A British artist has done a series of drawings imagining what Manchester England would look like after the apocalypse.

It’s a strange yet interested look at Britain’s ‘second city.’

Check out the gallery below:

Source.

Weird Britain: New Exhibition Imagines What Post-Apocalyptic Manchester England Would Look Like is a post from: Anglotopia.net

The folks over at How to be a Retronaut have posted some great pictures of a Routemaster Bus graveyard in the UK.

Here’s a couple pictures:

I wouldn’t mind having one of these in my back yard! Would make a great office!

Check out all the pictures here.

Pics: Where Double Decker Routemaster Buses Go to Die is a post from: Anglotopia.net

This is by far the coolest book on London I’ve ever owned.

Jason Hawkes is a well known aerial photographer who’s made a name for himself taking night pictures of London. You’ve probably seen them all over the web – here’s one gallery worth looking at.

Last year, he took his best aerial night shots of London and put them into a beautiful hardcover coffee table book. It has pride of place on my desk in the Anglotopia offices. I’ve spent hours just gazing at the beautiful pictures of London from above at night.

The colors – the composition – the history – it’s all so amazing.

In addition to the great pictures, there’s plenty of little text explanations that detail what’s in the pictures, provides history tidbits and frames their geographic location in London. It also provide a sneaky look at areas of London one does not normally see – like warehouses hard at work through the night, construction areas and much more.

There’s a great forward to the book by Kenneth Powell as well as a nice note at the end from the photographer himself where he talks about his process and inspiration. One can almost imagine cruising above this beautiful, silent city late at night.

In total there’s almost 150 pages of nocturnal London pictures. The book is a little pricey – at $45 – but it comes in a hardcover that will look great and last a long time on any Anglophile’s bookshelf.

Book Review: London at Night by Jason Hawkes is a post from: Anglotopia.net

Over at The Atlantic, their photoblog In Focus is running a 20 part retrospective on World War II and this week they’ve covered the Battle of Britain with a ton of beautiful big black and white pictures from the era.

Definitely worth a look!

Check them all out here.

Cool Pictures: Pictures from the Battle of Britain is a post from: Anglotopia.net

Being an island nation, Britain has a loving relationship with it’s coastlines and for centuries people have flocked to them for a little rest and relaxation. All throughout Britain, many seaside piers were built – some are still popular, some have seen better days, some are ruined wrecks.

Here is out list of all the coolest piers left in Britain we thought would make a fun list.

Llandudno Pier – Wales

Llandudno Pier is in the seaside resort of Llandudno on the coast of North Wales between Bangor and Colwyn Bay. At 2,295 feet, the pier is the longest in Wales and the fifth longest in England and Wales. A British Tourist Authority report in 1975 said of it: ‘…. It zooms out of the sea…. in a spectacular Indian Gothic style rather like a Maharajah’s palace floating on a lake. Cast iron, brackets of iron lacework, an outstandingly pretty balustrade like an enlarged fish net, ogee roofs curling away to the sky, all add up to a totally pleasurable experience.’ The pier is very unusual in that it has two entrances, one on the promenade at North Parade and the other, the original entrance, on Happy Valley Road. Between the two entrances is the Grand Hotel. At the end of the pier is a deep-water landing stage, completely rebuilt for the third time in 1969, which is used by the Isle of Man Steam Packet Company for occasional excursions to Douglas, Isle of Man, and for an annual visit of the PS Waverley or the MV Balmoral preserved steamers. The June 2007 sailings of the Balmoral were rescheduled to start at Menai Bridge Pier, after it emerged that Llandudno Pier’s Landing Stage was no longer safe to use. Llandudno Pier is often chosen for Victorian and Edwardian seaside filming locations and notably for the 2002 TV production of The Forsyte Saga. In 2005, the pier was voted “Pier of the Year 2005″ by the members of the National Piers Society.

Worthing Pier – West Sussex

Worthing Pier is a pier in Worthing, West Sussex, England. Designed by Sir Robert Rawlinson, it was opened in 1862 and remains open to this day. The pier originally was a simple promenade deck 960ft (291m) long and 15ft (4.6m) wide. In 1888 the pier was upgraded with the width increased to 30ft (9.2m) and the pier head increased to 105ft (32m) for a 650-seat pavilion to be built. The first moving picture show in Worthing was seen on the pier on 31 August 1896 and is commemorated today by a blue plaque. In 1897 a steam ship began operation between Worthing Pier and the Chain Pier in Brighton, twelve miles to the east. Worthing Pier was sectioned in 1940 for fear of German invasion after the retreat at Dunkirk. A large hole was also blown in the pier to prevent it being used as a possible landing stage in the event of invasion. The pier is owned by Worthing Borough Council (formerly the Worthing Corporation). The Pavilion Theatre and Denton Cafe is situated at the northern, land end of the pier; at the middle is the 1935 amusement arcade, which from 1956 – 2006 carried a distinctive ‘New Amusements’ sign that was featured on the cover of the album To See the Lights (1996) by Britpop band Gene. The Southern Pavilion (the sea end) is currently home to a nightclub named The Pier, which opened on 20 December 2007. It has previously been used as a cafe, dance hall and to house a model railway layout. Since 2008, Worthing Pier has been the home of the annual International Birdman competition, which moved to Worthing after it could no longer safely be held on the pier at Bognor Regis, some 15 miles (24 km) to the west.

Grand Pier – Weston-super-mare

The Grand Pier is a pier in Weston-super-Mare, North Somerset, England. It is situated on the Bristol Channel approximately 18 miles (29 km) south west of Bristol. Weston-super-Mare’s Grand Pier has been transformed into a 21st Century indoor theme park. The Grand Pier is now open all year round and has 16 brand new rides and attractions to satisfy visitors of all ages. The owners travelled the world to find the best rides and some of them are unique to the Grand Pier. The Pier has the only Laser Maze in the UK and the only double one in the world. It also has two Formula 1 simulators,  the only ones open to the public in the UK. The F1 simulators are exactly the same ones used by the F1 racing teams to train on, in the closed season and they always draw a huge crowd. A 300 metre Go Kart track, which runs over two floors, is proving to be a very popular ride, as is the Crystal Maze. Other thrilling rides include the Robocoaster, a huge robotic arm which throws riders upside down, right out into the Pavilion roof void.  The Grand Pier also has a Side Winder ride which swings and spins up to eight passengers high above the arcade below. The Pier has some world-class rides and attractions, but it has also retained some of the old favourites, including the Ghost Train and the Dodgems. A 4D Cinema is proving a hit with young and old alike. All the seats move, when it rains you get wet and when you go under water you are surrounded by bubbles. There are twelve effects in all. There are now a total of 27 bars, shops and restaurants on the Grand Pier, including an Edwardian tea room with stunning sea views of three sides, plus an American-themed Sundaes ice cream parlour. There are a range of things to eat and drink – including classics like Fish and Chips  and Donuts – and we even have our very own Grand Pier Beer. For further information on all the rides and attractions at the Grand Pier please go to www.grandpier.co.uk or call 01934 620238. Admission to the Grand Pier is free. Come along and see what we have on offer.

South Parade Pier – Portsmouth

The South Parade Pier is a pier in Portsmouth, England. It is one of two piers in the city, the other being Clarence Pier. The pier has a long hall down its centre which houses a seating area and a small restaurant. The outside of the hall is a promenade which runs the whole length of the pier and connects the entrance building with the small funfair at the southern end. The South Parade Pier is a pleasure pier offering typical seaside attractions including souvenir shops, ice creams, indoor amusements and a small children’s funfair. It also contains a fishing deck and two function rooms which are often used for live music. The history of the pier has been eventful; like many UK piers, part of it was removed during the Second World War in an attempt to hinder any invasion and it has also caught fire several times, most famously in 1974 during shooting of the film Tommy. The pier also featured in an episode of Mr. Bean entitled “Mind the Baby Mr. Bean.”

Southend Pier – Thames Estuary

Southend Pier is a major landmark in Southend-on-Sea. Extending 1.34 miles (2.16 km) into the Thames Estuary, it is the longest pleasure pier in the world. Sir John Betjeman once said that “the Pier is Southend, Southend is the Pier”. The pier is a Grade II listed building. It also has a railway that runs the length of the pier. The pier is mentioned in The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy; after Ford and Arthur were thrown off a Vogon Construction ship and were picked up by the Improbability drive, on the starship Heart of Gold, Arthur remarks that it looks like they’re standing “on the seafront at Southend”. In the 1981 BBC TV adaptation however, neither the set used for the pier nor the view of the buildings on the shore look anything like Southend.

Hastings Pier – East Sussex

Hastings Pier was a pleasure pier in Hastings, East Sussex, England. Built in 1872 and enjoying its prime in the 1930s, though becoming a popular music venue in the 1960s, it received major storm damage in 1990, closed to the public between 1999 and 2002, then closed again from 2006. Efforts continued to save the pier, which was in need of much investment. In the early hours of October 5, 2010, the pier suffered from a devastating fire (the second in its history) that destroyed 95% of its superstructure. The Hastings Pier and White Rock Trust say that, pending a structural survey, the substructure (the cast iron supports under the pier) may be salvageable. However, developers for Hastings Borough Council confirmed in an interview on 20 October 2010 that no plans had arisen as of yet. The pier has featured in many films and TV series, such as the ITV wartime drama Foyle’s War, which is set in Hastings.

Eastbourne Pier – East Sussex

Eastbourne Pier is a seaside pleasure pier in Eastbourne, East Sussex, on the south coast of England. The proposal for a pier was first mooted at the end of 1863, and highly favoured by the town’s major landowner, the 7th Duke of Devonshire. It was to have been 1000 feet in length and, at a cost of £12,000, would have been situated at the end of the town’s grandest avenue, Devonshire Place. However, the project was delayed and finally abandoned in favour of the present site at the junction of Grand and Marine Parades, thus creating the easterly end of what amounts to a shingle bay. During the Second World War, part of the decking was removed and machine guns were installed in the theatre providing a useful point from where to repel any attempted enemy landings and a Bofors anti-aircraft gun was sited midway along the length of the pier. In December 1942, an exploding mine caused considerable damage to the pier and nearby hotels; it had been tied to the stanchions by the local police, who were under the mistaken impression that it was fitted with a safety device. In 1943, a detachment of Royal Canadian Engineers fixed camouflage netting over the stanchions to conceal flotillas of small vessels, such as wooden assault landing craft. Various traditional pier theatres were built over the years but after the last one was destroyed by fire in 1970, it was replaced by a nightclub and bar which remain to this day. On the landward half of the pier stands a fish and chip kiosk, an amusement arcade and a fast food outlet. Further out, as well as the club there is a cafe, a restaurant, a glassblower, a clothes shop and a tattoo parlour. The tower at the end of the pier is often used as a viewing point during the annual air show.

