Places to visit and things of interest in South West England. The South West of England is often seen as England’s holiday destination: Cornwall, Devon and Dorset, with their dramatic cliffs and family-friendly beaches; Bath and the pretty Cotswolds – top destinations for overseas visitors, along with Stonehenge and Salisbury Cathedral. Dorset is home to the Jurassic coast and, in fact, there is a coastal path stretching 630 miles between Dorset and Somerset. Our prehistoric ancestors have left their mark in many places besides Stonehenge, and the region also has more than its fair share of castles, stately homes and world-class museums, including the Tank and Fleet Air Arm Museums and Tate St Ives. There are two national parks – Dartmoor and Exmoor, upland areas consisting almost entirely of dramatic moorland.
The Abbey and Gold Hill are two very good reasons to visit the historic town of Shaftesbury. Another is the views; at something over 700 feet, it is the highest settlement in the county of Dorset. To get to know it a bit, you also need to understand that, whilst most places are happy to […]
Shaftesbury Abbey and Gold Hill Read More »
Bourton-on-the-Water is one of Britain’s honeypot villages. Situated in the Cotswolds, a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty that straddles five counties (Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire, Warwickshire, Wiltshire and Worcestershire), Bourton-on-the-Water’s main claim to fame is that it is a very pretty village surrounded by lots of other very pretty villages. Perhaps ‘honeypot’ is an archaic term
Bourton-on-the-Water, model village Read More »
A Bit About Britain is delighted to welcome author April Munday, as a guest writer introducing us to Fiddleford Manor. Fiddleford Manor, such a great name, is a small manor house in North Dorset. It’s one of those places that you reach via a long lane from the main road that goes on until you’re
South West England has two main draw-backs: it is popular and, as it’s on the west, it can suffer from wetness – particularly at its extremities. Other than that, it has pretty much everything, including mystery, prehistory, history, cuteness, grand vistas, impressive buildings and plenty of things to do. For an introduction, see A Bit
Ten of the best in the west Read More »
We went to see Coleridge’s Cottage because it was there. Apart from driving through Bridgwater it wasn’t a painful experience, though I can’t say it was particularly exciting either. However, it does have what the National Trust accurately describes as “a small, but perfectly formed, tearoom” – and that was splendid. Cakes and tea everywhere,
Coleridge’s Cottage Read More »
I had it in my head to visit the site of the Battle of Sedgemoor. There’s something about battlefields that I find morbidly fascinating. Partly, of course, battles are often nodal points in our story, and they therefore need to be understood in that context. There’s also the struggle of trying to comprehend why organised
Had I led a better life, perhaps spending more time with saints than sinners, maybe I would have heard of St Cyriac before stumbling ignorantly into his church in Lacock. For the benefit of anyone else who has somehow managed to cope thus far without this knowledge – and I’m sure there’s at least one
St Cyriac and the tour party Read More »
For some, Lacock Abbey will always be associated with the invention of photography; for others, it is the Tudor-Gothic-Victorian house that gets the juices flowing; for me, the real pleasure was in wandering through cloisters and gardens. It was September and a stroll beyond the inevitable National Trust shop took us past pastel-shaded cottage-garden style
Through cloisters and gardens – a visit to Lacock Abbey Read More »
This is an appropriate question, since it is rumoured that couples creep up to the Cerne Abbas Giant at night in order to make babies. As the Giant is cut into a hill with a reasonable degree of slope on it, the mechanics of their actions must be somewhat of a challenge; but each to
Is the Cerne Abbas Giant one of Britain’s most loved figures? Read More »
A tiny cottage, close to the Dorset HQ of the Royal Tank Regiment at Bovington Camp, was once owned by one of Britain’s most fascinating and enigmatic figures, T E Lawrence – also known as Lawrence of Arabia. The cottage is called Clouds Hill and it was built in 1808 as a forester’s or labourer’s
Lawrence of Arabia’s bolt-hole Read More »
Christmas in the year 877 did not turn out as Alfred planned. One minute he was celebrating, the next his hall was overrun by screaming, violent, bloody-weaponed, pagan warriors. He escaped with his life and a small band of followers, ending up in hiding in the swamps around Athelney, in Somerset. Today, Athelney is a
Was England born in Athelney? Read More »
The Royal Navy’s Fleet Air Arm Museum is situated, with startling logic, twenty miles or more from the sea. It is a massive place and, if you haven’t already guessed, it tells the story of the Royal Navy in the air: oh, come on – you know what I mean… The museum opened in 1964
A visit to the Royal Navy’s Fleet Air Arm Museum Read More »
The water flows red from a natural spring at the foot of Chalice Hill in Glastonbury. It is said to be infused with, or at the very least represent, the blood of Christ: or maybe it was rusty nails from the Cross; you decide. It was here, at the Chalice Well, so the stories tell,
From the moment we stepped into its kitchen garden, everything about Barrington Court made me want to linger. But don’t visit to savour the great moments that took place at this beguiling Somerset estate, because, so far as I know, none did. Nor should you go to take a peek at the sumptuous interiors and
Barrington Court: bring on the empty mansion Read More »
