Quirky things about where you live

[BobISMyUncle]

I have discovered, quite accidentally, that I live in a recently designated Market Town. I love this! We have one market stall, on a Saturday. It sells trousers. Sometimes, it sells plants. Sometimes it sells tartan stuff. On Thursday, but might be Tuesday, it sells fish. Sometimes, none of the above is true.
We're a Market Town now!! Do not be messing with me, I've developed webbed feet

@longwayoff

Somewhere in the Midlands is the estate agency named Doolittle and Dalley. I refused to believe it for years but there it is. Genius name.

You could use them alongside the legal firm Wright & Hassell (also in the Midlands).

They don't even have an 'and' in their name, so it's even better! It's literally just Wright Hassall. They must have done it deliberately to court the notoriety, rather than use an 'and' or swap the names around. The same reason we usually say 'knife 'n' fork' - in that order

Basingstoke has its own town song/anthem, thanks to Milton Jones along with probably every other place he went to on that tour

My town is full of streets with strange and evocative street names. A vast proportion of the old houses all have names, not numbers. It makes life tricky for the posties and delivery drivers. The main delivery driver is so brilliant and well liked the town gave him an award and he turned on the Christmas lights like a celebrity

A sizeable town near us has all of the side streets (except for the old ones that existed before it was massively expanded from the original village in the 60s) arranged in alphabetical order as you drive along the main road.

They don't use every letter in the alphabet, but you can know that, if you're looking for, say, Townsend Close, as you pass Elm Close, you're some way away from it and, if you arrive at Vincent Close, you've gone too far and missed it! It's also the only town I know of that is designed in such a way that you can legally drive right through it in several directions at 70mph.

One town I lived in has an annual bun throwing day.

Another had a tradition that at midnight on Christmas Eve the pubs would empty and everyone would dance around the Christmas tree in the market square.

Are buns provided?

@ThatIsNotMyUsername

Are buns provided?

The town councillors throw 4000 or so currant buns from the top of the County Hall to everyone below (although I forgot that it's not annual, it's to mark special events like royal weddings / jubilees / birthdays, war commemorations etc).

I have never locked the doors so ce I moved here and keep my car keys in the ignition.

Isn't there something similar to the bun throwing festival in a northern town, but with black puddings and/or yorkshire puddings?!

Obviously not a UK one, but there's a town in Finland that's home to the Wife Carrying World Championship!

I have never locked the doors so ce I moved here and keep my car keys in the ignition.

Just don't let your home or car insurer know, if you ever need to make a claim - that's an automatic refusal to pay out for a variety of types of claim.

Everywhere is cash only 🙄 it’s like stepping back in time and I’ve no idea why because it’s so easy to get a card machine these days...

My hometown has a Mausoleum built by a Duke. It had the longest echo of any man-made building in the world. When he died, he was interred there, and buried in an Egyptian sarcophagus.

Isleworth has similar. An Egyptian styled mausoleum in what was once the grounds of a Duke's country house. A tunnel ran from the house to the mausoleum and his funeral was rehearsed every so often to ensure it could be done. Duke's mistress interred there and possibly him as well. Is this the same one PatsyStone? Surely there cant be 2!

@longwayoff There's two! This one is in Scotland. The one in Isleworth sounds fascinating though.

Blimey! How surprising. If you want to Google, it is The Kilmorey Mausoleum. Maybe there was a fashion for Egyptian style tombs in the garden?. I didnt know what it was for years and just used to see it from the top deck of the bus and wonder about it. Then Lucinda Lambton put it in a TV programme and my mystery was solved.

I remember being taken to the Crooked House pub as a child to see the marbles rolling up the sloping floor crooked house pub

thecrooked-house.co.uk

@longwayoff Thank you. I'm off to have a read about it now.

This is "my" mausoleum www.atlasobscura.com/places/hamilton-mausoleum-2

@Slightlyunhinged

My village has a sanctuary ring in the church so if you break the law and the rozzers are after you, you can run to the ring and if you grab it before they get you then they have to leave you alone. I'm not aware of anyone using it and even if someone did, I don't know what happens once you let go of it!

That's so cool

Thanks Patsy. V impressive building.