Travelrific® Travel Journal
Picture postcards in prose.™ Check out the blogroll on the front page for official merchandise and other resources!Archive for england
The Cornish Caribbean
By Linda Tancs
About 30 miles off the coast of Cornwall, England, the Scilly Isles are a Cornish Caribbean, featuring azure seas, subtropical gardens and white, sandy beaches. It’s yours for the taking among the five inhabited islands—St. Mary’s, St. Martin’s, St. Agnes, Tresco and Bryher. St. Martin’s is the first island you’ll spot as you cross from the mainland. It offers an abundance of activities for an island just 2 miles long. You can relax on a remote bay with a colorful name like Bread and Cheese Cove. Or you might want to see the Day Mark (built in 1683), the earliest surviving dated example of a beacon in the British Isles. And then there’s the flower farm and vineyard and a dive school offering underwater adventures and snorkeling with seals. Everything is reachable on foot; you can also rent a kayak for a different perspective as well as a view of the surrounding islets. The island is a short flight away from Exeter, Newquay or Land’s End.
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To limit the spread of COVID-19, attractions may be closed or have partial closures. Please keep those affected by the virus in your thoughts and be sure to follow the safety practices advocated by the Centers for Disease Control. Stay safe, and be well.
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Medieval Meets Art Deco in London
By Linda Tancs
In London’s Royal Borough of Greenwich, medieval meets Art Deco at Eltham Palace and Gardens. Indeed, the manor house is a unique combination of ancient and contemporary. The oldest part of the dwelling is the Great Hall, the only remains of the medieval palace that served as the boyhood home of King Henry VIII. The rest is an Art Deco-style mansion built in the 1930s by millionaires Stephen and Virginia Courtauld, who saved Eltham Palace from ruin after years of neglect. Among the rooms of interest in the house are the map room where they planned their exotic world travels and the centrally-heated sleeping quarters designed for their pet lemur. The 19-acre garden is likewise not to be missed. The Rock Garden leads to the moat, crossed by London’s oldest working bridge. Closer to the palace, the terraced beds are awash in color now with primulas, pansies and tulips. The property is about a 15-minute stroll from Mottingham railway station, which is served by London Charing Cross and Cannon Street stations.
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To limit the spread of COVID-19, attractions may be closed or have partial closures. Please keep those affected by the virus in your thoughts and be sure to follow the safety practices advocated by the Centers for Disease Control. Stay safe, and be well.
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Exploring a Dome
By Linda Tancs
At 364 feet high, the dome of St Paul’s is the second largest cathedral dome in the world, an iconic part of the skyline of the City of London. At that height, you’ll find the dome’s Golden Gallery, a mere 528 steps from the cathedral floor. The smallest of three galleries in the dome, what it lacks in size it makes up for in sights. You’ll be treated to panoramic views of London that take in the River Thames, Tate Modern and Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre.
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To limit the spread of COVID-19, attractions may be closed or have partial closures. Please keep those affected by the virus in your thoughts and be sure to follow the safety practices advocated by the Centers for Disease Control. Stay safe, and be well.
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199 Steps and a Chair
By Linda Tancs
You’ll just need to climb a mere 199 stone steps to get fetching views of the harbor and town of Whitby in North Yorkshire, England. If that’s too arduous for you, then take the bus tour instead. No matter how you ascend, you’ll also get to visit the ruins of the Benedictine abbey that was founded after the Norman Conquest. A bit more off-the-beaten path is the abbey’s medieval, mile boundary marker. Known as the Whitby wishing chair, the seat-like stone base structure is all that remains of a cross marking the way to the abbey. As the name suggests, you’re supposed to sit in it and make a wish. You’ll find it at the junction of Love Lane and Stakesby Road on the western outskirts of town.
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To limit the spread of COVID-19, attractions may be closed or have partial closures. Please keep those affected by the virus in your thoughts and be sure to follow the safety practices advocated by the Centers for Disease Control. Stay safe, and be well.
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Country Life in Dorset
By Linda Tancs
Mapperton has been touted as England’s finest manor house. Located in Dorset, it was entered in the Domesday Book 1086 as Malperetone and was owned by a sheriff. Today’s Jacobean manor house still shows vestiges of the Tudor manor of the 1540s from which it originated. It’s the home of the Montagus, currently the Earl and Countess of Sandwich. Their ancestor, the 4th Earl of Sandwich, is credited with putting roast beef between two slices of bread. Perhaps his more notable achievement was reorganizing the navy and improving its ships. Seafaring achievement is likewise evident in the life of Edward Montagu, 1st Earl of Sandwich, who became Charles II’s first general-at-sea. Their portraits are in the Sandwich collection, along with pictures by Lely, Van de Velde the Younger, Scott, Reynolds and Hogarth. Be sure to visit the gardens, rated as one of the top in the southwest. Tucked into a steep north-south combe, the period gardens descend among tumbling hills and unspoiled countryside.
