It's the Worcestershire town that made the flames for the Batmobile, started a vacuum cleaner revolution and was home to the poster boy of the UK's alternative comedy scene.

Droitwich Spa can also boast the world's longest tennis rally, brine springs that are saltier than the Dead Sea and the West Midlands' most expensive luxury home - at a whopping £9.5 million.

Now, WorcestershireLive journalist Adrian Caffery, who's lived in the town nearly all his life, has collected more than 100 ''fascinating and fun facts'' for a website called Ooh Aah Droitwich Spa and 10 of the best are here.

The site features the juiciest bits from Droitwich's history, from when it was roamed by mammoths, to the Roman occupation and to the submerging of the High Street's crooked houses in the floods of 2007.

There are also tales of ghosts and grisly murders; and then there are oddities such as the killing of a runaway pet bear and the 'kidnapping' of American rapper Eminem.

Here are 10 things you'll only know if you're from the Worcestershire town....

1. Vax vacuum

Vax - the vacuum that can wash carpets too - was created in Droitwich
Vax - the vacuum that can wash carpets too - was created in Droitwich


The iconic orange Vax, the world’s first vacuum cleaner that could also wash carpets and suck up spills, was created in Droitwich. Invented by Alan Brazier in 1979, at first it was sold door-to-door. Within three years it was in High Street shops and by 1987 it was the UK’s best-selling vacuum, with the company valued at £60 million.

By 1995 you could buy a Vax in nearly 50 different countries. Droitwich-born Brazier built his headquarters and main manufacturing plant at the town’s Hampton Lovett Industrial Estate, where it still has a presence.

2. Rik Mayall

Rik Mayall, star of The Young Ones, trod the boards of Droitwich's Norbury Theatre
Rik Mayall, star of The Young Ones, trod the boards of Droitwich's Norbury Theatre

One of the UK’s best loved comedy actors, grew up in Droitwich from the age of three. His parents, both drama teachers, moved there from Essex and Rik performed in plays they put on at the Norbury Theatre.

It’s believed his first show was Waiting For Godot, which he later performed in the West End with comedy partner Ade Edmondson and according to sources he left graffiti in one of the theatre's followspot booths. Misleadingly, it read: “I am a no hoper.”

3. Pub's aplenty

Droitwich once had more pubs per head of population than anywhere else in the country - like the 17th century Gardener's Arms
Droitwich once had more pubs per head of population than anywhere else in the country - like the 17th century Gardener's Arms

Droitwich was once Britain’s booziest town. Records from 1906 show that the borough had a greater number of public houses per head of population than anywhere else in the country – one for every 100 inhabitants.

However, townsfolk could clearly handle their beer as convictions for drunkenness were only one per 300 people, lower than elsewhere in the country. Today within Droitwich there is one pub for approximately every 1,600 residents.

4. Edward Winslow

One of America's founding fathers, Edward Winslow, was born in Droitwich
One of America's founding fathers, Edward Winslow, was born in Droitwich

Droitwich-born Edward Winslow was one of the founding fathers of modern America. He was among the leaders on board The Mayflower, a ship that transported the first English Puritans, known today as the Pilgrims, to the New World in 1620.

He served as Governor of Plymouth Colony three times and his son Josiah was the first native born governor of an American colony. More Americans are descended from the Winslow family than any other of the Pilgrim Fathers.

5. Batmobile's flames

Rocket booster's for Michael Keaton's reincarnation of Batman's Batmobile in 1989 were made by Droitwich company, Nu-Way
Rocket booster's for Michael Keaton's reincarnation of Batman's Batmobile in 1989 were made by Droitwich company, Nu-Way

KAPOW! A Droitwich company played a crucial role in the first 1989 big screen reboot of Batman, which starred Michael Keaton. Nu-Way, of Vines Lane, made the rocket boosters for the Batmobile, recreating its famous flames.

Chief designer and engineer Peter Wilkinson took one week to complete the unusual project, then delivered and fitted the boosters to the Caped Crusader’s car at Pinewood Studios.

