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Carlisle Cumbria

Approximate Population: 71,773

The Romans called their settlement on the site of today’s city Luguvalium, as evidenced by Roman writing tablets recently excavated in the city and displayed at Tullie House Museum, bearing this name as the address. Luguvalium can be interpreted from Latin as “the place, or wall of Lugus” (a local deity).

Around the 11th and 12th centuries, however, surviving documents show the place name spelt Caer (castle) Luel or Llewelyn.   Luel, and its variants are Cumbric personal names, and it has been proposed that this was always the basis of the local name, which had been preserved by the continuity of Cumbric-speaking peoples in the area, from before the Roman imposition of a Latinised version.   The fact that Cumbria (from Cymru or similar roots) was held by the Celtic kings of Rheged in the 9th century may have stimulated a revival of the Cumbric language and reinstatement of earlier Celtic place-names.   Cumbric is no longer spoken, but the surviving Welsh language has “Caerliwelydd” as the modern name for Carlisle.

Carlisle has a compact historic centre, including a castle, museum, cathedral, and semi-intact city walls.   The former law courts or citadel towers which now serve as offices for Cumbria County Council are also of architectural interest.

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Hereford Herefordshire

Approximate Population: 50,400

The annual Three Choirs Festival, originating in the eighteenth century and one of the oldest music festivals in Europe, is held in Hereford every third year, the other venues being Gloucester and Worcester. The city’s main theatre and cultural venue is the Courtyard Centre for the Arts which was opened in 1998, replacing the New Hereford Theatre.   There is also a single screen Odeon cinema in Commercial Road, although the nearest multiplex facility is some distance away in Worcester.

Composer Sir Edward Elgar lived at Plas Gwyn in Hereford between 1904 and 1911, writing some of his most famous works during that time.   He is commemorated with a statue on the Cathedral Close. One of his Enigma Variations was inspired by a bulldog named Dan falling into the River Wye at Hereford, and the dog is similarly honoured with a wooden statue beside the river.

H.Art, or Herefordshire Art Week, is an annual county-wide exhibition held in September, displaying the work of local artists.  The original lineup of The Pretenders, with the exception of lead singer Chrissie Hynde, were from Hereford, as were the rock band Mott the Hoople. Actor and director Frank Oz was born in Hereford, and lived there for the first five years of his life.

The troops of the fictional commando squad Rainbow were based at RAF Hereford, as detailed in the novel Rainbow Six.  The Local radio stations are Wyvern FM which broadcasts on 97.6FM, Sunshine Radio on 106.2 FM and 954 kHz Am, and BBC Hereford and Worcester which broadcasts on 94.7FM.

Hereford is briefly mentioned in Ronin as a ploy by Sam (Robert De Niro) to expose Spence (Sean Bean) as a liar.  Grant Nicholas of the rock band ‘Feeder’ supposedly brought his first guitar from a shop in Hereford as a present for passing some exams from his parents.

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Garden Maintenance Rochester Kent

Approximate Population: 27,000

Rochester City Council bought the land at Rochester Airfield in September 1933 from the landowner as the site for a municipal airport. One month later Short Brothers, who had started building aircraft in 1909 on the Isle of Sheppey, asked for permission to lease the land for test flying.
Rochester station building. The railway passes at first floor level on a viaduct.

In 1934-5 Short Brothers took over the Rochester Airport site when they moved some of their personnel from the existing seaplane works. The inaugural flight into Rochester was from Gravesend, John Parker flying their Short Scion G-ACJI.

In 1979 the lease reverted to the council. After giving thorough consideration to closing the airport, GEC (then comprising Marconi and instrument makers Elliot Automation) decided to take over management of the airport. It maintained two grass runways while releasing some land for light industrial expansion.

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Lisburn Northern Ireland

Approximate Population: 71,465

* Lisburn railway station was opened on 12 August 1839.  The railway remains a popular means of transport between Lisburn and Belfast, with the express trains taking 8-10 minutes to reach Belfast’s Great Victoria Street. The train also links the city directly with Portadown, Lurgan, Moira and Bangor. Connections to Dublin require a change at either Portadown or Belfast Central.

