Your home town

Frank the tank

Does it have any links to anyone famous, or anything interesting.

Hucknall (sh1thole that it is) off the top of my head has these links

Burial place of Lord Byron (poet)
Ben Caunt (world champ bare knuckle fighter) The bell big Ben is named after him.
Birthplace of Eric Coates (composer of the dambusters march)
Robin Bailey (actor)
The German who the film "the one that got away" was based on attempted to escape from the airfield at Hucknall (now Rolls Royce). Which is the place where the propulsion system for the Harrier "jump jet" was developed (the flying bedstead).

If I think of owt else I'll add them on later.

Appearantly Sam Weller Widdowson who invented football shin pads was a Hucknallite.

bobtbuilder

Haywards Heath - The lead singer out of Suede grew up here.

tonyw43

I hail from Billingham, although now live in Hartlepool:

Paul Smith of the band Maximo Park was born in Billingham
Aldous Huxley's novel Brave New World was inspired by a visit to Billingham
Nearly had the UK's radioactive waste dumped in the old Anhydryte mine by NIREX in the 80's
Jamie Bell (Billy Elliot) was born in Billingham
Jet (Diane Youdale) from Gladiators was from Billingham
Eddie Jobson (Roxy Music/Jethro Tull) Born in Billingham
Home of the International Folklore Festical
Billingham Town Centre was the blueprint for many town centres around the Uk (Pity it is now pants)
Birthplace of me (Most Important )

pedylan

Funny you should ask.

Last night's main swine flu news -woman airlifted to Sweden. She comes from Kilmarnock. As do I. I can honestly say I can't remember when I last heard the town mentioned in any news context.

Only ever hear the town mentioned when the football scores are being read out. You must know the local team - Kilmarnock Nil.

Apart from that, Kilmarnock Edition was the first published, collected works of Robert Burns and Johnnie Walker whiskey is bottled there. Although the plant is scheduled to close thanks to creeping globalisation.

trickeyja

Cheltenham - a generally pleasant affluent town, pleasantly situated on the edge of the Cotswolds.

Birthplace of Gustav Holst, composer of the Planets.
Famous for its Spa waters.
Home of the Cheltenham Races.
Hosts a ridiculous amount of festivals (Literature, Music, Science, Horse, Cricket... bla... Jazz... you name it)
Regency architecture, nice parks, can be seen as posh.
We had bowsers during the floods in 2007, when we lost our water supply for two weeks.

Lots more interesting stuff I'm sure...

Oh there is one Michelin starred restaurant too... fine dining

Lagavulin

Wikipedia claims South Shields to be all this but apart from RIdley Scott, Wouldhave and Sir Frank Williams, I think it is all bollocks.

reppohkcor

trickeyja wrote:

Cheltenham - a generally pleasant affluent town, pleasantly situated on the edge of the Cotswolds.

Birthplace of Gustav Holst, composer of the Planets.
Famous for its Spa waters.
Home of the Cheltenham Races.
Hosts a ridiculous amount of festivals (Literature, Music, Science, Horse, Cricket... bla... Jazz... you name it)
Regency architecture, nice parks, can be seen as posh.
We had bowsers during the floods in 2007, when we lost our water supply for two weeks.

Lots more interesting stuff I'm sure...

Oh there is one Michelin starred restaurant too... fine dining

Its not Cheltenham...... Its Cheltenham Spa 8)

White Line

Glasgow. Couple of famous people went to my school. Tonnes of singers and the likes.

Look up things on the internet if you wish to be jealous ... sorry; I mean, find out more.

Anonymous

Irvine, Graham Obree had his bike shop there for a while. And a certain scottish Minister, who was the first girl I ever winched. The Scots on here know what that means... :oops:

pottssteve

I'm from Manchester but was raised in Heywood, the best description of which follows:

"It looks like a great funeral on its way from Bury to Rochdale, consisting of little more than a mile of brick-built cottages and shops. The very dwelling houses look as though they worked in factories"
- Edwin Waugh, Lancashire Sketches, 1881

It hasn't changed much. Monkey Town, as it's known, is home to Julie Goodyear and Christine Gaskill, 1974 Commonwealth games 100m breaststroke gold medallist. I spent many a "happy" hour paddling around in the warm pubic hair soup that was the children's pool at the Gaskill baths.....

mmitchell88

TonyW43 wrote:

I hail from Billingham, although now live in Hartlepool:

Paul Smith of the band Maximo Park was born in Billingham
Aldous Huxley's novel Brave New World was inspired by a visit to Billingham
Nearly had the UK's radioactive waste dumped in the old Anhydryte mine by NIREX in the 80's
Jamie Bell (Billy Elliot) was born in Billingham
Jet (Diane Youdale) from Gladiators was from Billingham
Eddie Jobson (Roxy Music/Jethro Tull) Born in Billingham
Home of the International Folklore Festical
Billingham Town Centre was the blueprint for many town centres around the Uk (Pity it is now pants)
Birthplace of me (Most Important )

...and wasn't it the Billingham / ICI Wilton site which inspired RIdley Scott's vision for Blade Runner? For me, it inspired me to study chemistry...which then led to me to flee the region, never to return...!

