The Cryptic Tour Guide Trivia Quiz

At the end of 'Cuba' and the beginning of 'they' are the four letters which make 'Bath'.

Bath is situated on the site of a natural spring in south-west England. It is thought that the Britons worshipped the Celtic goddess Sulis there. The Romans identified her with Minerva and developed the settlement, including the large complex of thermal baths, after which the city gets its modern name. In Roman times it was known as Aquae Sulis, or the waters of Sulis.

The city grew in the Georgian era, when it became fashionable to take the waters there. It is home to the Pulteney Bridge, which spans the River Avon. It is one of the few remaining bridges to have shops along both sides, and, perhaps surprisingly, was still carrying traffic into the twenty-first century.

Rearranging the seven letters of 'bolt, sir' gives 'Bristol'.

Bristol is also in the south-west of England on the banks of the same River Avon as found in Bath. It is about 10km east of the point where the River Avon empties into the Severn estuary. The city takes its name from the Old English word 'Brycgstow', which means the site of the bridge, or the assembly place near the bridge, although it is not certain which bridge might be meant. There are several bridges across both the River Avon, and its tributary, the River Frome.

There was a significant settlement by the eleventh century, with a port near the confluence of the two rivers, one of the largest castles in southern England, and a mint producing pennies for the trading centre. The city continued to grow and flourish during the second millennium. Isambard Kingdom Brunel, a Victorian engineer, designed and built some of his ships there as well as constructing the Great Western Railway east to Paddington and south west into Devon and Cornwall. The maritime trade continued with the development of large docks at Avonmouth and Portishead on the nearby Severn estuary.

Moving the four letters in 'Lil's' and placing them inside the four letters of 'care' leads to 'Carlisle'.

Carlisle is in the north-west of England at the western end of Hadrian's Wall. The city was situated at a crossing of two major Roman roads, and was the northern-most city of the Roman Empire - Luguvalium, which was named after the Celtic god, Lugus. The modern name means the fort of Lugus, and is derived from the Celtic word 'cair' meaning a fort. A wooden fort was constructed in the first century AD near the confluence of the River Eden and the River Caldew. Around a thousand years later, the Normans built a castle on the same site, after reclaiming the city from the Scots.

It is one of the smaller cities in England, but it remained an important garrison town for most of the second millennium because of its proximity to the Scottish border. Carlisle has remained as a transport hub, with roads and railways crossing there, as well as a canal being built to connect the city to the sea on the Solway Firth. With the industrial revolution, small industries were developed. Textile mills, food manufacturing, and light engineering continued into the twenty-first century.

The last five letters of 'richest' followed by the first two of 'ermine' give 'Chester'.

Chester lies close to the Welsh border, and just south of the Wirral peninsula between the estuaries of the River Mersey and the River Dee. The city takes its name from the Latin 'castrum', meaning fort. The fort was established in the first century AD close to the banks of the River Dee. The Normans built a castle south of the fort, and the city developed on the site of the old fort.

With its proximity to the sea, a small port was established at Chester. However its use declined considerably between the middle of the eighteenth and the middle of the nineteenth century, as nearby Liverpool, with much better access to the sea, grew. Chester prospered during the industrial revolution. The Shropshire Union Canal, and the railways, with two stations, brought trade and industry. The city also became a place for upper classes to enjoy living away from the more heavily populated big cities such as Manchester and Liverpool. One of the unique features of the city are The Rows - a range of shops along the two main streets crossing the city, which can be found on two levels, one above the other.

'Derby' is found by using the letters at the end of 'meander' and the beginning of 'byways.

Derby is in the centre of England on the edge of the countryside known as the Peak District. There was a Roman camp in the area. There is modern evidence that later Vikings and Anglo-Saxons lived peaceably on opposite sides of the River Derwent, which runs through the centre of the city. The city name could be derived from the Old English Deoraby, which means village of the deer.

At the end of the seventeenth century, the first system of piped water in England was introduced in Derby. Water was pumped from the river using a waterwheel, and stored in tanks for distribution through wooden pipes. Water power was also used at the start of the industrial revolution for textile mills. With the development of the railways, Derby became a major centre for building locomotives. Rolls-Royce, famous for luxury cars, was based in the city, where it also manufactured aircraft engines from 1914 into the twenty-first century.

