Things you didn't know about... Wolverhampton

Wolverhampton's locals are known as Wulfrunians
The Wulfrun Centre and Wulfrun Hall recall the city's 985 AD founder(s), either a Saxon lady called Wulfruna or a Danish leader Wulfere—no one seems quite certain.

Prisoners must swim to escape in Wolverhampton!
The 1840 Bilston police station is the only one in Britain surrounded by a moat.

Wolverhampton is still a little woolly around the edges
A woolpack on the city coat-of-arms remembers the city's once vital wool industry, as do inner-city streets such as Woolpack Street and Farmers' Fold.

Guy Fawkes' supporters lost their heads in Wolverhampton
Though innocent of any actual involvement, farmers Thomas Smart and John Holyhead were hanged, drawn and quartered for harbouring Gunpowder Plot conspirators.

A Wolverhampton MP is a record-breaker
The longest ever serving British MP, Charles Villiers represented the city for 63 years, despite changing his allegiance from Liberal to Liberal Unionist in 1886.

Wolverhampton cheered the Queen up with a 40ft arch of coal
With just eight days' notice, the city erected many such industrial motifs for Queen Victoria's visit in 1866. Choosing Wolverhampton because of a moving condolence letter from city widows, she finally came out of mourning. So pleased with her beloved Albert's statue was she, the mayor was knighted on the spot!

A poet says Wolverhampton's like your auntie
Barnsley bard Ian Macmillan celebrated the city in 2005 with this prize-winning verse: "Wolverhampton's a city that's often dismissed, Like your auntie at a party that's never been kissed; But like your Auntie this city's got so much to offer..."

Wolverhampton's two controversial MPs
Polymath Enoch Powell (renowned for his "Rivers of Blood" speech) and independent-minded Nicholas Budgen both resigned Tory government posts over Europe. Powell finally left the party in 1974 and Budgen became a "whipless rebel" in the 1990s, losing his seat in the 1997 Labour victory.

National treasure Billy Wright played for Wolves aged 15
Under his captaincy, Wolverhampton Wanderers, a founding team of the First Division, won the League three times, and the 1949 FA Cup. Billy Wright played 70 successive matches for England and was the first player to gain 100 caps.

Wolverhampton boasts UK's oldest functioning school
The city's grammar school for boys (now mixed) was founded in 1512. Past pupils include Bank of England Governor Mervyn King.

Car problems? Call for Wolverhampton's singing mechanic
Singing to a stranded motorist to console him started Wolverhampton engineer Herrol Donchez singing to all his customers while repairing their cars.

Wolverhampton was automatically first
Automatic traffic lights in Britain appeared first in this city, in 1927, complete with stripey poles.