Ford’s Fascinating Facts 

Of course, if you know of any other wonderful facts, please send them through I may add yours too! 

• The Runcorn Bridge, built in the 60’s, is a smaller version of the Sydney Harbour Bridge.
• Frogs have no necks – the base of there skull rests close to the collar bone.
• Humber Bridge, East Riding – On 24th September 1993 the 50,000,000th vehicle passed over the bridge and on 8th February 2002 the 100,000,000th vehicle passed over the bridge.
• The Oak tree can home more than 300 species of invertebrate.
• Birds eat earthworms but they need to pull the worms from their burrows. Sometimes the worm puts up such a fight that the bird pulls off the worms head. Amazingly the worm escapes and grows another head!
• A butterfly has 12,000 eyes.
• The highest point on the Trail is in the Peak District and reaches 435m above sea level.
• An earthworm can pull ten times its own weight.
• The oldest fossilized record of a dragonfly is from the Carboniferous Period, over 300 million years ago.
• Squirrels cannot remember where they hide half of their nuts.
• York Solar System Cycle Route on the TPT (York to Selby) is a scale model of the actual solar system where you can actually cycle at 10 times the speed of light!
• A mole can dig about 92 metres in one night.
• There are about 9,500 different kinds of grass in the world.
• A Duck’s quack does not echo.
• Sankey Canal was built between 1755 and 1757, making the Sankey England’s First Canal of the Industrial Revolution.
• A baby swan (cygnet) pecks the inside of the egg for 24 hours before it emerges.
• Peak District was where the Mountain Rescue started – their first rescue was off Laddow on the back of a field gate.
• Very strange but true – At King Billy toilets in Hull, the Mens toilets are located below the golden statue of King William in Lowgate. They have glass cisterns and win awards on an annual basis!
• A snail can sleep for 3 years.
• There are more chickens in the world than people.
• Chesterfield – St Mary & All Saints Church is famous for it’s crooked spire. Why is it crooked? History reports that the inclination (or lean) is due to the unseasoned (green) 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.
• Barnsley is host to Wentworth Castle Gardens – the only Grade I listed gardens in South Yorkshire.