Britain March/April 2014

BRITAIN THE OFFICIAL MAGAZINE

TRAVEL CULTURE HERITAGE STYLE

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VOTED BEST HOLIDAY MAGAZINE

ENGLAND EXPLORE THE WONDERS OF WARWICKSHIRE

05 05

9 771757 973077 9 771757 973077

MARCH/APRIL 2014 拢3.95

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a l u xu r y Richmo break in nd u Th a m e p o n s

CAPITAL DAY OUT ENJOY THE BEST OF LONDON WITH OUR TOP TIPS

CLOCK WATCHING

Classic timepieces, from a Suffolk sundial to Big Ben

MURDER IN THE CATHEDRAL THE TRAGIC TALE OF THOMAS BECKET

SECRET GARDENS Springtime delights from the National Trust

EDITOR'S LETTER When you receive your copies of this issue, spring will have sprung and the countryside should be awash not with winter floods but with colourful bulbs and baby animals. Talking of babies, this will be my last issue as editor for a while as I am off on maternity leave.

Hopefully I shall have time to visit a few places around Britain that have been on my bucket list for a while.

One of those is Hampton Court Palace. I have enjoyed its beautiful gardens for summertime concerts and Christmas ice-skating, but have yet to see the palace’s interior – our feature A tale of two palaces (p48) offers a taste of its hidden gems.

Hampton Court is also home to King Henry VIII’s astronomical clock, which started me thinking about Britain’s other treasured timepieces. Time to shine (p71) tracks down some of the most wonderful.

Also in this issue we follow in the footsteps of two of Britain’s literary greats, with Shakespeare’s England (p6) and a look at the land of Thomas Hardy (p40). Finally we have our tips on how to live like a lord in the grandest hotels and, at the other end of the scale, a day out in London for £10. The best of both worlds really!

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CONTENTS VOLUME 82 ISSUE 2

FEATURES 6

SHAKESPEARE'S ENGLAND

15

UNCHARTED WATERS

29

BRITISH BULLDOG

33

COMPLIMENTS OF THE CAPITAL

40

FAR FROM THE MADDING CROWD

Jessica Tooze, Editor

BRITAIN THE OFFICIAL MAGAZINE

TRAVEL CULTURE HERITAGE STYLE

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VOTED BEST HOLIDAY MAGAZINE

ENGLAND EXPLORE THE WONDERS OF WARWICKSHIRE

05 05

9 771757 973077 9 771757 973077

MARCH/APRIL 2014 £3.95

www.britain-magazine.com

WIN

a luxury Richmonbreak in d upon Thames

CAPITAL DAY OUT ENJOY THE BEST OF LONDON WITH OUR TOP TIPS

CLOCK WATCHING

Classic timepieces, from a Suffolk sundial to Big Ben

MURDER IN THE CATHEDRAL THE TRAGIC TALE OF THOMAS BECKET

SECRET GARDENS Springtime delights from the National Trust

FINAL BRMA14COVERV2.indd 1

27/01/2014 15:11

Cover image: Anne Hathaway's Cottage © Robert Harding World Imagery/Alamy

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Like us on Facebook/BritainMagazine

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The ruins of Corfe Castle, Dorset

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To mark 450 years since William Shakespeare's birth, we explore Warwickshire, his home county, where pretty cottages, churches and castles are in abundance.

Britain's history boasts many intrepid explorers who embarked on dangerous missions and discovered exciting new lands.

Wartime prime minister Sir Winston Churchill is one of the most iconic Britons of all time.

London might be expensive, but some of the best things to do are completely free.

Dorset's most famous writer, Thomas Hardy, set his major novels in the south and southwest of England, an area known as Wessex.

BRITAIN 3

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FEATURES

THE OFFICIAL MAGAZINE

48

A TALE OF TWO PALACES

59

SECRET GARDENS

71

TIME TO SHINE

79

MURDER IN THE CATHEDRAL

86

LIVE LIKE A LORD

www.britain-magazine.com BRITAIN is the official magazine of VisitBritain, the national tourism agency.

BRITAIN is published by The Chelsea Magazine Company Ltd, Jubilee House, 2 Jubilee Place, London SW3 3TQ Tel: 020 7349 3700 Fax: 020 7901 3701 Email: info@britain-magazine.com

From Tudor manor to sprawling royal seat, we discover the secrets of Hampton Court Palace.

In the second of our series exploring the treasures of the National Trust, we wander around some of its most wonderful gardens.

Editor Jessica Tooze Acting Deputy Editor Martha Alexander Art Editor Rhian Colley Designer Alicia Fernandes Publisher Simon Temlett Digital Marketing Coordinator Holly Thacker Digital Product Manager Oliver Morley-Norris

British timepieces from around the country, including Big Ben and the Hever astrolabe.

Advertisement Manager Natasha Syed Sales Executives James Darnborough, Jack Shannon

From king's confidant to deadly enemy, Thomas Becket was a dramatic character in life and in death.

Managing Director Paul Dobson Deputy Managing Director Steve Ross Commercial Director Vicki Gavin Subscriptions Manager William Delmont

Stay on a splendid country estate and enjoy all the trappings of an aristocratic lifestyle.

For VisitBritain Iris Buckley

REGULARS 23

BRIT LIST

69

LETTERS

77

RICHMOND COMPETITION

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BRITISH TRADITIONS

71

To mark 100 years since the outbreak of World War I, we round up the top commemorative exhibitions and events.

Do get in touch to tell us about your experiences in Britain or let us know what you think of the magazine.

Win a wonderful weekend break in picturesque Richmond upon Thames.

From pagan ritual to chocolate eggs, we explore the traditions of Easter.

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IN THIS ISSUE

SCOTLAND

Š The Chelsea Magazine Company Ltd 2013. All rights reserved.

Text and pictures are copyright restricted and must not be reproduced without permission of the publishers

WHITBY, p15

IRELAND ENGLAND

LIVERPOOL, p71

WA L E S

86 4 BRITAIN

HAMPTON COURT, p48 DORCHESTER, p40

The information contained in BRITAIN has been published in good faith and every effort has been made to ensure its accuracy.

However, where appropriate, you are strongly advised to check prices, opening times, dates, etc, before making final arrangements. All liability for loss, disappointment, negligence or damage caused by reliance on the information contained within this publication is hereby excluded. The opinions expressed by contributors to BRITAIN are not necessarily those of the publisher or VisitBritain.

STRATFORD-UPON-AVON, p6

CANTERBURY, p79

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QUINTESSENTIALLY BRITISH SINCE 1934

Luxury Leather Goods and Accessories Hand Crafted in the United Kingdom www.ettinger.co.uk Tel: +44 (0)20 8877 1616

A pretty street in Warwick, with the towers of Warwick Castle in the background

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Warwickshire

On the 450th anniversary of William Shakespeare’s birth we explore his home county of Warwickshire, one of the country’s most historic and picturesque destinations WORDS CLAIRE SANTRY

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n the picture-postcard and chocolate-box markets, one photogenic property has worn the ‘quintessential England’ crown for years: Anne Hathaway’s Cottage in Shottery, Warwickshire. With its thatched roof, dark timber beams and leaded windows overlooking an enchanting garden of roses, sweet pea, hollyhocks, delphiniums and scented honeysuckles, it oozes nostalgia and romance. What could be more delightfully appropriate than this pretty rural setting forming the backdrop to the real-life version of Shakespeare in Love?

While the 18-year-old William had to traipse a mile or so over fields from his home in Stratford-upon-Avon to court Anne at her family’s cottage – then called Newlands Farm – today’s visitors typically arrive by car or on the sightseeing bus. Most are quickly seduced by the old farmhouse as they explore the low-ceilinged bedrooms, climb the worn stairways, and view the so-called Wooing Seat where Anne and her much younger beau may have cuddled in front of the parlour’s huge inglenook fireplace.

The old settle dates from the right era, but whether it was truly where Shakespeare plighted his troth is open to conjecture. What is not disputed is that the two married in 1582 and baby Susanna was born six months later. For the next five years the couple lived with William’s family in Stratford in the half-timbered building now known as Shakespeare’s Birthplace on Henley Street. Of the five properties owned and managed by the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, Anne Hathaway’s Cottage is undoubtedly the most intimate and homely, but the most

photoS: © peter Brown/AlAmy/GreG BAlfour evAnS/iStock illuStrAtion: Scott jeSSop

Left: Anne Hathaway's Cottage.

Facing page: A narrowboat on the River Avon with Shakespeare's burial place, Holy Trinity Church, in the background

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visited is Shakespeare’s Birthplace, where performers in period dress bring domestic Elizabethan routine to life.

For those on the Shakespeare pilgrimage trail, the Trust has another three sites to visit – Hall’s Croft, where Susanna lived with her apothecary husband; Nash’s House and neighbouring New Place, the site of the house where William lived out his final years; and Mary Arden’s Farm, the family home of his mother and a firm favourite with children. There is also Holy Trinity Church, where William, Anne, Susanna and her husband are buried in the chancel. The right to a final resting place in the chancel was granted by virtue of William’s status as a lay-rector rather than his virtuosity as a poet and he lies beneath a grave slab inscribed with the warning: “And cursed be he that moves my bones”.

The great poet’s last theatrical line can be read just a stone’s throw from the Royal Shakespeare Theatre (RST), another huge magnet for visitors, whether or not they intend to take in a performance. It is a vast edifice, rising up from the west bank of the River Avon, with a fascinating history. This story is best understood by joining one of the daily tours of the building; the enthusiastic guides can satisfy most queries, including statistical details, architectural history, and the secret stagecraft techniques used for some of the Bard’s most gory scenes. Depending on stage design and rehearsal schedules, the tours usually take in the actors’ ‘quick change’ spaces, wigs and make-up areas, the auditorium with its new thrust stage, and the technical control room, as well as the public areas.

Although all visitors are free to wander around the public areas, most of those who don’t join the highly www.britain-magazine.com

The right to a final resting place in the chancel was granted by virtue of William’s status as a lay-rector rather than his virtuosity as a poet

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photoS: © ian dagnall/alamy/bl imageS ltd/neil mcalliSter/iStock

recommended tours probably overlook some of the building’s most interesting features and quirks. Who, for example, would recognise the elevated aluminium ticket box in the fabulous Art Deco foyer if it weren’t pointed out to them? Who would grasp the significance of the three chairs looming above diners in the roof-top restaurant?

And who would appreciate that the battered-looking floor boards in the main public circulation area are the very stage boards so well trodden by the likes of Laurence Olivier, John Gielgud, Helen Mirren, Judi Dench, Kenneth Branagh and many other famous thespians?

For a small fee, a trip to the RST can include an escalator ride to the 32-metre-level of the tower to enjoy a view that might, on a clear day, reach beyond the nearby National Trust properties of Charlecote Park and Baddesley Clinton and the award-winning art gallery at Compton Verney (all very worthwhile places to visit in the vicinity), and out across the county into Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire, Worcestershire and Herefordshire.

While the lift is the quickest route back to ground level, those with robust joints may prefer the option of descending via the stairway. With 174 steps, it doubles as a photographic gallery and depicts the chronology of all 37 of the Bard of Avon’s plays, starting at the top with what is believed to be his earliest work, Two Gentlemen

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Clockwise from top left: The Royal Shakespeare Theatre; Mary Arden's House; a quaint tea shop in Stratford-uponAvon. Facing page: Nash's House and New Place garden; Kenilworth Castle; Bidford-on-Avon

of Verona, written in c. 1589, and ending with his 1613 work, Henry VIII, on reaching the foyer.

Even the most focused literary fan can become rather Shakespeared-out in Stratford and require a change of pace. Some might head for a bit of retail therapy in the small town’s fairly regular range of stores, or sample some of its many quaint tea shops, restaurants and pubs.

Others will take a cue from the swans serenely gliding along the River Avon and choose to take their relaxation on or by the water.

With wide public spaces, gardens and lawns on both banks, an old-fashioned lock opening into a marina filled with cheerfully painted narrowboats, a bandstand, an old chain ferry and two photogenic bridges with no fewer than 26 arches between them, the town’s riverside is a lovely place to promenade and explore. There’s also the chance to hop on a short river cruise, hire a rowing boat, punt or canoe, play some crazy golf or simply seek out a shady bench beneath a weeping willow and watch the world go by. It can be a busy world at times, especially in high summer or during festivals or special events… just watch out when the rumbustious and totally potty charity raft race rows this way each June!

While Stratford-upon-Avon and Shakespeare go hand in hand, the wider county has plenty of other literary www.britain-magazine.com

Warwickshire

connections. Nuneaton in the north has George Eliot, Stoneleigh has Jane Austen, Kenilworth has Sir Walter Scott and Rugby has so many it even provides special outdoor seating for those who want to curl up with a good book from one of its wordsmith sons.

In truth, any desire to ‘curl up’ soon passes because, despite having the appearance of a Chesterfield sofa, a cosy chaise longue and a Queen Anne footstool, Rugby’s al fresco Reading Rooms are sculpted from Wattscliffe sandstone and set on a granite ‘carpet’! These unusual works of public art, designed and created by Michael Scheuermann, were inspired by the works of Lewis Carroll, Arthur Ransome, Rupert Brooke, Salman Rushdie and other authors connected to the small town, and there are dozens of intriguing devices and allusions to their literature carved into the hard stone. Among them is a piece of real porcelain teacup embedded in the chaise longue to represent the complementary pairing of tea and a good book, and the church clock with its hands at ten to three (“Stands the church clock at ten-to-three? And is there honey still for tea?” from Rupert Brooke).

With its place in history assured thanks to a schoolboy who picked up and ran with a football in 1823, Rugby has a strong following on the tourist trail. It also has an attractive Victorian centre with lots of individual stores www.britain-magazine.com

Beyond THe BArd J Warwick Castle will toast its 1,100th

J In 1602, Shakespeare bought lands

in the Welcombe Hills, to the north of Stratford. Today the area is better known for its glorious country mansion hotel – the Menzies Welcombe (pictured above).

With its spa and golf club, fine dining, four-poster bedrooms and grand terraced gardens, this is Stratford’s treat-yourself hotel par excellence. www.menzieshotels.co.uk

anniversary in 2014 with a number of special events and the relaunch of its Kingmaker attraction which will now encapsulate the BBC series, The White Queen, based on Philippa Gregory's bestselling novel. www.warwick-castle.com J Stoneleigh Abbey was once the country seat of Jane Austen’s relatives ‘the Leighs’ and the young novelist found both the house and its family intriguing.

So, too, do the visitors who seek out this little-known Warwickshire gem. This year the abbey will be celebrating the 200th anniversary of Jane’s Mansfield Park. www.stoneleighabbey.org J The Heritage Motor Centre, home to the world’s largest collection of British cars, will celebrate its 21st anniversary this year with a special line-up of the best British design icons. www.heritage-motor-centre.co.uk

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Warwickshire Elizabethan garden, a couple of small exhibitions and, new this year, viewing platforms over the castle grounds where Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, romanced but failed to win Queen Elizabeth I. Nothing can beat the hollowed out Cathedral of St Michael in Coventry, in the north of the historical county of Warwickshire, for heart-rending ruins, for no centuries have passed to soften visitors’ emotional responses to the devastation that rained down on the city’s medieval church on 14 November 1940 during its worst Blitz attack. Locals, however, made the journey from destruction to hope when they built a brand new church adjacent to the ruins.

From the outside, the huge sandstone bulk of the modern church, consecrated in 1962, doesn’t look very promising. Its architect, Sir Basil Spence, intended this.

“The [new] cathedral will be like a plain jewel casket with many jewels inside,” he said, as he set out to commission an array of 20th-century treasures from renowned artists such as American-born sculptor Sir Jacob Epstein and English sculptor Elisabeth Frink.

Today, the two parts of the cathedral – the hushed ruins and the impressive modern symbol of reconciliation – are strongly embedded in the city’s psyche, offering a quiet place for locals and visitors alike to enjoy a lunchtime sandwich, view some world-class art, spend time in spiritual reflection or even read some Shakespeare in one of the country’s most evocative settings.

 For more information and holiday ideas in Shakespeare’s England please visit the official website at www.shakespeares-england.co.uk

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Above: Ruins of the 'old cathedral', Coventry.

