Gardens that can be visited in Britain – on their own or as part of a house, estate, stately home, or castle.
This is the second in our short three-part video series showing a humble English garden during the lockdown of 2020. Not to be taken very seriously – obviously – these videos perfectly illustrate why preparing a script is such good practice; I’ll try to remember to do that next time. But at least you get […]
Somewhere in England – Part 2 Read More »
Most people have been unable to go far during the Coronavirus lockdown in the UK; some have been unable to get out at all. Many of us are lucky to have gardens so, even with the necessary restrictions on movement and travel, we have been able to enjoy fresh air and a certain degree of
Somewhere in England – Part 1 Read More »
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 »
There’s no shortage of things to do and see in Britain. But if you were visiting for the first time, what would you recommend? Here are a few arbitrary suggestions, in no particular order, just to get the ball rolling: Get out of London Many visitors to Britain head straight for London. It is one
Ten things you really should do in Britain Read More »
I’m not easily given to hyperbole; I’ve told you that a million times. But it is genuinely hard to think of a British town that can be quite so achingly beautiful as Oxford. Perhaps I should qualify that by saying that I refer to the few square miles of the city centre where, quite frankly,
Walking around Oxford 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 »
Peter Pan flew away from his nursery and landed beside the Long Water in London’s Kensington Gardens. And there, on the very spot, Scottish author J M Barrie decided to erect a statue to his creation. It has been there since 1912, the boy who would never grow up frozen forever in bronze, surrounded by
Peter Pan in the Park Read More »
Constantly keep your eyes open when wandering round the old City of London. Behind the steel and glass and beneath your feet are about two thousand years of history. Reminders of the past are everywhere – some obvious, others not; and some are real hidden gems. One of the finest of those hidden gems is
Dunstan in the East Read More »
Winston Spencer Churchill (1874-1965) was one of the greatest Englishmen that ever lived, and a brilliant man. Now, before anyone gets all hot and bothered about him being an imperialist, racist, capitalist, aristocrat, enemy of the working-class, opponent of women’s suffrage, self-publicist, reckless adventurer, glutton and all the other dreadful and unfashionable characteristics he may
Churchill’s Chartwell Read More »
According to property website Zoopla, on average, Britons move home every 23 years. This creates a diverting image of millions of us upping sticks and all swapping houses every two decades or so. It also means that the above average among us has moved far more frequently than that and, at the other end of
Tiptoe through the tulips at Constable Burton Read More »
Holker Hall (say ‘Hoaker’ or ‘Hooker’) is one of those places you could easily miss if you didn’t already know about it – which now you do. To those in the know, Holker is a renowned grand estate, house and home; but it is stuck on the fringe of south Cumbria in north-west England, well away from
London’s Bunhill Fields is known as a place for dissenters. Not living ones – though I daresay there are plenty of those too – but dead ones, non-conformist Protestants opposed to the practices of the established Church of England, who were able to be laid to rest here without having the form of service prescribed
The bodies at Bunhill Read More »
Yorkshire’s Castle Howard has no dastardly legends to keep you awake at night; there is no obvious sign of blood seeping out of its mellow stonework. It sits, in innocent splendour, a stately home in English Baroque and Palladian style, created for the vanity of its owners, a palatial celebrity famous for – well, being
A day at Castle Howard Read More »
You don’t need great plants to have an attractive garden. But having lovely views, a romantic ruin and, in the first place, loads of money, helps no end. Fortunately, Nymans has benefited from all three of the latter. To be fair, it probably has some great plants too; however, my knowledge of horticulture is only
