Local Plumbers Wells Somerset

Approximate Population: 10,406

Wells is a popular tourist destination, due to its historical sites, its proximity to Bath, Stonehenge and Glastonbury and its closeness to the Somerset coast.   Also nearby are Wookey Hole Caves, the Mendip Hills and the Somerset Levels. Wells is part of the West Country Carnival circuit.   Somerset cheese, including Cheddar, is made locally.

A walled precinct, the Liberty of St Andrew, encloses the twelfth century Cathedral, the Bishop’s Palace, Vicar’s Close and the residences of the clergy who serve the cathedral.

The Bishops Palace has been the home of the Bishops of the Diocese of Bath and Wells for 800 years.   The hall and chapel are particularly noteworthy, dating from the 14th century.  There are 14 acres (5.7 ha) of gardens including the springs from which the city takes its name.   Visitors can also see the Bishop’s private Chapel, ruined Great Hall and the Gatehouse with portcullis and drawbridge beside which the famous mute swans ring a bell for food.

The Church of St. Cuthbert – often mistaken for the cathedral, the church has a fine Somerset stone tower and a superb carved roof.   Originally an Early English building (13th century), it was much altered in the Perpendicular period (15th century).  The nave’s coloured ceiling was repainted in 1963 at the instigation of the then Vicar’s wife, Mrs Barnett.  Until 1561 the church had a central tower which either collapsed or was removed, and has been replaced with the current tower over the west door.  Bells were cast for the tower by Roger Purdy.

Local Plumbers Wells Somerset

Local Plumbers Dover Kent

Approximate Population: 28,156

Dover’s main communications artery, the A2 road replicates two former routes, connecting the town with Canterbury.   The Roman road was followed for centuries until, in the late 18th century, it became a turnpike. Stagecoaches were operating: one description stated that the journey took all day to reach London, from 4am to being “in time for supper”.

The other main roads, travelling west and east, are the A20 to Folkestone and thence to London and the A258 through Deal to Sandwich.

The railway reached Dover from two directions: the South Eastern Railway’s main line connected with Folkestone in 1844, and the London, Chatham and Dover Railway opened its line from Canterbury in 1861. A tram system operated in the town from 1897 to 1936.

Dover has two long distance footpaths: the Saxon Shore Way and the North Downs Way. Two National Cycle Network routes begin their journey at the town.

There are nine secondary level schools, 16 primary schools and two schools for special education.

Several of the state secondary schools now specialise: Astor College for the Arts; Dover Grammar School for Girls is a specialist Humanities College; Dover Grammar School for Boys, a Business and Enterprise College; St Edmund’s Catholic College for the Performing Arts; and Archers Court, Maths and Computing College.

The Duke of Yorks Royal Military School, England’s only military boarding school for children of service personnel (co-ed ages 11-18), is also located in Dover, next to the military base.  Dover College, a public school was founded in 1871 by a group of local business men.

Local Plumbers Dover Kent

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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.

Local Plumbers Derby East Midlands

Local Plumbers Cardiff Wales

Approximate Population: 317,500

In 1536, the Act of Union between England and Wales led to the creation of the shire of Glamorgan, and Cardiff was made the county town.   Around this same time the Herbert family became the most powerful family in the area.

In 1538, Henry VIII closed the Dominican and Franciscan friaries in Cardiff, the remains of which were used as building materials.  A writer around this period described Cardiff: “The River Taff runs under the walls of his honours castle and from the north part of the town to the south part where there is a fair quay and a safe harbour for shipping.”

Cardiff had become a Free Borough in 1542.  In 1573, it was made a head port for collection of customs duties, and in 1581, Elizabeth I granted Cardiff its first royal charter.  Pembrokeshire historian George Owen described Cardiff in 1602 as “the fayrest towne in Wales yett not the welthiest.”  The town gained a second Royal Charter in 1608.

During the Second English Civil War, St. Fagans just to the west of the town, played host to the Battle of St. Fagans.   The battle, between a Royalist rebellion and a New Model Army detachment, was a decisive victory for the Parliamentarians and allowed Oliver Cromwell to conquer Wales.  It is the last major battle to occur in Wales, with about 200 (mostly Royalist) soldiers killed.

Local Plumbers Cardiff Wales

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Bury Greater Manchester

Approximate Population: 60,718

A history of Bury is not complete without reference to its role as regimental town of the Lancashire Fusiliers.

In 1688 Prince William of Orange (later King William III) landed at Brixham, Devon. He was met by a number of noblemen who were then commissioned to raise Regiments to help him oppose James II.   Colonel Sir Robert Peyton raised a Regiment containing six independent companies in the Exeter area. In 1782 the title was changed to the XX or East Devon Regiment of Foot and from 1 July 1881 became the XX The Lancashire Fusiliers.

The link with Bury and the Fusiliers started at this time when, following successful recruiting in Lancashire a Regimental Depot was established in Bury, Wellington Barracks, in 1881.

The Regiment has been involved in many campaigns and peace keeping duties including the Jacobite uprising, the American War of Independence, the Napoleonic Wars, the Indian Mutiny and both World Wars.   Since moving to Bury the Lancashire Fusiliers were part, in 1898, of the force that relieved Khartoum and fought in the Battle of Omdurman and in 1899 - 1902 during the Boer War took part in the battles of Spion Kop and the Relief of Ladysmith.

Local Plumbers Bury Greater Manchester

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Ripon North Yorkshire

Approximate Population: 15,922

Ripon became a cathedral, and the seat of the Bishop of Ripon, in 1836, with the creation of the Diocese of Ripon, the first new diocese to be created in England since the Reformation.    This also led to the recognition of city status for Ripon.