Right: William Shakespeare's Birthplace

ANNIVERSARY JOURNEY

Stratford-upon-Avon will be celebrating the 450th anniversary of William Shakespeare’s birth on 23 April. Mark the occasion with a walk along ‘Shakespeare’s Way’ with Ciceroni Travel. New for 2014, this five-night tour is inspired by the journey Shakespeare would have made between the Globe Theatre in London and his Warwickshire home, passing through quintessential English towns and villages, including Oxford and Woodstock, and discovering his inspirations along the route. But unlike Shakespeare’s rough and ready voyage, travellers will be transported by luxury coach and stay in top-quality hotels, as well as going behind the scenes and enjoying world-class performances at both the Globe and RST. The tour is led by Shakespearean actor James Howard, who has worked for the likes of the Royal Shakespeare Company and the National Theatre. The first tour runs from 16-21 May and costs £1,575 per person. www.ciceroni.co.uk

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pHOTOS: © iSTOCk

to browse in, making it one of several interesting Warwickshire towns to stroll around. Another is Royal Leamington Spa, which wears its royal status rather prominently and, some say, a little snootily, but gets away with it on account of its undoubted elegance.

Smaller in size, but certainly worth visiting for appealing olde worlde charm are Bidford-on-Avon, Shipston-onStour, Henley-in-Arden and the unhyphenated, but no less characterful, Alcester.

The county town of Warwick also has great browsing credentials, especially for books and antiques, but it’s best known attraction is its giant castle. Warwick Castle is one of the country’s top-drawer heritage sites and fulfils every child’s imaginary medieval fortress wish-list with its round towers, a moat and drawbridge, dungeons and arrow slits, and a seemingly permanent household of fair maidens and chaps in tights. Although its most famous historical tales derive from its 15th-century links with the supremely powerful Kingmaker, Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick, its story actually dates back to before the Norman Conquest.

In the castellated ramparts stakes, Warwick’s nearby rival, Kenilworth Castle, is rather less imposing, mainly because it got bashed about rather badly in the Civil War. However, when a low sun hits the red sandstone ruins of the 12th-century keep or a bright sky makes a silhouette of John of Gaunt’s Great Hall, no one can deny that it wears its battle scars well. It is a relaxed place to visit, less showy than Warwick, with a restored

open daily

a day out for all the family £8 children £13.50 adults £36 family ticket Admission includes •40 minute tour •Audio guide •Sword fighting and costume dressing demonstrations

St Paul’s, Southwark, Mansion House London Bridge, Blackfriars, Waterloo

shakespearesglobe.com/exhibition Bankside, London SE1

THE

CHARLECOTE PHEASANT The Charlecote Pheasant

The perfect base for exploring Shakespeare country.

NOMINA NOM INATED INA TED FO FOR O 20 OR 2014’ 2014 14’SS 14’ 14

The charming Charlecote Pheasant is nestled in a delightful village just minutes from historic Stratford-upon-Avon. Exuding the air of a country manor, the attractive decor and timbered ceilings give the hotel a warm, rustic, quintessentially English atmosphere.

The Pitlochry Hydro

The George

The Portpatrick The Derwentwater

The Windermere

Experience a Coast & Country break this year…

14 beautiful hotels in stunning locations across the UK

The St George The Golden Lion

The Imperial

The Charlecote Pheasant

The Grand Atlantic The Ship & Castle

The Imperial

The Lansdown Grove The Savoy

Discover more and request your personal copy of the 2014 brochure or book today at:

www.coastandcountryhotels.com/britain

Great British Explorers

Uncharted waters Britain’s explorers and pioneers have discovered new lands and mapped the world for future travellers, on dangerous but exhilarating missions full of derring-do and discovery

PHOTO: © JOEL W ROGERS/CORBIS

WORDS NEIL JONES

A modern reconstruction of the Golden Hinde, the galleon Sir Francis Drake used to circumnavigate the globe in the 16th century

T

he British poet John Masefield famously evoked the restless urge for a life on the ocean wave, writing in Sea Fever: “I must go down to the seas again, for the call of the running tide / Is a wild call and a clear call that may not be denied”.

Nowhere more than the island nation

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of Britain have people so strongly followed the call, with each century producing heroes who have made their marks throughout the globe.

Queen Elizabeth I presided over a golden era of exploring in the 16th century, years that saw spectacular round-the-world voyages by Drake

and Cavendish. But the most flamboyant sea dog of all was Walter Raleigh (also spelled Ralegh; c. 1552–1618).

In Elizabeth’s reign and with her tacit support, ruling the waves, trade, privateering and exploration were all closely linked. Raleigh excelled, BRITAIN

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lining his pockets through piracy, proving a ruthless soldier in Ireland, hunting for the fabled gold of El Dorado, and fighting against the Spanish at Cadiz and in the Azores.

Court favourite, politician, businessman, historian and poet: the Devon-born son of a squire was exactly the sort of self-made Renaissance man that so beguiled the queen. The alleged tale that he chivalrously threw down his cloak before her to save the royal toes from a puddle merely underlines his winning chutzpah.

Raleigh organised notable expeditions to North America in search of gold and trade in the 1580s,

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and named Virginia in honour of the Virgin Queen, for which he was knighted. Attempts to colonise Roanoke Island may have failed but the venture fired the imaginations of further travellers to the New World.

The discovery years later of fairskinned native Americans on Croatoan Island even raised the tantalising possibility that some of Raleigh’s ‘lost colonists’ had in fact made their homes among local tribes.

Forever one to sail close to the wind, Raleigh was thrown into the Tower of London for marrying a royal maid without the queen’s consent, and again by King James I for alleged treason. There, he whiled away time conducting experiments in a converted shed, growing tobacco on Tower Green and writing his vast, unfinished History of the World.

Eventually taken to the executioner’s block, he was witty to the end, testing the axe blade with his finger and declaring: “This is a sharp medicine, but it is a physician that will cure all my diseases.” His widow had his head embalmed to keep and show admirers.

The lure of the New World continued to occupy Britons through the reign of King James I and a business venture sponsored by the Virginia Company of London saw the first permanent English-speaking settlement established at Jamestown, Virginia in 1607. Thirteen years later, the Pilgrim Fathers planted a colony at New Plymouth, Massachusetts, however this time the motive for emigration was religious freedom.

The turbulent years following the Reformation had provoked many people to question forms of worship, among them the Pilgrims, who wanted to practise their Puritan faith free from reprisals. Many in the group hailed originally from the Trent valley around the Lincolnshire town www.britain-magazine.com

IMAGES: © GEOFF HOLDSWORTH/ALAMY/WIKIPEDIA/ISTOCK

Great British Explorers

of Gainsborough, where the Separatist Church – people who wanted to worship separate from interference by State or Anglican Church – had gone underground.

The Pilgrim Fathers set sail on the Mayflower from Plymouth on England’s south coast on 6 September 1620, their numbers swelled to 102 passengers by settlers seeking economic betterment. Just over nine weeks later, “weary of the sea”, the travellers settled at New Plymouth.

During the first, difficult winter, nearly half of the passengers died of the “great sickness”, but in time the colony prospered.

The Mayflower Compact they drew up to govern themselves is, in the words of the General Society of Mayflower Descendants, “considered to have set the stage for the Constitution of the United States.”

Their great feast of 1621 is frequently cited as the first Thanksgiving.

Plymouth, England was also the departure point in the following century for Captain James Cook’s epic journeys to the South Pacific, although the historic coastline and heather moorlands of North Yorkshire where Britain’s greatest navigator grew up lay claim to be Captain Cook Country.

In the 18th century, the Pacific Ocean was still virtually uncharted.

Cook (1728–1779) changed all that on three momentous voyages, beginning on the Endeavour in 1768. He charted the Pacific, circumnavigating New Zealand and surveying the east coast of Australia. Then he sailed the icy Right: A seagull perches on the statue of Captain Cook in Whitby. Facing page, clockwise from top left: Sir Walter Raleigh; the Tower of London where Raleigh was imprisoned; the Pilgrim Fathers leaving England; Whitby Abbey in North Yorkshire, now dubbed Captain Cook Country; Queen Elizabeth I www.britain-magazine.com

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The palace of the Prince Bishops of Durham for over 900 years, Auckland Castle is now fully open to the public for the first time.

Following the Norman Conquest and the Harrying of the North, the Bishop of Durham was granted exceptional powers to act as a political and military leader. With Auckland Castle as a seat of power in North East England, the king allowed him to raise taxes, mint coins and hold his own parliaments. Such royal privileges made the Bishop of Durham the second most powerful man in the country - ruling the area between the Tyne and the Tees. This wealth, power, and influence flowed into Auckland Castle.

Guided tours of the Castle take place twice a day, but for those preferring to explore on their own, we also have audio guides and self-guided leaflets available from Visitor Services.

The Castle sits high above the Wear Valley with spectacular views across the winding River Gaunless out into expansive countryside. Our beautiful park extends to almost 200 acres and contains a total of seven Grade I listed buildings, including the celebrated Deer House, as well as secluded woodland rises and stunning vistas for you to explore.

We have a shop on site stocking a range of locally produced gifts and souvenirs and our cafĂŠ serves a range of home cooked produce with daily specials, cakes and pastries. Auckland Castle has everything you need for a day out - why not come along and discover this hidden treasure?

The Castle is available for private hire, with its state rooms providing the perfect setting for everything from a spectacular wedding to an intimate private dining event or corporate function.

Please email enquiries@aucklandcastle.org for further information or call us on the number below.

Open every day except Tuesday, from 1st April to 30th September between 10.30am and 4.00pm. Guided tours are at 11.30am and 2.00pm and are included in the admission fee.

For details of ticket prices and special events please visit

www.aucklandcastle.org Telephone 01388 743 750 b:@aucklandcastle

For more information on Auckland Castle please do not hesitate to contact us on: 01388 743750 or email: enquiries@aucklandcastle.org.

fringes of the Antarctic and, travelling farther south than anyone before him, he laid to rest the myth of a southern continent.

Renowned for his concern for the wellbeing of his crews, Cook kept scurvy at bay with a ship’s diet rich in pickled cabbage. He also cared deeply for the natives he met, which makes it all the more tragic that on his fi nal voyage, in search of the North-West Passage linking the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, he was killed in an affray with islanders on Hawaii. Nevertheless his legacy lived on, in new standards in map making and a radically altered perception of world geography.

Scotsman Dr Livingstone (1813– 1873) expanded our map of the world in another direction in the 19th century, penetrating deep into ‘darkest Africa’, as it was then known, “to make an open path for commerce and Christianity.” www.britain-magazine.com

After studying medicine and theology, Livingstone explored Africa from the 1840s, filling in more gaps on the continent’s map than anyone before him. During his expeditions, the Victoria Falls on the Zambezi River were discovered, as well as Lake Nyasa (now Lake Malawi), and he campaigned vigorously against the African slave trade.

When news of his work dried up for several years, people became so worried that the New York Herald despatched Henry Morton Stanley to fi nd him, leading to the famously courteous inquiry: “Dr Livingstone I presume?” when the reporter discovered him on the shore of Lake Tanganyika in 1871. Even the slave traders Livingstone opposed respected him, referring to “the very great doctor.”

From hot climes to the Heroic Age of Antarctic expeditions that straddled the turn of the 20th

IMAGES: © JIM RYCE/ALAMY/WIKIPEDIA

Great British Explorers

Top: Drawing of Captain Cook witnessing human sacrifice in Tahiti. This picture: A statue of Dr David Livingstone, watched over by Glasgow Cathedral

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Great British Explorers

PHOTOS: © ISTOCK/CLASSIC IMAGE/ALAMY

EXPLORERS’ BRITAIN

century, when teams from numerous countries vied to explore the icy wastes. In 1911 Norwegian Roald Amundsen won the race to the South Pole, beating Captain Scott and his team who all perished. In 1914 the seasoned Anglo-Irish polar explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton (1874–1922) set off with a crew of 27 on what he saw as the last great challenge: to cross the Antarctic continent on foot from one side to the other. The attempt failed but it is one of the most thrilling tales of survival.

Their ship Endurance became trapped in ice in the Weddell Sea, drifting for 10 months before being crushed. The crew wintered on an ice floe, then escaped on lifeboats to Elephant Island. From here, Shackleton and five others sailed in a seven-metre-long lifeboat through terrifying storms to South Georgia 1,450km away. On landing, there was

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still a 36-hour trek through mountains and ice to a Norwegian whaling station to raise help to relieve the company left on Elephant Island.

The ordeal lasted 20 months and every single man survived, largely thanks to Shackleton’s leadership. In a letter to his wife he wrote with modest brevity: “Not a life lost and we have been through Hell. Soon will I be home and then I will rest.”

Five different centuries: five different examples of heroic expeditions that furthered knowledge and forged links around the world. Today, in return, our island nation welcomes many explorers and pilgrims with roots back in the ‘Old Country’ – why not look up Raleigh and co. on your travels around Britain?

Left: Polar explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton endured an epic adventure attempting to cross the Antarctic

8 For more on extraordinary explorers throughout history please visit the BRITAIN website at www.britain-magazine.com www.britain-magazine.com

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What to do ● Where to go ● What to buy

2014 marks 100 years since the outbreak of World War I and 75 since the start of WWII. We round up the country's commemorations

picture of war The National Portrait Gallery in London will stage the first national exhibition of paintings commemorating WWI. Works include this self portrait by Sir William Orpen. 27 February – 15 June. www.npg.org.uk

drama of dunkirk

photo: © IWM ARt 2382

We WIll remember Inspired by the poem In Flanders Fields, written by John mcCrae during World War I, the red field poppy has become the royal british legion's emblem of remembrance for soldiers who have lost their lives in war. this bone china mug, £7, is a beautiful tribute. www.iwmshop.org.uk www.britain-magazine.com

The tunnels beneath magnificent Dover Castle in Kent were used in the masterminding of Operation Dynamo – the tense 1940 rescue of 338,000 Allied troops stranded in Dunkirk. Today visitors can explore the tunnels and revisit the evacuation effort thanks to a permanent exhibition boasting state-of-the-art special effects, projections, news reels and real film footage of the time. www.english-heritage.org.uk britain

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cathedral centenary Majestic Norwich Cathedral hosts a World War I centenary concert on 12 July, when a new piece of music by Patrick Hawes will premiere. Cavell Commission commemorates the life of nurse Edith Cavell who is buried at the cathedral. www.cathedral.org.uk

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WHAT TO DO ● WHERE TO GO ● WHAT TO BUY

HORSE HEROES Home Lad, Home – paintings of horses used during WWI – will show at St Barbe Museum & Art Gallery, Hampshire, from 1 March to 26 April. www.stbarbemuseum.org.uk

THE WAR AT HOME The Imperial War Museum North stages the largest exhibition ever created exploring northern communities during World War I Embracing both the everyday and the extraordinary, IWM North reveals wartime personal stories of people living in the north-west of England. Objects never exhibited before, including photographs and letters, reveal how the region was shaped by a global conflict. From 5 April to 31 May. www.iwm.org.uk

PHOTOS: © IMPERIAL WAR MUSEUM/NATIONAL MUSEUMS SCOTLAND/BUSHEY MUSEUM & ART GALLERY

SOLDIERS' STORIES An exhibition of personal letters and artefacts reflecting the individual experiences of soldiers in the Great War will open at the National War Museum in Edinburgh Castle in April for a year, before touring for a further three. Next of Kin is part of a programme of events by National Museums of Scotland which will commemorate World War I and will tell, among others, the story of Corporal George Buchanan of the Seaforth Highlanders, who was killed at the Battle of Loos in 1915. www.nms.ac.uk

HOSPITAL CITY

Brighton Museum's Dr Brighton's War, from 9 July to 31 August, is a pictorial exhibition that illustrates the role the ‘hospital city' by the sea played in the healing and recuperation of soldiers during WWI. www.brighton-hove-rpml.org.uk

EDITOR'S PICK – READ ALL ABOUT IT Edited by Sebastian Faulks, War Stories (£7.99, Vintage) is an anthology of compelling but often horrifying fiction about military conflict in the 20th century. With tales on themes including callup, battle, comradeship www.britain-magazine.com

and injury by a wide range of authors such as Ernest Hemingway, Elizabeth Bowen, Louis de Bernières and Norman Mailer, this volume is essential reading for anyone fascinated by the complexities of war.

The Great War: A Photographic Narrative (£40, IWM) boasts over 500 pictures from World War I taken from the Imperial War Museum's archive.

The pictures are all moving, but none

more so than the final image showing the arrival of silence on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918.

