A World Heritage Site, as defined by UNESCO (the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization), or an attraction or place within one of Britain’s World Heritage Sites.
There was trouble at St Mary’s Abbey in York. Some of the monks felt that monastic practices had strayed too far from the original values set out by the blessed St Benedict. In 1132, influenced by a band of Cistercians passing through the city, thirteen of St Mary’s monks rebelled. However, Archbishop Thurston sympathised with […]
Fountains in Yorkshire Read More »
Durham’s story is a fascinating piece of the story of England. It is partly a tale of saints and kings and moving bones, and it begins back in the 7th century. The founding of Durham Cathedral Actually, it was mostly Cuthbert’s fault – with some help from the Danes, a lost cow and perhaps a
What’s at the end of the wall? The wall’s end? Walls – solid boundaries designed to keep people in – or out. There are famous walls, like the Berlin Wall, the Great Wall of China, the fantasy Wall in Game of Thrones or even the one that Shirley Valentine talks to (“Hello, wall.”). In the
Segedunum – the end of the Wall Read More »
Edinburgh is a very photogenic city, the kind of place where it might once have been nice to buy a post card for a close friend or relative. People hardly ever send post cards anymore. (This should be said somewhat whimsically.) People hardly ever send post cards anymore; instead, they take a quick picture on
A postcard from Calton Hill Read More »
Lulworth & Durdle sounds like a law firm. Commissioners for oaths; adversarial specialists; rip-off fees; incompetence guaranteed – that sort of thing. I have known at least four firms that should have been called Bungle, Overcharge & Obfuscate. Anyway, close by the Dorset village of West Lulworth on England’s Jurassic south coast is Lulworth Cove.
The Tower of London has been sitting on the north bank of the Thames, watching the tides of a great city ebb and flow, for around a thousand years. The city has grown up around it and it is part of it; it is impossible to imagine London without the Tower. Think of all that
Visit the Tower of London Read More »
You should visit Ironbridge. Advertised as ‘the birthplace of the industrial revolution’ (not technically true), there’s heaps to see – but it’s also very pleasant to simply wander round the attractive town, take in the atmosphere, indulge in a modest amount of retail therapy and have a tasty pork pie from one of the shops
Ironbridge – cradle of industrialisation? Read More »
Burton Bradstock was on the List of Places to See in Dorset. The National Trust guidebook tempted us to visit the beach which, as you may have gathered, is not called Burton Bradstock at all. Burton Bradstock is a ridiculously pretty looking village and the beach, Hive Beach, is a little farther on. Unfortunately, it
Hive Beach at Burton Bradstock Read More »
There’s a kind of benign magic about Avebury; it’s the sort of place where you can have fun communing with your ancestors. Like faded signposts painted in a language we do not understand, the remains they have left behind are scattered across the countryside in these parts. They point to unknown places and alien lives.
