Ford’s Fascinating Facts

Ford is a keen hunter and has been exploring the Trans Pennine Trail for interesting facts about different places you can find along the Trail as well as the different animals and insects you come across too. 

Places on the Trail

• The Runcorn Bridge in Halton is a smaller version of the Sydney Harbour Bridge .
• Sankey Canal was built between 1755 and 1757, making it the first canal of the industrial revolution. This was shortly followed by the Bridgewater Canal also on the TPT.
• The highest point on the Trans Pennine Trail is in the Peak District and reaches 435m above sea level.
• Barnsley is host to Wentworth Castle Gardens – the only Grade I listed gardens in South Yorkshire.
• On the Trans Pennine Trail in York, there is a full scale model of the Solar System. If you cycle the whole distance you will have travelled at 10 times the speed of light!!
• St Mary & All Saints Church in Chesterfield is famous for it’s crooked spire. History reports that the reason for the inclination (or lean) is due to the unseasoned timber that was used, the absence of skilled craftsmen at the time (due to Black Death) and the neglect of cross-bracing. The spiral twist is thought to be by design.
• Humber Bridge, East Riding – In February 2002 the 100 millionth vehicle passed over the bridge. The bridge now carries more than 10 million vehicles a year.
• Very strange but true – The toilets located in front of the King Billy statue in Hull have cisterns filled with water and goldfish! The toilets themselves has won awards on a regular basis.

Animals & Insects

• Frogs have no necks – the base of their skull rests close to the collar bone.
• Birds eat earthworms but they have to get them out of the ground. When they do this the worm will fight back and the bird pulls its head off. The worm does survive though and grows another head!
• An earthworm can pull ten times its own weight.
• A butterfly has 12,000 eyes.
• A mole can dig about 92 metres in one night.
• A baby swan (known as a cygnet) pecks the inside of the egg for 24 hours before it emerges.
• A snail can sleep for 3 years

Random Facts

• There are about 9,500 different kinds of grass in the world.
• A duck’s quack does not echo.
• There are more chickens in the world than humans

If you know any other wonderful facts, please send me an email and I can get them added to the list!