 1958
  
''Angel of the North'', designed by Anthony Gormley, is located in Gateshead. Completed in 1998, it is a steel sculpture 20 m tall, with wings measuring 54 m across
+
Watling Street was a Roman road that ran from Dover through St Albans to Wroxeter, in Shropshire
  
National Glass Centre is in Sunderland
+
Fosse Way runs from Exeter to Lincoln
  
 +
Ermin Street runs from London to York
  
'''Warwickshire'''
+
Ermin Street meets the Fosse Way at Lincoln
  
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
+
Dere Street was a Roman road that ran for 226 miles from Eboracum (York) to the Antonine Wall
  
Kenilworth Castle was the subject of the six-month long Siege of Kenilworth in 1266, believed to be the longest siege in English history, and formed a base for Lancastrian operations in the War of the Roses. Kenilworth was also the scene of the removal of Edward II from the English throne, the French insult to Henry V in 1414, and the Earl of Leicester's lavish reception of Elizabeth I in 1575
+
The Severn Bridge opened in 1966, and replaced Aust-Beachley car ferry
  
Warwick Castle is a medieval castle developed from an original built by William the Conqueror in 1068. The original wooden motte-and-bailey castle was rebuilt in stone in the 12th century. During the Hundred Years War, the facade opposite the town was refortified. In June 2005, Warwick Castle became home to one of the world's largest working siege engines. The trebuchet is 18 metres tall
 
  
Ragley Hall is the ancestral seat of the Marquess of Hertford
 
  
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
 
  
  
'''West Midlands'''
+
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
  
Birmingham became a city in 1889
+
Vale of Belvoir is an area of natural beauty on the borders of Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire
  
Selfridges Birmingham was designed by architects Future Systems, and is covered in 15,000 spun aluminium discs on a background of Yves Klein Blue
+
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 Mailbox is a shopping arcade in Birmingham
+
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
  
Birmingham Library was designed by Dutch firm Mecanoo. It is situated on the west side of the city centre at Centenary Square beside the Birmingham Rep. Statue of a typical Birmingham family constructed by Gillian Wearing
+
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
  
Whittle Arch in Coventry is named after Frank Whittle
+
Whin Sill is a layer of dolerite in County Durham and Northumberland. It stretches from Teesdale northwards towards Berwick
  
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
+
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
  
Coventry Cathedral was rebuilt in 1962
+
== Wales ==
 +
Cardiff was made a city in 1905, and proclaimed the capital of Wales in 1955
  
A sandstone cross at Meriden claims that the village is at the centre of England
+
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
  
Black Country conurbation Sandwell, Dudley, Walsall and Wolverhampton
+
Rivers in Cardiff Taff, Rhymney and Ely
  
 +
Swansea was made a city in 1969, to commemorate the investiture of the Prince of Wales
  
'''West Sussex'''
+
The Welsh name for Swansea is Abertawe, meaning "mouth of the Tawe”
  
Fishbourne Roman Palace is in the village of Fishbourne. The large 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
+
Swansea was once nicknamed ‘Copperopolis’ for its copper production industry
  
Fishbourne Roman Palace 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
+
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
  
Chichester Cathedral has a stained glass window by Marc Chagall
+
Worm’s Head is part of the Gower Peninsula
  
Chichester is the administrative centre of West Sussex
+
Newport (Welsh: Casnewydd) is the third largest city in Wales
  
From the 11th century, Arundel Castle has served as a home, and been in the ownership of the family of the Duke of Norfolk for over 400 years.
+
Until the rise of Cardiff from the 1850s, Newport was Wales' largest coal-exporting port
  
Goodwood House is the seat of the Dukes of Richmond
+
Newport was the site of the last large-scale armed insurrection in Britain, the Newport Rising of 1839 led by the Chartists
  
Wakehurst Place, near Ardingly, comprises a late 16th century country house and a mainly 20th century garden, managed by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, who also have a research facility there
+
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
  
'''West Yorkshire'''
+
Hay-on-Wye in Powys has many shops selling second hand and specialist books, and is the location of the Hay Festival
  
The National Media Museum (formerly the National Museum of Photography, Film and Television) is a museum in Bradford
+
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
  
Saltaire is a textile mill and model village built near Bradford by Titus Salt on River Aire in 1853. Salt was the creator of the lustrous and fashionable cloth made from alpaca fleeces
+
Agincourt Square in Monmouth is the birthplace of Henry V
  
Standedge Tunnel connects Marsden and Diggle, on the Huddersfield Narrow canal. It is Britain’s highest, longest (3 miles) and deepest canal tunnel
+
Blaenavon Ironworks is within the Blaenavon Industrial Landscape World Heritage Site
  
Harewood House is the home of the Earl and Countess of Harewood, designed by John Carr and completed in 1772 with interiors by Robert Adam
+
Big Pit: National Coal Museum is an industrial heritage museum in Blaenavon
  
Kirkstall Abbey was founded in 1152 and is the most important historic building in Leeds
+
Great Orme is a prominent limestone headland next to the town of Llandudno. Its English name derives from the Viking word for ‘sea serpent’
  
Temple Newsam is a Tudor-Jacobean house with grounds landscaped by Capability Brown, in Leeds
+
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
  
Halifax is known as ‘toffee town’
+
St Davids in Pembrokeshire is the smallest city in the UK. St Davids lost its city status between 1886 and 1994
  
The Bronte Parsonage Museum is located in Haworth
+
St Asaph in Denbighshire was awarded city status in 2012. It is the second smallest city in Britain
  
Top Withens is a ruined farmhouse near Haworth, West Yorkshire, which is said to have been the inspiration for the location of the Earnshaw family house Wuthering Heights
+
Brecon is the third largest town in Powys, after Newtown and Ystradgynlais
  
Charles Waterton turned Walton Hall, Wakefield into the worlds’ first wildfowl and nature reserve
+
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
  
Leeds Bradford International Airport was formerly known as Yeadon Aerodrome
+
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
  
Rhubarb Triangle is an area located between Pontefract, Wakefield and Leeds. Only a few decades ago, over 90% of the world's forced rhubarb crop was grown in this small area
+
Caldey Island near Tenby is best known for its monastery
  
Pontefract Castle dates from Norman times, when it was known as Pomfret
+
Thomas Telford built the Ellesmere Canal
  
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
+
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
  
Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival is held in November
+
Barry is in the Vale of Glamorgan
  
 +
Cwmbran is the only New Town in Wales
  
'''Wiltshire'''
+
Llanwddyn was flooded to create Lake Vyrnwy in 1888, to provide water for Liverpool
  
Salisbury Cathedral has the tallest church spire in the United Kingdom (404 ft)
+
Lake Vyrnyw’s stone-built dam was the first of its kind in the world
  
Salisbury Cathedral clock dating from about 1386 is supposedly the oldest working modern clock 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
  
Old Sarum (Sorviodunum) is the site of the earliest settlement of Salisbury
+
Elan Valley Reservoirs provide drinking water for Birmingham
  
Sun rises over the Heel Stone at Stonehenge at the solstice
+
Ynys Mon, Anglesey's Welsh name, was first recorded as Latin Mona by Roman sources
  
Outer circle of Stonehenge constructed of sarsen stone (a type of sandstone)
+
Llanfair PG is on Anglesey
  
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
+
Holyhead is on Holy Island
  
Aubrey holes are a ring of 56 chalk pits at Stonehenge named after the seventeenth-century antiquarian John Aubrey
+
Llangefni is the county town of Anglesey
  
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
+
Skerries are a group of islands off the coast of Anglesey
  
Cecil Chubb was the last private owner of Stonehenge, which he donated to the British government in 1918
+
Puffin Island is an uninhabited island off the eastern tip of Anglesey
  
Woodhenge – six concentric circles of wooden posts, two miles from Stonehenge
+
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
  
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
+
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
  
Nile clumps are trees planted near Stonehenge in positions of ships in Battle of Nile
+
Grasholm Island is the westernmost point in Wales and is known for its huge colony of gannets
  
Alexander Keiller Museum features the prehistoric artifacts collected by archaeologist and businessman Alexander Keiller, which include many artifacts found at Avebury
+
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
  
Silbury Hill is a prehistoric artificial chalk mound near Avebury. It is the tallest prehistoric human-made mound in Europe
+
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
  
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
+
Snowdon Mountain Railway is the only public rack and pinion railway in the UK
  
Wiltshire Heritage Museum is in Devizes
+
Carnedd Llewelyn is the second highest peak in Wales
  
Box Tunnel, between Bath and Chippenham, was designed by Brunel and opened in 1841
+
Cader Idris lies at the southern end of the Snowdonia National Park near the town of Dolgellau
  
Longleat was built by Sir John Thynne, and designed mainly by Robert Smythson, after the original priory was destroyed by fire in 1567
+
Horseshoe Pass is a mountain pass in Denbighshire
  
Longleat was the first safari park outside Africa, opened in 1966
+
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
  
Burlington was the codename for the 35 acre, secret subterranean Cold War City that lies 100 feet beneath Corsham
+
Three Welsh Peaks Challenge – Snowdon, Pen y Fan, Cader Idris
  
Fonthill Abbey – also known as Beckford's Folly – was a large Gothic revival country house built between 1796 and 1813 at the direction of William Thomas Beckford and architect James Wyatt
+
<u>National Trails</u>
 +
{| class="wikitable"
 +
|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
 +
|}
  
Old Wardour Castle is 15 miles west of Salisbury. The original castle was partially destroyed during the English Civil War
+
<u>National Parks</u>
 +
{| class="wikitable"
 +
|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
 +
|}
  
Athelstan Museum is in Malmesbury, which is England’s oldest borough
 
  
In AD 941, King Athelstan was buried in Malmesbury Abbey
 
  
Warminster has hill forts, including Battlebury Camp
+
Cambrian Way is a long distance footpath running 275 miles from Cardiff to Conwy
  
