Walking with Hartlepudlians Trivia Quiz

Answer: Forest and peat bog

The Hartlepool Submerged Forest is one of the largest areas of preserved ancient forest and peat bog known. Some of the area is exposed at each low tide, while other preserved, fossilised tree stumps are only visible every few years when weather conditions and tides are just right.

A two metre length of wattle fencing panel excavated in the 1980s was radiocarbon dated to around 3,600 BC.

Answer: Durham

The original dig in 1964 found a round house and human burials. In 1987 evidence of an earlier Bronze Age settlement was uncovered, and also a stone built Roman building thought to be a grainstore.

The whole site is part of the Summerhill Woodland Centre, and since 1998, Summerhill and Tees Archaeology Group, in association with Durham University, have organised a 4 week annual dig at which students and local volunteers can help out.

Answer: Hild

Hieu was the Abbess from the founding of the Abbey until Hild took up the post. The Abbey had both monks and nuns, and Hieu was the first known woman to be in charge of such a religious community.
Hild (later St Hilda) was the niece of King Edwin of Northumbria and was Abbess until 657 AD, when she became the founding Abbess of Whitby Abbey.
Hild lived until the then great age of 66, and died in 680 AD.
The only part of Hartlepool Abbey which remains in modern times is the graveyard, which has been explored by archaeologists and has yielded many Anglo-Saxon finds including book-making and writing equipment, household objects and skeletal remains.

Answer: Oswi

St. Aefflaed was praised by Bede for her piety and devotion to God, as well as her political acumen. She was joint Abbess of Whitby Abbey with her mother after the death of St. Hilda, and then alone until her own death in 713. She was also instrumental in her nephew Osreth becoming King of Northumbria in 705.

The patronage of the royal family of Northumberland was instrumental in making first Hartlepool Abbey, then Whitby Abbey - both important institutions.
King Oswy Drive in Hartlepool commemorates Oswi's link with the town.

Answer: de Brus

William de Brus, 3rd Lord of Annandale, was granted a Royal Charter from King John to hold a weekly market at Hartlepool, and was also Lord of Gisburne.
The de Brus (Bruce) family arrived in Britain from France around the time of Henry I, and went on to become Lords of large estates in Yorkshire and the North East of England as well as in Scotland.
William's great-great-great nephew, Robert, would later become King Robert I of Scotland.
It was at the time of the Scottish Wars, in the 12th century, that the town walls were built. Sandwell Gate and a portion of the original wall are still standing.
A pub called The Brus Arms', a street named Bruce Crescent, and an area of town named Brus Corner now commemorate the 'founding family' of Hartlepool.

Answer: Trincomalee

The Trincomalee was launched in 1817, and served the Royal Navy until she was sold for scrap in 1897. Renamed Foudroyant by her new owner, she remained in use as a training and accommodation ship until 1991, when she was brought to Hartlepool, completely restored to her former glory, and her name changed back to Trincomalee.
She is part of the "Hartlepool Maritime Experience" and is open to visitors as a museum.
Fifty two years older than Trincomalee, HMS Victory, the flagship of Admiral Nelson still survives at Portsmouth, but she is in dry dock and not afloat.

Answer: His was the first military death in conflict, on British soil, since the Civil War ended

On December 16th 1914, the German Navy bombarded the ports of Hartlepool, Scarborough and Whitby.
In all, over 1,100 shells landed on Hartlepool, and 117 people lost their lives.
Private Jones, of the Durham Light Infantry, was the first soldier killed in battle on British soil for almost 300 years.
The Heugh Battery, (pronounced y'UFF) was one of only two coastal defence batteries to see action in World War I.
It is also one of the only two remaining batteries to have seen action in both World War I and World War II.
It has become a museum and home to a military re-enactment group.

Answer: Ralph Ward-Jackson

With the coming of the railways and shipbuilding industries to the area, housing and facilities were needed for the massive influx of working men and their families.
In 1854, the new town of West Hartlepool was recognised by Parliament and incorporated. Ralph Ward-Jackson was elected as Chairman of the Board of Improvement Committee and remained in the post until he retired in 1870.
A park and a primary school named after him commemorate his work for the town.

Answer: Brewery

The original Lion Brewery was founded in 1852, and the water from its artesian well on the site is still used to make their beer.
Colonel J.W. Cameron, who took over the running of the Brewery in 1865, was the third Mayor of Hartlepool, serving in 1889-90.
The family made a gift to the town of the Cameron Hospital (later demolished to make way for houses) in 1905 at a cost of £20,400.
Apart from the years between 1985 and 2002, Camerons Lion Brewery has always been a small, family-run business. Their best known beer is the "Strongarm" brand, developed in 1955 and in production ever since.
Local legend has it that the red, stone lions on the gate posts of the brewery will roar if ever the town is in "desperate peril".

Answer: Andy Capp

Originally drawn by Reg Smythe, the "Andy Capp" cartoon strip is syndicated to fifty countries worldwide.
In 2007 a bronze statue of Andy was placed outside the pub on the Headland that would be his 'local' if he really lived in Durham Street.
In 1974, Reg Smythe received the "National Cartoonist Society Humor Comic Strip Award" for "Andy Capp."
Reg was born in Hartlepool, and returned to live in the town towards the end of his life. He based the characters of Andy and his long suffering wife Flo on his own parents; his mother was actually called Florence.