meaning of liff didcot

Prefaces Preface to The Meaning of Liff, 1983 In Life*1 there are many hundreds of common experiences, feelings, situations and even objects which we will all know and recognize, but for which no word exists. It is a little-known fact that the confetti at Princess Margaret’s wedding was made up of thousands of didcots collected by inspectors on the Royal Train. Source(s): The deeper meaning of Liff by Douglas Adams & John Lloyd 0 2 [46] While the average UK healthy lifespan was thought to be 68.8 for women and 67 for men in 2001, people in Ladygrove district of Didcot could expect 86 healthy years. [citation needed], The two state secondary schools in Didcot are St Birinus School and Didcot Girls' School. level 1. Douglas Adams used the name " Mavis Enderby " in his spoof " The Meaning of Liff " dictionary " of things that there aren't any words for yet ". DIDCOT (n.) The tiny oddly-shaped bit of card which a ticket inspector cuts out of a ticket with his clipper for no apparent reason. DIDLING (participal vb.) [65] Didcot is also the birthplace of former Reading and Oxford United manager Maurice Evans and one of Reading's most-capped football players Jerry Williams. These brought in revenue for local landowners and gentry and operated between 1752 and 1879 when they were abolished due to the growing use of the railway.[10]. Didcot does have--and this is so typical of Didcot--the second-oldest ewe tree in … Erm, anyway, there you are. Didcot (/ˈdɪdkɒt/) or (/ˈdɪdkət/) is a town and civil parish in the South East region of England. [20], Formed by the Great Western Society in 1967 to house its collection of Great Western Railway locomotives and rolling stock, now housed in Didcot's 1932 built Great Western engine shed. Several of the bridges in the Didcot/Hagbourne area were also strengthened and rebuilt. The station's name also finally fixed the spelling of Didcot. [49], Didcot Concert Orchestra, founded in 2017, performs three concerts a year at Cornerstone. Didcot's synonymous connection with railways was noted in Douglas Adams and John Lloyd's humorous book the " Meaning of Liff", published in 1983. [46][47], Didcot is served by six primary schools: All Saints' C of E, Ladygrove Park, Manor, Northbourne C of E, Stephen Freeman and Willowcroft. They train in Willowbrook Leisure Centre in the winter, and St Birinus School in the summer. The Great Western Railway, engineered by Isambard Kingdom Brunel, reached Didcot in 1839. Remains of the Didcot, Newbury and Southampton Railway are still in evidence in the eastern part of town. [59], Didcot Runners is an AAA affiliated running club that meets every Tuesday & Thursday for group runs and fitness sessions at Didcot Town Football Club. [27], Didcot A Power Station (between Didcot and Sutton Courtenay) ceased generating electricity for the National Grid in March 2013. [10], In the 1500s Didcot was a small village of landowners, tenants and tradespeople with a population of around 120. Report Save. Its members participate in running races across the country. [75] This included a number of tracks from OK Computer that has appeared frequently in critic's lists of the greatest albums of all time. These days we have Timble, Didcot, Grimalkin, Snickersnee & Jackanapes – all named after arcane words or words from the Meaning of Liff (which is great for unique name inspiration!) [23], The British Army has a presence within the town at Vauxhall Barracks which is situated on the edge of town.[24]. The town is noted for its railway heritage, Didcot station opening as a junction station on the Great Western Main Line in 1844. Didcot's synonymous connection with railways was noted in Douglas Adams and John Lloyd's humorous book the " Meaning of Liff", published in 1983. The last passenger train was, of all things, a re-routed Pines Express in May 1964, diverted due to a derailment at Reading West. Didcot Phoenix cycle club[58] was founded in 1973 and is represented by over 70 members who participate in a range of cycling activities including touring, time trials, road racing, Audax, cyclocross and off-road events. It was designed as a main line and was engineered by John Fowler and built by contractors T.H. The demolition was streamed live by webcam.