United Kingdom & Ireland Travel Articles

 

Miscellaneous UK and Ireland Travel Basics

England was populated in prehistoric times and many burial tombs, stone circles and hill forts remain. The Roman conquest of Britain started in 43AD during the reign of Emperor Claudius. They built roads, towns and villas in the countryside and the remains of many have been preserved. The medieval history is everywhere, in the castles and historic houses. The industrial revolution also left sites that are interesting to explore today. Designated Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) preserve the countryside and historic villages, National Parks preserve wilderness areas and organizations like the National Trust and English Heritage preserve the historic buildings. There is more to see in England than just London. We hope these...

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South West Totnes, Devon

Built on a hill above the River Dart, Totnes is the lowest bridging point of the River Dart which is tidal up to herer. It is still very much a regional centre with a wide range of independent shops with a focus on fair trade goods, handmade crafts and ethical products alongside quality clothes and seasonal food. Totnes history dates back to the early C10th when King Edward the Elder, son of Alfred the Great, fortified the town with ditch, ramparts and gates, as part of a defensive ring of Saxon Burghs around Devon. The name is Saxon. ‘Tot’ means lookout and ‘Nes’ in a promontory. The site was chosen because it was on an ancient trackway which forded the river at low tide. It was on higher ground surrounded by low lying marshy...

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South West Polperro, Cornwall

Polperro is one of Cornwall’s most popular villages attracting thousands of tourists to it every year. It regularly features in the lists of top villages to visit. Set in a steep sided valley with the River Pol tumbling down to the tiny harbour and houses climbing up the hillside, it seems a step back in time. Many of the streets are narrow, often too narrow for cars, so all visitors have to park at the top of the village and walk. It is very much a tourist hot spot with craft shops, galleries and gift shops along with pubs and cafes. It has long been popular with artists and the Polperro Arts Foundation with its base in the Village Hall, promotes the work of local artists and has displays of their work. The Polperro...

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South West Looe, Cornwall

Looe is an attractive town and fishing port at the mouth of a steep sided valley on the south coast of Cornwall. Buildings climb up the hillside above the river which divides the town into two - West Looe and East Looe. These were originally two completely separate towns with their own parish churches and were linked by a wooden bridge. East Looe now includes the harbour, quayside, main shopping streets, sandy beach and Banjo pier. It always seems to have been the busier and more important settlement. West Looe with the C14th Church of St Nicholas, was always quieter. Hotels and boarding houses were built along the water front and houses climb up the hillside. Looe’s economy has traditionally been based on fishing. In...

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South West Slapton Devon - Slapton Ley, Slapton Sands and the D Day connection...

Slapton Ley is the largest freshwater lake largest natural freshwater lake in south west England and is separated from the sea by a shingle beach running from the cliffs at Strete Gate in the north to the village of Torcross in the south. This carries the A379, the main road from Dartmouth to Kingsbridge. The Ley is a Site of Special Scientific Interest and a nature reserve, and managed by the Field Studies Council who have a field centre in the village. It is made up of two parts - the Higher and Lower Ley. The River Gara feeds into the Higher Ley, which is now mainly reed beds with a few areas of open water. The Lower Ley has reed beds around the edges with woodland, scrub and marshland. Slapton Sands is in fact a shingle beach...

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Cotswolds Evesham, Worcestershire

Evesham is an attractive market town on banks of River Avon and surrounded by the rich fertile Vale of Evesham renowned for its fruit and market gardening. An Abbey (#2) was founded here in the C8th after the Virgin Mary had appeared to a local swineherd called Eof. A town grew up around the abbey in a loop of thes River Avon. It was granted a market in 1055. After the Norman Conquest, the abbey was extended and became the third largest in England. The medieval town had two parish churches, All Saints (#4) and St Lawrence (#3) built within the abbey precinct. Simon de Montford, Earl of Leicester who had gained control of parliament was defeated by Prince Edward ( later Edward I) at the Battle of Evesham in 1265. His remains were...

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Cotswolds Gloucestershire and Warwickshire Steam Railway

A blast from the past with the restoration of part of a GWR main line running through some of the prettiest scenery in England This makes a very enjoyable day out on a 14 mile journey between Cheltenham Race Course to Broadway along part of the busy main line between Cheltenham and Birmingham. Some History In the late C19th the Great Western Railway were considering schemes for building a new route from Birmingham through the Vale of Evesham to Cheltenham. They got parliamentary approval for a line in 1899. By 1906 a 21 mile stretch of double track line was opened between between Cheltenham and Honeybourne, where it linked to the line from Stratford upon Avon to Birmingham. Nine or ten passenger services ran each way. From...

