Travelrific® Travel Journal
Picture postcards in prose.™ Check out the blogroll on the front page for official merchandise and other resources!Archive for england
London’s Oldest Bookshop
By Linda Tancs
Hatchards is London’s oldest bookshop. It was established in 1797 by publisher John Hatchard and has occupied its current space at 187 Piccadilly since Georgian times. Far from a crusty old bookstore, it shelves are lined with the latest bestsellers and contemporary works along with time-honored classics. The store’s dedicated team can even source out-of-print titles. As one might expect, they’re the Official Bookseller to the Royal Household.
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England’s Woodland Memorial
By Linda Tancs
A site of national remembrance, England’s National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire is a woodland oasis featuring 25,000 trees with a collection of nearly 400 memorials honoring those who have served and sacrificed. The memorials are diverse in size and scope and represent a broad population of society, from military associations and charities to emergency services, fraternity groups and individuals. The 150-acre site is located on the edge of the National Forest on Croxall Road in Alrewas, close to all the Midlands motorways.
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Bubblecars in Lincolnshire
By Linda Tancs
Bubblecars are a form of microcar, typically characterized by their three wheels and an engine capacity under 700cc. They are a significant part of British motoring history, so it should come as no surprise that the Bubblecar Museum near Boston in Lincolnshire is dedicated to them. The only public museum of its kind in the country, over 50 microcars are on display, many featuring period backgrounds. You’ll find examples of the prominent English manufacturers like Bond, Reliant, Bamby and Meadows Frisky. And yes, you can take a ride in one.
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A Local History Museum in London
By Linda Tancs
Gunnersbury Park boasts an opulent stately home in Regency style located in the London Borough of Hounslow. Once owned by the Rothschild banking family, it now houses a local history and heritage museum for the London boroughs of Ealing and Hounslow. You can thank Maria de Rothschild for that, who sold the park and its mansion houses to Ealing Borough Council and Acton Borough Council in 1925 to be preserved as a public space. Some popular features are the 19th-century carriages owned by the Rothschilds, the Victorian kitchens and the Greek-style Doric Temple, one of the oldest buildings in the park. You can get there easily via Acton Town or South Ealing tube stations.
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Silk Capital of the UK
By Linda Tancs
Like other medieval market towns in Suffolk, Sudbury gained acclaim as one of the famous wool towns. The textile of choice these days, though, is silk. In fact, the town has four working mills manufacturing 110 metric tonnes of Chinese silk every year which supplies 95 percent of the nation’s woven silk textiles, making it the silk capital of the United Kingdom. “Sudbury Silk” is so desired worldwide that it was granted protected geographical status in 2015. You can find exhibitions on the town’s silk industry at the former home of renowned landscape painter Thomas Gainsborough, which is now a museum and gallery.
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The Mother of All Ships
By Linda Tancs
At the time of her launch in 1843, SS Great Britain was the largest ship in the world, hailed as “the greatest experiment since the Creation.” She was also the first screw-propelled, ocean-going, iron-hulled steam ship, designed initially for the emerging trans-Atlantic luxury passenger trade. Her architect was Isambard Kingdom Brunel, an engineering giant voted one of the greatest Britons of all time. The ship was built in Bristol, where she’s been dry-docked since 1970 and later rehabilitated. Your ticket to visit the ship includes one year’s unlimited access to the dry dock where the ship was originally built (Great Western Dockyard), the Dockyard Museum and the new Being Brunel museum.
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The Battle of Britain
By Linda Tancs
The Battle of Britain was a military campaign of World War II, in which the Royal Air Force and the Fleet Air Arm of the Royal Navy defended Britain against relentless air raids by Nazi Germany’s air force. The successful defense is commemorated in bronze friezes at the Battle of Britain London Monument. The friezes, cast at the Morris Singer foundry (which also cast some of the lions in Trafalgar Square), depict various scenes from the battle. The monument is located on the Victoria Embankment (north side of the River Thames) opposite the London Eye.
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Darwin’s Inspiration in Kent
By Linda Tancs
It’s easy to understand why the estate known as Down House, a Georgian manor 15 miles south of London in the Kent countryside, would be so inspirational for English naturalist Charles Darwin and his family. The Sandwalk, in particular, was Darwin’s “thinking path,” a quarter-mile circuit that would motivate his musings on evolution and provoke outdoor experiments. Inside the house, the study where he wrote “On the Origin of Species” is virtually unaltered. But the estate also highlights the life of a devoted family man, featuring the original mulberry tree that his children climbed from their first-floor bedrooms. Whether inside or outside, you’ll receive fascinating insight into his life and work.
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The Capital of the Cotswolds
By Linda Tancs
Known as the “Capital of the Cotswolds,” Cirencester began its life as Corinium Dobunnorum, the capital of the Roman province of Britannia Prima. As you can imagine, there have been tremendous finds boasting of the city’s Roman heritage. In fact, with the exception of London, Cirencester’s mosaic collection is one of the largest in England. You can view those treasures, part of the country’s finest collections of Roman antiquities, at Corinium Museum in the heart of this market town. The exhibits run the gamut from prehistoric to modern day, including agriculture, costume, paper ephemera and social history.
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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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All Aboard the Christmas Train
By Linda Tancs
All aboard the U.K.’s first Christmas train of lights! This seasonal event in Devon begins at Queen’s Park Station, Paignton, where a steam train with vintage carriages is festooned with thousands of lights, both inside and out. The light show intensifies past Churston Station, where you will be propelled through 1,500 feet of greenway tunnel leading to an enchanted forest transformed by a multitude of lights and displays. After a turnaround at Kingswear, you’ll have an opportunity to disembark and take photographs from the platform before you head back to Paignton to experience the spectacle from a different direction.
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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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