Extraordinary Villages

England and Wales are brimming with them. Not the traditional honeypots we've all seen before, but extraordinary places with bizarre tales to tell.

Like Twenty in Lincolnshire, named after the lengths of railway track separating it from the next halt down the line. It's so remote, locals put up a sign "Twinned with the moon — no atmosphere." Now even the trains have gone.

Like Purton in Gloucestershire, split in half by the mighty river Severn. It's a 25-mile round trip from one side of the...