1.
Shropshire
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Shropshire Council was created in 2009, a unitary authority taking over from the previous county council and five district councils. The borough of Telford and Wrekin has been a unitary authority since 1998. The county has many towns, including Whitchurch in the north, Newport north-east of Telford. The Ironbridge Gorge area is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, covering Ironbridge, Coalbrookdale, there are other historic industrial sites in the county, such as at Shrewsbury, Broseley, Snailbeach and Highley, as well as the Shropshire Union Canal. The Shropshire Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty covers about a quarter of the county, Shropshire is one of Englands most rural and sparsely populated counties, with a population density of 136/km2. The Wrekin is one of the most famous landmarks in the county, though the highest hills are the Clee Hills, Stiperstones. Wenlock Edge is another significant geographical and geological landmark, the River Severn, Great Britains longest river, runs through the county, exiting into Worcestershire via the Severn Valley. Shropshire is landlocked and with an area of 3,487 square kilometres is Englands largest inland county, the county flower is the round-leaved sundew. The area was part of the lands of the Cornovii. This was a tribal Celtic iron age kingdom and their capital in pre-Roman times was probably a hill fort on the Wrekin. Ptolemys 2nd century Geography names one of their towns as being Viroconium Cornoviorum, after the Roman occupation of Britain ended in the 5th century, the Shropshire area was in the eastern part of the Welsh Kingdom of Powys, known in Welsh poetry as the Paradise of Powys. It was annexed to the Angle kingdom of Mercia by King Offa in the 8th century, in subsequent centuries, the area suffered repeated Danish invasion, and fortresses were built at Bridgnorth and Chirbury. Many defensive castles were built at this time across the county to defend against the Welsh and enable effective control of the region, including Ludlow Castle, the western frontier with Wales was not finally determined until the 14th century. Also in this period, a number of foundations were formed, the county largely falling at this time under the Diocese of Hereford. The county contains a number of historically significant towns, including Shrewsbury, Bridgnorth, additionally, the area around Coalbrookdale in the county is seen as highly significant, as it is regarded as one of the birthplaces of the Industrial Revolution. The village of Edgmond, near Newport, is the location of the lowest recorded temperature in England, the origin of the name Shropshire is the Old English Scrobbesbyrigscīr, which means Shrewsburyshire. The name may, therefore, be derived indirectly from a name such as Scrope. Salop is an old name for Shropshire, historically used as a form for post or telegrams
2.
Ordnance Survey National Grid
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The Ordnance Survey National Grid reference system is a system of geographic grid references used in Great Britain, different from using Latitude and Longitude. It is often called British National Grid, the Ordnance Survey devised the national grid reference system, and it is heavily used in their survey data, and in maps based on those surveys. Grid references are commonly quoted in other publications and data sources. The Universal Transverse Mercator coordinate system is used to provide references for worldwide locations. European-wide agencies also use UTM when mapping locations, or may use the Military Grid Reference System system, the grid is based on the OSGB36 datum, and was introduced after the retriangulation of 1936–1962. It replaced the previously used Cassini Grid which, up to the end of World War Two, had issued only to the military. The Airy ellipsoid is a regional best fit for Britain, more modern mapping tends to use the GRS80 ellipsoid used by the GPS, the British maps adopt a Transverse Mercator projection with an origin at 49° N, 2° W. Over the Airy ellipsoid a straight grid, the National Grid, is placed with a new false origin. This false origin is located south-west of the Isles of Scilly, the distortion created between the OS grid and the projection is countered by a scale factor in the longitude to create two lines of longitude with zero distortion rather than one. Grid north and true north are aligned on the 400 km easting of the grid which is 2° W. 2° 0′ 5″ W. OSGB36 was also used by Admiralty nautical charts until 2000 after which WGS84 has been used, a geodetic transformation between OSGB36 and other terrestrial reference systems can become quite tedious if attempted manually. The most common transformation is called the Helmert datum transformation, which results in a typical 7 m error from true, the definitive transformation from ETRS89 that is published by the OSGB is called the National Grid Transformation OSTN02. This models the detailed distortions in the 1936–1962 retriangulation, and achieves backwards compatibility in grid coordinates to sub-metre accuracy, the difference between the coordinates on different datums varies from place to place. The longitude and latitude positions on OSGB36 are the same as for WGS84 at a point in the Atlantic Ocean well to the west of Great Britain. In Cornwall, the WGS84 longitude lines are about 70 metres east of their OSGB36 equivalents, the smallest datum shift is on the west coast of Scotland and the greatest in Kent. But Great Britain has not shrunk by 100+ metres, a point near Lands End now computes to be 27.6 metres closer to a point near Duncansby Head than it did under OSGB36. For the first letter, the grid is divided into squares of size 500 km by 500 km, there are four of these which contain significant land area within Great Britain, S, T, N and H. The O square contains an area of North Yorkshire, almost all of which lies below mean high tide
3.
London
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London /ˈlʌndən/ is the capital and most populous city of England and the United Kingdom. Standing on the River Thames in the south east of the island of Great Britain and it was founded by the Romans, who named it Londinium. Londons ancient core, the City of London, largely retains its 1. 12-square-mile medieval boundaries. London is a global city in the arts, commerce, education, entertainment, fashion, finance, healthcare, media, professional services, research and development, tourism. It is crowned as the worlds largest financial centre and has the fifth- or sixth-largest metropolitan area GDP in the world, London is a world cultural capital. It is the worlds most-visited city as measured by international arrivals and has the worlds largest city airport system measured by passenger traffic, London is the worlds leading investment destination, hosting more international retailers and ultra high-net-worth individuals than any other city. Londons universities form the largest concentration of education institutes in Europe. In 2012, London became the first city to have hosted the modern Summer Olympic Games three times, London has a diverse range of people and cultures, and more than 300 languages are spoken in the region. Its estimated mid-2015 municipal population was 8,673,713, the largest of any city in the European Union, Londons urban area is the second most populous in the EU, after Paris, with 9,787,426 inhabitants at the 2011 census. The citys metropolitan area is the most populous in the EU with 13,879,757 inhabitants, the city-region therefore has a similar land area and population to that of the New York metropolitan area. London was the worlds most populous city from around 1831 to 1925, Other famous landmarks include Buckingham Palace, the London Eye, Piccadilly Circus, St Pauls Cathedral, Tower Bridge, Trafalgar Square, and The Shard. The London Underground is the oldest underground railway network in the world, the etymology of London is uncertain. It is an ancient name, found in sources from the 2nd century and it is recorded c.121 as Londinium, which points to Romano-British origin, and hand-written Roman tablets recovered in the city originating from AD 65/70-80 include the word Londinio. The earliest attempted explanation, now disregarded, is attributed to Geoffrey of Monmouth in Historia Regum Britanniae and this had it that the name originated from a supposed King Lud, who had allegedly taken over the city and named it Kaerlud. From 1898, it was accepted that the name was of Celtic origin and meant place belonging to a man called *Londinos. The ultimate difficulty lies in reconciling the Latin form Londinium with the modern Welsh Llundain, which should demand a form *lōndinion, from earlier *loundiniom. The possibility cannot be ruled out that the Welsh name was borrowed back in from English at a later date, and thus cannot be used as a basis from which to reconstruct the original name. Until 1889, the name London officially applied only to the City of London, two recent discoveries indicate probable very early settlements near the Thames in the London area
4.
Civil parish
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In England, a civil parish is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authority. It is a parish, in contrast to an ecclesiastical parish. A civil parish can range in size from a town with a population of around 80,000 to a single village with fewer than a hundred inhabitants. In a limited number of cases a parish might include a city where city status has been granted by the Monarch. Reflecting this diverse nature, a parish may be known as a town, village. Approximately 35% of the English population live in a civil parish, as of 31 December 2015 there were 10,449 parishes in England. On 1 April 2014, Queens Park became the first civil parish in Greater London, before 2008 their creation was not permitted within a London borough. The division of land into ancient parishes was linked to the system, parishes. The manor was the unit of local administration and justice in the early rural economy. Later the church replaced the court as the rural administrative centre. After the dissolution of the monasteries, the power to levy a rate to fund relief of the poor was conferred on the authorities by the Act for the Relief of the Poor 1601. Both before and after this optional social change, local charities are well-documented, the parish authorities were known as vestries and consisted of all the ratepayers of the parish. As the number of ratepayers of some parishes grew, it increasingly difficult to convene meetings as an open vestry. In some, mostly built up, areas the select vestry took over responsibility from the body of ratepayers. This innovation improved efficiency, but allowed governance by a self-perpetuating elite, by the 18th century, religious membership was becoming more fractured in some places, due for instance to the progress of Methodism. The legitimacy of the parish came into question and the perceived inefficiency. Sanitary districts covered England in 1875 and Ireland three years later, the replacement boards were each entitled to levy their own rate in the parish. The church rate ceased to be levied in many parishes and became voluntary from 1868, the ancient parishes diverged into two distinct systems of parishes during the 19th century
5.
Districts of England
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The districts of England are a level of subnational division of England used for the purposes of local government. As the structure of government in England is not uniform. Some districts are styled as boroughs, cities, or royal boroughs, these are purely honorific titles, prior to the establishment of districts in the 1890s, the basic unit of local government in England was the parish overseen by the parish church vestry committee. Vestries dealt with the administraction of both parochial and secular governmental matters, parishes were the successors of the manorial system and historically had been grouped into hundreds. Hundreds once exercised some supervising administrative function, however, these powers ebbed away as more and more civic and judicial powers were centred on county towns. From 1834 these parishes were grouped into Poor Law Unions, creating areas for administration of the Poor Law and these areas were later used for census registration and as the basis for sanitary provision. In 1894, based on these earlier subdivisions, the Local Government Act 1894 created urban districts and rural districts as sub-divisions of administrative counties, another reform in 1900 created 28 metropolitan boroughs as sub-divisions of the County of London. Meanwhile, from this date parish-level local government administration was transferred to civil parishes, the setting-down of the current structure of districts in England began in 1965, when Greater London and its 32 London boroughs were created. They are the oldest type of still in use. In 1974, metropolitan counties and non-metropolitan counties were created across the rest of England and were split into metropolitan districts, in London power is now shared again, albeit on a different basis, with the Greater London Authority. During the 1990s a further kind of district was created, the unitary authority, metropolitan boroughs are a subdivision of a metropolitan county. These are similar to unitary authorities, as the county councils were abolished in 1986. Most of the powers of the county councils were devolved to the districts but some services are run by joint boards, the districts typically have populations of 174,000 to 1.1 million. Non-metropolitan districts are second-tier authorities, which share power with county councils and they are subdivisions of shire counties and the most common type of district. These districts typically have populations of 25,000 to 200,000, the number of non-metropolitan districts has varied over time. Initially there were 296, after the creation of unitary authorities in the 1990s and late 2000s and these are single-tier districts which are responsible for running all local services in their areas, combining both county and district functions. They were created in the out of non-metropolitan districts, and often cover large towns. In addition, some of the smaller such as Rutland, Herefordshire
6.
