Last Updated on 30th March 2019HMS Queen Elizabeth is the largest warship the Royal Navy has ever had, to be joined in due course by HMS Prince of Wales, and their home port is HM Naval Base Portsmouth, on England’s…
Queen Victoria’s Osborne House
Last Updated on 28th September 2017Royal Osborne House is unlike most palaces and stately homes you will ever visit. There is no lengthy history, no convoluted ownership; Osborne House was the creation of Queen Victoria and her beloved husband the…
Buckler’s Hard
Last Updated on 18th September 2017They used to build big ships on the New Forest’s tranquil, pretty, Beaulieu River. Men of war that formed part of the Royal Navy’s wooden walls, when Britannia ruled the waves: vessels 150 feet, or…
Aslan and Gandalf go for a pint
How often do you walk into a pub mentally dwelling on things like wizards and talking lions? Be honest now. If you need help with this, try stepping over the threshold of Oxford’s Eagle and Child, because it was a…
The folly of Fort Nelson
Last Updated on 21st July 2017To the north of Portsmouth, on England’s south coast, is Portsdown Hill, a long chalk elevation that dominates the city and harbour 400 feet below. And on the top of Portsdown Hill, the Victorians placed…
Tracking down Britain’s secret SOE
Last Updated on 30th May 2018The tiny village of Arisaig, nestling on an inlet along the beautiful Morar peninsula, has a wonderful little museum. The Land, Sea and Islands Visitor Centre tells visitors all about the local flora and fauna…
John F Kennedy memorial
Last Updated on 7th December 2018You will find Britain’s memorial to JFK at Runnymede, an area of meadow land on the banks of the River Thames in the county of Surrey. The 35th President of the United States of America was…
Runnymede and Magna Carta
It is said that Magna Carta, an agreement which is more than 800 years old, helped lay the foundation for our modern freedoms and liberal democracy. The tour ‘bus pulls up with a hiss of brakes next to a nondescript,…
Visiting Alice de la Pole and St Mary’s, Ewelme
I was looking for Geoffrey Chaucer’s Granddaughter – as you do. In the process, I discovered a unique church and the last resting place of Jerome K Jerome. Let’s start with Chaucer’s granddaughter, Alice de la Pole. Alice was quite…
Ightham Mote, medieval, Tudor and American
Tucked neatly away in the Weald of Kent is a little dream medieval moated manor house called Ightham Mote. It is closer to the hamlet of Ivy Hatch than to the village of Ightham. Before we go any further, let’s…
Balliol College
Last Updated on 30th July 2019Peeking past the porter’s lodge is looking through a window into another world; a world of privilege, beauty, tradition, history and at least a thousand stories. Here is a bit about Balliol College, one of…
Chiddingstone’s Chiding Stone
You’ll find a curious thing at the end of a little path beside the school in the Kent village of Chiddingstone. It’s a great lump of sandstone, formed about 135 million years ago when this part of the world was…