United Kingdom & Ireland Travel Articles

During the Second World War, the Channel Islands were occupied by German Forces and were one of the most heavily fortified parts of Europe. As part of the Atlantic wall, a series of defensive concrete bunkers, gun placements and observation towers were built around the coast. One of the best places to see these is at Pleinmont Point at the south east tip of Guernsey, where much of the Batterie Dollman Command Post still survives. One of the observation towers still survives at the headland. These were built at the highest points and were fitted with range finding equipment and radar above. The information on range and direction was sent to the command post. As well as the operationbs room, this also had accommodation for the crews...

Grande Havre Bay and Rousse Tower Grande Havre bay is a large sandy bay on the north east coast of Guernsey. It marks the place that once separated Guernsey into two islands - the small flat area of Vale from the rest of Guernsey. In 1804, the then Lieutenant Governor dammed and drained the waterway, linking the two. Money raised from selling the reclaimed land was used to build military roads linking up the loophole towers and headland forts. The top part of the road to St Peter Port is still called La Route Militaire. Guernsey has one of the largest tidal ranges in the world. At high tide, there is just a small fringe of sand but the tide goes out exposing a huge area of sand stranded boats and small rocks. Overlooking the...

Castle Cornet stands on a former tidal island guarding the entrance to St Peter Port Originally only accessible on foot at low tide, in the mid C19th it became part of the harbour breakwater and reached by bridge. When William, Duke of Normandy became King of England in 1066, the Channel Islands became possessions of the English Crown. In 1204, King John lost control of Normandy to the French. The Channel Islands elected to stay as self governing islands under the protection of the English crown. Being very close to the French Coast, there was a need to protect themselves against French attack. St Peter Port was a busy trading harbour and subject to French attack and a fortification was needed to guard the harbour. Castle Cornet...

A popular C19th Spa and still a fashionable town with some splendid architecture Although the benefits of the 'taking the waters' have been known since Roman times, and their use was well recorded by the C15th, Leamington was a small village until the end of the C18th with just a few cottages clustered around the church. The first mineral spring was discovered on land owned by the Earl of Aylesbury in 1804. A few years later a second spring was discovered by William Abbotts and Benjamin Satchwell, who exploited this by building a bath house above the spring, following the success of other popular spa towns like Bath and Harrogate. By 1808 there were another five springs with bath houses Numbers of visitors increased as people...

The present Church of St Mary is on the site of the Cistercian Abbey of St Mary and All Saints’ in Aberconwy, which founded in 1109 by Llywelyn ap Iorwerth, Llywelyn the Great and Prince of Gwynedd. It was the principal religious centre of the area and many of the Princes of Gwynedd were buried here. Its Abbots were key political figures in the power struggles with England. After the crushing defeat by Edward I in 1282 and death of Llywelyn ap Iorwerth, Edward chose to exert his authority by building a castle and walled town on the site of the abbey, which was associated with Welsh pride and independence. The monks were forced to move to Maenan, further up the Conwy Valley near Llanrwst, taking the body of Llywelyn ap Iorwerth...

Plas Mawr in the centre of the walled town of Conwy, is almost unchanged since the C16th and is possibly the best preserved and Elizabethan Town House in Britain. Robert Wynn was the third son of a moderately wealth local family. He entered the service of Sir Walter Stoner, who was lieutenant of the Tower of London, and later joined the household of Sir Philip Hoby, who carried out various diplomatic missions on behalf of the crown and later was part of the court of Charles V, the Holy Roman Emperor. Wynn accompanied him and amassed a large fortune through his business interests. At the age of 50 he married Dorothy Griffith and bought land in Conwy to build a house to impress and befitting of his status and standing. The house...

Betws y Coed is a popular inland holiday resort on A5, where three rivers, the Llugwy, the Lledr and the Machno, join the River Conwy. It is one of the main villages within Snowdonia National Park and also part of the Gwydir Forest Park. It is a popular centre for all outdoor sports. Its name translates as prayer house in the woods and the Church of St Michael was the site of a C6th Celtic monastery. Lead was mined in the area in the Middle Ages. Pont y Pair pack horse bridge across Afon Llugwy was built in 1468 in what was then, a remote area. The name means ‘bridge of the cauldron’ after the waterfalls and rapids flowing beneath. After the Acts of Union 1800, between Ireland and the UK, there was a need for better...

