Scotland

Approximate Population: 184,788

Aberdeen grew up as two separate burghs – Old Aberdeen at the mouth of the Don and New Aberdeen, a fishing and trading settlement where the Denburn entered the Dee estuary. The earliest charter was granted by King William the Lion about 1179, confirming the corporate rights granted by David I. The city received other royal charters later. In 1319, the Great Charter of Robert the Bruce transformed Aberdeen into a property owning and financially independent community. Bruce had a high regard for the citizens of Aberdeen who had sheltered him in his days of outlawry, helped him win the Battle of Barra and slayed the English garrison at the Castle. He granted Aberdeen with the nearby Forest of Stocket. The income from this land has formed the basis for the city’s Common Good Fund, which is used to this day for the benefit of all Aberdonians.

The city was burned by Edward III of England in 1336, but was soon rebuilt and extended, and called New Aberdeen. For many centuries the city was subject to attacks by the neighbouring lords, and was strongly fortified, but the gates were all removed by 1770. In 1497 a blockhouse was built at the harbour mouth as a protection against the English. During the struggles between the Royalists and Covenanters the city was impartially plundered by both sides. In 1715 the Earl Marischal proclaimed the Old Pretender at Aberdeen, and in 1745 the Duke of Cumberland resided for a short time in the city before attacking the Young Pretender.

In the 18th century a new Town Hall was built, elegantly furnished with a marble fireplace from Holland and a set of fine crystal chandeliers and sconces. The latter are still a feature in the Town House. This century also saw the beginnings of social services for the Infirmary at Woolmanhill which was opened in 1742 and the Lunatic Asylum in 1779.

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Greater London

Approximate Population: 181,766

The district of Westminster boasts two of the capital’s most famous and spectacular buildings: Westminster Abbey and the Palace of Westminster, whose clock tower, housing the massive 13-ton bell called Big Ben, is instantly identifiable as a symbol of London. The original palace was home to generations of royals until 1512. The House of Lords, also based at the palace, remained there, to be joined by the Commons in 1547, bringing the Houses of Parliament together in the location they still occupy today.

The palace was almost completely destroyed by fire in 1834 and was rebuilt in magnificent Gothic Revival style over 30 years. The 14th Century Jewel Tower, which escaped the fire, now hosts an exhibition about Parliamentary history. Westminster Abbey dates back to 1066, although the present building, in all its stunning Gothic splendour, was begun in the mid-1200s.

Some 17 monarchs are buried here. So, notably, are many of the literary giants commemorated in Poets’ Corner. Westminster School, College Garden, Chapter House and Museum, and St Margaret’s Church, serving the House of Commons, are within the Abbey’s precincts. Not far away, and also worth visiting, is the interactive exhibition at The Churchill Museum and Cabinet War Rooms.

Nursing Homes near Westminster

Greater London

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Kent

Approximate Population: 43,552

Canterbury is an enticing Cathedral City with a rich history in the County Of Kent, home to over 42 thousand people. It’s set on the River Stour which flows through it’s heart, where narrow winding cobbled streets are lined with houses from many centuries, and ancient Roman City Walls. Medieval Canterbury was the most important and busiest Pilgrimage site which has continued for centuries, after the brutal and bloody murder of Thomas a Becket in 1170.

The majestic Cathedral commands the skyline, complete with the longest nave in Europe and was declared by Unesco a World Heritage Site. Gothic towers, memorable arches, and gem coloured stained glass windows are breath stealing. St Augustine’s Abbey was built after he had successfully persuaded King Ethelbert of Kent to convert to Christianity in 597, both Ethelbert and his wife were buried there, today a chance the explore the site and browse round the Museum should be taken.

The Canterbury Museum has treasure upon treasure to discover from Romans, Rupert Bear, and the Blitz, and certainly the fabulous 14th Century Westgate Towers should feature highly on everyone’s list. Canterbury is also blessed with the oldest Saxon church in England which is dedicated to St Martin where time reverses in a flash, history oozes from every corner, William the Conqueror built a castle here, and although in ruins today it’s worth the time to explore, King John was crowned here, and Chaucer immortalised Canterbury when he wrote his world famous Canterbury Tales.

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West Midlands

Approximate Population: 170,994

Tracing its history back to around 1160 Walsall was created as a Royal Manor. There are claims however that Walsall can actually trace its history back to 1004 – but these claims have yet to be proven. In essence a medieval town, the highest point being Church Hill, where a church has stood since around 1200 and today there is still evidence in the present church of a crypt dating back to the 13th century.

