Lyttelton's Britain: A User's Guide to the British Isles as Heard on BBC Radio's "I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue" - Hardcover

Pattinson, Iain

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1848091079 ISBN 13: 9781848091078

Publisher: Preface Publishing, 2008

Synopsis

The I m Sorry I Haven't a Clue team of Barry Cryer, Graeme Garden and Tim Brooke-Taylor, in the company of their esteemed chairman Humphrey Lyttelton, have been recording their BBC radio show around the UK for longer than any of them can remember ... that s about week or twenty minutes in the case of Barry Cryer. At each venue Humph would present a short history of the location, written by Iain Pattinson, to the mutual delight of the audience, the team and their delightful scorer Samantha (who somehow always found time for a rewarding poke in the area s backstreets). We are privileged to present, in gazetteer form, the very best of Humph s local histories from Radio 4 s multi award-winning antidote to panel games . As accurate as Wikipedia and as comprehensive as Reader s Digest, this unique guide tells you everything you never knew you wouldn t ever need to know about the background and inhabitants of Britain s most prominent towns and cities. The intelligent reader will waste no time in adding it to their collection. Bristol It was from Bristol in 1497 that John Cabot set off to find a new route to the Spice Islands by sailing north-west. He instead discovered a strange, hostile world which he named Newfoundland , until the natives explained that they actually called it Swansea . Nottingham It s well documented in official records that the city s original name was Snottingham or home of Snotts , but when the Normans came, they couldn t pronounce the initial letter S , so decreed the town be called Nottingham or the home of Notts . It s easy to understand why this change was resisted so fiercely by the people of Scunthorpe. Brighton A settlement is first recorded in Brighton as long as ago as 3000BC, when Celtic Druids practised their ancient worship of oaks, mistletoe and virgins, and indeed, oaks and mistletoe are still plentiful in Brighton.

About this title

About the Author

Iain Pattinson wrote Humphrey Lyttelton s scripts for I m Sorry I Haven t A Clue for the thick end of 15 years. He didn t bother with the clever end. Before writing for Humph, Iain supplied the chairman s script for The News Quiz and many opening monologues for Loose Ends, also on BBC Radio 4. He was plucked from obscurity to write his first series of Clue in 1992 and subsequently went on to be plucked from obscurity twice a year thereafter to repeat the process. Since then he has also contributed to countless television and radio comedy shows. A list of performers of his scripts now reads like a Y to Z of British comedy. Projects to which he has contributed have amassed four Sony Gold awards, A Bronze Rose of Montreux, a Viewers and Listeners award, a TRIC award and a Cycling Proficiency Badge.

From the Back Cover

The I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue team of Barry Cryer, Graeme Garden and Tim Brooke-Taylor, in the company of their esteemed chairman Humphrey Lyttelton, have been recording their BBC radio show around the UK for longer than any of them can remember ... that's about week - or twenty minutes in the case of Barry Cryer. At each venue Humph would present a short history of the location, written by Iain Pattinson, to the mutual delight of the audience, the team and their delightful scorer Samantha (who somehow always found time for a rewarding poke in the area's backstreets). We are privileged to present, in gazetteer form, the very best of Humph's local histories from Radio 4's multi award-winning `antidote to panel games'. As accurate as Wikipedia and as comprehensive as Reader's Digest, this unique guide tells you everything you never knew you wouldn't ever need to know about the background and inhabitants of Britain's most prominent towns and cities.

The intelligent reader will waste no time in adding it to their collection.

Bristol
It was from Bristol in 1497 that John Cabot set off to find a new route to the Spice Islands by sailing north-west. He instead discovered a strange, hostile world which he named `Newfoundland', until the natives explained that they actually called it `Swansea'.

Nottingham
It's well documented in official records that the city's original name was `Snottingham' or `home of Snotts', but when the Normans came, they couldn't pronounce the initial letter `S', so decreed the town be called `Nottingham' or the `home of Notts'. It's easy to understand why this change was resisted so fiercely by the people of Scunthorpe.

Brighton
A settlement is first recorded in Brighton as long as ago as 3000BC, when Celtic Druids practised their ancient worship of oaks, mistletoe and virgins, and indeed, oaks and mistletoe are still plentiful in Brighton.

Edition details

• Publisher: Preface Publishing
• Publication date: 2008
• ISBN 10: 1848091079
• ISBN 13: 9781848091078
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 240