Once common across the Northern and Western Isles, these were used to grind corn from Viking Times to the beginning of the C20th. Water from a local stream was diverted through the mill building, turning a set of wooden paddles connected to the millstone above. The mills might be owned by an individual or shared by several families. They were in use until replaced by larger more centrally placed mills. The remains of the small mills can still be found scattered across the landscape. They are horizontal mills as the water wheels are set horizontally rather than vertically. They are often called either Norse Mills or Click Mills from the sound made by the rotating millstone knocking a stick which ensured an even flow of grain from the...

Brochs were built as tall defensive structures in the Iron Age from 2 about 300BC -1000AD and are mainly found in the north of Scotland and the off shore islands. They were constructed with two concentric, dry-stone walls around a circular courtyard. The inner gap between the stone walls had steps leading to the roof as well as small rooms and storage areas off. Little is actually known why brochs were built. They may have been status symbols of an important warrior chief. Alternatively they could have been used as a safe refuge in times of trouble for the community and their livestock. Now most exist as a small round circle of stones - the rest having been removed for building materials . Culswick Broch Burraland Broch sits...

Jarlshof at the southernmost tip of Mainland Shetland is possibly one of the most significant archaeological sites in Britain, having been in continuous settlement from the late stone age to the C16th. The site was well chosen, overlooking the sheltered waters of West Voe with their sandy beaches suitable for launching boat for fishing or trading. It was surrounded by flat fertile land suitable for animals or growing crops. There was also a plentiful, supply of fresh water. The site has been in almost constant use for four thousand years; with later developments being built upon and around the older structures. There are late Neolithic houses, a Bronze Age village, an Iron Age broch and wheelhouse, a large Norse house, a medieval...

The series of hills running along the spine of the Llyn peninsula at the tip of north Wales are all topped by Iron Age hill forts. The most impressive is Tre’r Ceiri which overlooks the village Trevor and all the way along the coast to Anglesey. At 450m above sea level this is overshadowed by the even more impressive Yr Eifl and one of the best aerial views of Tre’r Ceiri is from its summit. The hill fort can be reached from a signed but steep footpath from a small lay by on the B4417 or from parking in the car park above Nant Gwrtheyrn and walking across the hillside. The hill fort dates from around 200BC although was probably at its height between 150-400AD and may have houses around 400 people. It was abandoned around 500AD...

The Vikings may only have controlled the Isle of Man for four hundred years but they brought their system of government which is still used today. The Vikings settled the island from the C9th and brought their system of government with them. Known as Tynwald, this is the oldest parliament in the World. The word is Norse and means ‘assembly field’. Meetings were originally held in the open air to discuss matters affecting the community. Several small Tynwald sites can still be found around the island. These were small raised mounds were the chieftain and local population would meet to discuss matters affecting the community and administer justice. The site at Killabane just north of St Luke’s Church in the east Baldwin valley was last...

For those wanting to explore on foot, the Isle of Man has a range of good walking from long distance footpaths like Raad ny Foillan (the coastal footpath or Road of the Gull), Millennium Way, Bayr Ny Skeddan (the Herring Route), and the Heritage Trail along the now long closed Douglas to Peel Railway. A google search of “Walks Isle of Man” produces lots of websites with different ideas for walks of varying lengths and degrees of difficulty. Two good sites are https://walksisleofman.com/walks and https://www.islandescapes.im/blog/holiday-makers/5-of-the-best-isle-of-man-short-walks The different glens around the island are freely accessible and provide a wide range of good short walks. Many of the forestry plantations across the...

