1.
Gold Coast, Queensland
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Gold Coast is a coastal city in the Australian state of Queensland, approximately 66 kilometres south-southeast of the state capital Brisbane and immediately north of the border with New South Wales. With a census-estimated 2016 population of 638,090, The Gold Coast is the sixth-largest city in Australia, making it the largest non-capital city, the first settlement in what is now South East Queensland was as a penal colony at Redcliffe. The Gold Coast region remained uninhabited by Europeans until 1823 when explorer John Oxley landed at Mermaid Beach. The hinterlands red cedar supply attracted people to the area in the mid-19th century, later in 1875, Southport was surveyed and established and grew a reputation as a secluded holiday destination for wealthy Brisbane residents. The Gold Coast region grew significantly after the establishment of the Surfers Paradise hotel in the late 1920s and it is also the major film production hub for Queensland. Gold Coast will host the 2018 Commonwealth Games, lieutenant James Cook became the first European to note the region when he sailed along the coast on 16 May 1770 in the HM Bark Endeavour. Captain Matthew Flinders, an explorer charting the continent north from the colony of New South Wales, escaped convicts from the Moreton Bay penal settlement hid in the region. The region remained uninhabited by Europeans until 1823 when explorer John Oxley landed at Mermaid Beach. The hinterlands red cedar supply attracted people to the area in the mid-19th century, a number of small townships developed along coast and in the hinterland. The western suburb of Nerang was surveyed and established as a base for the industry, by 1873, the town reserve of Burleigh Heads had also been surveyed and successful land sales had taken place. Southport quickly grew a reputation as a holiday destination for wealthy Brisbane residents. Gold Coast was originally known as the South Coast, however, inflated prices for real estate and other goods and services led to the nickname of Gold Coast from 1950. South Coast locals initially considered the name Gold Coast derogatory, however, soon the Gold Coast simply became a convenient way to refer to the holiday strip from Southport to Coolangatta. As the tourism grew into the 1950s, local businesses began to adopt the term in their names. The area was proclaimed a city less than one year later, in 2007, Gold Coast overtook the population of Newcastle, New South Wales to become the sixth largest city in Australia and the largest non-capital city. The Gold Coast is approximately covered by forests of various types. This includes small patches of near-pristine ancient rainforest, mangrove-covered islands, of the plantation pine forests that were planted in the 1950s and 1960s, when commercial forest planting for tax minimisation was encouraged by the Commonwealth government, tiny remnants remain. Gold Coast City lies in the southeast corner of Queensland, to the south of Brisbane, the Albert River separates Gold Coast from Logan City, a suburban area of Brisbane
2.
Brisbane
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Brisbane is the capital of and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland, and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbanes metropolitan area has a population of 2.35 million, the Brisbane central business district stands on the original European settlement and is situated inside a bend of the Brisbane River, about 15 kilometres from its mouth at Moreton Bay. The demonym of Brisbane is Brisbanite, one of the oldest cities in Australia, Brisbane was founded upon the ancient homelands of the indigenous Turrbal and Jagera peoples. A penal settlement was founded in 1824 at Redcliffe,28 kilometres north of the business district. The city was marred by the Australian frontier wars between 1843 and 1855, and development was set back by the Great Fire of Brisbane. Brisbane was chosen as the capital when Queensland was proclaimed a colony from New South Wales in 1859. During World War II, Brisbane played a role in the Allied campaign. Today, Brisbane is well known for its distinct Queenslander architecture which forms much of the built heritage. It also receives attention for its damaging flood events, most notably in 1974 and 2011. Several large cultural, international and sporting events have held at Brisbane, including the 1982 Commonwealth Games, World Expo 88, the final Goodwill Games in 2001. Prior to white settlement, the Brisbane area was inhabited by the Turrbal and they knew the area that is now the central business district as Mian-jin, meaning place shaped as a spike. The Moreton Bay area was explored by Matthew Flinders. On 17 July 1799, Flinders landed at what is now known as Woody Point, in 1823 Governor of New South Wales Sir Thomas Brisbane instructed that a new northern penal settlement be developed, and an exploration party led by John Oxley further explored Moreton Bay. Oxley discovered, named, and explored the Brisbane River as far as Goodna,20 kilometres upstream from the Brisbane central business district, Oxley recommended Red Cliff Point for the new colony, reporting that ships could land at any tide and easily get close to the shore. The party settled in Redcliffe on 13 September 1824, under the command of Lieutenant Henry Miller with 14 soldiers and 29 convicts. However, this settlement was abandoned after a year and the colony was moved to a site on the Brisbane River now known as North Quay,28 km south, chief Justice Forbes gave the new settlement the name of Edenglassie before it was named Brisbane. Non-convict European settlement of the Brisbane region commenced in 1838, German missionaries settled at Zions Hill, Nundah as early as 1837, five years before Brisbane was officially declared a free settlement. The band consisted of ministers Christopher Eipper and Carl Wilhelm Schmidt and lay missionaries Haussmann, Johann Gottried Wagner, Niquet, Hartenstein, Zillman, Franz, Rode, Doege and they were allocated 260 hectares and set about establishing the mission, which became known as the German Station
3.