Shropshire Council
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Shropshire Council is the local authority of Shropshire in England. It is an authority, having the powers of a non-metropolitan county. These districts and their councils were abolished in the reorganisation, the area covered by Shropshire Council is 3,197 square kilometres, or 1,234 square miles. Shropshire is located in the West Midlands region of England, on the border with Wales, the councils seat is at Shirehall in Shrewsbury, the largest town in the unitary authoritys area and historic county town of Shropshire. The council, however, has offices across the county and area committees meet in the former district headquarters at Oswestry, Wem, Ludlow. The area covered by Shropshire Council is rural, with the second largest town being Oswestry with a population of just 16,600, prior to the 2009 reorganisation, Shropshire was the least populated two-tier area in England. Shropshire Council came into being when the area for which Shropshire County Council was previously responsible for converted to unitary status. The replacement of the system, which had been established in 1974, of five district councils. The county council became the authority, though the change to unitary status led to the council dropping the word County from its title. Similar conversions occurred in 2009 in Cornwall, Wiltshire, County Durham, the logo for Shropshire Council is the former county council coat of arms with Shropshire Council written to the side, in white and blue. In 2006 a local government white paper supported proposals for new unitary authorities to be set up in England in certain areas, for the counties in the 2009 reorganisation, existing unitary authority areas within the counties ceremonial boundaries were not to be affected and no boundary changes were planned. This was opposed by the other 3 districts in the county, the first elections to Shropshire Council did not take place however until 4 June 2009. The new council inherited almost all of the properties and assets of the district councils. The council, which is elected in every four years, consists of 74 councillors from 53 single-member electoral divisions, nine 2-member divisions. In most instances the electoral division boundaries follow civil parish boundary lines, with the exceptions being in the larger towns. This is effectively the executive branch of the authority, the permanent head of the administration of the council is the chief executive – currently Clive Wright. The employees of the council are structured within services, which are structured as part of directorates. There are two corporate directors – that for people and another for places, with a further three area directors, for the geographical subdivisions
7.
Ceremonial counties of England
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The ceremonial counties, also referred to as the lieutenancy areas of England, are areas of England to which a Lord Lieutenant is appointed. The Local Government Act 1888 established county councils to assume the functions of Quarter Sessions in the counties. It created new entities called administrative counties, the Act further stipulated that areas that were part of an administrative county would be part of the county for all purposes. The greatest change was the creation of the County of London, which was both an administrative county and a county, it included parts of the historic counties of Middlesex, Kent. Other differences were small and resulted from the constraint that urban sanitary districts were not permitted to straddle county boundaries, apart from Yorkshire, counties that were subdivided nevertheless continued to exist as ceremonial counties. In 1974, administrative counties and county boroughs were abolished, at this time, Lieutenancy was redefined to use the new metropolitan and non-metropolitan counties directly. Following a further rearrangement in 1996, Avon, Cleveland, Hereford and Worcester, Cleveland was partitioned between North Yorkshire and Durham. Hereford and Worcester was divided into the counties of Herefordshire and Worcestershire. Humberside was split between Lincolnshire and a new county of East Riding of Yorkshire. Rutland was restored as a ceremonial county, many county boroughs were re-established as unitary authorities, this involved establishing the area as an administrative county, but usually not as a ceremonial county. Most ceremonial counties are therefore entities comprising local authority areas, as they were from 1889 to 1974, the Association of British Counties, a traditional counties lobbying organisation, has suggested that ceremonial counties be restored to their ancient boundaries, as nearly as practicable. In present-day England, the ceremonial counties correspond to the shrieval counties, the Lieutenancies Act 1997 defines counties for the purposes of lieutenancies in terms of metropolitan and non-metropolitan counties as well as Greater London and the Isles of Scilly. Although the term is not used in the Act, these counties are known as ceremonial counties. gov. uk
8.
Regions of England
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The regions are the highest tier of sub-national division in England. Between 1994 and 2011, nine regions had officially devolved functions within Government, while they no longer fulfil this role, they continue to be used for statistical and some administrative purposes. They define areas for the purposes of elections to the European Parliament, Eurostat also uses them to demarcate first level Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics regions within the European Union. The regions generally follow the boundaries of the former standard regions, the London region has a directly elected Mayor and Assembly. Six regions have local authority leaders boards to assist with correlating the headline policies of local authorities, the remaining two regions no longer have any administrative functions, having abolished their regional local authority leaders boards. In 1998, regional chambers were established in the eight regions outside of London, the regions also had an associated Government Office with some responsibility for coordinating policy, and, from 2007, a part-time regional minister within the Government. House of Commons regional Select Committees were established in 2009, Regional ministers were not reappointed by the incoming Coalition Government, and the Government Offices were abolished in 2011. Regional development agencies were public bodies established in all nine regions in 1998 to promote economic development and they had certain delegated functions, including administering European Union regional development funds, and received funding the central government as well. After about 500 AD, England comprised seven Anglo-Saxon territories – Northumbria, Mercia, East Anglia, Essex, Kent, the boundaries of some of these, which later unified as the Kingdom of England, roughly coincide with those of modern regions. During Oliver Cromwells Protectorate in the 1650s, the rule of the Major-Generals created 10 regions in England, proposals for administrative regions within England were mooted by the British government prior to the First World War. In 1912 the Third Home Rule Bill was passing through parliament, the Bill was expected to introduce a devolved parliament for Ireland, and as a consequence calls were made for similar structures to be introduced in Great Britain or Home Rule All Round. On 12 September the First Lord of the Admiralty, Winston Churchill, within England, he suggested that London, Lancashire, Yorkshire, and the Midlands would make natural regions. While the creation of regional parliaments never became official policy, it was for a widely anticipated. In 1946 nine standard regions were set up, in central government bodies, statutory undertakings. However, these had declined in importance by the late 1950s, creation of some form of provinces or regions for England was an intermittent theme of post-Second World War British governments. The Redcliffe-Maud Report proposed the creation of eight provinces in England, one-fifth of the advisory councils would be nominees from central government. The boundaries suggested were the eight now existing for economic planning purposes, a minority report by Lord Crowther-Hunt and Alan T. Peacock suggested instead seven regional assemblies and governments within Great Britain, some elements of regional development and economic planning began to be established in England from the mid-1960s onwards
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West Midlands (region)
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The West Midlands is one of nine official regions of England at the first level of NUTS for statistical purposes. It covers the western half of the area known as the Midlands. The city of Coventry is also located within the West Midlands county, the region is geographically diverse, from the urban central areas of the conurbation to the rural western counties of Shropshire and Herefordshire which border Wales. The region also encompasses five Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty, the Wye Valley, Shropshire hills, Cannock Chase, Malvern Hills, Warwickshire is home to the town of Stratford upon Avon, the birthplace of the writer William Shakespeare. The highest point in the region is Black Mountain, at 703 metres in west Herefordshire on the border with Powys, Wales. The region contains five Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty, including all of the Shropshire Hills, Malvern Hills and Cannock Chase, the Peak District national park also stretches into the northern corner of Staffordshire. Served by many lines in the areas such as the West Coast Main Line. The Welsh Marches Line and the Cotswold Line transect the region as well as the Cross Country Route, there are plans to reopen the Honeybourne Line. Numerous notable roads pass through the region, with most converging around the central conurbation, the M6 toll provides an alternative route to the M6 between Coleshill and Cannock, passing north of Sutton Coldfield and just south of Lichfield. The M40 connects the region through South East England to London, with its terminus at its junction with the M42, it passes close to Warwick. The M42 connects the M5 at Bromsgrove, passing around the south and east of Birmingham, joining the M40 and M6, passing Solihull and Castle Bromwich, to Tamworth, the M50 connects the M5 from near Tewkesbury to Ross-on-Wye in the southwest. The M54 connects Wellington in the west, passing Telford, to the M6 near Cannock, the A5 road traverses the region northwest-southeast, passing through Shrewsbury, Telford, Cannock, Tamworth and Nuneaton. As part of the planning system, the Regional Assembly is under statutory requirement to produce a Regional Transport Strategy to provide long term planning for transport in the region. This involves region wide transport schemes such as those carried out by the Highways Agency, within the region, the local transport authorities carry out transport planning through the use of a Local Transport Plan which outlines their strategies, policies and implementation programme. The most recent LTP is that for the period 2006-11, in the West Midlands region, the following transport authorities have published their LTP online, Herefordshire, Shropshire U. A. The transport authority of Stoke-on-Trent U. A, Major towns and cities in the West Midlands region include, Bold indicates city status. The region is based on the former region of Mercia. The Battle of Edgehill in October 1642 started the English Civil War, jane Bunford of Bartley Green until 1982 was the tallest woman ever in the world, and now the second tallest, and the tallest person ever in the UK, at 7 ft 11in
10.
Countries of the United Kingdom
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The United Kingdom comprises four countries, England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Within the United Kingdom, a sovereign state, Northern Ireland, Scotland. England, comprising the majority of the population and area of the United Kingdom, England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales are not themselves listed in the International Organization for Standardization list of countries. However the ISO list of the subdivisions of the UK, compiled by British Standards, Northern Ireland, in contrast, is described as a province in the same lists. Each has separate governing bodies for sports and compete separately in many international sporting competitions. Northern Ireland also forms joint All-Island sporting bodies with the Republic of Ireland for most sports, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man are dependencies of the Crown and are not part of the UK. Similarly, the British overseas territories, remnants of the British Empire, are not part of the UK, southern Ireland left the United Kingdom under the Irish Free State Constitution Act 1922. * Figures for GVA do not include oil and gas revenues generated beyond the UKs territorial waters, various terms have been used to describe England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. Wales was described as the country, principality, and dominion of Wales, outside Wales, England was not given a specific name or term. The Laws in Wales Acts have subsequently been repealed, the Acts of Union 1707 refer to both England and Scotland as a part of a united kingdom of Great Britain The Acts of Union 1800 use part in the same way to refer to England and Scotland. The Northern Ireland Act 1998, which repealed the Government of Ireland Act 1920, the Interpretation Act 1978 provides statutory definitions of the terms England, Wales and the United Kingdom, but neither that Act nor any other current statute defines Scotland or Northern Ireland. Use of the first three terms in other legislation is interpreted following the definitions in the 1978 Act and this definition applies from 1 April 1974. United Kingdom means Great Britain and Northern Ireland and this definition applies from 12 April 1927. In 1996 these 8 new counties were redistributed into the current 22 unitary authorities, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are regions in their own right while England has been divided into nine regions. The official term rest of the UK is used in Scotland, for example in export statistics and this term is also used in the context of potential Scottish independence to mean the UK without Scotland. The alternative term Home Nations is sometimes used in sporting contexts, the second, or civic group, contained the items about feeling British, respecting laws and institutions, speaking English, and having British citizenship. Contrariwise, in Scotland and Wales there was a much stronger identification with each country than with Britain, studies and surveys have reported that the majority of the Scots and Welsh see themselves as both Scottish/Welsh and British though with some differences in emphasis. The propensity for nationalistic feeling varies greatly across the UK, and can rise and it reported that 37% of people identified as British, whilst 29% identified as Irish and 24% identified as Northern Irish
11.