Cromer Pier

Cromer Pier is a seaside pier in the civil parish of Cromer on the north coast of the English county of Norfolk, 40 km due north of the city of Norwich in the United Kingdom. The pier is the home of the Cromer Lifeboat Station and the Pavilion Theatre.

Clevedon Pier

Clevedon Pier is a seaside pier in the town of Clevedon, on the English side of the Severn Estuary. It is situated next to the Royal Pier Hotel. The landing stage at the end of the pier is used throughout the summer season (June to September) by the Waverley and her sister ship, the Balmoral, and is a popular spot for angling. There is a cafe at the pierhead, and a souvenir shop at the toll house. The upper floor of the toll house is an art gallery with a different exhibition every month. The pier is open every day of the year except Christmas Day.

Clacton Pier

Clacton Pier is a pier located in the seaside resort of Clacton-on-Sea. Officially the first building of the new resort of Clacton-on-Sea, the pier was officially opened on 27 July 1871, as a wooden structure 160 yards (150 m) in length and 4 yards (3.7 m) wide. The pier was originally built as a landing point for goods and passengers, and from when it opened Steamships operated by the Woolwich Steam Packet Company which docked at the pier; it soon also became popular for promenading. By the 1890s Clacton was becoming an increasingly popular destination for day trippers and in 1893 the pier was lengthened to 1180 ft (360m), and entertainment facilities including a pavilion and a waiting room were added. In 1994, a local businessman and his family, the Harrisons, bought the pier. They embarked on an ambitious and successful modernisation project to attract 21st century day trippers. The pier emerged as a modern amusement park, virtually unique in the sense that there are rides as you first enter, with the rest dotted throughout the length of the pier. In March 2009 the pier was purchased by the Clacton Pier Company, who installed a new focal point, a 50 ft helter skelter. Originally built in 1949 and used in a travelling show, it was featured in a 2008/2009 Marks & Spencer television advert.

Burnam-on-Sea

This pier was built in 1858 by the Somerset Central Railway. Soon afterwards, in 1860, a steamer service to Wales was inaugurated, but it was never a commercial success, and ended in 1888. Burnham-on-Sea railway station was the terminus of the Burnham branch of the Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway. It opened in 1858, closed to scheduled passenger traffic in 1951, and stopped being used for excursions in 1962. The former Great Western Railway station is now known as Highbridge and Burnham. A second pier, built of concrete between 1911 and 1914, is claimed to be the shortest pier in Britain.

Brighton Pier

The Brighton Marine Palace and Pier is a pleasure pier in Brighton, England. It is generally known as the Palace Pier for short, but has been informally renamed Brighton Pier since 2000 by its owners, the Noble Organisation, in an attempt to suggest that it is Brighton’s only pier. The West Pier was its rival but was closed in 1975 and was subsequently severely damaged by fires and storms, with the remaining iron structure being partially demolished in 2010.

North Pier – Blackpool

North Pier is the oldest and largest of the three coastal piers in Blackpool, England. It has been designated by English Heritage as a Grade II listed building. The pier’s name derives from the fact that it is the northernmost of Blackpool’s three piers. It is actually located only about 400 metres to the north of Blackpool Tower which acts as a rough representative of Blackpool’s midpoint. The sea front is particularly straight and flat and so the pier’s 500-metre length simply extends at a right angle to the coastline, more or less level with the promenade. There previously was an admission charge of 50 pence to access the board-walk section of the pier before 5:30pm, but it is now free admission. North Pier was heavily adapted during the last quarter of the nineteenth century; both the “head” of the pier (the extreme seaward end) and the connection with the shore were widened to include music performance facilities and shops. The facilities, although repaired or reconstructed as necessary, remained much the same until the 1960s when the “Merrie England Bar” and an amusement arcade were constructed at the shore end of the pier. By this point, the pier had long since ceased to have any nautical use, but the jetty section was adapted for use as a helicopter pad in the late 1980s. A small tramway was also added to ease access to the views and facilities of the pierhead.

Some content and picture repurposed from Wikipedia.

What’s your favorite pier in Britain? Have you been there? Let us know in the comments!

Top 13 Piers in Britain – The Coolest Amusement Pleasure Piers in the United Kingdom is a post from: Anglotopia.net

Here are some amazing pictures of Britain from space – taken from the International Space Station.

Original source.

Amazing Pictures of Britain taken from the ISS in Space is a post from: Anglotopia.net

There are 25 UNESCO World Heritage Sites in the United Kingdom. The UNESCO list contains 17 designated properties in England, four in Scotland, three in Wales, one in Northern Ireland. The first sites in the U.K. to be inscribed on the World Heritage List were Giant’s Causeway and Causeway Coast; Durham Castle and Cathedral; Ironbridge Gorge; Studley Royal Park, including the Ruins of Fountains Abbey; Stonehenge, Avebury and Associated Sites; and the Castles and Town Walls of King Edward in Gwynedd in 1986. The latest site to be inscribed was Pontcysyllte Aqueduct and Canal in 2009.

Just what exactly is a UNESCO World Heritage Site? According to the Wikipedia:

A UNESCO World Heritage Site is a place (such as a forest, mountain, lake, desert, monument, building, complex, or city) that is listed by the UNESCO as of special cultural or physical significance. The list is maintained by the international World Heritage Programme administered by the UNESCO World Heritage Committee, composed of 21 state parties which are elected by their General Assembly. The program catalogues, names, and conserves sites of outstanding cultural or natural importance to the common heritage of humanity. Under certain conditions, listed sites can obtain funds from the World Heritage Fund. The programme was founded with the Convention Concerning the Protection of World Cultural and Natural Heritage, which was adopted by the General Conference of UNESCO on November 16, 1972. Since then, 186 state parties have ratified the convention.

So let’s explore some of these fine attractions that Britain has to offer!

List of World Heritage Sites U.K.

Blaenavon Industrial Landscape

Blaenavon, Wales

In the 19th century, Wales was the world’s foremost producer of iron and coal. Blaenavon is an example of the landscape created by the industrial processes associated with the production of these materials. The site includes quarries, public buildings, workers’ housing, and a railway. The site features many museums, hands-on experiences, a Heritage Railway, and much more. Certainly a grand day out!

Official Blaenavon World Heritage Site Website

Blenheim Palace

Woodstock, Oxfordshire, England

Blenheim Palace, the residence of John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough, was designed by architects John Vanbrugh and Nicholas Hawksmoor. The associated park was landscaped by Capability Brown. The palace celebrated victory over the French and is significant for establishing English Romantic Architecture as a separate entity from French Classical Architecture. In recent history, it’s most famous as being the place where Winston Churchill was born. Marlborough was greatly admired by Winston Churchill, who wrote a massive biography of the man.

Official Blenheim Palace Website

Canterbury Cathedral, St Augustine’s Abbey, and St Martin’s Church

Canterbury, Kent, England

St Martin’s Church is the oldest church in England. The church and St Augustine’s Abbey were founded during the early stages of the introduction of Christianity to the Anglo-Saxons. The cathedral exhibits Romanesque and Gothic architecture, and is the seat of the Church of England. Canterbury is most famous in the modern memory as the destination for Chaucer’s travelers in the Canterbury Tales.

Official Canterbury World Heritage Site Website

Canterbury Tourism Website

Castles and Town Walls of King Edward in Gwynedd

Conwy, Isle of Anglesey and Gwynedd, Wales

During the reign of Edward I of England (1272–1307), a series of castles were constructed in Wales with the purpose of subduing the population and establishing English colonies in Wales. The World Heritage Site covers many castles including Beaumaris, Caernarfon, Conwy, and Harlech. The castles of Edward I are considered the pinnacle of military architecture by military historians.

Visit Wales Tourism Information

City of Bath

Bath, Somerset, England

Founded by the Romans as a spa, an important centre of the wool industry in the medieval period, and a spa town in the 18th century, Bath has a varied history. The city is well known for its preserved Roman remains and Palladian architecture.

Visit Bath Tourism Information

Cornwall and West Devon Mining Landscape

Cornwall and Devon, England

Tin and copper mining in Devon and Cornwall boomed in the 18th and 19th centuries, and at its peak the area produced two-thirds of the world’s copper. The techniques and technology involved in deep mining developed in Devon and Cornwall were used around the world.

Official Cornish Mining Heritage Website

Derwent Valley Mills

Derwent Valley, Derbyshire, England

The Derwent Valley Mills was the birthplace of the factory system. The innovations in the valley, including the development of workers’ housing – such as at Cromford – and machines such as the water frame, were important in the Industrial Revolution. The Derwent Valley Mills also heavily influenced North America and Europe during the Industrial revolution.

Official Website

Dorset and East Devon Coast – Jurassic Coast

Dorset and Devon, England

The cliffs that make up the Dorset and Devon coast are an important site for fossils and provide a continuous record of life on land and in the sea in the area since 185 million years ago. Dorset is also home to Thomas Hardy and his tales. The dramatic landscapes make it an excellent place to visit.

Official Jurassic Coast Website

Durham Castle and Cathedral

Durham, County Durham, England

Durham Cathedral is the “largest and finest” example of Norman architecture in England, and vaulting of the cathedral was part of the advent of Gothic architecture. The cathedral houses relics of St Cuthbert and Bede. The Norman castle was the residence of the Durham prince-bishops.

Official Website

Frontiers of the Roman Empire – Hadrian’s Wall

Northern England and southern Scotland

Hadrian’s Wall was built in 122 AD, and the Antonine Wall was constructed in 142 AD to defend the Roman Empire from “barbarians.” The World Heritage Site was previously listed as Hadrian’s Wall alone, but was later expanded to include all the frontiers of the Roman Empire at its zenith in the 2nd century, ranging from Antonine’s Wall in the north to Trajan’s Wall in eastern Europe.

Official Hadrian’s Wall Website

Giant’s Causeway and Causeway Coast

County Antrim, Northern Ireland

The causeway is made up of 40,000 basalt columns projecting out of the sea. It was created by volcanic activity in the Tertiary period. So-called the Giant’s Causeway, because legend has it an ancient warrior built it to enable him to walk to Scotland.

