Here are eight fascinating facts about your wonderful city and town that may surprise you…..
1. Busta Rhymes
Legendary American rapper who cut some of most manic and greatest rap tunes Busta Rhymes has a past that is far weirder than any other rap star…he grew up in Morecambe. Sort of. The young Busta was sent to his aunt's in Morecambe to stop him getting in trouble and spent some time in the seaside resort. He stole a pair of trainers from the former Hitchens shop during his stay there and was sent back by his aunt to apologise. The shop made him clean the floors as a punishment! Photo: "Busta Rhymes" by minusbaby is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0.
2. Lancaster University entrance
Lancaster is home to the coldest place in the world; this will come as no surprise to anyone, but it may surprise you that it is in fact the coldest place in the universe. In the cutting edge low temperature laboratory at Lancaster University they have reached temperatures as low as 0.001 Kelvin, which is a shocking -274.149 °C - a world record for the coldest temperature ever reached. Photo: submitted
3. Ashton Memorial, Williamson Park, Lancaster.
The Ashton Memorial in Williamson Park, Lancaster. The Ashton Memorial is one of the most interesting buildings in Lancaster; situated in Williamson’s Park and with a romantic history of having been built in the memory of Lord Ashton’s wife, it is the site of many a marriage. But the hill on which it is built has a much more sinister history than you might expect. Prior to 1800, all executions in the county of Lancashire took place on Gallows Hill in this idyllic park. It was here that nine out of ten of the Pendle witches were hung in 1612 (the other met her fate in York). The hill gives a glorious view out to the Morecambe Bay and it is almost impossible to imagine that such a place could have such a murderous history. Photo: Kelvin Stuttard. Photo: Kelvin Stuttard
4. Stone graves at Heysham.
Sitting atop the outstanding headland at Heysham are the historic ruins of the Grade I listed St Patrick’s Chapel and alongside stone-cut graves. These are one of the oldest Christian monuments in the North-west, dating from 700AD when they were built, it is believed to encourage the act of religious pilgrimage. Built from sandstone blocks, the small chapel measures approximately 8 meters by 3 meters. Stone tiles in 1903 were used to consolidate the ruins. The eight stone-cut graves are believed to pre-date the conquest (10th and 11th centuries). Their portrait appeared on the cover of The Best of Black Sabbath Album in 2000. Photo: submit