Where you live

No not asking for your address! I received an email this morning asking about the village I live in, Netley Abbey. This is not a big village but has a lot of history for such a small place. I know so little about it, awful really considering I've lived here 7 and a half years LOL.

If you look at a map of Great Britian (witch riding a pig) right at the centre bottom of the Island in the wicthes skirts there is a little upside down V with a tiny island underneath it. I live on the east side of that V.

A lot of people consider a small Southern English village to be all thatched cottages and roses round the front door. This is true of a few places but I certainly couldn't afford to live there! I found this site about my village which I thought was interesting.

http://www.netleyabbey.info/index.htm

Anyone else want to share about where they live or have lived?

This message was edited Thursday, Apr 4th 6:28 AM

Oh I think it is so beautiful!!
Of course I love the castles and haunting storys,lol.
I also live in a village, the village of Fairfield, Virginia.
Here is the only lin I could find, it shows the surrounding area.
"http://www.unitedcountry.com/lexingtonva/areafact.htm"

I don't know how to do a hyperlink (or even what it is) but I do work in historic preservation and am currently the chairwoman of the Tranysylvania County archives. I live in the southwestern Appalachian mountains of NC. This region was Indian territory and was not settled until after the Revolutionary War. At that time, the Indians were coerced into ceding lands in various treaties, to the State. Early explorers and settlers called this area Cascadia because of the number of waterfalls. There are over 250 major waterfalls here, more than any other county in the U.S. That's pretty amazing when you consider that we are such a small county; the 3rd smallest out of 100 in the state.
We are defined by the natural beauty here, and have had tourism since before the Civil War. Our valleys grow record numbers of crops per acre because of all the topsoil washed down (we have fairly high rainfall).
Because we have so many summer homes now, with people from all over, we are fairly cosmopolitan for a small mountain town. There are a lot of garden centers and nurseries for such a small place and a lot of landscaping goes on here. One of the big draws is a summer music camp which attracts the most talented high school students from all over the south. It operates about 2 months each summer and signs up big musical stars to compliment the student and faculty concerts. I sound like I'm from the Chamber of commerce, LOL. But come visit if you get a chance, and remember, we're not that far from Biltmore House & Gardens......

Vancouver, Washington is considered a suburb of Portland Oregon. We are across the river from Portland, and most of the population in Vancouver works in Portland. The problem is that there are only two bridges connecting us, and traffic is a nightmare. Up until quite recently I worked in Portland, it would take me sometimes an hour to drive in to work, whereas on a weekend it would take me 15 minutes to get to work.
Vancouver has the feel of a small town, there are still orchards and farms within the city limits, It is funny to see pockets of farms 5 minutes away from us, with cows, sheep and horses in pasture, and one block away is a strip mall. We have an orchard smack dab in the middle of a commerce center, the orchard is surrounded by businesses on three sides, and the high school on another side. In the summer they have a u-pick, and a stand with fruit and vegetables. so, I can get off work, drive 3 blocks to the farm, pick some fresh vegetables and cook them for dinner that night. I like that! (the only problem with that particular farm is that their cucumbers are always bitter, and I have complained 3 years in a row...must be something in their soil??)

we might be leaving this area soon, the unemplyment here is 11% - a lot of high tech companies in the area have layed off thousand of people, my DH included, and no prospects in sight. He is looking all over the country, and has some prospects in Virginia.

I don't live in a village,but we are a resort area where many people vacation and retire.I'm about 4 miles from KY Lake on the Western side and about 20 miles from the Tennessee line.

We use the lakes so much during the summertime,it's a really nice area to visit.
The little town that I'm closest to just celebrated 'Tater Day' this last Monday and there are pictures on the link showing the celebration. Check out the link and you can see what it's like to live here.

http://www.kentuckylake.com/

Baa,

Until this thread started, I have never even thought of looking up my city on the web. There is a lot of info about my city. I do know that we are considered "Surf City, USA". They have alot of Surf competitions here during the summer. We have a lovely beach area and I haven't been to the beach in years!! I've only lived here for 18 yrs. lol
We are very close to the original "Disneyland" and "Knotts Berry Farm". Hollywood is about 40-50 miles north, and that's close enough for me.

