Rent Houses Brent Greater London

Approximate Population: 263,464

The London Borough of Brent is a London borough in North-West London, UK and forms part of Outer London.

It borders Harrow to the northwest, Barnet to the northeast, Camden to the east and Ealing, Hammersmith & Fulham, Kensington & Chelsea and Westminster to the south.   Most of the eastern border is formed by the Roman road Watling Street, now the modern A5.   According to the 2001 census, the Borough of Brent has the country’s highest percentage of people born outside of the UK (46.53%).   Brent has a extremely high and formally the highest Indian population.

Brent is a dangerous place in the South, which is Harlesden and Stonebridge (East Stonebridge), but on the other side, Brent is an safe place in the North, West and South-West.   East and South Brent is a gang area.   All the Crimes, Guns, Drugs, Robbery and Gangs in Brent are in Harlesden and Stonebridge.

Rent Houses Brent Greater London

Rent Houses St. Davids Wales

Approximate Population: 1,797

St David’s (Welsh: Tyddewi) is the smallest city in the United Kingdom, with a population of under 2,000 people.   It lies on the River Alun, on Saint David’s peninsula in Pembrokeshire, Wales.   St David’s is the de facto ecclesiastical capital of Wales and the final resting place of Saint David, the patron saint of Wales.

St David’s is home to football team, St. David’s City F.C. and rugby union team St. Davids RFC.  St David’s hosted the National Eisteddfod in 2002.

Henry Hicks (born 1837-died 1899), a Welsh physician, Member of the Royal College of Surgeons (MRCS), President of the Geological Society and Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS).   He studied the Precambrian rocks of Anglesey, Caernarvonshire and Pembrokeshire, the Devonian rocks of Devon and Somerset, and cave deposits in Denbighshire.   He was born on the 29th of May 1837 at St Davids, followed in the footsteps of his father Thomas Hicks and studied medicine at Guy’s Hospital, and then practised in St Davids from 1862 until 1871.   The musician David Gray was a pupil at St Davids School.

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Preston Lancashire

Approximate Population: 131,900

In the mid-12th century, Preston was in the hundred of Amounderness,in the deanery of Amounderness and the archdeaconry of Richmond.   The name “Amounderness” is more ancient than the name of any other “Wapentake” or hundred in the County of Lancashire, and the fort at Tulketh, strengthened by William the Conqueror, shows that the strategic importance of the area was appreciated even then.

In the last great Jacobite Rising, on 27 November 1745 the Jacobite Prince of Wales and Regent, Bonnie Prince Charlie passed through Preston with his Highland Army on the way south through Chorley and Manchester to Derby intending to take London and the Crown.

Preston was the first of the very few places in England where the Prince was cheered as he rode by and where he was actually joined by some English volunteers for his Army.   From 10 to 12 December the Prince gave his retreating Army a rest in Preston on their long, last and fatal retreat from Derby through Lancaster and Carlisle to their dreadful day of destiny the following 16 April on Culloden Moor near Inverness.

Rent Houses Preston Lancashire

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Luton Bedfordshire

Approximate Population: 202,500

In the 20th century, the hat trade severely declined and was replaced by other industries. In 1905, Vauxhall Motors opened the largest car plant in the United Kingdom in Luton. Electrolux built a household appliances plant which was followed by other light engineering businesses.

In 1904 councillors Asher Hucklesby and Edwin Oakley purchased the estate at Wardown Park and donated it to the people of Luton. Hucklesby went on to become Mayor of Luton. The main house in the park became Luton Museum & Art Gallery.

The town had a tram system from 1908 until 1932 and the first cinema was opened in 1909. By 1914 the population had reached 50,000.

The original town hall was destroyed in 1919 during Peace Day celebrations at the end of World War I.   Local people including many ex-servicemen were unhappy with unemployment and had been refused the use of a local park to hold celebratory events.   They stormed the town hall setting it alight.   A replacement building was completed in 1936. London Luton Airport opened in 1938, owned and operated by the council.

