An attraction – normally in the countryside or open-air – that involves, or features, a walk.
Of all the thousands, or millions, of memorials in Britain, there aren’t many one arrogant enough to be known by the definite article. The Monument in London is one and, for the benefit of those bursting to know, it is the monument to London’s Great Fire of 1666. The Great Fire is so much a […]
Sifting through the ashes of the Great Fire Read More »
Brimham Rocks could surprise you, a landscape of fantastically shaped crags and boulders that might look more at home in a theme park. It’s a place you should visit if you can’t afford the ‘bus fare to Arizona, Utah, or anywhere else that has an abundance of weirdly eroded rock formations. Not that Britain doesn’t
Brimham Rocks, bairns and the Bee Gees Read More »
Or it could be the other way round. Son of Britain and I had often considered meandering through Swaledale between the small villages of Keld and Muker. Once, we had even chanced, equipped with boots and all the trimmings, as far as the car park in Keld. But it had been a day when the
Swaledale ‘twixt Muker and Keld Read More »
Who was the third Brontë sister? It’s a good question for quiz night down at the Olde Rupturede Ducke. There was Charlotte and Emily, of course – the authors of Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights respectively. But who wrote The Tenant of Wildfell Hall? Tracy Brontë, perhaps? Or Chelsea? No – if you’re a literary
Our Brontë tour begins in Haworth Read More »
I’ll never forget my first experience of Great Gable. It was during a geography field trip to the English Lakes, I was callow youth of 17 and, up to that point, the landscape opening up all around had belonged on biscuit tin lids and boxes of fudge. Walking up Great Gable was one of the
Missing Great Gable Read More »
Wayland’s Smithy was my next stop on a visit that included Uffington’s White Horse and hillfort. The Smithy is a Neolithic tomb – technically a chambered long barrow, similar to the one at West Kennet – and it is located about a mile and a quarter to the west of the ramparts of Uffington Castle,
The legend of Wayland’s Smithy Read More »
I’d tell you a tale of a battle fought and won, a dragon slain near an old fortress, an ancient trackway and a magical metalworker that flies through the skies and will shoe your horse for a few coins. True, at first glance, what some may dismiss as a few arty scrapings on chalk downs,
Uffington’s White Horse – etc Read More »
The Queen looked west over Loch Tummel and liked it very much. She liked it so much that someone named the view for her. Or, maybe she commanded that it should be so. Sadly, there’s a little uncertainty over which particular queen we’re talking about here, but whoever it was does not alter the fact
A Queen’s View of the Highlands Read More »
There are several reasons to go to the little Northumbrian coastal village of Craster. It is famous for its kippers, offers several pleasant eating options, an art gallery and is a popular base for bird watchers, fishers and walkers alike. Our excuse was to revisit Dunstanburgh Castle, surely one of the most dramatic set of
Craster to Dunstanburgh Read More »
If you went to school in Britain, and paid attention during geography lessons, you probably know all about Malham. Amongst other things, it is famed for its limestone topography. My failure at geography was spectacular, but even I remember pouring over Ordnance Survey maps trying to pick out the characteristic features that the erudite, kindly
The men of the 4th Cohort of Dalmatians were a long way from home. They were undoubtedly cold and Hardknott Fort, which the Romans probably knew as Mediobogdum, must have seemed like the end of the world. Certainly, situated in the mountainous northern region of the most northerly province of Imperial Rome, it was one
The road to Mediobogdum Read More »
When I first saw this heading, I thought to myself, like you probably did, “I don’t think I want to look for Pooh; it sounds as though it could be rather unpleasant.” Then a growly voice from the past said, rather dolefully, “I suppose you mean me? The best bear in all the world. Anyway,
In which we go in search of Pooh, and find A Little Something Read More »
Scotland’s Glen Coe is justifiably well known to walkers, geographers, geologists and nature-lovers as a place of beauty and interest. It also has a rich history of saints and Vikings. Yet, year after year, visitors from all over the world are drawn by a single event, the terrible massacre at Glen Coe that took place
The massacre at Glen Coe Read More »
We tend to see modern towns and villages as permanent things. They may change, but it’s hard to imagine the landscape without them and easy to take it for granted that they will last forever. Yet the world is littered with places that have been lost along the way – abandoned communities, traces of old