Rugby union
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Rugby union, known in some parts of the world simply as rugby, is a contact team sport which originated in England in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its most common form, a game is between two teams of 15 players using a ball on a rectangular field with H-shaped goalposts on each try line. Historically an amateur sport, in 1995 restrictions on payments to players were removed, World Rugby, originally the International Rugby Football Board and from 1998 to 2014 the International Rugby Board, has been the governing body for rugby union since 1886. Rugby union spread from the Home Nations of Great Britain and Ireland, early exponents of the sport included Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and France. Countries that have adopted rugby union as their de facto national sport include Fiji, Georgia, Madagascar, New Zealand, Samoa, Tonga, Rugby union is played in over 100 countries across six continents, there are 101 full members and 18 associate members of World Rugby. The Rugby World Cup, first held in 1987, takes place four years with the winner of the tournament receiving the Webb Ellis Cup. The Six Nations Championship in Europe and The Rugby Championship in the Southern Hemisphere are major annual competitions. The origin of football is reputed to be an incident during a game of English school football at Rugby School in 1823. Although the evidence for the story is doubtful, it was immortalised at the school with a plaque unveiled in 1895, despite the doubtful evidence, the Rugby World Cup trophy is named after Webb Ellis. Rugby football stems from the form of game played at Rugby School, Old Rugbeian Albert Pell, a student at Cambridge, is credited with having formed the first football team. During this early period different schools used different rules, with pupils from Rugby. Other important events include the Blackheath Clubs decision to leave the Football Association in 1863, despite the sports full name of rugby union, it is known simply as rugby throughout most of the world. The first rugby football international was played on 27 March 1871 between Scotland and England, by 1881 both Ireland and Wales had representative teams, and in 1883 the first international competition, the Home Nations Championship had begun. 1883 is also the year of the first rugby tournament, the Melrose Sevens. During the early history of union, a time before commercial air travel. The first two notable tours both took place in 1888—the British Isles team touring New Zealand and Australia, followed by the New Zealand team touring Europe, All three teams brought new styles of play, fitness levels and tactics, and were far more successful than critics had expected. After Morgan began singing, the crowd joined in, the first time a national anthem was sung at the start of a sporting event, in 1905 France played England in its first international match
4.