[30]. [14] The oldest surviving house in Didcot is White Cottage, a 16th-century timber-framed building in Manor Road that has a wood shingle roof. Didcot Cricket Club's current home ground is at Didcot Power Station in Sutton Courtenay. The area around present-day Didcot has been inhabited for at least 9000 years, a large scale archaeological dig between 2010–2013 produced finds from the Mesolithic, Neolithic, Iron Age and Bronze Ages. Lua error in Module:Coordinates at line 668: callParserFunction: function "#coordinates" was not found. [39][40], Matt Richardson, a comedian and television presenter known for hosting The Xtra Factor, grew up in Didcot. To those who scoffed, "It won't reach critical mass", may I submit a he [19] As part of the Science Vale Enterprise Zone, Didcot is surrounded by one of the largest scientific clusters in the United Kingdom. For safety reasons, robots were used to place the explosive charges, and the site was demolished just after 6 o'clock in the morning (BST). [citation needed], There are two state-funded secondary schools in Didcot: St Birinus School and Didcot Girls' School are single-sex schools that join together at sixth form. [47], Didcot's synonymous connection with railways was noted in Douglas Adams and John Lloyd's humorous book the Meaning of Liff, published in 1983. [37] Figurative artist Rodney Gladwell was also born in the town in 1928. The Meaning of Tango (based loosely on the idea behind the book The Meaning of Liff) ... Didcot Cliff Kneale when you get your one back on Mr Smith Hammerstmith Ian Cox A pretty follower: Chickerell Cliff Kneale when the ligth are too high at the milonga Brighton The club has now expanded to two teams in the OKA Division 2 North. Find local businesses, view maps and get driving directions in Google Maps. Didcot has three main leisure centres: Didcot Leisure Centre,[52] Didcot Wave Leisure Pool[53] and Willowbrook Leisure Centre.[54]. [20] The Diamond Light Source synchrotron, based at the Harwell Campus, is the largest UK-funded scientific facility to be built for more than 30 years.[21]. Didcot's synonymous connection with railways was noted in Douglas Adams and John Lloyd's humorous book the Meaning of Liff, published in 1983. [26] The centre is north of Didcot Parkway railway station, and can be accessed from the station via the pedestrian subway. [1] The new town centre, the Orchard Centre, was opened in August 2005. At the time of the Domesday Book in 1086 Didcot was much smaller than several surrounding villages, including Harwell and Long Wittenham, which are now dwarfed by modern Didcot. Didcot (/ˈdɪdkɒt, -kət/ DID-kot, -⁠kət ) is a railway town and civil parish in the ceremonial county of Oxfordshire and the historic county of Berkshire. It never independently reached Southampton, but instead joined the main London and South Western Railway line at Shawford, south of Winchester. Didcot dig: A glimpse of 9,000 years of village life. In 2017, researchers named Didcot as the most "normal" town in England. [31] On Sunday 17 July 2016, what remained of the structure was demolished in a controlled explosion. Select Your Cookie Preferences. [29], On Sunday 27 July 2014 three of the six 114-metre (374 ft) cooling towers were demolished in the early hours of the morning, using 180 kilograms (400 lb) of explosives. LIMERIGG (vb.) [12] At this time the village centre consisted of a collection of small houses and surrounding farms around Manor, Foxhall and Lydalls Roads, those still standing include The Nook, Thorney Down Cottage and Manor Cottage which were all constructed in the early to mid-17th Century. Didcot's junction of the routes to London, Bristol, Oxford and to Southampton via the Didcot, Newbury and Southampton Railway (DN&S) made the town militarily important, especially during the First World War campaign on the Western Front and the Second World War preparations for D-Day. The Meaning of Liff … The DN&S line has since closed and the sites of the large Army and Royal Air Force ordnance depots that were built to serve these needs have disappeared beneath the power station and Milton Park Business Park. Share. The book, a "dictionary of things that there aren't any words for yet", referred to "a Didcot" as "The small, oddly shaped bit of card which a ticket inspector cuts out of a ticket with his clipper for no apparent reason". Visit