Well, as Bokonon said, “Peculiar travel suggestions are dancing lessons from God”. So as a result of the usual mix of misconceptions and coincidences, we’ve got the house-sitter to stay in the house when we’re gone, and the ladies and I are going to England. The ladies, in this case, are my gorgeous ex-fiancée and our daughter, she’s 21. They’ve been to England before, but I’ve always travelled in the third world, never made it to the land of my ancestors, or at least some of them.
In any case, here’s the current travel plan, subject as always to time, as in “time yet for a hundred indecisions. And for a hundred visions and revisions. Before the taking of a toast and tea.”
We arrive in London on Monday the second of September, and we’ll be there for four days, ’til Thursday. Then a week or so to drive up the west coast of the island, and another week or so to go across and drive down the east coast.
Anyhow, that’s the scheme. If you happen to live along that route and wanted to say hi, post your town and where it’s near, maybe a few words about yourself. If we happen to go by there, all I can say is we MAY get in touch … or not. Heck, once I get to London, I may never make it out of the city much, who knows? I just attempt to follow the dancing lessons, but it’s generally not as simple as when you have the dance steps painted on the floor …
Best to all,
w.
As you are visiting outside of term-time you will be welcomed wherever you go and could probably just lodge where you like, when you like.
You are going to be busy but, if I may be so bold….
Visit Lands End if you must 😉 and Tintagel. Then skip the rest of the English southwest coast (let brimstone rain down on me for suggesting that) in lieu of a visit to Wiltshire and Somerset – spend the day at ‘The Stones’ and Avebury before meeting up with myself, Ulric Lyons, Lucy Skywalker and anyone else who so wishes for a stroll up Glastonbury Tor for a sunset picnic. This would provide an experience of neolithic Britain and the Isle of Avalon, your company many opportunities to gasp at the scenery, and allow Ulric time to astonish by revealing his discoveries (in depth, inside 10 minutes) while we quaff and scoff at one of our country’s greatest natural vantage points.
My biases are showing, yet I believe your family would be enriched and we could return a little for the experience of ‘knowing’ you.
Wells would be a great place to spend the night and in the morning you could skip the southern Welsh seaboard (here’s that brimstone again) and continue your bliss by driving to, and dropping in and out of the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park before continuing up St George’s Channel toward ‘the English’ once more.
Disclaimer:I spent nearly 10 years in marine salvage. Our area of interest stretched from Kyle of Lochalsh to Plymouth. I don’t dislike (far from it) the Cornish, Devonian or Somerset coast or the industrial parts of Wales. It’s just that someone pushed for time could do smarter ‘joined up tourism’ IMHO. Just sayin’.
Let the firestorm commence …
Stonehenge followed by nearby Salisbury Cathedral sounds awesome – and then you could go to Gloucester Cathedral (next day) – because it is a really lovely or Wells (in the West country) which I have not been inside of. Salisbury to Stratford and Warwick would be an easy drive – where the wood timbered houses are exquisite and absolutely English – If you were in Stratford the Royal Shakespeare Company is really worth seeing (In London they perform at the Barbican, but there is the Globe in London which would be a more interesting Shakespeare experience. Also in London the National Theatre is the place to go for threatre)
In London – it must be the British Museum (Greek Sculpture, Biggest Egyptian and Assyrian collection in Europe), Tower of London (Crown jewels and armory) , Hampton Court with gardens and Michaelangelo’s drawings) but (Kenwood House if you want somewhere less crowded). The London Parks are very special places, with St James being the most central and prettiest (St James is between Trafalgar Sq (National Gallery) , Westminster and Buck Palace (the Queens Collection -she has the biggest collection of Michelangelo drawings – but they are often displayed at Hampton Court). I love St Pauls cathedral, must be one of the very great buildings of the world. As a seaman you would love Greenwich and the Royal Observatory.
On your travels get a National trust guide – this organization looks after many of he thistoric houses which are all over the country. They are almost always very well looked after with guided tours that are almost always fascinating.
I think you will find friends wanting to look after you where ever you go, but if at a loose end book bed and breakfasts by an organization called Wolsey Lodge – they are always very special places run by people with nice houses – you will get far better service than any hotel with private dinners with English silverware on the table – cheaper too.
Driving in the UK—we drive on the correct side of the road, the left ie the side from which you mount and dismount a horse.
Rotaries are ROUNDABOUTS since they do not rotate you do.
Do NOT turn left at a red light to feed into cross traffic. This move, legal in the States, is illegal here UNLESS the traffic lights tell you to do so with a green filter arrow.
