BRET DAVID STEADMAN

I Never Knew that  About England and more

Redruth
First House Lit by Gas
IN THE LATE 17th century, Redruth was the capital of the LARGEST AND RICHEST METAL MINING AREA IN BRITAIN, thanks to the deep mining of copper which was used to make brass, an important material in the Industrial Revolution. In the middle of the 19th century, TWO-THIRDS OF THE WORLD'S COPPER CAME PROM CORNWALL.
The FIRST HOUSE IN THE WORLD To BE LIT BY GAS is in Redruth. WILLIAM MURDOCK (1754—1839) was an engineer working for Boulton and Watt, who made
steam engines in Birmingham. Many of them were put to use in the Cornish mining industry and Murdock came to live in Redruth in 1782, as local
manager for the company. He had a brilliant mind and was often years ahead of others in his ideas. In 1 794, he built a closed coal fire in his garden and ran a pipe from it into the house, where he lit the gas coming through from the burning coal — the world's first gas lighting system.
In 1784, Murdock devised a method of using steam pressure to drive a piston inside a cylinder and he used this to drive a small model carriage
for over 2 miles (3.2 km). He also invented, albeit on a small scale, the locomotive, 20 years before Richard Trevithick's full-scale version. It is possible to follow the route he took, late at night, from his house in Cross Street, past Redruth church, where the terrified vicar thought the hissing, fiery apparition was the Devil! Unfortunately, Murdock failed to persuade his employers of the potential for this invention and turned his talents elsewhere, leaving Trevithick to take the accolades as inventor of the steam engine.
MURDOCK HOUSE, as it is now called, stands in Cross Street, Redruth, and is marked with a plaque.

starling

goldfinch

hoopoe

Gwennap
Hold the Lift
ON 5 JANUARY 1842, a Cornish engineer, MICHAEL LOAM (1798—1871), gave a successful demonstration of the WORLD'S FIRST LIFT. He called it a MAN ENGINE and it was installed at the Tresavean Mine in Gwennap, near Redruth. It was powered by a waterwheel and reached a depth Of 150 ft (46 m). When it proved effective, it was extended to 1,000 ft (305 m). 
Loam had invented the Man Engine in a effort to relieve miners of the back-breaking climb to and from the workface. Some mines were over 2,000
ft (610 In) deep. The basic design involved a series Of stepped wooden rods which moved up and down between a succession Of platforms which were
fixed to the mine shaft wall. The miner would step Off a platform on to the rod, step Off that on tO the next platform and wait for the next rod. It was slow, but relatively safe, and much less exhausting than climbing a ladder. The FIRST-EVER LIFT ACCIDENT occurred on 31 September 1843, when a 14-year—Old boy miner missed his step and plunged 100 ft (30.5 m) to his death.
Steam engines soon replaced waterwheels, which made the lifts much faster, and cages were provided to protect the men from falling. The last Man
Engine was dismantled at the Levant Mine in 1919.

It's possible, when standing in ST JUST, to believe that the words of the hymn are correct, and that ‘those feet, in ancient times, did walk upon England's mountains green' and that ‘the Holy lamb of God was at St Just in Roseland seen'. Here is a beautiful 15th-century Church, set in a garden churchyard beautiful beyond words, full of palms and roses, hydrangeas and polyanthus, right beside the waters of St Just Creek Off the Carrick Roads. It has a drowsy, peaceful air, heavy with colour and scent, the water lapping gently against the mossy Church walls. Just the sort of spot where you could imagine Jesus wading ashore and walking upon England's pleasant pastures. It is known that the Phoenicians and the Romans visited Cornwall and legend says that Joseph Of Arimathea, a tin merchant, brought the boy Jesus here on one of his voyages to purchase tin from the Cornish mines. It certainly seems possible, indeed probable, when you stand in this blessed place. 
SIR HUMPHRY DAVY, inventor of the miners' safety lamp, is buried here. The EIRST ROYAL MAIL PACKET STATION IN THE WORLD was set up at FALMOUTH in 1698. Mail was sent to Falmouth by coach from London and other parts Of the country and then carried over the oceans by the fast, lightly armed ‘Falmouth packets'. The port became the communications centre Of the growing British Empire and flourished until business was moved to the steam packets of Southampton in 1852.
They shall not grow old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.
These powerful lines were written by LAURENCE BINYON in 1914, as he sat on the cliffs above POLZEATH, near Padstow. Binyon was born in Lancaster in 1869, and worked at the British Museum, where he was an expert in Oriental art and literature. In 1908, he wrote the first-ever European treatise on the subject, Painting in the Far East. In 1916, he went to the front to work for the Red Cross. He was a successful playwright as well as a poet. Laurence Binyon died in 1943 and is buried at Aldworth in Berkshire.

The bottomless DOZMARY POOL, in the middle of bleak and barren Bodrnin Moor, is where Arthur's knight, following Arthur's instructions, cast away Excalibur and a woman's arm, Clad in white, rose out of the water, clasped the sword and sank back beneath the surface. Excalibur lies there still. The cold, black, lifeless water does not entice you to dive in and look for it.

The 6th-Century St PIRAN'S ORATORY, south Of NEWQUAY, is the OLDEST CHRISTIAN CHURCH IN BRITAIN. St Piran was a monk who sailed to Cornwall from Ireland and became the patron saint Of tinners, and of Cornwall. The broken walls of his tiny Oratory, built where he landed, lie hidden in the dunes behind Perran beach. A long walk across the sand brings you to the site which is marked by a cross.

PENZANCE was the birthplace of MARIA BRONTE, mother of the Bronte sisters. The house where she was born is still there in Chapel Street.
Sure enough, Penzance had its Share Of pirates. Strategically situated near the very tip of Britain, the town was an ideal Spot for pirates to hijack and plunder Ships returning from the New World with untold treasures. But today's Penzance is less of a rough-and-tumble smuggler's cove and more Of a blue-collar transportation hub. Penzance can't compete with the artsy vibe of St. Ives or the jewel-box quality of nearby Mousehole, but it's cornered the market on functionality: Well-located B&Bs, good restaurants, train and bus stations, and easy parking make Penzance the most practical home base for exploring the Cornish coast. And its bustling main street, picturesque waterfront setting, and agreeable natives make it an enjoyable place to "come home to" at the end of a busy sightseeing day. Penzance, with about 20,000 people, is situated on a small peninsula. The eastern part of the peninsula has the harbor and the train and bus stations. The southern part has a broad and inviting promenade, with most of the town's B&Bs nearby. Climbing uphill from the water are various streets, including the busy Market Jew Street (derived from the Cornish Marghas Yow, meaning "Thursday Market") and the atmospheric, restaurant-lined Chapel Street. The hill is capped by the spire of the Church of St. Mary and the grandly domed Market House, now a bank.

Derby
First Factory
THIS BUSTLING NORTH Midlands town seems ordinary enough, but Derby has done much to shape our modern world. It stands on the River Derwent and has been a busy market centre since Norman times. The glory of the town is the magnificent 16th—century tower of the Cathedral, which soars 210 ft (64 m) above the town centre and is one of the loveliest examples of Gothic architecture in England. Derby was one of the first English towns to be industrialised in the 18th century, and many of the town centre streets date from this period.
In 1721, JOHN LOMBE opened the FIRST SILK MILL IN ENGLAND — the FIRST TRUE FACTORY IN THE WORLD — on the banks of the River Derwent in Derby. It was built to accommodate 26 new machines for twisting silk into thread. Lombe had worked in the silk trade in Italy and had secretly copied the design of the Spinning machines in use over there. A water wheel provided the power and Lombe's mill was able to produce enough silk to seriously compete with the Italians. In 1722, Lombe died suddenly from an unknown ailment. It was suspected that he had been poisoned by a girl sent over from Italy in revenge for his industrial espionage. Silk production ended at the mill in 1908, and the building burnt down in 1910. The tower, however, was saved and has been incorporated into a new building which now houses the Derby Industrial Museum.

Cornwall

Set on a rocky peninsula at the southwest tip of England, Cornwall has a Celtic vibe. Its rugged scenery and wild, uncultivated appeal make you feel as if you're approaching the end of the world (and many natives would say it's exactly that). Harboring the remnants of an endangered Celtic culture (Cornish), an extinct tin-mining industry, and a gaggle of visit-worthy sights, this is one of England's most popular holiday regions--especially among the English.

Cornwall, as part of the "Celtic crescent" that nearly circles England, developed apart from the rest of the country, with its own Cornish language, which thrived for centuries. Fishing, shipping, and smuggling were the main businesses here for hundreds of years, but in the 18th century, tin mining became the major industry. The 20th century dealt a double blow to Cornwall: The local pilchard fishery became depleted, and cheap Asian and South American tin put an end to mining. Today's predominant trade is tourism, as evidenced by the many tourist traps littering the landscape. But visitors flock here for good reason. The area is packed with ancient sites, adorable Villages, and historic monuments, and the climate is unusually mild--making it perfect for gardening, walking, basking on the beach, and generally enjoying life. The region also exerts a pull on fans of British culture--the hit BBC series Poldark is set here, and the longtime favorite Doc Martin is shot in Port Isaac. Throughout Cornwall, prehistoric huts, stone circles, and other ancient structures stand witness to the region's long history. When the Romans arrived in Britain in the first century BC, the native Celtic inhabitants were forced to the farthest, most inhospitable corners of the island. TO this day, a "Celtic crescent" still rings England, with several groups struggling to keep alive their fading languages, such as Welsh, Scottish Gaelic, Irish Gaelic, Manx (on the Isle of Man)...and Cornish.

This part Of Britain--specifically Penzance--was ideally located for shipping, Since boats could launch Straight into the Atlantic, rather than having to tack all the way along the English Channel from farther east. It's no wonder that Penzance is best known as the namesake for a Gilbert and Sullivan musical about the high seas. Along with the sailors and pirates, artists love this scenic corner of Britain, which can change from sun--drenched to rainy and windblown in a matter of minutes. Dramatic clouds hit Cornwall like a hammer, and the sea changes color with the sky.

Rich deposits Of metals--especially tin--have linked this rugged spit Of land to the rest of the world. Cornish tin has been found in ancient plumbing as far away as Turkey and Pompeii. Cornwall wasn't conquered by the Romans, partly because Of its remoteness, but also because the Cornish were already Roman trading partners. (You'll find no Roman forts in Cornwall, but you will find Roman goods.) With Cornish trading came an influx of exotic products--Cornish cooking is unique in England for its use Of saffron, likely bartered with the Near East for metals.

In the 18th century, Cornwall's tin-mining industry enjoyed a boom. When the industry went bust in the late 19th century, mine owners from around the world began to recruit and relocate Cornwall's unemployed but highly skilled miners. This Cornish diaspora spread the culture across the face Of the earth. For example, hundreds of Cornish miners went to California to get in on the Gold Rush. Locals brag, "Anywhere you find a deep hole in the ground, you'll find a Cornishman at the bottom of it." Similarly, Cornish graveyards read like a geography textbook, as headstones Often list the places where the person lived.

The great migration of the late 1 9th century also left behind many ghost towns, which still dot the Cornish countryside. Today, many of

these long-abandoned homes are being bought up by Londoners and converted into holiday villas. The Cornish language--related to Welsh, and more distantly related to Scottish Gaelic and Irish Gaelic--was widely spoken here through the late 18th century. AS the Industrial Revolution brought Britain together and Anglican church leaders refused to offer services in Cornish, the language became obsolete. Cornish survived only

among a handful of speakers through the 19th and early 20th centuries. But, remarkably, Cornish held on, and--after a recent EU designation as an Ofiicial minority language--it's now being taught in schools again. More people speak Cornish today than two centuries ago, and raising kids to be bilingual is in vogue.

Although officially part of England, native-born Cornishman and Cornishwomen still cling to what makes them unique--they're Cornish first, British second. Locals proudly display the flag of Cornwall: a black field (representing the earth) with a white cross (the tin flowing through the earth). Also look for bumper stickers boasting the Cornish word for "Cornwall": Kemow.

