BRITAIN’S TINY TREASURES
enough space for three customers. The shed-like tavern began life as a coal office attached to the railway station. When coal fires were phased out it became a minicab office, then a bookshop, estate agent and interior design shop before current owners Alex and Sue turned it into a bijou boozer in 2015. They also run their own micro-brewery, producing award-winning beers and ciders, so patrons can quaff a pint-sized drink in a pint-sized pub. Schoolhouse Cinema, Out Skerries, Shetland With a population of just 74 the Shetland archipelago of Out Skerries is not a place you’d expect to find a cinema. But last year magician and fire-breather Chris Harris decided to convert a large room in his home – a former schoolhouse – into a 20-seat palace of film. It comes complete with red velvet curtain, seats from a cinema in Manchester and a library of 4,000 DVDs. And Scotland’s smallest cinema has another trick up its sleeve: not only are the tickets free but so are the popcorn, drinks and snacks.
From the smallest pub to the shortest river, in his new book DIXE WILLS uncovers some of the country’s most diminutive places to visit. Here he presents a selection of his favourites
St Davids, Pembrokeshire You could think about cities all day and it’s unlikely you would conjure up St Davids (Tyddewi in Welsh). With a population of 1,841 it’s Britain’s smallest city, owing its status to its magnificent cathedral. Set in remote south-west Wales the attractive micro-city also boasts a luxurious Forest Green Rovers, Nailsworth, Gloucestershire A real-life Roy of the Rovers story. Forest Green was a hamlet which is now part of the town of Nailsworth. Its football team (founded in 1889 by Rev EJH Peach) has spent most of its life knocking about very minor leagues with little success (they finished one season with no points). Then they started their remorseless climb, picked up the FA Vase in 1982 and were promoted to Division 2 of the English Football League in 2017. With a population of less than 6,000 Nailsworth became the smallest town to be represented in the football league. To Forest Green Rovers, every team is a Goliath. 14th-century bishop’s palace (which doubles as a magical open-air theatre) and the ruins of St Non’s chapel, in which St David himself is said to have been born. Afon y Bala, Snowdonia Britain’s longest river the Severn flows for about 220 miles – the nation’s shortest manages a paltry 440 yards, the distance between two lakes. In its short life the Afon y Bala is surprisingly full of incident. A Celtic stronghold, Dolbadarn Castle, guards the river’s exit from Llyn Peris; the Llanberis Lake Railway flies over it carrying holidaymakers along track once used by the Dinorwig slate quarry; and the National Slate Museum oversees the waterway’s final moments before it plunges into Llyn Padarn. Majestic Snowdon towers above.
To order Tiny Britain: A Collection Of The Nation’s Overlooked Little Treasures by Dixe Wills (AA Publishing, £16.99) call The Express Bookshop with your credit/debit card details on 01872 562310. Alternatively send a cheque along with your details to Tiny Britain Offer, PO Box 200 Falmouth TR11 4WJ or order online at expressbookshop.co.uk UK delivery is free Thimble Hall, Youlgreave, Derbyshire Recognised as the smallest detached house on the planet by Guinness World Records, Thimble Hall is minute for a reason most can identify with: lack of money. Its 18th-century builder couldn’t afford a larger plot so this one-up, one-down (with a ladder for stairs) measures 11ft 10in by 10ft 3in and is a mere 12ft 2in tall. With no bathroom, kitchen or running water it has seen life as an antiques shop, a butcher’s and cobbler’s. When last used as a home in the 1930s, it housed a family of eight. Now the owner plans to turn it into Britain’s smallest hotel – with a collection of (what else?) thimbles. Warley Museum, Warley, West Yorkshire The classic red telephone box, fast vanishing from our streets, has become something of a museum piece. In the village of Warley, however, the telephone box is the museum. Adopted by the Warley Community Association the box outside The Maypole Inn has been transformed into a museum telling the history of this ancient settlement, which dates back to Saxon times. With exhibits changed every three months, our smallest museum always has something fresh for visitors to see. The one thing they won’t be able to do is make a call – the telephone is long gone.