* The city is served by a variety of bus routes to Belfast city centre via the Lisburn Road (523/4/5) and also the Falls Road (530/1/2). There are also routes passing through the city heading for Banbridge or Newry (service 38) and Craigavon (service 51). There are few buses that access Belfast using the M1 motorway, adding to the popularity of the train.

* The city has a vast network of local buses, serving the local housing developments and amenities.

* A new ‘Bus Centre’ opened on 30 June 2008 at the corner of Smithfield Street and the Hillsborough Road. The new structure replaces the simple shelters at Smithfield Square, 200 yards to the east.

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Oxford Oxfordshire

Approximate Population: 151,000

The prestige of Oxford is seen in the fact that it received a charter from King Henry II, granting its citizens the same privileges and exemptions as those enjoyed by the capital of the kingdom; and various important religious houses were founded in or near the city.

A grandson of King John established Rewley Abbey for the Cistercian Order; and friars of various orders (Dominicans, Franciscans, Carmelites, Augustinians, and Trinitarians), all had houses at Oxford of varying importance.   Parliaments were often held in the city during the thirteenth century.   The Provisions of Oxford were installed by a group of barons led by Simon de Montfort; these documents are often regarded as England’s first written constitution.

The University of Oxford is first mentioned in 12th century records. Oxford’s earliest colleges were University College (1249), Balliol (1263) and Merton (1264). These colleges were established at a time when Europeans were starting to translate the writings of Greek philosophers. These writings challenged European ideology – inspiring scientific discoveries and advancements in the arts – as society began seeing itself in a new way. These colleges at Oxford were supported by the Church in hopes to reconcile Greek Philosophy and Christian Theology. The relationship between “town and gown” has often been uneasy — as many as 93 students and townspeople were killed in the St Scholastica Day Riot of 1355.

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Garden Maintenance Paisley Scotland

Approximate Population: 74,000

The Piazza Shopping Centre, based in the heart of Paisley, has forged many links within the community and is the town’s busiest centre.   Featuring household names such as Somerfield, Subway, New Look, The Carphone Warehouse, The Piazza is also home to one of the Top 50 Post Office branches in the UK - one of two Scottish flagship stores, it was made a Crown Post Office in 2007.   The Piazza has also recently launched a Student Card, providing a range of discounts for the thousands of students that pass through Paisley every year.

The Paisley Centre is a three floored centre including a department store, an indoor market and over 50 shopping units including Marks and Spencer, Boots, Superdrug, Vodafone, Thorntons, The Body Shop and T-Mobile as well as many local outlets including Baru.

In recent years, however, the quality and variety of shopping has declined, with many of Paisley’s inhabitants choosing to shop at the Braehead Shopping Centre opened in 1998 and lying within Renfrewshire’s boundaries. The Silverburn Centre in the Pollok area of Glasgow also attracts much of Paisley’s custom. Through this competition and high tax rates for local businesses, many stores have been forced to close their doors.

Despite a poor perception, however, many retailers are still thriving in Paisley’s shopping centres, and adding colour to the town is the variety of busy continental and farmers’ markets which often take place in the town.

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Shrewsbury West Midlands

Approximate Population: 70,689

Shrewsbury is home to the Ditherington Flax Mill, the world’s first iron-framed building, which is commonly regarded as “the grandfather of the skyscraper”. Its importance was officially recognised in the 1950s, resulting in it becoming a Grade I listed building.  Shrewsbury in the Industrial Revolution was also located on the Shrewsbury Canal which linked it to the Shropshire Canal and wider canal network of Great Britain.

Shrewsbury has also played a unique part in Western intellectual history, by being the town in which the naturalist Charles Darwin was born and raised. Darwin later published his seminal text On the Origin of Species and developed the theory of natural selection.   Nearby is the village of Wroxeter, 5 miles (8 km) to the south-west, where the now ruined Roman city of Viroconium Cornoviorum lies. Viroconium was the fourth largest civitas capital in Roman Britain. As Caer Guricon it may have served as the early Dark Age capital of the kingdom of Powys.