Here is my city: http://www.huntingtonbeach.com/

Donna

ps, woodspirit...to hyperlink something on here, just copy and paste the site you want linked on your post, and when you Preview your post, Dave has it automatically hyperlinked. Hope this helps

Here in Hamburg, I'm lucky to be living in one of the fastest and, for it's size, most beautiful cities in Europe, and by far the finest in Germany. Per square kilometre the city has more trees that any other city (worldwide), there are more bridges than Venice and Amsterdam have together, the people are just like us in Scotland, cold on the outside at first, but a friend made here is one for life. The harbour is the third biggest in the world, after New York and Rotterdam, and we get "Schmuddelwetter", which is a bit like a wet mist, but with bigger drops. It's a really lovely city, have a look at the pics.

All the best

Wintermoor

http://www.artoo.de/hamburg/hhp09.html

Des Plaines sounds dull after reading of everyone else's home towns. I think the only thing it's known for is being home to the first McDonalds! http://www.villageprofile.com/illinois/desplaines/desplaines1.html

i found my town in a search. it is not a village, it's not near the water, and it is in texas, but it is my little bit if heaven.
http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/articals/view/HH/hgh7.html

I live in Seward, Alaska. We're located in the southcentral area on the tip of Resurrection Bay.http://www.sewardak.org/

Howie and I are Newark, Ohio. Our big claim to fame is the huge Longaberger basket office building on the east side of the city, followed by the Longaberger homestead and factory farther east of town. We're a suburb of Columbus, I guess you'd say, with farmlands and burbs stretching between us and the capitol city. We have a regional campus of The Ohio State University here, along with Central Ohio Technical College (Kimberley '89, Howie '99). There's a wonderful arboretum here with many rare specimens of trees and a great staff (see the threads I started for lots of pictures). Also, our county extension office is in town, too, so that's nice. Just down the road is Granville, a New-Englandy sort of town founded in the late 1800's by a group of folks from Granville, MA. It has lots of Victorian architecture, good restaurants and shops, and is and home to Dension University. We love it here in our area!

City of Newark: http://www.ci.newark.oh.us/ , http://www.newarkohio.com/
Newark Advocate: http://www.newarkadvocate.com/
OSU-N: http://www.newarkcolleges.com/osun/index.asp
COTC: http://www.newarkcolleges.com/cotc/index.asp
Dawe's Arboretum: http://www.dawesarb.org
Village of Granville: http://www.granville.oh.us/
Denison University: http://www.denison.edu

I was going to post a link to a local history site, but when I was there browsing, Norton caught a virus that was being downloaded along with their content. Not good! I wrote the webmaster and will post the link as soon as I'm assured this problem has been fixed!

Very nice Baa - makes my Wickersley look a bit rough and ready.
Whoops! hope I have not upset any Wickersley watchers.

Peter.

I live in cute little town, Perrysburg, oh. it was found right after the War of 1812, alot of our history is based on William Henry Harrison, and the town named after Commodore Perry--the battle of lake erie. I was born in an even smaller town pop. 2012, south east of Cleveland, called Mantua, founded by one of Napoleon's men. The big event there every year was the potato festival, its a big thing, they fill cement trucks with potatos and people spud wrestle in the streets!!! They also name a spud king and queen!!!

Momcat,
My dh is from Waukeagan, and gpa used to be the fire chief of Fox Lake too.--He remembers going to your Macdonalds!!!

Baa,
I think we talked about this before my Mom grew up in Bournemouth, and the rest of my family now lives in Hythe!!!
What a small world it really is!!!!
Becky

Baa - thanks for starting this thread. I want to come visit all of you!

Many people think that Nebraska is pretty boring and only associate it with the long drive across the state on Interstate 80 or the Nebraska football team. I live near Lincoln, the state capital. I thought I would post a link to our State Capitol. You can tour the capitol on this link. The Nebraska State Capitol is recognized as one of the world's architectural masterpieces

By the way, if any of you are driving down the Interstate, you should let me know as I would love to come meet you for coffee (or a Runza). I only live 15 minutes from the Interstate.

http://www.state.ne.us/captour/intro.htm

Thanks everyone, it's great to see and read about where you live. I'd love to visit everyone, maybe one day I'll get the chance :)

I'm a bit embarrassed because Netley is only about 3 square miles and you guys live in much larger places. When I have a spare few moments I'll dig out a good site on the county of Hampshire, the cradle of the nation, and answer you all more fully :)

Baa,this is a great thread! and don't worry about your small village. My town,which I live just outside of, only has about 3500 residents.....if you count all the cats and dogs!

