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…
Tag: UK
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 to have an enjoyable day exploring the city for free,…
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…
Penshurst Place & Parham Park
A pair of grand houses built two centuries apart (the 14th and 16th) but both strongly connected with the Elizabethan era. Parham Park is one of the finest Elizabethan houses…
Best of 2017 – Photography – Further afield
Other than four trips to Australia and my current trip around South America, from Santiago to Buenos Aires via Antarctica on a cruise (posts to come in January), I made…
The Savill Garden
The perfect place to spend the morning before catching a flight from Heathrow (as it’s only 15 minutes away), The Savill Garden is 35 acres of interconnected gardens dating back…