Darren Manning on his hometown:

“I grew up in Knaresborough, England which is a beautiful old market town on the River Nidd in North Yorkshire, about 3 hours north of London.  It has a big castle (and no, not every town in England has a castle) on a steep hill that overlooks the town of 15,000. There are lots of picturesque old bridges in the town which dates back to the time of William the Conqueror (1066 A.D.).

Mother Shipton’s Cave--England’s oldest tourist attraction-- is where the witch Mother Shipton was born in the 15th century. Her Petrifying Well and Dripping Cave is a great attraction—people put their toys or other things in it and they turn to stone. It has to do with the high mineral content (lime) in the water but back in the 1400’s, people thought it was witchcraft.

As a kid I would spend a lot of time on the river, boating and swimming. Now when I go back, I spend time with my family. Loving golf as I do, I play it with my dad and uncles at Flaxby Park or Rudding Park. I’ll drop into a pub now and then for a pint of beer—I don’t have a favorite. Knaresborough has about 50 pubs and I’ve probably had a pint in all of them at one time or another. 

Before moving to Silverstone at 17 to work on my racing career, I went to Castle Primary and King James Comprehensive School (when I wasn’t working on my go-kart). The way we learned to spell our town was using this mnemonic: Kings Not Always Read Easy Story Books Or Ride Old Ugly Green Horses. I guess it worked because that’s about all I remember from my school days.”