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Cotswolds Bourton on the Water, Gloucestershire

Bourton on the Water, with its bridges across the River Windrush, is regularly voted one of the prettiest villages in England, but does get very busy and overrun with tourists. The area has been inhabited for over 6000 years, and there is an iron age fort on the edge of the village. The town is on the Fosse Way, the Roman Road linking Exeter and Lincoln. The Romans had a settlement west of the present village and it was a strategic crossing point over the River Windrush. The Saxons had a town here and the name is Saxon meaning ‘settlement beside the camp’. They built a wooden church which was later replaced by a stone in the C12th. The economy was based on wool and in the C17th, the river was diverted through the centre of the...

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Cotswolds Cheltenham, Gloucestershire

The most complete Regency town in Britain. Cheltenham is recorded in Domesday and was granted a market charter by Henry III. By the Middle Ages, it was a small market town on the River Chelt, surrounded by fertile agricultural countryside. The Minster Church is one of the few survivors of Medieval Cheltenham. It would be mainly ignored if it had not been for the discovery of its efficacious mineral waters at the start of the C18th Henry Skillicorne recognised the significance of the discovery and the potential to attract visitors to the town. He was responsible for developing the first spa. He built a pump to regulate the flow of water and erected an elaborate well-house complete with a ballroom and upstairs billiard room to...

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Cotswolds Broadway, Worcestershire

Lying in the shadow of the North Cotswold hills, this is a popular tourist destination with a lot of independently owned shops and eateries. It is overlooked by Broadway Tower, a folly built in the late C18th by the Earl of Coventry. The area has been settled since the C9th and is mentioned in Domesday Book. The original settlement was around St Eadburgha’s Church, about a mile south of the present village. The village gradually expanded northwards to its present location, growing and prospering from wool and cloth industry. It was an important stop on the stage coach route between London, Oxford and Worcester. Stage coaches stopped in village to harness extra horses to before climbing the steep Fish Hill out of Broadway. Over 34...

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North East Warkworth, Northumberland - castle, hermitage and church...

Warkworth is an attractive small village of solidly built stone houses in a loop of the River Coquet. At one end of the High Street is the castle, with the church and medieval fortified bridge at the other end. Warworth Castle Built on higher ground above the village, the castle has superb views inland over fertile farmland and woodland to the Cheviot Hills and to the coast at Amble with Coquet Island. The site has been fortified since the C8th and the Normans built a motte and bailey castle here in the C12th. The curtain wall was added in the C13th and the wooden castle replaced by stone in the C14th. It was the ancient seat of the Percy Family, the Earls and Dukes of Northumberland, before they moved to Alnwick Castle. The...

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North East Bamburgh Castle, Northumberland

Bamburgh Castle is one of the iconic images of Northumberland built on top of a crag of the Whin Sill above the North Sea. This is the castle that features in all the tourist literature. The above picture was taken by grandson on a sunny summer day. My pictures were taken on a dull January day - it is amazing the difference the sun makes! The site has been settled since prehistoric times and there are ongoing excavations at the western end of the castle. Flints have been found from the Stone Age, grave goods from the Bronze Age and pottery fragments from the Iron Age. The Anglo Saxons settled here and built a basilica to hold a reliquary containing the arm of St Oswald. The Normans built a castle on the site and it became the...

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North East Dunstanburgh Castle, Northumberland

Dunstanburgh is one of the most dramatic castles in Northumberland built on a jagged outcrop of the whin sill above the North Sea. Its picture regularly features in the tourist literature. There is no road access and you have to walk to the castle. On a fine day this is a superb walk following the Northumberland Coastal footpath above the shore from either Craster or Embelton, with the stark ruins silhouetted against the skyline encouraging you on. The castle was built in the C14th by Thomas, Earl of Lancaster, on the site of an iron age fortification. Thomas was a leader of the faction opposed to Edward II and the castle was a statement of Thomas’s wealth and influence in the north. After Thomas was caught and beheaded, the...

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East of England Cromer, Norfolk

Cromer is an attractive and popular seaside resort on the North Norfolk coast, famous for its pier and crabs. Cromer began to develop as a sea side resort in the early C19th. Hotel de Paris overlooking the pier was originally a summer residence until it was bought in 1830 and opened as a hotel. It has since extended and taken over adjacent buildings. The railway arrived 1877 and Cromer grew rapidly from a small fishing village to a summer resort with pier and large hotels and boarding houses along the front. Many people were sent to Cromer on medical grounds as it was held in high repute for its air, known as 'dry and bracing' which was reputed to help in cases of rheumatism and chest and throat complaints! A...