Official National Trust Website

Heart of Neolithic Orkney

Orkney, Scotland

A collection of Neolithic sites with purposes ranging from occupation to ceremony. It includes the settlement of Skara Brae, the chambered tomb of Maes Howe and the stone circles of Stenness and Brodgar.

Official Website

Ironbridge Gorge

Ironbridge, Shropshire, England

Ironbridge Gorge contains mines, factories, workers’ housing, and the transport infrastructure that was created in the gorge during the Industrial Revolution. The development of coke production in the area helped start the Industrial Revolution. The Iron Bridge was the world’s first bridge built from iron and was architecturally and technologically influential.

Official Ironbridge Gorge Website

Liverpool – Maritime Mercantile City

Liverpool, Merseyside, England

In the 18th and 19th centuries, Liverpool was one of the largest ports in the world. Its global connections helped sustain the British Empire. It was a major port involved in the slave trade until its abolition in 1807, and a departure point for emigrants to North America. The docks were the site of innovations in construction and dock management.

Official Visit Liverpool Website

Maritime Greenwich

Greenwich, London, Greater London, England

As well as the presence of the first example of Palladian architecture in England, and works by Christopher Wren and Inigo Jones, the area is significant for the Royal Observatory where the understanding of astronomy and navigation were developed.

National Maritime Museum Website

New Lanark

New Lanark, South Lanarkshire, Scotland

Prompted by Richard Arkwright’s factory system developed in the Derwent Valley, the community of New Lanark was created to provide housing for workers at the mills. Philanthropist Robert Owen bought the site and turned it into a model community, providing public facilities, education, and supporting factory reform.

Official Website

Old and New Towns of Edinburgh

Edinburgh, Scotland
The Old Town of Edinburgh was founded in the Middle Ages, and the New Town was developed in 1767–1890. It contrasts the layout of settlements in the medieval and modern periods. The layout and architecture of the new town, designed by luminaries such as William Chambers and William Playfair, influenced European urban design in the 18th and 19th centuries.

Official Visit Edinburgh Website

Pontcysyllte Aqueduct and Canal

Trevor, Wrexham, Wales and England

The aqueduct was built to carry the Ellesmere Canal over the Dee Valley. Completed during the Industrial Revolution and designed by Thomas Telford, the aqueduct made innovative use of cast and wrought iron, influencing civil engineering across the world.

Unofficial Website

Royal Botanical Gardens, Kew

Kew, Greater London, England

Created in 1759, the influential Kew Gardens were designed by Charles Bridgeman, William Kent, Capability Brown, and William Chambers. The gardens were used to study botany and ecology and furthered the understanding of the subjects.

Official Website

St Kilda

St Kilda, Scotland

Although inhabited for over 2,000 years, the isolated archipelago of St Kilda has had no permanent residents since 1930. The islands’ human heritage includes various unique architectural features from the historic and prehistoric periods. St Kilda is also a breeding ground for many important seabird species, including the world’s largest colony of gannets and up to 136,000 pairs of puffins.

Official Website

Saltaire

Saltaire, City of Bradford, West Yorkshire, England

Saltaire was founded by mill-owner Titus Salt as a model village for his workers. The site, which includes the Salts Mill, featured public buildings for the inhabitants and was an example of 19th century paternalism.

Official Website

Stonehenge, Avebury and Associated Sites

Wiltshire, England

The Neolithic sites of Avebury and Stonehenge are two of the largest and most famous megalithic monuments in the world. They relate to man’s interaction with his environment. The purpose of the henges has been a source of speculation, with suggestions ranging from ceremonial to interpreting the cosmos. “Associated sites” includes Silbury Hill, Beckhampton Avenue, and West Kennet Avenue.

Official Website

Studley Royal Park including the Ruins of Fountains Abbey

North Yorkshire, England

Before the Dissolution of the Monasteries in the mid-16th century, Fountains Abbey was one of the largest and richest Cistercian abbeys in Britain and is one of only a few that survives from the 12th century. The later garden, which incorporates the abbey, survives to a large extent in its original design and influenced garden design in Europe.

Official Website

Tower of London

Tower Hamlets, Greater London, England

Begun by William the Conqueror in 1066 during the Norman conquest of England, the Tower of London is a symbol of power and an example of Norman military architecture that spread across England. Additions by Henry III and Edward I in the 13th century made the castle one of the most influential buildings of its kind in England.

Official Website

Westminster Palace, Westminster Abbey and Saint Margaret’s Church

Westminster, Greater London, England

The site has been involved in the administration of England since the 11th century, and later the United Kingdom. Since the coronation of William the Conqueror, all English and British monarchs have been crowned at Westminster Abbey. Westminster Palace, home to the British Parliament, is an example of Gothic Revival architecture. St Margaret’s Church is the palace’s parish church, and although it pre-dates the palace and was built in the 11th century, it has been rebuilt since.

Visit London

So, after taking a look at this list of World Heritages sites in Britain – where would you like to visit? Let us know in the comments!

Complete List of the United Kingdom’s World Heritage Sites – With Beautiful Pictures in the U.K. is a post from: Anglotopia.net

I undertook something called the Yorkshire Three Peaks Challenge last weekend (well it was actually the weekend before but it has taken this long to fully recover) and it was both a satisfying and a grueling activity.

The challenge  involves walking about 25 miles through the North Yorkshire Dales including climbing to the peaks of three mountains in under twelve hours.

Pen-Y-Ghent (694 metres - 2,276 feet)

It was also a tweet-up organised by the lovely BaldHiker @Paul_Steele but unfortunately a few people couldn’t make it and couple of people fell ill before we had even started, so it ended up being just me and (a person who will forever be in my debt) Dave @PSBrushes walking it together.

We were also raising money for charity at the same time and I would encourage you (if you haven’t already done so to donate to Cancer Research UK by clicking this link.

It was a very early start and as I was travelling to Yorkshire from the Heart of England, so I decided to stay in the Crown Inn Hotel in Horton-in-Ribblesdale the night before. The Crown is a very nice pub, serving great food and a good range of regional ales, the accommodation is quite basic but so was the price and the hospitality was fantastic. The staff on more than one occasion had a friendly chat with me (I was by myself with just a book for company); Where had I traveled from? Was I doing the Three Peak Challenge? Did I want another drink? They also left me alone when I was entranced in my book (The Mobile Library, The Case of the Missing Books by Ian Sansom), it was a near perfect balance but the best bit of all was when they asked me what time I wanted breakfast!

I said it was okay as I was setting off out at about 5:30am for an early start so it didn’t matter, and they said, don’t worry, we will leave the kitchen open for you and if you come with me now, I’ll show you where everything is and then you can help yourself.

Ribblehead Viaduct with Whernside in the background (copyright PSBrushes)

I was so pleased, very impressed and extremely grateful, only a few hours later at 5am, in the pitch darkness of night, I was making a slice of toast, a cup of coffee and drinking some freshly squeezed orange juice in the pubs kitchen. Brilliant, a great start to the day and an example of simple but outstanding customer service!!

Well, I tend to be squeezing so much into life that sometimes the planning for extra curricular activities is pretty limited, so much so that as I set off on the three-hour drive to Yorkshire I realised that I had left my book at home, which at first I thought, oh well, I’ll just get by without anything to read, when I suddenly I remembered that my book was sat on top of my walking trousers on my bed at home, so I had to turn around before I’d even got started or I’d have to have undertaken the challenge half naked!

However it wasn’t until I was getting ready to meet up with the rest of my twitter friends in the village that I remembered I had also forgotten my head torch and my walking stick, ho-hum, off we go…nearly missed everyone though, it was that dark.

Dave lent me a hand torch as we headed out of the village and started the climb up Pen-y-ghent (694 metres – 2,276 feet), the sky was clear and the stars were bright and beautiful and as we climbed you could see the sunrise starting to peep over the horizon, the views and the sunrise were really beautiful.

Dawn from the top of Pen-y-ghent (copyright PSBrushes)

Fortunately the notorious peat bogs (which have been known to suck a boot off or two and attempt to remove your socks too, given half the chance) were all pretty much frozen solid, so we were able to make pretty good time, stopping only for an occasional snack and to take on some water.

One of the unusual things about the Yorkshire Three Peaks Challenge is that despite how popular it is it is not recognised as an official footpath, there are very few if any waymarkers, and as the sun rose, we had to make a little detour across the coarse grassy peat bogs on the downside of Pen-y-ghent to get ourselves back on course.

The next mountain to climb was way off in the distant morning mist, but in pretty much no time at all we were at the Ribblesdale Viaduct, halfway between Pen-y-Ghent and Whernside (736 metres – 2,415 feet), we stopped briefly at the mobile cafe van for a much-needed coffee before we set off for peak number two.

It was on the way up Whernside, which is a long and gradual incline, that I started to get some issues with my right knee but Dave suggested that we stop at the cafe which is at the bottom of the downside for what he described as an infamous bacon sandwich, which spurred me on, mmmmm bacon!

I don’t think either of us were quite prepared for the amount of snow on top of Whernside, it had not snowed for quite some time at ‘ground level’ but clearly it had snowed more than once recently at the top and there were steps chopped into the snow drifts to make the final accent onto the long plateau at its peak.

Top of Whernside with Ingleborough in the background (copyright PSBrushes)

So we began our decent with thoughts of sizzling bacon in our minds and we needed that positive thinking as it was really tough going, probably the hardest bit of the walk so far, the mid-day sun had melted the snow, the frost and the ground, making it a slippery, muddy, steep and rocky decent and by the time we got to the bottom, it was my knees that were sizzling out-loud and not the sound of bacon that we could hear.

This was a terrible but unforseen portent, the cafe is about another mile or so after this gruelling decent and as we approached it my knees had just about returned to normal body temperature when we saw something that made our hearts drop and my morale was almost completely broken. The cafe was closed until the 26th of March. No bacon sandwich, no hot coffee, no, no, no, noooooooooo!

Approach to Ingleborough (copyright PSBrushes)

I have to be honest, I’d had enough at this point, there was a nice looking pub ahead, who were serving possibly the best cooked meals I would have ever tasted, the clouds were rolling in fast and even though it was only 2pm it was getting darker by the moment – I was ready to phone a taxi company and ask them to pick me up from the Old Hill Inn near Chapel-le-Dale in about an hour (about as long as I estimate it would take to order and eat a steak dinner washed down with a pint of Black Sheep Ale).

But my dear friend and now suffering walking companion encouraged, cajoled and endured my dissatisfaction with the situation and before I knew what I was agreeing to we had agreed to get a move on up peak three and ensure that we were heading down the other side of Ingleborough before it got dark.