The Wipers Times (£9.99,

Conway) is a collection of the famous WWI trench newspaper. The wry tone was a relief for soldiers and almost 100 years after it first rolled off the presses it gives a unique insight into life on the front line.

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ENGLAND’S HIDDEN GEM Discover this hidden gem in the heart of England.

Wide boulevards, beautiful architecture and expansive, award-winning parks provide a sophisticated backdrop to this Regency shopping paradise. You’ll find it one of the most appealing towns in the UK.

Royal Leamington Spa Town Centre combines a treasure-trove of independent, specialist boutiques with a rich choice of bistros, exquisite restaurants and evening venues.

Located right on the doorstep of historic Stratfordupon-Avon, medieval Warwick, and easily accessible Unique shopping by direct train from London. It is the perfect place from which to explore Shakespeare’s England.

Visit www.royal-leamington-spa.co.uk Follow us on:

What to do ● Where to go ● What to buy

soldier for a day The wonderful Museum of Childhood in London marks the 100th anniversary of WWI by inviting children to ‘play in a day’ workshops, where they write and rehearse a play based on a day in the life of a soldier, before performing it to audiences. From 17 to 21 February. www.museumof childhood.org.uk

stately home front Life at Waddesdon Manor – one of britain's most beautiful estates – during the great War is revisited through a collection of memorabilia Waddesdon at War, from 26 March to 26 October, will include photographs and letters of family and staff living on the estate, detailing how conflict affected Britain’s large family seats. A poignant highlight is the story of one of Waddesdon’s gardeners, who returned to work there after surviving the war. www.waddesdon.org.uk

capturing conflict

PhotoS: © Shomei TomaTSu - inTerface courTeSy of Taka iShii Gallery, Tokyo/muSeum of childhood

a tate Modern exhibition opens this autumn timed to specifically coincide with the centenary of the start of World War I. Conflict, time, Photography, from 27 November 2014 to 14 april 2015, will examine the relationship between photography and battlegrounds over time. Some images were taken moments after an event, others up to 100 years later. often harrowing but always thought-provoking, photographs from the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries all feature in this humbling collection. www.tate.org.uk

the monuments men Based on the book of the same name by Robert M Edsel, The Monuments Men is released in UK cinemas in February, a few months before the anniversary of the end of World War II. Boasting Hollywood royalty George Clooney and Matt Damon, the film tells the story of an Allied group who were tasked with saving monuments and other pieces of fine art from Hitler’s acquisition and destruction. www.britain-magazine.com

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Moorcroft, a hidden gem of the applied arts Est.1897

The Hamlet by Moorcroft designer, Kerry Goodwin, is lost in a dream of mauve and burgundy flowers as gothic lodges soar into the darkest of nights in a world where trees mutate into tulips and an oak panelled door draws you to something beyond the ordinary.

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Great Britons

British Bulldog sir Winston Leonard spencer-Churchill has been voted the greatest Briton of all time and his is a remarkable story of talent, charisma and sheer determination Words Jessica Tooze

There’s more to Hampton Court Palace than the Tudors. It consists of two distinct halves, built in two very different eras. But both were built as a show of strength and the walls tell just as many stories as the ghosts that haunt them

photo: Š graham oliver/alamy

Words PiP Brooking

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Clockwise from above left: Winston Churchill was a fan of hats – his collection can be seen at his former home, Chartwell; Churchill bought Chartwell in 1922 – it is now a National Trust property and is open to the public; Churchill was granted a state funeral; Blenheim Palace, where Churchill was born, is home to the 11th Duke and Duchess of Marlborough. Facing page: Churchill walks through the ruins of Coventry Cathedral in 1941

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Great Britons

photoS: © MARKA /AlAMy/DAviD Cole/wiKipeDiA/viSitBRitAin/BRitAin on view/nAtionAl tRuSt iMAgeS/iAn ShAw

“W

hen you are winning a war almost everything that happens can be claimed to be right and wise,” said Winston Churchill. At the forefront of British politics for 50 years, notably during the wartime years of 1939 to 1945, he became one of the most influential politicians in history. While not everyone agreed with his decisions, and though he inevitably made mistakes, he was almost universally respected for the contribution he made to his country.

It can hardly be said that Churchill came from humble roots – he was born in 1874 into the aristocratic family of the Dukes of Marlborough, a branch of the Spencer family, in the magnificent Blenheim Palace. His father, Lord Randolph Churchill, was a member of parliament and his mother, Jennie Jerome, was an American heiress.

Churchill’s childhood was not easy, however – his parents had little to do with him and he was looked after by his nanny before being sent off to boarding school at age eight. He didn’t excel academically but was a popular boy, known as a bit of a troublemaker. In 1887, 12-year-old Churchill was accepted to the prestigious Harrow School, where he began studying military tactics.

Going on to the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, Churchill graduated near the top of his class and was given a commission as a cavalry officer. During his first leave he demonstrated his thirst to see the world and headed to Cuba where Spanish troops were fighting the Cuban guerrillas. More than an interested soldier, he became a war correspondent for London’s The Daily Graphic – it was the beginning of a long writing career.

He travelled extensively with his regiment, notably to India, Sudan and South Africa, and when 25-year-old Churchill returned to England he was both a famous author and something of a hero following his daring escape from a prison camp during the Boer War. His next move into politics seemed destined and, in 1900, Churchill became Conservative Member of Parliament for Oldham.

He held many political and cabinet positions; before the First World War, he served as president of the board of trade, home secretary, and first lord of the admiralty as part of the Asquith Liberal government. During the war, he continued as first lord of the admiralty until the disastrous Gallipoli Campaign, for which he was blamed by many. He resigned and joined the army, serving for a time on the Western Front. He was back in government in 1917 though, firstly as minister of munitions then secretary of state for war and air, and from 1924-1929 as chancellor of the exchequer.

In 1922 Churchill and his wife Clementine bought the property that was to be their long-term home – Chartwell in Kent, located two miles south of Westerham. Churchill bought it for its spectacular views over the Weald of Kent – from the house you can see all the way to Crowborough over marvellous countryside.

Now run by the National Trust, the house looks much as it would have when Churchill lived there and it is a homely place, packed full of fascinating treasures that he accumulated throughout his life. It contains a remarkable array of items that were gifted to Churchill from friends and acquaintances across the world.

Among the more unusual items are a cigar box decorated with Churchill’s face made of tobacco leaves from the people of Leningrad and a small brass Portuguese donkey cart holding a spirit lamp brandy glass warmer. Churchill’s tastes for a tipple and smoke were well known – his cigars litter the house and in the dining room one of his paintings, entitled Bottlescape, is a still life of a collection of bottles that apparently had to be whisked away when the vicar paid an unexpected visit.

A lion and white kangaroo he was given were donated to London Zoo, while a gift of a platypus never made it safely to English

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shores. But descendants of the black swans, given to him by the Government of Western Australia, terrorise visitors to the house and its beautiful woodland gardens to this day.

When war broke out in 1939, Churchill was unable to stay at Chartwell for safety reasons but memorabilia from that time can be found here including his passport, with a typically grumpy photograph, his ration book and a Jewish bible.

It was during the war, of course, that Churchill became prime minister in May 1940. The war years are those he is best known for and his inspiring oratory and absolute refusal to surrender to Nazi Germany motivated a bewildered country. In three major speeches to the House of Commons around the period of the Battle of France in June 1940 he exhorted the British people to fight on in the face of Nazi domination: “We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender,” he declaimed.

Churchill lost power in the 1945 post-war election but remained leader of the opposition, voicing apprehensions about the Cold War (he popularised the term ‘Iron Curtain’). He became prime minister once again in 1951 and even won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1953. The Exhibition Room at Chartwell emphasises the phenomenal achievements of the man: from his Nobel Prize to the Cross of Lorraine, there are some extraordinary treasures here that bear testimony to an incredible life lived.

On 27 July 1964 Churchill was present in the House of Commons for the last time, and one day later a deputation headed by Prime Minister Sir Alec Douglas-Home presented him with a resolution that had been carried by the House of Commons to put on record “its unbounded admiration and gratitude for his services to Parliament, to the nation and to the world”. It “remembers, above all, his inspiration of the British people when they stood alone, and his leadership until victory was won; and offers its grateful thanks”.

After Churchill died, aged 90, on Sunday 24 January 1965 his body lay in state for three days by decree of The Queen and a state funeral service was held at St Paul’s Cathedral. This was the first non-royal state funeral since 1914, and no other of its kind has been held since – a fitting farewell to our greatest Briton.

 To read more of our Great Britons series, please visit the BRITAIN magazine website at www.britain-magazine.com britain

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Visit the new Tate Britain and experience the beautifully renovated building, stunning gallery spaces and meet 500 years of British art, from the 1500’s to the present day, all for FREE.

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There is in London all that life can afford, but if your budget doesn't stretch to tea at The Ritz or tickets to the opera you can still appreciate the very best of the city

illustration: Š Dorus Verwiel/imageZoo/Corbis

WoRds chris fautley

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more unusual timepieces such as a 19th-century decimal clock (100 seconds per minute, 100 minutes per hour, 10 hours per day).

It’s only a short walk across the Guildhall yard to the Guildhall Art Gallery, home of the Corporation of London’s art collection – established in 1886 as ‘a collection of art treasures worthy of the capital city’.

Works date from the late 17th century onwards, but one piece in particular steals the show: John Singleton Copley’s Defeat of the Floating Batteries at Gibraltar was specially commissioned by the Corporation, and at a jaw-dropping 458 square feet is one of Britain’s largest oil paintings.

However, there is more to the gallery than first meets the eye: a sinister secret lies beneath it – a place of death and brutality. Discovered only in 1988, London’s Roman amphitheatre is now fully accessible in the gallery’s basement; it’s one of the capital’s most moody and atmospheric experiences.

Aspiring tycoons should next make the short walk to Bartholomew Lane and the Bank of England Museum.

Comprehensively telling the story of Clockwise from above: The Worshipful Company of Clockmakers museum is in the City of London Guildhall; Twinings tea shop is also home to a small museum; Changing the Guard at Buckingham Palace

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the Old Lady of Threadneedle Street (as the bank is fondly nicknamed), there are displays of banknotes, real and forged (the million pound note is a star attraction), as well as the bank’s charter of 1694. Everyone should handle, and lift (if you can), a real gold ingot. It weighs 13kg.

It wouldn’t be right to visit London without partaking of that great British tradition – tea drinking. The people at Twinings shop at 216 Strand have been brewing it here for more than 300 years.

Back in 1706, Thomas Twining’s shop was a coffee house, but he had a hunch an interloper – tea – might just

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here are things in London that money can’t buy. Some of these, though, include its finest experiences: the stuff of dreams and breath-snatching memories. It doesn’t take money to enjoy them, because London’s best can be free.

There’s a huge amount to see and do that doesn’t cost a penny. Many museums, for example, make no charge for admission – including some of the largest such as the Science Museum and British Museum. They are fascinating places and justifiably popular but can often seem rather busy – reason enough perhaps to seek out some of their lesser-known, more specialist contemporaries.

You don’t exactly have time on your hands at the Clockmakers’ Museum, but you come pretty close.

The museum of the Worshipful Company of Clockmakers (a City livery company founded in 1631) is in the City of London Guildhall. Here, there are hundreds of watches as well as clocks and maritime implements on display. They include 17th-century horological masterpieces as well as www.britain-magazine.com

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Regent’s Park and St James’s Park during the summer (check if a charge is applicable).

London’s Royal Parks vary enormously in style – from relative simplicity to geometric grandiosity – and it costs nothing to use them.

Green Park extends to just over 40 acres, its boundary being formed by Constitution Hill, Queen’s Walk and Piccadilly. It is well known for its specimen trees – especially London’s signature tree, the plane. Unusually, there are few flowerbeds and shrubberies, but for all that it is particularly worth visiting in spring when the lawns explode in an ocean of more than 250,000 daffodils.

Of 16th-century origin, St James’s Park is London’s oldest royal park.

The fairytale view across its willowfringed lake to the pinnacled turrets and roofs of Buckingham Palace and beyond is especially memorable.

St James’s has always been noted for its bird life: an official bird-keeper was appointed during the 19th century, and a bird-keeper’s cottage provided. Both remain to this day.

PHOTOS: © ISTOCK/VISITBRITAIN/BRITAIN ON VIEW/SFL CHOICE/ALAMY

catch on. He was right, for which millions of Britons have reason to be grateful. They still sell tea at number 216 – more than one hundred varieties to be precise – and you can pick it up, smell it or even ask them to make you a brew. There’s also a small museum telling the story of Britain’s favourite beverage.

It’s unthinkable to visit London and not take in a good show, but you don’t have to buy the most expensive seats in the house. For music, pageantry and colour, you can’t beat Changing the Guard. Usually held at 11.30am on alternate days (daily May to July), at Buckingham Palace, it is performed in full ceremonial dress and is accompanied by a Guards band. The ceremony is also held daily at Horse Guards Arch.

For more music, City of London churches are renowned for their free lunchtime concerts. In the West End, meanwhile, St Martin-in-the-Fields similarly has a long tradition of hosting such events. Additionally, there are often performances at picturesque bandstands in Hyde Park,

The most celebrated residents are the pelicans, of which there are six.

Feeding time is around 2.30pm.

Although St James’s was redesigned

by John Nash in 1827, it was to be Regent’s Park that really made the architect’s name. As might be expected of something commissioned by the Prince Regent, everything is

Top: The Queen Victoria Memorial seen from Green Park. Above: Eyecatching fountain in Regent's Park

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Above: Tower Bridge and the City seen from the Thames.

Below: The dome of St Stephen Walbrook

Stand almost anywhere in London, and the chances are you will similarly be surrounded by fine architecture: young, old, obvious and not-soobvious. Occasionally, you will have to do as those seeking Wren’s memorial are urged: circumspice.

But it’s there... all around you.

While buildings such as St Paul’s Cathedral charge for admission there is no charge to visit many of London’s smaller churches (although donations

are always welcome). The City’s St Stephen Walbrook is one of Wren’s finest. Engulfed by surrounding development, it is easy to miss, but within is a scene that seems uncannily familiar. Complete with dome, it is considered to have been a dummy run for St Paul’s Cathedral. Other churches worth seeking out include St Bartholomew the Great in West Smithfield (dating from 1123) and St Michael Paternoster Royal

photoS: © RGB VentuReS LLC dBa SupeRStoCk/aLamy/iStoCk

on a grand scale. Essentially an inner circle within an outer circle, it extends to some 400 acres. The inner circle, now known as Queen Mary’s Garden, is home to more than 30,000 rose bushes. The boating lake, meanwhile, has some 600 waterfowl in residence. There is also a ‘secret garden’, just off the inner circle, comprising several circular enclosures; as its name suggests, most visitors miss it. The park was planned as part of a grandiose neo-classical development featuring crescents, villas and circuses fit for London’s elite. The intention was for the entire scheme to be centred on Piccadilly Circus, but shortage of money meant that Nash never completed it. He did, however, succeed in building some of London’s finest homes – known as the Nash Terraces – around the eastern side of the outer circle.

Chester Terrace, for example, has a continuous unbroken facade of 940ft, its frontage periodically embellished with enormous Corinthian columns.

Cumberland Terrace is equally eye-catching, adorned with statuary, more Corinthian columns, and friezes.

These were homes for the affluent – and they wanted people to know it.

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(also in the City), where fabled Dick Whittington, thrice lord mayor of medieval London, is buried.

Each is a little haven of peace, a quality also afforded by London’s Inns of Court – the home of its legal profession; they are noted not only for history and architecture, but also their immaculate gardens. Those at Lincoln’s Inn, Gray’s Inn and Inner Temple – oases of calm in a busy capital – are generally open to the public at lunchtime.

If London hasn’t yet pioneered free shopping, you can at least browse for free – and in that respect you can’t beat its markets. Borough Market for food-lovers; Spitalfields covered market for speciality goods (generally

This image and top left: London's markets are wonderful places to browse. Below: The National Gallery is free to visit

LONDON FOR £10

phoToS: © TimoThy SmiTh/AlAmy/viSiTbriTAin/nATionAl GAllery, london

A day in London for £10? Including paid-for attractions, morning coffee and lunch? Here's how...

J National Gallery, 10am for a quick look (free).

J Horse Guards Arch: Changing the Guard, 11am (10am Sundays), (free).

J Vicinity of Trafalgar Square; coffee (allow £2.50).