St. Michael's Mount
Bookending the English Channel along with France's Mont St-Michel (but on a smaller scale), this dramatic rock island has been inhabited for 1,500 years. Originally a Benedictine monastery, it was later turned into a fortified castle, and eventually a stately home, by the St. Aubyn family—who still own it today in partnership with the National Trust. If the tide is out, a pedestrian causeway connects the island to the town Of Marazion. Otherwise, a short ride in a motorboat (April-Oct only) will bring you up to the picturesque vest-pocket harbor just below the castle's lower gates. From there, a steep, uneven, rocky path curves its way up to the castle entrance.

Newlyn

Newlyn is all about the fishing industry, with a hundred working boats and a busy fish market early each morning. Most of southwest England's fish comes from Cornwall, and most of Cornwall's fish is processed here in Newlyn.

Stop and survey the rugged little harbor. It's designed to handle the 20-foot tides. While the rough stones on the breakwater date from the 15th century, most of the harbor is 18th-century vintage. In the 19th century, trade here centered on tin and pilchards (sardines). Newlyn is still home to one of the largest fishing fleets in the country.

Mousehole

Adorable little Mousehole (MOW-zle) is famous for smuggling, for fishing, and for being the last place where the pre-Roman language of Cornish was Spoken. (A plaque on a wall marks the home Of Dolly Pentreath, one Of the last native Cornish speakers, who died in 1777.)

The wooden town was destroyed by a barrage Of cannonballs from the Spanish Armada in 1595. (Spanish cannonballs decorate town gardens to this day.) Today's stone town was rebuilt in the 17th century. The harbor has a tiny mouth to protect it from the wild sea (yes, like a mouse hole). Due to dramatic tides, the boats here are designed to be stranded in the mud--with either two keels or side supports so they stay upright until the water returns with the next high tide. At the Ship Inn Pub, the historic Fitzroy Barometer is embedded in the stone wall. This weather forecasting tool from 1854 saved many ships by predicting storms.

The colorful Mousehole Shop (on a nearby corner) is a fun spot for books and souvenirs. (The Mousehole Cat is a delightful children's book that tells and illustrates the legends of the town.) The ice cream shop next door is a convenient Option to try the Cornish take on the dessert.

Mousehole has a few whitewashed homes, harkening back to Victorian times when the entire town would have been gleaming white. The lime wash helped waterproof the stone walls and was a good insulator. The beachside path from Newlyn makes an excellent 30-minute stroll.

At the parking lot is the inviting Rock Pool Café, with a Shabby-chic vibe and a dramatic coastal setting. Just below it is a Victorian rock pool carved a century ago for kids to enjoy the sea life deposited there with each high tide. Chasing crabs and darting blennies (tiny fish able to survive in the air) is great fun.

Looking to the jagged ridge of rocks poking up from the deep just beyond the seawall, imagine how Mousehole (like many such Cornish towns) once specialized in a sort of reverse-piracy called "wrecking." During the rugged days of the late 1 8th century, townsfolk would place false lighthouse beacons high above town, misleading approaching ships into believing there was safe passage—and luring them right toward these hidden rocks. The ships would wreck, and the less scrupulous residents of Mousehole would rush out to salvage what they could.

Lamorna Cove

About a mile down the tiny lane is the tough, tiny, and evocative port at Lamorna Cove, which was first used for smuggling contraband and then for the granite trade. Once there, drive delicately past the café to the parking lot. Imagine the work involved in quarrying and shipping granite stones from here. The massive embankment of the River Thames in London didn't just happen—someone cut those big stones here and then shipped them. There are fine walks in either direction from here (including the South West Coast Path, which runs through here).

Driving back to the main road, you'll pass the Lamorna Wink Pub, named for the winking code smugglers used when there was contraband for sale or a customs man was in town. Shortly after the pub, a tiny lane splits off to the right and goes down into a. tangled Tolkien wonderland for adventurous drivers.

Merry Maidens Stone Circle
In ancient times, stone circles had some sort of significant purpose—probably as a site for religious ceremonies, as a community meeting place, or, most famously, as a celestial calendar. The Merry Maidens, very easy for drivers to reach, is far simpler than the famous circles at Stonehenge and Avebury. Still, it's a reminder that the Penwith Peninsula was inhabited in the Neolithic Age (roughly 2,000 BC or earlier).

The story behind the name, most likely concocted in the Middle Ages, goes like this: A group Of village women decided to go into the fields on Saturday night for some merrirnent and dancing. They lost track Of time and danced into the Sabbath—neither remembering it nor keeping it holy. This displeased God, who turned the women to stone to serve as a warning to others.

This is just the beginning Of a staggering variety of prehistoric  monuments, settlements, and artifacts that still lie just beneath the surface Of Cornwall. Penwith Peninsula is like an Open-air archaeological museum dotted with stony souvenirs Of prehistoric civilizations. About a hundred yards past the Merry Maidens is a burial mound, likely the tomb Of a local chief dating from at least 2,000 BC (left side of the road with a pullout and an info plaque).
At an intersection about a half-mile beyond the Merry Maidens, a weathered Celtic cross stands on the left side of the road. From the Sixth to the tenth century, Celtic pilgrims traveled from Ireland through Wales and Cornwall to Galicia to visit Santiago de Compostela. And all along the route were Celtic crosses like this marking the way.

Porthcurno

The little hamlet of Porthcurno can be packed with visitors for three reasons:

It's got the nicest beach in Cornwall, the famous Minack Theatre, and a fascinating telegraph museum. You can park for free by the theater or pay to park near the beach and museum; from here a steep lane leads to the theater.

Porthcurno Beach, just outside town, is a secluded oasis of translucent blue water and soft sand cradled by striking granite cliffs. A great spot for a picnic and swim, the beach is a favorite Of locals and visitors, as well as hikers on the South West Coast Path, which runs through the heathland up above.

Minack Theatre

This Open-air theater--with 700 seats carved out of the rock--has the most spectacular setting of any theater in England. This gorgeously landscaped theater is set in a rocky cliff with a terrace stage perched hundreds of feet over the sea. Imagine watching The Tempest with only the sunset and crashing waves for a background. While seeing a play is the best experience (tickets are inexpensive and easy to get), you can also simply visit to enjoy the garden-like setting and the wonderful story of Rowena Cade, the amazing woman who created it (but you must book an entry time in advance). A small exhibit on the history Of the Minack includes a 10-minute video about Cade, a visionary theater lover who persevered to build this place. There's also a cliff-hanging coffeehouse (accessible only with admission). If you're lucky enough to be here at lunchtime on a sunny day, get a Cornish pasty and a bottle of elderflower presse' (a local herbal drink), and grab a grassy seat in a quiet corner at the high end Of the theater for a dreamy picnic. You'll be  entertained by gannet birds diving for a fresh fish lunch. (They hit the water at 70 mph.) You may even see a school of dolphins.

PK Porthcurno Museum of Global Communications

In the 19203, Porthcurno was the largest telegraph station in the world. At its peak, 1 80,000 miles Of cable came together here. Imagine the importance Of the telegraph: While it took six weeks to get a message from England to India in 1869, it took only nine minutes after the telegraph cable was laid from Porthcurno to India a year later. By the time World War II broke out, 14 cables tethered this village to the rest of the world. In 1940, defensive tunnels were built to protect the telegraph station and cables from the Nazis—who were then just 80 miles away in France.

Today, those tunnels and an adjacent building house a fascinating museum, tracing the history of the "Victorian Internet." The museum explains how underwater cables were made possible thanks to a new insulating material (a resin from a Malaysian tree called gutta-percha), how the cables were even more heavily armored in shallower water (where they could be damaged by the anchors of passing ships), and how ruptured cables were repaired in the briny deep. Ask about the worthwhile hourly presentation about underwater telegraphy, which helps bring the place to life. The tunnels are furnished as they would have been during wartime, when they protected England's very precious connection to the world. You
can put on a helmet and escape via the stairs to the lookout high above.

Land's End
The westernmost point in all of England Should seem like a desolate, rugged place. In reality, it's a tacky tourist trap where greedy businesses have chewed up whatever small bit of charm or authenticity this place might once have had. As you approach, you'll see endless signs bragging "the last"...everything: inn, hotel, refreshment stand, postal box, and so on. Come here only if you want to be able to say you've been to Land's End. (Consider lying.) 

If you do visit you can guarantee yourself a parking space by booking one in advance online (£7.50, www.1andsend-landmark.co.uk). You'll walk straight from the parking lot through the low-budget theme park (stop at your own risk) out to the viewpoint. This was once considered the end of the civilized world, the last (or first) thing to be seen by departing (or arriving) ships. After gazing at the sea and guessing how far away from home you are, find out how close you were by checking your hometown at the picture stand on the right. For a fee, they'll take your photo with a personalized signpost and mail it to you.

Cape Cornwall: "The Connoisseur's Land's End"

At this bluff with a memorial chimney capping it, you'll feel like you're at the end of England, all while escaping the commercialism of Land's End. Cape Cornwall offers a fine little walk and a strong memory. Pay to park, and for the most peaceful and evocative approach, go through the gate and across a grassy field to visit the ruins of the tiny sixth-century church of St. Helen's Oratory. Imagine a Celtic monk living here with just an altar, a fireplace, and a bed, dedicating his life to God. The trail then leads to the memorial capping the bluff. Just inland is a tin-mine captain's mansion, and in the distance is Land's End. Enjoy the perch.

From here the ground is honeycombed with mine tunnels. Since ancient times, this has been a center of tin mining. Mix tin and copper and you get bronze—great for weapons. (Around here, the Bronze Age was from 4,000 BC to 800 BC.) Like West Virginia or North Wales, this area, reliant on mining in the industrial age, has had a tough time in the information age. Today all the working mines are closed (the last one was shuttered in 1999), with just a few open for tourists. Despite its bodice-ripping and soap-Opera feuding, the BBC show Poldark, set in late—18th-century Cornwall, gives a sense of the region's mining past.

Crown Mines of Botallack
This evocative coastal area is dotted with 19th-century industrial-age ruins. In their 1 8608 heyday, the tin mines here employed more than 500 people. The desolate engine houses once pumped water out so the mines could reach a half-mile down and a half-mile out to sea—today they invite hikers and photographers. You'll find free parking, a small information center about mining culture, and dramatic walks.

Geevor Tin Mine
Once 2,100 feet deep and extending half a mile under the ocean, the Geevor Mine closed in 1990. Tin mining here collapsed in the 1980s, and Margaret Thatcher ended subsidies that were keeping it afloat—effectively prompting the closure Of the mine (and earning lots of Cornish enemies).

Geevor represents the last hurrah not only of Cornish tin mining, but, in a sense, of Britain's industrial age. Today, considered virtually a shrine by the local community, it's been converted into a museum, exhibiting most of its original buildings and machinery. Exploring the remnants Of this defunct industry, you'll gain an appreciation for the Simple, difficult life of miners. This unique look at tin mining is fascinating—and worth 3 stars to those interested in engineering.

Cornwall's Tin-Mining Legacy
Cornwall's history is tied to its tin-mining industry. While Cornwall has always been known for its metal deposits, a major tin boom began here in the mid-1 700s, as new steam-engine-powered pumps allowed tin to be mined below the water table. The industry peaked 200 years ago, when tin was in demand and Cornwall was the Silicon Valley Of Britain.

Miners would climb down into the narrow shafts and use a hammer and a long bit to slowly drive deep, Skinny holes into a vein of tin. Then they'd insert sticks Of dynamite. Before safety fuses were invented, quills from bird feathers were used as fuses, SO miners setting off gunpowder never knew how much time they had to reach safety before the explosion.

