I was born in the North of England midway between Liverpool and Manchester in a town called Wigan. Wigan is an old town, it goes back to at least Roman times when it was called Coccium, the name Wigan being coined in the 7th Century. Like alot of towns in the North of England Wigan it's in slow decline but it's had it moments.
I now live in France in a tiny village called Gadencourt, right at the bottom of higher Normandy, around 60 miles from Paris. Another area oozing with history, the Romans and Viking left their mark here and then later the French civil war and WW2 came through the area.