Now if I thought my right knee was giving me problems earlier, it complained louder than any whingeing I had done earlier after the realisation that I was not going to get a bacon sandwich, it was burning hotter than any sizzling frying pan that would have cooked the bacon for my missing bacon sandwich, I think you can see how much the closed cafe had affected me and subsequently I was now struggling physically as well as mentally.

Ingleborough (723 metres  2,372 feet) is a very steep and relentless up hill winding stepping-stone path, in some  parts the stepping-stones are on end as the path is too steep for them to be laid flat. I had to rest every ten or so steps for about ten or so seconds and adapted my walking stance to deal with the fact that my right knee was just unable to perform the task with out support from the surrounding back and stomach muscles, it was hard going and I was overtaken by a number of other walkers on the way up.

But getting to the top of the third peak is where I was heading and with Dave’s encouragement and support it was done. Now only five miles or so of decent and I’d be back in the pub : (

Dave aka @PSBrushes tweeting at the top of Ingleborough

As we began the decent so did the sun and we were very quickly plunged back into darkness, it was awesome seeing the dew point freeze around us and frost was forming on the grass as we walked through it. We were joined by a couple of fellow walkers and whilst we were all remembering the walk and some of the amazing sights we had seen (fantastic icicles and frozen water patterns as well as stunning views as far as the eye could see) we realised we were lost, we had somehow managed to lose the path (which isn’t really marked) in the darkness.

So we rested next to a farm road that dissected our route across the Dales; we could see the lights of the Train Station in Horton-in-Ribblesdale ahead but none of us fancied climbing the dry stone wall that barred our way, so I switched on my phone and fired up my Google Maps App with GPRS and in no time at all we not only knew which way to go we also knew that we were only a few hundred yards from the finish point : )

Me aka @xwidep on top of Whernside, at least I remembered my sunglasses!

Dave drove off into the night heading home for a well deserved rest, I drew myself a steaming hot bath, ordered that steak dinner I had been longing for, downed a pint of the lovely Black Sheep and went to bed as soon as I could. in the morning it had snowed all over the Ribble Valley and Horton-in-Ribblesdale looked lovely, I bumped into many people who I had seen the day before at some point along the challenge and there was a great camaraderie, a spirit of shared adventure or maybe it was what I have termed the ’3 Peaks Shuffle’ that united us all? I am sure you can imagine the stiff walking stance everyone had, the small grimaces required to walk up the stairs or get out of your seat, that is the 3 Peaks Shuffle!

Either way it was lovely to be waved off by friendly faces as I began the drive home.

Yorkshire Three Peaks Challenge

For more information about the challenge and/or the Yorkshire Dales click the image above and if I haven’t already encouraged you, there is still time to make a donation to Cancer Research UK by clicking this link.

And that, dear readers, is one less thing to be ticked off my Bucket List!

Extraordinary England: The Yorkshire Three Peaks Challenge is a post from: Anglotopia.net

One thing England is know for are it’s many fine stately homes and manor houses. They’ve had a troubled history in the last century as families have been forced to sell them off or donate them to the National Trust. Many have even been demolished. That being said there are still many beautiful stately homes left to visit in England – the types of buildings you think of when you imagine England.

From homes that were featured in films and TV shows to houses that played major parts in history – here is our list of the Top 11 best Stately Homes in England. We’ve pulled the most amazing pictures from Flickr that we can find and have also put in Trivia bout each home from Wikipedia, along with the location and website link for each Stately Home.

Please keep in mind this post if focused solely on the top Stately Homes and Manor Houes in England, we plan to do posts for Scotland and Wales in the future.

Castle Howard

This palace is best known as the shooting location of the classic British TV series Brideshead Revisited as well as the recent film adaptation.

Wikipedia Trivia:

Castle Howard is a stately home in North Yorkshire, England, 15 miles (24 km) north of York. One of the grandest private residences in Britain, most of it was built between 1699 and 1712 for the 3rd Earl of Carlisle, to a design by Sir John Vanbrugh. It is not a true castle: The word is often used for English country houses constructed after the castle-building era (c.1500) and not intended for a military function.

Castle Howard has been the home of part of the Howard family for more than 300 years. It is familiar to television and movie audiences as the fictional “Brideshead”, both in Granada Television’s 1981 adaptation of Evelyn Waugh’s Brideshead Revisited and a two-hour 2008 remake for theatres. Today, it is part of the Treasure Houses of England heritage group.

Location: North Yorkshire

Website: Castle Howard Website

Blenheim Palace

Built by the victorious 1st Duke of Marlborough – Blenheim Palace is best known now as the birthplace of Winston Churchill, who was born there in 1874.

Wikipedia Trivia:

Blenheim Palace is a large and monumental country house situated in Woodstock, Oxfordshire, England. It is the only non-episcopal country house in England to hold the title of palace. The palace, one of England’s largest houses, was built between 1705 and circa 1724. UNESCO recognised the palace as a World Heritage Site in 1987.

Its construction was originally intended to be a gift to John Churchill, the 1st Duke of Marlborough from a grateful nation in return for military triumph against the French and Bavarians at the Battle of Blenheim. However, it soon became the subject of political infighting, which led to Marlborough’s exile, the fall from power of his Duchess, and irreparable damage to the reputation of the architect Sir John Vanbrugh.

Designed in the rare, and short-lived, English Baroque style, architectural appreciation of the palace is as divided today as it was in the 1720s.[2] It is unique in its combined usage as a family home, mausoleum and national monument. The palace is also notable as the birthplace and ancestral home of Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill.

The building of the palace was a minefield of political intrigue by Sarah, Duchess of Marlborough. Following the palace’s completion, it became the home of the Churchill family for the following 300 years, and various members of the family have in that period wrought various changes, in the interiors, park and gardens. At the end of the 19th century, the palace and the Churchills were saved from ruin by an American marriage. Thus, the exterior of the palace remains in good repair and exactly as completed.

Location: Oxfordshire

Website: Official Blenheim Palace Website

Longleat

Longleat is mostly now known for it’s safari park – touted as the first outside of Africa.

Wikipedia Trivia:

Longleat is an English country house, currently the seat of the Marquesses of Bath, adjacent to the village of Horningsham and near the towns of Warminster in Wiltshire and Frome in Somerset. It is noted for its Elizabethan country house, maze, landscaped parkland and safari park. The house is set in over 900 acres (364 ha) of parkland, landscaped by Capability Brown, with 8,000 acres (32.37 km2) of woods and farmland. It was the first stately home to open to the public, and also claims the first safari park outside Africa.

The house was built by Sir John Thynne, and designed mainly by Robert Smythson, after the original priory was destroyed by fire in 1567. It took 12 years to complete and is widely regarded as one of the finest examples of Elizabethan architecture in Britain. Longleat is currently occupied by Alexander Thynn, 7th Marquess of Bath, a direct descendant of the builder.

Location: Wiltshire/Somerset

Website: Official Longleat Website

Chatsworth

Photo from Wikipedia

It is the seat of the Duke of Devonshire, and has been home to his family, the Cavendish family, since Bess of Hardwick settled at Chatsworth in 1549. You’ll recognize it at Darcy’s house in the 2005 film adaptation of Pride and Prejudice.

Wikipedia Trivia:

In the early 20th century social change and taxes began to affect the Devonshires’ lifestyle. When the 8th Duke died in 1908 over £500,000 of death duties became due. This was a small charge compared to what was to follow forty-two years later, but the estate was already burdened with debt accumulated from the 6th Duke’s extravagances, the failure of the 7th Duke’s business ventures at Barrow-in-Furness, and the depression in British agriculture which had been apparent since the 1870s. In 1912 the family sold twenty-five books printed by William Caxton and a collection of 1,347 volumes of plays which had been acquired by the 6th Duke, including four Shakespeare folios and thirty-nine Shakespeare quartos, to the Huntington Library in California. Tens of thousands of acres of land in Somerset, Sussex and Derbyshire were also sold during, and immediately after, World War I. In 1920 the family’s London mansion, Devonshire House, which occupied a 3 acres (12,000 m2) site on Piccadilly, was sold to developers and demolished. Much of the contents of Devonshire House was moved to Chatsworth and a much smaller house at 2 Carlton Gardens near The Mall was acquired. The Great Conservatory in the garden at Chatsworth was demolished as it needed ten men to run it, huge quantities of coal to heat it, and all the plants had died during the war when no coal had been available for non-essential purposes. To further reduce running costs, there was also talk of pulling down the 6th Duke’s north wing, which was then regarded as having no aesthetic or historical value, however, nothing came of it. Chiswick House, the celebrated Palladian villa in the suburbs of West London which the Devonshires had inherited when the 4th Duke had married Lord Burlington’s daughter was sold to Brentford Council in 1929.

Nonetheless, life at Chatsworth continued much as before. The household was run by a comptroller and domestic staff were still available, although more so in the country than in the cities. The staff at Chatsworth at this time consisted of a butler, under butler, groom of the chambers, valet, three footmen, a housekeeper, the Duchess’s maid, eleven housemaids, two sewing women, a cook, two kitchen maids, a vegetable maid, two or three scullery maids, two stillroom maids, a dairy maid, six laundry maids and the Duchess’s secretary. All of these thirty-eight or thirty-nine people lived in the house. Daily staff included the odd man, upholsterer, scullery-maid, two scrubbing women, laundry porter, steam boiler man, coal man, two porter’s lodge attendants, two night firemen, night porter, two window cleaners, and a team of joiners, plumbers and electricians. The Clerk of Works supervised the maintenance of the house and other properties on the estate. There were also grooms, chauffeurs and gamekeepers. The number of garden staff was somewhere between the eighty of the 6th Duke’s time and the twenty or so of the early 21st century. There was also a librarian, Francis Thompson, who wrote the first book-length account of Chatsworth since the 6th Duke’s handbook.

Most of the UK’s country houses were put to institutional use during World War II. Some of those which were used as barracks were badly damaged, but the 10th Duke, anticipating that schoolgirls would make better tenants than soldiers, arranged for Chatsworth to be occupied by Penrhos College, a girls’ public school in Colwyn Bay, Wales. The school later merged with Rydal School to become Rydal Penrhos a co-educational private school. The contents of the house were packed away in eleven days and 300 girls and their teachers moved in for a six-year stay. The whole of the house was used, including the state rooms which were turned into dormitories. Condensation from the breath of the sleeping girls caused fungus to grow behind some of the pictures. The house was not very comfortable for so many people, with a shortage of hot water, but there were compensations, such as skating on the Canal Pond. The girls grew vegetables in the garden as a contribution to the war effort.

