Greenwich
One of the most pleasant places in London, Greenwich is home to wonderful museums, superb views, and perhaps the city’s best park. It is only two train stops from London…
Tag: UK
Four hours in London
An enjoyable afternoon walking 15km around London, from Victoria to London Bridge train stations via Fitzrovia and the City. London is a glorious city for pedestrians, flat with wide pavements,…
Chatham Dockyard
The largest surviving dockyard in the world from the age of sail, the historic Chatham Dockyard is a fascinating place which you can easily spend a full day exploring. Established…
The Sculpture Park
Set up sixteen years ago, The Sculpture Park in Surrey has by far the largest collection of sculptures I have ever seen in one place. Along 3km of trails there…
A free day in London
London has a reputable as an expensive place to visit, though the weak pound helps mitigate this. It’s quite easy though to have an enjoyable day exploring the city for…
Painshill and Eltham Palace
An eclectic pair of places, both quite unusual and wonderful in different ways, representing the strong personalities of those who created them. Painshill is a classic 18th landscape garden filled…
Sussex and a bit of Kent
A rather lengthy post covering nearly a week based in the small village of Brede in Sussex, exploring the heritage, gardens, and coastline of the surrounding area, mostly in Sussex…
North Downs Way – Dorking to Oxted
Running for 246km from Farnham to Dover, the North Downs Way is one of 16 long distance National Trails in Britain. On a sunny summer day I walked sections 3…
Hardwick Hall and Bolsover Castle
A wonderful couple of examples of 17th century grandeur relating to Bess of Hardwick, the second richest woman of the Elizabethan age, after the Queen herself. She married four times,…
York
The capital of one of Britain’s most historic counties, and the most important city in the North during the Middle Ages, York was the perfect base from which to spend…
Harewood House
One of the most enjoyable and impressive of the many historic houses I’ve visited over the years, Harewood Hall was one of the highlights of my trip to Yorkshire. I’ve…
York Cold War Bunker, Yorkshire Air Museum, and Eden Camp Modern History Theme Museum
A trio of fascinating WW2 / Cold War themed museums in Yorkshire, must visits for anyone interested in the history of that period. The York Cold War Bunker is run…
Whitby
A good place to try and escape the worst of the heat on one of the hottest days ever in the UK, there’s more to Whitby than most English seaside…
Fountains Abbey, Studley Royal Water Gardens, and Brimham Rocks
A varied day exploring north west of York, starting with the World Heritage site of Fountains Abbey and Studley Royal Water Gardens. The Cistercian abbey was one of the largest…
Castle Howard
A distinctive grand house in the Yorkshire countryside, one of the largest country houses in England, Castle Howard has been the home of the Carlisle branch of the Howard family…
Rievaulx Abbey and Terrace, Helmsley Castle, and Nunnington Hall
A heritage packed day exploring north of York, starting with Rievaulx Abbey. Founded in 1132 it was one of the largest Cistercians abbeys in England, until it’s dissolution by Henry…
Wrest Park and Yorkshire Sculpture Park
Couple of stops from the journey north from Surrey to York, along the mostly uninteresting M1 motorway. Home to one of the most significant gardens in Britain, Wrest Park is…
HMS Belfast
One of the last surviving ships from WW2, HMS Belfast is a fascinating piece of history moored on the River Thames near Tower Bridge, it’s easy to spend several hours…
Best of 2018 – Travels
By far the biggest year of travel I’ve done, helped by taking a fifteen week leave of absence from work, in addition to eight weeks of paid and unpaid leave…
Oceania at the Royal Academy of Arts
The largest exhibition of the South Pacific in London for decades, Oceania presents an extensive set of objects and art works darting from hundreds of years ago to the present…