The town avoided bombing in World War II and so many of its ancient buildings remain intact and there was little redevelopment during the 1960s and 1970s, which arguably destroyed the character of many historic towns in the UK. However, a large area of half timbered houses and businesses was destroyed to make way for the Raven Meadows multi-story car park, and other historic buildings were demolished to make way for the brutalist architectural style of the 1960s.  The town was saved from a new ‘inner ring road’ due to its challenging geography.

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Derby East Midlands

Approximate Population: 233,700

Derby has Roman, Saxon and Viking connections.

The Roman camp of ‘Derventio’ was probably at Little Chester/Chester Green.  The site of the old Roman fort is at Chester Green.   Later the town was one of the ‘Five Boroughs’ (fortified towns) of the Danelaw.  The Tower of Derby Cathedral, England’s third tallest (Anglican) cathedral church tower.

The popular belief is that the name ‘Derby’ is a corruption of the Danish and Gaelic Djúra-bý (recorded in Anglo-Saxon as Deoraby) (Village of the Deer). However some assert that it is a corruption of the original Roman name ‘Derventio’.   The town was also named ‘Darby’ or ‘Darbye’ on some of the oldest maps, eg. Speed’s 1610 map.   Derby recently celebrated its 2,000th year as a settlement.

Modern research (2004) into the history and archaeology of Derby has provided evidence that the Vikings and Anglo-Saxons probably co-existed, occupying two areas of land surrounded by water.   The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle (c. 900) says that “Derby is divided by water”.   These areas of land were known as Norþworþig (”Northworthy”, = “north enclosure”) and Deoraby, and were at the “Irongate” (North) side of Derby.

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Sunderland Tyne and Wear

Approximate Population: 177,739

As the former heavy industries have declined in Sunderland, so electronic, chemical, paper and motor manufactures have replaced them, including the Nissan car plant at Washington.

From 1990, the banks of the Wear experienced a massive physical regeneration with the creation of housing, retail parks and business centres on former shipbuilding sites.   Alongside the creation of the National Glass Centre the University of Sunderland has also built a new campus on the St. Peter’s site.   The clearance of the Vaux Breweries site on the north west fringe of the City Centre has created a further opportunity for new development in the city centre.

Like many cities, Sunderland comprises a number of areas with their own distinct histories, for example Fulwell, Monkwearmouth, Roker, and Southwick on the northern side of the Wear, and Bishopwearmouth and Hendon to the south.

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Garden Maintenance Wigan Greater Manchester

Approximate Population: 81,203

In the Anglo-Saxon period, the area of Wigan was probably under the control of the Northumbrians and later the Mercians. In the early 10th century there was an influx of Scandinavians expelled from Ireland.   This can be seen in place names such as Scholes – now a part of Wigan – which derives from the Scandinavian skali meaning “hut”.   Further evidence comes from some street names in Wigan which have Scandinavian origins. Although Wigan parish church was mentioned in the Domesday Book, the current building dates to the 15th century.

Although Wigan is not mentioned in the Domesday Book, possibly because it was included in the Neweton barony (now Newton-le-Willows), it is thought that the mention of a church in the manor of Neweton is Wigan parish church. The rectors of the parish church were lords of the manor of Wigan, a sub-manor of Neweton, until the 19th century. The incorporation of Wigan as a borough happened in 1246 following the issue of a Charter by King Henry III to John Maunsel, the local church rector and lord of the manor. The borough was later granted another Charter in 1257–1258, allowing the lord of the manor to hold a market on every Monday and two annual fairs.

Edward II visited Wigan in 1323 in an effort to stabilise the region which had been the source of the Banastre Rebellion in 1315. Edward stayed in nearby Upholland Priory and held court in the town over a period of several days. During the medieval period Wigan expanded and prospered and in 1536, antiquarian John Leland described the town, saying “Wigan paved; as big as Warrington and better builded. There is one parish church amid the town. Some merchants, some artificers, some farmers”.

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