Changing the order of the six letters in 'had rum' leads to 'Durham'.

Durham is in the north-east of England. A meander in the River Wear surrounds three sides of the old city. The city was founded at the end of the tenth century AD when Anglo-Saxon monks built a church to house St. Cuthbert's relics. A century later it was replaced by the first part of Durham Cathedral, and Durham Castle was also built nearby. The name comes from dun meaning a hill fort and the Old Norse holme meaning an island.

There were plans in the eighteenth century to turn Durham into a port city. One suggestion was to build a canal towards Gateshead on the River Tyne. Another thought was to alter the course of the River Wear to make it navigable. Neither idea came to fruition. In the nineteenth century the University of Durham was founded, becoming the third oldest in England, after Oxford and Cambridge. It would become one of the largest employers in the city.

The middle three letters of the nine-letter word 'steelyard' are 'Ely'.

Ely is situated on an outcrop of land in eastern England known as the Isle of Ely. The designation came about because, before they were drained in the eighteenth century, the surrounding fens were frequently flooded. The origin of the name is uncertain. It may be derived from a word for eels, or it may be a contraction of Elysium; other suggestions are that it comes from a word meaning willows, or a similar word meaning saltwater.

Ely is not an industrial city. Traditionally people made a living from catching eels in the fens, or harvesting the rushes, reeds and willow. Peat was cut for fuel and for building, and clay was dug out for maintenance of the river banks, and also used for making pottery. The city was granted a charter for a market in the twelfth century, and it became a trading centre for its local produce. Following the drainage of the fens, the surrounding land could be used for agriculture.

Putting 'Ed' inside 'Les' gives 'Leeds'.

Leeds, built on the River Aire, is one of the largest cities in northern England. The name means people of the fast-flowing river. Leeds is situated in the middle of what was once an agricultural area. The city's prosperity was originally derived from woollen products from the sheep.

It became known as a trading centre for wool in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. With the advent of the Industrial Revolution, communications were improved by the construction of canals and the railways. Textile mills were constructed; then engineering firms grew up to provide machinery for the mills. By the twenty-first century, finance and service industries were making a large contribution to the city's economy, although manufacturing and trading still played a significant part in its prosperity.

'Norwich' is an anagram of 'NW' (north-west) and 'choir'.

Norwich is in eastern England on the banks of the River Wensum. About 8km south of the current city, the Iceni tribe had their capital city. Following the suppression of an uprising led by Boudicca, the Romans established a settlement in the area which became the capital of East Anglia. After their departure in the middle of the first millennium AD, the Anglo-Saxons established Northwic, meaning North Harbour, on the site of the current city of Norwich.

The Normans began construction of a castle and a cathedral at Norwich in the eleventh century. In the same century Norwich School was established, making it one of the oldest schools in England. Norwich prospered with the woollen industry. Road links were poor in medieval times, but the port of Great Yarmouth, 25km east of the city, meant that trade with northern Europe was relatively easy. Fleeing religious persecution, Flemish and Walloon weavers settled in the city in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. As competition from the growing cotton industry in northern England increased, some smaller businesses began. Norwich became known for shoe making, chocolate making, printing, and the production of mustard.

There are thirteen letters in 'hoax of four ads', so starting with the second letter, and using every other letter after that gives 'Oxford'.

Oxford is located south of the English midlands. A settlement grew up in Anglo-Saxon times because it was a good place to cross the River Thames. The city's name comes from Oxenaforda, which means the ford of the oxen. It was a strategic location at the confluence of the River Cherwell with the River Thames, so the Normans starting building a castle there in 1071. The town was granted city-status when the chapel of Christ Church College was designated as a cathedral in 1542.

The city is home to the oldest university in the United Kingdom, with teaching dating back to the end of the eleventh century. The oldest colleges still in existence at the start of the twenty-first century were University College, Balliol College and Merton College, all of which were founded in the middle of the thirteenth century. Education at the university was only open to men until the end of the nineteenth century, when four colleges and one society were established for women students. It was not until the 1970s that women were admitted to any of the former men's colleges. The last single-sex college was St. Hilda's which began admitting men in 2008.