England
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England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west, the Irish Sea lies northwest of England and the Celtic Sea lies to the southwest. England is separated from continental Europe by the North Sea to the east, the country covers five-eighths of the island of Great Britain in its centre and south, and includes over 100 smaller islands such as the Isles of Scilly, and the Isle of Wight. England became a state in the 10th century, and since the Age of Discovery. The Industrial Revolution began in 18th-century England, transforming its society into the worlds first industrialised nation, Englands terrain mostly comprises low hills and plains, especially in central and southern England. However, there are uplands in the north and in the southwest, the capital is London, which is the largest metropolitan area in both the United Kingdom and the European Union. In 1801, Great Britain was united with the Kingdom of Ireland through another Act of Union to become the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. In 1922 the Irish Free State seceded from the United Kingdom, leading to the latter being renamed the United Kingdom of Great Britain, the name England is derived from the Old English name Englaland, which means land of the Angles. The Angles were one of the Germanic tribes that settled in Great Britain during the Early Middle Ages, the Angles came from the Angeln peninsula in the Bay of Kiel area of the Baltic Sea. The earliest recorded use of the term, as Engla londe, is in the ninth century translation into Old English of Bedes Ecclesiastical History of the English People. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, its spelling was first used in 1538. The earliest attested reference to the Angles occurs in the 1st-century work by Tacitus, Germania, the etymology of the tribal name itself is disputed by scholars, it has been suggested that it derives from the shape of the Angeln peninsula, an angular shape. An alternative name for England is Albion, the name Albion originally referred to the entire island of Great Britain. The nominally earliest record of the name appears in the Aristotelian Corpus, specifically the 4th century BC De Mundo, in it are two very large islands called Britannia, these are Albion and Ierne. But modern scholarly consensus ascribes De Mundo not to Aristotle but to Pseudo-Aristotle, the word Albion or insula Albionum has two possible origins. Albion is now applied to England in a poetic capacity. Another romantic name for England is Loegria, related to the Welsh word for England, Lloegr, the earliest known evidence of human presence in the area now known as England was that of Homo antecessor, dating to approximately 780,000 years ago. The oldest proto-human bones discovered in England date from 500,000 years ago, Modern humans are known to have inhabited the area during the Upper Paleolithic period, though permanent settlements were only established within the last 6,000 years
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United Kingdom
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The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom or Britain, is a sovereign country in western Europe. Lying off the north-western coast of the European mainland, the United Kingdom includes the island of Great Britain, Northern Ireland is the only part of the United Kingdom that shares a land border with another sovereign state—the Republic of Ireland. The Irish Sea lies between Great Britain and Ireland, with an area of 242,500 square kilometres, the United Kingdom is the 78th-largest sovereign state in the world and the 11th-largest in Europe. It is also the 21st-most populous country, with an estimated 65.1 million inhabitants, together, this makes it the fourth-most densely populated country in the European Union. The United Kingdom is a monarchy with a parliamentary system of governance. The monarch is Queen Elizabeth II, who has reigned since 6 February 1952, other major urban areas in the United Kingdom include the regions of Birmingham, Leeds, Glasgow, Liverpool and Manchester. The United Kingdom consists of four countries—England, Scotland, Wales, the last three have devolved administrations, each with varying powers, based in their capitals, Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast, respectively. The relationships among the countries of the UK have changed over time, Wales was annexed by the Kingdom of England under the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. A treaty between England and Scotland resulted in 1707 in a unified Kingdom of Great Britain, which merged in 1801 with the Kingdom of Ireland to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Five-sixths of Ireland seceded from the UK in 1922, leaving the present formulation of the United Kingdom of Great Britain, there are fourteen British Overseas Territories. These are the remnants of the British Empire which, at its height in the 1920s, British influence can be observed in the language, culture and legal systems of many of its former colonies. The United Kingdom is a country and has the worlds fifth-largest economy by nominal GDP. The UK is considered to have an economy and is categorised as very high in the Human Development Index. It was the worlds first industrialised country and the worlds foremost power during the 19th, the UK remains a great power with considerable economic, cultural, military, scientific and political influence internationally. It is a nuclear weapons state and its military expenditure ranks fourth or fifth in the world. The UK has been a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council since its first session in 1946 and it has been a leading member state of the EU and its predecessor, the European Economic Community, since 1973. However, on 23 June 2016, a referendum on the UKs membership of the EU resulted in a decision to leave. The Acts of Union 1800 united the Kingdom of Great Britain, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have devolved self-government
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Postcodes in the United Kingdom
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Postal codes used in the United Kingdom are known as postcodes. They are alphanumeric and were adopted nationally between 11 October 1959 and 1974, having been devised by the GPO, a full postcode is known as a postcode unit and designates an area with a number of addresses or a single major delivery point. For example, the postcode of the University of Roehampton in London is SW15 5PU, the postcode of GCHQ is GL51 0EX, where GL signifies the postal town of Gloucester. The postal town refers to an area and does not relate to a specific town. GL51 is one of the postcodes for the town of Cheltenham which is where GCHQ is located, the London post town covers 40% of Greater London. On inception it was divided into ten districts, EC, WC, N, NE, E, SE, S, SW, W. The S and NE sectors were later abolished and these divisions changed little, usually only changed for operational efficiency. Some older road signs in Hackney still indicate the North East sector/district, following the successful introduction of postal districts in London, the system was extended to other large towns and cities. Liverpool was divided into Eastern, Northern, Southern and Western districts in 1864/65, in 1917 Dublin – then still part of the United Kingdom – was divided into numbered postal districts. These continue in use in a form by An Post. In 1923 Glasgow was divided in a way to London. In January 1932 the Postmaster General approved the designation of some urban areas into numbered districts. In November 1934 the Post Office announced the introduction of numbered districts in every town in the United Kingdom large enough to justify it. Pamphlets were issued to each householder and business in ten areas notifying them of the number of the district in which their premises lay, the pamphlets included a map of the districts, and copies were made available at local head post offices. The public were invited to include the district number in the address at the head of letters. A publicity campaign in the following year encouraged the use of the district numbers, the slogan for the campaign was For speed and certainty always use a postal district number on your letters and notepaper. A poster was fixed to every box in the affected areas bearing the number of the district. Every post office in the district was also to display this information
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Telephone numbers in the United Kingdom
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Telephone numbers in the United Kingdom are administered by the UK governments Office of Communications. For this purpose Ofcom established a telephone numbering plan, known as the National Telephone Numbering Plan, since 28 April 2001, almost all geographic numbers and most non-geographic numbers have 9 or 10 national numbers after the 0 trunk code. All mobile telephone numbers have 10 national numbers after the 0 trunk code, regions with shorter area codes, typically large cities, permit the allocation of more telephone numbers as the local number portion has more digits. Local customer numbers are four to eight figures long, the total number of digits is ten, but in a very few areas the total may be nine digits. The area code is referred to as an STD or a dialling code in the UK. The code allocated to the largest population is for London, the code allocated to the largest area is for all of Northern Ireland. The UK Numbering Plan also applies to three British Crown dependencies—Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man—even though they are not part of the UK itself. Possible number formats for UK telephone numbers are as follows, Number ranges starting 01 can have NSN length as 10 or 9 digits, the 0800 range can have NSN length as 10,9 or 7 digits. The 0845 range can have NSN length as 10 or 7 digits, the 0500 range has NSN length as 9 digits only. There are no numbers in the UK with an NSN length of 8 digits. Geographic telephone numbers in the UK always have nine or ten digits, four-digit area codes have either six-digit subscriber numbers or a mix of five- and six-digit subscriber numbers. Xxxxxx This is the used by most areas. It has an area code and a six digit subscriber number. These area codes were changed by adding a 1 directly after the zero as a part of PhONEday in 1995. Just short of 581 areas use this format, and the area range from 01200 to 01998. A small number of areas also have a few subscriber numbers that have only five digits. That is, almost all area codes now have only six digit local numbers, six of the four-digit area codes are known as mixed areas as they share those four digits with the twelve five-digit area codes. The numbers therefore have only nine digits after the initial zero trunk code and these area codes were changed by adding a 1 directly after the initial zero as a part of PhONEday in 1995
15.
West Mercia Police
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West Mercia Police, formerly known as West Mercia Constabulary, is the territorial police force responsible for policing the counties of Herefordshire, Shropshire and Worcestershire in England. The force area covers 2,868 square miles making it the fourth largest police area in England, the resident population of the area is 1.19 million. As of June 2014, the force employs 2367 police officers,283 police community support officers,1779 police staff and 224 members of the special constabulary, West Mercia is Home Office force 22 and call sign YK. The force has its headquarters in the manor house and grounds of Hindlip Hall on the outskirts of the city of Worcester. Its badge combines the heraldry of Worcestershire, Herefordshire and Shropshire, the force was formed on 1 October 1967, by the merger of the Worcestershire Constabulary, Herefordshire Constabulary, Shropshire Constabulary and Worcester City Police. It lost territory to West Midlands Police when that was constituted on 1 April 1974 and it changed its name from West Mercia Constabulary to West Mercia Police on 5 May 2009. West Mercia is a partner, alongside two other forces, in the Central Motorway Police Group, in 2013 an alliance was formed with Warwickshire Police. Paul West, QPM, who retired as chief constable on 31 July 2011 is the longest serving chief constable in the forces history and he was succeeded by his deputy chief constable, David Shaw, who took up the senior post on 1 August 2011. The force is organised into five territorial policing units which are alphabetically coded geographically from south to north, operating across three counties, West Mercia Police maintains many stations, with each TPU having an HQ Police station. The TPUs are further divided into Safer Neighbourhood Teams, there are 82 SNTs across the force, each detachment is headquartered in the respective TPU HQ, except the South Worcestershire detachment, which is based at Tudor Grange Academy. In 2010, the Telford Cadets Detachment was awarded The Queens Award for Voluntary Service, a new intake of approximately 15 new cadets per detachment occurs annually. New recruits must be aged 16 or over and have finished secondary education, young people can remain as cadets for up to two years. Cadets can then consider joining the force at age 18, becoming a leader in their detachment. Each detachment is led by cadet leaders who are police officers, PCSOs. This came under criticism from West Mercia Constabulary, especially as it was rated the best force in the country. Instead, the wishes to remain a separate force. The proposals are also unpopular with many of the authorities in the West Mercia area. When Labours John Reid became Home Secretary in 2006, he put plans to merge the forces on hold, the subsequent coalition and Conservative governments have not made any indication of re-introducing such plans
16.
Fire services in the United Kingdom
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The fire services in the United Kingdom operate under separate legislative and administrative arrangements in England and Wales, Northern Ireland, and Scotland. Emergency cover is provided by over fifty fire and rescue services, many FRS were previously known as brigades or county fire services, but almost all now use the standard terminology. They are distinct from and governed by an authority, which is the legislative, public and administrative body. Fire authorities in England and Wales, and therefore fire and rescue services, Scotland and Northern Ireland have centralised fire and rescue services, and so their authorities are effectively committees of the devolved parliaments. The total budget for services in 2014-15 was £2.9 billion. The devolved government in Scotland has an agency, HMFSI Scotland. This Act provided for centralised co-ordination of fire brigades in Great Britain,1947, Fire Services Act 1947 This Act transferred the functions of the National Fire Service to local authorities. Now repealed entirely in England and Wales by Schedule 2 of the Fire,1959, Fire Services Act 1959 This Act amended the 1947 Act, it dealt with pensions, staffing arrangements and provision of services by other authorities. It was repealed in England and Wales along with the 1947 Act,1999, Greater London Authority Act 1999 This act was necessary to allow for the formation of the Greater London Authority and in turn the London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority. In 2002, there was a series of fire strikes. In December 2002, the Independent Review of the Fire Service was published with the action still ongoing. Bains report ultimately led to a change in the relating to firefighting. 2002, Independent Review of the Fire Service published 2004, Fire and Rescue Services Act 2004, generally only applying to England and it came into force on 1 October 2006. The DfCLG has published a set of guides for non-domestic premises,2006, The Government of Wales Act 2006 gave the National Assembly for Wales powers to pass laws on Fire, promotion of fire safety otherwise than by prohibition or regulation. But does not prevent future legislation being passed by the UK government which applies to two or more constituent countries, There are further plans to modernise the fire service according to the Local Government Association. The fire service in England and Wales is scrutinised by a House of Commons select committee, in June 2006, the fire and rescue service select committee, under the auspices of the Communities and Local Government Committee, published its latest report. For example, where FRSs were historically inspected by HMFSI, much of this work is now carried out by the National Audit Office, Fire Control On 8 February 2010 the House of Commons Communities and Local Government Select Committee heard evidence on the Fire Control project. Called to give evidence were Cllr Brian Coleman and Cllr James Pearson from the Local Government Association, also giving evidence Matt Wrack from the Fire Brigades Union and John Bonney Chief Fire Officers Association
17.