J Trafalgar Square: number 15 bus eastbound on a traditional red Routemaster (£1.40; use pre-pay Oystercard for this fare).

J From the bus enjoy the views of St Clement Danes church; Royal Courts of Justice; St Bride's, the ‘wedding cake’ church; Fleet Street. Alight at Old Bailey.

J Bart's Hospital Museum tells the story of the worldfamous hospital founded in 1123 (free).

J Late lunch, from any supermarket around Cheapside (allow £3, or less). Enjoy it in Postman's Park.

J St Alfege's churchyard for a section of Roman wall (free).

J Next, Leadenhall Market for boutique window-shopping.

Admire the wonderful restored Victorian roof of this bustling former market.

J Finally, visit the Monument – built to commemorate the Great Fire of London. It's 311 steps to the top (£3).

better at the tail end of the week); and Portobello Road, beloved of Paddington Bear of the classic children’s books. And for the ultimate in floriferous experiences, it has to be Columbia Road flower market on Sundays. Early-risers get the best bargains, but you can’t beat the excitement of just being there.

There’s some marvellous windowshopping to be had too. For sheer specialism, try the London Silver Vaults in Chancery Lane. Effectively an underground series of vaults, each is a shop: if you want it in silver, the chances are they will have it. From a teaspoon to a chandelier to objects that, frankly, have to be seen to be believed.

It serves as a reminder of Samuel Johnson’s words that, “… there is, in London all that life can afford.”

Although you don’t always need a bulging wallet to enjoy it.

 For more information go to the BRITAIN website at www.britain-magazine.com

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The Thirsty Bear is London’s first fully-fledged self-service pub. With iPads and self-pour beer taps on the tables, you can pour your own pint and order food/drinks directly to your table. In a world where no-one likes to queue, this is simply genius. The system is efficient and easy to work, to which you can also choose the music via the jukebox, and surf the net. They have an extensive mouth-watering burger list mixed with bar snacks and pasta dishes to suit all tastebuds. With a fantastic offering of great beers, real ales, wines and quality cocktails, The Thirsty Bear offers something for everyone.

The Thirsty Bear 62 Stamford Street, Blackfriars, London SE1 9LX. Tel: 0207 928 5354 www.thethirstybear.com

F AR FROM THE

MADDING CROWD

Wessex has its roots in Anglo-Saxon times when it was a glorious bastion of a unified England under Alfred the Great. It was author Thomas Hardy, however, who cemented Wessex in the nation’s consciousness and it remains an idyll of rural tranquillity just waiting to be explored WORDS CHRIS FAUTLEY

Hardy’s Wessex is broadly the modern day county of Dorset, seen here at Gold Hill in Shaftesbury

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Wessex

& R D V WDO O R F D WLR Q V D S S HD U HG L Q P D Q \ R I + D U G \ · V Q R Y HOV L Q F O X G L Q J : H\ P R X WK D S R S X O D U I D P L O \ U HVR U W

PHOTOS: © WWW.V ISITDORSET.COM/QUENTIN BARGATE/ALAMY ILLUSTRATION: SCOTT JESSOP

“I

t was a long low cottage with a hipped roof of thatch, having dormer windows breaking up into the eaves.”

It could be the quintessential English country cottage, but it was also the modest home of tranter Dewy in Thomas Hardy’s Under the Greenwood Tree. The little dwelling with “thick bushes of box ... growing in clumps outside” was also a very real place: it was based on Hardy’s birthplace in Higher Bockhampton, a village a few miles north-east of Dorchester – Dorset’s county town.

Now owned by the National Trust, this cottage is where Hardy wrote Far from the Madding Crowd. Set adjacent to woodland, it is surrounded by the heaths that became his Egdon Heath. These, and the county town, were to be the focal points of Hardy’s Wessex.

The roots of Wessex originate in Anglo-Saxon times. At its peak, it stretched from Cornwall to Kent and was under its various kings – notably Alfred the Great – the cradle of a unified England. Hardy’s Wessex, though, is broadly – though not exclusively – the modern-day county of Dorset.

If Hardy’s birthplace was unpretentious in the extreme, nearby Athelhampton House is anything but. It is centred on a great hall, built in 1485, and is well known for its 19th-century gardens – particularly the Great Court with its pyramid-shaped yew trees. Hardy made it Athelhall, the setting for his poem The Dame of Athelhall.

In 1885 Hardy moved to Dorchester, where he designed Max Gate. A red brick townhouse it, too, is owned by the National Trust, and is where he wrote Tess of the d’Urbervilles and Jude the Obscure. The town, meanwhile, famously became Casterbridge in Hardy’s fictional world.

Dorchester’s history stretches back as far as any town in Britain: to the Romans, it was Durnovaria. Then, it probably extended to some 80 acres, and was walled.

Fragments of this remain. The Romans’ greatest legacy here, www.britain-magazine.com

Left: The broad sandy beach at Weymouth.

Facing page: Corfe Castle is a fortification standing above the village of the same name on the Isle of Purbeck

though, is the remains of a townhouse, probably dating from the 4th century. It is particularly noted for its mosaic.

Coastal locations appeared in many of Hardy’s novels, including Weymouth (from where John Endecott set sail to found Salem, in Massachusetts), which became Budmouth in The Trumpet-Major. Weymouth has Georgian running through it like a stick of seaside rock. King George III spent a great deal of time here; a statue of him, in garter robes, was erected on the seafront in 1810. A shade north-east, near Osmington, a horse and rider cut into the chalk hillside is another royal portrayal.

These days, Weymouth is a popular family resort, not least because of its broad sandy beach. It particularly

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lends itself to sand sculpture, for which the town has gained an international reputation.

If Weymouth presents a picture of natural calm, then the Isle of Portland to its south is the exact opposite. More accurately a four-mile peninsula, here sandy beaches give way to a coast of rugged limestone. Of great durability, this stone was famously used by Wren to face St Paul’s Cathedral. At Portland Bill, the island’s southernmost tip, the ocean crashes incessantly onto the shore below a 135ft red and white candy-stripe lighthouse.

Portland is connected to the western coast of the mainland by Chesil Beach – Britain’s largest tombolo, or shingle bar. At 18 miles long and up to 40ft high, it is backed by a lagoon – The Fleet. For reasons unknown, the shingle is, without exception, finely graded – from pea-sized in the west to fist-sized at Portland.

The village of Abbotsbury lies slightly inland of the spot where The Fleet peters out. It is named after a Benedictine abbey that was founded here in 1044. This did not survive the Dissolution and little remains of the monastery buildings save a large gable. Much of the attendant 14th-century tithe barn, however, escaped demolition.

At 262ft long, it was one of England’s biggest.

St Catherine’s Chapel, also 14th century, fared rather better than the abbey, although it lies beyond the monastery precincts. Its impressive ruins sit in relative isolation surveying The Fleet and the distant Isle of Portland. The chapel’s name is derived from the 3rd-century saint after whom spinning Catherine Wheel fireworks are also named.

(Roman emperor Maximus I tortured her by tying her to a wheel upon which sword points were set.)

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Abbotsbury has a population of about 1,100 – of which it should be added some 600 are swans. These reside at a swannery established by the monks adjacent to The Fleet; feeding time is twice daily. Slightly less frantic spectacles may be enjoyed in the adjacent subtropical gardens, established in 1765.

East of Weymouth, the coast is dominated by limestone, which meets the ocean in dramatic cliffs. Nowhere is the power of the sea more evident – the rocks at Durdle Door having been timelessly eroded to create a natural arch. A mile-and-a-half to its east, along the close-cropped grass cliffs, Lulworth Cove is a sheltered haven with a narrow entrance. Here, the sea has broken through the hard limestone, enabling it to excavate an almost perfect elliptic cove from the softer rocks behind.

Today, Lulworth draws visitors keen to enjoy its natural beauty, but it was once witness to more turbulent times.

Across millions of years, the rock strata in the cliffs have been thrust from horizontal to almost vertical – caused by the same forces that created the Alps. The landscape continues to evolve: Stair Hole, a soupcon of spindrift west, is another Lulworth in the making; the sea hasn't quite broken entirely through the limestone.

Lulworth featured in Far from the Madding Crowd: “a small basin of sea enclosed by the cliffs.” Here Sergeant Troy bathed, venturing “between the two projecting spurs of rock,” only to be caught in the savage currents beyond.

Life is altogether quieter, literally and literarily, at Tyneham village, four miles east. Here, time has stood still – since 1943, to be precise. A notice, then pinned to the church door, explains why:

Above: The Tudor mansion of Athelhampton House, known for its 19th-century gardens

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Wessex

Lulworth draws visitors keen to enjoy its natural beauty, but it was once witness to more turbulent times

photoS: © RobeRt haRding pictuRe LibRaRy Ltd/aLamy/viSitbRitain/adam buRton/SupeRStock/angie ShaRp/Simon beLcheR

Clockwise from top left: Durdle Door; pretty cottages and church at Abbotsbury; St Catherine’s Chapel in Abbotsbury; a heritage steam railway runs from Swanage to Corfe Castle; Thomas Hardy’s Cottage; Alfred the Great, famous ruler of Wessex

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Wessex

“Please treat the church and houses with care. We have given up our homes where many of us have lived for generations to help win the war to keep men free.”

Tyneham was requisitioned by the military to aid D-Day preparations, its 225 residents housed elsewhere. They never did return: it is now part of Lulworth ranges and is still used for military exercises. Nevertheless, it is periodically open to visitors who are able to see it just as it was: school, church and homes standing lonely on the landscape.

Nine miles east of Tyneham, Swanage is a popular resort with clifftop walks and a charming pier. It was the birthplace of John Mowlem – founder of the building company of the same name. He gained a reputation for ‘acquiring’ buildings and ‘exporting’ them to Swanage. Thus, the frontage of the town hall was originally part of Wren’s Mercers’ Hall in London; similarly, the clock tower adjacent to the pier came from the south side of London Bridge where it had been erected as a tribute to the Duke of Wellington.

It’s a short ride on a heritage steam railway from Swanage to Corfe Castle – a village dominated by the ruins of its crumbling stronghold. Edward the Martyr was murdered here in AD 979. The parlous state of the ruins, however, is not due to neglect, but rather an unsuccessful attempt by Parliamentarian troops to blow it up in 1646.

Three years earlier, with a garrison of just 80 men, it had successfully withstood a six-week siege. The castle belonged to the Bankes family, but it was Lady Mary Bankes who took it upon herself to move in and defend it.

The castle keys still hang at Kingston Lacy, the Bankes’ family home, 12 miles north of Corfe. The estate was bought in 1632 by Sir John, a wealthy lawyer, but it was his son, Ralph, who was responsible for the Italian-style palace we see today. During the 19th century, it was greatly modernised by Charles Barry who clad the exterior in stone and built a fine, marble staircase. It is one of Wessex’s treasure houses, noted for its outstanding picture collection.

Kingston Lacy is a far cry from the modest surroundings into which Hardy was born – and his last resting place is no less humble. His ashes are interred in Poets’ Corner in Westminster Abbey, but his story ends in the village that became Mellstock in Under the Greenwood Tree. For his heart is buried in the churchyard of Stinsford parish church, just a mile from Higher Bockhampton. In death as in life, a man whose heart forever lies in his beloved Wessex.

Above left: The restored Victorian pier at Swanage.

Above right: Kingston Lacy was built between 1663 and 1665 to resemble an Italian Palace

 For more information please go to www.visit-dorset.com or the BRITAIN website: www.britain-magazine.com

Discover Dorset J This year, 140 years since the publication of photoS: © iStock/www.v iSit-dorSet.com

Thomas Hardy’s Far from the Madding Crowd, a Hollywood film adaptation of the book will be released. Filmed in and around Hardy Country in Dorset, the film stars Carey Mulligan, Michael Sheen and Tom Sturridge. Few authors have such strong associations with their local area as Thomas Hardy, and today you can explore two of the writer’s houses – his childhood home and Max Gate, the property Hardy designed himself and moved into after his

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marriage. www.nationaltrust.org.uk/hardys-birthplace /www.maxgate.co.uk J While in Dorset, check out the latest offering from the stylish hotel The Pig. The Pig on the Beach is set to open above Studland Bay, one of the country’s most beautiful beaches. The 18th-century manor house has dramatic views of Old Harry Rocks and the Jurassic Coast and will, like its sibling in the New Forest, feature a kitchen garden with home-grown produce. www.thepighotel.com

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PHOTO: Š SUPERSTOCK

Hampton Court is in the London borough of Richmond upon Thames and was originally built for Thomas Wolsey

Top: Le Manoir aux Quat'Saisons and its tranquil garden.

Above left: The terrace outside L'Enclume in Cartmel, Cumbria.

Above right: Bay crab,

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A TALE OF TWO PALACES There’s more to Hampton Court Palace than the Tudors. It consists of two distinct halves, built in two very different eras. But both were intended as a show of strength and the walls tell as many stories as the ghosts that haunt them WORDS PIP BROOKING

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ive hundred years ago – to the year – Cardinal Thomas Wolsey, the second most powerful man in England, acquired a small manor on the banks of the River Thames. Halfway between Windsor and London and surrounded by hunting ground, it was the perfect spot to build what was to become one of the most important palaces in the land.

Everything from Hampton Court’s moat to its battlements was designed to reflect status. As fitting for a cardinal, Wolsey looked to Rome and Renaissance influences. The distinctive red brick was a bold, new look for the time. And the palace boasted a whole host of ‘modern’ comforts: it was said, for example, there were enough chimneys for every day of the year; there were more lavatories than any palace had boasted before; and in the first courtyard – the Base Court – was a fountain that would flow with wine. Everything about the impressive building screamed to the world that King Henry VIII’s right-hand man had arrived.

“Why come you not to court?” the rhyme went.

“To which court? To the King’s court? Or to Hampton Court?” But this was a dangerous jibe in a time dominated by political rivalry, plots and schemes – and before long Wolsey fell from grace.

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By 1528, the palace was owned, and extended, by the king. It was where his son Prince Edward was born and his beloved wife Jane Seymour died; it’s where he divorced his fourth wife, Anne of Cleves, and married wives number five and six. And it was a note left in a pew in Hampton Court’s chapel that informed him of the devastating adultery of the first of these, Catherine Howard.

Her ghost is why the corridor running past the chapel is known as the haunted gallery: she has been seen replaying her last desperate attempt to get to the king to beg for forgiveness and for her life. And according to Annabel King, one of the state apartment wardens, if any modern day visitors faint, they are most likely to do so here – adding a chilling credence to the tale.

It would be unfortunate for any visitor to end their tour here for such a reason, but at least they would have already seen Henry’s Great Hall, where Shakespeare may well have first performed Hamlet. Today, the room is decked out with some of the most valuable items in the entire royal collection: 10 enormous tapestries made of 50 per cent metal – gold, silver and bronze thread – that would have glistened in the sunlight. The Abraham Tapestries were commissioned towards the end of the king’s reign to draw parallels between the Old Testament father figure and the www.britain-magazine.com

monarch, to legitimise his new role as head of the English Church. They are worth £25 million each.

The rest of the hall is now dominated by dark wood.

“We have the Victorians to thank for that,” says Annabel King. “The floor in Tudor times would have been shiny, with green and white tiles; they had to go because they proved too heavy for the floor itself. The ceiling wouldn’t have been plain wood with a bit of gold; it would have been bright blue and in many ways a bit like Hogwarts.”

Henry himself would not have approved of the current stained glass windows, as each one bears the heraldry of one of his six wives.

Up to 1,200 people would be fed in the Great Hall each day, typically getting through 100 sheep and 30 oxen – conspicuous consumption was the flavour of the day.

But the king and his nobles were more likely to be seen in the state apartments, indicating their higher standing.

Here visitors will find the Great Watching Chamber, where Jane Seymour’s badges remained emblazoned on the ceiling even when the king remarried. And in the dynastic

portrait hanging in the Processional Gallery beyond this room, Henry is painted together with Jane and Edward, while his two daughters by his first two wives are sidelined. The king’s message was clear: having provided his son and heir, Jane was the only wife that mattered.

The chapel – on the same site as the medieval manor’s chapel – is the only part of Hampton Court still used for its original purpose. As part of The Queen’s Ecclesiastical Household, services are held daily – and there is currently a fundraiser to restore the organ that was once played by the likes of Handel and Purcell.