I grew up in Middlesbrough, so I'll claim Paul Daniels.

Frank the tank wrote:

Does it have any links to anyone famous, or anything interesting.

Apologies - I'll try and think of someone else...

pottssteve

mmitchell wrote:

"I grew up in Middlesbrough, so I'll claim Paul Daniels".

You're tto late, Debbie got him years ago. Her and the undead...

FSR Si

My home town for the last 15 years is mostly made up of inbreds (not the bike type) the only famous people associated with it are Nigel Short of chess fame and Laura white from the Simon Cowell show cant remember which one though.

Kieran_Burns

I don't know which one you would call my home town:

Burton On Trent (where I grew up): Beer. ('nuff said)
Derby: most haunted town in Britain,

davelakers

Preston has produced

Sir Tom Finney
Andrew Flintoff
Nick Park (Wallace and Gromit creator)
Jessica Taylor (liberty x singer and Mrs Kevin Pietersen)
John Thompson (Cold Feet actor)
Mark Lawrenson
Ribble Cycles
John Inman
Kenny Baker (R2D2)
Butch Cassidy

And best of all its ideally situated for some of the best cycling in the country.

Ollieda

Sandhurst, Berkshire -

Royal Military Academy Sandhurst - Where future British Army Officers (and some foreign Army Officers) are trained
World Champion Tug-o-war team!
"The Meadows" shopping centre - Has one of the biggest Tesco's and one of the biggest M&S in the country
(A lot of people seem to think that the RMA and The Meadows are part of Camberley, Surrey, however the "Wish Stream" that runs through the RMA and down the side of The Meadows is the boundary between Sandhurst and Camberley. This makes The Meadows firmly inside Sandhurst and the vast majority of the RMA in Sandhurst, although a small part is in Camberley which leads to the confusion!)

Famous people:
Arguably a large amount of people due to the RMA, but as they are there for about a year they don't really count! i.e. HRH's Prince William & Harry, Winston Churchill, James Blunt
Apparently Jimmy Saville used to live in Sandhurst

Chip \'oyler

Barnsley has a very big Cricket & Sporting connection:

Dickie Bird
Michael Parkinson
Darren Gough
The Greenhoff brothers
Mick McCarthy
Tommy Taylor and Mark Jones (Busby Babes)

Other notables:
Joseph Bramah (lock inventor from 1700s)
Brian Glover
Joanne Harris (writer of Chocolat)
Leonard Parkin (ITN newsreader)
Harry Worth (comedian)
Kate Rusby (Folk singer)
Ian McMillan

And not forgetting that famous toss pot - Arthur Scargill

fast as fupp

birkenhead has (apart from loads of untermenschen)

glenda jackson

patricia routledge

lily savage

but im from liverpool

mattbass789

people famous from here... as in Hull...

Everything but the girl (that 80's 90's band)
The Beautiful South and the housemartins.
David Bowies guitarist was from hull. mick ronson well it was his entire backing band.
Amy Johnson the female pilot
Norman Cook (fat Boy slim) seen as he was the bassist from the housemartins.
Apparently the fine young cannibals were.
John prescott.... hoorah? nah.
William WIlberforce.

FyPunK

Blackpool
The list from wiki..
Blackpool has been the birthplace and home to a number of notable people, including:

* Jo Appleby - soprano singer with Amici Forever
* David Atherton - conductor
* Zoë Ball - English TV and radio presenter
* Ronnie Baxter - Darts player
* Lennie Bennett - comedian
* Charlie Cairoli - famous clown, born in Milan but became famous in Blackpool where lived from 1939 to his death in 1980. He is buried at Carleton Cemetery.
* George Carman - barrister
* Frank Carson - comedian
* Violet Carson - Coronation Street actress who played the part of Ena Sharples. She lived in Bispham until her death.
* Ronnie Clayton - British Featherweight Boxing Champion 1947-54, twice Lonsdale Belt winner
* Jimmy Clitheroe - British comedy actor, lived most of his life in the Greenlands area on Bispham Road, Blackpool, where he died in 1973
* Jenna-Louise Coleman - Emmerdale actress (Jasmine Thomas)
* Alistair Cooke - journalist and commentator
* Steven Croft - cricketer
* Karl Crompton, winner of £10.9 million in The National Lottery in 1996[55]
* Raine Davison - actress
* John Evan - musician Jethro Tull
* Dan Forshaw - Jazz musician
* Jeffrey Hammond - musician Jethro Tull
* Roy Harper - musician
* Barney Harwood - TV presenter
* Edwin Hughes - ("Balaclava Ned") (1830-1927), the last survivor of the Charge of the Light Brigade at Balaklava in the Crimea lived in Blackpool and is buried in Layton cemetery.
* John Inman - actor, Lived in the Warbreck area near to Holy Family Primary School.
* Matty Kay - footballer
* Augustus Kenderdine - landscape and portrait painter
* Cynthia Lennon - wife of John Lennon
* Jacqueline Leonard - actress
* Ian Levine - songwriter
* Syd Little - comedian, Little and Large
* Brian London - boxer
* Joe Longthorne - singer
* Chris Lowe - musician - (Pet Shop Boys)
* Andrew Lyons - footballer (Crewe Alexandra, Wigan Athletic)
* Gavin McCann - footballer - (Bolton Wanderers
* Nick McCarthy - musician (Franz Ferdinand)
* Stacey McClean - singer S Club 8
* Vic McGlynn - radio presenter
* John Mahoney - actor (Frasier) Born in Bispham.
* Pauline Moran - actress
* Janet Munro - actress
* Graham Nash - (The Hollies, Crosby, Stills & Nash (and Young))
* Bernadette Nolan - singer and actress
* Coleen Nolan - singer and TV presenter
* Chris Patten - politician and former Hong Kong governor
* Daryl Peach - World Pool Champion
* Jodie Prenger - singer and actress
* Maddy Prior - singer (Steeleye Span)
* Peter Purves - TV presenter
* John Robb - musician, author and TV presenter
* William Regal - (WWE wrestler)
* Nikki Sanderson - actress Coronation Street
* Michael Smith - Nobel Prize-winning chemist
* Robert Smith - musician (The Cure)
* Frank Swift - footballer (Manchester City and England)
* David Thewlis - actor (Remus Lupin in the Harry Potter film series)
* Ricky Tomlinson - actor (Jim Royle in The Royle Family) Born in Bispham.
* Roger Uttley - rugby union player
* Daniel Whiston - ice skater (Dancing on Ice)
* Tony Williams - musician (Stealers Wheel and Jethro Tull)
* Shelly Woods - elite wheelchair athlete
* Scott Wright - actor Coronation Street

Oh and we have a punk festival every year

BikeNewby

reppohkcor wrote:

trickeyja wrote:

Cheltenham - a generally pleasant affluent town, pleasantly situated on the edge of the Cotswolds.

Birthplace of Gustav Holst, composer of the Planets.
Famous for its Spa waters.
Home of the Cheltenham Races.
Hosts a ridiculous amount of festivals (Literature, Music, Science, Horse, Cricket... bla... Jazz... you name it)
Regency architecture, nice parks, can be seen as posh.
We had bowsers during the floods in 2007, when we lost our water supply for two weeks.

Lots more interesting stuff I'm sure...

Oh there is one Michelin starred restaurant too... fine dining

Its not Cheltenham...... Its Cheltenham Spa 8)

Neither of you mentioned Bomber Harris or Richard O'Brien. Or the guy who invented the pay-toilet.

It's a hot bed of talent.

CHRISNOIR

Frank the tank wrote:

...Burial place of Lord Byron (poet)

Interestingly (?) Rochdale tries to claim a piece of Lord Byron (he's pictured on the small display outside the station). The tenuous claim is that he owned some mines in the area. What they don't say is that he spent most of his life trying to sell them and visted the place only once.

Other than that..

Lisa Stansfield
Gracie Fields (buggered off to France first chance she got)
Constituency of Cyril Smith (famous fat bloke - not surprising when you see the size of the average Rochdale resident)
Rochdale AFC has been in the lowest tier of football for the longest time of any club.
Birthplace of the Co-operative movement (so not all bad)

pottssteve wrote:

...Heywood... Monkey Town...

No one's ever been able to tell me why Heywood is 'Monkey Town'. Two versions I've heard is that -

a - All the bar stools used to have holes in them (for the residents to put their tails through).
b - It's so small that "One swing and you're through it".

