127-645: Westerham is a town and civil parish in the Sevenoaks District of Kent , England. It is located 3.4 miles east of Oxted and 6 miles west of Sevenoaks , adjacent to the Kent border with both Greater London and Surrey . It is recorded as early as the 9th century, and was mentioned in the Domesday Book in a Norman form, Oistreham (compare Ouistreham in Normandy, Oistreham in 1086). Hām
254-522: A London borough . (Since the new county was beforehand a mixture of metropolitan boroughs , municipal boroughs and urban districts, no extant parish councils were abolished.) In 1974, the Local Government Act 1972 retained rural parishes, but abolished most urban parishes, as well as the urban districts and boroughs which had administered them. Provision was made for smaller urban districts and boroughs to become successor parishes , with
381-458: A charm bracelet for Pandora, available as either a complete bracelet or a "starter" bracelet. All five members of the group have been involved in charity work. Girls Aloud's cover of The Pretenders' " I'll Stand by You " was released as the official 2004 Children in Need single, with proceeds going to the charity. Nicola Roberts said, "Hopefully if our single does well it's a lot of money going to
508-417: A civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government . It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes , which for centuries were the principal unit of secular and religious administration in most of England and Wales. Civil and religious parishes were formally split into two types in
635-518: A British-Irish pop girl group that was created through the ITV talent show Popstars: The Rivals in 2002. The line up consisted of members Cheryl , Nadine Coyle , Sarah Harding , Nicola Roberts and Kimberley Walsh . In 2012, the group was named as Britain's biggest selling girl group of the 21st century so far, with over 4.3 million singles sales and 4 million albums sold in the UK. The group achieved
762-515: A Special Expense, to residents of the unparished area to fund those activities. If the district council does not opt to make a Special Expenses charge, there is an element of double taxation of residents of parished areas, because services provided to residents of the unparished area are funded by council tax paid by residents of the whole district, rather than only by residents of the unparished area. Parish councils comprise volunteer councillors who are elected to serve for four years. Decisions of
889-535: A Westerham antiques shop and purchased a poster for Pablo Fanque 's Circus Royal, which later inspired the song, " Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite! " As well as the parish church (a Grade II*- listed building ), there is a Grade II-listed chapel associated with the Congregational Federation and a Roman Catholic church. Westerham Evangelical Congregational Church dates from 1839 and St John
1016-576: A boundary coterminous with an existing urban district or borough or, if divided by a new district boundary, as much as was comprised in a single district. There were 300 such successor parishes established. In urban areas that were considered too large to be single parishes, the parishes were simply abolished, and they became unparished areas . The distinction between types of parish was no longer made; whether parishes continued by virtue of being retained rural parishes or were created as successor parishes, they were all simply termed parishes. The 1972 act allowed
1143-477: A city council (though most cities are not parishes but principal areas, or in England specifically metropolitan boroughs or non-metropolitan districts ). The chairman of a town council will have the title "town mayor" and that of a parish council which is a city will usually have the title of mayor . When a city or town has been abolished as a borough, and it is considered desirable to maintain continuity of
1270-462: A city council. According to the Department for Communities and Local Government , in England in 2011 there were 9,946 parishes. Since 1997 around 100 new civil parishes have been created, in some cases by splitting existing civil parishes, but mostly by creating new ones from unparished areas. Parish or town councils have very few statutory duties (things they are required to do by law) but have
1397-559: A city was Hereford , whose city council was merged in 1998 to form a unitary Herefordshire . The area of the city of Hereford remained unparished until 2000 when a parish council was created for the city. As another example, the charter trustees for the City of Bath make up the majority of the councillors on Bath and North East Somerset Council. Civil parishes cover 35% of England's population, with one in Greater London and few in
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#17328025674951524-481: A civil parish which has no parish council, the parish meeting may levy a council tax precept for expenditure relating to specific functions, powers and rights which have been conferred on it by legislation. In places where there is no civil parish ( unparished areas ), the administration of the activities normally undertaken by the parish becomes the responsibility of the district or borough council. The district council may make an additional council tax charge, known as
1651-620: A dedication in memory of Harding and a "celebration" of the group's music. Consisting of thirty shows, the tour opened in Dublin , Ireland in May 2024, and concluded in Liverpool , England in June. Grossing US$ 19.1 million from twenty shows, it became the biggest arena tour of 2024 in the UK. On 14 October 2024, ITV announced that The Girls Aloud Show would premiere as "The Girls Aloud Show - Live at
1778-415: A different shampoo. The same year, Girls Aloud also signed a deal with the UK division of Samsung . They endorsed mobile phones and MP3 players, made personal appearances and sang at Samsung events, and contributed to competition prizes, among other activities. The Samsung F210 Purple came with a 1GB memory card featuring Girls Aloud content. Girls Aloud appeared in television advertisements for Nintendo DS
1905-458: A doll modelled after themselves. In addition to live DVDs of their tours and both of Girls Aloud's television series, the group has also released Girls on Film and Style . Official calendars were also issued annually from 2004 to 2009, the only exception being 2005. Girls Aloud co-wrote an autobiography titled Dreams That Glitter – Our Story . The book, named after a lyric in "Call the Shots",
2032-530: A first: it was a reality pop record that didn't make you want to do physical harm to everyone involved in its manufacture". After the success of their first single "Sound of the Underground", Girls Aloud spent five months recording the follow-up single and their debut album. Sound of the Underground was completed in April 2003 and released the following month. The album entered the charts at number two and
2159-529: A new code. In either case the code must comply with the Nolan Principles of Public Life . A parish can be granted city status by the Crown . As of 2020 , eight parishes in England have city status, each having a long-established Anglican cathedral: Chichester , Ely , Hereford , Lichfield , Ripon , Salisbury , Truro and Wells . The council of an ungrouped parish may pass a resolution giving