Deadly cave—ins were frequent. These were supposedly caused by mischievous Tommyknockers, Cornish pixies Similar to leprechauns. But these mysterious creatures might simply have been a creation of the oxygen-starved imaginations of exhausted miners. Mines employed the notorious "company store" system, where

workers were paid in tokens that could only be redeemed at the store run by the mine (which always worked to the company's advantage). TO save money, miners made their own "hardhats." They'd take a felt hat and harden it by dipping it alternately in hot tree resin and soil. Then they'd stick a candle on the brim for light while they worked. Since miners had to buy their own candles (from the company store, Of course), they'd extinguish them during their pitch-black lunch break to make them last longer.

After working all morning underground, Cornish tin miners looked forward to their traditional lunch of a pasty (PASS-tee). Basically a beef stew wrapped in a pastry crust, pasties had a thick, crimped edge that miners could grab with dirty hands. Because wheat flour was expensive, early miners skimped by using barley wheat—making for a very tough package. Leftover chunks of dough were Often dropped

into the mineshaft to appease the Tommyknockers. Originally a pasty would be filled half with stew, and the rest with dessert, such as jam or apples. Nowadays there's a nice variety Of flavors, like lamb and mint, but the full-meal deal is rare. The British government won trademark protection from the European Union for the Cornish pasty. That means the term "Cornish pasty" can only be applied to those pasties made in Cornwall using traditional techniques and recipes (www.cornishpastyassociation.co.uk). Look for pasties all over Cornwall (and throughout Britain). One Of the best places is K&D McFadden Butchers in St. Just, near the Geevor Tin Mine.  Other than savory pasties, the crumbling smokestacks that dot the landscape today are the only remnants Of Cornwall's now-dead tin-mining industry, which couldn't compete with cheap tin from Asia and South America. The ground underfoot is still honeycombed with forgotten tin mines. Older Cornish natives can still remember being in their houses and hearing the miners working underground.

Tintagel Castle
Wild, rocky, remote, and romantic, Tintagel (tin-TAD-jell) is as dramatic as a castle can be. The real King Arthur—if he actually existed—was supposedly born here and ruled his lands from this rocky point. While the popular tales of Camelot are flights of fantasy, they may be based on a real person. Even though there's no physical record of King Arthur, the verbal tradition is strong enough that experts think a fifth- or sixth—century ruler by that name probably lived in this area, possibly basing himself in modern Camelford (which might be where "Camelot" comes from). Regardless of whether Arthur is fact or fiction, windblown Tintagel Castle is striking and one of England's more rewarding ruined-castle experiences. And, as a bonus, you get to enjoy a spectacularly scenic stretch Of Cornish coastline. Bring a picnic  to have lunch with a view, or eat at the on-Site café.

Near the Castle: Tintagel Town
This tacky town feels made for tourism—just a couple Of streets around the trailhead to the castle. On my first visit I had a beer at the Excali Bar and kept looking for a menu with "the sword in the scone." The Tintagel Visitor Centre, at the first pay-and—display parking lot you come to, has a helpful info desk, a worthwhile history exhibit, and a WC (daily 10:00-1 7:00, Nov-Feb 10:30-16:00, +44 1840 250 010). There are two overpriced "historic" Sights in town: The 1380 Old Post Office looks every bit its age (£4.80, 4 unimpressive rooms), and King Arthur's Great Halls boasts a Hall of Chivalry with pre-Raphaelite stained-glass windows and lots of romantic  Knights-Of-the-Round-Table-themed paintings (closed Nov-Feb and Mon, at the roundabout).

Eden Project
The Eden Project is an ambitious and futuristic work in progress—a theme park of global gardening with an environmental conscience. Exotic plants from all over the world are showcased in two giant biomes, reputedly the largest greenhouses in the world. The displays focus on sustainable farming and eco-conscious planting, but the most interesting thing here is the sheer audacity Of the idea. If you're looking for a quaint English cottage garden, this isn't it. Rather than a flowery look at England's past, this "global garden" gives you a sense of how the shrinking of the world will affect us in the future.

Chatsworth

Palace of the Peak

THE EMPEROR FOUNTAIN at Chatsworth is the TALLES'I' FOUNTAIN IN BRITAIN. It was built by SIR JOSEPH PAXTON to celebrate the Tsar of Russia's visit in 1844. The sixth Duke of Devonshire wanted his fountain to be higher than the Tsar's fountain at the Imperial Palace of Peterhof, which reached a height of 120 ft (37 m). When it was first run, the Emperor Fountain achieved a height of 269 ft (82 m). It is powered by water pressure from a reservoir on the moors above Chatsworth.

Joseph Paxton also built the WORLD'S LARGEST GLASS HOUSE at Chatsworth. It was known as the GREAT CONSERVATORY and was the prototype for his Crystal Palace, which housed the Great Exhibition in Hyde Park, London, in 1 850. It was demolished in 1920.

Inside the house at Chatsworth is the LARGEST VASE EVER MADE FROM A SINGLE PIECE OF BLUE JOHN. Blue John, from the French bleu jaune, or ‘blue yellow', is a unique mineral fluorspar. The only two places in the world Blue John is found are the BLUE JOHN and TREAK CLIFF caverns below Castleton in the Peak District. We know it must have been discovered by the Romans as artefacts made from Blue John have been found in the ruins at Pompeii.

The PEAK CAVERN, right beneath the castle at Castleton, has the LARGEST NATURAL CAVE OPENING IN BRITAIN, and is 33 ft (10 m) high and 100 ft (30.5 m) across. It used to contain a rope factory and a row Of cottages.

Kinder Trespass

THE PEAK DISTRICT NATIONAL PARK was designated BRITAIN'S FIRST NATIONAL PARK in 1951. The greater part of the park is in Derbyshire, including the PEAK DISTRICT'S HIGHEST POINT, KINDER SCOUT (2,088 ft/ 63 6 m).

In 1932, there was a mass trespass on Kinder Scout, which was a major catalyst in the freeing up Of the countryside to the public. In the recession of the 1930s, rambling was one of the few pastimes open to the unemployed. Less than 1 per cent of the peak area, the nearest open land to a number of large industrial cities, including Manchester, Sheffield and Leeds, was accessible to the public. Kinder Scout itself was privately owned and kept for grouse shooting for 12 days every year; the rest of the time it was deserted, but walkers were not allowed. For many years, ramblers had tried to get the landowners to open a public path across Kinder Scout when the land was not in use, but this was refused and anyone straying was chased off by gamekeepers with guns and dogs. Times were changing, though, and some began to question whether it was right for great swathes of the most beautiful English countryside to be privately owned.

The BRITISH WORKERS SPORTS FEDERATION was an organisation set up to campaign for, amongst other things, a Sunday football league. In April 1932, they called for a mass trespass in response to a group of their ramblers being assaulted by gamekeepers during an Easter camp at Rowarth in the Peaks. Five hundred, mostly working people, turned up in the village of HAYFIELD on the morning of 24 April. They were met by dozens of police and were forced to move on to a quarry where they reassembled before moving off on to the mountain. Halfway to the top, they were confronted by a team of gamekeepers and there was a scufile during which a keeper fell over and turned his ankle. The gamekeepers fled and the trespassers went on to the top, where they met with another group who had come from Sheffield. 

When the ramblers got back to Hayfield, the ringleaders were arrested and charged with riotous assembly. They were sentenced to six months in jail and the injustice of this caused outrage. During the trial, thousands of protesters marched over Kinder Scout. The RAMBLERS ASSOCIATION began to hold annual demonstrations, attracting up to 10,000 people. The movement became unstoppable and, in 1949, Clement Atlee's Labour government passed the National Parks Access to the Countryside Act, with the result that Kinder Scout was ‘nationalised'. There are now a dozen national parks in England and Wales, with part of the New Forest being the most recent in 2004. 

In 2002, Environment Secretary Michael Meacher attended the 70th anniversary celebrations of the Kinder Scout Mass Trespass, held in the quarry on the road between Hayfield and the Kinder reservoir. On behalf of Her Majesty's government, he praised those who had taken part for achieving ‘far reaching changes to an unjust and oppressive law'.

ARTHUR LOWE (1 9 1 4—8 2), Captain Mainwaring in TV's Dad's Army, was born in HAYFIELD.

Standing at 1,000 ft (305 m) above sea level, BUXTON is the HIGHEST TOWN IN ENGLAND, a title that Alston in Cumberland also claims for itself. There is no dispute that Buxton possesses the LARGEST UNSUPPORTED DOME IN ENGLAND. Built over the courtyard of the stables for the hotel in the Crescent in 1881, it has a diameter of 1 64 ft (50 m). The stables were later converted and have now become the Royal Devonshire Hospital.

The SMALLEST DETACHED HOUSE IN THE WORLD is THIMBLE HALL, in the Peak District village of YOULGREAVE. It measures 1 1 ft 10 in (3.6 In) by 10 ft 3 in (3.1 m) and is 12 ft 2 in (3.7 m) high. In the 19th century, it was lived in by a family of eight

LITTLE JOHN, Robin Hood's best friend and right-hand man, is buried in a huge grave in the churchyard at HATHERSAGE. His cottage, a little to the east of the Church, stood until about 1 00 years ago.

The delicious BAKEWELL PUDDING was a mistake. An absent—minded cook at the WHITE HORSE INN (now the RUTLAND ARMS) in Bakewell was making a strawberry tart and she spread the egg mixture meant for the pastry straight on top of the jam. By the time she spotted her mistake it was too late to start again and she sent the puddings through in the hope that no one would notice. They were so popular that Mrs Wilson, the wife of the candle-maker who lived nearby, obtained the recipe and set up in business in her husband's shop, which is now called the Old Original Bakewell Pudding Shop. Bakewell puddings are still made here from the secret recipe and sent all over the world. They should be eaten hot, with cream or custard.

Exeter Cathedral

The nearest large city to Dartmoor is Exeter, a pleasant and bustling university city of 120,000 (about 15 miles—a half-hour drive—east of the moor). Exeter's claim to fame is its beautiful cathedral, which sits on a charming green facing the Old Town. With a Norman core later embellished in Decorated Gothic style, the cathedral could be worth a stop if you're passing through Exeter and have time to spare. Highlights of the grand interior include the ribbed vaulting; 400 colorful "bosses" (decorations at the intersection of vaulting spines, including the famous Becket Boss, showing the execution of Thomas Becket); the unique minstrels' gallery (more commonly seen in palaces than churches); the colorful astronomical clock; and the quire, with its 50 fold-down, carved-wooden seats called misericords

On EXETER'S busy, narrow High Street, thrusting solidly out over the pavement, is the OLDEST GUILDI-IALL IN ENGLAND. Built in 1468, it is still used by Exeter City Council and contains the OLDEST CIVIC SEAL IN BRITAIN, dating from 1175 .

SIR ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE stayed in PRINCETOWN on Dartmoor while researching his book The Hound of the Baskervz'lles. Fox TOR MIRE was the model for GREAT GRIMPBN MIRE, and Holmes's hideout on the moor is at GRIMSPOUND.



Dartmoor Prison Museum

It makes sense that a prison would be set upon the moors. To Victorian-age Londoners, this rugged and distant land must have felt like Siberia. Built in the early 18008 to house French military prisoners captured during the Napoleonic Wars (along with some American POWs from the War of 1812), Dartmoor Prison was later converted to incarcerate civilian criminals (which it still does today). Notorious for housing some of the most unsavory convicts alive (sort of a British San Quentin), the prison was also briefly used in 1917 to hold conscientious objectors who refused to join in World War I. The museum, located in the former dairy across the street from the prison, is well laid out and features historical exhibits and artifacts (from shackles to homemade items crafted by inmates) that offer insight into this infamous house of incarceration.

Windswept and desolate, Dartmoor is one of England's best national parks and one of the few truly wild places you'll find in this densely populated country. The open moors of Dartmoor sit on a vast granite plateau, and occasionally, bare granite peaks called "tors" break through the heather. Rising like lonesome watchtowers, these distinctive landmarks are the goal of popular hikes.

