Our presence in England is growing! On November 28, 2018, we launched in 5 new cities! In alphabetical order, they are: Brighton, Coventry, Liverpool / Warrington, Oxford, and Reading. And in case you didn’t hear about it, we’ve also expanded to Wales!
We love celebrating our new cities, so here’s a rundown of what makes all of these places unique!
- There are more restaurants in Brighton and its neighboring town Hove than anywhere else in the country. It has one restaurant for every 250 people!
- The first recorded commercial flight departed from Shoreham Airport and landed on Hove Lawns near Brighton in 1910. The reason for it? Lightbulb delivery.
- Brighton has the largest man-made marina in Europe. It covers 127 acres.
- You know that bicycle you ride? It and all others descended from John Kemp Starley’s Rover safety cycle, which he invented in Coventry in 1885.
- Coventry is home to the Warwick Arts Centre, the biggest multi-venue arts complex of its kind outside London. It lives at the University of Warwick.
- Have you ever heard that expression “true blue”? It originated in Coventry and dates back to the 14th century, when “Coventry blue” became very fashionable and expensive colour for dyed cloth.
- Nobody quite knows how Liverpool got its name. Its history can be traced back to the year 1190, when it was known as “Liuerpul.” The second part of the word likely means “pool,” but the first part? There’s no consensus among historians.
- Warrington was home to the United Kingdom’s first IKEA store. (IKEA is, cough cough, TaskRabbit’s parent company, so expanding there was meant to be!)
- England’s first tax-supported library began in Warrington, promoting literacy for all.
- The University of Oxford is the second oldest university in the world.
- The reason Oxford escaped being bombed during World War II is that Hitler wanted to use it as a capital city after conquering England.
- If you’re walking through the historic University City of Oxford and feel as if you’re at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, it’s because many scenes in the Harry Potter films were filmed here. Many muggles visit the location every year.
- Did we say city? Well almost. Reading is the largest town in the UK that doesn’t have official city status.
- Back in the Elizabethan times, Reading was described as “the principal town of Berkshire for wealth and beauty.”
- Many famous faces hail from Reading, including Hollywood starlet Kate Winslet.
We hope you’ll join us in celebrating these fantastic cities. We are thrilled to be expanding our network to more cities and countries, as the more we grow, the more tasking opportunities we can bring to our entire community of Taskers.