The Stourton family had lived in the Stourhead estate for 700 years when they sold it to Henry Hoare I, son of wealthy banker Richard Hoare in 1717. The original manor house was demolished and a new house built
+
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
  
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
+
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
  
'''Worcestershire'''
+
River Severn is known as Hafren in Welsh
  
Stained glass window dedicated to Edward Elgar is in Worcester Cathedral
+
River Severn and Rye Wye both rise on Plynlimon, the highest point of the Cambrian Mountains
  
Worcester Cathedral’s west facade appeared, with a portrait of Edward Elgar, on the reverse of the £20 note
+
== Scotland ==
  
Grounds of Hagley Hall contain many Gothic follies
 
  
Witley Court was built in 1655, but is now a spectacular ruin after being devastated by fire in 1937. The Perseus and Andromeda fountain has been restored to working order by English Heritage
 
  
The Malvern Hills, which run from the south of Worcestershire into Herefordshire, are made up mainly of volcanic igneous rocks
+
Edinburgh is known as the ‘Athens of the north’
  
Tenbury Wells is known for its "Chinese-gothic" Pump Room buildings, built in 1862, which reopened in 2001
+
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
  
Trails
+
Mons Meg is a cannon at Edinburgh Castle
  
There are 16 designated National Trails, including the Ridgeway and Glyndwr's Way, which is wholly in Wales
+
Princes Street is named after the sons of King George III, the Duke of Rothesay (later King George IV) and Frederick, Duke of York
  
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
+
Waverley station is named after the hero of the Walter Scott novels
  
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
+
Edinburgh new town was designed by James Craig
  
Pennine Way was first long distance footpath. Final section of the path opened in 1965
+
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland
  
''Pennine Way'' National Trail is a walk starting from Edale in Derbyshire through three National Parks finishing at Kirk Yetholm across the Scottish Border
+
Glasgow has the largest economy in Scotland and the third-highest GDP per capita of any city in the UK
  
Monarch’s Way is a 615 mile long-distance footpath that approximates the escape route taken by King Charles II in 1651 after being defeated in the Battle of Worcester
+
Sauchiehall Street, Buchanan Street, and Argyle Street are the main shopping streets in the city centre of Glasgow
  
Cotswold Way – 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
+
The Barras is a market in the Gallowgate area of Glasgow
  
Cotswold Way runs from Bath to Chipping Camden
+
St Enoch Station was the first public building in Glasgow to be lit by electric light
  
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
+
Glasgow International Airport was formerly known as Glasgow Abbotsinch Airport
  
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
+
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
  
High points
+
Aberdeen is known as the ‘granite city’
  
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
+
Aberdeen is UK’s busiest heliport
  
Brown Willy is the highest point of Bodmin Moor and of Cornwall as a whole, at 420m
+
Dundee is the fourth-largest city in Scotland by population
  
Dunkery Beacon is the highest hill on Exmoor, and the highest point in Somerset, at 519m
+
Dundee is promoted as 'One City, Many Discoveries' in honour of Dundee's history of scientific activities
  
Beacon Batch is the highest point in the Mendips
+
Robert Falcon Scott’s ship RSS (Royal Research Ship) ''Discovery'' is at the Discovery Point Antarctic Museum in Dundee
  
Haddington Hill is the highest point in Chilterns
+
The landscape of Dundee is dominated by The Law (an Iron Age Hill Fort) and the Firth of Tay
  
Cleeve Hill is the highest point in Cotswolds
+
Stirling is a former capital of Scotland
  
Cross Fell is the highest point in the Pennine Hills and the highest point in England outside of the Lake District
+
Bannockburn is on the outskirts of Stirling
  
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 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
  
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
+
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
  
Kinder Scout is the highest point in the Peak District
+
Perth became a city in 2012
  
Quantock – from Celtic for ‘rim’ or ‘circle’. The highest point on the Quantocks is Will's Neck, at 384m
+
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''
  
Rivers
+
Dunfermline became a city in 2022
  
River Thames 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
+
Until the 17th century, Dunfermline served as the royal capital of Scotland
  
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’
+
Inverness is Gaelic for ‘Mouth of the River Ness’
  
The source of the (Warwickshire) Avon is from a spring near the village of Naseby in Northamptonshire. It joins the River Severn at Tewkesbury
+
Inverness is the administrative centre for the Highland council area. It is the northernmost city in the UK and lies within the Great Glen
  
River Severn is 220 miles long. The Severn Bore is a tidal bore which forms upstream of the port of Sharpness
+
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
  
Canterbury in on the River Stour
+
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
  
Colchester is on the River Colne
+
Lammermuir Hills form a natural boundary between Lothian and the Scottish Borders
  
St Albans is on the River Ver
+
Lochnagar is a mountain in the Grampians, located about five miles south of the River Dee near Balmoral
  
Leicester is on the River Soar
+
Rhinns of Galloway is a peninsula in southwest Scotland
  
Ripon is on the River Ure
+
Galloway refers to the former counties of Wigtownshire (or historically West Galloway) and Kirkcudbrightshire (or historically East Galloway)
  
Ludlow is on the River Teme
+
Galloway Forest Park is a Dark Sky Park
  
Ipswich is located on the estuary of the River Orwell
+
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
  
River Ax is in Somerset
+
Thurso is the most northerly railway station in Britain
  
Stafford is on the River Sow, a tributary of the River Trent
+
Solway Firth is between Cumbria and Dumfries and Galloway
  
River Ouse is formed by the confluence of the Ure and the Swale
+
Ross and Cromarty was abolished in 1975 and reorganized in 1996. It is part of the Highlands and Islands region
  
River Tamar is spanned by the Royal Albert Bridge, built by Brunel
+
Ullapool is a town in Ross and Cromarty, Highland
  
Kendal is on the River Kent
+
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
  
River Dove forms part of the border between Staffordshire and Derbyshire
+
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
  
River Waveney forms the border between Suffolk and Norfolk, for much of its length within The Broads National Park
+
Dufftown, in Moray, produces more malt whisky than any other town in Scotland
  
River Medway divides Kentish Man (west of the river) from Man of Kent (east of the river)
+
Findhorn Ecovillage is an experimental architectural community project based at The Park, in Moray
  
Winchester and Southampton are on the River Itchen
+
Glenrothes is the administrative centre of Fife
  
Fleetwood is on the River Wyre
+
Fife is still commonly known as the Kingdom of Fife within Scotland
  
River Tees forms much of the border between Yorkshire and Durham
+
Dull in Perthshire is paired with Boring in Oregon and Bland in New South Wales
  
River Arun is in West Sussex
+
Brig o’ Doon is a medieval bridge in Ayrshire over the River Doon
  
The modern accepted start of the Mersey is at the confluence of the Tame and Goyt, in central Stockport
+
Fortingall Yew in Perthshire is the one of the oldest living trees in Britain
  
Lincoln is on the River Witham
+
Mumrills was the site of the largest Roman fort on the Antonine Wall
  
Trowbridge is on the River Biss
+
Knoydart is a peninsula in Lochaber, Highland. Known as ‘Scotland’s last great wilderness’
  
River Wear flows through Bishop Auckland, Durham, and Chester-le-Street
+
Campbeltown is a town and former royal burgh in Argyll and Bute. It lies by Campbeltown Loch on the Kintyre peninsula
  
River Nidd is a tributary of the River Ouse in North Yorkshire
+
Alloa lies on the north bank of the Firth of Forth
  
River Calder rises in the Pennines before joining the River Aire near Castleford
+
Corrour railway station on the West Highland Line is Britain’s highest mainline railway station
  
Whitby is at the mouth of the River Esk
+
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
  
Roads
+
Established in 1951, Beinn Eighe in the Highlands was the first National Nature Reserve in Great Britain
  
M1 – 193 miles
+
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
  
M4 – 189 miles
+
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
  
M6 – 226 miles
+
Highland Boundary Fault is a major fault zone that traverses Scotland from Arran and Helensburgh on the west coast to Stonehaven in the east
  
M25 – 117 miles
+
Crinan Canal provides a navigable route between the Clyde and the Inner Hebrides
  
M25 is is Europe's second longest orbital road after the Berliner Ring
+
Mid-Scotland Ship Canal was a proposed scheme for construction of a canal between the Firths of Forth and Clyde in 1920s
  
A6 runs from Luton to Carlisle
+
<u>National Parks</u>
 +
{| class="wikitable"
 +
|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
 +
|}
  
A38 runs from Bodmin in Cornwall to Mansfield in Nottinghamshire. It is 292 miles long
 
  
A5 runs from London to Holyhead, partly following the course of the Roman road Watling Street
 
  
Fosse Way runs from Exeter to Lincoln
+
Scotland’s Great Trails are analogous to the National Trails of England and Wales
  
Ermin Street runs from London to York
+
Scottish National Trail is a long-distance trail between the Scottish Borders and Cape Wrath
  
Ermin Street meets the Fosse Way at Lincoln
+
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
  
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
+
The Jacobite is a steam locomotive hauled tourist train service that operates over part of the West Highland Railway Line
  
Vale of Belvoir is an area of natural beauty on the borders of Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire
+
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
  
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 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
  
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
+
Ben Nevis is the highest point in Grampians and the highest mountain in UK
  
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
+
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
  
Wales
+
Lairig Ghru is a mountain pass that divides the Cairngorms into two halves
  
'''Cardiff''' was made a city in 1905, and proclaimed the capital of Wales in 1955
+
The Sphinx is a long-lasting snow patch in the Cairngorms
  
The waterfront area at Cardiff Bay contains the Senedd building, home to the Welsh Assembly and the Wales Millennium Centre arts complex
+
A Munro is a Scottish mountain over 3000 feet. Named after Hugh Munro, who compiled the first list in 1891
  
Senedd houses the debating chamber and three committee rooms for the National Assembly for Wales in Cardiff. Designed by Richard Rogers
+
There are 282 Munros, including 13 island Munros – 12 on Skye, 1 on Mull (Ben More)
  