A well-planned walk through the moors rewards day hikers with vivid memories. Old stone-slab clapper bridges remind hikers that for thousands of years, humans have trod these same paths. The terrain is littered with the highest concentration of prehistoric monuments in the UK—and they're lonely and awaiting your visit.

The iconic ponies of Dartmoor run wild. Their ancestors were the working horses of local miners. Living in the harsh conditions of the moor, these ponies are a hearty breed, known for their stamina. Today they're beloved among hikers for the romance they bring to the otherwise stark terrain. Great literary minds, perhaps inspired by all that mystery and prehistory, have been drawn to Dartmoor for centuries: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (his masterpiece, The Hound of the Baskervilles, was set here), Agatha Christie (who wrote her first mystery novel here), Evelyn Waugh (who wrote Brideshead Revisited here) to name a few. Even filmmaker Steven Spielberg (whose movie War Horse was filmed here) was inspired by Dartmoor's landscapes.

Dartmoor remains first and foremost the terrain of hikers. Dartmoor gives you a chance to be alone with England's history, jaded sheep, stately wild ponies, and seemingly endless moors. It's also a moody place: At sunset on a clear evening, the gold—tinged heather and rolling hills can be romantic; but on a gray and misty day, it's foreboding—and if you listen hard enough, you might just hear the howl of the hound of the Baskervilles.

Devon, in which Dartmoor is located, is England's least densely populated and second~biggest county. Dartmoor National Park is vast (368 square miles), but I've focused on the most accessible chunk, at the northeastern end of the park between the A—30 and A—38 highways.

Throughout Dartmoor, there are more than 10,000 ancient monuments, all accessible to walkers. Park information offices are in Princetown, Postbridge, and Haytor (see "Tourist Information," later). The small villages that encroach on the park are charming. Towns of reasonable size (including Chagford, Moretonhampstead, Bovey Tracey, and Widecombe) have parking lots (free or cheap) and WCs (generally free). Moretonhampstead and Bovey Tracey also have TIs.

Two pieces of gear are essential: good shoes (you'll be slogging through mud and dodging wild-horse patties) and an Ordnance Survey map. You'll need this highly detailed map because roads and walking paths can be tricky to follow: Only two major roads cross the moor, but there are dozens of lesser roads twisting through the countryside—it seems there are five different ways to get between any two points. The Ordnance Survey produces two good maps of the region. The 125,000 Dartmoor map (Explorer #OL28) is ideal for serious hikers, because it shows every ridge, feature, and landmark, but drivers may prefer the 1:50,000 map (called "Okehampton 81 North Dartmoor," Landranger Map #191). Drivers also may find that their GPS device tends to lead them down narrow one-lane roads. Instead, stay on two-1ane roads as much as possible to avoid stress; it's smart to map out a route in advance rather than blindly trusting your device.

Dangers: Parts of the moors are used by the military for target practice. These areas are clearly shown on maps and marked by red flags when in use —but before going for a hike, always check with a park information oflice to ensure your route is OK. Other dangers include ticks and adders (a poisonous snake with a black-and—white zigzag stripe). Weather can change quickly here, so wear layers and be prepared for "four seasons in one day" (as locals say). Because Dartmoor is so vast and empty, getting lost is a real threat—a smartphone with GPS or a good map and a compass are essential if you're going more than a short distance from your car.

Chagford

Perched on the edge of the moor, this tiny town is not only charming but actually feels like a real, normal slice of English life (www.visitchagjord.com; park on the street for up to 2 hours or at the pay lot at the far end of town, past the church and Jubilee Hall—follow P signs). The small-town ambience here may make you feel like you've stepped into a time warp (or maybe a quaint BBC sitcom). Villages like this one, which was probably established in Saxon times, were built around Dartmoor as bases for the tin—mining industry. In 1305, Chagford became one of four Dartmoor stannary towns, a main center for "weighing and paying" the miners. The eight-sided Market House in the village square (known as the "pepper pot") is located on the site of the old stannary court/assayer's office.

St. Michael's Parish Church, at the upper end of town, mostly dates from the 15th century and is built out of gray granite, the typical stone of the area. The hard rock is tough to work, so most buildings here are fairly simple. An incident occurred here that is said to have inspired R. D. Blackmore's Lama Doone: A bride named Mary Whiddon was shot dead by a former suitor as she left the church during her wedding in 1641. Look among the pews at the needlepoint cushions, a few of which bear a tinner's symbol: three rabbits in a circle, each with two ears, but they appear to share only three ears among them. (This motif also shows up in the stained—glass window over the door of the Wine store on the town square.)

The little village square has all the essentials: bank, post office, small grocery store, pharmacy, butcher, delicatessen, and a few hardware shops that sell any hiking gear that you might have forgotten (including Ordnance Survey maps). Go gawk inside Bowden's hardware store and "Moorland Centre" to see how everything you could possibly ever need can be neatly crammed into one place. Don't miss the glassed—in antique-hardware room way in the back and the loft full of rain gear (Mon-Sat 9:00- 17:30, closed Sun).

Devonshire Dairy sells ice-cream cones, interesting cheeses from the area, and clotted cream by the pound (Mon-Sat 9:30-17:30, closed Sun, shorter hours off-season).

Cattle Grates

Welcome to wild-pony country. The rumble of your tires over cattle grates—which you'll cross several times on our drive—tells you that you've entered an area without fences, where livestock of all kinds can roam freely. It's also a reminder to slow down and watch the road closely, especially around blind corners—you may well find some animals sunning themselves in the middle of the road. I've had to lean on my horn several times to convince a dozing sheep to let me pass. As throughout England, you'll see sheep grazing and fluffy little lambs bounding through the heather. But Dartmoor adds its own unique touch: famously "Wild," but remarkably tame, horses. (In fact, the horses are all owned by local farmers, who keep an eye on them as they graze the moors—notice that some horses are branded.) Horses have wandered here for centuries, and the brown ones are probably the most closely related to the ancestral Dartmoor breed. The park discourages people from feeding or even approaching the horses—they get used to mooching, so they often readily come up to people, but may bite or kick Without warning.

The Moors

England's green, bucolic landscape is occasionally interrupted by brown, scrubby moorlands like these. A moor is characterized by its relative lack of vegetation, save for high grasses and heather—a dull-brown shrub that thrives here. In late summer, the heather blooms a brilliant purple, contrasting with splashes of vibrant yellow gorse (closely related to Scotch  broom). The long, undulating expanses of open land, almost unbroken by trees but scattered with long-forgotten prehistoric stone monuments, make Dartmoor feel even more mysterious than other English moors.
- On the left, you may notice the first of many tors—hilltop granite outcroppings—we'll see on this trip. This one overlooks the evocative remains of a Bronze Age settlement.

Grimspound

As you face the hilltop pile of rocks called Hookney Tor, look right to the saddle between the two hills to find the huge, graceful outer ring of Grimspound. Dating from 2000 BC, this late Bronze Age fortress was a settlement for 800 years. The outer stone wall enclosed the smaller inner circles, which would have been stone huts. In some of these footprints, the tall stones flanking the entryway are still visible. The outer wall was probably designed to pen animals. Notice that the ring is designed to provide access to the stream. Running water was both useful and (archaeologists believe) spiritually important to prehistoric peoples. Well-populated in ancient times, the moors are thought to have become unlivable in about 1200 BC because of climate change, and settlements like these were abandoned. From the settlement, look across the valley; on the left side of the adjacent ridge (to the left of the stone rabbit fence that runs down to the valley), you'll see the faint remains of hillside terraces, called lynchets, created by medieval farmers. 

If you have time for a longer hike, consider huffing up to the top of Hookney Tor for a better view down on Grimspound and the surrounding hills. (A standing stone and a stone row are both faintly visible—to those with excellent eyesight—on the top of the ridge across the valley.) The flat hilltop above Grimspound (Hamel Down) was covered with poles during World War II, to prevent German gliders from landing there.

Warren House Inn

Named for a warrener (rabbit-raiser) who fed bunnies to hungry miners, this pub comes with a fun history. This site has reputedly been occupied by a travelers' rest stop for more than 900 years. In 1845, a pub across the road was falling down from disrepair, so this "new" structure was built. Supposedly embers from the old fire were used to light the fire in the new building—which has burned ever since. While the story is questionable, the $$ food here is good—specializing in (of course) rabbit pie, as well as steak-and—ale pie. The glorious moorside seating, at picnic benches out front and across the road, make it an enticing stop for a meal or drink. If it's chilly, take advantage of the cozy interior, with that legendary fireplace still smoldering (daily 1 1:00-22:00, off-season closed for dinner Mon-Tue, +44 1822 880 208, www.warrenhouseinn.co.uk ).

Postbridge

This functional village comes with one of Dartmoor's classic views. As you cross the bridge in the heart of town, on the left you'll see an ancient bridge parallel to the road. Bridges like this one—essentially stone slabs resting on piled-up stones—dot the moor. Called clapper bridges, they date from the Middle Ages, if not earlier. For a closer look, pull over at the big parking lot on the right soon after the bridge, near the handy and very helpful national park office. If you have time, pick up their booklet for walks and consider a hike—Postbridge is a good base for moor walks.

Darlington

Where the Railways Began

THE FLYING SCOTSMAN, the Union Pacific Railroad, the Trans—Siberian Railway, the French TGV, the Japanese Bullet train. They all owe everything to this little Durham town on the River Skerne Where, on 27 September 1825, the FIRST TRAIN MADE THE FIRST TRAIN JOURNEY ON THE FIRST PUBLIC RAILWAY LINE IN THE WORLD. From Darlington, the railways spread across the world, opening up continents, enabling new industries to develop and creating new possibilities and horizons.

‘George, you must think of Darlington, remember it was Darlington sent for thee.' 30 said EDWARD PEASE to GEORGE STEPHENSON When they were discussing the route for a railway line to carry coal to Stockton. A Quaker businessman, Edward Pease had the vision to see how the railway could benefit his home town and the wealth to make it happen. He hired Stephenson to do the work and so began the Railway Age. 

On that momentous day, LOCOMOTION NUMBER ONE, brought by road from Newcastle overnight, was placed on the tracks at HEIGHINGTON, near Newton Aycliffe, and taken to the MASONS ARMS LEVEL CROSSING AT SHILDON to be attached to 12 coal wagons, 21 wagons fitted with seats and one passenger coach called ‘Experiment'. With George Stephenson himself driving, and preceded by a Signalman on horseback, the train drove to Darlington and then on to Stockton, at an average speed of 12 mph (19 kph). Three hundred tickets were sold and nearly 600 passengers made the journey. The world would never be the same again.

Locomotion Number One is now in the Darlington Railway Museum located in the original 1 842 North Road Station. A little to the north of the Bank Top Station, on the main line from London to Edinburgh, is a notice indicating where the Darlington to Stockton line crosses the main line.

Durham

Without its cathedral, Durham would hardly be noticed. But this magnificently situated structure is hard to miss (even if you're zooming by on the train). Seemingly happy to go nowhere, Durham sits along the tight curve of its river, snug below its castle and famous church. It has a medieval, cobbled atmosphere and a scraggly peasant's indoor market just off the main square. Durham is home to England's third-oldest university, With a student vibe jostling against its lingering working-class mining-town feel. You'll see tattooed and pierced people in search of job security and a good karaoke bar. Yet Durham has a youthful liveliness and a small-town warmth that shines—especially on sunny days, when most everyone is out licking ice-cream cones.

As it has for a thousand years, tidy little Durham (pop. 57,000) clusters everything safely under its castle, within the protective hairpin bend of the River Wear. Because of the town's hilly topography, going just about anywhere involves a lot of up and down...and back up again. The main spine through the middle of town (Framwellgate Bridge, Silver Street, and Market Place) is level to moderately steep, but walking in any direction from that area involves some serious uphill climbing. Take advantage of the handy Cathedral Bus to avoid the tiring elevation changes—especially up to the cathedral and castle area, or to the train station (perched high on a separate hill).