It is also where Tudor meets the baroque, most noticeably, for the first time. The room is dominated by an oak screen carved by Grinling Gibbons for Queen Anne, but Henry would have recognised the beautiful, intricately designed blue and gold ceiling, where it’s worth spotting the deliberate mistake: the royal motto ‘Dieu et mon droit’ is repeated 32 times, but the ‘n’ in each is written backwards – the idea being that nothing manmade can be perfect.

Above, from left to right: Gold leaf decoration around a palace door; Catherine Howard's ghost is said to haunt Hampton Court; 10 valuable tapestries of metal thread hang in the Great Hall

photoS: © corbiS/wikipedia/iStock

The Great Hall is decked out with some of the most valuable items in the entire royal collection: 10 enormous tapestries

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Royal London

In fact, much of Henry’s chapel was destroyed by Oliver Cromwell, allegedly with King Charles I, who was under house arrest at the palace, forced to watch on. But from Hampton Court’s point of view, Cromwell is not necessarily the villain of the piece. The fact that he chose to take up residence at the palace probably accounts for its survival, which allowed later monarchs to move in and make their mark, while neighbouring royal residences at Richmond and Nonsuch fell into disrepair.

Leaving the Tudor rooms and entering the Clock Court, you see the two different worlds, and two palaces, collide: the Portland stone pillars of William and Mary’s colonnade jar with the Tudor architecture.

William III and Mary II were put on the throne by Parliament in 1689 and they had a point to prove. “Building was a good way of doing it,” says Annabel King. “It showed that they were here to stay.” The most famous architect of the time, Sir Christopher Wren, was appointed to remodel Hampton Court – no doubt under instruction to design something as grand as the French palace at Versailles.

Initially only the Great Hall was to survive but, luckily for today’s visitors, time and money stood in the way.

Nevertheless the Tudor private apartments made way for entirely new buildings, on the east and the south of the site. And, despite the popularity of Hampton Court’s Tudor history, you will see far more baroque architecture than that dating from Henry VIII’s time.

It turns out that the new building is not quite in proportion for authentic baroque architecture: the steps on the King’s Staircase, for instance, are too shallow – either because of the attempts to match it to the remaining Tudor buildings, or because the new king suffered from asthma.

But just as Wolsey and Henry VIII built to impress, the walls here are also laden with political messages.

In a similar vein to Henry’s Abraham Tapestries, there is a painting on the staircase portraying the Protestant William as Alexander the Great, cocking a snook at the Caesars (one of which bears a striking resemblance to the Catholic James II, William’s father-in-law, whom he had just deposed) as he ascends to the table of the gods. However, if you look carefully at the ceiling, it’s clear the Italian painter, Antonio Verrio, had the last laugh: there is a faint line running down from a cherub, as he relieves himself into one of the bowls of food.

The show of strength continues into the first reception room visitors would come to: the Guard Chamber. Here 3,000 weapons adorn the wall, which even today could be fired. “It’s saying that William III can put 3,000 weapons on the wall just for decoration,” says King. It was a strong message to foreign dignitaries, particularly the French.

Next, in the Presence Chamber, is a giant victory portrait by Godfrey Kneller of William landing at Torbay in 1688 – on horseback to give him a sense of stature that the king didn’t possess in reality. And in the rest of the

Above, from left to right: Antique pistols on the wall of the Guard Chamber; Henry VIII; the bed chamber in William III's apartments

photoS: © Steve vidler/AlAmy/wikipediA

There are 3,000 weapons on the wall in the Guard Chamber, which even today could be fired: a strong message to foreign dignitaries

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photo: © superstock/peter phipp

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state chambers every portrait was carefully chosen to reflect William’s connections with the Stuart dynasty and his right to rule – although one of King Charles I is carefully juxtaposed with a tapestry showing St Paul’s conversion on the road to Damascus.

But, as these formal rooms make way to more intimate, private rooms, the political messages are increasingly interspersed with poignant reminders of Mary, who died before the building work was complete.

William and Mary, who were great plant collectors, also made their mark on the gardens that Hampton Court is now famous for. William commissioned the maze that is still open to the public, and it was in partnership with French designer Daniel Marot that the royal couple planned the Privy Garden. It’s worth sparing a thought for the poor gardeners who first planted it: once it was completed, William complained that he couldn’t see enough of the river beyond the pale blue Jean Tijou railings that marked the perimeter, so they had to take out all the plants, dig down a

bit further, and put it all back together again.

But William didn’t get much time to enjoy the gardens either – he died in 1702 after complications from a horse-riding accident in the grounds. His palace was left to his sister-in-law, Queen Anne, and then to the Hanoverians, George I and George II – the last monarchs to live here.

This year marks the 300th anniversary of the accession of the Hanoverian dynasty, and an important shift in focus for the palace staff to William’s side of Hampton Court. Alongside established tours on salacious gossip and ghosts, you can enjoy the revival of the Chocolate Court – the only surviving royal chocolate kitchen in the country. Perhaps that sweet temptation will prompt visitors to think beyond the tumultuous Tudors to discover all the other intriguing tales Hampton Court has to offer.

Above: Hampton Court's gardens are open to the public all year round

King William III and Queen Mary II made their mark on the gardens that Hampton Court is now famous for

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 For information on how to visit Hampton Court, please go to the BRITAIN website at www.britain-magazine.com www.britain-magazine.com

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onsidering how famous he is around the world, surprisingly little is known about the life of William Shakespeare, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the history of the English language. We know he was born in Stratford-upon-Avon but not exactly when – only that he was baptised on 26 April 1564. There is ongoing controversy about how much of the work attributed to Shakespeare – some 38 plays, 154 sonnets and other verses – was actually written by him. We don’t even really know what he looked like.

The famous Chandos portrait, though painted at the right period, could in fact be of anyone.

The mystery surrounding the ‘Bard of Avon’ only serves to make him more intriguing. Roughly 5.5 million visitors come to Stratford-upon-Avon each year to pay homage to Shakespeare and to gain an insight into 16th-century life in England through the five properties that are preserved in and around the town by the Shakespeare’s Birthplace Trust.

These include Shakespeare’s Birthplace on Henley Street and New Place, his last residence in Stratford and the place where he died on 23 April 1616. Near Stratford is Anne Hathaway’s Cottage, the beautiful home of Shakespeare’s wife prior to her marriage.

Although Stratford-upon-Avon is the first place in people’s minds when they think of Shakespeare, it was in London that he spent most of his life and where he built his career. Not much remains of the Elizabethan city where Shakespeare would have lived and worked but there are plenty of tours www.britain-magazine.com

available, offering to recreate the atmosphere of 16th-century Southwark with its bear pits, brothels and playhouses. You can also see his work on stage at the Globe Theatre, located just 230 metres from the site of the original building, erected in 1599.

Exploring both of the key places in Shakespeare’s life is made easy thanks to Railbookers.

With offices in London, Sydney, Los Angeles and Auckland, Railbookers are specialists in tailor-made holidays by train. They offer a four-night holiday to London and Stratford-uponAvon with hand-picked four-star hotels and rail travel between destinations.

Railbookers can also arrange holidays to London and Edinburgh, with regional itineraries including car hire and a National Trust pass or even a visit to Downton Abbey.

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S ecret gardens Boasting woodland and waterfalls, bursts of bloom and crisp expanses of immaculate lawn, Britain has some of the most unusual gardens in the world, many looked after by the National Trust WORDS MARTHA ALEXANDER

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The dramatic waterfall in The Dell at Bodnant Garden www.britain-magazine.com

rom Roman conquerors who filled Britannia with carefully landscaped ‘outdoor rooms’ to medieval monasteries with painstakingly cared-for plots containing plants needed for cooking and medicinal Avebury rivals purposes, Britain has enjoyed cultivating gardens for as the Stonehenge centuries and is full of exciting places to visit.most impressive and The National Trust looks after some of thecomplex most prehistoric site in Britain beautiful gardens in the country – some begun by just one person and now managed by teams of horticulturists.

Bodnant Garden in Conwy is one such place, with views over the dramatic Snowdonian mountains. A captivating hodgepodge of designs, where the hinterlands of formal sweeping lawns contain shaded dells, woodlands and streams, it is the ultimate secret garden.

Cuttings and seeds from all over the world contribute to the opulence of Bodnant, which was established in the 1870s by Victorian entrepreneur Henry Davis Pochin.

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photos: © NtpL/iaN shaw/arNheL de serra/aNdrew ButLer/aLamy

“He and his descendants filled Bodnant with plants collected from all over the globe by intrepid explorers – from the Blue Poppy of the Himalayas to the Fire Bush of the Andes,” explains head gardener Fran Llewellyn.

“You’ll find them harmonised into one 80-acre paradise.”

Bodnant has been in the same family for five generations and their horticultural efforts are impressive: subtle planting interspersed with brilliant bursts of colour reveal nooks and crannies just begging to be explored.

“The garden unfolds spectacularly from hilltop to valley bottom,” says Llewellyn. “We’ve got Italianate finery in the terraces with rose gardens and parterres; tranquillity in the dappled shade of The Shrub Borders, filled with flowering and scented plants from around the world; and drama in The Dell with its waterfall and riverside lined with electric blue hydrangeas and towering conifers.”

In the summer, the famous laburnum arch thrives with pendulous clumps of yellow flowers, creating an otherworldly 55-metre floral tunnel.

The most formal part of the garden consists of the five Italianate terraces, completed just after the turn of the last century. A celebration of order, this is perhaps the best starting point for an exploration of Bodnant, which is in parts much wilder.

Symmetry is also evident at the waterlily pond, surrounded by herbaceous borders and buttressed by the Pin Mill. This elegant Georgian building was originally erected in Gloucestershire and used to manufacture pins in.

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National Treasures The structure was dismantled and transported to Wales over 70 years ago: the rebuilding was complete in 1939.

Hidden at the heart of the garden is The Poem, the beautiful mausoleum built by Pochin to serve as the resting place for the family who made Bodnant the botanical spectacle it is today. Shrouded in trees and foliage, The Poem is made of pale stone set with ornate stained-glass windows.

It’s far from sombre, however: the sweeping arches and marble floors give it a luxurious, almost celebratory feel.

The spot where Bodnant’s rhododendron valley meets the River Hiraethlyn is one of the garden’s most breathtaking features. The Dell is hopelessly romantic: tall slender trees stretch skywards while shining sheets of waterfall cascade down to join the river rapids.

Dunham Massey in Cheshire is one of the Trust’s more recent acquisitions, left to the charity in 1976. “Due to the garden being so neglected the Trust thought it should be designed as an Edwardian pleasure ground, with flowing lawns and ornamental borders,” says head gardener Damian Harris. “As there was little historic planting in this scheme, the decision was made that the garden would be newly planted and that new initiatives should be encouraged. A radical decision for a conservation charity!”

The choice has meant the design and construction of the highly successful Winter Garden, Britain’s largest.

However, Dunham Massey flourishes year round, and by spring a carpet of single and double snowdrops cover plenty of the estate, which spreads over 30 acres.

A daily guided walk enables you to discover the history of Dunham Massey, which was a hospital for soldiers injured in World War I, as well as view flora that grows in its grounds. Tree-lined avenues offer a splendid approach to the deer park, which opens into expanses of green.

“The garden is forever changing,” says Harris. “There is something for everyone including chickens, vegetables, bees, year-round colour and scent, and a garden that seems to absorb people where you can always find somewhere quiet to sit and contemplate.”

Another garden that was created with peacefulness in mind is Glendurgan in Cornwall, which, like Bodnant, has benefited from foreign flora. Planted over three valleys, Glendurgan contains a fabulous subtropical garden that sprawls like a jungle along the coast.

Created in the 1820s by shipping agent Alfred Fox, who collected plants from faraway parts of the world, Glendurgan has a climate that allowed plants to prosper in a way that was impossible in less clement parts of Britain.

South African plants, exotic succulents and even bananas grow in this arid microclimate.

“The sheltered, warm site allows us to try out interesting plants; a recent project has seen plants such as orchids

The Dell at Bodnant is hopelessly romantic: slender trees stretch skywards as shining sheets of waterfall cascade down to the rapids of the river

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Clockwise from below: The Orangery at Dunham Massey; bluebells at Dunham Massey; houseleek tree at Bodnant Garden; the Pin Mill and waterlily pond at Bodnant Garden

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CIE_BritMarApr14.indd 1

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photos: © derek harris/alamy/Ntpl/aNdrew Butler

National Treasures

and ferns, being tied to the mossy branches of existing trees,” says John Lanyon, gardens manager at Glendurgan.

“It is a garden of contrasts; natural woodland creates both shelter and a setting around the edges of the garden. The centre of the garden is then open with wildflower banks that are meticulously looked after. The banks are a delight from early spring: tapestries of contrasting violets and primroses as well as velvety bluebells. This simplicity is then dramatically contrasted by the big and bold subtropical foliage and flowering plants such as rhododendrons and magnolias.”

The laurel maze was laid out in 1833 by Fox as a means of entertaining his children. Fox was strict when it came to his labyrinth, fining anyone who tried to break through the hedges in a desperate bid for freedom.

Glendurgan is a garden dominated by water, which lies still in its ponds, flows under the bamboo bridge and trickles along in streams. The Helford River at the bottom of the valley has turquoise waters coursing out into the sea.

Fox, a Quaker, planted trees – such as the Tree of Heaven – reflecting his faith on a part of his garden known as the Holy Bank. He meant Glendurgan to be a “small piece of heaven on earth”, and it remains so.

Further north in Cumbria, Sizergh Castle is the gateway to the Lake District and is arguably the jewel in the region’s crown. Initially built as a defensive fortress against the Scots, it has been occupied by the Strickland family since 1239.

The 16-acre garden is enchanting with its pond, lake and a world-renowned limestone rock garden that was built between 1926 and 1928. “The rock garden is the largest www.britain-magazine.com

Above: The laurel maze at Glendurgan.

Box: The gardens at Sheffield Park are colourful year round

Best of the rest

sheffield park ever since the 18th century sheffield Park (above) has boasted some form of pleasure gardens. A highlight of the east sussex estate is the Palm Walk, an exotic avenue of tropical trees. morden hall park A former deer park on the river Wandle in south London, Morden hall Park is a green, tranquil haven in the middle of a built-up, urban area. there is even a garden that shows visitors exactly how to grow their own fruit and vegetables. dudmaston estate gardens Aside from being filled with modern art sculptures, eight orchards and featuring an impressive lake, this shropshire estate's most famous offering is the Dingle, an enchanting woodland with winding paths and cascading waterfalls.

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in the United States

ABTA No. Y2846

National Treasures

www.britain-magazine.com

Above: The top terrace in bloom at Sizergh Castle in Cumbria. Right: Sizergh has been occupied by the same family since the 13th century

photos: © NtpL/VaL Corbett/aLamy

limestone garden managed by the National Trust and includes part of the national collection of hardy ferns,” says Tom Price, a gardener at Sizergh, who explains that the garden featured on the television series Inside the National Trust. “You can meet some of the stars when you visit the chicken coops and beehives.”

Sizergh sprawls over 1,600 hectares, including orchards and semi-natural woodland. Look out for the mighty sweet chestnut trees, the seeds of which are thought to have been brought back to the castle by Cecilia Strickland in the late 18th century, when she returned from Versailles.

Another garden with links to the medieval period is that of the Jacobean-style Anglesey Abbey in Cambridgeshire, built on the foundations of a 12th-century Augustinian priory and the vision of Lord Fairhaven, who created a spectacular landscape to impress his guests in the 1930s.

What was once a run-down ruin in unkempt countryside has, over the last 80 years or so, blossomed into gardens bursting with surprises. Lord Fairhaven transformed his home garden from a diminutive five-acre plot to a landscape of almost 100 acres by his death in 1966, when the property was gifted to the National Trust.

“He gradually took on more of the agriculture fields and developed them into themed areas packed with sculptures and often unique vistas and views linked by grand avenues,” says head gardener, Richard Todd. “There are formal gardens around the house which have shaded pathways linking them together.”

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photos: © NtpL/BriaN & NiNa ChappLe/roBert Bird/aLamy

Above: Roses in the gardens of Anglesey Abbey in Cambridgeshire.

Left: The 17thcentury south facade of Anglesey, which looks out onto immaculate lawns

Lord Fairhaven collected statues – often with mythical or biblical connotations – that he dotted around the garden, most notably in the Emperor’s Walk, where visitors are watched by 12 stone busts of Roman emperors.