Millennium Arts Centre is known as ‘the armadillo’. Inscribed above the main entrance is the line ‘In These Stones Horizons Sing’
+
A Corbett is a separate mountain over 2500 feet. A Graham is a separate mountain over 2000 feet
  
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
+
A Marilyn is a mountain or hill in the with a relative height of at least 150 m
  
Llandaff Cathedral is an Anglican cathedral in Cardiff
+
Glen Coe is the remains of an ancient supervolcano
  
St Fagans National History Museum is an open-air museum in Cardiff chronicling the historical lifestyle, culture, and architecture of the Welsh people
+
Moray Firth is a roughly triangular inlet (or firth) of the North Sea, north and east of Inverness
  
'''Swansea''' made a city in 1969, to commemorate the investiture of Prince of Wales
+
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
  
The Welsh name for Swansea is Abertawe, meaning "mouth of the Tawe”
+
Loch Lomond is the largest lake by volume in British Isles
  
Swansea was once nicknamed ‘Copperopolis’ for its copper production industry
+
Inchconnachan island in Loch Lomond has a population of wallabies
  
Meridian Tower in Swansea Marina is tallest building in Wales
+
Inchmurrin, in Loch Lomond, is Britain’s largest lake island
  
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
+
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
  
Worm’s Head is part of the Gower Peninsula
+
Loch Ness forms part of the Caledonian Canal
  
'''Newport''' is the third largest city in Wales
+
Bona Narrows lighthouse, that was once one of Britain's smallest manned lighthouses, stands on the shore of Loch Ness
  
Until the rise of Cardiff from the 1850s, Newport was Wales' largest coal-exporting port
+
Fort Augustus is known as the ‘gateway to Loch Ness’
  
Newport was the site of the last large-scale armed insurrection in Britain, the Newport Rising of 1839 led by the Chartists
+
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
  
Agincourt Square in Monmouth is the birth place of Henry V
+
Urquhart Castle overlooks Loch Ness
  
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
+
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
  
Conwy Castle was built between 1283 and 1289 during Edward I’s second campaign in North Wales
+
Cape Wrath is a cape in Sutherland, Highland. It is the most northwesterly point on the island of Great Britain
  
Caerphilly Castle is the largest castle in Wales. It was constructed by Gilbert de Clare in the 13th century as part of his campaign to conquer Glamorgan
+
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
  
There was a motte-and-bailey castle in the town of Caernarfon from the late 11th century until 1283 when King Edward I began replacing it with the current stone structure. In 1911, Caernarfon Castle was used for the investiture of the Prince of Wales, and again in 1969
+
Old Man of Stoer is a sea stack of sandstone in Sutherland
  
Harlech Castle was built by Edward I during his invasion of Wales between 1282 and 1289. During the Wars of the Roses, Harlech was held by the Lancastrians for seven years, before Yorkist troops forced its surrender in 1468, a siege memorialised in the song ''Men of Harlech''
+
First Scottish lighthouse was built in 1634 on Isle of May
  
Blaenavon Ironworks is within the Blaenavon Industrial Landscape World Heritage Site
+
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
  
Big Pit: National Coal Museum is an industrial heritage museum in Blaenavon
+
Longest rivers in Scotland – Tay, Clyde, Spey, Tweed, Dee
  
Tintern Abbey was founded by Walter de Clare, Lord of Chepstow, in 1131. It is situated on the Welsh bank of the River Wye in Monmouthshire
+
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
  
Portmeirion was designed by Clough Williams-Ellis. Based on Portofino, in Italy. It was ‘The Village’ in the 1960s television show ''The Prisoner''
+
River Clyde runs through Glasgow and flows into the Firth of Clyde
  
Chepstow is the oldest stone castle in UK. Building work started in 1067
+
River Spey rises in the Highlands and flows into the Moray Firth. It is important for salmon fishing and whisky production
  
Caldicot Castle is an extensive stone medieval castle in the town of Caldicot, Monmouthshire. It was at one time a possession of Thomas of Woodstock, a son of King Edward III
+
River Tweed flows primarily through the Borders region
  
Great Orme is a prominent limestone headland next to the town of Llandudno. Its English name derives from the Viking word for ‘sea serpent’
+
River Tay and River Dee meet near Blair Atholl
  
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
+
Aberdeen is on the River Dee
  
St Davids is the smallest city in the UK
+
River Forth (Gaelic for ‘black river’) rises in the Trossachs and flows through Stirling
  
Llanwddyn was flooded to create Lake Vyrnwy, to provide water for Liverpool in 1888
+
River Esk is a river in Dumfries and Galloway that enters Cumbria and flows into the Solway Firth
  
Lake Vyrnyw’s stone-built dam, built in the 1880s, was the first of its kind in the world
+
River E is a river in the Highlands
  
Menai road bridge is a suspension bridge built by Thomas Telford
+
M8 – Glasgow to Edinburgh
  
Britannia Bridge and Conwy Bridge were designed and built by Robert Stephenson as tubular bridges of wrought iron rectangular box-section spans for carrying rail traffic
+
M80 – Glasgow to Stirling
  
Britannia Bridge was largely destroyed in a fire in 1970. Redesigned to carry road and rail traffic
+
M9 – Edinburgh to Stirling
  
Llŷn 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
+
M90 – Edinburgh to Perth
  
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
+
Mainland is the largest island of Shetland. Lerwick is Shetland’s only burgh, and lies on the island
  
The Rhydymwyn Valley Site in Flintshire was renamed in 1939 and became M.S.Factory Valley and was involved in the manufacture, assembly and storage of chemical weapons from 1940 to 1959
+
Yell is the second largest island in Shetland after the Mainland
  
Barry is in the Vale of Glamorgan
+
Up Helly Aa is a fire festival in Shetland, at which a replica of a Viking longship is burned
  
Cwmbran is the only New Town in Wales
+
There was a tsunami in the Shetland Islands 7,000 years ago
  
Skerries are a group of islands off the coast of Anglesey
+
Fair Isle is administratively part of Shetland, although it is closer to Orkney. It is the remotest inhabited island in the UK
  
Puffin Island is an uninhabited island off the eastern tip of Anglesey
+
The ZE postcode area, also known as the Lerwick postcode area, is a group of postal districts covering the Shetland Islands
  
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
+
Foula Island in the Shetlands still uses the Julian calendar. Christmas Day is January 6 and New Years Day is January 13 (Gregorian)
  
Grasholm Island is the westernmost point in Wales and is known for its huge colony of gannets
+
Unst is Britain’s most northerly populated island
  
Bardsey Island lies off the Llyn peninsula, in Gwynedd. The island is the site of a monastery founded by Saint Cadfan in the sixth century, and of Bardsey Bird and Field Observatory
+
Unst bus shelter, also known as Bobby's Bus Shelter, is equipped with a sofa and a television
  
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
+
Muckle Flugga lighthouse was designed and built by brothers Thomas and David Stevenson in 1854
  
Beaumaris Castle on Anglesey was built as part of Edward I's campaign to conquer the north of Wales after 1282
+
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
  
Ynys Môn, Anglesey's Welsh name, was first recorded as Latin Mona by Roman sources
+
Noss is a small, previously inhabited island in Shetland. It has been a national nature reserve since 1955
  
Llanfair PG is on Anglesey
+
Ronas Hill is the highest point in Shetland
  
Swellies (or Swillies) 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
+
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
  
Snowdon (Welsh: Yr Wyddfa) is 1085 m high
 
  
Snowdon Mountain Railway is the only public rack and pinion railway in the UK
 
  
Cader Idris lies at the southern end of the Snowdonia National Park near the town of Dolgellau
+
Mainland is the main island of Orkney. Both of Orkney's burghs, Kirkwall and Stromness, lie on the island
  
Pen y Fan is the highest peak in South Wales and the southern United Kingdom, situated in the Brecon Beacons National Park
+
Orkney means ‘seal island’
  
Black Mountains are in Brecon Beacons National Park
+
The shortest scheduled flight in the world is between Westray and Papa Westray in the Orkneys, a distance of 2.8 km
  
Preseli Hills are a range of hills in north Pembrokeshire. They form part of the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park
+
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
  
Offa’s Dyke Path starts at Sedbury, near Chepstow, and finishes at Prestatyn
+
Maes Howe is a Neolithic chambered cairn and passage grave situated on Mainland
  
With Offa's Dyke Path and the Pembrokeshire Coast Path, Glyndwr's Way makes up the third National Trail in Wales
+
Ring of Brodgar is a Neolithic henge and stone circle on the Mainland
  
Cambrian Way is a long distance footpath running 275 miles from Cardiff to Conwy
+
North Ronaldsway is the most northerly of the Orkney Islands
  
River Towy is the longest river wholly in Wales
+
Pentland Firth separates the UK from the Orkney Islands
  
River Usk is the deepest river in the British Isles at its mouth
+
The South Isles surround Scapa Flow. Hoy, to the west, is the second largest of the Orkney Isles
  
River Severn is known as Hafren in Welsh
+
The North Isles consists of a large number of moderately sized islands. The largest island is Sanday
  
River Severn and Rye Wye both rise on Plynlimon
+
Ward Hill is the highest point in Orkney
  
Rivers in Cardiff – Taff, Rhymney and Ely
 
  
Swansea is on the River Tawe
 
  
Newport is on the River Usk
+
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
  
Scotland
+
Lewis and Harris is the third largest British island
  
'''Edinburgh''' is known as the ‘Athens of the north’
+
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
  
The Palace of Holyroodhouse, commonly referred to as Holyrood Palace, is the official residence of the monarch in Scotland. The palace stands at the bottom of the Royal Mile in Edinburgh. Holyrood Abbey was founded by David I, King of Scots in 1128
+
Stornoway is the main town of the Western Isles and the capital of Lewis and Harris
  
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 in Edinburgh
+
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
  
