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Watford Gap Services
Watford Gap services are motorway services on the M1 motorway in Northamptonshire, England. They opened on 2 November 1959, the same day as the M1, making them one of the oldest motorway services in Britain. The facilities were originally managed by Blue Boar, a local company that had run a nearby petrol station before the M1 opened. Roadchef bought the services from Blue Boar in 1995. The main building was designed by Harry Weedon, the architect for Odeon Cinemas, while the layout and general buildings were designed by coordinating architect Owen Williams. The main building was not ready on opening, so food was served from temporary sheds. The restaurant opened in September 1960, but due to the site's reputation as a truck stop, was redesigned in 1964 to accommodate a waitress service. The services became a meeting place for rock bands in the 1960s, including the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd and Jimi Hendrix, as it provided a convenient place to sit down and eat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
M1 Motorway
The M1 motorway connects London to Leeds, where it joins the A1(M) motorway, A1(M) near Aberford, to connect to Newcastle upon Tyne, Newcastle. It was the first inter-urban motorway to be completed in the UK; the first motorway in the country was the Preston Bypass, which later became part of the M6 motorway, M6. The motorway is long and was constructed in four phases. Most of the motorway was opened between 1959 and 1968. The southern end was extended in 1977 and the northern end was extended in 1999. It is also the second longest motorway in the country with the M6 motorway being the longest at 232 miles (373 km). History There had been plans before the Second World War for a motorway network in the United Kingdom. John Douglas-Scott-Montagu, 2nd Baron Montagu of Beaulieu, Lord Montagu of Beaulieu formed a company to build a 'motorway-like road' from London to Birmingham in 1923, but it was a further 26 years before the Special Roads Act 1949 was passed, which allowed ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Daventry
Daventry ( , ) is a market town and civil parish in the West Northamptonshire unitary authority area of Northamptonshire, England, close to the border with Warwickshire. At the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 Census, Daventry had a population of 28,123, making it the List of settlements in Northamptonshire by population, sixth-largest town in Northamptonshire. Geography The town is located north-north-west of London via the M1 motorway, west of Northampton, south-west of Rugby, Warwickshire, Rugby and north-north-east of Banbury. Other nearby places include Southam, Coventry and the villages of Ashby St Ledgers, Badby, Barby, Northamptonshire, Barby, Braunston, Byfield, Northamptonshire, Byfield, Charwelton, Dodford, Northamptonshire, Dodford, Dunchurch, Everdon, Fawsley, Hellidon, Kilsby, Long Buckby, Newnham, Northamptonshire, Newnham, Norton, Northamptonshire, Norton, Staverton, Northamptonshire, Staverton, Welton, Northamptonshire, Welton, Weedon Bec, Weedon and W ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Oxford English Dictionary
The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' (''OED'') is the principal historical dictionary of the English language, published by Oxford University Press (OUP), a University of Oxford publishing house. The dictionary, which published its first edition in 1884, traces the historical development of the English language, providing a comprehensive resource to scholars and academic researchers, and provides ongoing descriptions of English language usage in its variations around the world. In 1857, work first began on the dictionary, though the first edition was not published until 1884. It began to be published in unbound Serial (literature), fascicles as work continued on the project, under the name of ''A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles; Founded Mainly on the Materials Collected by The Philological Society''. In 1895, the title ''The Oxford English Dictionary'' was first used unofficially on the covers of the series, and in 1928 the full dictionary was republished in 10 b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and one of the home counties. It borders Bedfordshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Essex to the east, Greater London to the south and Buckinghamshire to the west. The largest settlement is Watford, and the county town is Hertford. The county has an area of and had a population of 1,198,800 at the 2021 census. After Watford (131,325), the largest settlements are Hemel Hempstead (95,985), Stevenage (94,470) and the city of St Albans (75,540). For local government purposes Hertfordshire is a non-metropolitan county with ten districts beneath Hertfordshire County Council. Elevations are higher in the north and west, reaching more than in the Chilterns near Tring. The county centres on the headwaters and upper valleys of the rivers Lea and the Colne; both flow south and each is accompanied by a canal. Hertfordshire's undeveloped land is mainly agricultural ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Crick, Northamptonshire
Crick is a village in the West Northamptonshire unitary authority area of Northamptonshire, England. It is close to the border with Warwickshire, east of Rugby and northwest of Northampton. The villages of Crick and West Haddon were by-passed by the A428 main road from Rugby to Northampton when the Daventry International Rail Freight Terminal (DIRFT) was built in 1996. The terminal is a short distance east of junction 18 of the M1 motorway, which is next to Crick. Crick's population in the 2001 census was 1,460, increasing to 1,886 at the 2011 census. History Crick takes its name from the Brittonic Celtic word for "hill", "cruc". There are many similar examples across Wales, for example Crughywel, Crug Mawr and Crickadarn. Crack's Hill () is about northeast of the village, next to the canal, and gives good views of Crick, Yelvertoft, West Haddon and Rugby from the top. Kilsby and Crick railway station was located west of the village between 1881 and 1960. Nota ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Grand Union Canal
