Rent Houses

Inverness Scotland

Approximate Population: 40,949

Most of the traditional industries in Inverness such as distilling have been replaced by high-tech businesses, including the design and manufacture of diabetes diagnostic kits.   Highlands and Islands Enterprise has partly funded a Centre for Health Science with a view to attracting more businesses in the medical and medical devices business to the area.   Inverness is home to Scottish Natural Heritage following that body’s relocation from Edinburgh under the auspices of the Scottish Government’s decentralisation strategy.   SNH provides a large number of jobs in the area.

Inverness City Centre lies on the east bank of the river and is linked to the west side of the town by three road bridges (Ness Bridge, Friars Bridge and the Black (or Waterloo) Bridge) and by one of the town’s suspension foot bridges, the Grieg Street Bridge.  The traditional city centre was a triangle bounded by High Street, Church Street and Academy Street, within which Union Street and Queensgate are cross streets parallel to High Street.

Between Union Street and Queensgate is the Victorian Market, which contains a large number of small shops.   The main Inverness railway station is almost directly opposite the Academy Street entrance to the Market.   From the 1970s, the Eastgate Shopping Centre (Inverness) was developed to the east of High Street, with a substantial extension being completed in 2003.

Rent Houses Inverness Scotland

Rent Houses Bebington Merseyside

Approximate Population: 13,720

Bebington is a small town and electoral ward within the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, in Merseyside, England. It lies 5 miles (8 km) south of Liverpool and 34.5 miles (56 km) west southwest of Manchester, along the River Mersey on the eastern side of the Wirral Peninsula. Nearby towns include Birkenhead and Wallasey to the north northwest and Heswall to the west southwest.

It had a total resident population of 13,720 at the 2001 Census.

The town includes the areas of Port Sunlight (an early planned factory town), Higher Bebington (which includes the Mount Estate), Lower Bebington, Poulton Lancelyn, Spital, Storeton and Woodhey.

Bebington railway station opened in 1838 and is situated on the Wirral Line of the Merseyrail network.

The Church of St. Andrew, on a site occupied since Saxon times, dates from the 14th and 16th centuries.

In 1838, the footprints of an archosaur later called the Chirotherium storetonese were found in a sandstone bed at Storeton Quarry. Examples can be seen at the Liverpool Museum and at Christ Church within the parish of Higher Bebington.

Stone quarried at Bebington was used for the construction of Birkenhead Town Hall, some of the villas around Birkenhead and Rock Parks and most famously of all the Empire State Building in New York City. The stone is considered to be a high quality sandstone which is creamy in appearance. The Quarries were eventually filled in with debris removed during the construction of the two Mersey Tunnels.

Mayer Hall, Bebington Village, was formerly an art gallery built by Joseph Mayer, a Liverpool Businessman. It is now a community resource and still boasts many of its original features.

The Brackenwood golf course was cited in 2004 as a likely site for the Battle of Brunanburh in 937.

Rent Houses Bebington Merseyside

Rent Houses Mansfield Nottinghamshire

Approximate Population: 98,181

Mansfield is a town in Nottinghamshire, England. It is the largest town in the county, lying on the River Maun, from which the name of the town is derived. It is the main town in the Mansfield local government district. Mansfield is a part of the Mansfield Urban Area. The town is surrounded by a pocket of steep hills within the Maun Valley, and has a population of 169,987.

Mansfield has a large market square and, focused around the market, a large commercial centre including a museum, the Palace Theatre, and numerous pubs, bars and night clubs.

Mansfield was originally the home of Mansfield Brewery, once the largest independent brewer in the UK. The brewery was acquired by Wolverhampton & Dudley Breweries for £253m in October 1999, with production of the Mansfield range of ales moving to other parts of the country. The brewery’s physical assets were later sold on to Pubmaster Ltd, and the former site of the brewery is now derelict. In the 1980s, Mansfield Bitter was advertised with a photograph of then US president Ronald Reagan and the tagline “He may be president of the most powerful nation on Earth, but he’s never had a pint of Mansfield”; “Not much matches Mansfield” was also used. Mansfield is also the location of an Irn-Bru factory, owned by the Scottish drinks company A. G. Barr.

The television presenter Adam Kingswood (from BBC TVs The Truth About Property), Richard Bacon and professional golfers Oliver Wilson and Greg Owen come from Mansfield. The singer Alvin Stardust lived there as a child. Classical pianist John Ogdon was born in the suburb of Mansfield Woodhouse in 1937. Mark Holmes, lead singer of the Canadian New Wave/stadium rock group Platinum Blonde, was born and partly raised there. Mansfield is also the home of the Cantamus Girls Choir, World Choir Olympics champions. As well as this it also features a thriving music scene with many promising up and coming young artists.

Rent Houses Mansfield Nottinghamshire

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Gateshead Tyne and Wear

Approximate Population: 78,403

Gateshead International Stadium regularly holds international athletics meetings over the summer months.   It is also host to rugby league fixtures, and the home ground of both Gateshead Thunder Rugby League Football Club and Gateshead Football Club.   Both clubs have had their problems: Gateshead F.C. were controversially elected out of the Football League to make way for Peterborough United in the 1960s, whilst Gateshead Thunder lost their place in Super League as a result of a takeover (officially termed a merger) by Hull FC.