Walsall gained its status as a market town and together with the local agricultural economy it became an important market town and today the market, dating back to 1220, is still a popular attraction. The borough though had good supplies of raw materials, coal, limestone and ironstone, and it was only a matter of time before the local residents exploited these raw materials making stirrups, buckles and spurs. The coming of the Industrial Revolution saw these small industries grow to be quite huge commercial operations, rail and canal networks meant that locally produced goods could now be traded throughout the country and this level of activity saw local wealth increase.

This legacy can still be seen today, the Arboretum Park was opened in the late 19th century and the lakes within it were created by flooding the old mining works, the park today contains parkland, woodland, gardens and lakes with many activities being available. For the casual visitor to Walsall the evidence of its industrious past is there to be seen, a trip to the Leather Museum or the Walsall Museum providing an insight into this fascinating place.

Nursing Homes near Walsall West Midlands

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East Sussex

Approximate Population: 106,562

Eastbourne is an elegant seaside town protected by cliffs, in the county of East Sussex, home to over eighty nine thousand people. It dates far back into history to the Stone Age, and the beautiful countryside once seen, is never forgotten, with a rich patchwork of greens giving way to the stark brilliant white of the Seven Sisters, that stand as a marker for seafarers past and present.

The beaches beckon to swimmers, whilst the children search ever hopeful for creatures that lurk in the rock pools, coastal breezes blow away cobwebs, and made the town a fashionable resort for those intrepid first ever Sea Bathers. The gentle pastime of strolling along the prom whatever the time of day is as pleasing today as it ever was, and time it right the Band Stand will host players of foot tapping tunes as the deck chairs dance in the wind. The impressive pier is like a finger pointing out to sea extending a thousand feet, it was built in the 1870’s and exudes Edwardian charm with every step, arcades, Victorian tea rooms, and, when the lights dazzle the Night club springs into life, with the fascinating Camera Obscura offering a 360 degree view of the seafront, and the comforting aroma of fish and chips ensures a pleasurable memory.

With shops galore for that special purchase, and the busy Arndale Shopping Centre that’s home to eighty shops will surely quench the thirstiest shopper, for a link with the past there’s the 14th Century church of St Mary’s, or for Mother Nature’s beauty the views unfold along the South West Coastal Path, and Beachy Head, artists might be tested at the Marina and Sovereign Harbour which has colourful yachts, reflected in the water, shops, restaurants and bars. A choice of theatres, and home of the pre Wimbledon International Tennis Championships, Eastbourne is a glittering gem set high in the Sussex crown.

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Northern Ireland

Approximate Population: 27,433

The English version of the name of the city comes from the original Irish Iúr Chinn Trá (in older spelling, Iubhar Chinn Trábha), which translates as “the yew at the head of the strand”, which relates to an apocryphal story that Saint Patrick planted a yew tree there in the 5th century. In modern Irish, the full name of the town is rarely used; instead it is abbreviated to An tIúr.

The town was established in 1144 with the building of a monastery, although there is strong evidence of continual human habitation in the area from 8th century. The monastery only lasted until 1162, when it was burned to the ground, and later replaced by a cistercian monastery. This monastery itself was later converted to a collegiate church in 1543, before being surrendered to the crown in 1548.

Sir Pedro Winter, marshal of the Army in Ireland, took over the site around 1550, later building a castle there. The remains of the original Cistercian monastery were still standing when Bagenal acquired the land and it may well have been the abbot’s house that Bagenal proclaimed as his castle. The site was said to consist of a ‘church, steeple, and cemetery, chapter- house, dormitory and hall, two orchards and one garden, containing one acre, within the precincts of the college’. The remains of Bagenal’s Castle can be found today on Castle Street, near to the LIDL store, on what was once the site of McCann’s Bakery.

Nursing Homes near Newry Northern Ireland

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Wales

Approximate Population: 1,383

This magic place, the birthplace of Wales’ patron saint, is officially recognised as Britain’s smallest city and the location for Wales’ most important religious monument.
The Cathedral nestling in the valley of the River Alun alongside the impressive ruins of the Bishops Palace is undoubtedly one of the loveliest settings in Wales. A wonderful ambience pervades the entire area which is quite unique.

The city bustles during the summer months and visitors are spoilt for choice with places to stay, eat and drink. Galleries and interesting shops proliferate.

