A to Z of place facts

Quy in east Cambridgeshire, part of Stow-cum-Quy, is home to Quy Fen, a protected SSSI with a series of ponds hosting a huge variety of flora and fauna.

Preston is a city in Lancashire and it hosts the footballing museum.

Otford is a town in Kent, which stands on the ancient Pilgrims Way. The town is known to exist from the 8th Century although there is some evidence of Roman occupation.

Netherton is a town in the MBC of Dudley. It is famous for chainmakers N Hingley and Sons who made the anchors for the Titanic and the Lusitania There is a sculpture in the town to commemorate the anchor and chainmaking history of the town.

Manchester is in the North of England.It has a tram network and two famous football teams.

Lynton and Lynmouth are “twin villages” on the north Devon coast, and the top and bottom of the cliffs, connected by the highest and steepest water-powered funicular railway in the world.

Kensington, an area of London, was listed in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Chenesitone, which in the Anglo-Saxon language means "Chenesi's ton" (Chenesi's homestead/settlement).

Jacobstowe is a village in Devon, with an interesting church, parts of which date from Norman times.

Islington is a borough in London and is now a trendy place to live.

Hindhead is Surrey’s highest village, on the edge of the beautiful Devil’s Punchbowl. The busy A3 used to skirt the Punchbowl but now runs through the Hindhead tunnel, the longest road tunnel in England at over a mile.

Grenoside, a village in Sheffield, famous for it's troupe of Morris dancers at one time. Birthplace of band 'Reverend and the makers'

Ferryside. A small coastal village in Carmarthenshire.

Eye - town in Suffolk which derives its name from the Old English for island.

Derwent is a small parish in Derbyshire, containing the site of the submerged village of Derwent, which was flooded in the 1940s to create the Ladybower reservoir.

Caerphilly. Famous for it’s castle with a leaning tower and it’s crumbly cheese,

Bognor is a coastal resort in West Sussex. It gained the title Bognor Regis after George V spent 3 months convalescing there and apparently the sea air helped his (short) recovery.

Aylesham is an old mining town in Kent.

Zeals is in Wiltshire it is a small parish of around two miles.

Youghal is a town in Co Cork, with mediaeval buildings including an attractive clock gate.

eXeter is in Devon (moving it on !)

Winterton-on-Sea in east Norfolk attracts thousands of seals to the beach during breeding season

(Missed “T”?)

Ventnor, Isle of Wight, was described by Dickens as “the prettiest place I ever saw”.

Upminster The eastern terminus of the District line

Staines used to have a pet stall in the market, and one fine Saturday in 1965 my father bought a puppy who was my beloved pet for 15 years