In 1944 Kathleen Kennedy, sister of John F. Kennedy, married William Cavendish, Marquess of Hartington, the elder son of the 10th Duke of Devonshire. However, he was killed in action in Belgium later in 1944, and Kathleen died in a plane crash in 1948. His younger brother Andrew became the 11th Duke in 1950. He was married to Deborah Mitford, one of the Mitford girls and sister to Nancy Mitford, Diana Mitford, Pamela Mitford, Unity Mitford and Jessica Mitford

Location: Derbyshire

Website: Official Chatsworth Website

Lyme Park

Also played Darcy’s home in the 1995 BBC Adaptation of Pride and Prejudice.

Wikipedia Trivia:

Lyme Park is a large estate located south of Disley, Cheshire, England (grid reference SJ964823). It consists of a mansion house surrounded by formal gardens, in a deer park in the Peak District National Park. The house is the largest in Cheshire, and a Grade I listed building.

The estate was granted to Sir Thomas Danyers in 1346 and passed to the Leghs of Lyme by marriage in 1388. It remained in the possession of the Legh family until 1946 when it was given to the National Trust. The house dates from the latter part of the 16th century. Modifications were made to it in the 1720s by Giacomo Leoni, who retained some of the Elizabethan features and added others, particularly the courtyard and the south range. It is difficult to classify Leoni’s work at Lyme, as it contains elements of both Palladian and Baroque styles. Further modifications were made by Lewis Wyatt in the 19th century, especially to the interior. Formal gardens were created and developed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The house, gardens and park have been used as locations for filming and they are open to the public. The Lyme Caxton Missal is on display in the library.

Location: Cheshire

Website: Official Lyme Park Website

Hardwick Hall

One of Britain’s best loved Stately Homes, Hardwick Hall was the second home for the Duchess of Devonshire.

Wikipedia Trivia:

Hardwick Hall, in Derbyshire, is one of the most significant Elizabethan country houses in England. In common with its architect Robert Smythson’s other works at both Longleat House and Wollaton Hall, Hardwick Hall is one of the earliest examples of the English interpretation of the Renaissance style of architecture, which came into fashion when it was no longer thought necessary to fortify one’s home.

Hardwick Hall is situated on a hilltop between Chesterfield and Mansfield, overlooking the Derbyshire countryside. The house was designed for Bess of Hardwick, Countess of Shrewsbury and ancestress of the Dukes of Devonshire, by Robert Smythson in the late 16th century and remained in that family until it was handed over to HM Treasury in lieu of Estate Duty in 1956. The Treasury transferred the house to the National Trust in 1959. As it was a secondary residence of the Dukes of Devonshire, whose main country house was nearby Chatsworth, it was little altered over the centuries and indeed, from the early 19th century, its antique atmosphere was consciously preserved.

Hardwick is a conspicuous statement of the wealth and power of Bess of Hardwick, who was the richest woman in England after Queen Elizabeth I herself. It was one of the first English houses where the great hall was built on an axis through the center of the house rather than at right angles to the entrance. Each of the three main storeys is higher than the one below, and a grand, winding, stone staircase leads up to a suite of state rooms on the second floor, which includes one of the largest long galleries in any English house and a little-altered, tapestry-hung great chamber with a spectacular plaster frieze of hunting scenes. The windows are exceptionally large and numerous for the 16th century and were a powerful statement of wealth at a time when glass was a luxury, leading to the saying, “Hardwick Hall, more glass than wall” (or, in another version, “more window than wall’)[1]. There is a large amount of fine tapestry and furniture from the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. A remarkable feature of the house is that much of the present furniture and other contents are listed in an inventory dating from 1601.

Hardwick Hall contains a large collection of embroideries, mostly dating from the late 16th century, many of which are listed in the 1601 inventory. Some of the needlework on display in the house incorporates Bess’s monogram “ES”, and may have been worked on by Bess herself.

Hardwick is open to the public. It has a fine garden, including herbaceous borders, a vegetable and herb garden, and an orchard. The extensive grounds also contain Hardwick Old Hall, a slightly earlier house which was used as guest and service accommodation after the new hall was built. The Old Hall is now a ruin. It is administered by English Heritage on behalf of the National Trust and is also open to the public.

Location: Devonshire

Website: Official Hardwick Hall Website

Alnwick Castle

Alnwick Castle is best known as the filming location for the interiors of the Harry Potter films. It’s also famous for it’s poison garden – a garden specially cultivated with dangerous plants.

Wikipedia Trivia:

Yves de Vescy, Baron of Alnwick, erected the first parts of the castle in 1096. It was built to defend England’s northern border against the Scottish invasions and border reivers. It was besieged in 1172 and again in 1174 by William the Lion, King of Scotland and William was captured outside the walls during the Battle of Alnwick. In 1309 it was bought from Antony Bek the Bishop of Durham by Henry de Percy, 1st Baron Percy and it has been owned by the Percy family, the Earls and later Dukes of Northumberland since then. The first Percy lord of Alnwick restored the castle and the Abbot’s Tower, the Middle Gateway and the Constable’s Tower survive from this period. In 1404-5 the Percys rebelled against Henry IV, who besieged and then took the castle.

During the Wars of the Roses it was held against King Edward until its surrender in mid-September 1461 after the Battle of Towton. Re-captured by Sir William Tailboys during the winter he surrendered to Hastings, Sir John Howard and Sir Ralph Grey of Heton in late July 1462. Grey was appointed captain but surrendered after a sharp siege in the early autumn. King Edward responded with vigour and when the Earl of Warwick arrived in November Queen Margaret and her French advisor, Pierre de Brézé were forced to sail to Scotland for help. They organised a mainly Scots relief force which, under George Douglas, 4th Earl of Angus and de Brézé, set out on 22 November. Warwick’s army, commanded by the experienced Earl of Kent and the recently pardoned Lord Scales, prevented news getting through to the starving garrisons. As a result the nearby Bamburgh and Dunstanburgh castles soon agreed terms and surrendered. But Hungerford and Whittingham held Alnwick until Warwick was forced to withdraw when de Breze and Angus arrived on 5 January 1463.

The Lancastrians missed a great chance to bring Warwick to battle instead being content to retire, leaving behind only a token force which surrendered next day.

By May 1463 Alnwick was in Lancastrian hands for the third time since Towton, betrayed by Grey of Heton who tricked the commander, Sir John Astley. Astley was imprisoned and Hungerford resumed command.

After Montagu’s triumphs at Hedgeley Moor and Hexham in 1464 Warwick arrived before Alnwick on 23 June and received its surrender next day.

The 6th Earl of Northumberland carried out renovations in the 16th century. In the second half of the 18th century Robert Adam carried out many alterations. The interiors were largely in a Strawberry Hill[disambiguation needed] gothic style not at all typical of his work, which was usually neoclassical. However in the 19th century Algernon, 4th Duke of Northumberland replaced much of this with less ostentatious architecture designed by Anthony Salvin. According to the official website a large amount of Adam’s work survives, but little or none of it remains in the principal rooms shown to the public, which were redecorated in an opulent Italianate style in the Victorian era by Luigi Canina.

Location: Northumbria

Website: Official Alnwick Castle Website

Somerleyton Hall

Most famous for it’s beautiful gardens.

Wikipedia Trivia:

In 1240, a manor house was built on the site of Somerleyton Hall by Sir Peter Fitzosbert whose daughter married into the Jernegan family. The male line of the Fitzosberts ended, and the Jernegans held the estate until 1604 when John Wentworth bought it. He transformed Somerleyton Hall into a typical East Anglian Tudor-Jacobean mansion. It then passed to the Garney family. The next owner was Admiral Sir Thomas Allin, a native of Lowestoft. He took part in the Battle of Lowestoft (1665) and the Battle of Solebay at Southwold in 1672. Eventually the male line of that family also died out.

Somerleyton Hall and Park were bought in 1843 by Sir Samuel Morton Peto who, for the next seven years, carried out extensive rebuilding. Paintings were specially commissioned for the house, and the gardens and grounds were completely redesigned. Peto employed Prince Albert’s favourite architect John Thomas.

In 1863 the Somerleyton estate was sold to Sir Francis Crossley of Halifax, West Yorkshire who, like Peto, was a philanthropist, a manufacturer, and a Member of Parliament. Sir Francis’ son Savile was created Baron Somerleyton in 1916. The House is now held by the present Lord Somerleyton and inhabited by the family. The family motto is ‘Everything that is good comes from above’.

The formal gardens cover 12 acres (49,000 m²). They feature a yew hedge maze created by William Andrews Nesfield in 1846, and a ridge and furrow greenhouse designed by Joseph Paxton, the architect of The Crystal Palace. There is also a walled garden, an aviary, a loggia and a 90 metre long pergola covered with roses and wisteria. The more informal areas of the garden feature rhododendrons and azaleas and a fine collection of specimen trees.

Location: Suffolk

Website: Official Somerleyton Hall Website

Apsley House

The famous London home of the Duke of Wellington (of Wellington Boot fame).

Wikipedia Trivia:

Apsley House, also known as Number One, London, was the London residence of the Dukes of Wellington and stands alone at Hyde Park Corner, on the south-east corner of Hyde Park, facing south towards the busy traffic circulation system. It is a grade I listed building.

The house is now run by English Heritage and is open to the public as a museum and art gallery, although the 8th Duke of Wellington still uses part of the building as a part-time residence. It is sometimes referred to as the Wellington Museum. It is perhaps the only preserved example of an English aristocratic town house from its period. The practice has been to maintain the rooms as far as possible in the original style and decor. It contains the 1st Duke’s collection of paintings, porcelain, the silver centrepiece made for the Duke in Portugal, c 1815, sculpture and furniture. Antonio Canova’s heroic marble nude of Napoleon as Mars the Peacemaker made 1802-10, holding a gilded Nike in the palm of his right hand, and standing 3.45 metres to the raised left hand holding a staff. It was set up for a time in the Louvre and was bought by the Government for Wellington in 1816 (Pevsner) and stands in Adam’s Stairwell.

Location: Central London

Website: Official Apsley House Website

Woburn Abbey

Famous for it’s beautilful gardens – it’s also home to a safari park.

