The Village Idiot
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villageidiot24.bsky.social
The Village Idiot
@villageidiot24.bsky.social
Find me on YouTube at:
www.youtube.com/c/thevillageidiot

Andy - The Village Idiot, or TVI.
Attempting to be the first man to visit all 10,474 civil parishes of England.
Come, join the adventure!
Thursday – MARSTON
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Marston is a nice little village, laid out in an almost perfect square. There are several landmarks here which bear relevance to the mighty Thorold family – the same mob that occupied Syston Park Hall as we learned yesterday.
MARSTON: South Kesteven Parish #33 of 83
YouTube video by The Village Idiot
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November 27, 2025 at 8:10 PM
Wednesday – SYSTON
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Syston can be split into two areas. You have the village itself, which is little more than a cluster of buildings around the church. Syston Park used to contain a grand mansion, built in 1775. It was the seat of the Thorold baronets
SYSTON: South Kesteven Parish #32 of 83
YouTube video by The Village Idiot
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November 26, 2025 at 6:42 PM
Tuesday – BARKSTON
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For a long time the two parishes of Barkston and Syston have been like conjoined twins. With Barkston up first, we’ve got most of the main bits and bobs to cover here. Barkston has a church, a school, a pub and a petrol station
BARKSTON: South Kesteven Parish #31 of 83
YouTube video by The Village Idiot
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November 25, 2025 at 7:30 PM
Monday – HONINGTON
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Honington lies just north of the junction between the A153 and the A607. To the South and east of it all there’s a perfectly preserved batch of earthworks, commonly known as the Camp or the Honington Hill Fort.
HONINGTON: South Kesteven Parish #30 of 83
YouTube video by The Village Idiot
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November 24, 2025 at 7:26 PM
OUT FOR A DRIVE 100

To celebrate the 100th Out For a Drive, I take you on a lengthy trip!

In this video, which is almost THREE HOURS LONG, I drive through all 31 parishes of Rotherham...and I even chuck in Killamarsh (North East Derbyshire) as a bonus!

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Out for a Drive - #100 - ALL 31 PARISHES OF ROTHERHAM (+Killamarsh) IN ONE DRIVE, November 21st 2025
YouTube video by The Village Idiot
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November 23, 2025 at 9:04 PM
Sunday – STENSON FIELDS
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This is Stenson Fields. Its a semi-rural suburban housing development, which originated in Derby, before spilling over the district boundary. The parish is contiguous with Sinfin, but Stenson Fields has become its own community
STENSON FIELDS: South Derbyshire Parish #28 of 50
YouTube video by The Village Idiot
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November 23, 2025 at 6:50 PM
Saturday – TWYFORD AND STENSON
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Today we’re in Twyford and Stenson, which is located just to the south of Derby on the Trent and Mersey Canal. The 'Stenson Bubble' is a sound. It’s made by the actual bubbles that you can see in the canal here!
TWYFORD AND STENSON: South Derbyshire Parish #27 of 50
YouTube video by The Village Idiot
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November 22, 2025 at 7:43 PM
Friday – WIGSTON PARVA
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We’ve mentioned the long lost town of Venonae a few times. That was just one of the Roman settlements around here. Wigston Parva is just to the North of the A5, and the experts reckon here, stood an early military fort for the area
WIGSTON PARVA: Blaby Parish #10 of 24
YouTube video by The Village Idiot
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November 21, 2025 at 8:08 PM
Thursday – SHARNFORD
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Sharnford is located four miles away from Hinckley, and 7 away from Lutterworth, so its kind of in middle of everywhere. The Soar Brook passes through this village and you used to be able to cross it using a ford.
SHARNFORD: Blaby Parish #9 of 24
YouTube video by The Village Idiot
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November 20, 2025 at 7:54 PM
Wednesday – ASTON FLAMVILLE
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Aston Flamville is known for three things. First, there’s a pretty little church here which contains some bog oak from Sapcote. Second there’s an equally attractive dovecote on Lychgate Lane, and thirdly, Aston Flamville Manor.
ASTON FLAMVILLE: Blaby Parish #8 of 24
YouTube video by The Village Idiot
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November 19, 2025 at 6:35 PM
Tuesday – SAPCOTE
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Anciently, this was known as Sapecote, and some believe that meant “Soap Village”. Bill Maynard, who portrayed Claude Greengrass in the ITV show Heartbeat once lived here. When he did, he was also able to create another character...
SAPCOTE: Blaby Parish #7 of 24
YouTube video by The Village Idiot
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November 18, 2025 at 6:50 PM
Monday – ELMESTHORPE
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Elmesthorpe has moved over the past 1,000 years. The Black Death killed off a lot of the population and for almost 500 years afterwards, it almost didn’t exist. In the mid 19th century it started to grow again thanks to the railways
ELMESTHORPE: Blaby Parish 6 of 24
YouTube video by The Village Idiot
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November 17, 2025 at 6:59 PM
Sunday – STAVELEY
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Perhaps Staveley’s greatest asset its superb Yorkshire Trust wetland site, which occupies a former sand and gravel quarry. The nature reserve is a huge attraction in these parts, regularly bringing birdwatchers to the village.
STAVELEY: Harrogate Parish #78 of 139
YouTube video by The Village Idiot
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November 16, 2025 at 6:46 PM
FYI

The South Cambridgeshire run I did on Friday was during the heaviest burst of Storm Claudia the county got. Some of the audio where i'm speaking to the camera isn't very good.

