On the river

A boat on the Trent.

Bridge

A rather fine looking bridge at the nature reserve.

Level crossing

Caution, trains crossing.

St Mary the Virgin

The parish church.

Attenborough

Attenborough is a village on the south western border of Nottinghamshire, on the banks of the river Trent.

Attenborough

Information
County:	Nottinghamshire
District:	Broxtowe
Population:	2328 (2011 census)

The village has been in existence since Saxon times when it was known as Addensburgh. The church of St Mary the Virgin was listed in the Domesday Book and probably has Saxon origins from around 964CE, though the oldest parts of the current church are the chancel which dates from 1042.

Attenborough was the birthplace of Henry Ireton, a son-in-law of Oliver Cromwell and one of his generals during the Civil War. Close to Attenborough is the village of Chilwell where a munitions factory was situated. On July 1st 1918, 134 people were killed in an explosion at the factory, this remains the largest loss of life from a single explosion in mainland Britain. There is a memorial in St Mary the Virgin's churchyard.

Former gravel pits near the river are now a nature reserve. Attenborough has had a railway station since 1856.

This way to the river

The nature reserve

Fenny Stratford railway station

The railway station.

Red Lion

Canal side pub.

St Martin

The parish church.

Yellow shops

Yellow retail in Fenny Stratford.

Fenny Stratford

Fenny Stratford is one of the towns which make up the "new town" of Milton Keynes in Buckinghamshire. 

Grand Union Canal in Fenny Stratford

Information
County:	Buckinghamshire
Unitary authority:	Milton Keynes
Population:	21,471 (Parish)

Fenny Stratford was recorded in manorial rolls as early as 1252 as Fenni Stratford, the name is Old English for marsh ford on a Roman road, the Roman settlement of Magiovintum was nearby. Watling Street runs through the town. Fenny Stratford was awarded a market charter by King James I in 1608. The town had a successful market until the plague hit the town badly in 1665, the market never recovered and Fenny Stratford went into a severe decline.

The town's recovery was helped by new transport links including the canal (nowadays part of the Grand Union Canal) and the railways, Fenny Stratford railway station is now a stop on the Marston Vale Line. The diesel engine can be said to have had it's origin in Fenny Stratford. Henry Akroyd Stuart built the first successful heavy oil engines in 1890, two years later Rudolph Diesel based his designs on Akroyd Stuart's and the rest is history.

St Martin's church

Properties in Fenny Stratford

Memorial

Memorial in Ash.

A home

A nice looking house in Ash.

Basingstoke Canal

Canal side properties in Ash.

St Peters

St Peter's parish church in Ash.

Ash

The village of Ash lies on the border of Surrey and Hampshire. It is close to Aldershot (and is included in the Aldershot urban area) and Farnborough.

Down the road in Ash

Information
County:	Surrey
District:	Guildford
Population:	6,120 (2011 census)

Ash has Saxon roots (though there have been people living in the area since the neolithic at least), it was known as Esche in the 7th century, in Norman times known as Assche. The village probably had a mill though one is not listed in the Domesday Book. In the 12th century the parish church of St Peter's was built on the site of an earlier Saxon church.

Ash was granted to Chertsey Abbey by Azor, a nobleman and one of the guards of King Edward the Confessor, at the time of the Norman Conquest. The village remained the property of the abbey until it was granted to King Henry VIII in 1537. It was later granted to Winchester College. 

Ash is served by Ash railway station with Ash Vale and North Camp stations also close by. The Basingstoke Canal runs through the parish.

The Swan pub alongside the Basingstoke Canal in Ash

Ash railway station

Memorial

In Chirk.

Chirk Aqueduct

Chirk Aqueduct, and the railway viaduct behind. The Welsh-English border passes through about half way along both.

Hand Hotel

Historic hotel in Chirk.

St Mary

The parish church.

Chirk / Y Waun

Chirk (Y Waun) is a town on the Welsh-English border in the historic county of Clywd and before than Denbighshire (though nowdays officially in the Wrexham County Borough).

Old house in Chirk

Information
County:	Clywd
District:	Wrexham
Population:	4,468 (2011 census)

Chirk may take it's name from the river Ceiriog which flows next to the town. The Welsh name Y Waun means The Moor. As a town on the border, Chirk was in a position of importance. Chirk castle was built in 1295 as part of King Edward I's border defences. The castle is well preserved and is now a National Trust property. The Normans built the parish church of St Mary in the 11th century though an earlier church dedicated to St Tysilio existed on the site.

Chirk was a stop on the mail coach route from London to Holyhead, in latter times the Llangollen Canal was built through Chirk. Thomas Telford built an aqueduct to allow the canal to cross the Ceiriog valley. Next to the aqueduct is a railway viaduct built in the late 1840s. Chirk railway station opened in 1848.

Chirk was a coal mining community from the 17th to 20th centuries though the mines are now closed. Agriculture and tourism are important to the town though there are some manufacturers still in the town including Cadbury.

Inside St Mary's

Memorial

In Weaverham.