Shropshire Fire and Rescue Service
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The Shropshire Fire and Rescue Service is the statutory fire and rescue service covering Shropshire, including Telford and Wrekin, in the West Midlands region of England. Shropshires Fire and Rescue Service is provided by 500 full-time and retained firefighters based at 23 fire stations around the county and they currently deploy 46 operational vehicles and a number of specialist appliances. Day to day Operational control of the service, is vested in the Chief Fire Officer, within the organisation the CFO has full responsibility for the service also manages Finance and Resources
18.
Emergency medical services in the United Kingdom
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Emergency care including ambulance and emergency department treatment is free to everyone, regardless of immigration or visitor status. The NHS commissions most emergency services through the 14 NHS organisations with ambulance responsibility across the UK. As with other services, the public normally access emergency medical services through one of the valid emergency telephone numbers. This led to the formation of predominantly county based ambulance services, which gradually merged up and changed responsibilities until 2006, when there were 31 NHS ambulance trusts in England. Following further changes as part of the NHS foundation trust pathway, the commissioners in each region are responsible for contracting with a suitable organisation to provide ambulance services within their geographical territory. The primary contract for each area is held by a public NHS body, of which there are 11 in England. The service was operated before reorganisation in 1974 by the St Andrews’ Ambulance Association under contract to the Secretary of State for Scotland, the Northern Ireland Ambulance Service was established in 1995 by parliamentary order, and serves the whole of Northern Ireland. The Welsh Ambulance Service NHS Trust was established on 1 April 1998, there is a large market for private and voluntary ambulance services, with the sector being worth £800m to the UK economy in 2012. This places the voluntary providers in direct competition with private services, expenditure on private ambulances in England increased from £37m in 2011−12 to £67. 5m in 2013/4, rising in London from £796,000 to more than £8. 8m. In 2014−15, these 10 ambulance services spent £57.6 million on 333,329 callouts of private or voluntary services - an increase of 156% since 2010−11, in 2013, the CQC found 97% of private ambulance services to be providing good care. These private, registered services are represented by the Independent Ambulance Association, there are also a number of unregistered services operating, who do not provide ambulance transport, but only provide response on an event site. These firms are not regulated, and are not subject to the checks as the registered providers, although they may operate similar vehicles. There are a number of ambulance providers, sometimes known as Voluntary Aid Services or Voluntary Aid Societies, with the main ones being the British Red Cross. The history of the ambulance services pre-dates any government organised service. As they are in competition for work with the private ambulance providers. Voluntary organisations have also provided cover for the public when unionised NHS ambulance trust staff have taken industrial action, there are a number of smaller voluntary ambulance organisations, fulfilling specific purposes, such as Hatzola who provide emergency medical services to the orthodox Jewish community in some cities. These have however run into difficulties due to use of vehicles not legally recognised as ambulances, all emergency medical services in the UK are subject to a range of legal and regulatory requirements, and in many cases are also monitored for performance. This framework is largely statutory in nature, being mandated by government through a range of primary and secondary legislation and this requires all providers to register, to meet certain standards of quality, and to submit to inspection of those standards
19.
West Midlands Ambulance Service
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The West Midlands Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust is the second-largest ambulance service in the UK. It is the authority responsible for providing NHS ambulance services in Herefordshire, Shropshire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire, West Midlands, the trust won the contract for non-emergency patient transport services in Cheshire, Warrington and Wirral previously provided by the North West Ambulance Service in 2015. The trust is currently under the leadership of chief executive Dr. Anthony. Marsh and it is one of 10 Ambulance Trusts providing England with Emergency medical services, and is part of the National Health Service. It employs around 4,500 staff and is supported by about 1,000 volunteers, over 63 sites, the trust is currently the best performing ambulance service in the NHS being graded outstanding by CQC inspectors in January 2017 & the only ambulance service to meet Government targets. The trust was formed on 1 July 2006, following the merger of the Hereford & Worcester Ambulance Service NHS Trust, Coventry & Warwickshire Ambulance NHS Trust, on 1 October 2007 the service merged with Staffordshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust. It became an NHS foundation trust on 1 January 2013, WMAS wanted a “full second tariff” on top of the standard tariff for delays over 60 minutes, and “a smaller second tariff” for delays over 30 minutes, which would have come to around £6 million. After mediation by NHS England and NHS Improvement it was agreed to pay the trust an additional £2. 1m in 2017-18, Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust and Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust were singled out as the main culprits. Following the merger of the trusts, WMAS inherited a number of control rooms. On 28 November 2007, the Trust agreed to go ahead with proposals for the reconfiguration of its Emergency Operations Centres, WMAS now only operates from 2 Emergency Operations Centres based at Millenium Point, Brierley Hill and Tollgate Drive, Stafford. There are 2 air ambulance charities serving the WMAS service community, the Air Ambulance Service uses 1 helicopter to cover Warwickshire. The Midlands Air Ambulance has three air ambulance helicopters covering the 8,000 square miles of the Midlands region, based at RAF Cosford, Tattenhill Airport. The trust has over 400 vehicles, including patient transport vehicles, rapid response vehicles, motorcycle response units. The Medical Emergency Response Intervention Team are a Critical Care Paramedic, see Hazardous Area Response Team In times of emergency, WMAS also requests assistance from voluntary ambulance providers, such as St John Ambulance. St John Ambulance also provides A&E Support crews at times there is a high level of staff absence or there is an unusually high call volume. This arrangement sees SJA crews attending Emergency or Non-Emergency calls, SJA crews may treat and transport certain categories of patient, although they are expected to ask for further assistance for more serious patients. On some evenings and weekends, support for front-line crews is provided by the West Midlands CARE Team, in Herefordshire and Worcestershire, the Mercia Accident Rescue Service is available to supplement and assist WMAS crews. North Staffordshire BASICS provide similar support in the north of the WMAS region, in times of severe weather, WMAS also has the ability to call on the Severn Area Rescue Association who have 4x4 ambulances. There is also a sub Hub in North Birmingham based at Solihull Hospital, Response cars are based at community ambulance stations in Dorridge and Solihull
20.
West Midlands (European Parliament constituency)
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West Midlands is a constituency of the European Parliament. It is represented by seven MEPs using the method of party-list proportional representation. In 2009, the constituency had been reduced to six seats, the constituency was also previously represented by seven MEPs prior to the 2009 election. The constituency corresponds to the West Midlands region of England, comprising the counties of Herefordshire, Shropshire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire, West Midlands. It was formed as a result of the European Parliamentary Elections Act 1999, elected candidates are shown in bold. Brackets indicate the number of votes per seat won, anthea McIntyre became an MEP in November 2011 when the relevant provisions of the Treaty of Lisbon came into effect, her addition being based on the 2009 vote. Phil Bennion became an MEP on the resignation of Liz Lynne, MEPs by region, West Midlands constituency
21.
Ludlow (UK Parliament constituency)
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Ludlow is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2005 by Philip Dunne, a Conservative. From its 1473 creation until 1885, Ludlow was a parliamentary borough and it was represented by two burgesses until 1868, when it was reduced to one member. The parliamentary borough was abolished in 1885, and the transferred to the new county division whose boundaries were expanded greatly to become similar to the Southern division of Shropshire. The seat was considered safe for the Conservatives with the party winning by large majorities from the 1920s until 1997 when the majority was reduced to under 6,000. When the sitting Conservative MP stood down in 2001 it was won by a Liberal Democrat, Ludlow was regained by a Conservative in the 2005 general election, held with a greatly increased majority five years later which was almost doubled in 2015. 1950-1974, The Municipal Boroughs of Bishops Castle, Bridgnorth, Ludlow, and Wenlock, the Urban District of Church Stretton, and the Rural Districts of Bridgnorth, Clun, 1974-1983, The Rural Districts of Bridgnorth, Clun and Bishops Castle, and Ludlow. 1983-1997, The District of South Shropshire, and the District of Bridgnorth, the Ludlow constituency is situated entirely within the county of Shropshire in England. It covers a large, rural area dotted with market towns, the other towns — all with a population of under 5,000 — are Broseley, Clun, Bishops Castle, Cleobury Mortimer, Much Wenlock, Craven Arms and Church Stretton. On its northeast border is the Ironbridge Gorge, just to the south of the new town of Telford. The Guardian encapsulates the seat in a nutshell as Big, rural, hills and small towns, other than the Telford borough constituency, Ludlow borders onto similarly rural county constituencies, including Montgomery on the other side of the border with Wales. The constituency covers most of the area of Shropshire Council. The most recent boundary changes took place at the 1997 general election, when a part of the Bridgnorth district was removed to The Wrekin constituency
22.
Geographic coordinate system
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A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system used in geography that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation, to specify a location on a two-dimensional map requires a map projection. The invention of a coordinate system is generally credited to Eratosthenes of Cyrene. Ptolemy credited him with the adoption of longitude and latitude. Ptolemys 2nd-century Geography used the prime meridian but measured latitude from the equator instead. Mathematical cartography resumed in Europe following Maximus Planudes recovery of Ptolemys text a little before 1300, in 1884, the United States hosted the International Meridian Conference, attended by representatives from twenty-five nations. Twenty-two of them agreed to adopt the longitude of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, the Dominican Republic voted against the motion, while France and Brazil abstained. France adopted Greenwich Mean Time in place of local determinations by the Paris Observatory in 1911, the latitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle between the equatorial plane and the straight line that passes through that point and through the center of the Earth. Lines joining points of the same latitude trace circles on the surface of Earth called parallels, as they are parallel to the equator, the north pole is 90° N, the south pole is 90° S. The 0° parallel of latitude is designated the equator, the plane of all geographic coordinate systems. The equator divides the globe into Northern and Southern Hemispheres, the longitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle east or west of a reference meridian to another meridian that passes through that point. All meridians are halves of great ellipses, which converge at the north and south poles, the prime meridian determines the proper Eastern and Western Hemispheres, although maps often divide these hemispheres further west in order to keep the Old World on a single side. The antipodal meridian of Greenwich is both 180°W and 180°E, the combination of these two components specifies the position of any location on the surface of Earth, without consideration of altitude or depth. The grid formed by lines of latitude and longitude is known as a graticule, the origin/zero point of this system is located in the Gulf of Guinea about 625 km south of Tema, Ghana. To completely specify a location of a feature on, in, or above Earth. Earth is not a sphere, but a shape approximating a biaxial ellipsoid. It is nearly spherical, but has an equatorial bulge making the radius at the equator about 0. 3% larger than the radius measured through the poles, the shorter axis approximately coincides with the axis of rotation
23.
Herefordshire
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Herefordshire is a historic English county in the West Midlands. It is a county and a unitary non-metropolitan county and district, also named in legislation as the County of Herefordshire. The Welsh unitary county covering the part of Gwent next to Herefordshire is Monmouthshire, Hereford is a cathedral city and is the county town, with a population of approximately 55,800 inhabitants it is also the largest settlement. The county is one of the most rural and sparsely populated in England, the land use is predominantly agricultural and the county is well known for its fruit and cider production, and the Hereford cattle breed. From 1974 to 1998, Herefordshire was part of the former county of Hereford. Herefordshire was reconstituted both as a new district and as a new county by Statutory Instrument as defined in The Hereford and this Order established Herefordshire as a unitary authority on 1 April 1998, combining county and district functions into a single council. Herefordshire is also called a unitary district, but this is not official nomenclature. Herefordshire is officially known as an authority for local government purposes. The Lieutenancies Act 1997 made Herefordshire a ceremonial county, covering the area of the unitary district. For Eurostat purposes it is a NUTS3 region and is one of three counties that comprise the Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Warwickshire NUTS2 region. The River Wye, which at 135 miles is the fifth-longest in the United Kingdom and it flows through both Hereford and Ross-on-Wye before returning to Wales. Leominster is situated on the River Lugg, a tributary of the Wye, there are two Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty in the county. The Wye Valley is located in the valleys south of Hereford, while the Malvern Hills are in the east of the county. Herefordshire is one of the 39 historic counties of England, in 1974 it was merged with neighbouring Worcestershire to form the Hereford and Worcester administrative county. Within this, Herefordshire was covered by the government districts of South Herefordshire, Hereford. However, the county was dissolved in 1998, resulting in the return of Herefordshire and Worcestershire as counties, the current ceremonial county and unitary district have broadly the same borders as the pre-1974 historic county. However this has been from a base, with only Northumberland. The population is White 98. 2%, Asian 0. 8%, Mixed 0. 7%, Black 0. 2%, gypsies and Travellers have historically been Herefordshires largest minority ethnic group
24.