Durham's Early Years

Durham's location, tucked inside a tight bend in the River Wear, was practically custom-made for easy fortifications. But it wasn't settled until 995, with the arrival of St. Cuthbert's body (buried in Durham Cathedral). Shortly after that, a small church and fortification were built upon the site of today's castle and church to house the relic. The castle was a classic "motte—and—bailey" design (with the "motte," or mound, providing a lookout tower for the stockade encircling the protected area, or "bailey"). By 1100, the prince bishop's bailey was filled with villagers—and he wanted everyone out. This was his place! He provided a Wider protective wall, and had the town resettle below (around today's Market Place). But this displaced the townsfolk's cows, so the prince bishop constructed a fine stone bridge (today's Framwellgate) to connect the new town to grazing land he established across the river. The bridge had a defensive gate, With a wall circling the peninsula and the river serving as a moat.

Cutting across the Width of the isle of Britain, this ruined Roman wall is one of England's most thought-provoking sights. Once a towering 20—foot—tall fortification, these days "Hadrian's Shelf," as some cynics call it, is only about three feet Wide and three to six feet high. (The conveniently precut stones of the wall were carried away by peasants during the post—Rome Dark Ages and now form the foundations of many local Churches, farmhouses, and other structures.) In most places, what's left of the wall has been covered over by centuries of sod, making it effectively disappear into the landscape. But for those intrigued by Roman history, Hadrian's Wall provides a fine excuse to take your imagination for a stroll. These are the most impressive Roman ruins in Britain. Pretend you're a legionnaire on patrol in dangerous and distant Britannia, at the empire's northernmost frontier...with nothing but this wall protecting you from the terrifying, bloodthirsty Picts just to the

north.

Today, several restored chunks of the wall, ruined forts, and museums thrill history buffs. While a dozen Roman sights cling along the wall's route, I've focused my coverage on an easily digestible six-mile stretch right in the middle, where you'll find the best museums and some of the most enjoyable-to—hike stretches of the wall. Three top sights are worth visiting: Prom east to west, Housesteads Roman Fort shows you where the Romans lived; Vindolanda's museum shows you how they lived; and the Roman Army Museum explains the empire-Wide military organization that brought them here. If you plan to visit all three, the Roman Army Museum is an ideal place to start, as it sets the stage for what you're about to see; it's also next to the Walltown Visitor Centre, where you can get your bearings for the region. A breeze for drivers, this area can also be seen fairly easily in summer by bus for those good at studying timetables (see "Getting Around Hadrian's Wall," later).

Hadrian's Wall is in vogue as a destination for multiday hikes through the pastoral English countryside. The Hadrian's Wall National Trail runs 84 miles, following the wall's route from coast to coast (for details, go to www.nationaltrail.co.uk/HadrianSWall). Through-hikers (mostly British) can walk the wall's entire length in four to ten days. You'll see them bobbing along the ridgeline, drying out their socks in your B&B's mudroom, and recharging at local pubs in the evening. For those with less time, the brief ridge walk next to the wall from Steel Rigg to Sycamore Gap to Housesteads Roman Fort gives you a perfect taste of the scenery and history. 

The History of Hadrian's Wall

In about AD 122, during the reign of Emperor Hadrian, the Romans constructed this great stone wall. Stretching 73 miles coast to coast across the narrowest stretch of northern England, it was built and defended by some 20,000 troops. Not just a wall, it was a military complex with forts, ditches, settlements, and roads. At every mile of the wall, a castle guarded a gate, and two turrets stood between each castle. The milecastles are numbered (80 covering 73 miles, because a Roman mile was shorter than our mile). 

In cross—section, Hadrian's Wall consisted of a stone wall—around 15 to 20 feet tall—with a ditch on either side. The flat-bottomed ditch on the south side of the wall, called the vallum, was flanked by earthen ramparts and likely demarcated the no-man's-land beyond, which civilians were not allowed to pass. Between the vallum and the wall ran a service road called the Military Way. Another less-elaborate ditch ran along the north side of the wall. In some areas—including the region that I describe—the wall was built upon a volcanic ridgeline that provided a natural fortification.

The wall's actual purpose is still debated. While Rome ruled Britain for 400 years, it never quite ruled its people. The wall may have been used for any number of reasons: to protect Roman Britain from invading Pict tribes from the north (or at least cut down on pesky border raids); to monitor the movement of people as a show of Roman strength and superiority; or to simply give an otherwise bored army something to do. (Emperors understood that nothing was more dangerous than a bored army.) Or perhaps the wall represented Hadrian's tacit admission that the empire had reached its maximum extent; Hadrian was known for consolidating his territory, in some cases giving up chunks of land that had been conquered by his predecessor, Trajan, to create an easier-to—defend (if slightly smaller) empire. His philosophy of "defense before expansion" is embodied by the impressive wall that still bears his name.

Hiking the Wall

It's enjoyable to hike along the wall speaking Latin, even if only for a little while. Note that park rangers forbid anyone from actually walking on top of the wall, except along a very short stretch at Housesteads. On the following hike, you'll walk alongside the wall. For a good, craggy, three-mile, one-way, up-and—down walk along the wall, hike between Steel Rigg and Housesteads Roman Port. For a shorter hike, begin at Steel Rigg (where there's a pay parking lot) and walk a mile to Sycamore Gap, then back again (described next; the Sill and Walltown visitors centers hand out a free description of this walk). These hikes are moderately strenuous and are best for those in good shape. You'll need sturdy shoes and a Windbreaker to comfortably overcome the often-blustery  nvironment. As you would While driving in Britain, stay on the left side of the path when you meet other hikers.

Gloucester
Ice Cream and Wizards

GLOUCESTERSHIRE'S COUNTY TOWN is often compared unfavourably to Cheltenham or Tewkesbury, although it is older and more hard working than both. It has been heavily industrialised, and boasts the LARGEST ICE CREAM FACTORY IN EUROPE (Wall's), as well as a huge ICI paintworks. In addition, it is still a working port, and has both a robust jauntiness and a whiff of the sea about it.

J.K. Rowling, author of the Harry Potter books, was born in Yate, not far from Gloucester, in 1965. In 2001, the Cloisters at Gloucester Cathedral were transformed into Hogwart's School for the filming of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, and the scene with the Troll was filmed in the monks' lavatorium.

The cathedral is one of the most remarkable buildings in Europe. Built round a Norman core, it is the FIRST GREAT EXAMPLE OF THE ENGLISH PERPENDICULAR STYLE. The tower, in particular, is renowned. Two royals are buried within, ROBERT OF N ORMANDY, son of William the Conqueror, and EDWARD II. The great east window, known as the Crécy Window, is, at 72 ft (22 m) by 38 ft (1 1.5 m), the LARGEST STAINED GLASS WINDOW IN BRITAIN. The exquisite fan vaulting in the Cloisters, which dates from the 14th century, is the FIRST EXAMPLE OF FAN VAULTING IN BRITAIN.

Also buried in the cathedral is JOHN STAFFORD-SMITH, the man who composed the tune for the AMERICAN NATIONAL ANTHEM, the ‘Star—Spangled Banner'. He was born in Gloucester in 1750, and wrote the music as a constitutional song for the Anachreonic Society, a group of musicians and composers whose members have included J. S. Bach and Henry Purcell. The tune was chosen, in 1814, by FRANCIS SCOTT KEY, to accompany the words he had written to celebrate the defiant flag flying over the beseiged Fort McHenry, outside Baltimore, during the War of 1812.

The WORLD'S EARLIEST KNOWN BACKGAMMON SET, dating from 1 120, was found in Gloucester. It was discovered in 1 990, in a cesspit on the site of Gloucester Castle, Where it had been disposed Of by WALTER OF GLOUCESTER when he renounced all his vices tO become a monk. 

W. E. HENLEY (1849—1903), poet, was born in Gloucester (see Cockayne,  Bedfordshire), as was SIR CHARLES WHEATSTONE (1802—75), inventor of the accordion and the FIRST BRITISH ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH.

Bristol

Cradle of the New World

THE MIGHTY CITY of Bristol, gathered on its hillside above the River Avon, has a long history Of adventure, exploration and trade. From here, in 1497, JOHN and SEBASTIAN CABOT set sail in the little ship Matthew and found AMERICA. Columbus only discovered islands. It was an English flag from Bristol that was first planted on the American mainland, at LABRADOR. CABOT TOWER commemorates this achievement, and every Bristolian knows that the New World was named in honour of the man who was Sheriff of Bristol at the time, RICHARD AMERYCKE. And it was Bristol men who formed the Society of Merchant Venturers to exploit the new discoveries and underwrite the development of the early American colonies. They sent out ships to every part of the known world, making the name of Bristol a byword for efficiency and enterprise — ‘all ship shape and Bristol fashion'. Towering beside the old harbour area is the Church Elizabeth I described as ‘the fairest, goodliest and most famous parish Church in England', ST MARY REDCLIFFE.

Across the road from here, in 1783, lived a plumber called WILLIAM WATTS. He was sitting inside one day, watching the rain, when he realised that the falling raindrops were not tear shaped but perfectly spherical, pulled into the shape of least resistance by surface tension. If that was so for raindrops, then why not molten lead? He rushed up to the top of St Mary's tower to experiment and found that his theory worked. 80 he built a tower on to his three-storey home, doubling the height, knocked holes in each floor and installed a water tank at the bottom. At the top, he poured molten lead into a sieve, to separate it into pellets, and, by the time the droplets had fallen six floors, they were formed into perfect spheres, which solidified as they were immers ed in the water at the bottom. William Watts had created PERFECT BUCK SHOT and made a fortune. He lost it all not long afterwards, financing the building of WINDSOR TERRACE, the massive Georgian block of houses, perched on the Cliffs beneath the Clifton Suspension Bridge.

Lead was made at Watt's self-built shot tower until the 1960s, when it was knocked down to accommodate the widening of Radcliffe Hill. In 1968, a new shot tower was built by the harbour in Cheese Lane, which produced shot until 1995. A prominent landmark, this has now been converted into oflfices. 

Behind St Mary Redcliffe, at 9 Colston Parade, SAMUEL PLIMSOLL was born in 1824. It was as a result of the book he wrote about the dangers of overloading ships that the Merchant Shipping Act of 1876 came into being, which required a ‘PLIMSOLL LINE' to be painted on every ship to mark its maximum load line.

Lead was made at Watt's self-built shot tower until the 1960s, when it was knocked down to accommodate the widening of Radcliffe Hill. In 1968, a new shot tower was built by the harbour in Cheese Lane, which produced shot until 1995. A prominent landmark, this has now been converted into offices.

Behind St Mary Redcliffe, at 9 Colston Parade, SAMUEL PLIMSOLL was born in 1824. It was as a result of the book he wrote about the dangers of overloading ships that the Merchant Shipping Act of 1876 came into being, which required a ‘PLIMSOLL LINE' to be painted on every ship to mark its maximum load line.

Archibald Leach, better known as Hollywood actor CARY GRANT (1904—86), was born in Bristol, at 15 Hughenden Road, Horfield.

Cheltenham

Greenfly and Gold Cups

CHELTENHAM IS AN elegant Regency spa town which celebrates MORE FESTIVALS THAN ANY OTHER TOWN IN ENGLAND — amongst them the renowned  CHELTENHAM LITERARY FESTIVAL and the premier NATIONAL HUNT festival, which culminates in the CHELTENHAM GOLD CUP, the blue riband of steeplechasing. The tree-lined PROMENADE is one of England's loveliest shopping streets. Cheltenham also boasts two famous public schools: CHELTENHAM BOYS' COLLEGE and CHELTENHAM LADIES' COLLEGE. The girls from the Ladies' College wear a pale green uniform and are known locally as ‘greenfly'. In 1968, the Boys' College was the location for the anarchic film If, starring Malcolm McDowell as a pupil who leads a violent revolt on Speech Day. The film's director, Lindsay Anderson, had been a pupil at the school and there was a terrible furore when the film was released — Anderson had assured the Headmaster that it was going to be a respectable picture, similar to Tom Brown's Schooldays!