2286-528: A new edition of Sound of the Underground . After a brief hiatus, Girls Aloud released " The Show " in June 2004, the first single from What Will the Neighbours Say? , the group's second album. The single entered the charts at number two. The next single, " Love Machine ", also peaked at number two in September 2004. Girls Aloud then recorded a cover of The Pretenders ' " I'll Stand by You " which
2413-431: A new smaller manor, there was a means of making a chapel which, if generating or endowed with enough funds, would generally justify foundation of a parish, with its own parish priest (and in latter centuries vestry ). This consistency was a result of canon law which prized the status quo in issues between local churches and so made boundary changes and sub-division difficult. The consistency of these boundaries until
2540-583: A one-week promotional tour, "Biology" peaked at number twenty-six on the ARIA Singles Chart , failing to break the group in the Australian market. " Whole Lotta History ", the fourth and final single to be taken from Chemistry , was released in March 2006 and charted at number six. In 2005, Girls Aloud filmed a one-off documentary entitled Girls Aloud: Home Truths for ITV2 . The success of
2667-688: A parish (a "detached part") was in a different county . In other cases, counties surrounded a whole parish meaning it was in an unconnected, "alien" county. These anomalies resulted in a highly localised difference in applicable representatives on the national level , justices of the peace , sheriffs, bailiffs with inconvenience to the inhabitants. If a parish was split then churchwardens, highway wardens and constables would also spend more time or money travelling large distances. Some parishes straddled two or more counties, such as Todmorden in Lancashire and Yorkshire. Girls Aloud Girls Aloud are
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#17328025674952794-416: A parish council, and instead will only have a parish meeting : an example of direct democracy . Alternatively several small parishes can be grouped together and share a common parish council, or even a common parish meeting. A parish council may decide to call itself a town council, village council, community council, neighbourhood council, or if the parish has city status, the parish council may call itself
2921-431: A population in excess of 100,000 . This scope is similar to that of municipalities in continental Europe, such as the communes of France . However, unlike their continental European counterparts, parish councils are not principal authorities , and in most cases have a relatively minor role in local government. As of September 2023 , there are 10,464 parishes in England, and in 2020 they covered approximately 40% of
3048-503: A population of between 100 and 300 could request their county council to establish a parish council. Provision was also made for a grouped parish council to be established covering two or more rural parishes. In such groups, each parish retained its own parish meeting which could vote to leave the group, but otherwise the grouped parish council acted across the combined area of the parishes included. Urban civil parishes were not given their own parish councils, but were directly administered by
3175-414: A range of ales, including Westerham British Bulldog. Westerham was home to Crayford Engineering , a successful car conversion company, from 1962 to the 1980s, working from a workshop at Squerryes Mede. In 1922 Winston Churchill MP purchased Chartwell Manor on the outskirts of Westerham, which, apart from the time he spent at 10 Downing Street and 28 Hyde Park Gate (his London Home), was his home for
3302-1079: A range of discretionary powers which they may exercise voluntarily. These powers have been defined by various pieces of legislation. The role they play can vary significantly depending on the size, resources and ability of the council, but their activities can include any of the following: Parish councils have powers to provide and manage various local facilities; these can include allotments , cemeteries, parks, playgrounds, playing fields and village greens , village halls or community centres , bus shelters, street lighting, roadside verges, car parks, footpaths, litter bins and war memorials. Larger parish councils may also be involved in running markets , public toilets and public clocks, museums and leisure centres . Parish councils may spend money on various things they deem to be beneficial to their communities, such as providing grants to local community groups or local projects, or fund things such as public events, crime prevention measures, community transport schemes, traffic calming or tourism promotion. Parish councils have
3429-409: A role in the planning system; they have a statutory right to be consulted on any planning applications in their areas. They may also produce a neighbourhood plan to influence local development. The Localism Act 2011 allowed eligible parish councils to be granted a " general power of competence " which allows them within certain limits the freedom to do anything an individual can do provided it
3556-598: A set number of guardians for each parish, hence a final purpose of urban civil parishes. With the abolition of the Poor Law system in 1930, urban parishes became a geographical division only with no administrative power; that was exercised at the urban district or borough council level. In 1965 civil parishes in London were formally abolished when Greater London was created, as the legislative framework for Greater London did not make provision for any local government body below
3683-943: A small village or town ward to a large tract of mostly uninhabited moorland in the Cheviots, Pennines or Dartmoor. The two largest as at December 2023 are Stanhope (County Durham) at 98.6 square miles (255 km ), and Dartmoor Forest (Devon) at 79.07 square miles (204.8 km ). The two smallest are parcels of shared rural land: Lands Common to Axminster and Kilmington (Devon) at 0.012 square miles (0.031 km ; 3.1 ha; 7.7 acres), and Lands Common to Brancepeth and Brandon and Byshottles (County Durham) at 0.0165 square miles (0.043 km ; 4.3 ha; 10.6 acres). The next two smallest are parishes in built up areas: Chester Castle (Cheshire) at 0.0168 square miles (0.044 km ; 4.4 ha; 10.8 acres) (no recorded population) and Hamilton Lea (Leicestershire) at 0.07 square miles (0.18 km ; 18 ha; 45 acres) (1,021 residents at
3810-521: A spur to the creation of new parishes in some larger towns which were previously unparished, in order to retain a local tier of government; examples include Shrewsbury (2009), Salisbury (2009), Crewe (2013) and Weymouth (2019). In 2003 seven new parish councils were set up for Burton upon Trent , and in 2001 the Milton Keynes urban area became entirely parished, with ten new parishes being created. Parishes can also be abolished where there
3937-641: A string of twenty top-ten singles on the UK singles chart , including four number ones. They also achieved seven BPI certified albums, two of which debuted at number one on the UK Albums Chart . They have been nominated for five Brit Awards and won one of them, Best Single in 2009 for " The Promise ". The group's main musical style is pop, and they have also experimented with other sounds including electropop , dance-pop and dance-rock throughout their career. The group's collaborations with Brian Higgins and