The final letters of the five words 'for I keep no corn' give 'Ripon'.

Ripon, in the northern part of the country, is the third-smallest city in England. The city probably gets its name from the Hrype tribe who settled in the area in the sixth century AD. The settlement grew up around the confluence of the River Laver and the River Skell, about 2.5km west of the point where the latter flows into the River Ure. The historical boundary between the North and West Ridings of Yorkshire was defined by the River Ure.

One of the first buildings at the new town was a stone church dedicated to St. Peter, which replaced an earlier wooden building. Some of the earliest settlers were tradesmen from France engaged for building work on the adjacent monastery by Wilfrid, a Northumbrian nobleman and, later, Archbishop of York. Wilfrid's church was replaced in the late eleventh century; this would become the cathedral church of St. Peter and St. Wilfrid. Ripon became a city after a new diocese was created in the nineteenth century.

Rearranging the letters in 'ruby sails' leads to 'Salisbury'.

Salisbury is in southern England, about 15km south of the ancient stone circle at Stonehenge. The first settlement in the area was at a place now known as Old Sarum, about 3km north of the current city of Salisbury. There was conflict between the church leaders and the military personnel in charge of the town in the twelfth century. In the early thirteenth century the bishop decided to build a new church and town on some land they owned near the confluence of the River Nadder and the River Avon.

Building work began in 1221, with the main part of the cathedral completed by 1259. The spire, which at 123m is the tallest in the country, was added later. The clock was installed in 1386, and is one of the oldest clocks in the world. The town became a city in 1227, when Henry III granted the status. The city was the meeting place for the English parliament several times in the fourteenth century.

Taking every other letter from 'turn up, riot' leads to 'Truro'.

Truro is the only city in the county of Cornwall in south-west England. It is situated where the River Allen and the River Kenwyn merge to form the Truro River. The origin of the name is uncertain. It may come from the Cornish 'tri-veru' meaning three rivers. Alternatively the name could be derived from tre-rhwïereu meaning the town on the rivers, or from tre-vur which means the town on the road.

Truro, the county town of Cornwall, was granted city status in 1877. Work began on the cathedral in 1880. It was consecrated in 1887, although building work carried on until 1910. Truro grew up around a twelfth century castle, and had developed as a port by the fourteenth century for the Cornish tin industry and the fishing industry.

The letters in 'winter stems' can be moved to make 'Westminster'.

Westminster is situated in the heart of the metropolis that is the capital city of the United Kingdom. Originally the name London just applied the the square mile near the Tower of London that is the City of London. Now London is taken to mean the whole Greater London area. Westminster gets its name from the Abbey church of St. Peter, now known as Westminster Abbey, which was west of the City of London. Before the reformation there was also a church east of the city, known as Eastminster. Prior to the Norman conquest, Westminster Abbey was rebuilt by Edward the Confessor in the eleventh century.

Nowadays the city of Westminster is synonymous with the British government. The House of Lords and the House of Commons are situated on the bank of the River Thames. Nearby is Downing Street, where the Prime Minister has his or her residence at number 10. Many government offices are on the neighbouring streets, especially in Whitehall. Not far away are St. James Palace and Buckingham Palace, where the reigning monarch resides.

The initial letters of the four words 'you only really know' make 'York'.

York is situated in the north-east of England. The Romans established a fort in 71AD, and named it Eboracum. The name may mean place of the yew trees, or the place belonging to Eburos. A town grew up around the fort. After the Romans left, the name developed into Evorog, which the Anglo-Saxons associated with the word for a boar, and called it Eoforwic, or boar-town. When the Norse invaders arrived the town became known as Eorvik, or Jorvik. The latter became contracted to Jork, which developed into the modern name of York in the thirteenth century.

York is situated at the confluence of the River Foss and the River Ouse. The first church dated from the seventh century. The current building began in the thirteenth century and continued for around two hundred years. In medieval times the city prospered as a trading centre, helped by transport on the rivers, and the Great North Road from London to Scotland. In the nineteenth century, the advent of the railways saw York become a centre for railway engineering. The railway also helped the development of confectionery manufacturing in York, with both Terry's and Rowntree's establishing factories.