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To limit the spread of COVID-19, attractions may be closed or have partial closures. Please keep those affected by the virus in your thoughts and be sure to follow the safety practices advocated by the Centers for Disease Control. Stay safe, and be well.
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Magic in Oxford
By Linda Tancs
They say that springtime is magical at Oxford Botanic Garden & Arboretum. Part of the University of Oxford, it’s the oldest botanic garden in Great Britain and one of the oldest scientific gardens in the world. With winter in the rear view, the gardens are coming alive with hellebores, crocuses and some early scilla as well as some early daffodils in the Lower Garden. The conservatory beckons with citrus and hyacinth as well as bougainvillea and primula. And it doesn’t stop there. The arboretum (part of Oxford Botanic Garden since 1963) is awash in Darjeeling flowers, a scent you can’t miss along the Serpentine Ride, the oldest part of the arboretum. Originally a physic garden, today’s complex contains over 5,000 different plant species, a year-round oasis of biodiversity.
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To limit the spread of COVID-19, attractions may be closed or have partial closures. Please keep those affected by the virus in your thoughts and be sure to follow the safety practices advocated by the Centers for Disease Control. Stay safe, and be well.
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Underground in the Lake District
By Linda Tancs
Honister Pass is among the highest navigable routes in England’s Lake District. As you can imagine, the views are stunning. There’s also a different sort of view at the summit of the pass, below the earth. That’s where the country’s last working slate mine sits, home of the iconic Westmorland green slate. Explore the mine’s history with a 90-minute tour of its underground tunnels and caverns. You can buy small slate items from the shop.
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To limit the spread of COVID-19, attractions may be closed or have partial closures. Please keep those affected by the virus in your thoughts and be sure to follow the safety practices advocated by the Centers for Disease Control. Stay safe, and be well.
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The Portals of Derwent
By Linda Tancs
Ladybower Reservoir was built in Derbyshire, England. Its most dramatic characteristic might be the two stone spillways (plug holes) opposite each other that keep water levels in check during heavy rains or flooding. Nearly 80 feet in diameter, it’s tempting to think of them as portals to another dimension, particularly when they’re flowing with water. When water levels are low, you might see ruins of Derwent and Ashopton, two villages drowned when the reservoir was created. For stunning viewpoints, take the circular walk (about 5 miles in length) around the reservoir, a favorite of hikers and dog walkers.
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To limit the spread of COVID-19, attractions may be closed or have partial closures. Please keep those affected by the virus in your thoughts and be sure to follow the safety practices advocated by the Centers for Disease Control. Stay safe, and be well.
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England’s Greatest Snowdrop Garden
By Linda Tancs
Snowdrops, generally appearing in February and March, are one of the first spring flowers to bloom, often while snow is still on the ground in some regions. In the heart of England’s Cotswolds, Colesbourne Park is heralded as the premier garden to see them. Open on select days each February, the gardens comprise approximately 10 acres of formal snowdrop walks. The trails are situated around an estate originally owned in 1789 by John Elwes, son of the celebrated miser John Elwes, reputedly one of the models for the character of Scrooge in Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol.
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To limit the spread of COVID-19, attractions may be closed or have partial closures. Please keep those affected by the virus in your thoughts and be sure to follow the safety practices advocated by the Centers for Disease Control. Stay safe, and be well.
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Precious Paper
By Linda Tancs
William Morris ceiling paper was the height of fashion in 1881. It’s one of the many treasures at England’s Newark Park in Gloucestershire, near the village of Ozleworth, Wotton-under-Edge. In fact, it’s the same paper that’s used in the banqueting hall at St. James’s Palace in London. The Tudor hunting lodge-turned-private home is set in a spectacular estate at the southern end of the Cotswold escarpment with views looking down into the Ozleworth valley and to the Mendips beyond. Were it not for the restoration efforts of American architect Bob Parsons in the 70s, the house might’ve been lost to history. The fruits of his efforts led to many discoveries, like a giant Tudor fireplace and serving hatch. The basement also reveals three historical kitchens: Tudor, Georgian and Victorian. This “house of many eras” has only recently been opened to public viewing.
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To limit the spread of COVID-19, attractions may be closed or have partial closures. Please keep those affected by the virus in your thoughts and be sure to follow the safety practices advocated by the Centers for Disease Control. Stay safe, and be well.
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