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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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

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Lewisham Greater London

Approximate Population: 248,922

It is most likely to have been founded by a pagan Jute, Leof, who settled (by burning his boat) near St Mary’s Church (Ladywell) where the ground was drier, in the 6th century. As to the etymology of the name, Daniel Lysons (1796) wrote:

“In the most ancient Saxon records this place is called Levesham, that is, the house among the meadows; leswe, læs, læse, or læsew, in the Saxon, signifies a meadow, and ham, a dwelling. It is now written, as well in parochial and other records as in common usage, Lewisham.”

‘Leofshema’ was an important settlement at the confluence of the rivers Quaggy (from Farnborough) and Ravensbourne (Caesar’s Well, Keston), so the village expanded north into the wetter area as drainage techniques improved.   In the mid-seventeenth century the then vicar of Lewisham, Abraham Colfe, built a grammar school, primary school and six almshouses for the inhabitants. The Earl of Dartmouth became the (hereditary) Viscount Lewisham in 1711.

Local Plumbers Lewisham Greater London

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Croydon Greater London

Approximate Population: 316,283

Croydon is a large town and major commercial centre in South London, and the principal settlement of the London Borough of Croydon.   It is 9.5 miles (15.3 km) south of Charing Cross, and is one of the major metropolitan centres identified in the London Plan. It is located on the natural transport corridor between London and England’s south coast, just to the north of a gap in the North Downs.

Historically a part of Surrey, at the time of the Norman conquest of England Croydon had a church, a mill and around 365 inhabitants (as recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086).   Croydon expanded during the Middle Ages as a market town and a centre for charcoal production, leather tanning and brewing.   The Surrey Iron Railway from Croydon to Wandsworth opened in 1803 and was the world’s first horse-drawn railway, which later developed into an important means of transport – facilitating Croydon’s growth as a commuter town for the City of London and beyond.

In the early 20th century Croydon was an important industrial area, known for metal working, car manufacture and its airport.   In the mid 20th century these sectors were replaced with retailing and service economy, brought about as a result of a massive redevelopment of office blocks and the Whitgift shopping centre. Croydon was amalgamated into Greater London in 1965. Road traffic is now diverted away from a largely pedestrianised town centre, but its main railway station, East Croydon, is still a major hub within the national railway transport system.   The town is expected to have its urban planning changed as part of Croydon Vision 2020.

Local Plumbers Croydon Greater London

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Doncaster South Yorkshire

Approximate Population: 67,977

During the 14th century a number of friars arrived in Doncaster who were known for their religious enthusiasm and preachings.   In 1307 Franciscan friars arrived and they were called Greyfriars because of the colour of their costumes.   Carmelites or Whitefriars arrived in the middle of the 14th century.   In the Mediaeval period other major features of the town included the Hospital of St Nicholas and leper colony of the Hospital of St James, a moot hall, grammar school, and the five-arched stone town bridge with a chapel dedicated to Our Lady of the Bridge.

By 1334, Doncaster was the wealthiest town in southern Yorkshire and the sixth most important town in Yorkshire as a whole, even boasting its own banker.   By 1379, it was already recovering from the Black Death and had a population of around 1,500 people, and by 1547, it had over 2,000.   The town was incorporated in 1461 and its first Mayor and corporation were established.

Today, many of Doncaster’s streets are named with the suffix ‘gate’.   The word ‘gate’ is derived from the old Danish word ‘gata’ which meant street. During Medieval times, craftsmen or tradesmen with similar skills, tended to live in the same street.   Baxter is an ancient word for baker thereby confirming that Baxtergate was indeed the bakers’ street.   It is assumed that ‘Frenchgate’ may be named after French speaking Normans who settled on this street.

Local Plumbers Doncaster South Yorkshire

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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

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Barnet Greater London

Approximate Population: 314,019

The town was the site of the Battle of Barnet in 1471 (more accurately, Hadley), where Yorkist troops led by King Edward IV killed the rebellious “Kingmaker” Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick and Warwick’s brother, John Neville, 1st Marquess of Montagu.

It is the site of an ancient and well-known horse fair, hence the Cockney rhyming slang of Barnet Fair or barnet for “hair”.   The fair dates back to 1588 when Queen Elizabeth I granted a charter to the Lord of the Manor of Barnet the right to hold a twice yearly fair.