I would hope you can appreciate the fact I was willing to walk around in the rain 👍
November 16, 2025 at 11:47 AM
Saturday – MARTON CUM GRAFTON
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Marton and Grafton sit some 98 feet apart in terms of elevation, despite being just half a mile apart. The villages have both been associated with celebrities. TV actor Neil Morrissey was once at the helm of the Punch Bowl
MARTON CUM GRAFTON: Harrogate Parish #77 of 139
YouTube video by The Village Idiot
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November 15, 2025 at 6:45 PM
Friday – STRETTON BASKERVILLE
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Stretton Baskerville was completely abandoned and there are two ideas as to why. Whatever the truth it became the perfect place for criminals and thieves to hide, and that’s how it came to be linked with notorious highwaymen
STRETTON BASKERVILLE: Rugby Parish #9 of 41
YouTube video by The Village Idiot
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November 14, 2025 at 9:50 PM
Wednesday – MONKS KIRBY
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High Cross isn’t within Monks Kirby’s boundaries. However, it used to be, and so did a whole host of other villages and hamlets. So were two country estates. One is Newnham Paddox, long associated with the Earls of Denbigh
MONKS KIRBY: Rugby Parish #7 of 41
YouTube video by The Village Idiot
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November 12, 2025 at 6:47 PM
Tuesday – WILLEY
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I was aware before I even started TVI, that we do have some rather humorous village names out there. One that sometimes appears on lists of them is Willey – and I don’t wish to disappoint anyone but it’s only a little one I’m afraid!
WILLEY: Rugby Parish #6 of 41
YouTube video by The Village Idiot
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November 11, 2025 at 6:43 PM
Monday – WIBTOFT
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This week on TVI we make a welcome return to Rugby, which we’ve not touched for a number of years. Today we’re in Wibtoft, one of the smallest in Warwickshire. Some historians have speculated this sits on the site of a Roman settlement
WIBTOFT: Rugby Parish #5 of 41
YouTube video by The Village Idiot
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November 10, 2025 at 7:38 PM
Sunday – ALLERTON MAULEVERER WITH HOPPERTON
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This has one of the lengthiest names in England. In the middle of the parish almost, is the huge Allerton Castle which has been owned by several people and families, including the “Grand Old” Duke of York!
ALLERTON MAULEVERER WITH HOPPERTON: Harrogate Parish #76 of 139
YouTube video by The Village Idiot
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November 9, 2025 at 6:51 PM
Saturday – NUN MONKTON
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For the next two weekends we’ll be in Harrogate filling in a series of gaps. First on the agenda is Nun Monkton. 90% of the houses here are grouped around a green which runs to 81,000 sq m - making it one of the largest in Yorkshire
NUN MONKTON: Harrogate Parish #75 of 139
YouTube video by The Village Idiot
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November 8, 2025 at 6:53 PM
Friday – SOUTHREPPS
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Lastly this week in North Norfolk we come to Southrepps. This is a lovely little place, and it has more than just a tiny bit of wartime history! The parish church of St James stands tall over the village at the Northern end
SOUTHREPPS: North Norfolk Parish #5 of 122
YouTube video by The Village Idiot
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November 7, 2025 at 7:07 PM
Thursday – TRUNCH
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Nobody can be sure of what Trunch means, but its almost certainly to do with a wood. Trunch might be a familiar name to you if you like English folk music. The fictional village of St Just-near-Trunch was the home of The Kipper Family
TRUNCH: North Norfolk Parish #4 of 122
YouTube video by The Village Idiot
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November 6, 2025 at 8:00 PM
Wednesday – GIMINGHAM
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Gimingham is laid out along one long road, with an old school at one end and the village hall at the other. Crossing it is the River Mun, which used to power a watermill. Its workings have been turned into an unusual local landmark
GIMINGHAM: North Norfolk Parish #3 of 122
YouTube video by The Village Idiot
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November 5, 2025 at 9:10 PM
Tuesday – TRIMINGHAM
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Until 2023, there was a huge structure on the cliffs at Trimingham. Its no longer there, but it wasn’t swept into the sea. It was removed under the threat of coastal erosion. And what was it? Well, the locals knew it as The Golf Ball
TRIMINGHAM: North Norfolk Parish #2 of 122
YouTube video by The Village Idiot
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November 4, 2025 at 7:44 PM