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4064-412: A sub-label of Polydor Records . In October 2006, Girls Aloud released their first greatest hits collection, The Sound of Girls Aloud: The Greatest Hits . It debuted at number one on the UK album chart and went on to sell over one million copies. The album was accompanied by the single " Something Kinda Ooooh ". Girls Aloud became the first British act to reach the top five purely on download sales;
4191-408: Is "a dark, squiggly synth pop epic a la Pet Shop Boys " and "It's Magic" is composed of "little Röyksopp -like keyboard riffs". Alternatively, Tangled Up features a dancier , more electronic sound, inspired by the success of their 2006 single "Something Kinda Ooooh". "Call the Shots", "Close to Love", and "Girl Overboard" are all electropop numbers reminiscent of 1980s music . However, "Control of
4318-400: Is Old English for a village or homestead, and so Westerham means a westerly homestead . The River Darent flows through the town, and formerly powered three watermills . The total population in 2021 was 4,498. There is evidence that the area around Westerham has been settled for thousands of years: finds such as a Celtic fortification (c 2000 BC) and a Roman road are close by, along with
4445-420: Is also a charity ambassador for Breast Cancer Haven . She helped open a £2.2 million breast cancer centre in 2008 and participated in a "heel-a-thon" in 2009. In February 2011, Cheryl Cole launched her own charitable foundation named the "Cheryl Cole Foundation with The Prince's Trust following a meeting with The Trust's President, Charles, Prince of Wales ". The foundation provides vital funds for The Trust in
4572-736: Is also home to a football team, Westerham Football Club, which was founded in 1888. Westerham Junior Football Club provide football for 5-18 year olds playing in the Tandridge and Crowborough leagues. Both clubs are located at King George V Playing Field. Westerham has two ladies netball teams that compete in the Tunbridge Wells League. Westerham also hosts a weekly parkrun on part of the Squerryes Estate. Civil parishes in England In England,
4699-507: Is at present the only part of England where civil parishes cannot be created. If enough electors in the area of a proposed new parish (ranging from 50% in an area with less than 500 electors to 10% in one with more than 2,500) sign a petition demanding its creation, then the local district council or unitary authority must consider the proposal. Since the beginning of the 21st century, numerous parish councils have been created, including some relatively large urban ones. The main driver has been
4826-539: Is evidence that this is in response to "justified, clear and sustained local support" from the area's inhabitants. Examples are Birtley , which was abolished in 2006, and Southsea , abolished in 2010. Every civil parish has a parish meeting, which all the electors of the parish are entitled to attend. Generally a meeting is held once a year. A civil parish may have a parish council which exercises various local responsibilities prescribed by statute. Parishes with fewer than 200 electors are usually deemed too small to have
4953-405: Is not prohibited by other legislation, as opposed to being limited to the powers explicitly granted to them by law. To be eligible for this, a parish council must meet certain conditions such as having a clerk with suitable qualifications. Parish councils receive funding by levying a " precept " on the council tax paid by the residents of the parish (or parishes) served by the parish council. In
5080-504: The 'Standards Board regime' with local monitoring by district, unitary or equivalent authorities. Under new regulations which came into effect in 2012 all parish councils in England are required to adopt a code of conduct with which parish councillors must comply, and to promote and maintain high standards. A new criminal offence of failing to comply with statutory requirements was introduced. More than one 'model code' has been published, and councils are free to modify an existing code or adopt
5207-681: The Bluebell Hill TV transmitter. Local radio stations are: BBC Radio Kent (96.7 FM), Heart South (103.1 FM), Gold (603 AM) and KMFM West Kent , which broadcasts from its studios in Strood on 96.2 FM. The town is served by these local newspapers, Westerham County Border News and Sevenoaks Chronicle . Westerham Cricket Club was founded in 1831, folded in 2004 and reformed in 2019. Previous home grounds: 1831 to 1874 Farley Common, Westerham; 1875 to 1987 Squerryes Park, Westerham; 1988 to 2004 Costell's Meadow, Westerham. In 1990,
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5334-1010: The Local Government Act 1894 ( 56 & 57 Vict. c. 73) to become the smallest geographical area for local government in rural areas. The act abolished the civil (non-ecclesiastical) duties of vestries . Parishes which straddled county boundaries or sanitary districts had to be split so that the part in each urban or rural sanitary district became a separate parish (see List of county exclaves in England and Wales 1844–1974 ). The sanitary districts were then reconstituted as urban districts and rural districts , with parishes that fell within urban districts classed as urban parishes, and parishes that fell within rural districts were classed as rural parishes. The 1894 act established elected civil parish councils as to all rural parishes with more than 300 electors, and established annual parish meetings in all rural parishes. Civil parishes were grouped to form either rural or urban districts which are thereafter classified as either type. The parish meetings for parishes with
5461-684: The M25 motorway . The A25 road goes west to Oxted , Redhill & Guildford and east to Sevenoaks and Wrotham . The A233 road goes north to Biggin Hill and Bromley . The B2026 road goes south to Edenbridge . Since the town is close to London, television signals are received from the Crystal Palace TV transmitter, placing Westerham in the BBC London and ITV London areas. BBC South East and ITV Meridian can also be received from
5588-515: The Protestant martyr John Frith was born in the town. The church is unusual in that it displays the only known representation of a royal arms of King Edward VI (reigned 1547–1553) in a church. There is little doubt that it is the king's arms as the supporters are a lion and a dragon, and there is a curious Latin phrase beside the arms: "VIVAT REX CURAT LEX" (Long live the King, custodian of
5715-545: The UK Albums Chart at number one and became their most successful studio album to date, being certified double platinum. The album's lead single, " The Promise ", became the group's fourth number one on the UK Singles Chart . The single also returned the group to the top two on the Irish Singles Chart . "The Promise" was awarded Best British Single at the 2009 Brit Awards; the group also performed
5842-472: The break with Rome , parishes managed ecclesiastical matters, while the manor was the principal unit of local administration and justice. Later, the church replaced the manor court as the rural administrative centre, and levied a local tax on produce known as a tithe . In the medieval period, responsibilities such as relief of the poor passed increasingly from the lord of the manor to the parish's rector , who in practice would delegate tasks among his vestry or