Wikipedia Trivia:

Woburn Abbey, comprising Woburn Park and its buildings, was originally founded as a Cistercian abbey in 1145. Taken from its monastic residents by Henry VIII and given to John Russell, 1st Earl of Bedford in 1547, it became the seat of the Russell Family and the Dukes of Bedford. The Abbey was largely rebuilt starting in 1744[1] by the architects Henry Flitcroft and Henry Holland for the 4th Duke. Anna Maria, the wife of the 7th Duke, originated the afternoon tea ritual in 19th-century England.

Following World War II, dry rot had been discovered and half the Abbey was subsequently demolished. When the 12th Duke died in 1953, his son the 13th Duke was exposed to heavy death duties and the Abbey was a half-demolished, half-derelict house. Instead of handing the family estates over to the National Trust, he kept ownership and opened the Abbey to the public for the first time in 1955. It soon gained in popularity as other amusements were added, including Woburn Safari Park on the grounds of the Abbey in 1970. Asked about the unfavourable comments by other aristocrats when he turned the family home into a safari park, the 13th Duke said, “I do not relish the scorn of the peerage, but it is better to be looked down on than overlooked.”

Location: Bedfordshire

Website: Official Woburn Abbey Website

Highclere Castle

This iconic home has recently been featured as the shooting location for the hit ITV series Downtown Abbey.

Wikipedia Trivia:

The present castle stands on the site of an earlier house, in turn built on the foundations of the medieval palace of the Bishops of Winchester, who owned this estate from the 8th century. In 1692, Robert Sawyer, a lawyer and college friend of Samuel Pepys, bequeathed a mansion at Highclere to his only daughter, Margaret. Her second son, Robert Sawyer Herbert, inherited Highclere, began its picture collection, and created the garden temples. His nephew and heir Henry Herbert was made Baron Porchester and 1st Earl of Carnarvon by King George III.

In those years, the house was a square, classical mansion, but it was remodelled and all but rebuilt for the third earl by Sir Charles Barry in 1839 to 1842 after he had finished building the Houses of Parliament. It is in the “High Elizabethan” style and faced in Bath stone.

The term “High Elizabethan” with which the house is often tagged refers to the English architecture of the late 16th century and early 17th century when traditional Tudor architecture was being challenged by the newly arrived Italian Renaissance influences. During the 19th century there was a huge Renaissance revival movement of which Sir Charles Barry was a great exponent.

Barry had been inspired to become an architect by the Renaissance architecture of Italy and was very proficient at working in the Renaissance based style which in the 19th century became known as Italianate architecture. His work at Cliveden is considered amongst his finest. At Highclere, however he worked in the English renaissance revival style, but added to it many of the motifs of the Italianate style. This is particularly noticeable in the towers which are slimmer and more refined than those of the other great English Renaissance revival house Mentmore Towers built in the same era. This strong Italianate influence has led to the castle being quite fairly described as in the Italianate style.

The external walls are decorated with strapwork designs and cornicing typical of Renaissance architecture. The Renaissance theme is evident within the castle. Curiously so in the great hall, which like that at Mentmore is modeled on an Italian Renaissance central courtyard, complete with arcades and loggias. However, in an attempt to resemble a medieval English great hall, Barry has mixed styles introducing to the Italianate effect a Gothic influence evident in the points rather than curves of the arches. This mixing of styles was particularly common in this period and would not have been found in a genuine Elizabethan house.

Although the exterior of the north, east and south sides were completed by the time the 3rd Earl died in 1849 and Sir Charles Barry died in 1852, the interior and the west wing (designated as servants’ quarters) were still far from complete. The 4th Earl turned to the architect Thomas Allom, who had worked with Barry, to supervise work on the interior of the Castle, which was completed on 1878.

The 1st Earl rebuilt his park according to a design by Capability Brown during 1774 to 1777, relocating the village in the process (the remains of the church of 1689 are at the south west corner of the castle). The famous 18th century seed collector Bishop Stephen Pococke was a friend and brought Lebanon Cedar seeds from a trip to Lebanon. These beautiful trees can be seen in the garden today. Various follies and eye-catchers exist on the estate. To the east of the house is the Temple, a strange structure erected before 1743 with Corinthian columns from Devonshire House in Piccadilly. “Heaven’s Gate” is an eye-catcher about 18 m high on Sidown Hill, built in 1731 from a design, it is thought, by the 9th Earl of Pembroke. It fell shortly afterwards. The event was witnessed and recorded by a Rev. J Milles, who recorded that “we had not been there above half an hour before we saw it cleave from ye foundations and it fell with such a noise yet was heard at three or four miles [5 or 6 km] distant”.

Location: Berkshire

Website: Official Highclere Castle Website

Do you have a favorite English stately home? Let us know all about it in the comments!

Top 11 Stately Homes in England – Best English Manor Houses is a post from: Anglotopia.net

I’ve just been camping for the weekend and climbed a mountain with five people I have never met before! I know how the hell did that happen?

Well, there’s this phenomena known as ‘social media’ that seems to be taking over all aspects of our lives, I like it, but I feel that sometimes the social bit is a little lacking and the opportunities to interact, to truly interact with each-other are slim. It’s not like I don’t try, I’m on-line a lot, in fact I am on-line so much that I have an on-line portal site at www.xwidep.co.uk just so people can find any/all of the various ways to get in touch with me on-line; I tweet, I update, I recommend contacts, I blog, I comment, I like, I dislike, I review, I subscribe, I post, I publish; all on-line.

Social Media (it's contagious)

But I was still looking for something more interactive from all this social media, when a couple of months ago a friend of mine from Canada @Loripop326 who I met on Twitter¹ and Facebook² but sadly not yet in real life³; undertook something spectacular, something enjoyable, sociable and interactive, something which was only possible due to the way we live our lives on-line; that something was a Sing-up – created by an inspirational gentleman who I’ll introduce you to later. Sing-ups are hilarious, it is where Twitter users unite to sing a song together, by submitting a couple of lines each on video or audio by e-mail to the maestro who combines them all together in time and in tune (or not as the case may be) with the backing track to some famous songs. The following link takes you through to a collection of them (I insist you click on this link and watch at least one sing-up before you continue reading this).

Sing Up

Okay, you’re back – I hope you enjoyed them as much as I did ; ) Maybe you should sign up for the next sing-up!

So because the sing-up was good and I wanted to get involved so I started following @Paul_Steele on Twitter and he tweeted that he was organising a Tweet-up & Climb.

Now a tweet-up is a meeting between fellow tweeters in real life, usually organised in a pub and not something that I would normally get involved in – but what Paul was proposing was to meet up at a camp-site and climb the mountain Helvellyn via the infamous Striding Edge in the Lake District one weekend and I thought that sounded excellent, so I signed up.

360 view Striding Edge. Ullswater (left horizon) Helvellyn (centre right) Red Tarn (right)

It’s a few hundred miles and due to the wonderful traffic flow on the M6 it took me more than six hours to get there, thank goodness I was camping both the night before and the night after. Even though it took me so long and I had travelled quite far, I arrived at the campsite first and it started raining. This posed me a little bit of a problem, I had never met any of the people I was meeting up with before and everyone was huddled inside their tents because it was raining. So I parked up, and walked over to a large tent to ask if they were expecting me.

Paul had given me some clues, he said one of the people coming @GrantBennett would have a large tent, but after three rather embarrassing moments were I was treated like the weirdo I was acting like, by large tent owners across the campsite. So I decided to set my tent up in the rain alone!! I relocated it later also in the rain, so that we were all camped in the same location which subsequently meant my tent did not stay as waterproof as I would like and I had to bail thirteen cups of water out in the morning.

I went for a little walk when I bumped into Paul and Grant as they arrived on site (I recognised Paul from his Twitter avatar and Grant because he was with Paul) and as the night drew in all of my fellow tweeters (bar two who were arriving the next morning) arrived for the night.

My tent in the rain & dark (just relocated)

So after getting to know each-other over a few glasses of wine and cans of beer – loud enough to have a few minor complaints made in the morning – I’d like to say it was because we haven’t lost it but I think it was mainly because we were awake until 1am (at least) and up and ready to go at 7am, for this my fellow campers we apologise – by 8am we were all there and ready to go.

So who is in this unlikely bunch of strangers? @xwidep (that’s me) from the Heart of England, @paul_steele from the edge of the Peak District in North West England, @GrantBennett from South Yorkshire, @ainebelton from Greater London, @Belle_Lulu from the South West of England and @Kusasi from the Cotswolds.

Approaching Striding Edge in the Mist

There were also two other very important members of our team @Shyposter1 from the edge of the Peak District in the East Midlands and a great guy called Paul but whose nickname is Ray from Shakespeare Country – who were running base camp for us.

Unfortunately the mist had taken hold of the mountains and visibility was very poor, but we started off from the village of Glenridding heading up what appeared to be a leisurely incline through woodlands, their were even stone ‘steps’ placed by previous walkers over the centuries that made the climb ‘easier’; the landscape was beautiful and there were a few other walkers heading in the same direction, it is a well trodden path and clearly a very popular route; however the beauty and the wonderful scenery started to fade as the climb got harder and harder, with what can only be described as a serious slog in the enclosing mist. My thighs were burning, my back aching underneath my backpack full of water and high energy snacks, I felt that it was going to be too much for me – even with the occasional rest stop to put waterproof jackets on followed by another to take them off – the weather was changeable to say the least and I was actually starting to love it.

When suddenly it appeared before us, looming out of the mist was Striding Edge.

Striding Edge from Swirral Edge (on the way down)

A sight to behold; a ragged, broken, rocky, fold in the earth’s crust, with tumbling scree scattered slopes plunging into valleys on either side, it looked like a scene from the Lord of the Rings, a thin bridge of stone sticking out into the clouds, apart from it didn’t have a level surface and although I was carrying a walking stick (staff) my beard was only a day’s worth of growth so I wasn’t really playing the Gandalf part well.

Helvellyn (looking back)

It was a fantastic climb and soon we were on top of Helvellyn which has a scree covered plateau at 950 metres (3,117 ft) above sea level, which makes it the third highest peak in both the Lake District and in England. I am now preparing to do another climb this week with some of my fellow tweeters but this time at night so we can see the sun rise on the mountain top, lets hope for better weather this time.

Apologies my photographs were taken using the camera on my mobile phone each and every time the mist cleared.

¹ Lori is a member of a small group of tremendous people I have grown to know and love on Twitter.
² Facebook has introduced me to some of the most amazing people from all over the world that I would not have had the pleasure of meeting in any other way – many of them I have met through Twitter first.
³ Real life! What’s real life? Twitter and Facebook are real, what I really meant is face to face.

