Rent Houses Croydon Greater London

Approximate Population: 330,700

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.

Rent Houses Croydon Greater London

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Aberdeen Scotland

Approximate Population: 202,370

Aberdeen is locally governed by Aberdeen City Council, which comprises forty-three councillors who represent the city’s wards and is headed by the Lord Provost who is currently Provost Peter Stephen.

From May 2003 until May 2007 the council was run with a Liberal Democrat and Conservatives coalition.   Following the May 2007 elections the Liberal Democrats formed a new coalition with the Scottish National Party.  The council consists of: 15 Liberal Democrat, 13 SNP, 10 Labour, 4 Conservative councillors and a single independent councillor.

Aberdeen is represented in the Parliament of the United Kingdom by three constituencies: Aberdeen North, Aberdeen South and Gordon, of which the first two are wholly within the Aberdeen City council area while the latter also encompasses a large swathe of Aberdeenshire.

In the Scottish Parliament the city is represented again by three constituencies, all of which are solely within the council area: Aberdeen North, Aberdeen Central and Aberdeen South and by a further seven MSPs elected as part of the North East Scotland electoral region.

In the European Union, the city is represented by seven MEPs, as part of the all inclusive Scotland constituency in the European Parliament.

Rent Houses Aberdeen Scotland

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Dundee Scotland

Approximate Population: 141,930

Natives of Dundee are called Dundonians and are often recognisable by their distinctive dialect of Scots as well as their accent, which most noticeably substitutes the monophthong /e/ in place of the diphthong /ai/.   A significant proportion of the population are on a lower than average income or receive social security benefits.   More than half of the city’s council wards are among Scotland’s most deprived and fewer than half of the homes in Dundee are owner-occupied, a slight majority being owned by housing associations and the council, although it does rank higher than Glasgow.

Dundee’s population increased substantially with the urbanisation of the Industrial Revolution as did other British cities.   The most significant influx occurred in the mid-1800s with the arrival of Irish workers fleeing from the Potato Famine and attracted by industrialisation.   Today Dundee has 5,000 Northern Irish born residents in its boundary mostly due to universities and there is a large Northern Irish club which is based at Dundee Union.  The city also attracted immigrants from Italy, fleeing poverty and famine, and Poland, seeking refuge from the anti-Jewish pogroms in the 19th century, and later, World War II in the 20th.

Today, Dundee has a sizeable ethnic minority population, and has the third highest Asian population (~3,500) in Scotland after Glasgow and Edinburgh.  Dundee has attracted large numbers of Eastern Europeans and is predicted to expand further due to Bulgarian immigrants.  Abertay University and Dundee University draw a large number of students from abroad (mostly Irish and EU but with an increasing number from countries in the Far East), and students account for 14.2% of the population, the highest proportion of the four largest Scottish cities.  Dundee is also one of only four local authorities in Scotland to recycle more than 20% of its waste.

Rent Houses Dundee Scotland

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Southampton Hampshire

Approximate Population: 228,600

There are 120,305 jobs in Southampton, and 3,570 people claiming job seeker’s allowance, approximately 2.4 per cent of the city’s population, as of March 2007.  This compares with an average of 2.5 per cent for England as a whole.

As of June 2006, 74.7 per cent of the city’s population are classed as economically active.

Just over a quarter of the jobs available in the city are in the health and education sector.   A further 19 per cent are property and other business and the third largest sector is wholesale and retail, which accounts for 16.2 percent.  Between 1995 and 2004, the number of jobs in Southampton has increased by 18.5 per cent.

As of January 2007, the average annual salary in the city was £22,267.   This was £1,700 lower than the national average and £3,800 less than the average for the South East.

Southampton has always been a maritime centre, and the docks have long been a major employer in the city.   In particular, it is a port for cruise ships; its heyday was the first half of the 20th century, and in particular the inter-war years, when it handled almost half the passenger traffic of the UK. Today it remains home to luxury cruise ships, as well as being the largest freight port on the Channel coast and fourth largest UK port by tonnage, with several container terminals.

Unlike some other ports, such as Liverpool, London, and Bristol, where industry and docks have largely moved out of the city centres leaving room for redevelopment, Southampton retains much of its inner-city industry. Part of the docks has been redeveloped, however, as the Ocean Village development, a local marina and entertainment complex.   Southampton is home to the headquarters of both the Maritime and Coastguard Agency and the Marine Accident Investigation Branch of the Department for Transport.

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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

Rent Houses Braintree Essex

Approximate Population: 42,393

Braintree is a town of about 42,000 people and the principal settlement of the Braintree district of Essex in the East of England. It is ten miles north-east of Chelmsford and fifteen miles west of Colchester on the River Blackwater, A120 road and a branch of the Great Eastern Main Line.

The origin of the name Braintree is obscure. It is believed by some scholars that the name of the River Brain came later, and so was named after the town, rather than the other way round. One theory is that Braintree was originally Branoc’s tree, Branoc apparently being an old personal name. Another theory is that the name is derived from that of Rayne, which was actually a more important settlement in Norman times. Braintree was called Branchetreu in the Domesday Book. Other scholars say the “Brain” element in the word is accepted to be derived from “Brid/ Brigantia/ Bride/ Bigit/ Britain”.

Braintree dates back over 4,000 years when it was just a small village. When the Romans invaded, they built two roads; a settlement developed at the junction of these two roads but was later abandoned when the Romans left Britain. The town was recorded in the Domesday Book of 1085 when it was called Branchetreu and consisted of 30 acres in the possession of Richard, son of Count Gilbert. Pilgrims used the town as a stop-over, the size of the town increased and the Bishop of London obtained a market charter for the town in 1190. The town prospered from the 1600s when Flemish immigrants made the town famous for its wool cloth trade. In 1665, the Great Plague killed 865 of the population of just 2,300 people.

