Things you didn't know about... Shropshire

Shropshire says: Eat your heart out, Horatio

Lord Hill's Column is 40.5 m (133ft) high; that's 4 m (13ft) more than Nelson's Column. It was built in Shrewsbury between 1814 and 1816. A few days a year it's open to the public and you can climb up the internal staircase to the top.

Joe Louis boxed here

Heavyweight champion boxer Joe "The Brown Bomber" Louis was stationed in Shropshire during World War II while serving as an Army PT Instructor. He used to make extra money by charging drinkers in his local pub to punch him in the stomach, with no ill effects.

Shropshire loves the spiky ones

The British Hedgehog Preservation Society began in Shrophire in 1982. It pushes for hedgehog-helping constructions like tunnels under busy roads and hedgehog ramps over cattle grids.

Shropshire's cheesy secret

Shropshire Blue cheese is actually from Inverness. It was renamed to appeal to the English market.

English Shropshire plays in Wales

Oswestry Town Football Club was one of the founding teams in the Welsh Football League. Despite the fact that the Shropshire town is in England.

Shropshire's got real history

The world's oldest-known complete fossil was also discovered in Shropshire at Caradoc.

Shropshire gave the world its first skyscraper

Ditherington flax mill, on the outskirts of Shrewsbury, was built in 1747. It may only be five storeys tall but it was the first iron-framed building in the world. It's currently derelict.

What the Dickens? A grave matter in Shropshire

The grave of Ebeneezer Scrooge can be found in Shropshire's St Chad's Church, in Shrewsbury. As he's a fictional character, however, the grave's a fake. In 1984 the movie A Christmas Carol used the church as a location and left the gravestone behind. It's since become a popular tourist attraction.

Don't forget your jumper

Shropshire holds the record for the coldest outdoor temperature recorded in England or Wales. On 10 January 1982, in Edgmond, it dipped to -26.1 degrees C.

The modern Olympics have their roots in Shropshire

Self-improvement guru William Penny Brookes launched the first annual games in the village of Much Wenlock in 1850 with events like quoit-throwing and cricket. The Wenlock Olympian Society was the inspiration for the first international Olympic Games in 1896.