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
+
St Kilda was populated until 1930. It became a World Heritage Site in 1986
  
Princes Street is named after sons of King George III, the Duke of Rothesay (later King George IV) and Frederick, Duke of York
+
St Kilda is the only World Heritage Site in the UK to hold joint status for both its natural and cultural qualities
  
The Scott Monument is a Victorian gothic monument to Scottish author Sir Walter Scott. It stands in Princes Street Gardens, opposite the Jenners department store
+
Hirta is the largest island of St Kilda
  
Waverley station named after the hero of the Walter Scott novels
+
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
  
St Giles' Cathedral, more properly termed the High Kirk of Edinburgh, is the principal place of worship of the Church of Scotland in Edinburgh. It is at the midpoint of the Royal Mile
+
Barra's airport is the only airport in the world to have scheduled flights landing on a beach
  
Between 1916 and 1919 Craiglockhart, now a part of Edinburgh Napier University, was used as a military psychiatric hospital for the treatment of shell-shocked officers. The most famous patients were the poets Siegfried Sassoon and Wilfred Owen
+
Castlebay is the chief port and chief settlement on the Isle of Barra
  
Usher Hall is a concert hall in Edinburgh
+
Benbecula lies between the islands of North Uist and South Uist. The main settlement is Balivanich
  
Edinburgh new town was designed by James Craig
 
  
The Queensferry Bridge (originally known as the Forth Replacement Crossing) is a three-towered cable-stayed bridge, which opened in 2017
 
  
The Forth Rail Bridge, a cantilever bridge completed in 1890 was voted Scotland's greatest man-made wonder in 2016.  it is the second-longest single cantilever span in the world
+
The Inner Hebrides are a chain of islands and skerries located off the west coast of mainland Scotland
  
'''Glasgow''' is the largest city in Scotland
+
Skye is the largest of the Inner Hebrides islands
  
Glasgow is nicknamed The Dear Green Place
+
Black and Red Cuillins are mountains on the Isle of Skye
  
Mitchell Library is one of the the largest public reference libraries in Europe
+
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
  
The Barras is a market in the Gallowgate area of Glasgow
+
Portree is the largest town on the Isle of Skye
  
St Enoch Station was the first public building in Glasgow to be lit be electric light
+
Trotternish is the northernmost peninsula of the Isle of Skye. Its most famous feature is the Trotternish landslip
  
The University of Glasgow's Hunterian Museum and Art Gallery is the oldest public museum in Scotland. The museum first opened in 1807. The money to build the museum, and the core of its original collections, came from the bequest of William Hunter, the brother of John Hunter (Hunterian Society of London)
+
The Storr is a rocky hill on the Trotternish peninsula
  
Burrell Collection is an art collection in Pollok Country Park
+
Sound of Sleat separates Skye from the mainland
  
The equestrian Wellington Statue, most often featured with a traffic cone on its head, on Royal Exchange Square in Glasgow, is one of the city's most iconic images
+
Tobermoray is the capital of Isle of Mull
  
Barlinnie is the largest prison in Scotland
+
Firth of Lorn separates Mull from the mainland
  
Duke Street in Glasgow is often stated to be the longest street in Britain but, in reality, King Street, Aberdeen is 0.2 miles longer
+
Iona lies off the tip of Mull
  
Glasgow International Airport was formerly known as Glasgow Abbotsinch Airport
+
Islay is the southernmost island of the Inner Hebrides. Known as "The Queen of the Hebrides”
  
'''Aberdeen''' is Scotland's third most populous city
+
Port Ellen is the largest settlement on Islay and Bowmore is the administrative centre
  
Aberdeen is known as the ‘Granite City’
+
There are nine active whisky distilleries on Islay
  
'''Dundee''' is the fourth-largest city in Scotland by population
+
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
  
Dundee is promoted as 'One City, Many Discoveries' in honour of Dundee's history of scientific activities
+
Gulf of Corryvreckan is a narrow strait between the islands of Jura and Scarba. It is known for large whirlpools
  
Scott’s ship RSS (Royal Research Ship) ''Discovery'' is at the Discovery Point Antarctic Museum in Dundee
+
Fingal’s Cave is on the island of Staffa. It was supposedly created by Irish giant Finn MacCoul
  
V & A Dundee opened in 2017. It is the first design museum in Scotland and the first V & A museum outside of London. Designed by Kengo Kuma
+
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
  
The landscape of Dundee is dominated by The Law (an Iron Age Hill Fort) and the Firth of Tay
+
Eigg is owned by its residents
  
'''Stirling''' is a former capital of Scotland
+
Rum is known for its deer rutting
  
Several Scottish Queens and Kings have been crowned at Stirling Castle, including Mary, Queen of Scots, in 1542. There have been at least eight sieges, including several during the Wars of Scottish Independence, with the last being in 1746, when Bonnie Prince Charlie unsuccessfully tried to take the castle
+
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
  
The Wallace National Monument (generally known as the Wallace Monument) is a tower standing on the summit of Abbey Craig, a hilltop near Stirling
+
Coll is an island located west of Mull in the Inner Hebrides
  
Church of the Holy Rude in Stirling was founded in 1129. King James VI was crowned King of Scots in the church in 1567
+
Colonsay is located north of Islay and south of Mull
  
The '''Falkirk''' Wheel, named after the nearby town of Falkirk in is a rotating boat lift connecting the Forth and Clyde Canal with the Union Canal. The difference in the levels of the two canals at the wheel is 24 metres
 
  
Dunmore Pineapple, a folly, stands in Dunmore Park, in Falkirk
 
  
'''Dunfermline''' Abbey was founded in 1128 by King David I of Scotland. Dunfermline became a centre for the cult of St Margaret
+
Arran is known as ‘Scotland in miniature’
  
Until the 17th century, Dunfermline served as the royal capital of Scotland
+
Lamlash is the largest village on Isle of Arran
  
'''Inverness''' is Gaelic for ‘Mouth of the River Ness’
+
Brodick is the location of the Ferry Terminal on Isle of Arran
  
Inverness is the administrative centre for the Highland council area. It is the northernmost city in the UK and lies within the Great Glen
+
Goat Fell is the highest point of Isle of Arran
  
Loch Leven Castle is a ruined castle on an island in Loch Leven, in the Perth and Kinross local authority area. Mary, Queen of Scots was imprisoned in the castle in 1567–1568
+
Bute is an island in the Firth of Clyde
  
St Mary's Abbey, Melrose is a partly ruined monastery of the Cistercian order in Melrose, Roxburghshire. It was founded in 1136 by Cistercian monks on the request of King David I, and was the chief house of that order in the country until the Reformation
+
Rothesay is the principal town on the Isle of Bute
  
Threave Castle is situated on an island in the River Dee, 2.5 km west of Castle Douglas in Dumfries and Galloway. It was the home of the ‘Black’ Douglas Earls of Douglas
+
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
  
Dunsinane Hill is near the village of Collace in Perthshire. It is mentioned in ''Macbeth''
+
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
  
Bannockburn is on the outskirts of Stirling
+
Stroma is the most southerly of the islands in the Pentland Firth between the Orkney islands and Caithness. Stroma is now abandoned
  
Crathie church – regular place of worship of the British Royal Family when they are holidaying at nearby Balmoral Castle
+
Gigha is an island off the west coast of Kintyre and is privately owned
  
Culzean Castle is on the Ayrshire coast. It is the former home of the Marquess of Ailsa but is now owned by the National Trust for Scotland.  When it was gifted to the National Trust, it was stipulated that the apartment at the top of the castle be reserved for Dwight D Eisenhower. The castle is famous for appearing on the back of £5 notes issued by the Royal Bank of Scotland and was used as the ancestral home of Lord Summerisle (played by Christopher Lee) in the 1973 film ''The Wicker Man''. It was designed by Robert Adam
+
== 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
  
Glamis Castle is the home of the Earl and Countess of Strathmore and Kinghorne, and is open to the public. Glamis Castle was the childhood home of Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon
+
<u>County towns</u>
 +
{| class="wikitable"
 +
|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
  
Floors Castle, on the western outskirts of Kelso, is the seat of the Duke of Roxburghe
 
  
Dating from the late 13th century, Loch Doon Castle, in Ayrshire, was built by the Earls of Carrick. In 1306 the English took the building and Sir Christopher Seton, brother-in-law of the Bruce, was captured
 
  
Fort George is a large fortress near Inverness with perhaps the mightiest artillery fortifications in Europe. It was built to pacify the Scottish Highlands in the aftermath of the Jacobite rising of 1745
+
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
  
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
+
Belfast City Airport was renamed in 2006 in honour of George Best
  
Lammermuir Hills form a natural boundary between Lothian and the Scottish Borders
+
Derry, officially Londonderry, is the second-largest city
  
Lochnagar is a mountain in the Grampians, located about five miles south of the River Dee near Balmoral
+
The old walled city of Derry lies on the west bank of the River Foyle
  
Rhinns of Galloway is a peninsula in southwest Scotland
+
In 2013, Derry became the inaugural UK City of Culture
  
Galloway refers to the former counties of Wigtownshire (or historically West Galloway) and Kirkcudbrightshire (or historically East Galloway)
+
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
  
Galloway Forest Park is a Dark Sky Park
+
Lisburn is the birthplace of Ireland's linen industry, which was established in 1698 by Louis Crommelin and other Huguenots
  
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
+
Armagh has Roman Catholic and Protestant archbishops
  
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
+
Newry is a city standing on the Clanrye river in counties Down and Armagh
  
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
+
Bangor was granted city status in 2022
  
Bona Narrows lighthouse, that was once one of Britain's smallest manned lighthouses, stands on the shore of Loch Ness
+
Dark Hedges is an avenue of beech trees in County Antrim. Used as a location in ''Game of Thrones''
  
Dufftown , in Moray, produces more malt whisky than any other town in Scotland
+
Burr Point in County Down is the easternmost point in Ireland
  
Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park was established in 2002
 
