believe it or not! King-sized

Beeston is full of fascinating history. We are all aware that there used to be a private zoo in the beer garden of The Victoria, and that the town was served by an MP called Seymour Cocks for over 20 years, but did you know any of these other amazing facts about the area?

A(rea) 52?

You may have heard of Area 51 in the USA, the topsecret military base in Nevada. This is rumoured to store UFOs and the preserved remains of aliens that visited earth during the 1950s. However, not many people know that Chetwynd Barracks in Chilwell was designated as the UK's emergency equivalent back in the summer of 1998. This was in response to the early morning discovery of an extraterrestrial near the Stone Bridge over the canal by a dog walker in the Rylands.

Hasty Henry

Beeston's mysterious MP Darren Henry is on track to break the record for the least time spent in a constituency during a parliamentary term.

The Member of Parliament for Broxtowe has only spent a total of 2 hours and 37 minutes in his patch since being elected in 2019, in order to take advantage of photo opportunities. His speedy entry and exit from the area has apparently been assisted by the driving skills of his wife Caroline, the current Police and Crime Commissioner for Notts.

The existing record is held by Sir Humphrey FrenulumFiske. He spent a total of 4 hours in his Surrey constituency of Lower Furtling from 1878-82, due to being trapped in a brothel for 3 hours one January evening during a particularly heavy snowstorm.