My English Homes Trivia Quiz

Answer: Islington

The 'Angel' at Islington is a very busy junction of five roads meeting in the heart of the old village once known as 'Isledon'. There was previously an old coaching inn there called 'The Angel' which may have given its name to the area.

Islington was once a haunt of royalty and, in Tudor times, was popular with Elizabeth I. Later, the fields around the old village became lairages and dairy farms supplying London with milk and meat. Islington village was absorbed into the ever expanding capital and today is a busy, urban and multicultural borough steeped in history.

The football [soccer] team known as the Arsenal originated south of the river in Woolwich as 'Dial Square' the team of the Royal Arsenal sited there. They moved to Highbury in Islington in 1913 and now play at the new Emirates Stadium. Their club colours are red and white.

Answer: Oxford

Oxford is perhaps best known for its colleges and magnificent buildings but is also the county town and the only city in Oxfordshire. The University of Oxford is the oldest in the English speaking world and is first mentioned in the 12th century. The river winding through the city is the Thames but the section flowing through Oxford is called the Isis and is popular with rowers, pleasure boaters and punters.

The very first sub four minute mile was achieved on the athletics track at Iffley Road situated to the east of the city centre when, on May 6th 1954, Roger Bannister, a graduate of Exeter College Oxford, ran in a time of 3 minutes 59.4 seconds.

Answer: Coventry

Coventry was devastated by enemy bombing during the 'Baedaker Raids' of the Second World War. It gave rise to a new verb; 'to coventrate' meaning 'to devastate by heavy bombing'. The new Cathedral, opened in 1963, was designed by Basil Spense and built next to the poignant, charred remains of the old one.

The story of Lady Godiva's naked ride through the streets of Coventry is well know as is the tale of 'Peeping Tom' who was struck blind for taking a crafty look. Godiva was a real Anglo-Saxon woman who was married to Leofric, the Earl of Mercia and lived around the time of the Domesday Book of 1086 in which she is mentioned. She appears as an influential woman and the story of her 'ride', to try to change her husbands' mind about taxation, dates back to at least the 13th century.

Answer: Harrow

Harrow was once a small settlement called Greenhill situated at the foot of Harrow Hill. Then along came Victorian urbanisation and these days Harrow is a busy, crowded place - an indistinguishable part of Greater London and ideal for commuting to the City.

Harrow-on-the-Hill is a lofty conservation area of trees and greenery surrounded with many impressive listed buildings. It is also home to Harrow School - a well respected public school whose famous alumni include seven prime ministers, five foreign monarchs and several Nobel prize winners.

A harrow is a piece of equipment pulled behind a horse or, latterly, a tractor on a farm to help cultivate the soil.

Answer: Chester

Chester was founded in the year 79 as a Roman fort situated near the mouth of the River Dee and was called Deva Victrix.

Modern Chester is much visited by tourists to see the almost complete medieval city walls and to shop in the 'Rows' - a unique mixture of old shops and dwellings set over two stories in the High Street. The 13th century bridge, the castle and the racecourse set beside the river also attract visitors.

Roman remains are still to be found in the shape of foundations to later buildings and my place of work there had a well preserved cellar formed of Roman brick.

Answer: Ellesmere Port

Surrounded by oil refineries, motor manufacturing plants and docks Ellesmere Port is not the prettiest of places but was very welcoming to me - a stranger from London.

The 'Port' as the locals call it, was built at the northern end where the Ellesmere Canal was planned to join up the River Severn with the River Mersey. That plan never quite came off but the town still has a canal - the 'Shroppie' - and developed as a service economy with large industries such as the giant oil refineries at Stanlow and the impressive Vauxhall car assembly plant nearby.

Answer: Stoke Poges

Stoke Poges is a spread out, residential village in the 'Stockbroker Belt' around London and within easy reach of the capital by road and rail.

'Stoke' means 'stockaded place' and the Poges bit comes from the family name of Robert Pogeys - 'Knight of the Shire' - in the 13th Century.

The pretty church of St Giles, where Gray was inspired to write his poem, is situated some way south of the main village and is also his final resting place.

Answer: Slough

Slough is a multicultural, busy industrial town along the Bath Road with one of the largest industrial estates in Europe. While perhaps not the prettiest of places, it is full of character. A little known fact is that the ubiquitous plastic 'wheelie bin' for holding household rubbish was invented in 1968 in Slough by Frank Rotherham Mouldings.

Answer: Second World War

Being the closest landfall to a Europe occupied by German forces during the 1939-45 World War, Kent was the scene of aerial dogfights and bombing and shelling by aircraft and by the long range enemy guns set along the French coast.

Even a rural village as small as Ringwould saw some minor bomb damage and, later in the war, flying bombs or V1s were a common sight passing over with their burbling engines living up to their name of 'Doodlebugs'.

Canadian troops and anti aircraft guns were sited nearby which probably was good news for the landlords of the village pubs - if they had enough beer!

Answer: Deal

Deal is a small seaside town on the coast of East Kent and is known for its history of fishing, coal mining and military barracks. It is home to Deal Castle - one of three built by Henry VIII to protect against invasion.

These days it has a concrete pier, built in 1957, which is popular with sea anglers and a trove of pubs, restaurants and independent shops along the High Street. The dwellings in the Middle Street area, which once were lowly beer houses, cramped smugglers dens and bawdy houses serving the sailors from the ships anchored in the safety of the Downs offshore, are now elite and sought after homes in the Conservation Area.