In 1831, Cheltenham inaugurated ENGLAND'S FIRST REGULAR PASSENGER SERVICE USING SELF-PROPELLED ROAD VEHICLES. Three Gurney steam coaches, designed by Sir Goldsworth Gurney (see Bude, Cornwall), travelled between Cheltenham and Gloucester, a distance of 9 miles (14.5 km), from February to June.

In 1838, Cheltenham was the scene of the FIRST SUCCESSFUL PARACHUTE JUMP BY  AN ENGLISHMA'N. JOHN HAMPTON took Off in a balloon from Montpelier Gardens at the top Of the Promenade and jumped out at a height of several thousand feet. He landed safely after a descent lasting 1 3 minutes. 

SIR ARTHUR ‘BOMBER' HARRIS (1892—1984), Head of Bomber Command during the Second World War, was born in Cheltenham, as was the composer GUSTAV HOLST (1874P1934), the aircraft designer SIR FREDERICK HANDLEY PAGE (1885—1962), the actor SIR RALPH RICHARDSON (1 902—8 3), and the polar explorer EDWARD WILSON (1 872—1912), who died in the Antarctic with Captain Scott.

The Olympic game Of BADMINTON was ‘invented' at BADMINTON HOUSE, not far from Bristol, in 1863, by the children Of the eighth Duke of Beaufort, who were seeldng something to do inside during a bleak midwinter. It was, in fact, an English adaptation of an old Indian game, but it proved so popular with the Duke's house guests that it became known as ‘that Badminton game'. It is the WORLD'S FASTEST RACQUET SPORT with the shuttlecock reaching speeds of up to 200 mph (322 kph). The magnificent facade of Badminton House is also famous as the backdrop to the BADMINTON HORSE TRIALS, introduced in 1 949 by the tenth Duke, a fearsome foxhunter known simply as ‘Master'.

STROUD is an Old Cotswold wool town of steep, narrow streets, set where five deep valleys meet. THE REVD W. AWDRY, author of Thomas the Tank Engine, lived just outside, at RODBOROUGH, from 1965 until his death in 1997. Stroud's present-day celebrity is the romantic novelist KATIE FFORDE, who has lived here for 20 years.

In the museum at STROUD you can see the WORLD'S FIRST LAWNMOWER, a FERRABEE, invented in 1830 by Stroud engineer EDWIN BUDDING and made at the PHOENIX IRON WORKS at THRUPP, just down the road. His first customer was Mr Curtis, the Head Gardener at Regent's Park Zoo in London. In the churchyard of ST LAURENCE CHURCH, STROUD, is the grave of LIEUTENANT JOSEPH DELMONT, who died in 1807, the unfortunate Victim of the LAST FATAL DUEL IN BRITAIN.

Hereford

Cider and Oranges

HEREFORD, HEART OF England's quietest county, Sits on the peaceful banks of the River Wye, clustered round its great red sandstone Norman cathedral. The cathedral possesses the LARGEST CHAINED LIBRARY IN THE WORLD, with 1,444 books, some Of them dating back more than 1,000 years, locked and chained to their bookcases. In medieval times, books were so precious that they had to be secured, so that they could be read but not taken away. The library's first book was the Anglo Saxon Gospel, written around AD 800.

Also here iS the MAPPA MUNDI, drawn in 1289 by RICHARD DI BELLO, Prebend Of Hereford, at a time when the world was thought to be flat. The map is circular, with Jerusalem, God's city, at the centre, Europe below on the left and Africa to the right. Along the top is Asia. The central sea iS the Mediterranean, while the oceans circle the land around the rim. England is situated at the edge Of the world. In the 1 9808, the cathedral tried to sell the Mappa Mandi to raise funds. There was an understandable outcry, which was only quietened when Sir Paul Getty came to the rescue with a sizeable donation, saving the treasure for Hereford and the nation.

A few hundred metres away, at All Saints church, is the SECOND LARGEST CHAINED LIBRARY IN THE WORLD, which contains 300 books donated by WILLIAM BREWSTER in about 1735. The legendary actor and theatre manager, DAVID GARRICK, born in Hereford on 1 9 February 1 71 7, was christened at All Saints. 

Another theatrical icon from Hereford was Charles II's favourite mistress, NELL GWYN. A plaque on the wall Of the Bishop's Garden on Gwynne Street, leading down to the river, marks where she was born in 1 650. Attracted by the bright lights, Nell Gwyn took herself up to London as a young girl and got a job selling oranges at the King's Theatre. Her quick wit and repartee caught the eye of the theatre company and she was taken on as a comic actress. Dryden wrote several plays specifically for her. She soon became a mistress Of Charles II, who adored her boisterous humour and the fact that she had no desire to dabble in politics, unlike his other mistresses, notably Barbara Villiers. She also managed to endear herself to ordinary people because She never took on airs and graces, plus she was also a Protestant. Once, when an angry crowd was jostling her carriage, thinking that the haughty Catholic Duchess Of Portsmouth was inside, Nell leaned out of the window and cried, ‘Pray good people be Civil. I am the Protestant whore!' She had two sons by Charles, one who died and one who was made the Duke of St Albans. His son became Bishop Of Hereford. The King loved her to the end and his last words were, ‘dO not let poor Nellie starve'. 

The BULMERS factory in the town is the LARGEST CIDER FACTORY IN THE WORLD. Inside is the Strongbow vat, which has a capacity of 1.6 3 million gallons (7.4 million litres) and, at 65 ft (20 m) high and 75 ft (23 m) in diameter, is the WORLD'S LARGEST VAT.

Ledbury

Of Poets and Publishers

LEDBURYIS SET on a hilly ridge in the lee of the Malverns. In the words of Poet Laureate JOHN MASEFIELD, who was born here in 1878, in a house still standing called the KNAPP, it is a place ‘pleasant to the sight, fair and half timbered houses, black and white'. Masefield is best remembered for his nautical poems.

I must go down to the sea again

To the vagrant gypsy's life

and

Quinquireme of Nineveh from distant ophir

Rowing home to Haven in sunny Palestine

With a cargo of ivory and apes and peacocks

Sandalwood, cedarwood and sweet white wine

An earlier poet born in Ledbury in 1332, before the town was made beautiful in black and white, was WILLIAM LANGLAND, author of Piers Plowman. Considered one of the greatest Middle English poems, Piers Plowman describes the life and times Of an English peasant in the 14th century.

Inside the church is a marble memorial to EDWARD BARRETT, father of the poet ELIZABETH BARRETT BROWNING. Elizabeth knew Ledbury well for, in 1809, when she was three, her family came to live at HOPE END in Colwall, a few miles up the road on the edge of the Malvern Hills. Her father, who became High Sheriff Of Herefordshire, had received a tidy inheritance from a Jamaican sugar plantation and built a flamboyant house, complete with turrets, in the middle of 475 acres of park and woodland.

Elizabeth had a happy childhood but her health was never robust and she spent much Of her time inside, writing poetry. At the age of 1 5, on her way to Ledbury, a loose saddle caused her to fall from her horse, inflicting the back injury that was to make her an invalid for the rest of her life. Her mother died when she was 20 and a reversal of the family fortunes meant that Hope End had to be sold and the family moved first to Sidmouth and then to Wirnpole Street in London.

Hope End was sold to Thomas Heywood, a banker from Manchester, whose daughter, MARY SUMNER, went on to found the MOTHERS' UNION.

SYMONDS YAT rock is a wooded limestone outcrop, 400 ft (122 In) above where the River Wye meanders around in a lazy 5-mile (8-km) loop. It is a well—known beauty spot, with magnificent Views, the summer home to peregrine falcons and romantic couples. In 1 993, Symonds Yat provided the picturesque backdrop to the film Shadowlands, a tender love story directed by Richard Attenborough and starring Anthony Hopkins and Debra Winger as the writer C.S. LEWIS and his dying wife, JOY GRESHAM. Also prominent in the film is BICKNOR COURT FARM, 1 mile (1.5 km) down the road.

The little church in the fields at KILPECK, south Of Hereford, is regarded as the MOST PERFECT NORMAN CHURCH IN ENGLAND. It rests on a gentle mound with views to the distant Malverns and the Black Mountains Of Wales. Sole survivor among the ruins of castle and priory, Kilpeck Sports a remarkable gallery of amazingly well-preserved Norman carvings, both inside and out. Animals, dragons, dancing figures, birds, monsters, people doing all manner Of things, lovers entangled, priests a praying, all life is here, shown in joyous, uninhibited detail. There are gaps in the outside ring of corbels where the Victorians removed some of the more boisterous exhibits, otherwise Kilpeck is Virtually untouched since it was built, no doubt thanks to its remote location. A gem in quietest Herefordshire.

ruled England for some 300 years (including many of the famous Henrys and
Richards).

The Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment and Queen's Regiment Museum
(next door) collects military memorabilia and tells the story Of these military
units, which have fought in foreign conflicts for centuries—you'll see gritty
helmet-cam footage from 2 1 st-century deployments in Afghanistan.

Backtrack and enter the tower itself (the door faces the entrance to the
courtyard where you came in). Climb up the stairs into the tower. At the end
of the first stairs, on the right, notice a room with a clever rainwater tank
for collecting water from the roof. Nearby (on the left) is a room with a well,
which helped make the tower even more resistant to siege. The next room
is the throne room. Fans Of Thomas Becket can look for his chapel, a tiny
sacristy called the "upper chapel" (it's hiding down a forgotten hallway high
in the building—go behind the throne, turn left, and look for the narrow hall).

While there's no real exhibit, docents are standing by to answer questions,
and the kid-friendly furnishings give a sense of what the castle was like in the
Middle Ages. As you explore, you'll also find a dining hall, kitchen, bedroom,
and other rooms decorated with brightly colored furnishings. Climbing to
the very top (about 120 stairs total) rewards you with a sweeping View of
the town and sea beyond. You'll walk through the medieval kitchen and royal
armory as you exit through the cellar.

Eastwell
The Last Plantagenet

AMONG THE RUINS of ST MARY'S church, Eastwell, near Ashford, is the rough marble tomb of RICHARD, LAST OF THE PLANTAGENETS.

In 1485, there was growing up in Eastwell, in the care of the schoolmaster, a young boy named Richard. One August day, a knight rode into the Village and told Richard to prepare for a long journey. They rode halfway across England until they came to a huge camp full of soldiers and bowmen preparing for battle. Richard was brought before a noble knight dressed in fine armour, drinking at a stone well. The knight laid hands upon him and said, ‘Richard, I am the King of England and I am your father. Tomorrow I go into battle and, if I am defeated, you will be in mortal danger, for the Earl of Richmond will surely seek you out and put you to death. Unless I am

Victorious tell no one who you are.'

The next day, Richard III was slain at the Battle of Bosworth Field and the reign of the Plantagenets was over. It was the beginning of the House Of Tudor. Young Richard made his way back to Eastwell and lived out his life as a labourer, never telling anyone Of his royal blood until his last days. He finally told his story to Sir Thomas Moyle of Eastwell House and Sir Thomas built him a tiny cottage in the park where he died in 1550.

White Cliffs of Dover
Chalky white cliffs surround Dover on both sides for miles. From the top of the cliff, you can get sweeping Views over the town (and as far as France, in clear weather). Or you can see the cliffs themselves, either from below or from an adjacent Viewpoint.

