If you grew up somewhere, the tedious familiarity of it probably makes you think it’s the most boring place on earth.
However, when you dig a little deeper into the history of your hometown, you’re likely to find some absolutely fascinating history, something we’re blessed with an abundance of on these very old, and somewhat odd, little isles.
Over on the CasualUK subreddit, user DontAskAboutMax posted this:
‘What are some little known interesting facts about your city/town? I have recently started making Youtube videos as a hobby, I’m finding out a million interesting things about my home city. What are some little known, interesting facts about your city/town?’
And plenty of part-time geeks chipped in with their favourite local history titbits.
1.
‘I come from a small town called Gainsborough. In 1013AD, Sweyn Forkbeard (Son of Harald Bluetooth), and his son, Cnut came to England from Denmark, and setup in Gainsborough. They set about conquesting England. The English king at the time (Æthelred the Unready) fled from the country after Sweyn was successful in his conquest.
‘Sweyn and Cnut both returned to Gainsborough, and it was made the capital of England. Sweyn died (surely murdered) five weeks later, and Cnut left for elsewhere. So my little town was the English capital for five weeks. We have two pubs in their name, a local ‘Spoons called Sweyn Forkbeard, and another one just nearby, The Canute.’
–iMini
2.
‘In the late 1800s a change in water temperature made Scarborough one of the world’s most active spots for game fishing for Tuna. People came from all over the USA and Europe.’
–Head_Revenue_7595
3.
‘The reason Dinosaurs are called Dinosaurs is because of Richard Owen, who was born in Lancaster in 1804. He coined the term ‘dinosauria’, which translates to ‘terrible reptile’. Also he has a Wetherspoons named after him.’
–stereoworld
4.
‘In Birmingham, there’s a building near the Jewellery Quarter that has been abandoned for years. It’s a nice building, and the reason it hasn’t been restored is because there are some very rare birds called black redstarts that live in it so developers legally can’t touch the building.’
–ans-myonul
5.
‘A 1750s by-law entitles residents of Inverness a free set of bagpipes on their 10th birthday.’
–Heavy_Two
6.
‘Birmingham was the site of the last known death from smallpox anywhere in the world. In 1978, a medical photographer called Janet Parker was somehow accidentally exposed to it while working at the University of Birmingham’s medical school.’
–hairiestlemon
7.
‘Humpty Dumpty wasn’t an egg, but a cannon used in Colchester during the English civil war. Although modern historians call bullshit on the story, it’s been kicking around for a bloody longtime!’
–StillJustJones
8.
‘From Dudley. Tolkien based the locations of lord of the rings on real places in the West Midlands. Like the two towers of Birmingham university. Dudley is Mordor because of the history of the town, black ash filled the air, everyone worked the sorts of jobs that leave you filthy so it was called the Black Country.’
–Puzzled-Quantity-699
9.
‘For Bristol, it was originally called Brigstowe but the accent turned it into Bristol.’
–wildeaboutoscar
10.
‘Magna Carta started life here when 12 barons met to discuss their issues with King John in 1213 and it all led to Magna Carta being signed in 1215. St Albans.
–spLint3r990
11.
‘Newport, South Wales was the location of the last armed rebellion on the UK mainland.’
–TCamilo19
12.
‘Maidenhead has the longest spanning brick arch bridge in the world. Mostly cause people don’t make brick arch bridges any more.’
–supra728