Parish church
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A parish church in Christianity is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. The church building reflects this status, and there is variety in the size. Many villages in Europe have churches that date back to the Middle Ages, in England, it is the basic administrative unit of episcopal churches. Nearly every part of England is in a parish, and most parishes have an Anglican parish church, in cities without a cathedral of a certain Christian denomination, the parish church may have administrative functions similar to that of a cathedral. However, the diocese will still have a cathedral, while smaller villages may only have a parish church, larger towns may have a parish church and then also smaller churches in various districts which do not have the status of parish church. Often the parish church will be the one to have a full-time minister. One sign of this is that the church is the only one to have a baptismal font. The Church of Scotland, the established Presbyterian church, also uses a system of parish churches, in Massachusetts, towns elected publicly funded parish churches from 1780 until 1834. Toward the end of the 20th century, a new resurgence in interest in parish churches emerged across the United States and this has given rise to efforts like the Slow Church Movement and The Parish Collective which focus heavily on localized involvement across work, home, and church life. Theologically, many Protestants have embraced the model as having roots in a Reformed view of eschatology. It’s a way of saying ‘I believe in the Incarnation, ’” says pastor Raymond F. Cannata, “Having an earthy eschatology is part of it. ”Roman Catholic parish church Church of England parish church Smith, C. Slow Church, Cultivating Community in the Patient Way of Jesus
25.
River Clun, Shropshire
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The River Clun is a river mostly in Shropshire, England which runs through the small town of Clun, as well as through or near a number of other villages situated along its valley. It discharges into the River Teme at Leintwardine, Herefordshire, the Clun Valley is very rural and is part of the Shropshire Hills AONB. The source of the River Clun is near the hamlet of Anchor and it then flows east until the Aston on Clun area, where it then flows roughly in a southern direction — the river flows around the north end of Clunbury Hill. After this change in direction it enters the lower valley — the valley widens and has a flatter floor. The Folly Brook joins the Clun at Newcastle, then the small River Unk flows into the Clun near Clun Castle, near the end of the rivers course, the River Redlake joins at Jay. The river flows into Herefordshire after passing Broadward and soon enters the River Teme. The river gives its name to places in the area, including Clun itself and the villages of Newcastle-on-Clun, Clunton, Clunbury, Aston on Clun. In Clun the historic Clun Bridge still takes the A488 road over the river, a number of other historic crossings — bridges and fords — exist over the river, including Broadward Bridge. Clun Forest Offas Dyke Media related to River Clun at Wikimedia Commons
26.
Tearoom (U.K. and U.S.)
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A tearoom or tea shop is a small restaurant where beverages and light meals are served, usually having a sedate or subdued atmosphere. Establishments like this in various countries around the world can be grouped together as teahouses and this article deals with tea in the United Kingdom, and to a lesser extent, other English-speaking countries. A distinction needs to be made between two related meanings of tea shop, a shop, and a place to eat. Dry tea used to be sold at shops, and now mainly at supermarkets. One of the oldest shops that still specialises in selling tea for consumption at home is Twinings, the tea shop or tea room as a place to sit down and have a hot drink, and possibly something to eat, is the main subject of this article. In a related usage, a tearoom may be a room set aside in a workplace for employees to relax, traditionally, a staff member serving hot drinks and snacks at a factory or office was called a tea lady, although this position is now almost defunct. In addition, in American English, tearoom is gay slang for a toilet where men have sex. Tea is a prominent feature of British culture and society, Britain has for centuries been one of the worlds greatest tea consumers, and now consumes an average per capita tea supply of 1.9 kg per year. Shortly before the Restoration of 1660, Chinese green tea was introduced to the coffeehouses of London, which were significant places of social interaction, distinct from pubs, taverns, and inns. Coffee, chocolate and a kind of drink called tee were sold in almost every street in 1659, hogarths Gin Lane was not the first warning about working class drunkenness. One response to the perception of wide-spread dissolution was the temperance movement, from the 1830s many new cafes and coffeehouses opened, as a place to socialise that was not a pub or an inn. Tearooms were also significant since they provided a place where women in the Victorian era could take a meal — without a male escort — without risk to their reputations, Tea rooms catered for all classes of society. In 1864, the Aerated Bread Company opened the first of what would grow to be known as A. B. C. The idea came from a London-based manageress at ABC whod been serving tea and snacks to customers of all classes. She engaged up and coming designers, becoming a patron of Charles Rennie Mackintosh and he designed the complete building of the Willow Tearooms, a strikingly modern exterior as well as a series of interesting interior designs. Similar establishments became popular throughout Scotland, as of 2016, the Glasgow Willow Tearooms are being restored. Roger Fulford argues that tea rooms benefitted women, in that these public spaces were instrumental in the spread of independence for women. Paul Chrystal characterises tea rooms as popular and fashionable, especially women, providing the a dignified and safe place to meet and eat
27.
Abcott
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Abcott is a hamlet in south Shropshire, England. It lies on the west side of the River Clun and its plain, just opposite from the village of Clungunford. The B4367 road crosses the Clun and passes the hamlet, on its way between Clungunford and Bucknell, a lane connects the B4367 at Abcott and Twitchen. The famous Rocke Cottage tea rooms is situated on the B road at Abcott, Abcott Manor is a Grade II* Listed building. Abcott was a township, despite its proximity to the parishs main village. The 740 bus service calls at Abcott, outside the tea rooms, with 3 buses a day to Ludlow, nearby is Hopton Heath, which has a railway station on the Heart of Wales Line, which passes by the hamlet. Media related to Abcott at Wikimedia Commons
28.
Bowls
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Bowls or lawn bowls is a sport in which the objective is to roll biased balls so that they stop close to a smaller ball called a jack or kitty. It is played on a green which may be flat or convex or uneven. It is normally played outdoors and the surface is either natural grass, artificial turf. It has been traced certainly to the 13th century, and conjecturally to the 12th, the jactus lapidum of which he speaks may have been more akin to shotput. It is beyond dispute, however, that the game, at any rate in a form, was played in the 13th century. A manuscript of that period in the library, Windsor. The worlds oldest surviving bowling green is the Southampton Old Bowling Green, another manuscript of the same century has a crude but spirited picture which brings us into close touch with the existing game. Three figures are introduced and a jack, a 14th-century manuscript, Book of Prayers, in the Francis Douce collection in the Bodleian Library at Oxford contains a drawing in which two persons are shown, but they bowl to no mark. Strutt suggests that the first players bowl may have been regarded by the player as a species of jack. In the third he stands almost upright, in the first he kneels, in the second he stoops, the game eventually came under the ban of king and parliament, both fearing it might jeopardise the practice of archery, then so important in battle. Statutes forbidding it and other sports were enacted in the reigns of Edward III, Richard II, even when, on the invention of gunpowder and firearms, the bow had fallen into disuse as a weapon of war, the prohibition was continued. The word bowls occurs for the first time in the statute of 1511 in which Henry VIII confirmed previous enactments against unlawful games and it was further enjoined that any one playing bowls outside his own garden or orchard was liable to a penalty of 6s. While those possessed of lands of the value of £100 might obtain licences to play on their own private greens. Young Mitchell was only 11 when he played on Kilmarnock Bowling green and this is turn led to the codification of modern rules for many sports, including lawn bowls, most football codes, lawn tennis and others. National Bowling Associations were established in the late 1800s, today the sport is played in over 40 countries with more than 50 member national authorities. The home of the game is still Scotland with the World Bowls centre in Edinburgh at Caledonia House,1 Redheughs Rigg, South Gyle, Edinburgh. Lawn bowls is played on a large, rectangular, precisely levelled and manicured grass or synthetic surface known as a bowling green which is divided into parallel playing strips called rinks. Once it has come to rest, the jack is aligned to the centre of the rink, a bowl may curve outside the rink boundary on its path, but must come to rest within the rink boundary to remain in play
29.
Royal Mail
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Royal Mail plc is a postal service company in the United Kingdom, originally established in 1516. The companys subsidiary, Royal Mail Group Limited, operates the brands Royal Mail, General Logistics Systems, an international logistics company, is a wholly owned subsidiary of Royal Mail Group. The company provides mail collection and delivery services throughout the UK, letters are deposited in a pillar or wall box, taken to a post office, or collected in bulk from businesses. Deliveries are made at least once every day except Sundays and bank holidays at uniform charges for all UK destinations, Royal Mail generally aims to make first class deliveries the next business day throughout the nation. For most of its history, Royal Mail has been a public service, however, following the Postal Services Act 2011, a majority of the shares in Royal Mail were floated on the London Stock Exchange in 2013. The UK government initially retained a 30% stake in Royal Mail, however it sold its shares in 2015. The Royal Mail can trace its history back to 1516, when Henry VIII established a Master of the Posts, upon his accession to the throne of England at the Union of the Crowns in 1603, James VI and I moved his court to London. One of his first acts from London was to establish the royal postal service between London and Edinburgh, in an attempt to control over the Scottish Privy Council. The Royal Mail service was first made available to the public by Charles I on 31 July 1635, the monopoly was farmed out to Thomas Witherings. In the 1640s Parliament removed the monopoly from Witherings and during the Civil War, to keep his monopoly in those troubled times Prideaux improved efficiency and used both legal impediments and illegal methods. In 1653 Parliament set aside all previous grants for postal services, in July 1655 the Post Office was put under the direct government control of John Thurloe, a Secretary of State, and best known to history as Cromwells spymaster general. Previous English governments had tried to prevent conspirators communicating, Thurloe preferred to deliver their post having surreptitiously read it, the first Postmaster General was appointed in 1661, and a seal was first fixed to the mail. Between 1719 and 1763, Ralph Allen, postmaster at Bath, signed a series of contracts with the post office to develop and he organised mail coaches which were provided by both Wilson & Company of London and Williams & Company of Bath. The early Royal Mail Coaches were similar to ordinary family coaches, the first mail coach ran in 1784, operating between Bristol and London. Delivery staff received uniforms for the first time in 1793, the first mail train ran in 1830, on the Liverpool and Manchester Railway. The Post Offices money order system was introduced in 1838, in December 1839 the first substantial reform started when postage rates were revised by the short-lived Uniform Fourpenny Post. Greater changes took place when the Uniform Penny Post was introduced on 10 January 1840 whereby a single rate for delivery anywhere in Great Britain and Ireland was pre-paid by the sender. A few months later, to certify that postage had been paid on a letter, the sender could affix the first adhesive postage stamp, other innovations were the introduction of pre-paid William Mulready designed postal stationery letter sheets and envelopes
30.