  
Cairngorms National Park is Britain’s biggest national park, and was established in 2003
 
  
Inchmurrin, in Loch Lomond, is Britain’s largest lake island
+
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
  
Ross and Cromarty was abolished in 1975 and reorganized in 1996. Part of the Highlands and Islands region
+
Slieve Donard is the highest mountain (850 m) in Northern Ireland, in the Mountains of Mourne, a granite mountain range in County Down
  
Ullapool is a town in Ross and Cromarty, Highland
+
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
  
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
+
Sawel Mountain is the highest peak in the Sperrin Mountains
  
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
+
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
  
The Jacobite is a steam locomotive hauled tourist train service that operates over part of the West Highland Railway Line
+
Lough Neagh is the largest lake in Northern Ireland at 392 km<sup>2</sup>, supplying 40% of its water. It is the largest lake by area in the British Isles
  
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
+
Lough Erne is the name of two connected lakes in County Fermanagh. It is the second-biggest lake system in Northern Ireland
  
Mid-Scotland Ship Canal was a proposed scheme for construction of canal between the Firths of Forth and Clyde in 1920s
+
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
  
Campbeltown is a town and former royal burgh in Argyll and Bute. It lies by Campbeltown Loch on the Kintyre peninsula
+
Strangford Lough is a large sea loch or inlet in County Down. It is the largest inlet in the British Isles
  
Ardnamurchan Point is the most westerly point on the island of Great Britain
+
River Bann is the longest river in Northern Ireland, and flows through Lough Neagh
  
Scone is a village in Perth and Kinross. Stone of Scone was kept in Scone Abbey
+
Beaufort’s Dyke is a trench between Northern Ireland and Scotland that has been used as a munitions dump
  
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
+
M1 – Belfast to Dungannon
  
Pass of Drumochter is the summit of the railway line is 452 m, making it the highest in the UK. Between Perth and Inverness
+
== Crown Dependencies ==
 +
The Crown Dependencies are three island territories in the British Islands that are self-governing possessions of the British Crown: the Isle of Man, the Channel Islands of the Bailiwick of Guernsey, and the Bailiwick of Jersey
  
Inveraray Castle is the seat of the Duke of Argyll
+
The Bailiwicks are not part of the United Kingdom and have a Lieutenant Governor as the representative of the British monarch, who remains the head of state
  
Sweetheart Abbey was a Cistercian monastery, founded in 1275 by Dervorguilla of Galloway
+
=== Isle of Man ===
 +
Isle of Man is a self-governing British Crown Dependency. It was divided into six sheadings
  
In the late 1950s and early 1960s Scotland saw a creation of several ‘post-war new towns’. These were; Cumbernauld, East Kilbride, Glenrothes, Irvine and Livingston
+
Douglas is the capital and largest town of the Isle of Man
  
Thurso is the most northerly railway station in Britain
+
Castletown was the capital of the Isle of Man until 1869
  
Castle of Mey is in Caithness. The castle was in a semi-derelict state when, in 1952, it was purchased by Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother
+
There is a colony of wallabies on the Isle of Man
  
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
+
Isle of Man is known in its native language (Manx) as Ellan Vannin
  
Ben Nevis is the highest point in Grampians
+
Snaefell is the highest point on Isle of Man. Means ‘snow mountain’
  
Ben Macdui is the second highest mountain in UK, and the highest point in Cairngorms
+
Snaefell has the only electric mountain top railway in UK
  
Munro is a Scottish mountain over 3000 feet. Named after Hugh Munro, who compiled the first list in 1891
+
Laxey Wheel (also known as Lady Isabella) is a large waterwheel built on the Isle of Man. Designed by Robert Casement, it is 72 feet 6 inches in diameter. It was built in 1854 to pump water from mineshafts
  
There are 283 Munros. 13 island Munros – 12 on Skye, 1 on Mull (Ben More)
+
Peel Castle was originally constructed by the Vikings. The castle stands on St Patrick’s Isle which is connected to the town by a causeway
  
Corbett is a separate mountain over 2500 feet. A Graham is a separate mountain over 2000 feet
+
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
  
Marilyn is a mountain or hill in the with a relative height of at least 150 m
+
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
  
Glen Coe is the remains of an ancient supervolcano
+
The Isle of Man has become a centre for emerging private space travel companies
  
Moray Firth is a roughly triangular inlet (or firth) of the North Sea, north and east of Inverness
+
Isle of Man airport is at Ronaldsway
  
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
+
All ferries are operated by the Isle of Man Steam Packet Company
  
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
+
Scotland is the nearest country to the Isle of Man
  
Loch Ness forms part of the Caledonian Canal
 
  
Loch Morar is the deepest freshwater body in the British Isles, with a maximum depth of 1017 ft
+
<u>Channel Islands</u>
  
Loch Awe is the longest freshwater loch in Scotland
+
Channel Islands are known in France an Iles Anglo-Normandes
  
Urquhart Castle overlooks Loch Ness
+
The islands were the only part of the British Commonwealth to be occupied during World War II
  
Knoydart is a peninsula in Lochaber, Highland. Known as ‘Scotland’s last great wilderness’
+
Channel Islands are under jurisdiction of Diocese of Winchester
  
Cape Wrath is a cape in Sutherland, Highland. It is the most northwesterly point on the island of Great Britain
+
=== Bailiwick of Guernsey ===
 +
The Bailiwick comprises three separate jurisdictions: Guernsey (incorporating Herm), Alderney and Sark
  
Old Man of Stoer is a sea stack of sandstone in Sutherland
+
The Bailiwick of Guernsey also includes Jethou, Brecqhou, Burhou, and Lihou
  
Glenrothes is the administrative centre of Fife
+
Saint Peter Port is the capital of Guernsey as well as the main port
  
Dunnet Head is a peninsula that includes the most northerly point of the mainland of Great Britain. The point lies in Caithness on the north coast of Scotland
+
Alderney is the most northerly of the Channel Islands, and is the closest of the Channel Islands to France and England
  
Alloa lies on the north bank of the Firth of Forth
+
Alderney is known in France as Aurigny
  
Bass Rock in the Firth of Forth is home to 10% of world’s gannets
+
St Anne is the main town on Alderney
  
First Scottish lighthouse was built in 1634 on Isle of May
+
Alderney Railway is the only working railway in the Channel Islands. The carriages are London Underground 1959 Stock
  
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
+
Sark has a hereditary overlord known as the Seigneur or Dame
  
River Tweed flows primarily through the Borders region
+
Sark is a car-free zone where the only vehicles allowed are horse-drawn vehicles, bicycles and tractors
  
River Tay is the longest river wholly in Scotland. Dundee and Perth are on the River Tay
+
Sark was designated as a Dark Sky Community and the first Dark Sky Island in the world in 2011
  
River Forth (Gaelic for ‘black river’) rises in the Trossachs and flows through Stirling
+
La Coupee is an isthmus joining Great Sark and Little Sark
  
Aberdeen is on the River Dee
+
The tenement of Brecqhou had been owned by the Barclay brothers since 1993. David Barclay died in 2021, leaving his brother Frederick as the sole tenant
  
Gretna is on the River Sark
+
Cars and bicycles are banned from Herm. Quad bikes and tractors used for staff and luggage transport respectively are allowed
  
River Tay and River Dee meet near Blair Atholl
+
=== Jersey (Bailiwick of Jersey) ===
 +
The Bailiwick of Jersey consists of the island of Jersey, along with surrounding uninhabited islands and rocks including Les Minquiers
  
M8 – Glasgow to Edinburgh
+
Jersey is the largest and southernmost of the Channel Islands
  
M80 – Glasgow to Stirling
+
Jerriais is the language of Jersey
  
M9 – Edinburgh to Stirling
+
Jersey's unicameral legislature is the States Assembly
  
M90 – Edinburgh to Perth
+
St Helier is the capital of Jersey
  
 +
Mount Orgueil was built in the 13th century to protect Jersey from French invasion
  
Up Helly Aa is a fire festival in '''Shetland''', at which a replica of a Viking longship is burned
+
Gerald Durrell founded what is now called the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust and the Jersey Zoo (now Durrell Wildlife Park)
  
There was a tsunami in the Shetland Islands 7,000 years ago
+
Les Platons is the highest point of Jersey, and the Channel Islands
  
Fair Isle is administratively part of Shetland, although it is closer to Orkney. Remotest inhabited island in UK
+
St Aubin’s Bay lies off the south coast of Jersey
 
 
Mainland is the largest island of Shetland
 
 
 
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
 
 
 
Yell is the second largest island in Shetland after the Mainland
 
 
 
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 in the Shetland Islands. It is often described as the northernmost point of the British Isles, but the smaller islet of Out Stack is actually farther north
 
 
 
 
 
Mainland is the main island of '''Orkney'''. Both of Orkney's burghs, Kirkwall and Stromness, lie on the island
 
 
 
Orkney means ‘seal island’
 
 
 
St Magnus Cathedral in Kirkwall, Orkney is the most northerly UK cathedral
 
 
 
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 BC – 2500 BC. It is Europe's most complete Neolithic village
 
 
 
Maes Howe is a Neolithic chambered cairn and passage grave situated on Mainland, Orkney
 
 
 
Ring of Brodgar – a Neolithic henge and stone circle on the Mainland, Orkney
 
 
 
North Ronaldsway is the most northerly of the Orkney Islands
 
 
 
Pentland Firth separates UK from Orkney Islands
 
 
 
 
 
The '''Outer Hebrides''' is a chain of more than 100 islands and small skerries located about 70 kilometres (43 mi) west of mainland Scotland
 
 
 
Outer Hebrides are also known as the Western Isles
 
 
 
Barra's airport is the only airport in the world to have scheduled flights landing on a beach
 
 
 
Castle Bay is the chief port on Isle of Barra
 
 
 
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
 
 
 