5969-591: The cricket club invited the football, rugby and netball clubs to join them in forming the Westerham Sports Association (WSA) which secured a grant to build a new clubhouse which opened in 1990 and still exists. The Cricket Club now plays its home matches at Valence Park, a picturesque cricket ground on the outskirts of Westerham. Sir Winston Churchill Boxing club located at the Royal Standard Public House. Westerham
6096-595: The lord of the manor , but not all were willing and able to provide, so residents would be expected to attend the church of the nearest manor with a church. Later, the churches and priests became to a greater extent the responsibility of the Catholic Church thus this was formalised; the grouping of manors into one parish was recorded, as was a manor-parish existing in its own right. Boundaries changed little, and for centuries after 1180 'froze', despite changes to manors' extents. However, by subinfeudation , making
6223-403: The monarch ). A civil parish may be equally known as and confirmed as a town, village, neighbourhood or community by resolution of its parish council, a right not conferred on other units of English local government. The governing body of a civil parish is usually an elected parish council (which can decide to call itself a town, village, community or neighbourhood council, or a city council if
6350-470: The (often well-endowed) monasteries. After the dissolution of the monasteries , the power to levy a rate to fund relief of the poor was conferred on the parish authorities by the Poor Relief Act 1601 . Both before and after this optional social change, local (vestry-administered) charities are well-documented. The parish authorities were known as vestries and consisted of all the ratepayers of
6477-403: The 19th century and are now entirely separate. Civil parishes in their modern form came into being through the Local Government Act 1894 ( 56 & 57 Vict. c. 73), which established elected parish councils to take on the secular functions of the parish vestry . A civil parish can range in size from a sparsely populated rural area with fewer than a hundred inhabitants, to a large town with
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#17328025674956604-564: The 19th century is useful to historians, and is also of cultural significance in terms of shaping local identities; reinforced by the use of grouped parish boundaries, often, by successive local authority areas; and in a very rough, operations-geared way by most postcode districts. There was (and is) wide disparity in parish size. Writtle , Essex traditionally measures 13,568 acres (21 sq mi) – two parishes neighbouring are Shellow Bowells at 469 acres (0.7 sq mi), and Chignall Smealy at 476 acres (0.7 sq mi) Until
6731-591: The 2011 census, Newland with Woodhouse Moor and Beaumont Chase reported inhabitants, and there were no new deserted parishes recorded. Nearly all instances of detached parts of civil parishes (areas not contiguous with the main part of the parish) and of those straddling counties have been ended. 14 examples remain in England as at 2022, including Barnby Moor and Wallingwells , both in Nottinghamshire. Direct predecessors of civil parishes are most often known as "ancient parishes", although many date only from
6858-511: The 2021 census). The 2001 census recorded several parishes with no inhabitants. These were Chester Castle (in the middle of Chester city centre), Newland with Woodhouse Moor , Beaumont Chase , Martinsthorpe , Meering , Stanground North (subsequently abolished), Sturston , Tottington , and Tyneham (subsequently merged). The lands of the last three were taken over by the Armed Forces during World War II and remain deserted. In
6985-627: The Baptist's Catholic Parish Church opened in 1955. Westerham was home to the Black Eagle Brewery, which was taken over by Taylor Walker & Co in the 1950s, becoming part of Ind Coope in 1959 and closing in 1965. Yeast from the brewery was preserved at the National Collection of Yeast Cultures and is now used by the present day Westerham Brewery which was established in 2004 by Robert Wicks. The brewery produces
7112-570: The English population. For historical reasons, civil parishes predominantly cover rural areas and smaller urban areas, with most larger urban areas being wholly or partly unparished ; but since 1997 it has been possible for civil parishes to be created within unparished areas if demanded by local residents . In 2007 the right to create civil parishes was extended to London boroughs , although only one, Queen's Park , has so far been created. Eight parishes also have city status (a status granted by
7239-726: The Knife" is more inspired by reggae and ska , while "Black Jacks" recalls "sixties psychedelica". Out of Control features a number of songs inspired by 1980s electropop, while also exploring retro styles. "The Promise" is a 1960s Spector -influenced number, while "Rolling Back the Rivers in Time" was compared to the works of Burt Bacharach . Girls Aloud's debut single "Sound of the Underground" and Sugababes ' " Round Round ", both of which were produced by Xenomania, have been called "two huge groundbreaking hits". Emily MacKay of NME deemed
7366-678: The North East, helping disadvantaged young people from her own region. Girls Aloud celebrated their 10 years as a group by releasing another Children in Need single, " Something New ", which they performed on the Children in Need TV special on 16 November 2012. Girls Aloud worked closely with Brian Higgins and his songwriting and production team Xenomania throughout their career. Xenomania produced all of Girls Aloud's albums and singles, excluding nine songs from their debut album, Sound of
7493-481: The O2 " on 17 November 2024 on ITV1 , with an extended version showing afterwards on ITVX . The group held a concert at Shepherd's Bush Empire in London, England on 2 July. They also served as a headliner at Brighton Pride on 3 August. On 6 November 2024, Girls Aloud announced ' I'll Stand By You (Sarah's Version)', their first single in 12 years, is due 17 November 2024, featuring newly discovered lead vocals from
7620-710: The Old Vicarage. BBC Children's TV founders Freda Lingstrom and Maria Bird lived together in Westerham and named their production company Westerham Arts which was commissioned by the BBC to create The Woodentops , Andy Pandy and the Flower Pot Men . During a January 1967 visit to Knole Park in Sevenoaks to shoot a promotional film for Strawberry Fields Forever and Penny Lane , John Lennon stopped at
7747-490: The Top aired on ITV1 on 15 December 2012. In February 2013, the group embarked on Ten: The Hits Tour . On 20 March 2013, the group performed their final concert at Echo Arena Liverpool . A few hours later, they announced their split on Twitter. On 26 August 2020, group member Sarah Harding stated that she had been diagnosed with breast cancer that had advanced to "other parts" of her body. In March 2021, she said that
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#17328025674957874-604: The UK Albums Charts at number eleven and received platinum certification. The first single from the album, " Long Hot Summer " was released in August 2005. The single ended Girls Aloud's run of top five singles when it charted at number seven. The follow-up single from the album, " Biology " was released in November 2005. The song was critically acclaimed; Peter Cashmore of The Guardian labeled it "the best pop single of