The Isle of Man has been settled since the stone age and probably has the most artefacts for its area than anywhere else in Britain. Perhaps the most significant site is Chapel Hill at Balladoole in the south of the island, where there is evidence of Mesolithic settlement middens containing shells and animal bones, the remains of a Bronze Age grave, an early Celtic fort, a Viking ship burial and a keeil. St Patrick’s Isle in Peel has been both a religious site and a fortress during its long history. Irish monks arrived here around 500AD and founded a monastery. Many of the archaeological sites across the island are are easily visited. Artefacts are displayed in the Manx Museum in Douglas and this is the place to find out about the...

Crosses in the Isle of Man Christianity arrived early on the Isle of Man with the arrival of Irish missionaries known as “Culdees” who first arrived around AD447. They began converting the Manx population and built tiny chapels known as Keeils, across the Island. These were very simple stone buildings with a thatched roof and surrounded by a turf or stone wall. They were used to shelter the monks rather than to hold a congregation and there was often a preaching altar outside where the monk could be seen and heard by the congregation. They baptised Christians in holy wells like St Maughold’s Well on Maughold Head and buried them with graves marked by a simple stone cross, either laid flat on top of the grave, or upright at the...

For centuries the border between England and Scotland was known as the 'Debatable Lands". As well as bloody battles between the English and the Scots, this was a lawless area with perpetual feuds between the major border families. It was a bit of a ‘no’go’ area with Cattle rustling, feuding, murder, arson and pillaging were all common occurrences. It was a time when people owed their tribal or clan loyalty to their blood relatives or families. And it was common for these families to straddle the Border. The Border area was poor farmland, suitable only for grazing where raiding or reiving was seen as an acceptable way of life. Raids were planned like military operations and could involve gangs of armed men and last for days. More...

A small ruined castle on Hadrian’s Wall Built on the line of Hadrian’s Wall, there isn’t a lot left of Thirlwall castle, just a few walls above the Tipalt Burn. This was the 'Debatable Lands' and the area suffered hundreds of year of in fighting between the English and the Scots. A simple motte and bailey castle was built here in the C12th. This was replaced by a fortified stone L shaped hall house in the C14th using stones plundered from nearby Hadrian’s Wall. There were regular skirmishes between the powerful border families and the raiding (reiving) of cattle by both sides was common, particularly in the winter months. After the Union of the Crowns in 1603, when James Vi of Scotland became James I of England after the death of...

Huntly is a very nice Scottish Town which has has maintained a range of small family owned shops. The dark grey stone houses are neat and well cared for. Dean’s Shortbread have their factory in the centre of the town with a viewing platform, good shop and excellent cafe. The castle is to the north of the town, surrounded by trees with glimpses of the River Deveron glittering a deep blue in the sunlight below, and with views across to the distant heather covered hills. It is reached through a splendid archway with a clock tower and along a tree lined avenue. There has been a castle here since the C12th and the original grass covered motte can be seen next to the castle. This guarded the strategic crossing point where the Rivers...

In the the valley of Loch Eck and the River Eachaig, some 7 miles north-west of Dunoon, Benmore Gardens are part of the Royal Botanic Garden of Edinburgh. The gardens climb 450’ up the hillside side and is one of the best collections of trees in the country, with plants from across the globe. Over a third of the hardy conifer species in the world can be found growing here along with over 300 different species of rhododendron as well as many different species of deciduous trees and shrubs. It is also important in the conservation of species now threatened in the wild. Until the 1800s, the estate now known as Benmore was the hunting grounds of the Dukes of Argyll, and belonged to the Campbell Clan of Ballochyle. It was known as...

I visited Dunoon on the Cowal Peninsula during a very wet and windy end of October. It looks very different when the sun is shining.. With the arrival of the arrival of the paddle steamers in the late C19th, Dunoon rapidly became a popular holiday resort for Glasgow, with its two beaches separated by the volcanic plug of Castle Hill. It is still has a regular car or foot passenger ferry service and is now a commuter base for Glasgow. There is little information about the early history of Dunoon. Little remains of the C11th castle built on Castle Hill. This was an important stronghold became a royal castle with the Earls of Argyll as hereditary keepers. Mary Queen of Scots visited in 1563. The castle was abandoned by the mid...