Travelrific® Travel Journal
Picture postcards in prose.™ Check out the blogroll on the front page for official merchandise and other resources!Archive for england
A Milestone for the Cleveland Way
By Linda Tancs
The Cleveland Way, England’s Yorkshire national trail skirting the North York Moors National Park, turned the big 5-0 this year. Spanning nearly 110 miles, the country’s second-inaugurated national trail runs from Helmsley to Filey. If the length of it sounds intimidating, you should know that the fastest official completion time is 19 hours, 53 minutes and 38 seconds. No need to rush, though. You’ll want to take all the time you can enjoying the mix of dramatic coastline and heather moorland. Most people walk the route from Helmsley through to Filey in a clockwise direction. Rail or bus services can easily get you to the start.
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The Great West Way
By Linda Tancs
Based on ancient routes, England’s Great West Way is a new, 125-mile touring route between London and Bristol. It beckons the independent traveler, offering a mix of journey options like the A4 Great West Road, the Great Western Railway, the Thames, canal transport and multiple foot and cycle paths. With that many options, you don’t have to miss a thing, like the honey-colored limestone villages of the Cotswolds, the urban culture of Bath and Bristol, riverside towns like Henley, Wiltshire’s market towns and plenty of renowned attractions along the way.
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Exeter’s Underground
By Linda Tancs
Predating the arrival of the Romans, Exeter is an ancient English city boasting Exeter Cathedral, one of England’s most beautiful medieval cathedrals and one of the finest examples of decorated Gothic architecture in the country. Perhaps less known but equally interesting is the city’s underground passages. Built to house the pipes that brought clean drinking water into medieval Exeter, these are the only passages of their kind open to the public in Britain. Early booking is advisable.
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One of the World’s Best Small Gardens
By Linda Tancs
York Gate Garden in Leeds, England, teaches that you can build a stellar garden on a small bit of land. Just one acre in size, it’s divided by yew and beech hedges into a series of small gardens, each with a distinctive theme and style. Abounding with sculpted evergreens, pretty paths and pergolas, the “garden rooms” include a topiary-laden herb garden and an exquisite folly at the Dell, boasting half-hidden pathways and a stream. Given its small size, it should come as no surprise that the locale was once a private family garden. Now it’s enjoyed by visitors from April to September.
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The Original Lord Mayor’s House
By Linda Tancs
Predating London’s 18th century Mansion House (the official residence of the City’s Lord Mayor), York Mansion House is the official residence of the Lord Mayor of York since 1732 and is the oldest Lord Mayor residence still in existence. Located right in the heart of York, England, the Grade I Georgian building has undergone extensive refurbishment and is now open to the public for the first time in centuries. The manor’s collection includes furniture, ceramics, glassware, paintings, photographs and an array of York gold and silver, including the first silver chamber pot and a gold cup bought for the City of York with monies bequeathed by Marmaduke Rawdon in 1672. Drop in for a self-guided tour or book a special guided tour.
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Art Without Walls
By Linda Tancs
Art without walls. That’s the moniker for the open-air gallery at Yorkshire Sculpture Park. Britain’s first sculpture park, it’s set in a beautiful landscaped garden laid out in the 18th century located 20 miles south of Leeds in West Yorkshire. Current exhibitions include Ai Weiwei’s 12 colossal Chinese zodiac heads and Giuseppe Penone’s bronze trees, the tallest of which (L’ombra del bronzo) is an imposing 52 feet high.
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The Great North Road
By Linda Tancs
You might think of the U.K.’s Great North Road as the nation’s version of iconic Route 66 in the United States—only with a lot more history attached. It was the only way of traveling the 409 miles between London and Edinburgh for centuries until it was subsumed into the A1 (the longest numbered road in Britain) and other motorways of today. In prehistoric times it comprised part of the network of Roman roads: Ermine Street led from London to York, and Dere Street from York to Edinburgh. The ancient route is lined today with rusting mile markers; its cultural significance is marked by literary giants like Charles Dickens, a frequent traveler who gave it a nod in The Pickwick Papers. There’s even an old street sign inside the rock at Gibraltar where a vehicle tunnel was dug.
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The Dark Side of Victorian London
By Linda Tancs
Perhaps no story in the history of East London in Victorian times is as gripping as Jack the Ripper. At the Jack the Ripper Museum on Cable Street, six floors recreate scenes from the time, such as the murder scene in Mitre Square, the Whitechapel police station, Mary Jane Kelly’s bedroom, the mortuary and more. The museum explores East London during Victorian times, exploring the crimes within the social context of the period. The facility is just seven minutes away from Tower Hill Station.
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Britain’s Oldest Cliff Lift
By Linda Tancs
A fashionable resort in Victorian times, Saltburn-by-the-Sea in North Yorkshire has everything one might expect of a seaside destination: sweeping beaches, cliffs, big skies, surf and seabirds. Yet one thing distinguishes it from other beachy hangouts—the Cliff Lift, Britain’s oldest working water-balanced cliff tramway. Linking the town with the pier 120 feet below, each of two trams runs on a parallel track and is fitted underneath with a water tank that performs the operation of balance and gravity as the car makes its way down the incline. The trip takes 55 seconds. The tram is open on weekends from March to October and daily during peak season.
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Britain’s Longest Ancient Monument
By Linda Tancs
Offa of Mercia was one of the most remarkable kings to have ruled much of Anglo-Saxon England. At his command, an earthwork covering a distance of more than 80 miles was built along the border between England and Wales in the eighth century to separate his kingdom from rivals in present-day Wales. This earth ditch-and-bank is reportedly the longest ancient monument in Britain. A long distance trail covering 177 miles, Offa’s Dyke Path, follows much of the ancient course. The trail links Sedbury Cliffs near Chepstow on the banks of the Severn estuary with the coastal town of Prestatyn on the shores of the Irish sea and crosses the border between England and Wales over 20 times. You’ll encounter stunning landscapes boasting castles, country churches, hillforts, riverside meadows and rolling hills. Similar to Camino de Santiago, you can purchase a trail passport (or download it from the site) and get it stamped along your journey to enter the path’s Hall of Fame. Expect it to take up to two weeks to complete the whole trail.
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