All the best. If you have any interest in mining then Cornwall is the place, way down in the SW.
I should have mentioned Bath (Roman remains and Georgian Architecture) as the ideal stop after Salisbury
Another option would be to do London for a few days then take a cheap flight to Italy – because that country is simply swamped with beautiful places, culture and food. Everyone must visit Italy
Welcome to England, the Family Eschenbach! Can I tempt you to a stopover in the fair City of Bath? As bait, I own one of the most traditional pubs in the UK, as recognized by CAMRA who have it on their National Register of Historic Pubs. We sell only locally brewed beers, simple food and have no Muzac, no machines, no screens in the building; the only entertainment is the richly diverse clientèle and it would be an honour to add you to that august gathering.
Another advantage is that it is bang in the middle of this lovely City!
Bletchley Park and Milton Keynes.
The Tower of London.
Winchester Cathedral
Winchester Castle
As much of Wales as you can work in.
(I’m mot sure about the names of the castle and the cathedral–I’m sure they both start with “W”.)
I endorse and repeat the various suggestions of visiting the West Country. If you head west, don’t use the M4 which is just a bog-standard boring motorway. If you do, you’ll miss all the good bits of the fabulous county of Wiltshire – Stonehenge, Avebury, Silbury Hill, Marlborough etc. – and, instead see Swindon. I recommend using other roads such as the A4, A361 etc. If you happen to pass a signpost for the village of Chilton Foliat, just outside Hungerford, come along to The Wheatsheaf to sample Old Rosie. Btw, that is a cider and not an elderly resident ;-).
If you do visit HMS Belfast while you’re in London, I have an interesting piece of trivia for you. The guns in the forward facing turrets are said to be aimed at Scratchwood Services, the first service station on the M1 heading north out of London.
Enjoy your trip.
If you’re going to Edinburgh, you’ll have to pass through the Borders, one of the most beautiful and least known areas of Scotland – everyone goes straight through on the way to Edinburgh ….
The 4 Borders abbeys are worth a visit; Dryburgh is my personal favourite and the spectacular (Sir Walter) Scott’s View is very close to it. His house at Abbotsford is only a few miles off and full of history and collected memorabilia, especially of Bonnie Prince Charlie. Nice gardens too. My local abbey is Melrose, which is beautifully built in red sandstone, and has a unique bagpipe-playing pig gargoyle. Robert the Bruce’s heart is buried there. The English burned it down a couple of times but there’s still plenty left 🙂
Bugger! I won’t be back in Dorset until December but if you ever hit Greece let me know.
Pick and choose, Willis. Don’t make your ladies crazy by trying to see everything. Happy Trails 🙂
Well, if you get stuck for a couple of nights accommodation anywhere near Milford Haven, Pembrokeshire, Wales, you would be most welcome. Milford Haven history owes much to the whalers of Nantucket Island, Massachusetts. My house overlooks the harbour and I built it on what was left of the quarry which provided the stone to build the original harbour. Beautiful countryside in Pembrokeshire. We are as far west as Truro in Cornwall so much driving which is a pain.
Looking forward to reading about your adventures during your visit to this Island in due course.
As everybody is mentioning interesting buildings, I’d recommend visiting the one that is voted year after year as England’s favourite – Durham Cathedral. I spent four years at the University in Durham and my most poignant memories are my visits to the Cathedral – it is unaccountably, staggeringly beautiful. To my mind it’s more impressive even than the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul (and it’s free to visit)
And in September Durham is quiet and free from the hordes of students. An afternoon walking by (or rowing on) the river – passing under the gaze of the 900 year old castle – is one you’ll never forget.
On the topic of driving, the little yellow boxes on stalks that flash at you from the side of the road are speed cameras. Ignore them – you’ll be back stateside long before the summons arrives! 😉
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Durham_Millburngate_Bridge.jpg
I’m English, so please take some words of advice:
GET OUT OF LONDON AS SOON AS POSSIBLE – it is NOT indicative of England.
Try the Cotswolds, Devon, Cornwall, etc.
Richard 111 we are nearish Neighbours – Narberth – everyone knows everyone knows everyone in Pembs – what is your real name? Someone local who read WUWT – my email is julianathisprivatemaildotcom
milodonharlani says:
…The Bear in Oxford may be the oldest bar in the world, in business since 1242….