Rent Houses Luton Bedfordshire

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Huddersfield West Yorkshire

Approximate Population: 146,234

Huddersfield was incorporated as a municipal borough within the ancient West Riding of Yorkshire in 1868.   The borough comprised the parishes of Almondbury, Dalton, Huddersfield, Lindley-cum-Quarmby and Lockwood. When the West Riding County Council was formed in 1889, Huddersfield became a county borough, exempt from county council control.

Huddersfield expanded in 1937, including parts of the Golcar, Linthwaite, and South Crosland urban districts.  The county borough was abolished in 1974 and its former area was combined with that of other districts to form the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees in West Yorkshire.

Attempts by the local council to gain support for city status were rejected by the town’s population in an unofficial referendum held by the local newspaper, the Huddersfield Daily Examiner. The council did not apply for that status in either the 2000 or 2002 competitions.  City status is given to districts, so it would have been Kirklees rather than Huddersfield that would have been declared a city.

According to the United Kingdom Census 2001 the population of the Huddersfield urban sub-area of the West Yorkshire Urban Area was 146,234, and the population of the former area of the county borough was 121,620. The wider South Kirklees area had a population of 216,011.

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Huddersfield West Yorkshire

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Newcastle Tyne and Wear

Approximate Population: 271,600

The dialect of Newcastle is known as Geordie, and contains a large amount of vocabulary and distinctive word pronunciations not used in other parts of the United Kingdom.   The Geordie dialect has much of its origins in the language spoken by Anglo-Saxon mercenaries, who were employed by the Ancient British people to fight Pictish invaders, following the withdrawal of the Romans from Britain in the 4th century.   This language was the forerunner of Modern English; but while the dialects of other English regions have been heavily altered by the influences of other foreign languages—particularly Latin and Norman–French—the Geordie dialect retains many elements of the old language.

An example of this is the pronunciation of certain words: “dead”, “cow”, “house” and “strong” are pronounced “dede”, “coo”, “hoos” and “strang”—which is how they were pronounced in the Anglo-Saxon language.   Other Geordie words with Anglo-Saxon origins include: “larn” (from the Anglo-Saxon “laeran”, meaning “teach”), “burn” (”stream”) and “gan” (”go”).  Some words used in the Geordie dialect are used elsewhere in the northern United Kingdom.

The words “bonny” (meaning “pretty”), “howay” (”come on”), “stot” (”bounce”) and “hadaway” (”go away” or “you’re kidding”), all appear to be used in Scottish dialect; “aye” (”yes”) and “nowt” (IPA://naʊt/, rhymes with out,”nothing”) are used elsewhere in northern England. Many words, however, appear to be used exclusively in Newcastle and the surrounding area, such as “Canny” (a versatile word meaning “good”, “nice” or “very”), “bait” (”food”), “hacky” (”dirty”), “netty” (”toilet”), “hoy” (”throw”) and “hockle” (”spit”).

Rent Houses Newcastle Tyne and Wear

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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.

Rent Houses Hereford Herefordshire

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Blackpool Lancashire

Approximate Population: 142,900

Much of Blackpool’s growth and character from the 1870s on was predicated on the town’s pioneering use of electrical power.   In 1879, it became the first municipality in the world to have electric street lighting, as large parts of the promenade were wired.   The lighting and its accompanying pageants reinforced Blackpool’s status as the North’s most prominent holiday resort, and its specifically working class character.

It was the forerunner of the present-day Blackpool Illuminations.   In 1885 one of the world’s first electric tramways was laid down as a conduit line running from Cocker Street to Dean Street on the Promenade.   The line was operated by the Blackpool Electric Tramway Company until 1892 when their lease expired and Blackpool Corporation took over running the line.   A further line was added in 1895 from Manchester Square along Lytham Road to South Shore, and the line was extended north, first to Gynn Square in 1899, and then to Fleetwood.   The tramway has remained in continuous service to this day.