I've really enjoyed this virtual holiday visiting everyone's home areas.Everyone has such different landscapes and climates.I guess that's what makes us such a great group.If we all lived in exactly the same place,it would be like a garden with only one variety of flower.And we all know how boring THAT would be!

I don't think I need tell you how much I love Virginia and in particular my little corner which is about 20 mins from Charlottesville. Not only are we surrounded by rolling hills and mountains but the city itself is a joy!! The cultural and historical significance is well known thanks mostly to Jefferson and the civil war!! The grounds and buildings of the University are beautiful,in particular the Rotunda. Then of course we have Monticello and Montpelier and beautiful parks and gardens. As if to spoil us even further, farms, dairy and meat, the vineyards and horses abound in every direction and the old houses and plantations seem to step out of a novel or old movie!! Then of course we can't forget the forests and the beautiful trees that grace the streets. It seems there is always something in bloom and Magnolia trees are the backbone of course!! We have many local farmers which constitute the Farmers' Market and we can pick our own fruit in the many apple orchards or the blackberry farms. Balmy warm evenings find many people strolling downtown on the traffic-free, cobblestone streets where one can have a meal or a drink in the outside restaurants and cafes. Twinkling lights, beautiful flowers, musicians and street vendors make this a magical place!! To the north of Charlottesville are numerous antique shops but they are dotted about everywhere and of course Skyline Drive and the Shenandoah Valley are just another 20 mins away. I could go on and on about my new home in my new country but might end up sounding like a commercial for tourism - if I haven't already done so :-) I have loved learning all about your home towns in this huge US of A!! There is so much diversity and beauty in each and every state!! It is also with nostalgia that I take peeks at my beautiful and never to be forgotten homeland!!

http://www.virginia.org/site/features.asp?FeatureID=28

http://www.virginia.org/site/features.asp?FeatureID=46

Oops the second link didn't connect so I deleted it!! :-)



This message was edited Friday, Apr 5th 6:52 PM

This message was edited Saturday, Apr 6th 7:40 AM

Baa, those photos of your village are just beautiful!(and everyone else's too!) here is mine, quite boringhttp://ci.thibodaux.la.us/

Lisa I don't think it's boring!! The history is fascinating and connections are colourful. Thibodaux sounds very quaint and uncluttered and I mean that in the nicest way!! I particularly liked the comment about it's cleanliness and receiving the award for such!! Hey with such a lassie as you living there it has to be the most beautiful place on earth!! :-)

I made such a mess of my post and then came across this link. This area is perhaps just about 4 miles from my little town of Troy - well it's not a town really - just a street, so this definitely gives a better idea of where I live!!

http://www.cr.nps.gov//nr/travel/journey/ghd.htm

Louisa,

this looks like a lovely area, it reminds me a wee bit of where my Aunt Nan stays in Surrey..... very peaceful, and very, very rural. A dream for us city dwellers, but on the other hand, when we (or I) leave the city for more than a week, we miss the sounds, smells and character of the town.

I envy you in one sense, and that is that you can handle the total peace which this area obviously offers. I love it, but would die after one month. I need the city.

It is a beautiful area where you are, and I wouldn't mind a wee visit to Boswell's Tavern ;-).......... (spoken in a deep yorkshire voice) "Hostler!!! Six mutton dinners, and tender my horses!!!"

Love it!!

All the best

Wintermoor

Not as craggy as dear old Scotland though huh!!! Actually we are only 20 to 30 mins away from the city of Charlottesville (links above) so we are not completely isolated!! Your part of Germany looks wonderful too. I was visiting my daughter there last November but she is near the Bavarian border near Lake Constance. Gorgeous!!

About Thibodaux, it is a precious place to me. I would love to spend more time there. It is clean, neat, quaint, pretty, and so much that I can't put into words. I was born way up in the part of Louisiana that is almost Arkansas, a colorful area in its own right, and didn't get to Thibodaux until I was past 50, but I was smitten. If you get a chance, go!

http://www.avenueofflags.com/

http://www.avenueofflags.com/
http://www.reyers.com

I live in Bay City Mich-off the top of my head i can think of the "bay city rollers" who threw a dart at a board and it hit us,they had a mural of them on the side of a buisness they even did a concert here(25yrsago) and Madonna lived here many yrs with her Granny-she said she hated this smelly little fish town!!! The smell would be from the "Sugar" factory-monitor sugar-it sure does stink cooking sugar beets to make sugar-and im very glad the wind is from the west-dont have to smell it to often! =] I know they did alot of logging here years ago! Ive never really dug into it-to busy digging in the dirt!