8001-500: The UK by a Female Group" in the 2008 edition. The group disbanded in March 2013 following the conclusion of the Ten: The Hits Tour . Harding died of breast cancer on 5 September 2021 at the age of 39. The remaining members reunited for a 2024 concert tour, The Girls Aloud Show , which became the biggest UK arena tour of 2024. Girls Aloud was formed on 30 November 2002 on ITV 's Popstars: The Rivals . The concept of
8128-543: The Underground takes influence from a number of 1980s genres, such as synthpop , power pop , and new wave , and 1990s styles like big beat , drum and bass , and garage . The album received comparisons to girl groups such as Bananarama , The Bangles , and the Spice Girls . Similarities to Kylie Minogue and Madonna were also noted. A majority of the songs make use of guitars and electronic beats . The rise of indie rock also inspired Brian Higgins to "blur
8255-630: The Underground , the charity single "Walk This Way" and two songs from Ten . Of Higgins and Xenomania, Girls Aloud's former manager Louis Walsh says, "He just makes great songs for radio. They just jump out at you and stay in your brain." In a review of the group's debut single "Sound of the Underground", The Guardian' s Alexis Petridis exclaimed it "proved a first: it was a reality pop record that didn't make you want to do physical harm to everyone involved in its manufacture." In response to Girls Aloud's debut album, Jacqueline Hodges of BBC Music said that "Higgins injects an element of instant-catchy-cool to
8382-531: The United Kingdom. Girls Aloud then recorded two tracks for the soundtrack to the 2007 film, St Trinian's . They made a cameo appearance in the film, as the school band. The soundtrack was released on 10 December 2007, and the music video for "Theme to St. Trinian's" premiered in December 2007. In November 2008, Girls Aloud released their fifth studio album, Out of Control . The album entered
8509-630: The Vicarage for a brief period. Alice rented 'The Breaches' just before she died and then when she became very ill she went to stay with her sister Rhoda at Hoseyrigge in Westerham. She was born at Westminster and when she died aged 82 a memorial service was held for her at St Mary's Church. She was not buried in Westerham. Record producer Brian Higgins , whose Xenomania production team produced hit singles and albums for artists such as Girls Aloud , Kylie Minogue , Sugababes , Pet Shop Boys , Texas and Franz Ferdinand , now occupy what used to be known as
8636-738: The administration of the poor laws was the main civil function of parishes, the Poor Law Amendment Act 1866 , which received royal assent on 10 August 1866, declared all areas that levied a separate rate or had their own overseer of the poor to be parishes. This included the Church of England parishes (until then simply known as "parishes"), extra-parochial areas , townships and chapelries . To have collected rates this means these beforehand had their own vestries, boards or equivalent bodies. Parishes using this definition subsequently became known as "civil parishes" to distinguish them from
8763-640: The album, " Wake Me Up ", was released in February 2005. It charted at number four, making it their first to miss the top three. In early 2005, the group was nominated for a BRIT Award for Best Pop Act. Following the album's success, Girls Aloud announced their first tour, the What Will the Neighbours Say...? Tour , which took place in May 2005. The group also released their first DVD, Girls on Film . Following their first tour, Girls Aloud began work on their third studio album, Chemistry . The album peaked on
8890-407: The album, although the usage of guitar remains prominent in several songs. The backing track to "Love Machine", composed by Xenomania musicians Tim Powell and Nick Coler, was inspired by The Smiths , while "Wake Me Up" includes a guitar riff inspired by garage rock . Chemistry takes influences from a wide variety of sources, including "everything from French chanson to piano-pounding blues to
9017-638: The charity." Their cover Aerosmith and Run DMC 's " Walk This Way ", a collaboration with the Sugababes, was the official charity single for Comic Relief in 2007, recorded at Comic Relief co-founder and trustee Richard Curtis ' request. Kimberley Walsh said, "It's a fantastic song and hopefully will raise tons of money for people living in really difficult situations here and in Africa." In March 2009, Cheryl, Kimberley Walsh, and various other celebrities climbed Mount Kilimanjaro in aid of Comic Relief. Walsh
9144-399: The charter, the charter may be transferred to a parish council for its area. Where there is no such parish council, the district council may appoint charter trustees to whom the charter and the arms of the former borough will belong. The charter trustees (who consist of the councillor or councillors for the area of the former borough) maintain traditions such as mayoralty . An example of such
9271-488: The clipped R&B of the Small Faces ". Rapping in the same vein as artists like Betty Boo and Neneh Cherry is prominent. Yahoo! Music says "there's nary a 'formula' in sight. There are as many sudden tonal and tempo switches as the tricksiest Chicago art rock band. And all but one song here gives guitars a starring role." The songs are noticeably less rooted in electronic music , although "Swinging London Town"
9398-537: The council are carried out by a paid officer, typically known as a parish clerk. Councils may employ additional people (including bodies corporate, provided where necessary, by tender) to carry out specific tasks dictated by the council. Some councils have chosen to pay their elected members an allowance, as permitted under part 5 of the Local Authorities (Members' Allowances) (England) Regulations 2003. The number of councillors varies roughly in proportion to
9525-464: The council of the urban district or borough in which they were contained. Many urban parishes were coterminous (geographically identical) with the urban district or municipal borough in which they lay. Towns which included multiple urban parishes often consolidated the urban parishes into one. The urban parishes continued to be used as an electoral area for electing guardians to the poor law unions . The unions took in areas in multiple parishes and had
9652-466: The council will an election be held. However, sometimes there are fewer candidates than seats. When this happens, the vacant seats have to be filled by co-option by the council. If a vacancy arises for a seat mid-term, an election is only held if a certain number (usually ten) of parish residents request an election. Otherwise the council will co-opt someone to be the replacement councillor. The Localism Act 2011 introduced new arrangements which replaced
9779-525: The creation of town and parish councils is encouraged in unparished areas . The Local Government and Rating Act 1997 created a procedure which gave residents in unparished areas the right to demand that a new parish and parish council be created. This right was extended to London boroughs by the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007 – with this, the City of London
9906-477: The decade's best albums. Girls Aloud were one of the pop acts to achieve continued success and longevity throughout the mid-2000s while R&B and rock music became more popular. In a review for the group's 2008 Tangled Up Tour, David Pollock of The Independent noted that "Girls Aloud remain confidently the only pop show in town." The Times stated, "Not since ABBA and Michael Jackson has pure pop been so unanimously praised." Girls Aloud are notably one of
