We’ve spent the last few months creating new Quiz Trails and have lots coming out over the next few weeks.
Here are some of our discoveries!
Dover, Kent: Jocelyn Eve Stoker, lived in Dover for the first eight years of her life before she and her family moved away. Throughout her career she has sold thirteen million albums, establishing herself as one of the best-selling artists of her time. She's also done some acting including The Tudors playing Anne of Cleves and a voice part in a James Bond video game, Blood Stone. Better known to us all as Joss Stone!
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Sittingbourne, Kent: Kate Buss was born in Sittingbourne 28th December 1875 - she was one of eight children. She set off to Southampton to board the ship Titanic, aged 36. She was going to America to marry her man. Fellow Sittingbourne man, Samuel George Willis, had left the UK for California some four years earlier and was working as a carpenter and decorator, waiting for Kate to come and be his wife. Kate survived , was on a lifeboat and was rescued on the Carpathia. Kate and Samuel married, settled in America and had a daughter Sybil. She died in 1972 - her gravestone is inscribed ‘A Titanic Survivor’. Their grandson, Roland Lane, from California said “Grandmother did not relish recalling the harrowing experience, preferring to talk about the people she met on the voyage.”
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Ewell, Surrey: Hugh, Pugh, Barney McGrew, Cuthbert, Dibble, Grubb!
Who wrote the music to Camberwick Green, Trumpton and Chigley? A Ewell resident! Fabulous children’s television from the 1960s and 70s. Brian Cant was the narrator and Freddie Phillips created all the music and sound effects - including the sound of Windy Miller’s windmill turning! He was predominantly a classical guitarist, and he performed in the fields of opera, ballet and with the BBC Symphony Orchestra. Freddie’s father had owned an ironmongers shop in Ewell, an area that Freddie returned to in his later retirement years. He passed away here in 2003, aged 84.
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Battle, East Sussex: The BIG Question -
What Was Battle Called Before the Battle of Hastings?
The town obtained the name Battle for the obvious association with the Battle of Hastings. Different theories exist as to what this place was called before the Battle. It’s clear that prior to the battle the area was just very small, very rural being mainly fields. From archaeological digs there are signs of people having lived around this area.
- At one time it was called ‘Senlac’?
The Abbey was built on Senlac Hill with the town developing and growing around the Abbey. However, further research disproved this. The Norman invaders nicknamed the area of Senlac Hill, ‘blood lake’ referring to their win at the battle.
- At one time it was called ‘Claverham’?
The Battle County Secondary School was built in 1955 - in 1973 the Claverham Community College was developed on the site. Named from the Anglo-Saxon description of the area, ‘Claverham’ meant ‘a place of clover or good pasture’. This would match the terrain.
- At one time it was called ‘Epiton’?
Some authors think Battle used to be called ‘Epiton’ before the Conquest but others doubt that.
So … no conclusions and an interesting question remains!
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