James' in the UK

Saint Alban and Holywell Hill

I tried to find out a bit about Saint Alban, the saint that gave this city it's name. In general he seems to be a pretty unremarkable guy in the saint trade, but his demise was probably most note worthy. The road that you drive on to get into the centre of St Albans is called Holywell Hill, apparently named because when our old friend Saint Alban we beheaded, his dismembered head rolled down down the hill and into a well at the bottom. Nice.

Pubs, pubs and more pubs

St Albans has a couple different pub accolades. Firstly it is rumoured to have the highest number of pubs per head of population anwhere in England. And that is saying something because most English town and cities are not short of a pub. There is a pub on the corner just down from our place and another 4 around various corners so I would believe that.

The other claim to fame is the oldest pub in England - Ye Olde Fighting Cocks. Although this pub is listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the oldest pub, apparently this title is disputed. However I'm willing to side with the records keepers here and give it to Ye Olde Fighting Cocks.

St Albans - the New Mayfair

When they decided to redo the Monopoly board using English cities instead of London streets, there was a public vote on which cities should have which spots. St Albans - being the posh place that it is - was voted into the top spot, the new Mayfair. We now own our own copy of Monopoly where we can buy either St Albans or Derby which also made it onto the board (although in a much lower position).