Post box
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A post box is a physical box into which members of the public can deposit outgoing mail intended for collection by the agents of a countrys postal service. The term post box can also refer to a letter box for incoming mail. In 1653, the first post boxes are believed to have been installed in, by 1829, post boxes were in use throughout France. The first public post boxes in Poland were installed in Warsaw in 1842, a post box originally installed in the wall of the Wakefield Post Office is dated 1809 and believed to be the oldest example in Britain. It is now on display at the new Wakefield Museum, in the British Isles, the first red pillar post boxes were erected in Jersey in 1852. Roadside wall boxes first appeared in 1857 as an alternative to pillar boxes. In 1853 the first pillar box in the United Kingdom was installed at Botchergate, in 1856, Richard Redgrave of the Department of Science and Art designed an ornate pillar box for use in London and other large cities. In 1859 the design was improved, and this became the first National Standard pillar box, green was adopted as the standard colour for the early Victorian post boxes. Between 1866 and 1879 the hexagonal Penfold post box became the design for pillar boxes. The first boxes to be painted red were in London in July 1874, in 2012 to celebrate Olympic gold medals for Team GB, selected boxes are painted gold. One has been vandalised briefly with graffiti, one has been painted in the wrong town. The first public letter boxes in Russia appeared in 1848 in St. Petersburg and they were made of wood and iron. Because these boxes were lightweight and easy to steal, they disappeared frequently, later boxes were made of cast iron, the post box arrived in the late 19th century Hong Kong and were made of wood. In the 1890s, metal pillar box appeared in Hong Kong, from the 1890s to 1997 the boxes were painted red and after 1997 were painted green. The United States Post Office Department began installing public mail collection boxes in the 1850s outside post offices and on street corners in large Eastern cities. U. S. collection boxes were designed to be hung or supported. By the 1880s, these boxes were made of heavy cast iron to deter theft or vandalism. As mail volume grew, the Post Office Department gradually replaced pillar mailboxes with larger free-standing models, Mail collection box was first suggested in 1894, following the successful use of such designs in Canada, and quickly became a fixture on U. S. city street corners
31.
Ludlow
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Ludlow is a market town in Shropshire, England,28 miles south of Shrewsbury and 23 miles north of Hereford via the main A49 road, which bypasses the town. With a population of approximately 11,000, Ludlow is the largest town in south Shropshire, the town is significant in the history of the Welsh Marches and neighbouring Wales. The town is near the confluence of the rivers Corve and Teme, the oldest part is the medieval walled town, founded in the late 11th century after the Norman conquest of England. It is centred on a hill which lies on the eastern bank of a bend of the River Teme. Atop this hill is Ludlow Castle and the church, St Laurences. From there the streets slope downward to the River Teme, the town is in a sheltered spot beneath Mortimer Forest and the Clee Hills, which are clearly visible from the town. Ludlow has nearly 500 listed buildings, including examples of medieval, the town was described by Sir John Betjeman as probably the loveliest town in England. The placename Lodelowe was in use for this site before 1138, at the time this section of the River Teme contained rapids, and so the hlud of Ludlow came from the loud waters, while hlaw meant hill or tumulus. Thus the name Ludlow describes a place on a hill by the loud waters, some time around the 12th century weirs were added along the river, taming these rapid flows. The hill is that which the stands on, and a pre-historic burial mound which existed at the summit of the hill could explain the tumulus variation of the hlaw element. Ludford, a neighbouring and older settlement, situated on the bank of the Teme. Ludlow has a name in the Welsh language, Llwydlo, though the town became known as Ludlow, Fouke le Fitz Waryn states that it was called Dinham for a very long time. The castle was originally called Dinham Castle, before it took on the name of Ludlow, the town is situated close to Wales, and lies near the midpoint of the 257 km long England-Wales border, it is also very close to the county border between Shropshire and Herefordshire. This strategic location invested it with national importance in times, and thereafter with the town being the seat of the Council of Wales. At the time of the Domesday Book survey, the area was part of the large Stanton parish and manor, neither Ludlow nor Dinham are mentioned in the Book, compiled in 1086, although the Book recorded manors and not settlements per se. The Book does record a number of households and taxable value for Stanton. Neighbouring places Ludford, the Sheet and Steventon do feature in the Book, as they were manors, the manor of Stanton came within the hundred of Culvestan, but during the reign of Henry I this Saxon hundred was merged into the new Munslow hundred. Walters son Roger de Lacy began the construction of Ludlow Castle on the crest of the hill about 1075, between about 1090 and 1120, the Chapel of St. Mary Magdalene was built inside the walls, and by 1130 the Great Tower was added to form the gatehouse
32.
Knighton, Powys
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Knighton /ˈnaɪtən/ is a small market town and community situated chiefly in Powys, Wales, within the historic county boundaries of Radnorshire. Lying on the River Teme, the town straddles the English-Welsh border, Knighton railway station, as well as a part of the towns built-up area, is located in Shropshire. Knighton is the sixth largest town in Powys, the name Knighton derives from Old English meaning A settlement of servants Cniht or cnihta originally meaning servant rather than the oft mistaken Knight as in the soldier. This was both an Anglo-Saxon settlement and later a Norman fortified town, tref-y-clawdd, its Welsh name, is not a translation, it means town on the dyke and not Knighton, and is first recorded in 1262. The name Knighton probably derives from the Old English words cniht and tūn meaning, a soldier, personal follower, young man, servant, thane, freeman and. This implies that the settlement was founded as the result of a grant of land to freemen. By contrast the Welsh name officially given to the town in 1971 is more straightforward, inhabitants are Knightonians, Knightoners or merely from Knighton. Inevitably, Knightons earliest history is obscure but there are clues, Caer Caradoc is 2 miles away. Watling Street, a Roman road, passes a few miles to the east at Leintwardine, Knighton is known for a well-preserved section of Offas Dyke. Intriguingly, Wats Dyke also runs parallel to Offas Dyke and a few miles to the east, an earthwork that runs north-south along the English/Welsh border from Basingwerk near Holywell to Oswestry. The dykes aside, two Norman castles, constructed in the 12th century, are the oldest survivors in modern Knighton, the town became a borough in 1203, with a charter permitting a weekly market and annual fair. The castle was besieged by Owain Glyndŵr in 1402 and the castle, the major battle of the rebellion was fought at Pilleth 3 miles south of the town in the same year. The towns church dates from the 11th century, but much of it was rebuilt in the 19th century and it is one of only two in Wales dedicated to St Edward, the patron saint of England before St George. Knighton also has a Baptist chapel and a small Catholic church, Knighton first prospered as a centre of the wool trade in the 15th century and was later an important point on the two drover routes from Montgomery to Hereford, and from London to Aberystwyth. Otherwise, Knighton was remote from the centres of commerce, the construction of the railway was made economically viable – just – by an entrepreneurial drive to connect the Mumbles and Milford Haven with the cities and factories of the industrial Midlands. The Knighton Railway Company was formed by local landowners and businessmen to build a line from Craven Arms to the town, Work began in August 1858 and the line reached Knighton in March 1861. The station itself was built in 1865, to mark the accession of H. M. Queen Elizabeth II in 1953 the initials ER were planted out in deciduous trees within an evergreen forest on the hill to the north of the town, comperes were radio DJ Pete Drummond and local resident and bluesman Alexis Korner, who also performed
33.
Anglo-Saxons
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The Anglo-Saxons are a people who have inhabited Great Britain from the 5th century. Historically, the Anglo-Saxon period denotes the period in Britain between about 450 and 1066, after their settlement and up until the Norman conquest. The early Anglo-Saxon period includes the creation of an English nation, with many of the aspects that survive today, including government of shires. During this period, Christianity was re-established and there was a flowering of literature, charters and law were also established. The term Anglo-Saxon is popularly used for the language that was spoken and written by the Anglo-Saxons in England, in scholarly use, it is more commonly called Old English. The history of the Anglo-Saxons is the history of a cultural identity and it developed from divergent groups in association with the peoples adoption of Christianity, and was integral to the establishment of various kingdoms. Threatened by extended Danish invasions and occupation of eastern England, this identity was re-established, the visible Anglo-Saxon culture can be seen in the material culture of buildings, dress styles, illuminated texts and grave goods. Behind the symbolic nature of these emblems, there are strong elements of tribal. The elite declared themselves as kings who developed burhs, and identified their roles and peoples in Biblical terms, above all, as Helena Hamerow has observed, local and extended kin groups remained. the essential unit of production throughout the Anglo-Saxon period. Use of the term Anglo-Saxon assumes that the words Angles, Saxons or Anglo-Saxon have the meaning in all the sources. Assigning ethnic labels such as Anglo-Saxon is fraught with difficulties and this term began to be used only in the 8th century to distinguish the Germanic groups in Britain from those on the continent. The Old English ethnonym Angul-Seaxan comes from the Latin Angli-Saxones and became the name of the peoples Bede calls Anglorum, Anglo-Saxon is a term that was rarely used by Anglo-Saxons themselves, it is not an autonym. It is likely they identified as ængli, Seaxe or, more probably, also, the use of Anglo-Saxon disguises the extent to which people identified as Anglo-Scandinavian after the Viking age or the conquest of 1016, or as Anglo-Norman after the Norman conquest. The earliest historical references using this term are from outside Britain, referring to piratical Germanic raiders, Saxones who attacked the shores of Britain, procopius states that Britain was settled by three races, the Angiloi, Frisones, and Britons. The term Angli Saxones seems to have first been used in writing of the 8th century. The name therefore seemed to mean English Saxons, the Christian church seems to have used the word Angli, for example in the story of Pope Gregory I and his remark, Non Angli sed angeli. The terms ænglisc and Angelcynn were also used by West Saxon King Alfred to refer to the people, at other times he uses the term rex Anglorum, which presumably meant both Anglo-Saxons and Danes. Alfred the Great used Anglosaxonum Rex, the term Engla cyningc is used by Æthelred
34.
Domesday Book
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Domesday Book is a manuscript record of the Great Survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William the Conqueror. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle states, Then, at the midwinter, was the king in Glocester with his council. After this had the king a large meeting, and very deep consultation with his council, about this land, how it was occupied and it was written in Medieval Latin, was highly abbreviated, and included some vernacular native terms without Latin equivalents. The assessors reckoning of a mans holdings and their values, as recorded in Domesday Book, was dispositive, the name Domesday Book came into use in the 12th century. As Richard FitzNeal wrote in the Dialogus de Scaccario, for as the sentence of that strict and terrible last account cannot be evaded by any skilful subterfuge and its sentence cannot be quashed or set aside with impunity. That is why we have called the book the Book of Judgement, because its decisions, like those of the Last Judgement, are unalterable. The manuscript is held at The National Archives at Kew, London, in 2011, the Open Domesday site made the manuscript available online. The book is a primary source for modern historians and historical economists. Domesday Book encompasses two independent works, Little Domesday and Great Domesday, no surveys were made of the City of London, Winchester, or some other towns, probably due to their tax-exempt status. Most of Cumberland and Westmorland are missing, the omission of the other counties and towns is not fully explained, although in particular Cumberland and Westmorland had yet to be fully conquered. Little Domesday – so named because its format is smaller than its companions – is the more detailed survey. It may have represented the first attempt, resulting in a decision to avoid such level of detail in Great Domesday, some of the largest such magnates held several hundred fees, in a few cases in more than one county. For example, the chapter of the Domesday Book Devonshire section concerning Baldwin the Sheriff lists 176 holdings held in-chief by him, as a review of taxes owed, it was highly unpopular. Each countys list opened with the demesne lands. It should be borne in mind that under the system the king was the only true owner of land in England. He was thus the ultimate overlord and even the greatest magnate could do no more than hold land from him as a tenant under one of the contracts of feudal land tenure. In some counties, one or more principal towns formed the subject of a separate section and this principle applies more specially to the larger volume, in the smaller one, the system is more confused, the execution less perfect. Domesday names a total of 13,418 places and these include fragments of custumals, records of the military service due, of markets, mints, and so forth
35.