10033-463: The desire to have a more local tier of government when new larger authorities have been created, which are felt to be remote from local concerns and identity. A number of parishes have been created in places which used to have their own borough or district council; examples include Daventry (2003), Folkestone (2004), Kidderminster (2015) and Sutton Coldfield (2016). The trend towards the creation of geographically large unitary authorities has been
10160-479: The disease was terminal and that she "won't see another Christmas". She died on 5 September 2021 at the age of 39. On 24 July 2022, Girls Aloud appeared in Hyde Park, London to raise awareness and money for breast cancer research. Tweedy, Roberts and Coyle participated in the event, with Walsh taking part in a remote event. In November 2023, the group announced a 2024 tour – The Girls Aloud Show , serving as
10287-439: The ecclesiastical parishes. The Church of England parishes, which cover more than 99% of England, have become officially (and to avoid ambiguity) termed ecclesiastical parishes . The limits of many of these have diverged; most greatly through changes in population and church attendance (these factors can cause churches to be opened or closed). Since 1921, each has been the responsibility of its own parochial church council . In
10414-521: The edges between commercial music and so-called 'indie' music." He continued, "pop music was on its backside and indie music was about to rise, through The Strokes and everything else. We were an independent company and we were as indie as the other bands around us. The guitar riff on No Good Advice is very very similar to the riff on the track Michael by Franz Ferdinand ." What Will the Neighbours Say? further explores different subgenres of pop, especially electropop . Synthesizers are more prominent on
10541-534: The established English Church, which for a few years after Henry VIII alternated between the Roman Catholic Church and the Church of England , before settling on the latter on the accession of Elizabeth I in 1558. By the 18th century, religious membership was becoming more fractured in some places, due in part to the progress of Methodism . The legitimacy of the parish vestry came into question, and
10668-467: The few British reality television acts to achieve continued success and longevity. According to The Times , Girls Aloud are the highest-earning UK reality television stars, having amassed a fortune of £25 million by May 2009. The figure was increased to £30 million the following year, following Cheryl's appearance on The X Factor . All five members were included in a 2010 list of Britain's richest stars under 30. Reviews of Girls Aloud's debut album noted
10795-532: The following year. The group signed a deal to front a promotional campaign for a new low-calorie KitKat bar called "Senses" in March 2008. Sales increased 6.8% in the United Kingdom. Beginning in 2009, Girls Aloud teamed with Eylure to release five sets of false eyelashes , each set designed by a different member of the band. A range of festival -themed lashes followed in 2010, while limited edition "10th Anniversary" lashes were released in 2012. Similarly, to celebrate their tenth anniversary, each member designed
10922-554: The font in which he was baptised but also a memorial window to him by Edward Burne-Jones . The town square contains statues to both Wolfe and Churchill . Interior and exterior scenes for the 2009 BBC mini-series Emma were shot at Squerryes Court with the house appearing as Emma Woodhouse's home Hartfield, while exterior scenes were shot at Chilham , Kent. Alice Liddell , cited as the inspiration for Lewis Carroll 's children's book Alice's Adventures in Wonderland lived in
11049-401: The girls and boys). Each week the contestant polling the fewest phone votes was eliminated until the final line-ups of the groups emerged. The five girls who made it into the group were Cheryl Tweedy, Nicola Roberts, Nadine Coyle, Kimberley Walsh, and Sarah Harding; Javine Hylton missed out on a place in the group, despite previous expectations that she would be placed in the line-up. The group
11176-428: The girls have a knack of coming up with utterly infectious pop songs". Bono has referred to himself as a fan of the group, saying: "I think Girls Aloud are at the cutting edge of pop music. They are a great band and they deserve to be centre stage." Chris Martin also said that he is a fan of the group, referring to them as "the ultimate form of life," while Julie Burchill has stated that Girls Aloud are "simply
11303-455: The government at the time of the Local Government Act 1972 discouraged their creation for large towns or their suburbs, but there is generally nothing to stop their establishment. For example, Birmingham has two parishes ( New Frankley and Sutton Coldfield ), Oxford has four, and the Milton Keynes urban area has 24. Parishes could not however be established in London until the law was changed in 2007. A civil parish can range in area from
11430-410: The group announced that they were taking a year-long hiatus to pursue solo projects, and would reunite for a new studio album in 2010 which did not materialise. In September 2009, the group briefly interrupted the hiatus to do two shows supporting Coldplay along with Jay-Z at Wembley Stadium . After three years of hiatus, Girls Aloud reunited for the group's tenth anniversary. On 16 November 2012,
11557-523: The group released their new single, " Something New " – the official charity single for Children in Need . The single peaked at number-two on the UK Singles Chart. The group released their second greatest hits compilation, Ten on 23 November 2012. The second single taken from Ten , " Beautiful 'Cause You Love Me ," was released on 17 December 2012, and failed to chart in the top-forty. A documentary special entitled Girls Aloud: Ten Years at
11684-481: The group's third number one. In May 2007, Girls Aloud embarked on their third tour, The Greatest Hits Tour . Girls Aloud released their fourth studio album, Tangled Up , in November 2007. The first single from the album, " Sexy! No No No... " peaked at number-five on the UK Singles Chart. The second single, " Call the Shots " entered the top three. The third and final single from the album, " Can't Speak French ", continued Girls Aloud's top ten streak. The release of
11811-419: The high quality of the album compared to output from other reality show contestants. In 2004, David Hooper of BBC Music exclaimed that "Girls Aloud are currently British pop royalty [...] in the ultra-fickle world of TV-generated pop, Girls Aloud have real staying power." Andrew Lynch of entertainment.ie said, "Girls Aloud really shouldn't have made it as far as a second album. [...] There's just one problem –
11938-624: The last decade". The release was followed by a cover of Dee C. Lee 's " See the Day ", released in the Christmas week of 2005., following this they presented one-off TV Special, Christmas Mania, on ITV, where they sang songs taken from their Christmas album. Girls Aloud won the Heart Award for the single at the O 2 Silver Clef Lunch. The group travelled to Australia and New Zealand in February 2006 to release "Biology" and Chemistry . Despite,