Queensland Reds
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The Queensland Reds is the rugby union team for the Australian state of Queensland that competes in the Southern Hemispheres Super Rugby competition. Prior to 1996 they were a team selected from the rugby union club competitions in Queensland. From 1996 to 2005 they were one of three Australian teams competing in the Super 12 competition, alongside the New South Wales Waratahs, Queensland finished as minor premiers in 1996 and 1999. From 2006 to 2010, they competed in the expanded Super 14 competition as one of four Australian sides, beginning in 2011, they are one of five Australian sides in the expanded and renamed Super Rugby, winning the competition in its first season in its new format. In 2012 they finished first in the Australian conference, however, it was reported that the game was soon varied to suit the preferences of the local players, and “rugby, with Brisbane variations, was the game played”. Most of these games were played at the Queens Park (now part of the City Botanic Gardens, however, in 1882, a Brisbane FC representative arranged a Rugby match against the Sydney Wallaroos Rugby club, after the NSWRU offered to pay all costs associated with the match. The following years saw rapidly increasing popularity of the Rugby game, as Rugby historian Sean Fagan noted, The defining moment in the code battle came with the 1886 Queensland side, who defeated NSW for the first time in Sydney. “The success of this team won the day for rugby game in Queensland. In 1883, the first inter-colonial match in Brisbane took place, in 1896 the first Queensland team departed for a tour of New Zealand, where they played New Zealand at Athletic Park in Wellington on 15 August, losing 9 to nil. In 1899 Queensland recorded their first win against an international team, the Queensland team remained a representative team selected solely from the rugby union clubs within the state, until the advent of the Super rugby competition in the 1990s. With the start up of league as well as World War I, Queensland rugby was dormant for a number of years. In 1928 the QRU was re-formed, and the GPS competition, the game struggled during World War II, but growth was nonetheless apparent, with the advent of the Queensland Junior Rugby Union and the Country Rugby Union. In 1950 the QRU secured the Normanby Oval at nominal rent from Brisbane Grammar School, before they moved into Ballymore Stadium in 1966, in 1980 Queensland defeated the All Blacks, which was their first win against New Zealand. The match was played at Ballymore on 6 July and Queensland won 9 to 3, two seasons later centenary celebrations took place, with Queensland defeating New South Wales 41 to 7 in the celebratory match. The first Super 10 was held in 1993, Queensland were grouped in Pool A alongside Auckland, Natal, Western Samoa and Otago. Queensland finished with five points, in fourth place, the subsequent Super 10 competition of 1994 saw Queensland finish at the top of Pool A on 13 points, edging out North Harbour on for and against differential to finish at the top. The Queensland Reds went on to play the winner of Pool B, South African side, the Reds won the final,21 points to 10 at Kings Park Stadium in Durban. The following season was more successful for the Reds, who were playing in Pool B for the 1995 season
5.
Folk music
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Folk music includes both traditional music and the genre that evolved from it during the 20th century folk revival. The term originated in the 19th century, but is applied to music older than that. Some types of music are also called world music. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways, as music transmitted orally, music with unknown composers and it has been contrasted with commercial and classical styles. Starting in the century, a new form of popular folk music evolved from traditional folk music. This process and period is called the revival and reached a zenith in the 1960s. This form of music is called contemporary folk music or folk revival music to distinguish it from earlier folk forms. Smaller, similar revivals have occurred elsewhere in the world at other times and this type of folk music also includes fusion genres such as folk rock, folk metal, electric folk, and others. Even individual songs may be a blend of the two, a consistent definition of traditional folk music is elusive. The terms folk music, folk song, and folk dance are comparatively recent expressions and they are extensions of the term folklore, which was coined in 1846 by the English antiquarian William Thoms to describe the traditions, customs, and superstitions of the uncultured classes. Traditional folk music also includes most indigenous music, however, despite the assembly of an enormous body of work over some two centuries, there is still no certain definition of what folk music is. Some do not even agree that the term Folk Music should be used, Folk music may tend to have certain characteristics but it cannot clearly be differentiated in purely musical terms. One meaning often given is that of old songs, with no known composers, the fashioning and re-fashioning of the music by the community that give it its folk character. Such definitions depend upon processes rather than abstract musical types, one widely used definition is simply Folk music is what the people sing. For Scholes, as well as for Cecil Sharp and Béla Bartók, Folk music was already. seen as the authentic expression of a way of life now past or about to disappear, particularly in a community uninfluenced by art music and by commercial and printed song. In these terms folk music may be seen as part of a schema comprising four types, primitive or tribal, elite or art, folk. Music in this genre is often called traditional music. Although the term is only descriptive, in some cases people use it as the name of a genre
6.