Callanish – stone circle on Isle of Lewis. Dating from around 2000BC, the overall layout of the monument recalls a distorted Celtic cross
 
 
 
St Kilda became a world heritage site in 1986
 
 
 
St Kilda was populated until 1930
 
 
 
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, Barra
 
 
 
 
 
The '''Inner Hebrides''' are a chain of islands and skerries located off the west coast of mainland Scotland
 
 
 
Black and red cuillins – mountains on Isle of Skye
 
 
 
Dunvegan Castle on Skye is the oldest continuously inhabited castle in Scotland and has been the stronghold of the chiefs of the clan for nearly 800 years. It is the seat of the Clan MacLeod
 
 
 
Portree is the largest town on Isle of Skye
 
 
 
Trotternish is the northernmost peninsula of the Isle of Skye. Its most famous feature is the Trotternish landslip
 
 
 
Sound of Sleat separates Skye from the mainland
 
 
 
Tobermoray is the capital of Isle of Mull
 
 
 
Firth of Lorn separates Mull from Scotland
 
 
 
Iona – lies off the tip of Mull
 
 
 
Islay is the southernmost island of the Inner Hebrides. Known as "The Queen of the Hebrides”
 
 
 
Fingal’s Cave is on Staffa. Supposedly created by Irish giant Finn MacCoul
 
 
 
Eigg is an island in the Inner Hebrides owned by its residents
 
 
 
Rum, in the Inner Hebrides, 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 in Inner Hebrides
 
 
 
 
 
'''Arran''' is known as ‘Scotland in miniature’
 
 
 
Brodick is the main town on Isle of Arran
 
 
 
Brodick Castle was previously a seat of the Dukes of Hamilton, but is now owned by the National Trust for Scotland
 
 
 
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 Catithness. Stroma is now abandoned
 
 
 
 
 
<u>Northern Ireland</u>
 
 
 
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
 
 
 
Antrim – county town of Antrim
 
 
 
Armagh – county town of Armagh
 
 
 
Downpatrick – county town of Down
 
 
 
Enniskillen – county town of Fermanagh
 
 
 
Coleraine – county town of Londonderry
 
 
 
Omagh – county town of Tyrone
 
 
 
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
 
 
 
''The Big Fish'' is a printed ceramic mosaic sculpture by John Kindness constructed in Donegall Quay in Belfast
 
 
 
Waterfront Hall is a concert hall in Belfast
 
 
 
Titanic Belfast is a monument to Belfast's maritime heritage on the site of the former Harland & Woolf shipyard. Opened in 2012
 
 
 
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 in Northern Ireland
 
 
 
The Maze prison was known as Long Kesh and The H Blocks. Closed in 2000
 
 
 
Lisburn is the birthplace of Ireland's linen industry, which was established in 1698 by Louis Crommelin and other Huguenots
 
 
 
The other cities in Northern Ireland are Armagh and Newry
 
 
 
Armagh has Roman Catholic and Protestant archbishops
 
 
 
Giant’s Causeway is a lava plateau caused by volcanic activity in County Antrim. Legend has it that the Irish warrior Finn MacCoul built the causeway to walk to Scotland to fight his Scottish counterpart Benandonner. Same hexagonal basalt columns as Fingal’s Cave
 
 
 
Slieve Donard is the highest mountain (850 m) in Northern Ireland, in the Mountains of Mourne, a granite mountain range in County Down
 
 
 
Sperrins Region (Sperrin Mountains) is 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
 
 
 
Lough Neagh is the largest lake in Northern Ireland at 392 km<sup>2</sup>, supplying forty percent of its water
 
 
 
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
 
 
 
M1 – Belfast to Dungannon
 
 
 
 
 
Republic of Ireland
 
 
 
Ireland has historically been divided into four provinces: Connacht, Leinster, Munster and Ulster. There were once five; the fifth province, Meath, was incorporated into Leinster, with parts going to Ulster
 
 
 
Leinster includes Dublin, Wicklow, Meath and Kildare
 
 
 
Tipperary is in Munster
 
 
 
Ireland is divided into 32 ”traditional counties”
 
 
 
Ennis – county town of Clare
 
 
 
Tralee – county town of Kerry
 
 
 
Navan – county town of Meath
 
 
 
Castlebar – county town of Mayo
 
 
 
Louth – smallest county in Eire. County town – Dundalk
 
 
 
'''Dublin''' means “dark pool”
 
 
 
Baile Atha Cliath is the Irish name for Dublin
 
 
 
Abbey Theatre in Dublin is the national theatre of Ireland. Founded in 1904
 
 
 
Olympia Theatre in Dublin was opened as ‘The Star of Erin’ music hall in 1879
 
 
 
Halfpenny Bridge is a pedestrian bridge across the River Liffey in Dublin. So called because this was the toll for pedestrians. Official name is Wellington Bridge
 
 
 
The Custom House is a neoclassical 18th century building in Dublin which houses the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government
 
 
 
Temple Bar is promoted as “Dublin's cultural quarter”
 
 
 
O’Connell Street was known as Sackville Street until 1924
 
 
 
Dublin spire is a 121m stainless steel monument on O’Connell Street, also known as “Bertie’s Pole”. Designed by Ian Ritchie Architects. World's tallest sculpture. Replacement for Nelson’s Pillar, which was destroyed by the IRA in 1966
 
 
 
Book of Kells is an illuminated manuscript, containing the four Gospels. The manuscript takes its name from the Abbey of Kells. It is on permanent display at Trinity College Library
 
 
 
St. James's Gate Brewery is a brewery founded in 1759 by Arthur Guinness
 
 
 
Mountjoy prison has the largest prison population in Ireland
 
 
 
The Custom House is a neoclassical 18th-century building in Dublin
 
 
 
'''Cork''' is the second largest city in Ireland. The city is built on the River Lee
 
 
 
In 2005, Cork was selected as the European Capital of Culture
 
 
 
Cork is home to the Heineken Brewery that brews Murphy’s Irish Stout
 
 
 
Cobh was first called Cove (‘The Cove of Cork’) in 1750. It was renamed Queenstown in 1850 to commemorate a visit by Queen Victoria. This remained the town's name until 1922 when it was renamed Cobh with the foundation of the Irish Free State. Queenstown was the final port of call for the RMS ''Titanic''
 
 
 
Bantry Bay is located in County Cork
 
 
 
Blarney Stone is a block of bluestone built into the battlements of Blarney Castle, about five miles from Cork. According to legend, kissing the stone endows the kisser with ‘the gift of gab’. The stone was set into a tower of the castle in 1446
 
 
 
'''Limerick''' is the third largest city in Ireland. The city lies on the River Shannon, with the historic core of the city located on King’s Island, which is bounded by the Shannon and the Abbey River
 
 
 
'''Galway''' is the fourth third largest city in Ireland
 
 
 
Galway has an International Oyster Festival every September
 
 
 
The Claddagh is a beach area in the western part of Galway. People have been gathering seafood and fishing from the area for millennia. Historically, its existence has been recorded since the arrival of Christianity in the 5th century. Claddagh ring is a traditional Irish ring
 
 
 
Connemara is in County Galway
 
 
 
Aran Islands are a group of three islands located at the mouth of Galway Bay. The islands are Inishmore, Inishmaan and Inisheer
 
 
 
Tipperary was divided into North (capital – Nenagh) and South (capital – Clonmel) Ridings in 1838
 
 
 
Rock of Cashel in County Tipperary was the traditional seat of the kings of Munster for several hundred years prior to the Norman invasion
 
 
 
Malin Head is the northernmost point in Ireland, in Donegal
 
 
 
Carrantuohill is the highest peak in Ireland. Located in County Kerry, it is 1,038 metres (3,406 ft) tall and is the central peak of the Macgillycuddy's Reeks range
 
 
 
Burren is the karst limestone region of approximately 300 sq km which lies in the north west corner of County Clare
 
 
 
The Twelve Bens or Twelve Pins is a mountain range in Connemara
 
 
 
Newgrange is a passage tomb in County Meath. Newgrange was built in such a way that at dawn on the shortest day of the year, the winter solstice, a narrow beam of sunlight for a very short time illuminates the floor of the chamber at the end of the long passageway
 
 
 
Benbulben is a large rock formation in County Sligo
 
 
 
Knock Shrine is a pilgrimage site in County Mayo, where it is claimed there was an apparition of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Saint Joseph, John the Evangelist, angels and Jesus Christ in 1879
 
 
 
In 1947, the "Customs Free Airport Act" established Shannon as the world's first duty-free airport. Shannon Airport is in County Clare
 
 
 
Fastnet Rock is the most southerly point of Ireland. Due to its location, Fastnet was known as “Ireland's Teardrop”, because it was the last part of Ireland that 19th century Irish emigrants saw as they sailed to North America
 
 
 
River Barrow is one of The Three Sisters; the other two being the River Suir and the River Nore. The Barrow is the longest of the three rivers. At 192 km, it is the second-longest river in Ireland, behind the River Shannon
 
 
 
Drogheda is on the River Boyne
 
 
 
Waterford is on the River Suir
 
 
 
Athlone is on the River Shannon
 
 
 
M50 – Dublin ring road
 
 
 
 
 
'''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''' 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
 