There are a number of monuments of historical and antiquarian interest. The diocese, called ‘Ripon and Leeds’ since 1999, includes rather less than one-third of the parishes of Yorkshire.  Bishop Mount, the home of the Bishop of Ripon and Leeds, is about a mile north of Ripon, while the old Bishop’s Palace, a Victorian building in Tudor style, is situated in extensive grounds about a mile west.   In the vicinity is the domain of Studley Royal, the seat of the Marquess of Ripon, which contains the celebrated ruins of Fountains Abbey.   The principal secular buildings are the town hall, the public rooms, and the mechanics’ institution (1894).

There are several old charities, including the hospital of St John the Baptist, founded in 1109 but modernized; the hospital of St Anne, founded probably in the reign of Henry VI by an unknown benefactor; and the hospital of St Mary Magdalene for women.   This last was founded by Thurstan, archbishop of York (1114–41), as a secular community, one of the special duties of which was to minister to lepers.   In the 13th century a master and chaplain took the place of the lay brethren, and in 1334 a chantry was founded.   The chapel remains, with its interesting Norman work, its low side-windows, said to have allowed the lepers to follow the services, and its pre-Reformation altar of stone, a rare example.

Local Plumbers Ripon North Yorkshire

Local Plumbers Basildon Essex

Approximate Population: 99,876

The first historical reference to Basildon is in records from 1086.   It is mentioned in the Domesday Book as ‘Belesduna’.  The name ‘Basildon’ means ‘Beorhtel’s hill’ and is derived from the Anglo-Saxon personal name ‘Beorhtel’ and the Anglo-Saxon word ‘dun’, meaning hill.   In historical documents, this name had various forms over the centuries, including Berdlesdon, Batlesdon and Belesduna.

By the beginning of the 1900s, Basildon had evolved with much of the land having been sold in small plots during a period of land speculation and development taking placed haphazardly with building by plotowners ranging from shelters created from recycled materials to brick-built homes and with amenities such as water, gas, electricity and hard-surfaced roads lacking.

In the 1940s, Billericay and Essex County Councils, who were concerned about the lack of amenities on the area and how it had evolved, petitioned the Government to create a New Town, and on January 4 1949, Lewis Silkin, Minister of Town and Country Planning, officially designated Basildon as a ‘New Town’.   Basildon Development Corporation was formed in February 1949 to transform the designated area into a modern new town.   The New Town incorporated Laindon and Pitsea and was laid out around small neighbourhoods with the first house being completed in June 1951.  The first tenants moved into homes on 18 June 1951, in numbers 59, 61, and 63 Redgrave Road in Vange.

Local Plumbers Basildon Essex

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Westminster Greater London

Approximate Population: 181,766

Westminster is an area of Central London, within the City of Westminster.   It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, southwest of the City of London and 0.5 miles (0.8 km) southwest of Charing Cross.   It has a large concentration of London’s historic and prestigious landmarks and visitor attractions, including Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey and much of the West End of London.

Historically a part of Middlesex, the name Westminster was the ancient description for the area around Westminster Abbey–the West Minster, or monastery church, that gave the area its name–which had been the seat of the government of England for almost a thousand years.   Since its construction in the mid-19th century, Westminster has been location of the Palace of Westminster, a UNESCO World Heritage Site which houses the Parliament of the United Kingdom.

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Westminster Greater London

Local Plumbers York North Yorkshire

Approximate Population: 193,300

York is a walled city, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England.   The city is noted for its rich heritage and it has played an important role throughout much of its almost 2,000 year existence.

The city was founded as Eboracum in AD 71 by the Romans and was made the capital of Britannia Inferior.  During the Roman period influential historical figures, such as Constantine the Great, became associated with the city.   The entire Roman Empire was governed from York for two years by Septimius Severus.

After the Angles moved in, the city was renamed Eoferwic, and served as the capital of the Kingdom of Northumbria.  The Vikings captured the city in 866, renaming it Jórvík, the capital of a wider kingdom of the same name covering much of Northern England. Around the year 1000, the city became known as York.

Richard II wished to make York the capital of England, but before he could effect this he was deposed.  After the Wars of the Roses, York housed the Council of the North and was regarded as the capital of the North.   It was only after The Restoration that the political importance of the city began to decline.  The Province of York is one of the two English ecclesiastical provinces, alongside that of Canterbury.

From 1996, the term City of York describes a unitary authority area which includes rural areas beyond the old city boundaries.   The urban area has a population of 137,505, while the entire unitary authority has 193,300 (2007 est.) people.

Local Plumbers York North Yorkshire

Local Plumbers

Oldham Greater Manchester

Approximate Population: 103,544

Much of Oldham’s history is concerned with textile manufacture during the Industrial Revolution; it has been said that “if ever the Industrial Revolution placed a town firmly and squarely on the map of the world, that town is Oldham.”  Oldham’s soils were too thin and poor to sustain crop growing, and so for decades prior to industrialisation the area was used for grazing sheep, which provided the raw material for a local woollen weaving trade.

By 1756, Oldham emerged as centre of the hatting industry in England. The rough felt used in the production process is the origin of the term “Owdham Roughyed” a nickname for people from Oldham.  It was not until the last quarter of the 18th century that Oldham changed from being a cottage industry township producing woollen garments via domestic manual labour, to a sprawling industrial metropolis of textile factories.

The climate, geology, and topography of Oldham were unrelenting constraints upon the social and economic activities of the human inhabitants.  Located 700 feet (213 m) above sea level with no major river or visible natural resources, Oldham had poor geographic attributes compared with other settlements for investors and their engineers.   As a result, Oldham played no part in the initial period of the Industrial Revolution, although it did later become seen as obvious territory to industrialise because of its convenient position between the labour forces of Manchester and southwest Yorkshire.

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Oldham Greater Manchester