CHURCHILL

The town of Churchill ("Polar Bear Capital of the World"), on Hudson Bay, is the world's only easily accessible human settlement where polar bears can be seen in the wild. Thousands of visitors travel to the town with a population of 1100 every autumn during the polar bears' migration season. In summer, hundreds of beluga whales feed and raise their young in the mouth of the Churchill River and in the bay. Churchill is also renowned for its northern lights or aurora borealis and excellent birding opportunities. Seals can also be seen in the harbour and caribou are frequently sighted along the coast. This is truly the last great wilderness frontier. Explore and experience your wildest dreams!

 

 

An aerial view of Churchill townsite, 1960

 

For more information on the city, contact Town of Churchill

SASOLBURG

Sasolburg owes its existence to the first plant established by the South African Coal, Oil and Gas Corporation (Sasol) for the manufacture of fuel from coal. This modern industrial town has, however, not succumbed to the beat of its sombre, grey, industrial heart. At the time of the town's establishment in 1954 town planners decided to create a green oasis by replacing the traditional  square design with curves and circles linked by parks and green belts. One of the most beautiful parks is the Highveld Garden, a lovely, tranquil garden with a wonderful variety of plants, shrubs and trees indigenous to the Highveld. A holiday resort on the banks of the Vaal River offers a variety of recreational facilities. The adjacent skating rink is reputedly the biggest in the southern hemisphere.

This industrial complex was established in 1954 in conjunction with the founding of the S.A. Coal, Oil & Gas Corporation.

 

IRONBRIDGE

Here in the wooden gorge of the Severn River, the industrial Revolution was born in 1709 when Abraham Darby discovered that by smelting iron ore with coke instead of charcoal, iron could be mass-produced. The world's first iron bridge (1779)is just one of the Ironbridge Gorge Museum's sights, which are spread over six square miles; buses run between sites in the summer months. In the western part of the gorge, near the bridge, is the Museum of the River, in a warehouse built to store the Coalbrookdale Company's iron products. Darby's actual furnace is on show at the Museum of Iron, which explains the history of iron-making and of the Coalbrookdale Company.

The iron bridge at Coalbrookdale is surprisingly elegant and delicate-looking, and was the first bridge in the world to be constructed of iron

Received from Thomas Goatherd