Known as a garden for all seasons Anglesey has horticultural highlights all year round. The Rose Garden is a sensory triumph: it’s not only beautiful to look at but the aroma of 1,000 hybrid tea roses makes for a heady experience from July to September.

“The Dahlia Garden is at its best during September and is a huge colour spectrum display in a crescent design,” says Todd. “Our Dahlia Festival in September gives everyone an opportunity to enjoy the variety of colours and shapes of the dahlias, as the flowers are used to create unusual displays. The dahlias go on right into November.”

When the temperature dips, the Winter Garden thrives.

Here you’ll find unusual shrubs and bulbs as well as the famous grove of Himalayan Silver Birch trees (in the spring and early summer bright pink tulips bloom around the base of the trees). The whole of February is a tribute to snowdrops as a carpet of 270 different types of the delicate flower covers the ground.

Beyond the manicured neatness of the formal gardens, which are encased by over three miles of hedges and include 35 acres of sweeping lawns, Anglesey boasts meadows in which wildflowers flourish.

 For more information on our beautiful gardens, please go to the BRITAIN website at www.britain-magazine.com

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Š Ikon Imaging

Photo: Ron Rutten

HOMEMADE HOLIDAYS CELEBRATING 20 YEARS OF OUR VERY SPECIAL WAY TO SEE BRITAIN.

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asil, Sybil and Manuel serve a 3-course meal with a good dollop of mayhem and all the best gags in a ‘2-hour eat, drink and laugh sensation’ (Daily Telegraph). This is the same 5* West End show that tours the world, taking in major arts festivals and even Sydney Opera House. Highly improvised and fully immersive, it’s ‘rip-roaringly hilarious’ (This is London). Booking is essential.

Also appearing in May at the Royal Albert Hall!

Whether you want to search for your family roots, explore castles, cathedrals and the countryside or just soak up the atmosphere in a village pub or cosy old tea room, we will put together a visit to Britain that will live in your memories forever!

InFormAtIon: Faulty Towers The Dining Experience is performed at the 4* Charing Cross hotel evenings and matinées Friday to sunday. tickets cost £47-£54; all tickets include a 3-course meal and 2-hour interactive show.

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Over To You

YOUR LETTERS

Do get in touch with your views about the country, your travels and the magazine

PHOTOS: © ALAMY/TIM HALL

OUR FAVOURITE LETTER

My neighbour – who is a very refined English schoolteacher and Anglophile – finally convinced me, after six months of cajoling and the bribe of a free dinner, to watch an episode of Downton Abbey with her. Having run out of believable excuses, I had to accept and dreaded the thought of two hours of a dusty BBC hand-me-down.

Within a few minutes of watching Maggie Smith play the Dowager Grantham my expectations of a dry, stuffy, upper-crust, unintelligible, British melodrama were permanently changed, and I became an instantaneous fan. My neighbour, like a true

Cheshire

lady, refrained from saying “I told you so” but she used the programme as a stepping stone to our shared love of anything English, from Earl Grey tea to English gardens down to her second-hand copies of BRITAIN magazine.

Downton Abbey opens its doors and with a subtle invitation you can explore a different time and a different world. Likewise BRITAIN invites you to open its pages and explore the beauty, grace, and enchantment of a different world, and both the TV series and the magazine have a subtle way of changing my distinctly all-American outlook to something more delightfully and delicately British.

I look forward to the next issue... but I’ll have to wait until my neighbour finishes reading it cover to cover!

Tod Pettit, Charleston, USA

BRITAIN REPLIES: We’re glad you enjoyed your

first taste of the magazine Tod. May we suggest you subscribe yourself to be sure of receiving a copy as soon as it’s available!

• Our favourite letter wins the

beautiful book Highgrove: A Garden Celebrated, which is a wonderful commemoration of The Prince of Wales's garden.

SCHOOL DAYS

I was born in the UK and have been home often since I left in 1967. In between visits I have an armchair trip from BRITAIN magazine.

I have visited many of the places you have featured over the years but Vol 81 Issue 4 was particularly evocative for me. I refer to the article on Cheshire, which brings back many memories of my school days at Great Moreton Hall, which was at that time a girls’ boarding school. A group of us ‘naughty’ girls used to break bounds and run through the fields to Little Moreton Hall where we could indulge in afternoon tea.

This was during the period of 1948-1950 when I was about 13 years old. I look forward to every issue of BRITAIN and I hope you will keep me and many other readers happy for years to come.

Ann P Letten, Alabama, USA

HOW TO WRITE TO US – By post to: Letters, BRITAIN, Chelsea Magazines, Jubilee House, 2 Jubilee Place, London SW3 3TQ; or to: Letters, BRITAIN, Circulation Specialists Inc, 2 Corporate Drive, Suite 945, Shelton, CT 06484, USA. Or email the editor: jessica.tooze@britain-magazine.com

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TURNIPS NOT PARSNIPS You have probably been inundated by mail from irate Scots after your closing article about Burns Night in the Vol 82 Issue 1 edition of your wonderful magazine, and have sent your writer to the corner with a slice of humble pie or maybe Dundee cake! ‘Neeps’ is the name given to turnips, not parsnips, and the ‘clootie dumpling’ is boiled or steamed, not baked. Not sure about the addition of breadcrumbs either.

Patricia McDonald, via email

BRITAIN REPLIES: Thank you

for correcting us Patricia – you are actually the only reader to do so, so well spotted!

8 COMPETITION WINNER Congratulations to Christine Cross from Surrey who has won a wonderful VIP city break to Liverpool.

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Little Gems 15 to 22 February 2014 Members of the Federation of British Artists will explore the gems of our land through print, pastel and paint.

The pictures will be small, emphasising the feeling of discovery, providing ‘picture postcard’ views of Britain. All work for sale.

The Mall, London SW1 www.mallgalleries.org.uk Image: Melissa Scott-Miller RP, Bedford Square Gardens

Timepieces Wells Cathedral's clock, constructed circa 1390, is unusual in that it has two faces (one inside the building and one outside)

Time

to shine

From a faceless clock to a rotating grasshopper, there have been many ingenious methods and means to mark time throughout Britain's history WORDS DAVID ADAMS

www.britain-magazine.com

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on the wall of the Moot Hall at Aldeburgh, on the Suffolk coast. The orginal dates from 1650 and is inscribed ‘Horas non numero nisi serenas’ (‘I only count the sunny hours’); a fittingly cheerful message for the pleasant seaside town.

But at sea clocks could be a matter of life or death. By the mid 18th century the British government was offering a reward of £20,000 to anyone who could design a device to measure longitude accurately, so saving hundreds of lives each year from shipwrecks caused by navigational errors. A carpenter and clockmaker from Yorkshire, John Harrison, eventually solved the problem, creating watches that could keep accurate time at sea. The three ‘Sea Clocks’ and the first of the ‘Sea Watches’ Harrison built are all on display at the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich. Harrison’s second marine watch is on display at the Clockmakers’ Museum in the Guildhall, London – one of more than 600 clocks and timepieces there.

By this time clock- and watchmaking had become highly sophisticated – Thomas Mudge’s ‘Minute Repeating’ watch at the British Museum is a fantastic example. Built in 1755, it enables timekeeping in the dark, by striking the last hour, the last quarter and the number of minutes past the quarter, if required.

Today, time regiments our lives to an extent unimaginable throughout most of history, thanks to its standardisation across large geographical areas, which followed construction of the railways in the 19th century.

Until then, sundials were still the definitive authority on time, meaning that London time was five minutes ahead of Oxford time, 10 minutes ahead of Bristol and 14 ahead of Exeter.

Once the Great Western Railway began to run trains between London and Bristol in the 1830s it became necessary for the company to standardise on London time, but timetables

1. A modern example of an astrolabe in the grounds of Hever Castle; 2. and 3. Salisbury Cathedral houses Britain's, and possibly the world's, oldest surviving mechanical clock; 4. the sundial on the Moot Hall, Aldeburgh; 5. and 6. at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, a traditional timepiece has been joined by a modern grasshopper ‘chronophage'; 7. the floral clock in Princes Street Gardens, Edinburgh; 8. the 24-hour electric Shepherd Gate Clock at Greenwich

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locks and timepieces can be remarkably evocative and also tell us much about the eras in which they were created. There may have been water clocks in Britain from Roman times, alongside sundials and astrolabes – complex tools that predict the positions of heavenly bodies (there’s a fine modern example in the grounds of Hever Castle in Kent). But the development of the mechanical clock in Britain really began with clocks made for medieval religious buildings.

The oldest one still in use, at Salisbury Cathedral, dates from around 1386 and still contains many original parts within its wrought iron mechanism. This clock never had a face – it simply rang a bell upon the hour, while the clock at Wells Cathedral, built circa 1390, has two faces. Inside the building you see an astronomical clock, with a 24-hour analogue dial in Roman numerals and dials showing the age and phases of the moon. Mechanical jousting knights above the clock charge at each other every quarter of the hour, while another figure, the ‘Quarter Jack’ strikes bells with a hammer and his heels. The exterior face is a conventional 12-hour dial.

Perhaps the loveliest astronomical clock in Britain was commissioned by King Henry VIII and created by Bavarian astronomer Nicolas Kratzer and French clockmaker Nicholas Oursian in 1540 for the gatehouse at Hampton Court Palace. It shows the sun moving through the signs of the zodiac, the time, day of the month, phase of the moon and high water at London Bridge – useful for a monarch sailing down the river to his other palaces at Westminster, London and Greenwich.

At the time, clocks would have been a much rarer sight than sundials, such as that

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created in 1903 by clockmakers James Ritchie & Son; and Great George, the clock within the Royal Liver Building, high above the River Mersey in Liverpool. It was set in motion on 22 July 1911 as King George V was crowned in Westminster Abbey. Its four faces – the largest in Britain – are 25 feet wide, constructed of 660 pounds of opal glass on an iron frame and tough enough to withstand winds from the Irish Sea. Almost a century on, in 2008, an extraordinary modern clock was created for Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, by inventor, horologist and former student Dr John Taylor. Its face is a gold-plated disk, four feet in diameter, topped by a grasshopper, the ‘chronophage’ or ‘time eater’. As this pulls the dial around, blue LED lights rush across the clock to display the time – but the clock plays tricks, pausing, running unevenly or even backwards, before returning to the correct time. It took seven years, £1 million and the work of over 300 scientists, engineers and artists to build.

Britain is still at the cutting edge of clock technology. In 2011 a caesium fountain atomic clock built at the National Physical Laboratory (NPL) in Teddington, south London, was named most accurate long-term timekeeper in the world.

Contemplating these great clocks allows us to reflect upon attempts to bring order to our sometimes chaotic world – and consider the mystery of time itself.

 For information on these iconic clocks and timepieces visit the BRITAIN website at www.britain-magazine.com www.britain-magazine.com

photos: © CoRBIs/VIsIt BRItAIN/BRItAIN oN VIEW/CoRBIs/ALAN CopsoN

Top (left to right): Big Ben is not the name of the famous clock but the nickname of the hour bell; the Royal Liver Building in Liverpool has four clock faces – which at 25 feet wide are the largest in Britain. Above: The bright red Time Ball on top of Flamsteed House in Greenwich is one of the world's earliest public time signals, distributing time to ships on the Thames and many Londoners

still showed departures in local and London times, while clocks with two separate minute hands became a common sight. You can still see one at the Corn Exchange in Bristol.

In 1880 London time was officially standardised across Britain, based on the ‘master clock’ at the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, built by Charles Shepherd in 1851 – one of the first electric clocks in the country. You can see a Shepherd clock, with its unusual 24-hour analogue dial, on the Shepherd Gate entrance.

But most people, asked to nominate the most famous clock in Britain, would name one built in the 1850s. Or, to be pedantic, misname it, because neither the clock tower alongside the Houses of Parliament nor the clock is called Big Ben (it’s actually the nickname of the hour bell).

The clock tower was designed by Augustus Pugin and the clock by Edmund Beckett Denison and George Airy. It is magnificent but flawed: a variation in the mass of the huge pendulum – caused by changes in weather – is managed with a pile of Victorian pennies balanced on top, which are added or removed to correct the time. Tower and clock are not routinely open to the public, but tours can be arranged by Members of Parliament.

Big Ben was cast at the Whitechapel Bell Foundry in East London in 1858 and weighs 13.5 tons. Winching it into position took 18 hours. Two-and-a-half months into its working life the bell cracked, but it was patched up in situ and there it remains, still striking the hour.

Other great British clocks include the floral clock in Princes Street Gardens, Edinburgh,

welcome...

www.campdencottages.co.uk T: +44 (0)1386 852462 E: campdencottages@icloud.com Follow us on Twitter @campdencottages

Photography by www.talkingpictures.info

Step inside one of our beautiful cottages, full of character and Cotswold charm - a fantastic way to unwind on your holiday

St Chad’S College St Chad’s College is set on a dramatic site in the shadow of Durham Cathedral in the centre of medieval Durham.

Ensuite and Standard B&B accommodation is available in historic buildings which are far older than their Georgian frontages suggest.

www.dur.ac.uk/chads

18 North Bailey, Durham DH1 3RH Tel: 0191 334 3358 • email: chads@durham.ac.uk

Enjoy London with a Visitor Oyster Card.

The easiest way to travel around.

• N o queuing at stations – ready to use as soon as you arrive • Cheaper than buying paper tickets • Use it for travel across all of London • D iscounted fares on the Emirates Air Line cable car and Thames Clipper river boats • The easiest way to travel around London For more information or to pre-purchase, go to visitorshop.tfl.gov.uk

MAYOR OF LONDON

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DOWN CATHEDRAL

Bristol Cathedral - was described by Pevsner as “superior to anything else built in England”.

Built in 1183 as a Benedictine monastery, Down Cathedral is now a Cathedral of the Church of Ireland.

Prominent and majestic, the cathedral is believed to have the grave of St Patrick in its grounds. There is also wonderful stained glass and a pulpit and organ of highest quality.

Come and find sanctuary in this medieval hall church.

Enjoy the glories of our choir and our architecture and the warmth of our welcome.

Find us at www.bristol-cathedral.co.uk

Open all year round. Monday - Saturday 9.30 - 4.00: Sunday 2.00 - 4.00pm

The Mall, English Street, Downpatrick, County Down BT30 6AB T: 028 4461 4922 E: info@downcathedral.org REET

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Fun family outings Hunger for history Fun family outings Savour the menu Hunger forcoff history Chat over ee Savour menu Wanderthe quiet cloisters Walk over tranquil Chat coffgrounds ee Festivals quiet and concerts Wander cloisters View tranquil sacred treasures Walk grounds Enjoy theand silence Festivals concerts Take asacred pew treasures View at Norwich Cathedral Enjoy the silence Plan your visit: Share your visit: Take a pew www.cathedral.org.uk #mycathedralvisit

A warm welcome awaits you in this A warmglorious welcome awaits you in this sacred space glorious sacred space

daily 8 am until Evensong + Open Guided tours anduntil group tours available Open daily 8 am Evensong + Tower tours Wednesday to Saturday from April to October Guided tours and group available + Tower tours Wednesday tours to Saturday from April to October + Visit our website www.gloucestercathedral.org.uk for more of concerts, exhibitions, events and services Visit details our website www.gloucestercathedral.org.uk for more details of concerts, exhibitions, events and services Tel: 01452 528095 Tel: 01452 528095

at Norwich Cathedral 76 britain

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21/9/11 10:05:25

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Competition

IN W A FABULOUS

WEEKEND IN

ROYAL RICHMOND Relax for the night at an 18th-century country home, take a river ride, explore world-famous gardens, and visit the home of English rugby

Finish your fun-filled weekend with a visit to the famous Twickenham Stadium, home of English rugby. Your complimentary passes for the World Rugby Museum and Twickenham Stadium include tours of both venues – especially exciting with the Rugby World Cup to look forward to in 2015.

HOW TO ENTER To be in with a chance of winning this fabulous competition, simply answer the question below, complete the coupon and send to the address provided. Alternatively, enter via the BRITAIN website: www.britain-magazine.com Question: How many minutes is Richmond upon Thames from London by train? a) 15 minutes b) 20 minutes c) 25 minutes Go to www.visitrichmond.co.uk to see more great ideas of what there is to see, explore and experience in Richmond.

TERMS AND CONDITIONS

Terms and conditions apply and the prize is subject to availability. Prize to be redeemed in August or September 2014. Closing date 17 March 2014.

