yushi

Following a thread in SGUK about local attractions i thought it would be nice if i let you all know a little something about Carlisle (which is where i live) - because i soak up useless information like a sponge i have quite a bit for you - are you ready to be schooled?!! hehe...

Location: Always the biggest issue for Carlisle this one, no one has a bloody clue where Carlisle is! Well, it's HERE (google maps). REMEMBER IT!!, i'll be asking questions later.

OK, random facts from off the top of my head...

• Carlisle has the UK's oldest post box - it's outside the town hall and it still serviced by the Royal Mail although post probably takes longer to deliver now than it did all those years ago


• That town hall has a clock tower and these is no clock face on the north facing side because no one would ever want to give the scots the time of day!


• Carlisle Castle was built in 1092 by William Rufus (although the site was a Roman Fort long before that) and was used to lock up Mary Queen of Scots - because of the location of Carlisle it was regularly under siege by the scots but remarkably the city and it's walls are all in quite good condition - they've all probably been rebuilt a dozen times over...


• Carlisle doesn't actually appear in the doomsday book because at the time (1080's) Carlisle was actually part of Scotland! Fecking little sods...


• Carlisle Cathedral has the largest east facing stained glass window in Europe - it would have had the biggest west facing one too if Oliver Cromwell hadn't knocked it down because he need the bricks to patch up the hole he made in the castle during the Civil War...


• Until recently Carlisle used to have largest train marshalling yard in Europe... *amazing!*


• Talking of trains, the first ever card railway ticket was issued in Carlisle - before then they where just paper or a rubber stamp on your hand


• More trains, Carlisle has more working and unscheduled charter Stream Trains passing though it annually than anywhere else in the UK - usually one or two a day and four or five at the weekends


• STILL more trains, because of the above facts, Carlisle is like Mecca to Train Spotters and they are really weird people


• Carlisle has one of the best race horse racing tracks in the UK (apparently) - it's classified as being a 'First Class' track


• There are four individual ex-Royal Air Force Air Fields within 10 minute drive - must be a record


• The delivery of newspapers by plane in the UK took place in Carlisle - fuck knows how they pulled that off - bombing runs but with bundles of the Daily Express?!


• According to the Liberal Democrats Carlisle has been cursed... (no wonder why no one voted for them here) - actually it was put on the city by Archbishop Dunbar of Glasgow back in 1525 because the people who lived in the borders would raid Scottish villages (steal cattle, rape and pillage etc) - anyway the city council though it would be a cool idea if that curse was inscribed into a 14ton chunk of rock with all 1,000 plus words as a new Millennium celebration thingy - don't ask about that either *shurg*


• Carlisle was officially titled a 'Fairtrade City' earlier this year - i don't know how that works either...


• A weird one, Carlisle has broadest range in altitudes of any city on Earth, at the cities lowest point is at sea level exactly and at it's highest point it's 625mtrs above sea level (or 2,180ft)


• An even weirder one, Carlisle is the largest city in England in terms of the city councils authoritative area and yet it has the fewest number of people living in it than any other English city


• Hadrians wall passes right though or rather underneath the northern half of the city...


• The northwest of England has over 950 recognized ancient monuments of which over 600 are in Carlisle and the sounding county...


• Season endings are always interesting when you're a Carlisle United fan

Carlisle also has had a few cool things named after it...


HMS Carlisle - she's a Capetown Class Light Cruiser and served in WWII (constructed between 1914 and 1918), she got pretty beat up a few times serving in the Med until October 9th in 1943 she was damaged beyond repair during an air raid, she was towed to Alexandria and effectively left - eventually to be broken up in 1948.


A Steam Train - 'L.M.R. 'Princess Coronation' pacific No. 46238' - or something...


A Merchant Ship - don't know much about this one, she was a Merchant Navy ship (870 tons)


An interesting painting of what the city may have looked like...


And what the Castle looked like earlier this year...

Why oh why did i not take GCSE History?! *sigh*
Hope you learning something kids!