Both Gateshead clubs continue to ply their trade at lower levels in their respective sports, thanks mainly to the efforts of their supporters.   The Gateshead Senators American Football team also use the International Stadium, as well as this is was used in the 2006 Northern Conference champions in the British American Football League.

Gateshead is served by the Tyne and Wear Metro. There are stations at Gateshead Interchange, Gateshead Stadium, Felling, Pelaw and Heworth. Heworth is also served by main-line train services, as are Blaydon, Dunston and MetroCentre stations.

The Borough of Gateshead and the City of Newcastle are linked by a total of ten road, rail and pedestrian bridges.   Proposals for a cable car running from Gateshead to Gateshead Quayside were first published in 2001.

Rent Houses Gateshead Tyne and Wear

Rent Houses 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.

Rent Houses Wells Somerset

Rent Houses Walsall West Midlands

Approximate Population: 174,994

Walsall  is a large industrial town in the West Midlands of England.   It is located northwest of Birmingham and east of Wolverhampton.   Historically a part of Staffordshire, Walsall is a component area of the West Midlands conurbation, and is sometimes described as part of the Black Country. Walsall folk (informally known as ‘Walsallians’) generally object to being referred to as Brummie, preferring instead to promote their own proud heritage to people outside the West Midlands conurbation.

Walsall is the administrative headquarters of the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall.  In the 2001 census, the town had a population of 170,994 with the wider borough having a population of 253,500.   Neighbouring towns in the borough include Willenhall, Bloxwich and Aldridge.

Walsall Arboretum was officially opened on 4 May 1874 by the wealthy Hatherton family. It was hoped that the park would provide “a healthy change from dogfights, bull-baiting and cockfights”, however the 2d (old pence) admission was not popular with the public and within seven years the council took over ownership to provide free admission.

Walsall is home to the University of Wolverhampton’s Sports and Art Campus. Walsall College provides further education, and is based around three sites across Walsall. There are ten secular junior schools and two religious junior schools in Walsall. 45% of pupils in the Borough of Walsall achieved five GCSEs with grades of A*-C, below the national average of 56%.

Rent Houses Walsall West Midlands

Rent Houses

Salisbury Wiltshire

Approximate Population: 45,000

The first Salisbury Cathedral was built at Old Sarum by St Bishop Osmund between 1075 and 1092.   A larger building was built on the same site circa 1120.   However, deteriorating relations between the clergy and the military at Old Sarum led to the decision to re-site the cathedral elsewhere.

Thus the city of New Sarum, known as Salisbury, was founded in 1220, and the building of the new cathedral begun by Bishop Richard Poore in that year. The main body was completed in only 38 years and is a masterpiece of Early English architecture.   Some stones which make up the cathedral came from Old Sarum, others from the Chilmark Quarries from where they were floated down the River Nadder in small boats.   The 123 m (400 ft) tall spire was built later and is the tallest spire in the UK.

The cathedral is built on a gravel bed with unusually shallow foundations of 18 inches (46 cm) upon wooden faggots: the site is supposed to have been selected by shooting an arrow from Old Sarum, although this can only be legend as the distance is over 3 kilometres (1.9 mi). It is sometimes claimed the arrow hit a white deer, which continued to run and died on the spot where the Cathedral now exists.

The cathedral library contains the best preserved of the four surviving copies of the Magna Carta.  In 1386, a large mechanical clock was installed at Salisbury Cathedral, the oldest surviving mechanical clock in Britain.

Rent Houses Salisbury Wiltshire

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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.

Rent Houses Barnet Greater London

Rent Houses Norwich Norfolk

Approximate Population: 131,900

Norwich is a city in Norfolk, East Anglia which is in Eastern England. It is the regional administrative centre and county city of Norfolk. During the 11th century Norwich was the second largest city in England, after London, and one of the most important places in the kingdom.

The great immigration of 1567 brought a substantial Walloon community of weavers to Norwich. Norwich has been the home of various dissident minorities, notably the French Huguenot and the Belgian Walloon communities in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. These immigrants were known locally as ‘Strangers’. The merchant’s house – now a museum – which was their earliest base in the city is still known as ‘Strangers’ Hall’.

It seems that the Strangers were integrated into the local community without a great deal of animosity, at least among the business fraternity who had the most to gain from their skills. The arrival of the Strangers in Norwich bolstered trade with mainland Europe, fostering a movement toward religious reform and radical politics in the city. During this time Norwich became the second largest city in the country second only to London.

The city’s economy, originally chiefly industrial with shoemaking a large sector, has changed throughout the eighties and nineties to a service-based economy. Norwich Union, an Aviva company, still dominates these, but has been joined by other insurance and financial services companies.

Rent Houses Norwich Norfolk

Rent Houses Barnet Greater London

Approximate Population: 323,100

High Barnet or Chipping Barnet is a place in the London Borough of Barnet in North London, England. It is a suburban development built around a 12th century settlement and is located 10 miles (16.1 km) north north-west of Charing Cross.

The tower of Barnet parish church – St John the Baptist – at the top of Barnet Hill, claims to be the highest point between itself and the Ural Mountains 2,000 miles to the east. However, the same has been said of numerous other points. Barnet Hill is a major hill on the historic Great North Road, although the modern Great North Road runs along Barnet Bypass.

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.

Rent Houses Barnet Greater London