These days, they clip their wings to make it impossible (as well as having a few spares ready!) This is one of our favourite facts about Great Britain!

Charles II wrote a royal decree which said that if any of the birds flew away, then the kingdom would fall. The Tower of London has had many famous inhabitants, but arguably the most famous are the six black ravens. We’ve got lots of fun f acts about Tower Bridge tooĢ5.

They look pretty scary, but their bites are relatively harmless. While around 660 species of spider are found in Britain, the most poisonous is the false widow spider, which it’s thought was introduced to Britain from the Canary Islands. They’re not particularly dangerous, but a bite will cause mild discomfort.Ģ4. The adder is the only venomous snake found in Britain and according to the NHS, around 100 adder bites are reported in the UK each year, mostly in the summer months. Sadly, due to health and safety reasons (yep, there were injuries!) the cheese has been replaced by a foam replica.Ģ3. At the top of the hill a 3kg Double Gloucester cheese is sent rolling down.Ĭompetitors race after it and the first to cross the finish line wins the cheese! The aim is to catch the cheese, but that’s tricky when it reaches speeds of up to 70 mph. One of Britain’s most bizarre events is the annual cheese-rolling competition that takes place on Coopers Hill in Gloucestershire. To go with this unusual title is the census that takes place on the Thames each year in July, called Swan Upping.Ģ2. Officially, the reigning monarch owns any unmarked mute swan in open water in both England and Wales… so most of the swans in Britain. Among Queen Elizabeth II’s more bizarre titles is ‘Seigneur of the Swans’. Did you know this fact about Windsor Castle?ġ0. It’s still one of the official residences of The Queen, as well as having some areas accessible to the public on tours. Windsor Castle is the oldest and largest inhabited castle in the world, being in use since the 11th century. The route 007 used to go from Canterbury to the Kent coast.ĩ. It’s thought that Ian Fleming used a bus route close to his home as inspiration for James Bond’s codename. As the speed limit was only 2mph, he was fined for reaching a top speed of 8 mph!Ĩ. Can you believe the Brits invented speeding tickets? The very first speeding ticket was issued to a driver named Walter Arnold in Kent in 1896, after he was caught going four times the speed limit. Can you say Llanfairpwllgwyngyll-gogerychwyrndrobwlllllandysiliogogogoch in Wales?ħ.

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