Latest revision as of 16:27, 28 July 2023

England

Bedfordshire

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

Wrest Park is a country estate located near Silsoe

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

Berkshire

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

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

Slough is home to Europe's largest trading estate

Newbury is home to the world headquarters of Vodafone

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

Buckinghamshire

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

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

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

Cambridgeshire

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

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

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

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

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

Stilton is a village within the historic county boundaries of Huntingdonshire

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

Cambridgeshire Guided Busway is the longest guided busway in the world

Cheshire

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

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

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

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

Cestrian is a person from Chester

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

Northwich has a salt museum

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

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

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

National Waterways Museum is in Ellesmere Port

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

Cornwall

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

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

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

St Austell is an important town in the china clay industry

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

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

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

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

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

Merry Maidens is a late Neolithic stone circle

Lanhydrock House is a late Victorian country house

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

The Manacles is a reef off the Cornish coast

Porthcurno is a cable station

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

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

Lizard Point is the most southerly point on mainland Great Britain

River Camel flows through Cornwall

Isles of Scilly

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

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

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

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

Tresco is the second largest island

Only five of the Isles of Scilly are inhabited

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

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

Cumbria

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

Kendal lies on the River Kent

Appleby was the county town of Westmorland

Windermere is the largest and longest lake in England

Belle Isle is the largest of 18 islands on Windermere

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

Ullswater is the second largest lake in England

Wastwater is the deepest lake in England

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

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

Ennerdale Water is the most westerly lake in the Lake District

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

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

Striding Edge is a ridge on Helvellyn

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

Sca Fell is the second highest mountain in England

Helvellyn is the third highest mountain in England

Skiddaw is a mountain overlooking Keswick

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

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

Ambleside is at the north end of Windermere

Castlerigg Stone circle is near Keswick

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

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

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

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

Glenridding and Pooley Bridge are villages at the ends of Ullswater

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

Windscale is near the village of Seascale

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

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

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

Ruskin Museum is in Coniston

Cartmel is famous for sticky toffee pudding

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

Carlisle was a Roman settlement was named Luguvalium

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

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

Derbyshire

Derby was made a city by the Queen in 1977

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

Buxton was known as Aquae Arnemetiae in Roman times

Flash, near Buxton, is the highest village in England

Ladybower Reservoir is in the Upper Derwent Valley

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

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

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

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

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

Matlock is the administrative centre of Derbyshire

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

Devon

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

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

National Marine Aquarium is in Plymouth

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

Devonport was formerly named Plymouth Dock

White Lady Waterfall at Lydford Gorge is on the River Lyd

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

Plymouth was the most bombed UK city in World War II

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

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

Isca Dumnoniorum was the Roman name for Exeter

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

Tarka Line is a railway line from Exeter to Barnstable

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

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

Dorset

Bournemouth was founded in 1810 by Lewis Trogonwell

Bournemouth was part of Hampshire until 1974

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

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

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

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

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

Fleet Lagoon is between Chesil Beach and the mainland

Durnovaria was the Roman name for Dorchester

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

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

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

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

Lulworth Cove is on the Jurassic Coast

Durdle Door is a natural limestone arch near Lulworth

Durham

Durham was the first UK city to introduce a congestion charge

Hamsterley Forest is a commercial forest operated by the Forestry Commission

High Force is a waterfall on the River Tees

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

Dunelmian is a person from Durham

East Riding of Yorkshire

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

East Sussex

George V added the Regis suffix to Bognor

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

Glyndebourne is near Lewes

Goodwood is associated with the Dukes of Richmond

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

Lewes is the administrative centre of East Sussex

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

Essex

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

Maldon is famous for sea salt

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

Colchester was famed for its oysters

Chelmsford was known as Caeseromagus in Roman times

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

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

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

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

Camulodunum was the Roman name for Colchester

Colchester is on the River Colne

Wallasea Wetlands is sited on Wallasea Island

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

Gloucestershire

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

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

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

Clearwell Caves are ancient iron mines in the Forest of Dean

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

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

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

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

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

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

Greater London

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

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

The Greater London Authority (GLA) was established in 2000

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


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

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

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

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

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

Albemarle Street was the first one-way street in London

Leicester Square is named after the Earl of Leicester

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

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

Green Park is the smallest royal park

Green Park was used as a dueling ground

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Queen Elizabeth gates in Hyde Park opened in 1993

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

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

Chamber of Horrors is at Madame Tussauds

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

MI5 headquarters are at Thames House

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

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

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

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

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


The Clink and Marshalsea were prisons in Southwark

Billingsgate Fish Market relocated to the Isle of Dogs in 1982

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

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

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

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

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

Hampstead Garden Suburb was founded by Henrietta Barnett in 1907

Bunhill Fields in Islington is a former burial ground

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

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

Woolwich Ferry opened in 1889

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


Outer London

Kew Gardens was founded by Princess Augusta

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

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

Kew Gardens Nash Conservatory was originally at Buckingham Palace

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

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

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

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

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

Richmond was named after Henry VII’s Yorkshire earldom

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

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

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

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

London City Airport is in the borough of Newham

Heathrow Airport is in the borough of Hillingdon

Surbiton was the first suburb built around a railway line

Croydon is the most populous London borough

West Norwood Cemetery has catacombs

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

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

Greater Manchester

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

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

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

Canal Street is the centre of the Manchester Gay Village

Ancoats is an industrial suburb of Manchester

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

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

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

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

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

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

Hampshire

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

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

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

Mayflower Memorial is in Southampton

Winchester and Southampton are on the River Itchen

Spithead is the area east of the Solent

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

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

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

Herefordshire

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

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

Hertfordshire

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

Welwyn Garden City was founded in 1920

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

St Albans is on the River Ver

Three Rivers is a local government district based in Rickmansworth

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

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

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

Isle of Wight

The island is historically part of Hampshire

Newport is the county town of the Isle of Wight

Isle of Wight has many dinosaur fossils

St Catherine’s Point is the southernmost point

Carisbrooke was for centuries the capital

St Boniface Down is the highest point

Isle of Wight was known as Vectis in Roman times

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

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

Isle of Wight has an annual Garlic Festival

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

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

Kent

Dubris was the Roman name for Dover

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

Isle of Sheppey is separated from Kent by the Swale estuary

Rochester, Chatham and Gillingham are the Medway towns

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

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

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

Durovernum was the Roman name for Canterbury

Canterbury in on the River Stour

The Stade is a shingle beach in Hastings

The Pantiles is a shopping centre in Tunbridge Wells

Deal has a time ball

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

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

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

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

Maidstone is the administrative centre of Kent

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

A colony of yellow-tailed scorpions live in Sheerness dockyard

Lancashire

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

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

Blackpool is on the Fylde peninsula

Bolton was called Bolton-le-Moors

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

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

Lancaster is the county town and stands on the River Lune

Fleetwood is on the River Wyre

Leicestershire

Ratae was the Roman name for Leicester

Jewry Wall is the ruins of a Roman wall in Leicester

Leicester became a city in 1919

Charnwood Forest is bounded by Leicester, Loughborough, and Coalville

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

Lincolnshire

Lincolnshire was historically divided into Kesteven, Holland and Lindsey

Lindum was the Roman name for Lincoln

Lincoln is on the River Witham

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

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

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

Merseyside

Liverpool was given its charter by King John in 1207

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

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

Hope Street connects the Anglican and Catholic cathedrals in Liverpool

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

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

The Merseyrail network has extensive underground sections within the city centre

Queensway tunnel under the River Mersey was opened by George VI

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

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

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

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

Norfolk

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

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

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

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

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

Little Snoring is a village in Norfolk

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

Great Yarmouth is noted for bloaters and kippers

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

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

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

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

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

Northamptonshire

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

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

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

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

Northumberland

The curlew is the official symbol of Northumberland National Park

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

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

Berwick-upon-Tweed is the northernmost town in England

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

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

Corbridge was a Roman settlement

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

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

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

North Yorkshire

Micklegate Bar is part of the walls of York

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

The Shambles in York is a meandering, narrow medieval street

York is at the confluence of River Ouse and River Foss

Harrogate spa water contains iron, sulphur and common salt

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

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

Vale of Pickering is drained by the River Derwent

Ilkley and Otley are in Wharfedale

Richmond is in Swaledale

Hawes is in Wensleydale

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

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

Ripon is on the River Ure

Whitby is at the mouth of the River Esk

Dalby Forest is in North York Moors National Park

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

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

Danes Dyke is a long ditch at Flamborough Head

Gaping Gill is a cave at the foot of Ingleborough

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Nottinghamshire

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

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

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

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

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

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

Oxfordshire

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

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

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

Witney is associated with the manufacture of blankets

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

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

Liddington white horse was a monument to King Alfred

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

Rutland

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

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

Rutland Water was created by the damming of the Gwash Valley

Shropshire

Shropshire was known as Salop from 1974 to 1980

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

Shrewsbury is the county town. Birthplace of Charles Darwin

Shrewsbury lies on the River Severn

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

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

Wenlock Edge is a limestone escarpment near Much Wenlock

Brown Clee Hill is the highest point in Shropshire

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

Shropshire is the largest landlocked county in England

Ludlow is on the River Teme

Somerset

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

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

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

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

Jacob’s ladder leads to the top of Cheddar Gorge

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

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

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

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

Vale of Porlock is part of Exmoor National Park

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

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

Black Down is the highest hill in the Mendip Hills

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

South Yorkshire

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

It is claimed that Sheffield was built on seven hills

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

Sheffield has an international reputation for metallurgy and steel-making

Danum was the Roman name for Doncaster

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

Staffordshire

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

Spode is a brand of pottery and homewares based in Stoke

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

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

Poole Pottery is now based in Stoke

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

Leek is known as the Queen of the Moorlands

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

Flash is the highest village in Britain

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

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

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

Suffolk

Ipswich is located on the estuary of the River Orwell

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

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

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

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

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

Lowestoft Ness is the most easterly point of the UK

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

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

Surrey

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

Box Hill is a summit of the North Downs

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

Surrey is the most wooded county in England

The highest elevation in Surrey is Leith Hill near Dorking

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

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

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

St George’s Hill is a private estate in Weybridge

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

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

Tyne and Wear

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

Monkchester is an old name for Newcastle-upon-Tyne

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

Grainger Town is the historic heart of Newcastle

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

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

Warwickshire

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

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

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

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

West Midlands

Birmingham became a city in 1889

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

Birmingham has more miles of canals than Venice

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

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

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

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

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

Black Country conurbation covers Sandwell, Dudley, Walsall and Wolverhampton

West Sussex

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

Chichester is the administrative centre of West Sussex

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

Petworth Park has England’s largest herd of fallow deer

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

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

West Yorkshire

Leeds was built around the River Aire

Kirkgate Market in Leeds is the largest covered market in Europe

Leeds Bradford International Airport was formerly known as Yeadon Aerodrome

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

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

Bradford became the first UNESCO City of Film in 2009

Halifax is known as ‘toffee town’