Sirius631

pottssteve wrote:

I'm from Manchester but was raised in Heywood, the best description of which follows:

"It looks like a great funeral on its way from Bury to Rochdale, consisting of little more than a mile of brick-built cottages and shops. The very dwelling houses look as though they worked in factories"
- Edwin Waugh, Lancashire Sketches, 1881

A few miles west and you would have been raised in Bury, where I hail from, which is where the following also come from:

Sir Robert Peel, Prime Minister and founder of the Metropolitan Police.
Danny Boyle, director of Slumdog Millionaire.
Victoria Wood, comediene.
Peter Skelern, him of piano and brass bands fame.
Fiona Allen, one of the Smack the Pony sketch show, and a childhood friend of mine (now married to Michael Parkinson's son).
Reg Harris, World Sprint Champion, came from Birtle, between Bury and Heywood.
I also should list black puddings, as these were my favourite thing about Bury.
When you take Bury as a metropolitan borough, it includes Whitefield where Godley and Cream of 10cc fame used to go to school at Stand Grammar.

Angus444

dmclite wrote:

Irvine, Graham Obree had his bike shop there for a while. And a certain scottish Minister, who was the first girl I ever winched. The Scots on here know what that means... :oops:

NS???? I'm impressed.......and a little jealous.....

pottssteve

ChrisNoir,

I thought it was because of the bar stools. Or maybe the high percentage of evolutionary throwbacks living there.

Sirius,
I did my O level History project about Robert Peel The black puddings are yummy, but I was always disappointed at the huge volume of dog sh*t on Bury's streets.

Apparently there's another good swimmer living in Heywood now - Keri-Anne Payne -must be something in the water

jrduquemin

Buckfastleigh, Devon - serial killer Colin Ireland used to run a pub called The Globe with his girlfriend until the police arrested him. He killed a number of gay men in London during the early 90s.

john-e-big-guns

Frank the tank wrote:

Does it have any links to anyone famous, or anything interesting.

Hucknall (sh1thole that it is) off the top of my head has these links

Burial place of Lord Byron (poet)
Ben Caunt (world champ bare knuckle fighter) The bell big Ben is named after him.
Birthplace of Eric Coates (composer of the dambusters march)
Robin Bailey (actor)
The German who the film "the one that got away" was based on attempted to escape from the airfield at Hucknall (now Rolls Royce). Which is the place where the propulsion system for the Harrier "jump jet" was developed (the flying bedstead).

If I think of owt else I'll add them on later.

Appearantly Sam Weller Widdowson who invented football shin pads was a Hucknallite.

Did'nt Robin Hood do a bit of running around there Frank ?? must have had few 'Flaggans' of ale in Hucknall before going on to 'P***'in Off' ye olde Sheriff of Nottingham

geoff_ss

I come from Eastwood, not too far from Hucknall, and AFAIK it's only claims to fame is that it's the birthplace of DH Lawrence and the Midland Railway

In my youth Lawrence wasn't particularly popular locally - "He worra dotty bogger" as some of his contempories would remark. My grandfather owned the house he was born in and my uncle sold it to become a museum,

Ripley, a couple of miles the village we live now is the birthplace of Barnes-Wallis, the engineer who designed the Wellington and Lancaster bombers and whose idea the famous bouncing bomb attack on the Ruhr dams was.

Geoff

de_sisti

Where would one's home town/city considered to be? Their place of birth, where they were brought up, or where they've been living for the past few years? (All 3 can be different, as in my case).

Black Phoenix

Hucknall or should I say Ucknll.

As far as I can see it has been totally unaffected by the much publicised credit crunch looking at the amount of salad dodgers and smokers I see in the town.
Busiest place in the town is always Greggs the pie shop.

Yes, I live there and it isn't such a bad place .....








apart from the people.

geoff_ss

Black Phoenix wrote:

Hucknall or should I say Ucknll.

As far as I can see it has been totally unaffected by the much publicised credit crunch looking at the amount of salad dodgers and smokers I see in the town.
Busiest place in the town is always Greggs the pie shop.

Yes, I live there and it isn't such a bad place .....








apart from the people.

Not such a bad place. I worked in Derby but got involved with rig tests at the Hucknall factory. I always arranged meetings first thing at Hucknall, cycled there, then cycled to Derby afterwards and home in the evening. Great stuff, as I could get 50 miles of cycling in - half of it in Rolls-Royce time

So going to see those f**kers at Huckers had it's advantages.

Geoff