Ford (crossing)
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A ford is a shallow place with good footing where a river or stream may be crossed by wading, or inside a vehicle getting its wheels wet. A ford is mostly a natural phenomenon, in contrast to a low water crossing, a ford is a much cheaper form of river crossing than a bridge, but it may become impassable after heavy rain or during flood conditions. A ford is therefore only suitable for very minor roads. Most modern fords are usually enough to be crossed by cars. In New Zealand, however, fords are a part of major roads, including, until 2010. As most inter-city domestic passengers travel by air and as much cargo goes by sea, long distance road traffic is low, in dry weather, drivers become aware of a ford by crunching across outwash detritus on the roadway. A Bailey bridge may be built off the line of the road to carry emergency traffic during high water. At places where the water is enough, but the material on the riverbed will not support heavy vehicles. In such cases a curb is often placed on the side to prevent vehicles slipping off. Fords may be equipped with a post indicating the water depth. Some have an adjacent footbridge so that pedestrians may cross without getting their feet wet, a road running below the water level of a stream or river is often known as a watersplash. It is a name for a ford or stretch of wet road in some areas. They have become a feature in rallying courses. There are enthusiasts who seek out and drive through these water features, there are many old fords known as watersplashes in the United Kingdom. Examples are at Brockenhurst in Hampshire, Wookey in Somerset, some of these are being replaced by bridges as these are a more reliable form of crossing in adverse weather conditions. The Dean Ford in Kilmarnock, Ayrshire, is mentioned in the deeds of this property, the ford has had to be maintained as a property boundary feature, despite several cars a year being washed away. Not just a British phenomenon, some very spectacular versions of the feature can be found in diverse locations. Australia has the Gulf Savannah, and others may be found in Canada, Italy, South Africa and they are also found on some Tennessee backroads, where they are referred to as underwater bridges
36.
Broadward
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Broadward is a dispersed hamlet in south Shropshire, England, situated by the border with Herefordshire. It is in the parish of Clungunford, a village approximately 2 miles to the north. The placename is shared by a number of buildings in the area, including Broadward Hall, the River Clun flows to the east of Broadward and after passing Broadward exits Shropshire and enters Herefordshire, the river here is a private fishery. The stretch of the River Clun south of Broadward Bridge is a Site of Special Scientific Interest, Broadward lies generally at an elevation of 130 metres above sea level, on gently undulating land within the lower Clun Valley. The hamlet lies just above the plain, which is quite extensive. Agriculture in the area is a mixture of arable and livestock farming, Broadward is situated on the B4385 main road and is approximately 1⁄2 mile from Hopton Heath railway station which is on the Heart of Wales Line. At Hopton Heath the 740 bus service calls, with 3 buses a day to Ludlow, built in 1831, Broadward Bridge takes the main road over the River Clun and is a Grade II Listed structure. Broadward forms the end of the parish of Clungunford. Immediately to the north, and also in the parish, lies the hamlet of Beckjay, the nearest villages with amenities are Leintwardine and Bucknell. The nearest market towns are Knighton, Craven Arms and – the largest – Ludlow, the county town of Shropshire, Shrewsbury, is 25 miles distant by road. The postcode is SY7 0QA, except for Broadward Barn and Broadward Bridge which have their own postcode SY7 0PZ, there is a Royal Mail post box on the main road by the Gate Lodge. The post town for Broadward is Craven Arms, historically it was Aston on Clun, the dialling code is 01547 followed by 530 for the majority of the settlement, or 540 for Broadward Barn and Broadward Bridge. Broadward Hall is a Grade II Listed building, largely a 19th-century remodelling of an 18th-century house, Broadward dates back much earlier however, and was a medieval settlement with township status within the Clungunford parish. The hall is a residence and is not open to visitors. The hall was part of the Hopton Castle Estate and for 200 years was the home of the Bayley family. In 1943 it was purchased by the Bilston Corporation, who planned to develop it into a home, which did not happen. The hall continues as a residence, and there remains a small sheep farm on the estate. The placename is derived from broad ford, the location of where this ford was is unknown
37.
Dead end (street)
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A dead end, also known as a cul-de-sac, is a street with only one inlet/outlet. While historically built for reasons, one of its modern uses is to calm vehicle traffic. The term dead end is understood in all varieties of English, some of these are used only regionally. In the United States and other countries, cul-de-sac is often not a synonym for dead end and refers to dead ends with a circular end. See below for regionally used terms, Dead ends existed in towns and cities long before the automotive 20th century, particularly in Arab and Moorish towns. The earliest example was unearthed in the El-Lahun workers village in Egypt, the village is laid out with straight streets that intersect at right angles, akin to a grid, but irregular. Dead-end streets appeared also during the period of Athens and Rome. The 15th century architect and planner Leon Battista Alberti implies in his writings that dead-end streets may have been used intentionally in antiquity for defense purposes, the same opinion is expressed by an earlier thinker, Aristotle, when he criticized the Hippodamian grid. But for security in war the opposite, as it used to be in ancient times, for that is difficult for foreign troops to enter and find their way about when attacking. In the UK, their existence is implied by an 1875 law which banned their use in new developments. In the earlier periods, traffic was excluded from residential streets simply by gates or by employing the cul-de-sac and it was in the UK that the cul-de-sac street type was first legislated into use, with The Hampstead Garden Suburb Act 1906. Unwins applications of the cul-de-sac and the related crescent always included pedestrian paths independent of the road network, the 1906 Act defined the nature of the cul-de-sac as a non-through road and restricted its length to 500 feet. Garden cities in the UK that followed Hampstead, such as Welwyn Garden City all included culs-de-sac, the US Federal Housing Authority recommended and promoted their use through their 1936 guidelines and the power of lending development funds. In Canada, a variation of Stein’s Radburn 1929 plan that used crescents instead of culs-de-sac was built in 1947 in Manitoba, Wildwood Park, Winnipeg, the Varsity Village and Braeside, subdivisions in Calgary, Alberta also used the Radburn model in the late 1960s. Although dead end streets, i. e. Doxiadis has additionally argued their important role in separating man from machine, originally unplanned dead ends have been created in the centers of cities that are laid on a grid by blocking through traffic. A recent variation of limiting traffic is the closure by using retractable bollards which are activated by designated card holders only. However, not only do they stop cars, they also stop ambulances and other emergency vehicles, Dead ends are created in urban planning to limit through-traffic in residential areas. This design improvement, which selectively excludes one mode of transport while permitting others and its application retains the dead ends primary function as a non-through road, but establishes complete pedestrian and bicycle network connectivity
38.
Motte-and-bailey castle
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The Normans introduced the design into England and Wales following their invasion in 1066. Motte-and-bailey castles were adopted in Scotland, Ireland, the Low Countries, by the end of the 13th century, the design was largely superseded by alternative forms of fortification, but the earthworks remain a prominent feature in many countries. The term motte and bailey is a modern one, and is not medieval in origin. The word bailey comes from the Norman-French baille, or basse-cour, in medieval sources, the Latin term castellum was used to describe the bailey complex within these castles. One contemporary account of these comes from Jean de Colmieu around 1130. De Colmieu described how the nobles would build a mound of earth as high as they can and dig a ditch about it as wide and deep as possible. The space on top of the mound is enclosed by a palisade of very strong hewn logs, inside the enclosure is a citadel, or keep, which commands the whole circuit of the defences. Mottes were made out of earth and flattened on top, some were also built over older artificial structures, such as Bronze Age barrows. The size of mottes varied considerably, with these mounds being 3 metres to 30 metres in height and this minimum height of 3 metres for mottes is usually intended to exclude smaller mounds which often had non-military purposes. In England and Wales, only 7% of mottes were taller than 10 metres high, a motte was protected by a ditch around it, which would typically have also been a source of the earth and soil for constructing the mound itself. A keep and a wall would usually be built on top of the motte. Smaller mottes could only support simple towers with room for a few soldiers, wooden structures on mottes could be protected by skins and hides to prevent them being easily set alight during a siege. The bailey was a courtyard overlooked by the motte and surrounded by a wooden fence called a palisade. The bailey was often kidney-shaped to fit against a circular motte, the bailey would contain a wide number of buildings, including a hall, kitchens, a chapel, barracks, stores, stables, forges or workshops, and was the centre of the castles economic activity. The bailey was linked to the motte either by a bridge stretching between the two, or, more popularly in England, by steps cut into the motte. Typically the ditch of the motte and the bailey joined, forming a figure of eight around the castle, wherever possible, nearby streams and rivers would be dammed or diverted, creating water-filled moats, artificial lakes and other forms of water defences. In practice, there was a number of variations to this common design. A castle could have more than one bailey, at Warkworth Castle an inner, some baileys had two mottes, such as those at Lincoln
39.
Salusbury Pryce Humphreys
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A lieutenancy followed while serving in the Caribbean, where he acted in support of army operations against enemy colonies and islands, before his return to Britain. After again supporting land operations, this time in Holland, he was promoted to commander though he had to wait two years for a command. Promotion to post captain soon followed, and he went to North America to command the flagship of the admiral in command there, Humphreys did so, and requested permission to search her. Chesapeakes captain refused, so Humphreys fired upon her, the poorly prepared American ship surrendered, the backlash from the Chesapeake-Leopard Affair, as it became known as, was severe. A political crisis was precipitated between the governments of Britain and the United States, and to mollify the Americans, Humphreys was given no further commands and he was already wealthy, having married an heiress, and settling at the estates of Bramall Hall. He was promoted to rear-admiral in 1837, and then restored on the active lists, salusbury Pryce Humphreys was born at Clungunford Rectory, Shropshire, on 24 November 1778, the third son of Reverend Evan Humphreys and his wife Mary. He entered the navy on 1 July 1790, during the Spanish armament, serving as a volunteer aboard the 64-gun HMS Ardent, which was then under the command of Captain James Vashon. He was next aboard the 50-gun HMS Trusty, the flagship of Rear-Admiral Sir John Laforey in the Leeward Islands, followed by a posting to the 32-gun HMS Solebay, commanded by Captain Matthew Squire. He was rated as able seaman during this last posting, after which he was moved to the 14-gun HMS Fairy, commanded by Captain Francis Laforey. His next ship was the 50-gun HMS Severn, under Captain Paul Minchin, Severn conveyed the Governor General of Canada, Lord Dorchester, and his family and suite, to Quebec, returning to Britain in 1794. Humphreys followed Minchin to his command, the 38-gun HMS Hebe. While serving there, Humphreys was ordered to act as lieutenant of the 14-gun HMS Fury under Captain Henry Evans in April 1796. Humphreys was next in action supporting the army under Sir Ralph Abercromby at the siege of Saint Lucia and his promotion to lieutenant came on 17 January 1797, together with an appointment to the armed ship Sally, serving in the North Sea under Captain George Wolfe. In 1798 he received a posting to the 32-gun HMS Juno, also in the North Sea, in August 1798 Humphreys was sent with some of Junos men to support a cutting out expedition led by Captain Adam Mackenzie of HMS Pylades off the island of Schiermonnikoog. They captured two, burning one and sailing the other back to the British flotilla, Mackenzie armed the captured schuyt with 12-pdr carronades and named her Undaunted, placing Humphreys in command. Mackenzie launched his attack on the Dutch schooner and battery the following day,13 August, crash was supposed to have covered Humphreys in Undaunted, but she ran aground. Undaunted, Humphreys pushed on, coming alongside the Dutch schooner just as she was abandoned by her crew, the strong tide meant that he could not maintain his station alongside the Dutch vessel, and the roundness of her sides prevented him from leaping aboard. Instead he took a rope and jumped into the sea, hoping to be able to swim to the ship, board her, once in the water he found that he could make little headway against the tide, and had to be hauled back on board
40.