RICHMOND COMPETITION ENTRY FORM SEND YOUR COUPON TO: Richmond Competition, BRITAIN magazine, The Chelsea Magazine Company, Jubilee House, 2 Jubilee Place, London, SW3 3TQ , UK My answer: Name: Address: Postcode: Tel no:

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e’ve teamed up with VisitRichmond to offer one lucky winner and a friend the chance to enjoy a weekend in this beautiful riverside London borough, which for centuries has been a favoured retreat for royalty and the rich and famous, and is just 15 minutes from central London by train.

On arrival, check into the glamorous Richmond Hill Hotel, where you will stay for one night, with breakfast and use of Cedars Health and Leisure Club and spa included. The Richmond Hill Hotel is set within a Georgian building full of character and charm, dating back to 1726, and sits opposite Terrace Gardens, which overlook a protected view of the River Thames.

A short distance away are The Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew, and here you can delve into the rainforest, walk among the tree tops and explore one of the finest plant collections in the world.

After this, you’ll be treated to lunch from Cook & Garcia, an artisan food shop opposite Richmond Station, and later dinner at the award-winning Pizzeria Rustica.

The next day, enjoy English breakfast and a stroll around Richmond Park, London’s largest Royal Park. Afterwards, take in the beautiful village charm of Richmond town on your bespoke walking tour with Discovery Richmond before indulging in a boat trip on the River Thames, courtesy of the historic Turks Launches, a company whose heritage stretches back 300 years.

The Thames runs through the heart of Richmond, with 21 miles of river linking Hampton Court Palace, Kew Gardens and central London.

Next, take afternoon tea at the beautiful Bingham Hotel, a lovely Georgian townhouse overlooking the river that is one of London’s most picturesque boutique hotels.

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Thomas Becket

MURDER The falling out of two friends, Thomas Becket and King Henry II, led to one of history’s most violent and horrific events WORDS NEIL JONES

Hardy’s Wessex is broadly the modernday county of Dorset, seen here at Gold Hill in Shaftesbury www.britain-magazine.com

The murder of Thomas Becket in Canterbury Cathedral BRITAIN

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O Above: Medieval pilgrims would have seen this gateway to the ruins of St Augustine's Abbey in Canterbury and (below) the Old Weavers House beside the River Stour. Facing page: Great Tower of Dover Castle; Canterbury Cathedral cloisters; Henry II doing penance at Becket's tomb

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n 18 July 1174 citizens of Canterbury witnessed a most extraordinary spectacle. King Henry II had come to perform a public penance. He stopped at St Dunstan’s Church, donned sackcloth and walked barefoot to the cathedral, for he admitted “that he did use such words as were the cause and origin” of the murder of Thomas Becket. He was whipped by monks.

The killing of Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury, four years earlier had sent shockwaves through Europe. Stories of miracles linked to the martyr abounded and he was canonized in 1173. Pilgrims flocked to his shrine in the cathedral, colourfully recorded in Geoffrey Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, and the story of Thomas and Henry, two friends who became implacable enemies, has fascinated writers and movie makers ever since: from T S Eliot’s Murder in the Cathedral to Ken Follett’s The Pillars of the Earth.

Becket’s rise to public position was meteoric. The son of a prosperous merchant, he was born in London in 1118 and, “quick of learning, keen of memory and clear of understanding in all things,” was educated in Surrey, Paris, Bologna and Auxerre. He became a deacon in the household of Theobald, Archbishop of Canterbury, and in 1155 King Henry II, recognising his talents, made him Chancellor of the Realm.

Despite envious murmurings, Becket proved a deft diplomat and administrator, which included enforcing the king’s sources of revenue from landowners, churches and bishoprics. He also became good friends with Henry, some 15 years his junior. It was a meeting of like spirits: each was tall and brave, each could be courteous and charismatic, and each possessed an explosive temper.

Among the great causes of unrest in the Middle Ages were relations between Church and Crown, and Henry was keen on reform. When Archbishop Theobald died in 1161 the king saw his chance to further his interests by encouraging the appointment of Thomas. It was an incredible move as Becket was only a clerk in minor orders, but he was quickly promoted then enthroned as Archbishop of Canterbury in June 1162.

If Henry thought Thomas would do his bidding he was in for a shock. Becket transformed from pleasure-loving courtier to ascetic cleric, determined to uphold the dignity and privileges of the Church – including its independence from state control.

The king, busy overhauling England’s legal system, wanted erring clergy to be tried in secular courts rather than their own, which administered far milder punishments. Becket vehemently resisted, on this and other matters. So the king countered with the Constitutions of Clarendon (1164), aiming to clarify relations between Church and State and asserting the judicial rights of the Crown. Surprisingly, Becket now agreed – then withdrew agreement.

He was summoned to explain his contempt of royal authority and, for good measure, interrogated over money he had been given to spend as chancellor. Angry scenes erupted and the archbishop stormed out.

Despite enemies in high places, Becket was already a popular hero with the common people and many clergy.

Supporters helped him to escape to France where he www.britain-magazine.com

Thomas Becket

Four knights, Richard le Breton, Hugh de Moreville, Reginald FitzUrse and William de Tracy, took the king at his word and hastened to Canterbury

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images: © arterra Picture Library/aLamy/timewatch images/mary evans Picture Library/reaLimage/chris howes/wiLd PLaces PhotograPhy/istock

remained in exile for six years. Only following a brittle truce with Henry did he return in December 1170. Crowds cheered him to Canterbury, little realising that before the month’s end he would be dead.

While abroad, Becket had excommunicated the king’s principal counsellors as well as opponents in the Church and back in England he continued his uncompromising behaviour. When Henry heard he exploded with rage: “Who will rid me of this low-born [some say ‘turbulent’] Priest?”

Four knights, Richard le Breton, Hugh de Moreville, Reginald FitzUrse and William de Tracy, took the king at his word and hastened to Canterbury, arriving on 29 December. After a fiery confrontation with Becket they pursued him into the cathedral as the monks sang afternoon vespers and caught up with him in the north-west transept.

In the struggle that followed, Becket threw FitzUrse to the ground before being overcome by sword strokes, murmuring as he fell, “For the name of Jesus and the defence of the church I am willing to die.” Le Breton’s sword sliced off the crown of the archbishop’s skull and the blade’s tip shattered on the stone pavement.

Today the site of the Martyrdom is marked by a sculpture of metal swords suspended above a simple altar, the eerie peace far removed from the original scenes of frenzy as the knights fled and a violent storm blew up suggesting a breakdown of natural order. Stunned mourners thronged to the cathedral and miracles began to be reported, since commemorated in the richly coloured medieval stained glass windows of the Trinity Chapel.

Two years later, Thomas was made a saint. britain

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Thomas Becket

From top: The Great Cloister of Canterbury Cathedral; follow the ancient track of the pilgrims along the North Downs Way; the luminous Miracle Windows in the cathedral’s Trinity Chapel depict miracles believed to be wrought by St Thomas Becket

Becket’s assailants went unpunished by Henry but were ordered by the Pope to serve as knights in the Holy Land.

The king, regretting their over-zealous actions, did his public penance. Yet, visit the Great Tower of Dover Castle, the dazzling showpiece he built to impress important guests, and you might wonder about his true feelings.

Many nobles who came as pilgrims to venerate St Thomas in Canterbury broke their journey at the opulently furnished tower, finding here an unapologetic statement of power and wealth, undiminished by events.

As the flow of visitors to Canterbury Cathedral increased, Becket’s relics were moved from their initial

Many of the faithful followed the ancient track of the 133mile Pilgrim’s Way between Winchester and Canterbury tomb to an awe-inspiring gold-plated, bejewelled shrine.

The pilgrimage industry, at its height from the 12th to 14th centuries, meant big business and Canterbury, boasting shrines of many saints in addition to its star attraction, ranked among Christendom’s four greatest centres alongside Jerusalem, Rome and Compostela.

Many of the faithful followed the ancient track of the 133-mile Pilgrim’s Way between the two holy sites of Winchester and Canterbury – you can ramble roughly in their steps today by taking the St Swithun’s and North Downs Ways via paths, woods, chalk grassland, orchards and farmland. Some sought healing or forgiveness at Becket’s shrine, others journeyed from a sense of adventure. For as soon as spring came, Geoffrey Chaucer wrote in The Canterbury Tales, “Than longen folk to goon on pilgrimages.”

Chaucer’s Tales, begun around 1387, reveal a diverse bunch of pilgrims, from the five-times-married Wife of Bath to a gentle knight, travelling from Southwark’s Tabard Inn (London) to Canterbury. Their holiday spirit is captured as they pass the time telling stories – the Canterbury Tales visitor attraction, a short walk from Canterbury Cathedral, provides a rumbustious take on their yarns of love, jealousy and trickery. www.britain-magazine.com

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Thomas Becket

All around Canterbury you can still see sights that would have greeted weary medieval travellers: from St Dunstan’s where Henry II paused, to the Eastbridge Hospital founded in the 12th century to provide lodgings for poor pilgrims, and of course the magnificent cathedral.

Keen for souvenirs of their visit, pilgrims snapped up trinkets, which the cathedral and others happily provided in order to boost their coffers. Canterbury Heritage Museum displays a superb collection of medieval ‘must-have’ badges, including depictions of the head casket of St Thomas. Or maybe you would have preferred an ampulla of holy water, allegedly tinged with the saint’s healing blood?

Above: Canterbury Cathedral was one of the most important centres of pilgrimage in medieval England, all the more so after Becket's murder

photoS: © wikipedia/bax walker/imagebroker/alamy/tony watSon/Sonia halliday photographS

DiD you know?

J The word ‘canter’ derives from ‘Canterbury pace’, the ambling gallop of pilgrims riding along the Pilgrim’s Way. J Geoffrey Chaucer broke with convention by writing in English rather than French or Latin and his Canterbury Tales became one of the earliest books ever to be printed in English, by William Caxton in 1476.

J It’s claimed the restless spirits of two of the knights who murdered Thomas Becket haunt the Hythe area of Kent. They had stopped en route to Canterbury to plot at Saltwood Castle.

J Reports circa 1512 suggest the veneration of saints’ relics was out of hand as visitors to Canterbury Cathedral were shown everything from an arm with flesh attached, to scraps of handkerchiefs soiled by “the sweat from the face or neck of the saint, the running of his nose, and things of that sort.”

J Just years before the Dissolution, King Henry VIII (pictured above) was among pilgrims to Canterbury making offerings at Becket’s shrine.

Did Henry’s rash words constitute a command to murder or was it a terrible mistake? Was Thomas too intransigent and stiff with pride?

Pilgrims continued to venerate the shrine of St Thomas right up to 1538, when vandals of the Dissolution destroyed it and St Thomas’s name was expunged from the official calendar of the English Church. Among cartloads of treasure taken from the cathedral was a giant ruby given by Louis VII of France in 1179 to decorate Becket’s tomb: Henry VIII had the choice jewel set in a thumb ring, a seeming symbol of the triumph of the State over Church authority.

Opinions differ over the story of Thomas and Henry II, two friends who became bitterly pitted against each other over a matter of principle. Did Henry’s rash words constitute a command to murder or was it a terrible mistake? Was Thomas, champion of the Church, too intransigent and stiff with pride? Could the martyrdom have been avoided?

Whatever your conclusion, the lighted candle that burns in Canterbury Cathedral’s Trinity Chapel where Becket’s shrine once stood invites countless modern pilgrims to poignant reflection.

 For information on visiting Canterbury Cathedral, please go to the BRITAIN website at www.britain-magazine.com

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Fancy experiencing your very own Downton Abbey? Then book a stay on a celebrated country estate for glorious buildings and spectacular gardens Words Jessica tooze

Top: Le Manoir aux Quat'Saisons and its tranquil garden.

Above left: The terrace outside L'Enclume in Cartmel, Cumbria.

Above right: Bay crab,

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Places To Stay

photoS: © the grove/luton hoo

Left: Luton Hoo, seen from the formal gardens to the south-west of the house. Below: The Grove hotel

2

T

1 www.britain-magazine.com

here was a time when your only chance of living like a lord or lady was to have been born one, but now anyone can experience the advantages of the landed gentry, even if only for a weekend. Many of the country’s finest stately homes are today run as luxurious hotels and some have holiday cottages on site, often giving privileged out-of-hours access to their spectacular gardens and buildings.

Unfortunately you can’t stay at the real-life Downton Abbey – Highclere Castle in Berkshire – but we have hunted down the most stunning stately homes across Britain where you can try a brief taste of aristocracy, replicating life as a guest of the Granthams.

From the long, tree-lined drive to the imposing neo-classical facade of the mansion house, Luton Hoo on the Bedfordshire/Hertfordshire border is a perfect example of a grand stately home turned hotel. The present house was built for the 3rd Earl of Bute, prime minister to King George III, and has been added to and modified

over the years, notably after two major fires in 1771 and 1843. The majestic proportions of the Great Hall were the work of Charles Mewes, who designed The Ritz hotel in London, and commissioned by Sir Julius Wernher who made his fortune from the South African diamond mines and owned the house from 1903.

Despite the soaring ceilings, glittering chandeliers and enormous rooms, Luton Hoo has a wonderfully welcoming feel, with roaring log fires in every huge hearth, comfortable sofas and attentive, friendly staff. Dinner in the magnificent Wernher Restaurant is a more formal affair, fitting for a room in which ruinously expensive floor-to-ceiling marble panelwork on the walls and lavish drapes and tapestries surely make it one of the most glamorous dining rooms in the country.

Bedrooms are similarly opulent – the ovalshaped Boudoir is particularly glorious, with its many windows commanding superb views of the lake, parkland and formal gardens. britain

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3 If you prefer something classic on the outside and contemporary inside, then The Grove, half an hour’s drive south towards London, offers the perfect marriage of traditional architecture and modern interiors.

The first substantial house was built at The Grove during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, before Sir William Buck of Hanby rebuilt the main manor house and original west wing in

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1703. From 1753 generations of the illustrious Earls of Clarendon owned The Grove until 1920, after which the property was variously used as a gardening school, health centre, riding school and a girl’s boarding school. It was finally opened as a luxury hotel and superior golf resort in 2004.

The Grove bills itself as ‘London’s country estate’ and whereas in the 19th century, under the 4th Earl, regular guests included Queen Victoria, Lord Palmerston and the future King Edward VII, today you will find business travellers mingling with families, golfers and those who come to be pampered at the awardwinning spa. This is a country estate for those used to modern comforts – here you can indulge yourself at the huge buffet spread in The Glasshouse restaurant, hire a bike for a five-mile ride around the estate or even visit the ‘beach’ in the grounds, complete with volleyball court and plenty of sandcastle-building space.

Hartwell House, situated amid 90 acres of landscaped parkland within the Vale of Buckinghamshire, is altogether a more traditional offering. One of three hotels owned and managed by Historic House Hotels of the National Trust, with all profits going to the house and the charity, the aim with this and each of their properties is to retain the quiet comfortable atmosphere of country house life.

Above: Hartwell House. Below: The King's Bedroom at Hartwell was once the room of King Louis XVIII

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Places To Stay

4 Whether you fancy a game of tennis on the lovely courts within the high brick walls of the old kitchen garden; a wander in the grounds, taking in the wonderful 18th-century buildings

by James Gibbs and a Gothic Revival church built in 1752; or simply want to curl up in the spectacular library – the bookcases of which are fronted by the finest surviving gilt-brass wire-work in the country – you can easily imagine you are staying for the weekend at the residence of relaxed (if very wealthy) friends.

This house, however, has an extremely grand past. In 1809 it was leased to the exiled King Louis XVIII of France and his court.

King Louis remained at Hartwell until 1814 when the constitutional document confirming his accession to the French throne was signed here. You can even sleep in his room – the King’s Bedroom – while the roof terrace, once used by the French court for keeping chickens and rabbits and growing vegetables and herbs, is now a sheltered spot to catch the sun.

You will find more fascinating historical associations at Rushton Hall in Northamptonshire. The ancestral home of the controversial Tresham family from 1438, the house is steeped in stories of murder and betrayal. William Tresham bought the estate in 1438 and was made Speaker of the House of Commons the following year. In 1450, accused www.britain-magazine.com

of treason in the aftermath of Jack Cade’s rebellion in Kent against high taxes and alleged corruption in the king’s council, he was killed in a property dispute. A later descendant, Francis Tresham, also met a nasty end – he was involved in the Gunpowder Plot and died in the Tower of London in 1605.