12065-476: The late 19th century, most of the "ancient" (a legal term equivalent to time immemorial ) irregularities inherited by the civil parish system were cleaned up, and the majority of exclaves were abolished. The census of 1911 noted that 8,322 (58%) of "parishes" in England and Wales were not geographically identical when comparing the civil to the ecclesiastical form. In 1894, civil parishes were reformed by
12192-417: The late Sarah Harding from the original recording sessions. The release, marking the 20th anniversary of their original BBC Children in Need single, was announced as 2024's Children in Need single and follows the song's noteworthy inclusion in the setlist of The Girls Aloud Show . Girls Aloud came together with Mattel in 2005 to produce Fashion Fever Barbies . Each member designed the outfit and look of
12319-614: The law). England did not have another male monarch until the Union of the Crowns in 1603. In 1596, there was a peculiar subsidence of a hill measuring 80 by 28 perches , which was transformed into a dale. James Wolfe was born in the town in 1727 at what is now known as the Old Vicarage due to a terrible storm on the night he was born. He lived in Quebec House—many streets and buildings are named after him and St Mary's contains not only
12446-413: The live shows began: Hazel Kaneswaran was found to be too old to participate, while Nicola Ward refused to sign the contract, claiming the pay the group would receive was too low. Kimberley Walsh and Nicola Roberts were chosen as their replacements. During October and November, the finalists took to the stage participating in weekly Saturday night live performances (alternating week-by-week between
12573-465: The mid 19th century. Using a longer historical lens the better terms are "pre-separation (civil and ecclesiastical) parish", "original medieval parishes" and "new parishes". The Victoria County History , a landmark collaborative work mostly written in the 20th century (although incomplete), summarises the history of each English "parish", roughly meaning late medieval parish. A minority of these had exclaves , which could be: In some cases an exclave of
12700-456: The name of keeping [...] hooks coming thick and fast – and quite right too." Despite being most generally associated with the pop genre Girls Aloud have experimented with other genres. In particular rock music with singles like " Sound of the Underground ", " Graffiti My Soul ", " Wake Me Up " and " Sexy! No No No... ". The band members themselves are known to be fans of artists such as Ne-Yo and Oasis . The group's debut album Sound of
12827-465: The new district councils (outside London) to review their parishes, and many areas left unparished in 1972 have since been made parishes, either in whole or part. For example, Hinckley , whilst entirely unparished in 1974, now has four civil parishes, which together cover part of its area, whilst the central part of the town remains unparished. Some parishes were sub-divided into smaller territories known as hamlets , tithings or townships . Nowadays
12954-488: The other conurbations. Civil parishes vary greatly in population: some have populations below 100 and have no settlement larger than a hamlet , while others cover towns with populations of tens of thousands. Weston-super-Mare , with a population of 71,758, is the most populous civil parish. In many cases small settlements, today popularly termed villages , localities or suburbs, are in a single parish which originally had one church. Large urban areas are mostly unparished, as
13081-448: The parish has city status). Alternatively, in parishes with small populations (typically fewer than 150 electors) governance may be by a parish meeting which all electors may attend; alternatively, parishes with small populations may be grouped with one or more neighbours under a common parish council. Wales was also divided into civil parishes until 1974, when they were replaced by communities , which are similar to English parishes in
13208-401: The parish the status of a town, at which point the council becomes a town council . Around 400 parish councils are called town councils. Under the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007 , a civil parish may be given one of the following alternative styles: As a result, a parish council can be called a town council, a community council, a village council or occasionally
13335-404: The parish. As the number of ratepayers of some parishes grew, it became increasingly difficult to convene meetings as an open vestry. In some, mostly built-up, areas the select vestry took over responsibility from the entire body of ratepayers. This innovation improved efficiency, but allowed governance by a self-perpetuating elite. The administration of the parish system relied on the monopoly of
13462-562: The parish; the church rate ceased to be levied in many parishes and became voluntary from 1868. During the 17th century it was found that the 1601 Poor Law did not work well for very large parishes, which were particularly common in northern England. Such parishes were typically subdivided into multiple townships , which levied their rates separately. The Poor Relief Act 1662 therefore directed that for poor law purposes 'parish' meant any place which maintained its own poor, thereby converting many townships into separate 'poor law parishes'. As
13589-499: The perceived inefficiency and corruption inherent in the system became a source for concern in some places. For this reason, during the early 19th century the parish progressively lost its powers to ad hoc boards and other organisations, such as the boards of guardians given responsibility for poor relief through the Poor Law Amendment Act 1834 . Sanitary districts covered England in 1875 and Ireland three years later. The replacement boards were each entitled to levy their own rate in
13716-411: The population of the parish. Most rural parish councillors are elected to represent the entire parish, though in parishes with larger populations or those that cover larger areas, the parish can be divided into wards. Each of these wards then returns councillors to the parish council (the numbers depending on their population). Only if there are more candidates standing for election than there are seats on
13843-449: The production team Xenomania earned the group critical acclaim, because of an "innovative" approach to mainstream pop music. The group became one of the few British reality television acts to achieve continued success, amassing a fortune of £ 30 million by May 2010. Guinness World Records listed them as the "Most Successful Reality TV Group" in the 2007 and 2011 edition. They also hold the record for "Most Consecutive Top Ten Entries in
13970-554: The programme, hosted by Big Brother presenter Davina McCall , was to produce a boy band and a girl group who would be "rivals" and compete for the 2002 Christmas number one single. Following the initial success of Hear'Say (winners of the original Popstars show), several thousand applicants attended auditions across the United Kingdom in hope of being selected. Ten girls and ten boys were chosen as finalists by judges Pete Waterman , Louis Walsh and Spice Girls member Geri Halliwell . However, two of these were disqualified before
14097-441: The remains of a Roman encampment just past the ruins of a tower south of the town at the summit of Tower Woods. The tower dates back to the 18th century, and was originally constructed by the owners of Squerryes Court as a folly for their children's amusement. The manor was originally run by Godwin, Earl of Wessex and later by his son Harold Godwinson the last Saxon King of England . The first Norman lord of Westerham