Number 96 (TV series)
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Number 96 was a popular Australian television soap opera/serial set in an inner city, Sydney apartment block. The series proved to be a success, running from early 1972 until 1977. Number 96 was so popular it spawned a film version, filmed in December 1973. Number 96 was known for its sex scenes and nudity. The series was the first in the world to feature an openly gay regular character, stories focused on topics such as racism, drug use, rape, marriage problems, adultery and homosexuality, along with more prosaic romantic and domestic storylines. The show featured a multiracial cast, had frequent nude scenes and it is believed that the series was the worlds first to include a portrayal of a gay couple fully accepted by and integrated into their community. Playing the role of malapropping gossip Dorrie Evans, actor Pat McDonald won the Best Actress Logie Award in 1973,1974,1976, playing the part of Bev Houghton, Abigail quickly emerged as the shows most famous sex symbol. She left the series suddenly in June 1973 in a burst of publicity, grasping magazine editor Maggie Cameron became part owner of the building and sustained acrimonious enmities with several of the residents and the other owners. Her friend and sometimes rival was Flat 7 resident Vera Collins who would be unlucky in love. Lawyer Don Finlayson was revealed as gay in an episode and had several boyfriends over the course of the series. Reg and Edie MacDonald and their bubbly daughter Marilyn arrived at the start of 1974 as three more comedy characters, the series made good use of end-of-episode and end-of-year cliffhangers, and whodunit type storylines proved particularly popular. These included a panty snatcher dubbed the Knicker Snipper, and a killer called the Pantyhose Murderer. One memorable cliffhanger was the explosion in the Goldolphus deli on the floor of Number 96. Tom Greer and Ed Byron used to have drinks with the journalists from the Daily Telegraph at the Evening Star Hotel in Elizabeth Street opposite Central Station, Tom said to the journalists Want a great story for tomorrows paper. Next morning every newsagent had a billboard out front of the shop with the headline FOUR PEOPLE KILLED IN96 BOMB, the Daily Telegraph sold out three editions and had to urgently run a fourth edition. During 96s lifetime the show attracted many complaints, the Australian Broadcasting Control Board repeatedly sanctioned Channel 10. Often, offending scenes would be cut from the episode after its Sydney airing meaning other city, paperwork of all this offensive material survives with the National Film and Sound Archive but the actual reel of footage has never been found. Consequently, the first episodes feature cuts and screen blackouts, eventually, due to the shows phenomenal popularity, the Broadcasting Control Board relaxed its restrictions and stopped viewing the episodes in advance
7.
Prisoner (TV series)
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Prisoner was an Australian soap opera set in the Wentworth Detention Centre, a fictional womens prison. In the United States and United Kingdom it was known as Prisoner, Cell Block H, with the same title, the series, produced by the Reg Grundy Organisation, aired on Network Ten for 692 episodes between 27 February 1979 and 11 December 1986. Originally, it was planned as a 16-part series, the show was inspired by the British television drama Within These Walls, which was moderately successful in Australia. The Prisoner producers approached Googie Withers of Within These Walls to play the prison governor, due to an injunction requested by UK-based ATV, which considered the title too similar to their The Prisoner, overseas broadcasters had to change the series name. In March 2012 it was announced that Prisoner would be reimagined on Foxtel in a new version, Prisoner was created by Reg Watson, who had produced the British soap opera Crossroads from 1964 to 1973 and would create Australian soaps The Young Doctors, Sons and Daughters and Neighbours. Initially conceived as a 16-episode series, the title of the pilot episode was Women Behind Bars. Its storylines focused on the lives of the prisoners and, to a lesser extent, when the initial episodes met an enthusiastic reception, it was felt that Prisoner could be developed into an ongoing soap opera. The early storylines were developed and expanded, with assistance from the Corrective Services Department, the shows themes, often radical, included feminism, homosexuality and social reform. Prisoner began in early 1979 with the slogan, If you think prison is hell for a man. The series examined how women dealt with incarceration and separation from their families, within the prison, major themes were interpersonal relationships, power struggles, friendships and rivalries. The prisoners became a family, with Bea Smith and Jeanette Brookes central mother figures. Several lesbian characters, including prisoners Franky Doyle and Judy Bryant and officer Joan Ferguson, typical of long-running TV dramas, consistency and characterization were problematic for the series. Initially there was a prison next door to Wentworth. Barnhurst was originally a prison, soon becoming a womens facility. Although Blackmoor Prison was initially described as a new, state-of-the-art maximum-security prison. Wentworth was variously described as new or built during World War II. Dr. Greg Miller stated in one that he had his own private practice. Background officer Joan Barfield was often called Connie in early episodes, viewers introduction to the Detention Centre featured the arrival of two new prisoners, Karen Travers and Lynn Warner
8.
