Mayor of Didcot, 'the most normal town in Britain,' says it's an honour
Welcome to Didcot, population 25,140, home to a shuttered power plant, birthplace of the watercress retail market and, apparently, "the most normal town in England."
According to a study by ASI Data Science, Didcot comes closest to the statistical median for age, ethnicity, marital status, property ownership, employment, Euroskepticism, the 2015 Election vote share, income, and house prices, the BBC reports.
"It's a strange thing. I've never thought of Didcot as being a particularly normal place, but then I guess no one really does when you live in a place," Mayor Steve Connel, a seemingly normal individual, told As It Happens host Carol Off.
"For me, normal is not something that is necessarily tangible. You can't really touch or smell or feel normal. It's just whatever. People only really notice difference."
Still, Connel said he's proud of the designation.
"For me, it's an honour. We are such a caring community, that if we're considered normal, then Britain's in such a good shape," he said.
Located in Oxfordshire County, Didcot is best known for its railway museum and coal-fire power plant, which was shuttered in 2013.
The Didcot Railway Centre has been featured in a number of Hollywood films, including Anna Karenina, The Elephant Man and Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows.
One of our superb team of volunteers is "up on the roof" today affording a fantastic rarely seen angle of the centre. <a href="https://t.co/3kkF6pwsLZ">pic.twitter.com/3kkF6pwsLZ</a>
—@DidcotRailwayC'I guess we're normal now'
The town is surrounded by farmland, and serves as a gateway to nearby communities known for their scientific research centres.
The"Notable people" section of Didcot's Wikipedia page highlights William Bradbery, "the first person to cultivate watercress commercially in the early 19th century."
A mix of blue collar workers, young professionals and commuting scientists help Didcot achieve the median on a number of statistical fronts, Connel said.
He says the locals are getting a kick out of their newfound fame.
"The general conversation is people are looking at their family members and saying, 'So I guess we're normal now,' Connel said. "People are talking to their friends and and laughing about it."