According to the Guiness Book of Records, Ye Olde Fighting Cocks on Abbey Mill Lane in St Albans (just north of London) is recorded as being an 11th century structure on an 8th century site. So the monks have been drinking there since the 700s. They had problems with redevelopment in those days too…
Pokey little place (people were smaller and fewer in those days), but the town is well worth a visit. You will find that many English towns (leaving apart the major cities) grew from market centres serving the local villages during the Middle Ages, so they will all have a ‘market-place’ somewhere, usually in the oldest part. Then there was a big influx to the towns during the Enclosures in the 1700 and 1800s, often centred on the new railway station built in the early part of the Industrial Revolution. So most towns will also have a ‘Station Road’ and a Victorian station building with hundreds of terraced cottages. Those two items are usually key to understanding the development of most English towns.
An unusual town in the West Country is Devizes, which never had a railway station. I haven’t been there for some time, but when I went there last it still had Elizabethan housing, since the railway revolution passed it by. The town is built around Wadworth’s brewery…. try the 6X….
Julian, check your mail. 🙂
Henry Galt:
I am at a loss to understand your suggesting
Lands End is merely a theme park about 5 miles from the most westerly point of the British mainland (i.e. Cape Cornwall) is near to the the most southerly point (i.e. the Lizard Point). All three have similar Atlantic coastline and Lands End is visible from Cape Cornwall.
Tintagel is a ruin which is only of interest to people interested in Arthurian legends. Several better castles exist – I notice that the much better Warwick Castle was commended to Willis – and Pendenis Castle here in Falmouth is a much better day out in Cornwall than Tintagel.
Richard
Poole in Dorset is a lovely place that a man like you (and your ladies) would appreciate
Driving on the ‘wrong’ side is genuinely dangerous, especially when in jet lag. Around Mildenhall US Air Base there are quite often tragic accidents which new servicepeople get into because their instincts are the other way.
Tell whoever is driving with you to watch carefully. And be very aware at entering or turning into divided highways. Well, rght or left turns, and entering new roads in general whether divided or not.
I have had two experiences along these lines. In one of them a US driver entered a divided highway from a single lane road at a T junction. I was a passenger. He carefully went across the divider and started to turn left – going the wrong way! We shouted in time, there was a traffic light anyway, and it was OK. Alone he would have ended up driving straight into oncoming traffic.
The other happened to me. I was about to turn into a divided highway and after looking carefully the wrong way, saw that it was completely clear, but by the Grace of God for some reason glanced in the other direction and saw a wall of cars bearing down at 50 miles an hour no more than 50 yards away.
You need constant vigilance, because your reflexes are all wrong. And never drive on the wrong side when tired.
Richard – if I had experience of John ‘O Groats I would suggest that also to an American abroad. For the bragging rights.
I have visited almost every castle in southern England, and many in Wales, over the last 40 odd years as my sons, young and old, cannot pass one by 😉
Tintagel is in my top 5. Atmosphere alone would put it in my top 3. Corfe is a ruin as well, as is Old Wardour, but the imagination sends chills if picturing an attack at any of them.
Warwick is simply amazing, granted, but remote ruined fortification holds a fascination for me. Not everyone’s cup of nettle soup, I grant.
Willis, you might want to cross the Channel (by ferry or through the Eurotunnel) to visit the old “Askoy II”.
Judging from this picture http://www.askoyii.be/index.htm , I would say it’s in [the] NSW shipyard in Hemiksem (Antwerp) now, in an advanced stage of [restoration].
[It it were under full restauration, then the ship would not need its next lunch date from the shipyard. Mod].
The George Inn, Norton St Philip, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_George_Inn,_Norton_St_Philip is well worth stopping at near Bath. The open courtyard with balcony would have been old in Shakespeare’s time and the sort of place a travelling band of actors would have performed in.
And Devizes is lovely, but it did have a railway at the bottom of the hill, leaving the main town unscarred.
Willis,
I’ve visited England several times on business and for educational purposes.
My recommendation is each day get to where you are planning to spend the night by late afternoon then spend significant time in old pubs listening and chatting with locals. Amazing times with wonderful people to be had in that.
John
Welcome to the British Isles.
Don’t try to see everything – you can’t in the time.
While the ladies are shopping at Harrods in London, go to the Science Museum and the Natural History Museum in Kensington. That’s the only way you will want them to shop for a little longer.
Do spend three hours in one of the ancient cathedrals – Durham is my favourite (look for the burial place of the Venerable Bede), but Ely or Salisbury or Bath or ….. lots of others are good too. If you get there for Evensong, the experience might stay with you for a long time.
And try to see some victorian technology – railway viaducts are two a penny, but the Anderton boat lift or Ironbridge or the Menai straits bridge are deeply impressive.