Braintree lies in north Essex, about 40 miles from London, with factories and housing to the south and rural areas to the north, where arable crops are grown. It lies about 50 metres above sea level. Essex is rather flat on the whole, and the Braintree area is no exception; however, there is a general downward trend in the height of the ground from the northwest towards the coast to the southeast. Two rivers flow through Braintree in this direction. Pod’s Brook approaches the western side of the town, forms a natural boundary between Braintree and the neighbouring village of Rayne about two miles to the west. Pod’s Brook becomes the River Brain as it passes under the Roman road, before running through the southern part of Braintree. The River Pant (or Blackwater) runs roughly parallel to it, through the north of Bocking, and away to the east of the town. The Brain eventually flows into the Blackwater several miles away, near Witham.

Rent Houses Braintree Essex

Rent Houses Weston Super Mare Somerset

Approximate Population: 71,758

Weston-super-Mare is a seaside resort town and civil parish in North Somerset, part of the ceremonial county of Somerset, England. It is located on the Bristol Channel coast, 18 miles (29 km) south west of Bristol, spanning the coast between the bounding high ground of Worlebury Hill and Bleadon Hill. It includes the suburbs of Oldmixon, West Wick and Worle. Its population according to the 2001 census was 71,758. It is twinned with Hildesheim, Germany.

Weston comes from the Anglo-Saxon for the west tun or settlement. The descriptive part of its name is unusual because it is in medieval Latin and was first recorded by an unknown medieval church clerk, presumably to distinguish it from other settlements named Weston in the area. It is a popular myth that the description was a later Victorian invention. It means literally “on sea”. It is pronounced mair rather than mahrey. Often people will write the town’s name as “Weston-Super-Mare”; this however is incorrect, as “super” should always be written in lower case.

Weston’s oldest structure is Worlebury camp, on Worlebury Hill, dating from the Iron Age. The medieval church of St John has been rebuilt but its preaching cross survives. The cellars of the adjoining former rectory are said to be 17th century. The Old Thatched Cottage restaurant on the seafront carries the date 1774; it is the surviving portion of a summer cottage built by the Revd. Leeves of Wrington.

The town has a number of arts venues. The Playhouse serves both tourists and the local population. The Winter Gardens on the seafront hosts shows, exhibitions and conferences. The Blakehay Theatre & Community Arts Centre is a small venue housed in a former Baptist church.

Rent Houses Weston Super Mare Somerset

Rent Houses Gloucester Gloucestershire

Approximate Population: 123,205

Gloucester is a city, district and county town of Gloucestershire in the South West region of England. Gloucester lies close to the Welsh border, and on the River Severn, approximately 32 miles (51 km) north-east of Bristol, and 45 miles (72 km) south-southwest of Birmingham.

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.

Rent Houses Gloucester Gloucestershire

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Liverpool Merseyside

Approximate Population: 816,900

Liverpool has more galleries and national museums than any other city in the United Kingdom apart from London.   The Tate Liverpool gallery houses the modern art collection of the Tate in the North of England and was, until the opening of Tate Modern, the largest exhibition space dedicated to modern art in the United Kingdom.   The FACT centre hosts touring multimedia exhibitions, whilst the Walker Art Gallery houses an extensive collection of Pre-Raphaelites.

Sudley House contains another major collection of pre 20th century art and the number of galleries continues to expand:   Ceri Hand Gallery opened in 2008, exhibiting primarily contemporary art, and Liverpool University’s Victoria Building was re-opened as a public art gallery and museum to display the University’s artwork and historical collections which include the second-largest display of art by Audubon outside the US.

Artists have also come from the city, including painter George Stubbs who was born in Liverpool in 1724.

The Liverpool Biennial festival of arts runs from mid-September to late November and comprises three main sections; the International, The Independents and New Contemporaries although fringe events are timed to coincide.   It was during the 2004 festival that Yoko Ono’s work “My mother is beautiful” caused widespread public protest when photographs of a naked woman’s pubic area were exhibited on the main shopping street.   Despite protests the work remained in place.

Rent Houses Liverpool Merseyside

Rent Houses Bracknell Berkshire

Approximate Population: 50,131

Bracknell is a town in the Bracknell Forest borough of Berkshire, England. It lies 18 km (11 miles) to the south-east of Reading, 16 km (10 miles) southwest of Windsor and 53 km (33 miles) west of London.

The town is surrounded, on the east and south, by the vast expanse of Swinley Woods and Crowthorne Woods. The town has absorbed parts of many local outlying areas including Warfield, Winkfield and Binfield.

The town covers all of the old village of Easthampstead (though not all of the old parish) and the hamlet of Ramslade. Easthampstead has a very long history. There is a Bronze Age round barrow at Bill Hill. Easthampstead Park was a favoured Royal hunting lodge in Windsor Forest and Catherine of Aragon was banished there until her divorce was finalised. It was later the home of the Trumbulls who were patrons of Alexander Pope from Binfield.

The town was successful in attracting high-tech industries, and has become home to companies such as Panasonic, Fujitsu (formerly ICL) and Fujitsu-Siemens Computers, Dell, Hewlett-Packard, Siemens (originally Nixdorf), Honeywell, Cable and Wireless, Avnet Technology Solutions and Novell. Its success subsequently spread into the surrounding Thames Valley or M4 corridor, attracting IT firms such as Cable and Wireless, DEC (subsequently Hewlett-Packard), Microsoft, Sharp Telecommunications, Oracle Corporation, Sun Microsystems and Cognos.

Rent Houses Bracknell Berkshire