*BJ-I stayed at the french quarter holiday inn there in perrysburg-what a beautiful n fun Hotel!!! I ve wanted to go back there for sometime. =]

No special festival here in Blountville, Tennessee, the site of a Civil War battle in 1863. There is usually an annual re-enactment of the battle sometime during the summer or fall. We have a Christmas parade on the first Sat. of December, and a July 4th parade, the likes of which are only seen in other small American towns. As I sit in my lawn chair enjoying the community parade with the kids and grandkids, I ponder how this exact same tradition is taking place in small towns all over our country. Pretty neat, isn't it? Here's where I work: http://www.scde.k12.tn.us/featuredschool/featuremain.html

mikepiper...love that B&B! WOW!

Well, I live in the same place as GW&GH but I'm actually from Germany and this is a link to the town I was born in

http://www.leimen.de/

it's been into wine making for over 1200 years. The town became known as Leimen in 790. What is now City hall, was built in 1795. Luckily it was not hit by any bombs during WWII but it did withstand some minor damage from hand granades by American military on the 31st of March in 1945. After the war nearly 2,000 people who had lost their homes came to Leimen. It was one of the poorest villages and during the 19th century many immigrated to Australia and North Amerika. Things didn't change much until they built a railroad connecting it to Heidelberg (the main city) in 1843. After getting electricity in 1899, water in 1914/15, and gas in 1929, the town became more interesting to people.
Ok, that's about all I know.......LOL. There is a beer brewery in Leimen. Makes Loewenbrau beer. And of course, it's now known for the Tennis player, Boris Becker.

Susan, thank you for posting a unique link. We really are so cosmopolitan here in the garden, aren't we? Members from all over. I repeat what I have said before, I am glad you choose to live here. I will be even happier if you move to the Southwest so I can hope to see you and share my part of Amerika with you.

Thanks everyone for the armchair travel experience and all the history! It's great to see where everyone lives and comes from, each little space we call home is so special :)

This is a link about the area I was born in:

http://web.bham.ac.uk/r.cutler/twubles.htm

This is a link to the New Forest near where I garden and very close to where BJT72's family is too!

http://www.thenewforest.co.uk/

I love all the window boxes in Germany. Seems like every house and building has window boxes filled with flowers. My house is one of the few in town that has window boxes here. It's a little work, but well worth it.

We actually live out in the country between two small towns, but here's a bit about the one that gave us our mailing address:

http://www.highsprings.com/

And here's a link for one of the better-known local businesses:

http://www.greatoutdoorscafe.com/

Hmmm,I live in Biel/ Bienne,Switzerland.It's a bi-lingual town in the North-western part of the country,bordering the lake of Biel,and a great micro-climate for grapes and figs.We will be having the Expo 02 this year(should have been 01,but I think that is a Swiss joke that won't translate too well),and if I can find that link...http://www.expo.02.ch/e/home/finallisteartes/bienne.html
Expo stuff,but the town is very pretty.
Gwist

I loved Germany and I loved Switzerland and yes Granny Lois after seeing those wonderful window boxes I can't wait to put them up and brighten up our home!! That is, if I can find someone to do it for me :-) This was a great thread Baa and I have enjoyed it so much!!

Even more beautiful places! Thanks :)

Louisa I've nejoyed this trip too.

I don't know about other countries but here we tend to have our holidays in the obvious tourist spots. Seeing everyones town just goes to prove that it doesn't matter where you go there is beauty everywhere in the places and the people who live there.

I agree Baa - beauty is everywhere and good people too!! I wish I could show you the city today - I'm awestruck!! Evrything has just exploded into colour!! Have you ever seen the Redbuds?? (Cercis canadensis sp).

Yes, beautiful aren't they!

May is just in bloom here, I reckon it must be time to start casting me clowt!

Ah, but "Ne'er cast a clowt til May is out" might mean til the month of May is finished Baa! Ambiguous, LOL ;)

Yes it is ambiguous! I was told it was the May blossom rather than the month, makes sense as flowering and soil temperature tends to coincide. I've spent many a June in thick jumpers LOL.