Pantomime
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Pantomime, is a type of musical comedy stage production, designed for family entertainment. It was developed in England and is performed throughout the United Kingdom, generally during the Christmas and New Year season and, to a lesser extent. It is a form of theatre, in which the audience is expected to sing along with certain parts of the music. Pantomime has a theatrical history in Western culture dating back to classical theatre. It developed partly from the 16th century commedia dellarte tradition of Italy, as well as other European and British stage traditions, such as 17th-century masques, an important part of the pantomime, until the late 19th century, was the harlequinade. Outside Britain the word pantomime is used to mean miming. The Roman pantomime drew upon the Greek tragedy and other Greek genres from its inception, although the art was instituted in Rome, the English word came to be applied to the performance itself. Music was supplied by flute and the pulse of an iron-shod shoe, performances might be in a private household, with minimal personnel, or else lavish theatrical productions involving a large orchestra and chorus and sometimes an ancillary actor. The dancer danced all the roles, relying on masks, stock poses and gestures, Pantomime differed from mime by its more artistic nature and relative lack of farce and coarse humour, though these were not absent from some productions. Precursors of pantomime also included the masque, which grew in pomp, the development of English pantomime was also strongly influenced by the continental commedia dellarte, a form of popular theatre that arose in Italy in the Early Modern Period. Each scenario used some of the stock characters. These included the innamorati, the vecchi such as Pantalone, and zanni such as Arlecchino, Colombina, Scaramouche, Italian masque performances in the 17th century sometimes included the Harlequin character. In the 17th century, adaptations of the characters became familiar in English entertainments. From these, the standard English harlequinade developed, depicting the eloping lovers Harlequin and Columbine, pursued by the girls father Pantaloon and his comic servants Clown, in English versions, by the 18th century, Harlequin became the central figure and romantic lead. The basic plot of the harlequinade remained essentially the same for more than 150 years, tavern Bilkers, by John Weaver, the dancing master at Drury Lane, is cited as the first pantomime produced on the English stage. The same year he produced a pantomime on the subject of Perseus, after this, pantomime was regular feature at Drury Lane. In 1717 at Lincolns Inn, actor and manager John Rich introduced Harlequin into the theatres pantomimes under the name of Lun and he gained great popularity for his pantomimes, especially beginning with his 1724 production of The Necromancer, or, History of Dr. Faustus. These early pantomimes were silent, or dumb show, performances consisting of only dancing, spoken drama was only allowed in London only in the two patent theatres until Parliament changed this restriction in 1843
9.
