THE LONGEST PLACE NAME IN ENGLAND Blakehopeburnhaugh's status in the Book of Records is challenged by a hamlet called Cottonshopeburnfoot (19 letters), which lies less than half a mile up the valley, but this does not qualify because the Ordnance Survey writes the name in two parts as Cottonshopeburn Foot. THE DEVIL, THE SPIRE AND THE CUCKOO On the sparse, windblown Penwith Peninsular, not far from St. Ives lies one of Cornwall's strangest Churches.Towednack Church possesses a curious, squat tower which it acquired, so legend goes by the intervention of the Devil himself. Each day medieval stonemasons laid the granite blocks of the tower and each night the Devil came and knocked them down again. It happened so regularly that at last they gave up and finally erected the battlements on the tower at the height it stands today. Each year , on April 25th or thereabouts Towednack holds it's annual "cuckoo feast". One spring many centuries ago a local parishioner placed a large log in his hearth. No sooner did the flames lick up around it than a cuckoo flew out from a hole in the log. The man caught and kept the bird, and resolved that each year he would hold a "cuckoo feast", a tradition that survives to this day.For centuries now a fiddler has led the procession from the church door, playing a lively tune to celebrate the feast day. WOMEN DRIVERS The longest journey completed with the handbrake on was one of 50.4km (31 miles) from Stranraer to Holyhead by Ms Joanne Hutchins (GB) at the wheel of a Saab 900 on the 2nd April 1987. Ms. Hutchins smelled burning two miles into her journey at Aird but pressed on to Holyhead with smoke billowing from the rear wheels. This journey also holds the records for the longest completed journey with the choke fully out and the right indicator flashing. GROUP MEETING The record for the largest group of women to visit a loo simultaneously is held by 147 workers at the Department of Social Security, Longbenton. At their annual Christmas celebration at a night club in Newcastle-Upon-Tyne on October 12th 1994, Miss Kate Downton got up to go to the loo and was immediately followed by 146 other members of the party. Moving as a mass, the group entered the ladies at 9.52pm and, after waiting for everyone to finish, emerged 2hrs 37minutes later. BEAUTY WAITS FOR NOBODY The longest spell spent oblivious to traffic lights whilst applying make up was one of 1hr 51mins and 38secs by Miss Natalie Haynes at a road junction in the centre of Guildford on the 1st June 2001. Miss Haynes, a piano teacher, beautified herself through 212 cycles of the light, creating a tailback of irate motorists stretching 28 miles towards Leeds. BUILDING FOR THE FUTURE The English Heritage web site says that there are 197 palaces, 425 castles, 14393 churches and 3369 country houses that are 'listed buildings' in England, along with many other oddities such as lamp posts, telephone boxes and garden sheds. England .. Any person found breaking a boiled egg at the sharp end will be sentenced to 24 hours in the village stocks England .. It is illegal to stand within one hundred yards of the reigning monarch when not wearing socks Scotland .. It is illegal to be a drunk in possession of a cow. ROTHERHAM, England, April 7 (Agence France Presse) A gang of thieves who were ordered to plant daffodil bulbs as part of their community service have seen their revenge flourish this spring. The group were told to plant hundreds of bulbs along one of the main roads in Rotherham, in northern England, last autumn but, when the bulbs sprouted this week, the blooms spelled out the words "Bollocks" and "Shag" in letters four feet (1.3 meters) wide. Residents living on East Bawtry Road, which carries thousands of visitors a day, said people were coming from miles around to take a look at the flowers. --- All of our Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. And attachments are also scanned before being added. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 6.0.471 / Virus Database: 269 - Release Date: 10/04/2003