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East of England Sheringham, Norfolk

Sheringham is a small traditional sea side town on the North Norfolk Coast. with a long sandy beach. A concrete walkway extends for about a mile along the sea front, also serving as a sea wall. The top of the beach is mainly pebbles but with sand lower down. Groynes help prevent long shore drift. At the eastern end of the promenade are a row of brightly coloured beach huts. Sheringham was made up of 2 villages - Upper Sheringham, a farming community and Lower Sheringham, a farming and fishing settlement on the coast. There was no harbour and the boats had to be pulled up onto the beach and launched from there. A few boats still fish from the beach, mainly catching crab and lobsters for the London markets. Sheringham fishermen’s...

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East of England North Norfolk Railway, the Poppy LIne

Some background The North Norfolk Railway is also affectionately known as the Poppy Line. ‘Poppy Land’ used to describe the section of the North Norfolk coast between Sheringham and Mundesley, was the result of a quote by the C19th poet and theatre critic, Clement Scott, “Neath the blue of the sky in the green of the corn, it is here that the regal red poppies are born”. The North Norfolk railway passes through Poppy Land on its journey, hence its alternative name. The line runs for just over five miles through lovely rural countryside and along the coast between Holt and Sheringham. It is a nostalgic step back to the days of steam with beautifully maintained stations, some lovely old steam locomotives and even a heritage diesel...

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East of England Holt, Norfolk

Not only is Holt one of the best surviving Georgian towns in Norfolk, it is also the main shopping centre in North Norfolk with over 200 shops, many independently owned. The chains have yet to reach here and Budgens is the only supermarket to have arrived. The name comes from the Anglo Saxon word for woodland and there is still a lot of woodland in the area. A small settlement grew up on a ridge which was a crossing point for two ancient trackways. In Domesday it is recorded as a market town with five watermills and twelve plough teams with a port at Cley-Next-The-Sea, four miles away. Sir John Gresham who was born in Holt in 1495, became a member of the Royal Household and later Lord Mayor of London. A year before his death in...

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East of England Sandringham House and the Church of St Mary Magdalene, Norfolk

Sandringham House, the royal residence in Norfolk is surrounded by a large estate with four villages and over 400 houses. Much of the estate is still farmed and it has its own sawmill. sandringhamestate.co.uk/about-us/sawmill In 1862 Sandringham Hall with and just under 8,000 acres of land was purchased for £220,000 by Queen Victoria as a country home for her eldest son Prince Albert Edward and his future wife, Alexandra of Denmark. The Queen felt it was time he had a house of his own. His main residence was to be Marlborough House in London but it was felt that he should also have a private house well away from town so he would be ‘able to escape when duty permitted and enjoy the benefits of a healthy country life’. (It would also...

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East of England The Norfolk Broads and a cruise from Horning

The Norfolk Broads is a man made area of flat boggy marsh with rives and small lakes. There are 63 Broads or small lakes linked together by seven rivers that make up the 125 miles of lock free navigable waterways. In the C12th the population of east Norfolk was growing rapidly and the area was the most densely populated in Britain. Timber and fuel supplies were exhausted as much of the woodland areas were cleared and a new source of fuel was needed. Peat supplied this and the area was dug extensively leaving massive holes where peat had been removed. Peat extraction was a prosperous industry and provided fuel for both individual families and manors, with a greater proportion being sold. Digging took place throughout all the east...

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East of England Norwich its cathedral and churches, Norfolk

Norwich claims to be the most complete medieval city in the United Kingdom, retaining cobbled streets, many splendid medieval buildings and over 30 flint churches. The city has a long history. The Romans established a regional capital a few miles from the present city. The Anglo Saxons settled the area from the C5th establishing their capital complete with its own mint here, at the confluence of the rivers Wensum and Yare, in the areas now known as Tombland. The Danes arrived and settled in large numbers in the C9th. At the Norman Conquest, Norwich was one of the largest towns in England. The Domesday Book states that it had approximately 25 churches and a population of between 5,000 and 10,000. The Normans stamped their...

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East of England Wroxham and Hoveton, Norfolk

The two settlements are separated by the the River Bure and are considered to be the capital of the Norfolk Broads. It is the base for many boating holidays, based around moorings on Granary Staithe. The marina is one of the oldest tourist boatyards on the Broads. It still has several boat building and pleasure craft hire yards. It is also the starting point for cruises on the broads. Wroxham Bridge was built in 1619 and replacing an earlier bridge. Not only is it one of the lowest bridges on the Broads it is also one of the most difficult to navigate. A Bridge Pilot is mandatory for hire craft. Both settlements have their own church. St John’s Church in Hoveton with its flint nave and chancel and brick tower is to the east...

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