14224-672: The rest of his life. Chartwell is now administered by the National Trust . There is a statue of Sir Winston Churchill on the village green at Westerham. It was sculpted by Oscar Nemon and stands on a base of Yugoslavian stone, the gift of Marshal Josip Broz Tito . The nearest National Rail station to Westerham is Oxted station , located 4 miles away. Westerham is served by London Buses route 246 , Go-Coach routes 1 and 401, and Metrobus routes 236, 594 and 595 which provide connections to Bromley , Sevenoaks , Tonbridge , Oxted and East Grinstead . Westerham lies south of
14351-506: The show later made way for Girls Aloud: Off the Record , a six-part fly on the wall documentary series for E4 . Girls Aloud then appeared in an episode of Ghosthunting with... (without Nadine) towards the end of 2006, in which Yvette Fielding guided them through haunted locations. In May 2006, Girls Aloud embarked on their first arena tour, named Chemistry: The Tour . In the same month, Girls Aloud were moved to Fascination Records ,
14478-549: The single coincided with Girls Aloud's second television series, The Passions of Girls Aloud . The show revolved around each member, with the exception of Coyle, achieving aspirations outside of the group. The group received their second Brit Award nomination in 2008, nominated for the Best British Group award. In May 2008, Girls Aloud embarked on the Tangled Up Tour which consisted of 34 concerts around
14605-434: The single peaked at number three following its physical release. The next single was a cover of " I Think We're Alone Now " which peaked at number four on the UK Singles Chart. In March 2007, Girls Aloud collaborated with fellow British girl group Sugababes for the cover of the song " Walk This Way " by Aerosmith . Billed as "Sugababes vs. Girls Aloud", the song served as the official single for Comic Relief which became
14732-399: The song during the ceremony. For the promotion of the album, Girls Aloud appeared in a variety show entitled The Girls Aloud Party which aired on 13 December 2008 on ITV. The second single from Out of Control , " The Loving Kind " was produced by Xenomania. Peaking at number ten, it became the group's twentieth consecutive top ten single. The final single from the album, " Untouchable "
14859-592: The songs without going overboard in trying to shape uber-chic dance floor hits." Petridis of The Guardian described What Will the Neighbours Say? as "a great album: funny, clever, immediate, richly inventive." He later wrote that Chemistry is "a record that dispenses with the tiresome business of verses and instead opts for songs apparently constructed by stitching eight different choruses together." Talia Kraines of BBC Music exclaimed that Girls Aloud "have resuscitated [pop music's] corpse by wedding chart-friendly melodies to experimental avant-garde sounds". "Biology"
14986-410: The two "a whole new kind of pop". The Telegraph placed the song at number 15 on a list of 100 songs that defined the 2000s, while NME included it at number 39. Spinner.com named "Sound of the Underground" the eighth best British song of the 2000s. In 2009, The Times included 2007's Tangled Up at number 62 on a list of the decade's best pop albums. MSN listed 2005's Chemistry as one of
15113-666: The way they operate. Civil parishes in Scotland were abolished for local government purposes by the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1929 ; the Scottish equivalent of English civil parishes are the community council areas established by the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 , which have fewer powers than their English and Welsh counterparts. There are no equivalent units in Northern Ireland . The parish system in Europe
15240-472: Was Eustace II of Boulogne , and the town appears in the Domesday Book as Oistreham. By 1227 Henry III granted Westerham a market charter, making the new village a major player in the buying and selling of cattle in Kent, a tradition that survived to 1961 when the last cattle market was held. St Mary's Church is thought to date from the 13th century, although it was much altered in Victorian times. In 1503
15367-547: Was certified platinum by the British Phonographic Industry . The second single, " No Good Advice ", was also released in May 2003 to similar success. Girls Aloud's third single, " Life Got Cold ", charted at number three in August 2003. In November 2003, Girls Aloud released a cover version of the Pointer Sisters ' 1980s dance hit " Jump ". The single, which charted at number two, accompanied
15494-399: Was described as "about as far from tired formula as you can possibly get. It sounds like three separate melodies condensed into one." Popjustice referred to the song as "pop music which redefines the supposed boundaries of pop music." In a review for 2007's "Sexy! No No No...", Nick Levine of Digital Spy complimented Xenomania's work on the song: sacrificing "conventional song structure in
15621-498: Was established between the 8th and 12th centuries, and an early form was long established in England by the time of the Norman Conquest . These areas were originally based on the territory of manors , which, in some cases, derived their bounds from Roman or Iron Age estates; some large manors were sub-divided into several parishes. Initially, churches and their priests were the gift and continued patronage (benefaction) of
15748-528: Was named Girls Aloud and were managed by Louis Walsh, until 2005 when Hilary Shaw replaced him. The new group competed with the boys' winning group, One True Voice to have 2002's Christmas number one single. Girls Aloud won the battle with their single " Sound of the Underground ", produced by Brian Higgins and Xenomania . The song spent four consecutive weeks at number one and was certified platinum in March 2003. The song received critical acclaim; Alexis Petridis of The Guardian stated that "it proved
15875-517: Was published in October 2008 through the Transworld imprint Bantam Press . Before the release, OK! magazine bought the rights to preview and serialise the book. In 2007, Girls Aloud signed a £ 1.25m one-year deal to endorse hair care brand Sunsilk . The girls filmed a television advertisement and appeared in and magazine advertisements, with each of the five members being the face of
16002-439: Was released as the official Children in Need charity single. The song was not well received by critics. The cover became Girls Aloud's second number one single, holding the position for two weeks. The album What Will the Neighbours Say? was entirely written and produced by Xenomania. Upon its release on 29 November 2004, the album charted just outside of the top five and was quickly certified platinum. The final single from
16129-480: Was released in April 2009. It peaked at number eleven on the UK Singles Chart, becoming the first single of the group to miss the top ten. The group embarked on the Out of Control Tour , from April to June 2009. A singles boxset collection was released to coincide with the tour. In February 2009, Girls Aloud signed a new record deal with Fascination that would see the group release another three studio albums. In July 2009,
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