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Wiltshire

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

In 941, King Athelstan was buried in Malmesbury Abbey

Warminster has hill forts, including Battlebury Camp

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

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

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

Worcestershire

Worcester lies on the River Severn

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

Malvern is a spa town

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

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

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

Wyre Forest straddles the borders of Worcestershire and Shropshire


National Trails

Cleveland Way The Cleveland Way in North Yorkshire runs 110 miles between Helmsley and the Brigg at Filey, skirting the North York Moors National Park
Coast to Coast Devised by Alfred Wainwright, the Coast to Coast Walk passes through the Lake District National Park, the Yorkshire Dales National Park, and the North York Moors National Park. Wainwright recommends that walkers dip their booted feet in the Irish Sea at St Bees and, at the end of the walk, in the North Sea at Robin Hood's Bay
Cotswold Way Cotswold Way is a long-distance footpath, running along the escarpment of the Cotswold Hills (the 'Cotswold Edge'). It was officially designated as a National Trail in 2007. Cotswold Way runs from Bath to Chipping Campden
England Coast Path England Coast Path is a proposed long-distance National Trail which will follow the coastline of England. When complete, it will be 4,500 km in length
Hadrian’s Wall Path Hadrian’s Wall Path is a long distance footpath which runs for 135 km, from Wallsend on the east coast of England to Bowness-on-Solway on the west coast. Passes through the Roman forts of Birdoswald, Housesteads, and Chesters
North Downs Way North Downs Way runs from Farnham to Dover, along the Surrey Hills and Kent Downs
Peddars Way and Norfolk Coast Path Peddars Way passes through Suffolk and Norfolk and follows the route of a Roman road
Pennine Bridleway The Pennine Bridleway runs parallel with the Pennine Way but provides access for horse riders and cyclists as well as walkers
Pennine Way Pennine Way was first long distance footpath. Final section of the path opened in 1965

Pennine Way National Trail is a walk starting from Edale in Derbyshire through three National Parks finishing at Kirk Yetholm across the Scottish Border

The Ridgeway The Ridgeway is an ancient trackway described as Britain's oldest road. At 85 miles, the route follows the chalk hills between Overton Hill, near Avebury, and Ivinghoe Beacon in Buckinghamshire
South Downs Way The South Downs Way runs for 100 miles from Winchester in Hampshire to Eastbourne in East Sussex
South West Coast Path The South West Coast Path is England's longest waymarked long-distance footpath and a National Trail. It stretches for 630 miles from Minehead in Somerset, along the coasts of Devon and Cornwall, to Poole Harbour in Dorset
Thames Path The Thames Path follows the River Thames from its source in Gloucestershire to the Woolwich foot tunnel in London over a distance of 185 miles
Yorkshire Wolds Way Yorkshire Wolds Way runs 79 miles from Hessle to Filey, around the Yorkshire Wolds


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

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

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

National Parks

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

High points

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

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

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

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

Haddington Hill is the highest point in Chilterns

Cleeve Hill is the highest point in Cotswolds

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

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

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

Kinder Scout is the highest point in the Peak District

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

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

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

Rivers

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

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

River Tame is the largest tributary of the Trent

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

River Dove forms part of the border between Staffordshire and Derbyshire

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

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

River Tees forms much of the border between Yorkshire and Durham

River Ax is in Somerset

River Arun is in West Sussex

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

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

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

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

River Ure flows through Wensleydale

River Lune flows through Cumbria and Lancashire

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

Canals

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

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

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

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

Roads

M1 – 193 miles

M4 – 189 miles

M6 – 226 miles

M25 – 117 miles

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

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

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

Fosse Way runs from Exeter to Lincoln

Ermin Street runs from London to York

Ermin Street meets the Fosse Way at Lincoln

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

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



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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Wales

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

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

Rivers in Cardiff – Taff, Rhymney and Ely

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

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

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

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

Worm’s Head is part of the Gower Peninsula

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Agincourt Square in Monmouth is the birthplace of Henry V

Blaenavon Ironworks is within the Blaenavon Industrial Landscape World Heritage Site

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Caldey Island near Tenby is best known for its monastery

Thomas Telford built the Ellesmere Canal

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

Barry is in the Vale of Glamorgan

Cwmbran is the only New Town in Wales

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

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

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

Elan Valley Reservoirs provide drinking water for Birmingham

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

Llanfair PG is on Anglesey

Holyhead is on Holy Island

Llangefni is the county town of Anglesey

Skerries are a group of islands off the coast of Anglesey

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Carnedd Llewelyn is the second highest peak in Wales

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

Horseshoe Pass is a mountain pass in Denbighshire

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

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

National Trails

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

National Parks

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


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

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

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

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

River Severn is known as Hafren in Welsh

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

Scotland

Edinburgh is known as the ‘Athens of the north’

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

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

Mons Meg is a cannon at Edinburgh Castle

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

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

Edinburgh new town was designed by James Craig

Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland

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

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

The Barras is a market in the Gallowgate area of Glasgow

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

Glasgow International Airport was formerly known as Glasgow Abbotsinch Airport

Aberdeen is Scotland's third most populous city

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

Aberdeen is known as the ‘granite city’

Aberdeen is UK’s busiest heliport

Dundee is the fourth-largest city in Scotland by population

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

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

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

Stirling is a former capital of Scotland

Bannockburn is on the outskirts of Stirling

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

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

Perth became a city in 2012

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

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

Dunfermline became a city in 2022

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

Inverness is Gaelic for ‘Mouth of the River Ness’

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

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

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

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

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

Rhinns of Galloway is a peninsula in southwest Scotland

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

Galloway Forest Park is a Dark Sky Park

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

Thurso is the most northerly railway station in Britain

Solway Firth is between Cumbria and Dumfries and Galloway

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

Ullapool is a town in Ross and Cromarty, Highland

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

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

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

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

Glenrothes is the administrative centre of Fife

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Alloa lies on the north bank of the Firth of Forth

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

National Parks

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


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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Glen Coe is the remains of an ancient supervolcano

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

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

Loch Lomond is the largest lake by volume in British Isles

Inchconnachan island in Loch Lomond has a population of wallabies

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

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

Loch Ness forms part of the Caledonian Canal

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

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

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

Loch Awe is the longest freshwater loch in Scotland

Urquhart Castle overlooks Loch Ness

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

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

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

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

First Scottish lighthouse was built in 1634 on Isle of May

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

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

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

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

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

River Tweed flows primarily through the Borders region

River Tay and River Dee meet near Blair Atholl

Aberdeen is on the River Dee

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

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

River E is a river in the Highlands

M8 – Glasgow to Edinburgh

M80 – Glasgow to Stirling

M9 – Edinburgh to Stirling

M90 – Edinburgh to Perth


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

Yell is the second largest island in Shetland after the Mainland

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

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

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

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

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

Unst is Britain’s most northerly populated island

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

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

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

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

Ronas Hill is the highest point in Shetland

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


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

Orkney means ‘seal island’

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

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

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

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

North Ronaldsway is the most northerly of the Orkney Islands

Pentland Firth separates the UK from the Orkney Islands

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

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

Ward Hill is the highest point in Orkney


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

The Outer Hebrides are also known as the Western Isles

Lewis and Harris is the third largest British island

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

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

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

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

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

Hirta is the largest island of St Kilda

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

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

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

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


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

Skye is the largest of the Inner Hebrides islands

Black and Red Cuillins are mountains on the Isle of Skye

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

Portree is the largest town on the Isle of Skye

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

The Storr is a rocky hill on the Trotternish peninsula

Sound of Sleat separates Skye from the mainland

Tobermoray is the capital of Isle of Mull

Firth of Lorn separates Mull from the mainland

Iona lies off the tip of Mull

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

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

There are nine active whisky distilleries on Islay

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

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

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

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

Eigg is owned by its residents

Rum is known for its deer rutting

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

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

Colonsay is located north of Islay and south of Mull


Arran is known as ‘Scotland in miniature’

Lamlash is the largest village on Isle of Arran

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

Goat Fell is the highest point of Isle of Arran

Bute is an island in the Firth of Clyde

Rothesay is the principal town on the Isle of Bute

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

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

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

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

Northern Ireland

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

County towns

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

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


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

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

Derry, officially Londonderry, is the second-largest city

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

In 2013, Derry became the inaugural UK City of Culture

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

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

Armagh has Roman Catholic and Protestant archbishops

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

Bangor was granted city status in 2022

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

Burr Point in County Down is the easternmost point in Ireland


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

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

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

Sawel Mountain is the highest peak in the Sperrin Mountains

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

M1 – Belfast to Dungannon

Crown Dependencies

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

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

Isle of Man

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

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

Castletown was the capital of the Isle of Man until 1869

There is a colony of wallabies on the Isle of Man

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

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

Snaefell has the only electric mountain top railway in UK

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

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

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

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

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

Isle of Man airport is at Ronaldsway

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

Scotland is the nearest country to the Isle of Man


Channel Islands

Channel Islands are known in France an Iles Anglo-Normandes

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

Channel Islands are under jurisdiction of Diocese of Winchester

Bailiwick of Guernsey

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

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

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

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

Alderney is known in France as Aurigny

St Anne is the main town on Alderney

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

Sark has a hereditary overlord known as the Seigneur or Dame

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

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

La Coupee is an isthmus joining Great Sark and Little Sark

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

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

Jersey (Bailiwick of Jersey)

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

Jersey is the largest and southernmost of the Channel Islands

Jerriais is the language of Jersey

Jersey's unicameral legislature is the States Assembly

St Helier is the capital of Jersey

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

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

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

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