Website In 2008 a new £8 million arts and entertainment centre, Cornerstone, was opened in the Orchard Centre. Although longer, a cheaper-to-build line to Bristol would have been through Abingdon farther north, but the landowner the first Lord Wantage is reputed to have prevented that alignment. The “Emos” Back in 2006 I adopted a trio of young rescue boys. The small holes in a loaf of bread which give rise to the momentary suspicion that something may have made its home within. The club has two teams in the Oxfordshire leagues. Short a, like tack rather than long a like taak. The Meaning of Liff. Didcot is 15 miles (24 km) south of Oxford, 10 miles (16 km) east of Wantage and 15 miles (24 km) north west of Reading. [10], Didcot was then a rural Berkshire village, and it remained so for centuries, only occasionally appearing in records. [70][71], Matt Richardson, a comedian and television presenter known for hosting The Xtra Factor, grew up in Didcot. [60], The OVO Energy Women's Tour, a road cycling event, passed through Didcot on 12 June 2019. Didcot was a village of tenants, tradespeople, and landowners with about a 120 population in the 16th-century. I have found no sources to confirm it and the only source I have found refuting it is a transcript from QI episode S4E4 that says it's an absurdist joke from Monty Python 's Meaning of Liff about the English town of Didcot (see: http://www.freewebs.com/qitranscripts/404.htm ). The northern section between Didcot and Newbury was made double track. Didcot Girls' School has specialist Language College status, and St Birinus has Technology and Language College status. Reply. [81], For the locality in Queensland, Australia, see, 19th and 20th centuries: Arrival of the Railway, 11 Explosive Ordnance Disposal and Search Regiment RLC, Didcot § 19th & 20th centuries: Introduction of the Railway, "Didcot (Oxfordshire, South East United Kingdom)", "Dig discovers 9,000-year-old remains at Didcot", "Didcot dig: A glimpse of 9,000 years of village life", "Ladygrove Estate Archaeological Evaluation, Oxford Archaeological Unit", "Church of All Saints  (Grade II*) (1047918)", http://www.southoxon.gov.uk/8123/website/localplan/text/section10.asp#DID2, "New garden towns to create thousands of new homes", "Didcot is 'most normal town in England', researchers claim", "Oxfordshire town sees human waste used to heat homes", "Didcot power station: one dead and three missing after building collapse", "Power cut as power station towers demolished", "Formula One's 'Sir Frank Williams Avenue' is unveiled", "The British Grand Prix from a tyre point of view", "Pirelli special feature - Cracking the barcode", "1,000mph world record rocket car team moves into Oxfordshire headquarters", "Farmers go into legal drug business with poppy crops", Associated Newspapers to build new print plant, "Vauxhall Barracks, Didcot, Oxfordshire, OX11 7EG", "Didcot: Where to enjoy a long healthy life", "Doors thrown open at the £7.4m arts centre", "Judge Dredd Owner Rebellion Sets Up $100 Million U.K. Film and TV Studio (EXCLUSIVE)", "Didcot & District Table Tennis Association", "Multi-rider pileup on stage three of Women's Tour forces leader Marianne Vos to abandon race", "Man about towns: Comedian Mark Steel reveals why British towns are anything but boring", "Simon Cowell proudly announces X Factor series 10 – but forgets Matt Richardson's name", "NEW YORKE STORIES: ON THE TRAIL OF RADIOHEAD", "Ricky Gervais character sings about Didcot in latest trailer for The Office film", "Didcot pylon becomes unlikely cover star for US rockers' new album", Berkshire North or Abingdon County Constituency, List of Parliamentary constituencies in Oxfordshire, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Didcot&oldid=1014951873, Wikipedia articles needing page number citations from July 2018, Articles with dead external links from July 2018, Short description is different from Wikidata, Articles with unsourced statements from January 2009, Articles with unsourced statements from May 2015, Articles with unsourced statements from February 2020, Wikipedia articles with MusicBrainz area identifiers, Wikipedia articles with WORLDCATID identifiers, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 29 March 2021, at 22:26. 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