*Visit the magnificent beach at Whitesand Bay, famed for its surf.
*Walk the rugged splendour of St Davids Head with its burial chamber and fortification and the huge outcrop Carn Llidi; the rocks here are the oldest in Britain, at 6 million years old.
*Visit the Lifeboat Station at St Justinians or the picturesque harbour at Porthclais.
*Try a TYF adventure day surfing, coasteering or kayaking. Thousand Islands Expeditions, Voyages of Discovery and Aquaphobia offer exhilarating and exciting trips around Ramsey Island in rigid inflatable boats. It’s a great way to see the local wildlife at close quarters.
*Each year in early June the St Davids Cathedral Festival provides a feast of classical music by some of the world’s top musicians.

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Hampshire

Approximate Population: 234,224

The south coast city of Southampton, once a fortified medieval port, is on the main train line linking the adjacent New Forest to London. The Spitfire was designed and developed here during WWII, resulting in the city being flattened from mass bombing by the Germans, including the historic 1898 football stadium, The Dell, since rebuilt. Much of the medieval town walls and Georgian and Tudor buildings survived, however, the most impressive of which is a timber framed house known as the Tudor House Museum.

The best place to view the ruins of the city‚s walls is the Western Esplanade. The most prominent landmark in Southampton is its 1930s white Civic Centre clock tower, on a hill above the main train station, the locals see the new year in there but it is best known for its substantial collection of British paintings in its art gallery.

Around the corner are parks with sculptures and ornamental rose gardens and The Avenue, a pleasant footpath through a tree-lined green island with busy roads either side, leading eventually to the wooded heathland of Southampton common.

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Hampshire

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Greater Manchester

Approximate Population: 103,544

Eric Sykes, Dora Bryan, Bernard Cribbins, Cannon and Ball, Syd Little (of Little and Large), Philip Schofield, Anne Kirkbride Michael Atherton, David Platt, Paul Scholes all come from this place that lies just north of Manchester and was originally famed for being the centre of the textile industry. Oldham is today made up of the boroughs of Chadderton, Crompton, Failsworth, Lees, Royton and Saddleworth all of which contributed to the flourishing textile industry of the 18th century. The town can trace its roots back to the 11th century and with few natural resources Oldham was to remain so until the Industrial Revolution.

What Oldham did have was high humidity and reserves of coal. It was these assets that encouraged the development of the mills and cotton that was to dramatically change the fortunes of this North West town. The engineers of the time created the canals, railways and roads which made Oldham central to the cotton industry on both sides of the Pennines. In 1887 Oldham alone was responsible for 13% of the world’s production of cotton, Oldham was recognised as the greatest cotton spinning town in the world.

Together with the growth in mill building came a demand for more steam engines and engineering in Oldham became an important industry in its own right. The industry continues today but on a much lesser scale, the mid to late 20th century saw a decline in cotton production as the industry moved abroad. This left Oldham with a rich Victorian architecture that is still in evidence today. Despite a reputation for being mainly an industrial area Oldham has at its centre Alexandra Park built in 1865 and covering some 70 acres with boating lake and a pagoda built as an observatory in 1899. There is also the recently opened Gallery Oldham one of the most progressive galleries in the North West with an impressive collection including works by Constable, Turner and Lowry.

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Greater Manchester

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Hampshire

Approximate Population: 187,056

The first time I saw Portsmouth was late at night from the top of the white cliffs of Portsdowne Hill, a hill fort which overhangs the three roads connecting the island city of Portsmouth to the rest of Hampshire.

I thoroughly recommend all first time visitors do this, mainly because this is probably the only time they will find Portsmouth pretty but also because there is a great pub/restaurant on the top of the hill and a resident burger van in the car park. Views from the top are spectacular day or night, with the South Downs to the north and on a clear day all the way south to the Isle of Wight and as far west as Southampton. Portsmouth truly is ugly, only Old Portsmouth manages to retain any character at all, with it’s maze of cobbled Georgian streets leading to the original harbour.

However for anyone interested in ships, from the most ancient to the most modern, the Norman port of Portsmouth is heaven on earth? and also the sea. Here, Henry VII made Portsmouth a royal dockyard by building the world‚s first dry dockyard which, with Nelson‚s tall ship, the intact HMS Victory and the HMS Warrior in the Royal Naval Museum, plus the Mary Rose museum – excellent to satisfy kids‚ fascination with wrecks, makes Portsmouth a must-visit. Don‚t expect too much from Portsmouth‚s sea front. The beach is grey and shingled with a walkway next to it – quite good for watching passing royal navy ships go past but little else. Most sun-lovers end up on neighbouring Hayling Island. However there is a nice little water bus taking a circular route round Portsmouth Harbour, past the 3rd century roman fort of Portchester Castle, which is very well preserved and well worth a visit.

Nursing Homes near Portsmouth Hampshire

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