Aladdin
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Aladdin is a Middle Eastern folk tale. Aladdin is an impoverished young neer-do-well dwelling in one of the cities of China, the sorcerers real motive is to persuade young Aladdin to retrieve a wonderful oil lamp from a booby-trapped magic cave. After the sorcerer attempts to him, Aladdin finds himself trapped in the cave. Fortunately, Aladdin is still wearing a ring the sorcerer has lent him. When he rubs his hands in despair, he rubs the ring. When his mother tries to clean the lamp, so they can sell it to buy food for their supper, with the aid of the genie of the lamp, Aladdin becomes rich and powerful and marries Princess Badroulbadour, the sultans daughter. The genie builds Aladdin and his bride a wonderful palace, far more magnificent than the sultans, the sorcerer hears of Aladdins good fortune, and returns, he gets his hands on the lamp by tricking Aladdins wife by offering to exchange new lamps for old. He orders the genie of the lamp to take the palace, along all its contents. Fortunately, Aladdin still has the ring and is able to summon the lesser genie. The sorcerers more powerful and evil brother plots to destroy Aladdin for killing his brother by disguising himself as an old woman known for her healing powers, Badroulbadour falls for his disguise and commands the woman to stay in her palace in case of any illnesses. Aladdin is warned of danger by the genie of the lamp. Everyone lives happily ever after, Aladdin eventually succeeding to his father-in-laws throne, Gallands diary records that he met the Maronite scholar, by name Youhenna Diab, who had been brought from Aleppo to Paris by Paul Lucas, a celebrated French traveller. Gallands diary also tells that his translation of Aladdin was made in the winter of 1709–10 and it was included in his volumes ix and x of the Nights, published in 1710. One was written by a Syrian Christian priest living in Paris, named Dionysios Shawish, the other is supposed to be a copy Mikhail Sabbagh made of a manuscript written in Baghdad in 1703. It was purchased by the Bibliothèque Nationale at the end of the nineteenth century, however, modern scholars such as Muhsin Mahdi and Husain Haddawy claim that both manuscripts are forgeries—back-translations of Gallands text into Arabic. The opening sentences of the story, in both the Galland and the Burton versions, set it in China and imply, at least, on the other hand, there is practically nothing in the rest of the story that is inconsistent with a Persian or Arabian setting. A Jewish merchant buys Aladdins wares, but there is no mention of Buddhists or Confucians, of course, Chinas ethnic makeup has long included Muslim groups, including large populations of the Hui people whose origins go back to Silk Road travellers. In addition, large communities of Muslim Chinese have been known since the Tang Dynasty, some commentators have even suggested that the story might be set in Turkestan
10.
Peter Pan
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Peter Pan is a character created by Scottish novelist and playwright J. M. Barrie. In addition to two works by Barrie, the character has been featured in a variety of media and merchandise. These include a 1953 animated film, a 2003 dramatic/live-action film, a TV series and many other works. J. M. Barrie first used Peter Pan as a character in a section of The Little White Bird, an adult novel where he appears as a seven-day-old baby in the chapter entitled Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens. He returned to the character of Peter Pan as the centre of his play entitled Peter Pan, or The Boy Who Wouldnt Grow Up. Barrie later adapted and expanded the story line as a novel, published in 1911 as Peter. Barrie never described Peters appearance in detail, even in his novel, leaving it to the imagination of the reader, in the play, Peters outfit is made of autumn leaves and cobwebs. His name and playing the flute or pipes suggest the mythological character Pan, Barrie mentions in Peter and Wendy that Peter Pan still had all his first teeth. He describes him as a boy with a beautiful smile, clad in skeleton leaves. Traditionally, the character has been played on stage by an adult woman. In the original productions in the UK, Peter Pans costume was a tunic and dark green tights. This costume is exhibited in Barries Birthplace, the similar costume worn by Pauline Chase is displayed in the Museum of London. Early editions of adaptations of the story also depict a red costume but a green costume becomes more usual from the 1920s, and more so later after the release of Disneys animated movie. In the Disney films, Peter wears an outfit consists of a short-sleeved green tunic and tights apparently made of cloth. He has pointed ears, brown eyes and his hair is red. In Hook, the character is played as an adult by Robin Williams, with eyes and dark brown hair, in flashbacks to him in his youth. In this film his ears appear pointed only when he is Peter Pan and his Pan attire resembles the Disney outfit. In the live-action 2003 Peter Pan film, he is portrayed by Jeremy Sumpter and his outfit is made of leaves and vines
11.
