Idsworth Chapel, the little church of St Hubert, patron saint of hunters, stands alone in the fields of Old Idsworth. Some know it as the little church in the field. It is said to date from 1053 and to have been built by Earl Godwin, father of King Harold who was beaten by William at
The Helix is a large community park between Falkirk and Grangemouth, bisected by the Forth and Clyde Canal, formed from regenerated land and including a lake, wetlands, associated wildlife, walking and cycle paths, cafes and a visitor centre. But its most famous feature is the Kelpies, two massive steel sculptures of horses heads, inspired by
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Eliseg’s Pillar is the broken shaft of a 9th century inscribed stone that was probably originally topped with a cross. It gives the valley and nearby Valle Crucis Abbey their names. The stone was erected by Cyngen, prince of Powys, in memory of his great-grandfather, Eliseg. Illegible now, Eliseg’s Pillar once documented the family tree
Shaftesbury’s Gold Hill is a magnet for visitors and one of the most famous and photographed streets in Britain. It appears in countless guides and is generally believed to have been launched on an unsuspecting universe via a 1973 television advert for Hovis bread. The advertisement was an early directing endeavour by Ridley Scott before
Mitchell’s Fold Stone Circle is just inside the English border with Wales, a 3,000-year-old relic of the Bronze Age, constructed of dolerite stones from Stapeley Hill nearby. There are 15 stones arranged in a rough circle, with a couple more prominent than others. It is thought there were once 30 stones, that the tallest had
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The church of St Dunstan in the East is essentially an atmospheric garden inside the ruins of a medieval-Baroque church destroyed during the Blitz. The church dates from 1100 and was part of the community for some 800 years. It was severely damaged in the Great Fire of 1666 and repaired, with a new tower
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Ingleborough is one of the Yorkshire Dale’s Three Peaks (the others being Whernside and Pen-y-Ghent) and the second highest at 2,372 feet (732 metres). There are good paths to the top from most directions, the most popular being from Horton in Ribblesdale, Ribblehead, Ingleton and Clapham. Ingleton and Clapham offer good parking and a selection
The Norfolk village of Weeting was originally divided into two parishes, All Saints and St Mary’s. In about 1699, the tower of one church collapsed and the parishes were united. It is generally assumed that it was St Mary’s that survived – and that is certainly the dedication of Weeting’s church today – but it
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Cannock Chase German Military Cemetery contains almost 5,000 German and Austrian graves. Following an agreement between the UK and what was then the Federal Republic of Germany in 1959, the German War Graves Commission (Volksbund Deutsche Kriegsgraberfursorge) made arrangements to transfer the graves of German servicemen and civilians who had died in Britain during World
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Mwnt is a stretch of coastline, a beach in a secluded sandy bay, a hill, a church. A few miles north of Cardigan on the Wales Coast Path, Mwnt is a sheltered cove, popular with families and one of the best places in Ceredigion to spot dolphins, porpoises and seals. There are easy steps to
The small village of Harby in Nottinghamshire is just a few miles west of the City of Lincoln. Harby’s main claim to fame is that it was where Eleanor of Castille, wife of King Edward I of England, died on 28 November 1290, aged 49. There is little to see. It is thought she had
The site of Hardknott Roman Fort (Mediobogdum) is one of the most spectacular in England. The fort was built in the 2nd century AD, probably by men of the 4th Cohort of Dalmatia, to protect the trade route across the fells to/from the vital port of Ravenglass (Glennaventa). The ruins, which consist of well-marked layouts
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