Find out more about what I get up to at Extra X-Wide P my personal/professional blog.

Tweet-up and Climb: To Helvellyn and back….. A Lake District Adventure is a post from: Anglotopia.net

Spring has always been my favorite time of year, first of all because my birthday is in the Spring but also because I love watching flowers bloom and things starting to green up.

Living in Chicago for three winters where I walked everywhere in the bitter cold, Spring was such a reprieve from a seemingly endless winter and the moment the snow melted and the sun came out it was like the whole city was celebrating. I love that jubilation in the people of Chicago when the weather starts to warm, but here in Britain it seems like even the ground celebrates the coming of Spring. Daffodils grow everywhere, along the side of the road and in every park and garden they sprout up like weeds. You can buy bundles of British daffodils at every grocery store, fruit stand and farmer’s market for less than a pound and they just seem to flourish everywhere.

One of my favorite places to see Spring flowers is Alnwick Castle in Northumbria. The groundskeepers have planted literally fields thick with daffodils that start coming up every year in late March and early April.

Here are some of my favorite Spring photos that I have taken here around the North East. Even on a cloudy, rainy day the sight of Spring flowers in Northern England instantly brightens any day.

Daffodils on the Alnwick Castle Grounds, April 2009

Thousands of yellow and white daffodils blanket the grounds of Alnwick Castle, April 2009

A sea of daffodils edge the Town Wall surrounding the York City Centre, April 2009

Pink hyacinth and other spring flowers flourish at the base of this Roman Wall, built in York circa 300 AD, April 2009

The pungent aroma of pink, white and purple hyacinth fills the air at this War Memorial on the site of the WWI bombardment of the Hartlepool Headland, April 2009

A bunch of British daffodils in a water jug, simple Spring beauty on my windowsill, April 2010

No British Spring is complete without lots of rain and of course rainbows, March 2010

Dispatches from the North: Photos of Springtime in Northern England is a post from: Anglotopia.net

Editor’s Note: I had the pleasure of spending some time in Wiltshire last November when we spent a day in Salisbury. There’s a lot to see and do in Wiltshire and according to this release from Visit Wiltshire, there’s a lot of things to do for free.

If money is tight but you still want a great day out then the county of Wiltshire offers plenty of free things to see and do for visitors of all ages.

1. Visit Avebury Stone Circle

Located in the centre of Wiltshire the impressive circle of stones in the village of Avebury is just as spectacular as its more famous counterpart, Stonehenge.

At Avebury visitors can walk around the huge circle which encompasses the entire village for free.

Forming part of the overall Avebury complex visitors can also take in West Kennet Long Barrow and Silbury Hill both of which are thought to be Neolithic burial chambers.

http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/avebury

2. Get cultural at Fisherton Mill

Perfect for shopaholics and foodies, Fisherton Mill is the south of England’s largest gallery and perfectly located in the centre of Salisbury. Within the gallery space visitors can browse works from leading artists, furniture makers and sculptors, while the gallery shop stocks an array of unusual work.

There is a café on site selling a range of freshly prepared cakes, food and coffees, plus a specially designed healthy children’s menu. Special theatre and dining events are held regularly and details can be found on the website.

http://www.fishertonmill.co.uk

3. Learn about the history of the National Trust at Heelis

The central office of the National Trust in Swindon offers visitors an insight into unique English heritage sites.

Tours of this innovative and sustainable building take place every Friday lunchtime.

The shop and café are open daily.

Heelis regularly operates special events, especially those aimed at children during school holiday periods.

Check the website for details.

http://www.nationaltrust.org/heelis

4. Browse the pretty National Trust village of Lacock

A visit to the beautiful National Trust village of Lacock is like taking a step back in time.

The beautiful and fascinating cobbled streets are a delight and here visitors can find a range of traditional shops including the famous Lacock Bakery.

Other highlights include Lacock Abbey and Fox Talbot Museum.

Visiting the village is free, although admission charges apply for the Abbey and Museum.

Lacock is famed for being a location for numerous films and TV dramas including Cranford and Harry Potter.

http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/lacock

5. Increase your knowledge at The Science Museum Library and Archives

Swindon’s Science Museum Library and Archives are part of the main Science Museum in London, housing internationally important books and journals on the history and development of science, technology, engineering and medicine.

Amongst the most famous items in the collection are pieces from Charles Darwin, Albert Einstein and Sir Isaac Newton.

Admission is free by appointment only.

http://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/library

6. Learn more about our ancestors through from sites at Woodhenge and Durrington Walls

Not far from Stonehenge lies the site of Woodhenge and Durrington Walls. Woodhenge is approximately the same size as Stonehenge and is a Late Neolithic or Early Bronze Age monument made up of a series of concentric circles of wooden poles.

The original poles no longer remain but markers are placed in the excavated post holes for visitors to envisage how it would have looked.

Just a little further north is Durrington Walls, a massive circular earthwork or ‘henge’.

Despite having been damaged by ploughing and roads the tall banks are still visible.

http://www.english-heritage.org.uk

7. Trowbridge Museum

Located within a former mill, the history of Trowbridge, its people and cloth making are all told via displays of over 14,000 items at Trowbridge Museum.

http://www.trowbridgemuseum.co.uk

8. Take in the visitor centre at Wadworth Brewery

Wadworth Brewery in Devizes is Wiltshire’s main brewery with a history of producing fine ales dating back 125 years.

The visitor centre offers an insight into the brewery and an opportunity to sample the ale.

Furthermore visitors can also meet the Shire Horses which still deliver the beers in the old fashioned way.

Chargeable guided tours are also available.

http://www.wadworth.co.uk

9. Drive past the county’s White Horses

Wiltshire is famous for its white horses of which eight are clearly visible. The horses are dotted around the county’s hillsides and now VisitWiltshire has put together a special ‘White Horse Trail’ encouraging visitors to enjoy long distance walking between the horses.

10. Walk along the Kennet & Avon canal and past the famous Caen Hill Locks

In 2010 the Kennet & Avon Canal will celebrate its bicentenary.

The canal, which is Wiltshire’s main waterway, offers great days out for all the family including the fun of King Alfred’s Trail near Pewsey where visitors can collect brass rubbings of insects, plants and wildlife that can be seen on route.

The most spectacular section of the canal is that at Caen Hill near Devizes where a compact flight of 16 locks form part of the 29 locks which raise the canal 237 feet in just two miles.

http://www.waterscape.com

For more information about great things to see and do in Wiltshire visit http://www.visitwiltshire.co.uk

If you have your own suggestion for something fun and affordable to do in Wiltshire, feel free to leave us a comment!

Top Ten Things to do in Wiltshire England For Free With Pictures is a post from: Anglotopia.net

These pictures were sent to me from someone who lives on Gold Hill and also happens to work in the new Gold Hill Books bookshop located at the top of the hill. She snapped these pictures during the last bout of snow. Frankly, they are lovely. I would give my left foot to sled down that hill. Thanks for sharing them.

Pictures of England – Gold Hill in Shaftesbury Covered in Snow is a post from: Anglotopia.net

I found this picture via The Londonist and has to share it with everyone. It’s beautiful. Lovely. Amazing. Makes me want to be there right now (well when it’s less cold and snowy…).

Check out the photographer’s other pictures here.

Beautiful Picture of London on a Rainy Day – Incredibly cool Picture of London from Flickr – Check it Out is a post from: Anglotopia.net

I sent out a call out on Twitter yesterday for pictures of England in the snow and many answered with some great pictures.

So, here are some fantastic pictures of England’s January 2010 snow storm, or as I like to call it Snowpocalypse Now.

The first 4 pictures are from Ciaran Norris, check out his blog here or follow him on Twitter. Thanks Ciaran!

The following pictures are from Sara Bury from her website here.

The next 4 pictures of snowy England are from a fabulous new blogger I recently discovered – The Lady Who Lunches – an American blogging about living in Bristol. Check out her blog here.

Here’s two lovely photos sent to us by Jane – the owner of Updown Cottage. Shaftesbury covered in snow! Wish I was there!

Snow Pictures from Around England – Snowpocalypse Now #UKSnow is a post from: Anglotopia.net

Editor’s Note: England got it’s first major snowstorm this year overnight. Some kind folks have sent us their images to show you the snow around England and we’ve also put in some images from the Daily Mail. Stay safe everyone  and I hope you get a white Christmas!

Hartlepool from Lisa Coulson – Dispatches from the North

Hertfordshire – Thanks to Jane Colston!

From the Daily Mail

From the Daily Mail

From the Daily Mail

From the Daily Mail

Peel Castle B&B – Yorkshire – Website Here

From the Daily Mail

From @GrahamSalisbury on Twitter

From the Daily Mail

From the Daily Mail

Pictures of England: Snow Day in England – Snow Across Britain is a post from: Anglotopia.net

When this post goes live, I’ll be walking the familiar streets of London, so I thought this would be a good chance to show off some of my own photography of London. These pictures were taken over 4 different trips to London over the last 10 years. Enjoy!

Pictures of Britain: Pictures of London My Own London Photography is a post from: Anglotopia.net

This week’s photographic tour of Britain takes us deep into the heart of England to Warwickshire – which also happens to be Shakespeare Country.

From the Wikipedia:

Warwickshire is a landlocked non-metropolitan county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, although the largest town is Nuneaton in the far north of the county. The shape of the administrative area Warwickshire differs considerably from that of the historic county. Commonly used abbreviations for the county are Warks or Warwicks.

Warwickshire is perhaps best known for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare from Stratford-upon-Avon. Even today, road signs at the county boundary describe Warwickshire as “Shakespeare’s County”. The county has also produced other literary figures such as George Eliot (from Nuneaton), Rupert Brooke (from Rugby), and Michael Drayton from Hartshill. The poet Philip Larkin lived in Warwick (born in nearby Coventry), and Elizabeth Gaskell went to school in Barford and Stratford.

Warwickshire Coat of Arms

Map of Warwickshire

Location in England

Chesterton Windmill, Warwickshire, England – Photo from Freefoto.com

Town of Warwick

Aerial View of Warwick

St Mary’s Church, Warwick

Town of Warwick

Rowing Boats, River Avon, Warwick

Shakespeare’s Birthplace, Stratford upon Avon

Bancroft Gardens, Stratford upon Avon

Bancroft Gardens, Stratford upon Avon

The Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford upon Avon

Warwick Castle

Warwick Castle

Kenilworth Castle

Oxford Canal from Napton

All photos, unless otherwise noted are from Freefoto.com. Used with Permission.