By the 1890s, the town had a population of 35,000, and could accommodate 250,000 holidaymakers.   The number of annual visitors, many staying for a week, was estimated at three million. 1894 saw the opening of two of the town’s most prominent buildings; the Grand Theatre on Church Street, and Blackpool Tower on the Promenade.

The first decade of the new century saw the development of the Promenade as we know it today, and further development southwards beyond South Shore towards Harrowside and Squires Gate.   The Pleasure Beach was first established about this time. Seasonal static illuminations were first set up in 1912, although due to World War I and its aftermath, they only enjoyed two seasons until they were re-introduced in 1925.   The illuminations extended the holiday season into September and early October.

Rent Houses Blackpool Lancashire

Rent Houses Washington Tyne and Wear

Approximate Population: 60,000

Washington is a town within the metropolitan borough of the City of Sunderland in Tyne and Wear, England, although it has been in the Newcastle Upon Tyne postcode district since the 19th Century. Historically part of County Durham, it joined a new county in 1974 with the creation of Tyne and Wear. Washington is located geographically at an equal distance from the centres of Newcastle, Durham and Sunderland, hence it has close ties to all three cities.

Washington was designated a new town in 1964 and expanded dramatically by the creation of new villages and the absorption of areas of Chester-le-Street to house overspill population from surrounding cities.

One of the more popular origin theories is that Washington is in fact derived from the Old English verb wascan (said wosh-an) and the noun dūn meaning “hill”; thus making the name Wascandūn, meaning “washing hill”. This theory likely originates from the proximity between the river Wear and the actual Anglo-Saxon hall of the time (most likely where Washington Old Hall stands today).

This idea is not backed by linguistic evidence. Combining the two Old English words “wascan” and “dūn” would actually have meant “washed hill” and not “washing hill”. Also, the Old English “dūn” meant a range of gently rolling hills, as evidenced by the naming of the North and South Downs in southern England.

Washington is located on the mothballed Leamside Line and, until the mid-1960s, had regular passenger services to Sunderland, Teesside and Newcastle upon Tyne, via Pelaw Junction. The presence of the railway was a major factor in selecting the Washington site, but the passenger service was a victim of the Beeching Axe less than two years later. Freight services continued until 1991 and the line is currently out of use, with all major infrastructure extant. Washigton is therefore one of the largest towns in Britain without an operational railway station (see Dudley, Newcastle under Lyme, Gosport and Corby).

Rent Houses Washington Tyne and Wear

Rent Houses Stowmarket Suffolk

Approximate Population: 15,059

Stowmarket is a small market town situated in Suffolk, England, on the busy A14 trunk road between Bury St Edmunds to the West and Ipswich to the South-East. The town is on the main rail line between London and Norwich, and has an approximate population of 19,000. It is the largest town in the Mid Suffolk district and is represented in parliament by the MP for Bury St Edmunds, currently David Ruffley.

Stowmarket lies on the River Gipping, which is joined by its tributary, the River Rat, to the South of the town. In the 18th century the Gipping was made navigable between Stowmarket and Ipswich by a series of locks. The newly created canal was known as the Ipswich and Stowmarket Navigation.

The town takes its name from the Anglo-Saxon word ‘Stow’ meaning ‘principal place’, and was granted a market charter in 1347 by Edward III. A bi-weekly market is still held there today on Thursday and Saturday.

The church of St Peter and St Mary is in the ‘Decorated’ style and dates to the 14th century. The 16th century vicarage has associations with the poet John Milton through his tutor, Dr Thomas Young who became vicar of Stowmarket in 1628. Milton made regular visits to the town, and ‘Milton’s Tree’ in the grounds of a former vicarage is believed to be an offshoot of one of the many trees he planted there.

Rent Houses Stowmarket Suffolk