White Cliffs of Dover Visitor  Centre

The best all-around experience is the National Trust Visitors center, on a bluff just east of town (past Dover Castle). If you're driving to the castle, it's an easy add-on, but non-drivers may find it's not worth the trouble. The Visitors center is just a big shop/cafe, with WCS and a few interpretation panels, but Offers striking views down over Dover's busy port (and the white cliffs just beyond it). And it's a springboard for some enjoyable walks.
Western Heights

This famous cliff—Opposite Dover Castle, just southwest of town—provides a sweeping View of Dover (and occasionally of France). The trail along the cliff weaves around former gun posts that were originally installed during Napoleonic times, but were used most extensively during World War II. It was here that the British military amassed huge decoy forces designed to fool the Germans into thinking that the D-Day invasion would come from Dover—across the shortest stretch of water to Calais—rather than from ports farther west and across to Normandy. Today, the bunkers are abandoned, but in decent condition; you can usually crouch through a tunnel to get a closer look at the fortress. While this site is historic, the views are not quite as good as the White Cliffs of Dover Visitor Centre described earlier, and you don't see many white cliffs at all—just the port.

Battle Abbey and 1066 Battlefield

Located an hour southwest of over by car, the town Of Battle commemorates the Battle of Hastings. In 1066, a Norman (French) nobleman--William, Duke Of Normandy--was victorious in the Battle of Hastings and seized control of England, leading to a string of Norman kings and forever changing the course of English history. While the battlefield and adjoining ruined abbey (built soon after the battle by William to atone for all the spilled blood) are worth to British-history buffs, anyone can appreciate the dramatic story behind the grassy field. Ignore the tourists and take a journey back in time...these fields would have looked almost the same a thousand years ago.  Gaze across the unassuming little valley and imagine thousands of invading troops. Your visit can last from three minutes to three hours, depending on your imagination.

The Battle of Hastings

The most epic of all of Europe's medieval Game of Thrones-style battles (minus the dragons and the ice zombies) took place on the most memorable date of the Middle Ages: October 14, 1066. The Battle of Hastings came about because England's celibate King Edward the Confessor had died without an heir, and three nobles claimed the throne.

An Anglo--Saxon noble named Harold Godwinson, Earl of Wessex, claimed that Edward gave him the throne on his deathbed. He was named king by the traditional council, but support for Harold was weak. A Viking king from Norway, Harald Hardrada, had a claim to the throne through his bloodline. And across the English Channel, French--bom William, Duke of Normandy, claimed that Edward had personally selected him as his successor. As the descendant of Vikings who'd once

settled in England, William also claimed to be of royal blood. (His enemies called him William the Bastard--his mother was the former Duke of Normandy's mistress.)

With the pope's blessing, William patiently gathered and trained a large Norman army. Meanwhile, Harold and the English army confronted Hardrada in the north of England. Harold's victory was decisive, but immediately he got word that William had sailed across the Channel and landed in the south. Harold and his army raced five days to meet William. Near the town of Hastings, Harold assembled his exhausted troops into a wall atop the highest hill (Senlac Hill).

Early in the morning on October 14, the Norman soldiers trudged up the hill. First, their archers rained arrows on the English. Next, foot soldiers on both sides fought hand-to-hand. The Normans' first attack was successfully deterred; at one point, William flipped up his helmet's Visor to show his troops that he was still alive and fighting. Then the tide turned. William's army began to retreat (a tactical maneuver, say the French). Seeing them flee, the English charged ahead, pursuing them down the hill. Suddenly, the Normans turned and attacked. Riding on horseback, the Norman soldiers utilized their stirrups as footholds to put force behind their lances. The two sides fought a fierce 14-hour battle, with heavy casualties (7,000 dead in one day). In the battle's finale, Harold was killed supposedly by an arrow through the eye). William--now "the Conqueror"--marched on to London, where he was crowned King of England in Westminster Abbey on Christmas Day, 1066. William commemorated the dead by building an abbey on the spot of the battle. It's interesting to note that William's army of only 15,000 men proceeded to conquer a land of 1.5 million. The Norman conquest of England propelled the cultured yet isolated isle of Britain into the European mainstream of feudalism. William centralized the government and imported the Romanesque style of architecture--seen at places such as the White Tower at the Tower of London, and Durham Cathedral. The English call this style "Norman."

Historians speculate that, were it not for their secret weapon--the stirrup--England would have remained on the fringe of Europe (like Scandinavia), French culture and language would have prevailed in the New World...and you'd be reading this book today in French. Sacre' bleu! William's conquest also muddied the political waters, setting in motion 400 years of conflict between England and France that would not be resolved until the end of the Hundred Years' War, in 1453.

Manchester

Rolls and Rails

NEXT To THE G Mex centre, in the heart Of Manchester, is the MIDLAND HOTEL, where, in May 1904, a meeting took place that resulted in the creation of the (BEST CAR IN THE WORLD'. THE HON. CHARLES ROLLS, car salesman, journeyed up from London to meet electrical engineer and car maker HENRY ROYCE. Rolls liked what he saw Of the new hand-made car Royce had both designed and built, and the two agreed to go into partnership as ROLLS—ROYCE. The first Rolls-Royce cars were made at COOKE STREET in HULME, just south Of Manchester city centre.

The beautiful ‘SPIRIT OF ECSTASY' badge which has adorned every Rolls-Royce car since 1 9 1 1 was sculpted by CHARLES SYKES and modelled on a young lady named ELEANOR THORNTON. Eleanor was secretary to the second LORD MONTAGU OF BEAULIEU in his capacity as editor of the motoring magazine The Car. She was also his mistress. On 3 0 December 1 9 1 5, Lord Montagu and Eleanor were sailing for India aboard the SS Persia when the ship was torpedoed and sunk by a German submarine Off Crete. Eleanor perished, while Lord Montagu somehow survived and was rescued by another ship, several days later.

A short walk away, in Liverpool Road, is the WORLD'S OLDEST PASSENGER RAILWAY STATION, opened in 1 8 3 0. A terminus of the Manchester to Liverpool Railway, it was built by GEORGE STEPHENSON and was the WORLD'S FIRST COMMERCIAL PASSENGER LINE. The building is now home to the MANCHESTER MUSEUM OF SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY.

Part Of a conservation area, ST JOHN STREET, lined with beautiful Georgian houses, is known as Manchester's ‘Harley Street'. CHARLOTTE BRONTE accompanied her father when he came here for treatment on his cataracts and, while she was waiting for him, began writing Jane Eyre.

Aviation pioneer JOHN ALCOCK was born in OLD TRAFFORD in 1892. In 1919, with Manchester resident Arthur Brown as his navigator, he became the FIRST PERSON To FLY ACROSS THE ATLANTIC. They left St John's, Newfoundland, in a Vickers aeroplane on 14 June and landed at Clifden, in Ireland, 16 hours later, having travelled a distance Of 1,960 miles (3,155 km) at an average speed Of 115 mph (185 kph).

Nottingham

Bicycles and Boots

UP UNTIL THE First World War, Nottingham was famed for its Nottingham lace, a by-product Of the city's hosiery industry, and it was the LARGEST PRODUCER OF LACE IN THE WORLD. Lace eventually became considered a luxury and the trade declined.

JESSE BOOT was born in Nottingham in 1850. His father owned a herbalist shop, but died when Jesse was young, so Jesse left school at the age Of 13 and helped his mother to run the business. He studied pharmacy in his spare time and Opened his first Chemist's shop in 1877. He was concerned that poorer people could not afford the medicines they needed, since the other chemists in Nottingham all ran a price-fixing cartel. Jesse therefore sold his goods at a much cheaper price, advertising in the local paper and sending a bell ringer round the streets Of Nottingham. His became the most popular shop in town and became known as ‘THE PEOPLE'S STORE'. Jesse also kept down the price of prescriptions and he soon built up the BIGGEST CHAIN OF CHEMIST SHOPS IN THE WORLD. In 1929, he was created Lord Trent. He died in 1931.

The recipe for HP Sauce was created in Nottingham by a grocer called F.G. Garton, who began marketing Carton's Sauce in 1 903. When he heard that his sauce was being served in the canteen at the Houses of Parliament, he decided to call it HP Sauce. Garton eventually handed over his recipe and the HP brand to Edwin Samson Moore, owner of the Midland Vinegar Company, in return for £150 and the writing ofi of some unpaid debts.

In the 1960s, HP Sauce became known as ‘Wilson's gravy', after Prime Minister Harold Wilson, who was rumoured to pour it all over his food. The sauce is now owned by Danone and produced in Aston, Birmingham. Nottingham is also the home Of RALEIGH BICYCLES. At the end of the 19th century, there was a small factory in Raleigh Street, near the town centre, making three bicycles a week. FRANK BOWDEN bought one, rode it for six months in the Pyrenees and liked it so much he bought the company, building it into the BIGGEST BICYCLE MANUFACTURER IN THE WORLD. In the first years of the 20th century, James Samuel Archer invented the Sturmey Archer three-speed gear, which was bought by Raleigh and helped to keep them at the forefront of the industry. In 1960, Raleigh was bought by Tube Investments. With growing competition from the Far East, however, there is  uncertainty over the company's future in the 21st century.

Newstead

Mad, Bad and Dangerous to Know

ON A DARK and stormy day, when the wind is howling and the Skies are grey, N EWSTEAD ABBEY is the most romantic and ghostly place in Nottinghamshire. It was founded by HENRY II, as a penance for the murder of Thomas a Becket, and being born Of such an evil deed seems to have cast an ancient shadow on this beautiful place. In 1540, after the Dissolution of the Monasteries, it was bought by SIR JOHN BYRON, who created a house out of the monastic ruins.

The fifth Lord Byron, the poet's great-uncle, retired to Newstead in dissolute disgrace, run out Of London after killing William Chaworth of Annesley in a duel at a tavern in Pall Mall. He let the house fall into ruin, wiped out all the deer in the park, neglected the gardens, ill-treated his wife and tenants and finally died alone in the one habitable room left.

The poet, the Sixth LORD BYRON (1788--1824), inherited Newstead Abbey when he was ten, but it was in such a state Of disrepair that he and his mother had to rent BURGAGE MANOR in SOUTHWELL. Byron moved into Newstead in 1808, after he had taken his degree. The wild, haunting beauty of the place, remote, decayed, full of ghosts, family history and inevitable doom, added immeasurably to Byron's romantic image and undoubtedly inspired his passionate and rebellious poetry. Byron loved Newstead Abbey and swore never to sell it, but his debts mounted and his hand was forced. He saw it for the last time in 1814, when it was sold to his friend COLONEL THOMAS WILDMAN, who had made a fortune in the West Indies. He began to restore the house and it stayed in private hands until 1931, when it was given to Nottingham Corporation.

Byron is buried in HUCKNALL church, 4 miles (6.5 km) to the south. Next to him lies his daughter, AUGUSTA ‘ADA' KING, Countess Of Lovelace. She was a talented mathematician who helped CHARLES BABBAGE with his calculating machine, forerunner of the computer. The onetime standard computer language, ADA, was named after her.



Annesley

Hills of Annesley, bleak and barren

Where my thoughtless childhood strayed,

How the northern tempests, warring,

Howl above thy tufted shade.

Now no more, the hours beguiling,

Former favourite haunts I see,

Now no more my Mary smiling

Makes ye seem a heaven to me.

ANNESLEY HALL, WHERE the teen—aged LORD BYRON loved and lost MARY CHAWORTH,  his first and saddest passion, stands beside the ruins Of a church, across yhe fields from the poet's home at N ewstead Abbey. In the park nearby, is DIADEM HILL, 578 ft (176 m) high, where they would meet and where they finally parted. Byron truly loved Mary, his ‘bright morning star of Annesley', who was petite and exquisitely beautiful, but she did not return his feelings and he never recovered from her rejection. ‘Had I married Miss Chaworth, perhaps the whole tenor of my life would have been different,' he wrote, and something of the aching sense of loss that runs through his poetry can still be felt here, where his melancholy and self-destruction began.

Lying in the ruined church is WILLIAM CHAWORTH, slain in a duel by Byron's great uncle William, the ‘Wicked Lord' from whom Byron inherited his title and the desolate Newstead Abbey.

Mary Chaworth died in 1832, when Annesley Hall was attacked by a mob rioting over the Great Reform Bill.

