Lyttelton's Britain Read Online Free PDF Page B

exploited at the hands of a number of landed families. There were the Knatchbulls of Mersham and the Sackvilles of Knole, but things worsened still with the arrival of the notorious Allders of Croydon.
    Tunbridge Wells proper was founded in 1606 when natural springs were discovered nearby and the town’s mattress industry began.
    During the 17th Century, the town began to welcome the well-heeled, due to the absence of shoe-repair shops. Many arrived to take the restorative mineral waters, and even King Charles I came to Tunbridge Wells hoping to cure his chronic dandruff, a problem that was eventually solved by major surgery. Shortly after, Royal Appointment was awarded to his regular brand of shampoo, which was specially renamed ‘And Shoulders’.
    The elegance of the spa years lives on in the area known as ‘The Pantiles’, a colonnaded walkway named after the pavement of clay tiles. After her son slipped and fell there, Queen Annefamously paid for Tunbridge Wells to be provided with stone flags, but since no one could get them up the poles, they ended up on the floor.
    1735 saw the arrival in Tunbridge Wells of ‘Beau’ Nash, who appointed himself Master of Ceremonies and formulated some strict rules of etiquette. These included knowing which fork you picked your nose with, and dictated that a gentleman should always take his hat off if a lady walked past the window he was urinating out of.
    Rural Kent today is at the forefront of the support of countryside pursuits, a tradition that stretches back to the memorable occasion when the Archbishop of Canterbury was invited by the Reverend Dr Spooner to join the Kentish Hunt.

    Small schoolchildren prepare to run, following the ban on fox hunting, 2007
    A few miles to the south east, tourists may care to visit Romney Marsh, and discuss the many successful seasons he spent at QPR.
    For centuries the main industry around Tunbridge Wells was the production of hops. As a consequence, the countryside is scattered with many oast houses, where Kent’s traditional rural crafts are still practised, such as tarting them up and flogging them off for three quarters of a million quid.
    On the outskirts of Tunbridge Wells are the interesting sand-stone formations known as ‘Toad Rock’ and ‘High Rocks’, which are used to train mountaineers. A young Ranulph Fiennes came to Tunbridge Wells to practise and went on to make his first attempt on Annapurna, while her husband was working nights.
    Other famous names associated with Tunbridge Wells include William ‘Makepeace’ Thackeray and Oswald ‘Let’s Start a War’ Mosley. It was while living in the town that Thackeray wrote and published Vanity Fair , and then, later, Woman’s Own and Motorcycle Monthly .

BRIGHTON

    B RIGHTON is a city boasting a rich culture and history. A settlement is first recorded in Brighton as long ago as 3000 BC , when Celtic Druids practised their ancient worship of oaks, mistletoe and virgins, and indeed oaks and mistletoe are still plentiful in Brighton.
    Another ancient settlement was recorded nearby by the Romans, who noted the area for its Neolithic Camp, a style later replaced by the Anglo-Saxon Mince.
    In Saxon times, the village developed into a small port, known as ‘Bright Thelmstone’; ‘Bright’ being the Saxon word for ‘Shiny’ and ‘Thelmstone’ meaning ‘Thelmstone’.
    Brighton is now a bustling resort, but the numbers visiting only really started to grow in the 1760s, when Doctor Richard Russell claimed that drinking Brighton’s seawater would cure ailments such as asthma, rickets and impotence. This came as good news to the Prime Minister William Pitt, or as he was affectionately known, ‘Wheezy, Bandy, Floppy Willy’.
    The town boomed thanks to fishing, and Brighton became famous for its sardines and pilchards. It is recorded that when King Ethelred visited in 975, he was presented with the key to the city, which promptly broke off in his hand.
    Brighton first became