6. Caulin Court

Caulin Court, in the hamlet of Ladywood, would suit a Premier League star
Caulin Court, in the hamlet of Ladywood, would suit a Premier League star

In 2014, Caulin Court, just yards from the Droitwich Barge Canal, was placed on the market for a cool £9.5 million.

Sitting in 18.7 acres of landscaped gardens and parkland, the Regency-styled modern property has nine bedrooms, 10 bathrooms, a leisure complex, gadgets galore and a separate three-bedroomed cottage.

Oh, and there’s an eight-person lift if you don’t fancy climbing the stairs. The price was later slashed to £6,850,000, perhaps because Droitwich doesn't have a Premier League football team!

7. James Brindley

Renowned 18th century engineer, James Brindley, was the man behind the Droitwich Barge Canal helping to transport salt from the town to the River Severn
Renowned 18th century engineer, James Brindley, was the man behind the Droitwich Barge Canal helping to transport salt from the town to the River Severn

James Brindley, one of the most notable engineers of the 18th century, was the brains behind the seven-mile Droitwich Barge Canal, which linked the town to the River Severn north of Worcester.

The canal, completed in 1771, was conceived as a more reliable way of transporting Droitwich salt to the river and bringing in coal for the factories that produced it.

In total, Brindley built 365 miles of canals, and the Brindleyplace mixed use development in Birmingham is named after him.

8. Ruling the radio airwaves

Giant 700ft BBC transmitter radio masts in Droitwich have helped the town make waves around the country
Giant 700ft BBC transmitter radio masts in Droitwich have helped the town make waves around the country

Radio sets made from 1934 until the 1950s were marked with ‘Droitwich’ on their dials. That’s because the BBC’s most powerful transmitting station was established a couple of miles north in the village of Wychbold.

The masts were also crucial during the Second World War for enabling messages to be relayed to the French Resistance. The 700ft masts are a landmark for drivers on the M5 and, come nightfall, a passing aircraft are warned away by a pair of red lights, dubbed ‘the devil horns of Wychbold’.

9. Salt and subsidence

Shops in the dip of Droitwich's High Street were submerged by floods in 2007
Shops in the dip of Droitwich's High Street were submerged by floods in 2007

In the 18th century, the pumping of brine from beneath Droitwich led to subsidence in some parts of the town. Nowhere is this more evident than in the High Street, which sank in the middle, causing the buildings to lean into each other.

In one pub, The Crooked House, customers would place a ball on a table and watch open-mouthed as it appeared to roll up hill. The tower of a church in the High Street had to be dismantled subsidence had placed it at risk of collapse.

10. Nelly Copson

Nelly Copson gets a hero's welcome on her return to the High Street home
Nelly Copson gets a hero's welcome on her return to the High Street home

In 2000, an 81-year-old Droitwich resident became the oldest woman to be sent to a British jail. Nelly Copson served two days in Brockhill women’s prison, near Redditch, for refusing to pay business rates on the empty shop where her father had worked as a cobbler.

Nelly was born in the property in 1919 and lived there all her life. She died in 2011, but her memory lives on – the property is now a café called Nelly’s Yard. There’s a blue plaque on the wall dedicated to her.

Adrian, 50, who began his journalistic career on the Droitwich Spa Advertiser, had the idea for the website during one of his many lockdown walks around the town in the spring.

WorcestershireLive journalist Adrian Caffery working on his website, Ooh Aah Droitwich Spa, with scores of fascinating facts about the town
WorcestershireLive journalist Adrian Caffery working on his website, Ooh Aah Droitwich Spa, with scores of fascinating facts about the town

He said: “I've been interested in local affairs and local history since I was a kid, and I've always felt that Droitwich had more than its fair share of claims to fame.

“'I've collected 101 tales so far, some which I reported on, but I'm sure there are many more out there waiting to be told and I'd love to hear them.

''The only criteria is that the must make the reader go 'ooh' or 'aah'!''