Royal Navy
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The Royal Navy is the United Kingdoms naval warfare force. Although warships were used by the English kings from the medieval period. The modern Royal Navy traces its origins to the early 16th century, from the middle decades of the 17th century and through the 18th century, the Royal Navy vied with the Dutch Navy and later with the French Navy for maritime supremacy. From the mid 18th century it was the worlds most powerful navy until surpassed by the United States Navy during the Second World War. The Royal Navy played a key part in establishing the British Empire as the world power during the 19th. Due to this historical prominence, it is common, even among non-Britons, following World War I, the Royal Navy was significantly reduced in size, although at the onset of the Second World War it was still the worlds largest. By the end of the war, however, the United States Navy had emerged as the worlds largest, during the Cold War, the Royal Navy transformed into a primarily anti-submarine force, hunting for Soviet submarines, mostly active in the GIUK gap. The Royal Navy is part of Her Majestys Naval Service, which includes the Royal Marines. The professional head of the Naval Service is the First Sea Lord, the Defence Council delegates management of the Naval Service to the Admiralty Board, chaired by the Secretary of State for Defence. The strength of the fleet of the Kingdom of England was an important element in the power in the 10th century. English naval power declined as a result of the Norman conquest. Medieval fleets, in England as elsewhere, were almost entirely composed of merchant ships enlisted into service in time of war. Englands naval organisation was haphazard and the mobilisation of fleets when war broke out was slow, early in the war French plans for an invasion of England failed when Edward III of England destroyed the French fleet in the Battle of Sluys in 1340. Major fighting was confined to French soil and Englands naval capabilities sufficed to transport armies and supplies safely to their continental destinations. Such raids halted finally only with the occupation of northern France by Henry V. Henry VII deserves a large share of credit in the establishment of a standing navy and he embarked on a program of building ships larger than heretofore. He also invested in dockyards, and commissioned the oldest surviving dry dock in 1495 at Portsmouth, a standing Navy Royal, with its own secretariat, dockyards and a permanent core of purpose-built warships, emerged during the reign of Henry VIII. Under Elizabeth I England became involved in a war with Spain, the new regimes introduction of Navigation Acts, providing that all merchant shipping to and from England or her colonies should be carried out by English ships, led to war with the Dutch Republic. In the early stages of this First Anglo-Dutch War, the superiority of the large, heavily armed English ships was offset by superior Dutch tactical organisation and the fighting was inconclusive
41.
Hopton Heath railway station
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Hopton Heath railway station is a railway station in Hopton Heath, a hamlet in Shropshire, England. It lies on the Heart of Wales Line,25 1⁄2 miles south west of Shrewsbury, the station is situated in a very rural area, the nearest sizeable settlement is Hopton Castle and further afield are the larger villages of Clungunford and Leintwardine. The station was for a number of years the least used National Rail station in Shropshire, however numbers have recently increased. The station and line were constructed by the Knighton Railway and opened in 1861, further construction and route openings in 1865 and 1868 subsequently put the station on a through route between Shrewsbury and Swansea. The railway station is located below street level, to the south of the B4385 road bridge, the original station building is now private houses. Originally there were two running through, but one has been lifted with the singling of the line in general. Access to the platform is via steps from the bridge or alternatively via a level footpath which runs south from the station to the Ashlea Pools holiday park entrance. There are four southbound and five trains a day from Monday to Friday, four each way on Saturdays. This is a request stop, whereby passengers have to signal to the driver to board or alight from the train, a normal weekday service operates on most Bank holidays. All trains serving the station are operated by Arriva Trains Wales, a local bus service calls near the station, which travels between Ludlow and Knighton and calls at the nearby villages of Bedstone, Clungunford and Leintwardine. Currently 3 buses per day call at Hopton Heath in each direction, mitchell, Vic, ed. Craven Arms to Llandeilo. Train times and station information for Hopton Heath railway station from National Rail
42.
Broome railway station
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Broome railway station is a railway station that serves the villages of Broome and Aston on Clun, in Shropshire, England. It is situated on the Heart of Wales Line 22 3⁄4 miles south west of Shrewsbury, all trains that serve the station are operated by Arriva Trains Wales. The station is, according to the most recent figures, the least used National Rail station in the county of Shropshire, Broome station was built by the Knighton Railway company on their branch line between Craven Arms and Knighton, opening with the line in 1861. In 1895 a wind engine was erected at the station for the London, the line was double track and the station had two platforms, but the line has been singled and the station now has just one platform. Originally the station was named Broom and Aston, there are four trains a day in each direction from Monday to Saturday, and two services on Sundays. This is a request stop, whereby passengers have to signal to the driver to board or alight from the train, Railways of Shropshire Body, G. PSL Field Guides - Railways of the Western Region, Patrick Stephens Ltd, Wellingborough, ISBN 0-85059-546-0 Organ, John. Mitchell, Vic, ed. Craven Arms to Llandeilo, train times and station information for Broome railway station from National Rail
43.
Heart of Wales line
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The Heart of Wales line is a railway line running from Craven Arms in Shropshire to Llanelli in southwest Wales. It runs, as the name suggests, through some of the heartlands of Wales and it serves a number of rural centres en route, including several once-fashionable spa towns, including Llandrindod Wells. At Builth Road, two miles from the town of Builth Wells, the crosses the former route of the earlier Mid Wales Railway. This section, originally built by the Llanelly Railway and Dock Company to compete with the Great Western Railway and break the monopoly held on Swansea Dock. Nationalisation of the railways had removed the need for competing routes, Trains now use the original LR main line to reach the West Wales line at Llandeilo Junction and thence Llanelli and Swansea. North of Llandovery, the route was opened in stages between 1861 and 1868 by a number of different companies – the Knighton Railway, the Central Wales Railway, the 1963 Beeching Report proposed the remainder of the Heart of Wales line for closure. It also passed through six marginal constituencies, during engineering work, the line is still occasionally used as a diversionary freight route. The basic service over the line since the seventies has remained more or less constant, with four or five trains per day in each direction on weekdays, the line is single track throughout and has been operated under a Light Railway Order since 1972. There are five passing loops, at Llandeilo, Llandovery, Llanwrtyd, Llandrindod, the signalling was modernised in 1986, when a system known as No Signalman Token Remote working was introduced. This is overseen by the signaller at Pantyffynnon, with the instruments at the aforementioned five passing loops being operated by the train crew by British Rail. For more than two years two of the loops were operational as Network Rail were unable to source spare parts for the points mechanisms used at all five. Parts had to be taken from the three decommissioned loops to keep the two operational. NR began the replacement works for the points after first installing the system on the line to Pembroke Dock, at the Tenby loop, on 7 December 2009, Llandeilo was the first on the line to be modernised, the rest followed. The £5 million project was completed in October 2010, for a while the future of the line was in doubt but political forces of all sides rallied to ensure the lines survival. The short tunnel before the station is the oldest surviving example still in use in Wales. North of Ammanford, it follows the valley of the River Tywi north to Llandeilo and then Llandovery, crossing the river at Glanrhyd by a replacement single-span bridge built & commissioned in 1988. North of Llandovery the character of the changes, as it ascends into the Carmarthenshire hills towards the first of the lines two major summits at Sugar Loaf on gradients as steep as 1 in 60. A descent at 1 in 70-80 follows to Llanwrtyd Wells along the valley of the River Irfon, there then follows a 4-mile descent to Knucklas, where the line is carried above the village on a 193-yd viaduct with ornate castellated turrets at each end
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Craven Arms
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The Heart of Wales railway line joins the Welsh Marches line at Craven Arms and the town is served by Craven Arms railway station. The town is enclosed to the north by the Shropshire Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, Craven Arms is a market town for the surrounding rural area, with a number of shops, banks, estate agents, a supermarket, an abattoir and many commercial/light industrial businesses. It is also a destination, being home or nearby to a number of attractions. It describes itself as the Gateway to the Marches, Craven Arms is a relatively new town, being only a small village Newton on a map of 1695. The settlement grew when the railways came during the mid to late 19th century, Newton or Newtown is still the name for the southeastern part of the present day town, while the northern part is called Newington or New Inn. The town takes its name from the Craven Arms Hotel, situated on the junction of the A49 and B4368 roads, the civil parish of Craven Arms was formed from the merging of two older parishes — Stokesay and Halford. These two older entities continued as parish wards, however a review of the governance of the parish in 2012 concluded that these two wards would be abolished from May 2013, small parts of the settlement overlap into neighbouring Wistanstow and Sibdon Carwood parishes. Nearby towns are Bishops Castle, Clun, Church Stretton and Ludlow, the River Onny flows to the towns east and just over the river is the small village of Halford. To the south is the village of Stokesay, whilst to the north is the village of Wistanstow. Wenlock Edge is to the northeast of the town and runs in a northeasterly direction, there are three main visitor attractions in the Craven Arms civil parish. Stokesay Castle is a manor house located within the parish. Much of the recent housing development is on the west side of the town, development potential towards the east is restricted by the floodplain of the River Onny, whilst to the south lies the historically important Stokesay Castle. The town centre itself has some notable developments in recent years. Additionally, to the south of the town centre is the new Secret Hills Discovery Centre. Bruce Chatwin wrote On the Black Hill whilst staying at Cwm Hall near the town, the film Atonement was filmed in part near Stokesay
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Shrewsbury
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Shrewsbury SHROOZ-bree is the county town of Shropshire, England. It is on the River Severn and has a population of approximately 72,000. and is nicknamed the heart of shropshire. Shrewsbury is a town whose centre has a largely unaltered medieval street plan and over 660 listed buildings. The town has historically been a centre for the wool trade, horticulture remains popular, and the Shrewsbury Flower Show is one of the largest horticultural events in England. The A5 and A49 trunk roads cross near to the town and its later Welsh name Amwythig means fortified place. Over the ages, the important town has been the site of many conflicts. The Angles, under King Offa of Mercia, took possession in 778, nearby is the village of Wroxeter,5 miles to the south-east. This was once the site of Viroconium, the fourth largest cantonal capital in Roman Britain, as Caer Guricon it is a possible alternative for the Dark Age seat of the Kingdom of Powys. The importance of the Shrewsbury area in the Roman era was underlined with the discovery of the Shrewsbury Hoard in 2009, Shrewsburys known history commences in the Early Middle Ages, having been founded c.800 AD. It is believed that Anglo-Saxon Shrewsbury was most probably a settlement fortified through the use of earthworks comprising a ditch and rampart, There is evidence to show that by the beginning of the 900s, Shrewsbury was home to a mint. The Welsh besieged it in 1069, but were repelled by William the Conqueror, Roger de Montgomery was given the town as a gift from William, and built Shrewsbury Castle in 1074, taking the title of Earl. He founded Shrewsbury Abbey as a Benedictine monastery in 1083, the 3rd Earl, Robert of Bellême, was deposed in 1102 and the title forfeited, in consequence of rebelling against Henry I and joining the Duke of Normandys invasion of English in 1101. In 1138, King Stephen successfully besieged the castle held by William FitzAlan for the Empress Maud during the known as the Anarchy. It was in the late Middle Ages when the town was at its height of commercial importance. This was mainly due to the trade, a major industry at the time, with the rest of Britain and Europe, especially with the River Severn. The Shrewsbury Drapers Company dominated the trade in Welsh wool for many years, Shrewsburys monastic gathering was disbanded with the Dissolution of the Monasteries and as such the Abbey was closed in 1540. However, it is believed that Henry VIII thereafter intended to make Shrewsbury a cathedral city after the formation of the Church of England, but the citizens of the town declined the offer. Despite this, Shrewsbury thrived throughout the 16th and 17th centuries, largely due to the towns fortuitous location, as a resultant a number of grand edifices, including the Irelands Mansion and Drapers Hall, were constructed
Media related to Clungunford at Wikimedia Commons