Chipping Barnet (chipping meaning market) was historically a civil parish of Hertfordshire and formed part of the Barnet Urban District from 1894.   The parish was abolished in 1965 and the Chipping Barnet section of its former area was transferred to Greater London and the newly-created London Borough of Barnet.  In 1801 the parish had a population of 1,258 and covered an area of 1,440 acres (6 km²).   By 1901 the parish was reduced to 380 acres (1.5 km²) and had a population of 2,893.   In 1951 the population was 7,062.

Local Plumbers Barnet Greater London

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Swindon Wiltshire

Approximate Population: 155,432

In 1840, Isambard Kingdom Brunel chose Swindon as the site for the railway works he planned for the Great Western Railway.   Eastwards towards London the line was gently graded, while westwards there was a steep descent towards Bath. Swindon was the junction for the proposed line to Gloucester.

Swindon Junction station opened in 1842 and until 1895 every train stopped for at least 10 minutes to change locomotives. As a result, the station hosted the first recorded railway refreshment rooms.   There were three storeys to the station in 1842, with the refreshment rooms on the ground floor, the upper floors housing the station hotel and lounge.   That building was demolished in 1972, and replaced by an office building with a single-storey modern station under it.

The town’s railway works were completed in 1842.   The GWR built a small railway ‘village’ to house some of its workers.   People still live in those houses and several of the buildings that made up the railway works remain, although many are vacant.   The Steam Railway Museum now occupies part of the old works.   In the village were the GWR Medical Fund Clinic at Park House and its hospital, both on Faringdon Road, and 1892’s Health Centre in Milton Road – which housed clinics, a pharmacy, laundries, baths, Turkish baths and swimming pools – was almost opposite.

Local Plumbers Swindon Wiltshire

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Gloucester Gloucestershire

Approximate Population: 123,205

Kip’s West prospect of Gloucester, c. 1725, emphasizes the causeway and bridges traversing the water meadows of the floodplain.

The traditional existence of a British settlement at Gloucester (Caer Glow, Gleawecastre, Gleucestre) is not confirmed by any direct evidence, but Gloucester was the Roman municipality of Colonia Nervia Glevensium, or Glevum, founded in the reign of Nerva.   Parts of the walls can be traced, and many remains and coins have been found, though inscriptions are scarce. Evidence for some civic life after the end of Roman Britain includes the mention in the Historia Brittonum that Vortigern’s grandfather ruled Gloucester.   According to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, Gloucester passed briefly to Wessex from the Battle of Deorham in 577 until 584, when it came under the control of Mercia.

Gloucester (Glowancestre, 1282) derives from the Anglo-Saxon for fort (Old English ceaster) preceded by the Roman stem Glev- (pronounced glaiw).   In Old Welsh, the city was known as Caerloyw, caer = castle, and loyw from gloyw = glowing/bright.   Gloucester was captured by the Saxons in 577.   Its situation on a navigable river, and the foundation in 681 of the abbey of St Peter by Æthelred, favoured the growth of the town; and before the Norman Conquest of England, Gloucester was a borough governed by a portreeve, with a castle which was frequently a royal residence, and a mint.

In the early tenth century the remains of Saint Oswald were brought to a small church in Gloucester, bringing many pilgrims to the town.  The core street layout dates back to the reign of Ethelfleda in late Saxon times.

Local Plumbers Gloucester Gloucestershire

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Coventry West Midlands

Approximate Population: 306,000

Coventry is near the M6, M69, M45 and M40 motorways.   It is also served by the A45 and A46 dual carriageways. Coventry has a much used inner ring road opened in the 1960s (approx.).   Phoenix Way, a dual carriageway running north – south opened 1998 (approx.), has improved traffic flows through the city.

For rail, Coventry railway station is served by the West Coast Main Line, and has regular rail services between London and Birmingham (and stations beyond). It is also served by railway lines to Nuneaton via Bedworth. There is a line linking it to Leamington Spa and onwards to the south coast. Coventry also has two Suburban Rail stations in Canley and in Tile Hill.

Bus service operators in Coventry include National Express Coventry, Travel De Courcey and Stagecoach in Warwickshire. Pool Meadow Bus Station is the main bus and coach interchange in the city centre.  The nearest major airports are Birmingham International Airport, some 17 km (11 miles) to the west of the city and Coventry Airport in Baginton, located 8 km (5 miles) south of the city centre.  The Coventry Canal terminates near the city centre at Coventry Canal Basin and is navigable for 61 km (38 miles) to Fradley Junction in Staffordshire.

Local Plumbers Coventry West Midlands

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