Pictures of Britain: Exploring the Heart of England – Warwickshire is a post from: Anglotopia.net

Continuing our photographic tour of all the counties of Britain – our next stop is Cornwall, England. Cornwall is famous for being the ‘end of England’ and has a particular romance about it.

From the Wikipedia:

Cornwall is a county of England in the United Kingdom, forming the tip of the south-western peninsula of Great Britain. It is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic Ocean, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar. Taken with the Isles of Scilly Cornwall has a population of 534,300, and covers an area of 3,563 km2 (1,376 sq mi). The administrative centre and only city is Truro.

The area now known as Cornwall was first inhabited by Neolithic and then Bronze Age peoples, and later (in the Iron Age) by Celts. Cornwall is part of the Brythonic (Celtic) area of Britain, separated from Wales after the Battle of Deorham, often coming into conflict with the expanding English kingdom of Wessex before King Athelstan in 936 A.D. set the boundary between English and Cornish people at the Tamar.

Today, Cornwall’s economy struggles after the decline of the mining and fishing industries, and has become more dependent on tourism: however some decline in this has also occurred.[clarification needed] The area is noted for its wild moorland landscapes, its extensive and varied coastline and its mild climate.

Cornwall is recognised as one of the “Celtic nations” by many Cornish people, residents and organisations. It retains a distinct cultural identity, reflecting its history, and modern use of the formerly extinct Cornish language is increasing. Some people question the present constitutional status of Cornwall, and a self-government movement seeks greater autonomy within the UK.

Kynance Cove, Cornwall – Photo from Freefoto.com

Kynance Cove, Cornwall – Photo from Freefoto.com

Mullion Cove Harbour, Cornwall – Photo from Freefoto.com

Coverack, Cornwall – Photo from Freefoto.com

Coverack, Cornwall – Photo from Freefoto.com

Cornish Fishing Boat – Coverack, Cornwall – Photo from Freefoto.com

St Michael’s Mount, Cornwall – Photo from Freefoto.com

Causeway to St Michael’s Mount, Cornwall – Photo from Freefoto.com

On St Michael’s Mount, Cornwall – Photo from Freefoto.com

Tate St Ives Art Museum, St Ives, Cornwall – Photo from Freefoto.com

St Ives, Cornwall – Photo from Freefoto.com

Polperro, Cornwall – Photo from Freefoto.com

Daffodils in Bloom in Polperrio, Cornwall – Photo from Freefoto.com

The Royal Albert Bridge, Saltash, Cornwall – Photo from Freefoto.com

The Royal Albert Bridge at Night, Saltash, Cornwall – Photo from Freefoto.com

The Eden Project, Cornwall – Photo from Freefoto.com

Truro Cathedral  - Truro, Cornwall – Photo from Freefoto.com

Old Tin Mine, Cornwall – Photo from Freefoto.com

Chapel Porth, Cornwall – Photo from Freefoto.com

Cornish Pasty – Photo from Freefoto.com

Land’s End, Cornwall – Photo from Freefoto.com

Land’s End, Cornwall – Photo from Freefoto.com

Pictures of Britain: Beautiful Pictures of Cornwall England is a post from: Anglotopia.net

Since I did Dorset last week – I’ll continue giving a photographic tour of the Southwest of England and go to Devon, Dorset’s neighbor to the east next.

A little about Devon from the Wikipedia:

Devon is a large county in England. The county is also referred to as Devonshire, although that is an unofficial name, rarely used inside of the county itself and often indicating a traditional or historical context. The county shares borders with Cornwall to the west and Dorset and Somerset to the east. Its coastline follows the English Channel to the south and the Bristol Channel to the north.

Devon is the third largest of the English counties and has a population of 1,109,900. The county town is the cathedral city of Exeter and the county contains two independent unitary authorities: the port city of Plymouth and the Torbay conurbation of seaside resorts, in addition to Devon County Council itself. Plymouth is also the biggest city in Devon. Much of the county is rural (including national park) land, with a low population density by British standards. It contains Dartmoor 954 km2 (368 square miles), the largest open space in southern England.

The county is home to part of England’s only natural UNESCO World Heritage Site, the Dorset and East Devon Coast, known as the Jurassic Coast for its geology and geographical features. Along with its neighbour, Cornwall, Devon is known as the “Cornubian massif”. This geology gives rise to the landscapes of Dartmoor and Exmoor, which are both national parks. Devon has seaside resorts and historic towns and cities, and a mild climate, accounting for the large tourist sector of its economy.

Dartmoor Pony, Dartmoor – Devon – Photo from Freefoto.com

Paignton and Darthmouth Steam Railway – Devon – Photo from Freefoto.com

Town of Paignton – Devon – Photo from Freefoto.com

Torquay Harbour – Torquay, Devon – Photo from Freefoto.com

Town of Beer – Devon – Photo from Freefoto.com

Beer Lugger – Traditional Fishing boat – Beer, Devon – Photo from Freefoto.com

Pictures of Britain: Beautiful Pictures of Devon is a post from: Anglotopia.net

One thing that was heavily requested in the recent Anglotopia user survey was more pictures. Ask and you shall recieve. I’ll try to do one giant picture post of week, focused on a place in Britain – my goal is to go county by county, but we’ll see.

Up first this week is my favorite county, Dorset.

A little bit about Dorset from the Wikipedia:

Dorset (or archaically, Dorsetshire), is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The county town has been Dorchester since at least 1305, situated in the south of the county. Between its extreme points Dorset measures 80 kilometres (50 mi) from east to west and 64 km (40 mi) north to south, and has an area of 2,653 square kilometres (1,024 sq mi). Dorset borders Devon to the west, Somerset to the north-west, Wiltshire to the north-east, and Hampshire to the east. Around half of Dorset’s population lives in the South East Dorset conurbation. The rest of the county is largely rural with a low population density. Dorset’s motto is ‘Who’s Afear’d’. It’s the only county with no Motorway running through it.

Dorset is famous for the Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site, which features landforms such as Lulworth Cove, the Isle of Portland, Chesil Beach and Durdle Door, as well as the holiday resorts of Bournemouth, Poole, Weymouth, Swanage, and Lyme Regis. Dorset is the principal setting of the novels of Thomas Hardy, who was born near Dorchester. The county has a long history of human settlement and some notable archaeology, including the hill forts of Maiden Castle and Hod Hill.

Pictures of Dorset

The Flag of Dorset

Location of Dorset in England

Map of Dorset

Dark Clouds over Bournemouth Bay – Bournemouth Dorset – Picture from Freefoto.com

Iconic Deck Chairs in Bournemouth – Picture from Freefoto.com

Dorset Beach Huts – Bournemouth England – Photo from Freefoto.com

St John’s Church, Tolpuddle, Dorset – Photo from Freefoto.com

River Avon, Christchurch, Dorset – Photo from Freefoto.com

Street in Christchurch, Dorset – Photo from Freefoto.com

Twynham Castle, Christchurch, Dorset – Photo from Freefoto.com

Thatched Cottage, Tolpuddle, Dorset – Photo from Freefoto.com

Gold Hill, Shaftesbury, Dorset – Photo from Freefoto.com

Sunset, Old Harry, Handfast Point, Dorset – Photo from Freefoto.com

Corfe Castle, Dorset – Photo from Freefoto.com

Wareham Quay, Dorset – Photo from Freefoto.com

Water Mill, Sturminster Newton, Dorset – Photo from Freefoto.com

Cerne Abbas, Dorset, England – Photo from Freephoto.com

The Cerne Abbas Giant, Dorset, England – Photo from Freefoto.com

Britain’s smallest pub, Godmanstone – Photo from Freefoto.com

Swyre, Dorset, England – Photo from Freefoto.com

Chesil Beach seen from near Abbotsbury, Dorset, England – Photo from Freefoto.com

Chesil Beach, Dorset, England – Photo from Freefoto.com

Pictures of Britain: Beautiful Pictures from All Over Dorset is a post from: Anglotopia.net

This is part in an ongoing series where I will feature some of my Photography of London and England up until we leave for our trip in November. I’m an avid amateur photographer and love sharing my photos. If you’d like to see all the pictures in this series check out the gallery here.

This picture is from my second trip to London in 2004. It’s the Lancaster Gate Tube Stop, which was the tube station that was in the neighborhood near our hotel (Thistle Lancaster – which is no longer a hotel). It’s a great tube stop because it’s central and you can quickly get access to any part of London.

It’s also one of the oldest stops on all of the Underground and you can see it in the old tiles on the walls, the old stairs leading the trains and ticket hall. You can just feel history standing on the platform.

I love standing on a tube platform, waiting for the next train. There is nothing better than the feeling of the wind rushing through the station as a tube carriage approaches. The wind, the sound and the smell – rodents scurrying along the tracks. Local Londoners may not appreciate it, but I count it as one of my Anglophile Zen Places. I could stand there all day.

What’s your Favorite Tube Stop?

Pictures of England – The London Underground is a post from: Anglotopia.net

This is part in an ongoing series where I will feature some of my Photography of London and England up until we leave for our trip in November. I’m an avid amateur photographer and love sharing my photos. If you’d like to see all the pictures in this series check out the gallery here.

This week’s picture is another from my very first trip to London. It’s of Westminster Abbey and it’s the first time I was creative with a camera. I love the angle to this day and on repeat visits I tried to take the same picture again with different cameras. None of the pictures I took on later trips were as good as this first one.

I’ll never forget the awe I experienced going to Westminster Abbey for the first time. I was not very religious as the time, but I was still impressed by the building. It was stuffed with so much history! My most vivid memory is being impressed by the stained glass. Oh and being reminded by a Vicar to remove my hat!

What’s the attraction that awed you the most on your first trip to Britain?

Pictures of England – Westminster Abbey is a post from: Anglotopia.net

This is part in an ongoing series where I will feature some of my Photography of London and England up until we leave for our trip in November. I’m an avid amateur photographer and love sharing my photos. If you’d like to see all the pictures in this series check out the gallery here.

This first picture goes back to the beginning – this is the first picture I ever took in London on my first trip with my mother in June 2001. It’s so old, it was taken on film before I went to digital!

They may just be rooftops, but after arriving on a plane and being exhausted – these rooftops summed up what London was going to be for me. The roofs are right out of a Victorian period drama. This was the view from our hotel room window – which to some may seem lame – but to someone on their first trip to London – it was magical and I’ll never forget it.

If you’ve been to England, what’s your first memory of England?

Pictures of England – The First Picture – London Rooftops 2001 is a post from: Anglotopia.net