The Grand Union Canal in England is part of the Canals of the United Kingdom, British canal system. It is the principal navigable waterway between London and the Midlands. Starting in London, one arm runs to Leicester and another to Birmingham. The Birmingham canal is with 166 Canal lock, locks. The Birmingham line has a number of short branches to places including Slough, Aylesbury, Wendover, and Northampton. The Leicester line has two short arms of its own, to Market Harborough and Welford, Northamptonshire, Welford. It has links with other canals and navigable waterways, including the River Thames, the Regent's Canal, the River Nene and River Soar, the Oxford Canal, the Stratford-upon-Avon Canal, the Digbeth Branch Canal and the Birmingham and Fazeley Canal. The canal south of Braunston to the River Thames at Brentford in London is the original Grand Junction Canal. At Braunston the latter met the Oxford Canal linking back to the Thames to the south and to Coventry to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Kilsby
Kilsby is a village and civil parish in the West Northamptonshire unitary authority area of Northamptonshire, England. It is situated a short distance south of the border with Warwickshire, approximately southeast of Rugby. The parish of Kilsby, which includes Barby Nortoft, was estimated to have a population of 1,268 in 2020. History Kilsby's name comes from Anglo-Saxon + old Norse , literally meaning "child's dwelling", but "child" here probably means "young nobleman". Its church, St Faith's, may originally have been the daughter chapel of the neighbouring parish of Barby. The parish's eastern side is bounded by the old route of the Roman Watling Street, and the village itself is sited on the crossing of two former mediaeval drove-routes. One of the earliest armed confrontations of the English Civil War took place at Kilsby in August 1642: The Royalist Captain Sir John Smith led a group of soldiers to disarm the villagers, after the news was heard that they were Parlia ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
A5 Road (Great Britain)
The A5, the London-Holyhead trunk road, is a major road in England and Wales. It runs for about from London to the Irish Sea at the ferry port of Holyhead. In many parts the route follows that of the Roman Iter II route which later took the Anglo-Saxon name Watling Street. History Roman road The section of the A5 between London and Shrewsbury is roughly contiguous with one of the principal Roman roads in Britain: that between ''Londinium'' (modern-day London) and ''Deva'' (modern-day Chester), which diverges from the present-day A5 corridor at Wroxeter ('' Viroconium Cornoviorum'') near Shrewsbury. Telford's Holyhead Road The Act of Union 1800, which unified Great Britain and Ireland, gave rise to a need to improve communication links between London and Dublin. A parliamentary committee led to an act of Parliament, the ( 55 Geo. 3. c. 152) that authorised the purchase of existing turnpike road interests and, where necessary, the construction of new road, to com ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Quicksand
Quicksand (also known as sinking sand) is a colloid consisting of fine granular material (such as sand, silt or clay) and water. It forms in saturated loose sand when the sand is suddenly agitated. When water in the sand cannot escape, it creates a liquefied soil that loses strength and cannot support weight. Quicksand can form in standing water or in upward flowing water (as from an artesian spring). In the case of upward-flowing water, forces oppose the force of gravity and suspend the soil particle. The cushioning of water gives quicksand, and other liquefied sediments, a spongy, fluid-like texture. In accordance with Archimedes' principle, objects in liquefied sand sink to the level at which the weight of the object is equal to the weight of the displaced soil/water mix and the submerged object floats due to its buoyancy. Soil liquefaction may occur in partially saturated soil when it is shaken by an earthquake or similar forces. The movement combined with an increase ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Thomas Telford
Thomas Telford (9 August 1757 – 2 September 1834) was a Scottish civil engineer. After establishing himself as an engineer of road and canal projects in Shropshire, he designed numerous infrastructure projects in his native Scotland, as well as harbours and tunnels. Such was his reputation as a prolific designer of highways and related bridges, he was dubbed the 'Colossus of Roads' (a pun on the Colossus of Rhodes), and, reflecting his command of all types of civil engineering in the early 19th century, he was elected as the first president of the Institution of Civil Engineers, a post he held for 14 years until his death. The town of Telford in Shropshire was named after him. Early career Telford was born on 9 August 1757, at Glendinning, a hill farm east of Eskdalemuir Kirk, in the rural List of Church of Scotland parishes, parish of Westerkirk, in Eskdale, Dumfries and Galloway, Eskdale, Dumfriesshire. His father John Telford, a shepherd, died soon after Thomas was born. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Watling Street
Watling Street is a historic route in England, running from Dover and London in the southeast, via St Albans to Wroxeter. The road crosses the River Thames at London and was used in Classical Antiquity, Late Antiquity, and throughout the Middle Ages. It was used by the ancient Britons and paved as one of the main Roman roads in Britannia (Roman-governed Great Britain during the Roman Empire). The line of the road was later the southwestern border of the Danelaw with Wessex and Mercia, and Watling Street was numbered as one of the major highways of medieval England. First used by the ancient Britons, mainly between the areas of modern Canterbury and using a natural ford near Westminster, the road was later paved by the Romans. It connected the ports of Dubris (Dover), Rutupiae ( Richborough Castle), Lemanis ( Lympne), and Regulbium (Reculver) in Kent to the Roman bridge over the Thames at Londinium (London). The route continued northwest through Verulamium (St&n ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Roman Britain
Roman Britain was the territory that became the Roman province of ''Britannia'' after the Roman conquest of Britain, consisting of a large part of the island of Great Britain. The occupation lasted from AD 43 to AD 410. Julius Caesar invaded Britain in 55 and 54 BC as part of his Gallic Wars. According to Caesar, the Britons had been overrun or culturally assimilated by the Belgae during the British Iron Age and had been aiding Caesar's enemies. The Belgae were the only Celtic tribe to cross the sea into Britain, for to all other Celtic tribes this land was unknown. He received tribute, installed the friendly king Mandubracius over the Trinovantes, and returned to Gaul. Planned invasions under Augustus were called off in 34, 27, and 25 BC. In 40 AD, Caligula assembled 200,000 men at the Channel on the continent, only to have them gather seashells () according to Suetonius, perhaps as a symbolic gesture to proclaim Caligula's victory over th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
