Towns

Towns, cities – urban areas of interest in Britain – that is England, Scotland and Wales.

Along the seafront at Portsmouth

Portsmouth Dockyard

Portsmouth is my hometown.  When growing up there, a walk along the seafront was a frequent occurrence.  It is still often on the agenda when visiting today, so that’s what this is all about.  There are ships to watch coming and going on the Solent, one of Britain’s busiest and best-known waterways, with the Isle

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Coventry’s Blitz and Cathedral

Coventry Blitz 1940

The skeletal ruins of Coventry’s medieval cathedral of St Michael’s are a stark reminder of the destruction of an old war.  Paradoxically, it and the adjacent new cathedral of which it is a part, serve as emblems of reconciliation and the quest for peace.  The appearance of both buildings was conceived in one night, Thursday

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A walk round Montgomery

Montgomery, Powys

We went to the small town of Montgomery, in Powys, for some much-needed peace and quiet – and found it.  Girdled by lush landscape, the old county market town of Montgomeryshire has a Georgian appearance and is a peach, a place to mentally recharge.  There is little to attract the seeker of brash entertainment, or

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Ten of the best places to visit in North East England

Bamburgh Castle

Frankly, you’ll be spoiled for choice if you’re looking for things to see and do in North East England.  From dramatic, wild coast and countryside, to wildlife, castles, Roman remains, the simple grandeur of Durham and the culture and vibrancy of Newcastle upon Tyne, there is something for everyone.  To start you off, here is

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Ten of the best in the west

Polperro, Cornwall

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

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Walking around Oxford

All Souls Oxford

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,

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St Andrew, patron saint of Scotland

St Andrew, St Andrews, Fife

Scotland’s national saint, St Andrew, has his day on 30th November.  As well as being the patron saint of Scotland, St Andrew is the patron saint of Amalfi, Barbados, Greece, Romania, Russia, the Ukraine, singers, spinsters, would-be mothers, fishmongers and fishermen, gout and sore throats.  According to the Scottish Government’s website, St Andrew’s Day “is

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British Stuff Events Scotland, , , , , ,

St Davids, too much beer and the lost apostrophe

St Davids Cathedral - the largest cathedral in Wales in Britain's smallest city.

The River Alun trickles through the neat Cathedral Close, between the Cathedral Church of St Davids and the majestic ruins of the 14th century Bishop’s Palace.  In this little green valley, tradition says that St David, son of King Sant and St Non (sainthood ran in the family) and Patron Saint of Wales, established a

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