Best Places To Live In United Kingdom Named

by Sean McLachlan on


Thinking of relocating to the United Kingdom? Halifax Bank’s annual survey of the best places to live in the UK has just come out, with the district of Hart in Hampshire coming out number one.

Various factors were taken into account, including average wage, cost of living, crime, and average lifespan. While this survey is obviously geared towards residents and not visitors, a nice place to live is generally a nice place to visit.

UK media were quick to notice that all of the top fifty places were in southern England. Northern England, Scotland, Northern Ireland, and Wales didn’t win a single entry. As someone who has tromped all over the UK, I find this a bit surprising. The country grows steadily more beautiful the further north you go, and the people become nicer the further you go in any direction from London.

I suspect the Halifax survey is skewed towards economics. London is the UK’s economic powerhouse and the closer you live to it the better your economic opportunities are. Of course bringing cost of living and crime into the picture means London itself doesn’t score very well!

A favorite town of mine, St. Albans, ranked number 11 and may be typical of what Halifax was looking for. A prosperous town with a high average income thanks to its easy commuting distance from London, it’s generally safe and far cheaper than living in the city itself. It also has good shopping and leisure facilities. Click on the link to learn what there is to see in this easy day trip from London.

The Halifax survey also gets skewed to the south thanks to another criteria it takes into account: the weather. How the hell is Orkney supposed to compete with Hampshire when you take the weather into account?So what’s there to see in the Hart District of Hampshire? Its main town of Fleet is only 37 miles from London and there’s a train from Waterloo station. Besides the historic town itself, there’s the Fleet Pond Nature Reserve, shown below in this image courtesy Vicki Jull. Throughout Hart there are various historic sites and areas of natural beauty. The entire region is crisscrossed with historic canals, like the one shown above in this image courtesy David M. Moore.

So if you’re looking for a relaxing day trip from London, you might want to consider the Hart District.

WWII submarine struggles to survive

by Sean McLachlan on

England’s last submarine built during World War Two needs £1.5 million ($2.7 million) to avoid ending up on the scrapheap of history.

The HMS Alliance was launched just weeks before the end of the war and never saw action. It is the last surviving Amphion class submarine specially designed for long-range Pacific warfare. While it missed the big show, it saw active service until 1973. Now it’s the central display at the Royal Navy Submarine Museum in Gosport, Hampshire, in England.

The HMS Alliance survived its active service unscathed, but is now in sorry shape. Pigeons nest in its corroded hull, and parts of it are actually falling off. Already £4.6 million ($7 million) has been raised for an emergency overhaul, but without the additional funds the submarine will no longer be suitable as a museum.

The Royal Navy Submarine Museum chronicles the history of the UK’s submarine fleet from 1901 to the present day, especially its key role in defending Britain during both world wars. A memorial to the 5,300 personnel who gave their lives in the submarine service is a centerpiece of the museum. Also on display is the Holland I, the Royal Navy’s first submarine, launched in 1901.


Image courtesy Keith Edkins via Wikimedia Commons.

Winter weather doesn’t deter amorous Brits

by Tom Johansmeyer on

Next time you’re stuck in a London hotel, with snow falling and few options for getting out on the town, order a little entertainment to your room. It will make you authentically British … if you take the latest survey by IllicitEncounter.com at face value. The website, which helps married people find a little action on the side, revealed that its traffic increased on Wednesday morning, as a winter storm tore through Hampshire, Berkshire and the West Country. To help people get a little secret sex, IllicitEncounters.com has even had to bring on temp staffers.

According to Sara Hartley, a spokesperson fro the site, “In light of these figures, I’d be interested to see how much work those ‘working from home’ have actually done.” She continues, “Perhaps these wives and husbands have just been waiting for a time when they could join, away from the eyes of their work colleagues and, most importantly, their partners…”

IllicitEncounters.com has more than 350,000 members in Britain, so if you’re lonely in London on a wintry day, maybe you should skip that walk by Buckingham Palace and enjoy a little takeout.

[Photo by Je@n via Flickr]