Fittingly for a house with this tragic history, it is said to have provided Charles Dickens

Above and below: Rushton Hall is today a haven of tranquillity, but has borne witness to a tragic past

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5 1. Luton Hoo, bedfordsHire

Book for: wonderful service in glamorous surroundings and the popular afternoon tea overlooking the formal gardens.

From £280 per night; www.lutonhoo.co.uk

2. tHe Grove, HertfordsHire

Book for: the excellent breakfast buffet – one of the best hotel breakfasts we’ve tried – and the stylish spa with its black mosaic pool.

From £285 per night; www.thegrove.co.uk

3. HartweLL House, buckinGHamsHire Book for: beautiful grounds planted with thousands of bulbs and a Gothic tower and pavilion by James Gibbs.

From £290 per night; www.hartwell-house.com

with the inspiration for the spooky Haversham Hall in Great Expectations.

Seventeenth-century Swinton Park in the Yorkshire Dales looks more like a castle than a house, but the tower, turrets and battlements were simply added as decorative embellishments to the original residence during the early 1800s.

The house was converted into a hotel in 2001 and retains all the character of a traditional English home. The grounds here are a true highlight, and the restored orangery now boasts

a falconry where guests can handle and fly a varying range of species under the watchful eye of an experienced falconer.

After a busy day of outdoor pursuits, change out of your tweed into something more glamorous for cocktails in the drawing room and dinner in Samuel’s restaurant – precisely what grand houses such as this were built for.

 For more stately homes turned hotels, please visit the BRITAIN website at www.britain-magazine.com

4. rusHton HaLL,

nortHamptonsHire Book for: peace and relaxation – borrow the croquet set from reception and enjoy a traditionally English pastime.

From £160 per night; www.rushtonhall.com

5. swinton park, nortH YorksHire Book for: the fairytale Turret Suite, set on three circular floors with a free-standing rain bath on the third floor.

From £195 per night; www.swintonpark.com Above: Swinton Park has been owned by the Cunliffe-Lister family since the 1880s. The 20,000-acre estate stretches from the River Ure in Wensleydale up onto the moorland dales and hotel guests have access to a host of country pursuits that include fishing, golf, falconry, riding and shooting.

Right: Rooms at Swinton Park are furnished with antiques and family portraits

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Morgan Romantic Road packages • Group Visits • Tailor made itineraries

www.visitworcestershire.org For information on fantastic attractions, events and accommodation in beautiful Worcestershire.

   •         •           •     ••     •     •   •            • For further information visit www.VisitCheltenham.com For further information visit www.VisitCheltenham.com     

• •   •     For further information visit www.VisitCheltenham.com

20 minutes from Waterloo 20 MINUTES

F R O M W AT E R L O O Dine. Shop. Stay. Escape.

    

Village lanes & boutiques Pubs, restaurants & hotels Twickenham Stadium London Wetland Centre Kew Gardens, Richmond Park & Hampton Court Palace

Richmond upon Thames Unspoilt and stunningly beautiful, the perfect hideaway from the modern world To find out more call 01481 832345 or visit

www.sar k.co.uk

W W W. V I S I T R I C H M O N D . C O . U K

Visit Richmond, Surrey

@Visit_Richmond1

A combination of picturesque villages, lively historic towns and rural scenes...

Escape, Explore and Enjoy…

Located in Buckinghamshire and set in the heart of the Chiltern Hills the Wycombe District is the perfect year round destination whatever your agenda. For those looking to escape to the countryside the beautiful walks, waterways and cosy English pubs provide an idyllic rural retreat. Or if you prefer a more lively atmosphere the bustling historic market towns offer endless entertainment for all the family.

Marlow

Princes Risborough

High Wycombe

To find out more and plan your stay contact one of our Tourist Information Centres High Wycombe Information Centre Library Foyer, 5 Eden Place High Wycombe, HP11 2DH Phone: +44(0)1494 421892

Marlow Information Centre 55a High Street (Entrance on Institute Road) Marlow, SL7 1BA Phone: +44(0)1628 483597

Princes Risborough Information Centre Tower Court, Horns Lane Princes Risborough, HP27 0JA Phone: +44(0)1844 274795

Visit www.visitbuckinghamshire.org or email tourism_enquiries@wycombe.gov.uk To book space call Natasha +44 (0)207 349 3732

© National Trust Images/John Millar. Registered Charity Number 205846.

BRITAIN’S CHOICE – discover fascinating heritage attractions

Fountains Abbey & Studley Royal

escaping the everyday

A place of contrasts and surprises, discover the spirit of a great abbey and the elegance of a Georgian water garden Members and under 5s go free.

01765 608888 nationaltrust.org.uk/fountains-abbey

For customised, flexible tours for couples or groups, visit www.shropshiretours.com

Open 1st April to 30th September 2014 Contact Info Line 01367 240932 or www.buscotpark.com for opening times

TRAVEL FROM WATERLOO

Each tour will have an experienced qualified guide and driver to look after you. This provides an enjoyable safe environment to discover Shropshire and other areas in Central England and Wales.

U E HO N O IN

R TO

T AL

www.shropshiretours.com Phone numbers: Steve +44(0)7773344217 Martin +44(0)7792883245 /+44(0)1743 350469 Email: info@shropshiretours.com

ON

AND STEAM THROUGH THE ENGLISH COUNTRYSIDE

BROUGHTON CASTLE One of the most beautiful historic houses in Oxfordshire It is the family home of Lord and Lady Saye and Sele and their family who have owned the house for 600 years.

It has lovely walled gardens within the moat. There is a particularly good collection of old roses and very fine herbaceous borders.

Mount Stuart isle of Bute

Discover one of the worlD’s finest houses explore this wondrous victorian Gothic structure and its labyrinth of gardens set in 300 acres - you won’t fail to be impressed!

House │ Gardens │ Visitor Centre Restaurant Gift Shop │ Tea Rooms │ Events & Weddings Adventure Play Area │ Fine Art Collection contemporary visual Arts exhibition

Open: easter Sunday and Monday from 2 – 5pm. Then from 1 May until 15 September on Wednesdays and Sundays and Bank holiday Mondays 2 – 5pm.

Also Thursdays July and August 2 – 5pm. (Last admission to house 4.30pm.)

www.broughtoncastle.com Banbury, Oxfordshire, OX15 5eB | T: +44 (0)1295 276070 | e: info@broughtoncastle.com

Just 90 minutes from Glasgow with frequent rail and ferry services daily to the most accessible scottish island. seasonal opening - see website for details. www.mountstuart.com

t: +44 (0) 1700 503877

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LUDLOW CASTLE

An unusually complete range of medieval buildings with a varied history of Norman Fortress, Fortified Palace, Administrative Centre and finally the romantic ruin it is today in the heart of Shropshire. Experience a complete shopping experience within the castle walls at the Castle Shop, Castle Gallery and The Art Room plus Tea Rooms serving Traditional English Teas.

Visit www.ludlowcastle.com

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Mount Stuart Isle of Bute

enjoy Island lIfe

for a short or long stay holIday stay in one of six highly individual properties, each exuding charm and character, refurbished to provide a high standard of self-catering accommodation in fabulous locations.

CASTLE HOUSE LODGINGS

Castle House, the last grand mansion built in Ludlow, was sympathetically restored in 2006 and provides a number of 5* self catering apartments for 3, 4 and 7 night stays. Also there are fine function rooms for weddings and function hire.

For further information and availability visit

www.castle-accommodation.com

each house provides a perfect base to explore the Isle of Bute, offering immaculate and comfortable living space for family holidays, wedding parties and relaxing breaks – from a cosy cottage for 2 to stunning coastal farmsteads for 16. for further information, please visit our website. www.mountstuart.com/stay

t: +44 (0) 1700 503877

Tel: 01584 874 465

To book space call Natasha +44 (0)207 349 3732

BRITAIN’S CHOICE – take a tour and make the most of your holiday

PrivateS mall Group Tours

England, Scotland and Ireland Experience up to 5,000 years of British history and culture including pre-history, castles, grand houses, battlefields, Roman Britain, architecture, industrial history, scenery, gardens, Shakespeare, Robert Burns, Cotswolds, Lake District, Whisky Tours and much more.

The Specialist provider of walking holidays and heritage tours in Dorset Independent walking holidays through Dorset‛s unspoilt countryside and along the spectacular Jurassic Coast as well as exclusive Thomas Hardy and Garden tours.

For serious hikers or leisure ramblers weekend escapes to week long treks.

Private tours arranged by an experienced and bonded tour guide, self-drive tours also available.

Tel: +44 (0)141 638 5500 Website: www.catswhiskerstours.co.uk Blog: www.catswhiskerstours.com Direct e-mail: info@catswhiskerstours.co.uk

www.footscape.co.uk enquiry@footscape.co.uk

SCOTLAND

The pleasures and perils of England’s Royalty Join our programmed tours Six Wives of One King

Robert the Bruce vs Edward II

Finding Henry VIII

700 YEARS ON, enjoy a full day Bannockburn Re-enactment with a bespoke “King's Ticket” *reserved seating *visitor centre access *welcome cocktail, *afternoon tea *souvenir bag *return transfers

Henry VIII: Defender of the Realm Tudor Women: Royal Wives, Children and Courtiers Elizabeth I: The Child, Lover and Warrior Queen or A Royal Progress Your personal itinerary created for individuals or family groups plus Other historic period tours available that will excite and inspire

Join us on our exclusive tour...

6 nts Glasgow & Edinburgh 4 star hotels, breakfasts 2 dinners, 1 lunch Vi s i t s t o B u r n s C o u n t r y, Culzean, Edinburgh & Stirling Castles, Royal Yacht Brittania, Falkirk Wheel & more

www.dhgrouptours.com

DHTour DHTour

London & U.K. Specialists

June 23 - 30, 2014

$1750 Land Only per person/twin Single Supp $550

2289 2289 Fairview Fairview St. St. Ste Ste 313, 313, Burlington Burlington ON ON L7R L7R 2E3 2E3

Conflict, Intrigue, Tempestuous love affairs and Majesty Journey with us to experience the sights, sounds, touch and taste of historic England

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Optional 2 - 14 night extended B 'n B tours of Scotland

905-639-9954 www.dhgrouptours.com 905-639-9954 www.dhgrouptours.com dhtour@dhtour.ca or dhtour@interlynx.net or 1-888-597-3519 1-888-597-3519

Small group guided tours for the history enthusiast

Tel:+44 (0)845 408 4012 E: info@tudorhistorytours.com www.tudorhistorytours.com Photographer: John Freeman The Royal Collection © 2009 Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II

#50012768 #50012768

Unique

BRITISH TOURS

Luxury, all-inclusive theme tours and history tours tailored to your interests.

With an historian chauffeur as your host, discover in intimate luxury the hidden treasures of England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland.

Multi day tours and one day tours available.

“Downton Abbey”

3 3 Exclusive Exclusive Tours Tours of of England England in in 2014...

2014...

With With aa day day at at Highclere Highclere Castle Castle Aug Aug 11th 11th -- Sep Sep 22nd 22nd Royal Residences Royal Residences & & ‘Downton’ ‘Downton’

With With aa night night at at Thornbury Thornbury Castle Castle

www.uniquebritishtours.co.uk Email: enquiries@uniquebritishtours.co.uk Tel: +44 (0)1293 823566 • From USA: 011 44 1293 823566 Mobile: 0777 1784 303 88 Church Road, Horley, Gatwick, Sussex RH6 8AD

Apr Apr Apr 10th 10th -- 17th 17th Apr 6th 6th -- 16th 16th A Week in London The English Cotswolds A Week in London The English Cotswolds & & & ‘Downton’ ‘Downton’ & ‘Downton’ ‘Downton’ Ask for our 2014 “Beautiful Britain & Europe” Ask for our 2014 “Beautiful Britain & Europe” brochure. brochure.

Tour 1-888-597-3519 DHTour 905-639-9954 1-888-597-3519 905-639-9954 DH dhtour@interlynx.net Hidden britain1-4 30/1/09 14:53 Page 1 London & U.K. Specialists dhtour@interlynx.net

313-2289 Fairview St, Burlington, ON Canada L7R 2E3 313-2289 Fairview St, Burlington, ON Canada L7R 2E3

London & U.K. Specialists London & U.K. Specialists

London & U.K. Specialists 313-2289 Fairview St, Burlington, ON L7R 2E3 TICO # 50012768

313-2289 Fairview St, Burlington, ON L7R 2E3 www.dhgrouptours.com TICO # 50012768 www.dhgrouptours.com

Jane Austen The Dancing Years

Explore Jane Austen’s early life with Hampshire Ambassador, Phil Howe.

Discover the villages, churches, country houses and trace the people she describes in her letters.

Tel: +44 (0)1955 611 353

Tours can include a visit to the Jane Austen House Museum, and the village of Chawton.

Enjoy lunch at a Hampshire country inn. An ideal halfday or one-day tour.

Downton Abbey Tours when available.

45 mins by train from London Waterloo

For more information Phone: +44 (0)1256 814222 e-mail: info@hiddenbritaintours.co.uk or visit www.hiddenbritaintours.co.uk

To book space call Natasha +44 (0)207 349 3732

British Traditions

a movable feast From flipping pancakes and hunting for chocolate eggs to Maundy money and palm decorations – easter in britain is filled with festivities WoRds Martha alexander

PHOTO: © Sean MalyOn/COrbiS

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hocolate eggs hidden among the snowdrops, melting pats of butter on toasted hot cross buns and slices of freshly baked Simnel cake – anyone could be forgiven for thinking Britain at Easter time is just one long spread of tasty treats.

However, thanks to both its secular and religious roots, Easter is steeped in tradition and ritual. A Christian celebration of Jesus’s resurrection, it was also a pagan festival to mark the start of spring and much of its symbolism is connected with this. Eggs, rabbits and flowers represent renewal, apt for the blooming of spring’s bounty.

Rabbits are also a leftover from the festival of Eostre, a northern goddess whose symbol was a rabbit or hare.

In Christianity, Easter Sunday is a movable feast with no fixed calendar date. It is observed on the Sunday after the first full moon that follows the March equinox in the northern hemisphere, meanig it can occur on any Sunday between 22 March and 25 April.

Christian Easter observance begins long before Easter Sunday, at the start of Lent. Shrove Tuesday was once the last opportunity to consume the food in the house that would go off during this abstemious period. Eggs and fats, with a little flour, create the pancakes that continue to be enjoyed on this day. Historically people would also undergo shriving: the confessing of sins.

Lent begins the next day, Ash Wednesday, 40 days prior to Easter Sunday and a time of self-imposed deprivation, reflecting Jesus’s fasting in the wilderness. The restrictions of Lent are conventionally relaxed on the middle Sunday of the fast, best known today as

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Mothering Sunday, when Simnel cake is made. Dating back to medieval times, it is typically decorated with 12 marzipan balls to represent Jesus and the apostles minus Judas. Often, Mothering Sunday was when girls in service returned home to both their mothers and their ‘mother’ church.

The week of Easter begins on Palm Sunday and Maundy Thursday falls four days later, marking the Last Supper, when Jesus washed his disciples’ feet. Traditionally on Maundy Thursday the British king or queen would give money to underprivileged people and wash their feet, in remembrance of Jesus’s gesture. The last British monarch to wash his subjects’ feet, however, was King James II. These days, there is the Ceremony of the Royal Maundy instead, where the monarch distributes money to deserving senior citizens.

The next day is Good Friday, when Christians commemorate the crucifixion of Jesus Christ and hot cross buns are served.

Easter Sunday is a day of jubilation, reflected not only in feasting but also characterised by finery and decoration. It was once a popular day for couples to get married and people have habitually dressed up in new clothes for the occasion, ensuring a fresh start.

Chocolate eggs are eaten, a tasty modern replacement for the customary painting of hen eggshells, which were used as both decoration and gifts.

 For more information on British traditions and celebrations, please visit the BRITAIN magazine website at www.britain-magazine.com www.britain-magazine.com

thecrystal.org

the world’s most

sustainable

events venue Interactive exhibition Award winning waterfront cafĂŠ A great day out for the family

@thecrystalorg www.facebook.com/thecrystalorg

1 Siemens Brothers Way, London, E16 1GB

‘London’s equivalent of climbing the Sydney Harbour Bridge’ The Huffington Post

‘Exhilarating’

‘Spectacular’

Time Out

Evening Standard

Now you can walk over one of London’s favourite landmarks Book your date and time now.

UpatTheO2.co.uk