Royal Tunbridge Wells
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Royal Tunbridge Wells is a large affluent town in western Kent, England, about 40 miles south-east of central London by road,34.5 miles by rail. The town is close to the border of the county of East Sussex and it is situated at the northern edge of the High Weald, the sandstone geology of which is exemplified by the rock formations at the Wellington Rocks and High Rocks. Though its popularity waned with the advent of sea bathing, the town remains popular, the town has a population of around 56,500 and is the administrative centre of Tunbridge Wells Borough and the UK parliamentary constituency of Tunbridge Wells. The area which is now Tunbridge Wells was part of the parish of Speldhurst for hundreds of years, but the origin of the town as it is today, however, came in the seventeenth century. In 1606 Dudley, Lord North, a courtier to James I who was staying at a lodge in Eridge in the hope that the country air might improve his ailing constitution. He drank from the spring and, when his health improved and he persuaded his rich friends in London to try it, and by the time Queen Henrietta Maria, wife of King Charles I, visited in 1630 it had established itself as a spa retreat. Also in 1676 a subscription for a chapel of ease was opened, and in 1684 the Church of King Charles the Martyr was duly built and the town began to develop around it. Tradesmen in the town dealt in the luxury goods demanded by their patrons, which would certainly have included Tunbridge ware, a kind of decoratively inlaid woodwork. They have made the very commodious by the many good building all about it. All the people buy their own provisions at the market, which is just by the wells and is furnished with great plenty of all sorts of fish and fowl. and two rooms for the lottery and hazard board. He remained in position until his death in 1762. By the early nineteenth century Tunbridge Wells experienced growth as a place for the well-to-do to visit, during this time Decimus Burton developed John Wards Calverley Park estate. In 1889 the town was awarded the status of a Borough,1902 saw the opening of an Opera House, and in 1909 the town received its Royal prefix. The Second World War affected Tunbridge Wells in a different way—it became so swollen with refugees from London that accommodation was severely strained, over 3,800 buildings were damaged by bombing, but only 15 people lost their lives. Royal Tunbridge Wells is one of three towns in England to have been granted this. Although Wells has a form, it refers to the principal source. Royal Tunbridge Wells is the centre for both Tunbridge Wells Borough and the parliamentary constituency of Tunbridge Wells. The Borough is governed by 48 Councillors, representing 20 wards, elections are held for 16 Council seats each year on a rotational basis, with elections to Kent County Council taking place in the fourth year of the cycle
12.
Basingstoke
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Basingstoke is the largest town in Hampshire. It is situated in south central England, and lies across a valley at the source of the River Loddon and it is located 30 miles northeast of Southampton,48 miles southwest of London, and 19 miles northeast of the county town and former capital Winchester. According to the 2011 census the town had a population of 107,355 and it is part of the borough of Basingstoke and Deane and part of the parliamentary constituency of Basingstoke. Basingstoke is often nicknamed Doughnut City or Roundabout City because of the number of large roundabouts, Basingstoke is an old market town expanded in the mid 1960s as a result of an agreement between London County Council and Hampshire County Council. Basingstoke market was mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086, at the start of World War II the population was little more than 13,000. It still has a market, but is now larger than Hampshire County Councils definition of a market town. It is also the location of the European headquarters of the TaylorMade-Adidas Golf Company, other industries include publishing, IT, telecommunications, insurance and electronics. The name Basingstoke is believed to have derived from the towns position as the outlying. The ending -stoke means outlying settlement or possibly refers to a stockade that surrounded the settlement in early medieval times. Basing, now Old Basing, a village 2 miles to the east, is thought to have the same etymology and it remained the main settlement until changes in the local church moved the religious base from St Marys Church, Basing, to the church in Basingstoke. The site of Winklebury camp is now home to Fort Hill Community School, nearby, to the west, Roman Road marks the course of a Roman road that ran from Winchester to Silchester. Further to the east, another Roman road ran from Chichester through the villages of Upton Grey. The Harrow Way is an Iron-age ancient route that runs to the south of the town, the first recorded historical event here was the victory gained by Æthelred of Wessex and Alfred the Great over the Danes in 871. Again, in 904, Basingstoke saw a battle between Edward the Elder, Alfreds only son, and his cousin Æthelwald. Basingstoke is recorded as being a site in the Domesday Book. During the Civil War, and the siege of Basing House between 1643 and 1645, the town played host to large numbers of Parliamentarians. During this time, St. Michaels Church was damaged whilst being used as a store and lead was stripped from the roof of the Chapel of the Holy Ghost. It had been incorporated in 1524, but was out of use after the Civil War