Oxford

OXFORD BEGAN AT the point on the THAMES where Saxon ox drovers could ford the river, near where FOLLY BRIDGE is today. A small priory grew up nearby and, in 872, KING ALFRED stopped here on his way up river for some refreshment and got into a deep debate with the learned residents that lasted for some days. Oxford's reputation for scholarly pursuits was born. TO this day, the River Thames at Oxford is called ISIS, a shortened form Of the Latin THAMESIS.

In 1157, King Richard the Lionheart was born where 24 BEAUMONT STREET now stands. His brother, King John, was also born in Oxford, in 1167.

The writer and poet Matthew Arnold spoke Of Oxford as the ‘City with her dreaming spires'. The View that inspired this description can still be seen from BOARS HILL, about 4 miles (6.5 km) to the south—west Of the city.

OSCAR WILDE (1854—1900) was an undergraduate at MAGDALEN COLLEGE, where he gained a first in literae humaniores. He was very fond Of the May Morning tradition when the choir sing from the top Of the beautiful 15th—century MAGDALEN TOWER. In 1505, the FIRST CLOCK TO BE FIXED TO THE OUTSIDE OF A BUILDING IN ENGLAND was unveiled on Magdalen Tower.

SIR JOHN BETJEMAN (1906—84) came up to Magdalen in 1925, bringing with him his teddy bear, Archibald. Archibald was the inspiration for Sebastian's teddy, Aloysius, in Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh (1903—66), who was at Hertford College.

Magdalen College was featured in Shadowlands in 1993. The film tells the story of CS. LEWIS'S relationship with his wife, Joy Gresham, who died of cancer in 1960. Lewis (1898—1963) taught at Oxford from 1925 until 1954, and is buried in the Churchyard at Headington Quarry, near where he lived at Headington. CS. Lewis wrote The Chronicles of Narnia, a series of books for children about an imaginary land. He was great friends with another writer Of fantastic tales, J.R.R. TOLKIEN (1892—1973), author Of The Lord of the Rings. Tolkien also taught at Oxford and is buried in the Roman Catholic cemetery at WOLVERCOTE, north of Oxford.

Oxford has even dipped its distinctive toe into the world of fashion with OXFORD BROGUES, a hardwearing Shoe, and a species of voluminous trouserings, known as OXFORD ‘BAGS', which were very popular with students in the 1920s.

OXFORD Is NOT all about the University. In 1898, the FIRST COMMERCIAL TRAVELLER To USE A CAR, RALPH FOORT, came from Oxford. And, in 1933, Oxford unwrapped the WORLD'S FIRST LOLLIPOP LADY.

In 1913, WILLIAM MORRIS (1 87 7—1963), a farm labourer's son from Worcester, took over a derelict military college in the little village of COWLEY, to the south Of Oxford, and started to make bicycles. At that time, the village wasn't much more than a 1 2th-century church with a fine view of the dreaming spires, and a creeper-covered 1 7th-century house. Within 40 years, it had become one of the LARGEST MOTOR CAR PLANTS IN THE WORLD, producing a car every minute.

From bicyles, Morris moved on to making two-seater MORRIS OXFORD cars and, in 1919, he formed MORRIS MOTORS. He introduced the mass production methods of Henry Ford and his four-seater MORRIS COWLEY soon displaced the Ford Model T as Britain's favourite car. The first MORRIS MINOR, designed by SIR ALEC ISSIGONIS (1906—88), rolled off the production line in 1948, and went on to become the FIRST BRITISH MILLION-SELLING CAR. In 1959, came another classic, the MORRIS MINI-MINOR. William Morris was the most successful British car maker of all time and helped change the face of modern transport. Morris merged with Austin in 1952 to become the British Motor Company, the fourth largest car maker in the world at the time. This was then subsumed into British Leyland, which became the Rover Group. Minis, now under the BMW badge, are still made at Cowley today.

Oxford, founded in the seventh century and home to the oldest university in the English-speaking world, originated as a simple trade crossroads at an ox ford...a convenient place for Anglo-Saxons to cross the river with their oxen. (Back then you could row to London from Oxford...in just five days.) This humble town gained fame when the University of Oxford took root here. Ever since the first homework was assigned in 1167, its stellar graduates have influenced Western civilization. Its alumni include 27 British prime ministers, more than 60 Nobel Prize winners, well—known writers and actors, and even 1 1 saints.
Today's Oxford is a lively, globally minded city Of 170,000. It's part university (with 60 percent of students from overseas), part industry (cranking out fashionable Mini cars and renowned craft beers), and part bedroom community for Londoners (with relatively afiordable housing and an easy hour-long commute). Although you may see stodgy professors in their traditional black robes, this is a fun college town—with a quarter of the population between 18 and 23—filled with shopping, cheap eats, pranks, and rowdy, rollicking pubs.

For tourists, Oxford offers a pleasant town center plus historic colleges with literary connections. Never bombed in World War II, Oxford retains its rich honey-colored Cotswold limestone buildings. Many colleges allow visitors (for a small admission fee) to stroll their grounds and go inside a few historic buildings. Step off the busy, urban-feeling High Street into the hushed sanctuary of a grassy college quad. Stroll the garden where Lewis Carroll dreamed up his adventures for Alice, pop in to the dining hall that inspired the one where Harry Potter eats, or grab a pint in the pub where J. R. R Tolkien first spoke about hobbits.

The Colleges

You could spend a lot Of time going from college to college here—but since they all have similar features, frankly, if you've seen a couple, that's enough. Still, each is unique—like individual works Of art mixing architecture, gardens, and heritage. I've described just my three favorites: The dominant Christ Church College and the more intimate and welcoming Magdalen and Exeter Colleges. The entrance to each college is easy to spot—just look for a doorway with crests and a flagpole on the top. Each entry has an Office with a porter (live-in caretaker). Inquire there to find out which buildings are open to visitors, and if any plays, music, evensong services, or lectures are scheduled.

Christ Church College

Of Oxford's colleges, Christ Church is the largest and most prestigious (and, some think, most pretentious). It's also the most popular (and most expensive) for tourists to visit—partly thanks to its historic fame, but mostly because scenes in the Harry Potter movies were filmed here. The college was founded by Henry VIII's chancellor, Cardinal Thomas Wolsey, in 1 524 on the site Of an abbey dissolved by the king. The buildings survived the tumult Of the Reformation because the abbey and its cathedral served as part Of the king's new Church of England. It still has a close connection to the royal family. While all colleges boast of their esteemed alumni, none has a list as esteemed as Christ Church College: 13 Of the 27 Oxford-educated prime ministers were Christ Church alums. William Penn (founder Of Pennsylvania), John Wesley (influential Methodist leader), John Locke (English Enlightenment thinker), and Charles Dodgson (a.k.a. Lewis Carroll) also studied here. Its grounds include a grand Old dining hall, a giant quad, and an impressive chapel that doubles as a cathedral.



Literary Oxford

Oxford's list Of alumni is almost laughably impressive. A virtual factory for famous politicians—among them a couple dozen prime ministers (including Theresa May and Boris Johnson), Indira Gandhi, and Bill Clinton (who took Classes here as a Rhodes scholar)—it's also the home of some of the most important scientists of the 20th century. Stephen Hawking (A Brief History of Time) went to Oxford, Richard Dawkins (The Selfish Gene) taught at Oxford, and Tim Berners-Lee—inventor of the World Wide Web—got in trouble for hacking into Oxford's computers. But Oxford may be most famous for its literary past.

J. R. R. Tolkien (1892-1973) graduated from the university and was a professor at Oxford, teaching the glories of Anglo-Saxon language and English literature through one Of his favorite works, the epic poem Beowulf. He spent years in Oxford writing the books he's most famous for: The Hobbit and the three volumes of The Lord of the Rings, beloved by millions Of readers.

C. S. Lewis (1898—1963), Tolkien's good friend, was a fellow at Oxford for almost 30 years. Lewis sent generations Of Children through the back Of a wardrobe in his series The Chronicles of Narnia. At Oxford, Lewis was also the ringleader of a famous writing society called the Inklings, who met regularly at a pub called The Eagle and Child pub (which they dubbed the "Bird and Baby"). Picture these literary geniuses sitting in the pub's familiar confines. Lewis orders another round, while Tolkien tells FrOdO's tale—with a pipe in hand—for the first time.

The Oxford-educated poet W. H. Auden (1907-1973) was a lifelong friend and correspondent of Tolkien's. (He was one Of the first critics to publicly praise The Lord of the Rings.) Auden may be most familiar to Americans for the lines of his poem "Funeral Blues" that were quoted in the film Four Weddings and a Funeral: "He was my North, my South, my East and West, / My working week and my Sunday rest, / My noon, my midnight, my talk, my song; / I thought that love would last for ever: I

was wrong."

Lewis Carroll (1832-1898), the pen name of Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, was a mathematician who taught at Oxford, where he met Alice Liddell, the dean's daughter and real-life inspiration for Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. The author lived at Christ Church College, and Carroll and Liddell would regularly play croquet—without the Queen Of Hearts—in The Meadow.

Literary great Virginia Woolf (1882-1941) was banned from using Oxford's library because she was a woman (Oxford didn't begin admitting women until 1920, though they could attend some classes before that). She later wrote her most important essay, "A Room Of One's Own," where She parodied the university She  nicknamed "Oxbridge," a combination of Oxford and Cambridge.

Aldous Huxley (1894-1963), a prolific novelist and Oxford student, wrote the early science-fiction classic Brave New World, about a disturbing, mindless future. His later book, The Doors of Perception, was written under the influence of mescaline. (Jim Morrison, another fan of mind-altering experiences, named his band The Doors after the book) 

Oscar Wilde (1854-1900) did well at Oxford (graduating with the highest grade possible) and went on to become famous for his novels (The Picture of Dorian Gray), plays (The Importance of Being Earnest), homosexuality (his famous trial sent him to jail), and memorably witty quotes, such as "Men marry because they are tired; women, because they are curious: both are disappointed." Another of his quotes: "1 can resist everything except temptation." And another: "We are all in the gutter, but some Of us are looking at the stars."

Oxford's other notable literary stars include the poet Percy Bysshe Shelley, Jonathan Swift (Gulliver's Travels), T. S. Eliot (The Waste Land), John 1e Carré (The Spy Who Came in from the Cold), Harper Lee (To Kill a Mockingbird; she attended summer school here), Philip Pullman (the children's book series His Dark Materials), Martin Amis (Time's Arrow), Helen Fielding (Bridget Jones's Diary); and—maybe most important Of all to generations Of Children's book readers—

Theodor Seuss Geisel (a.k.a. Dr. Seuss). Well-known TV writer Russel T. Davies (Doctor Who) is also an Oxford grad.

RADCOT BRIDGE, dating from c. 1 150, is the OLDEST BRIDGE OVER THE declared that ‘on a clear day you RIVER THAMES. In 1387, HENRY BOLINGBROKE smashed down the central arch to thwart the Earl of Oxford's men, who had been sent tO hunt him down by his cousin, Richard II. The pursuers, taken by surprise, were all either captured or drowned. Twelve years later, Henry had Richard II murdered in Pontefract Castle and was crowned Henry IV.

Coalbrookdale

Founding Fathers of the Industrial Revolution

THE MODERN WORLD began in 1709, at Coalbrookdale, a deep, dark Shropshire valley on the River Severn, full Of iron ore and coal. In that year, an ironmaster named ABRAHAM DARBY discovered a way Of producing cast iron using coal instead Of charcoal. It took an awful lot of trees to provide the charcoal to make a ton Of iron and English woodlands were diminishing fast. Suddenly, at a stroke, high grade iron could be produced in unlimited quantities. Machines and structures Of incredible strength could be made. Like a secret recipe, Darby passed on his knowledge only to his son, Abraham Darby II, who improved and perfected his father's methods. Then, in 1779, the grandson, Abraham Darby III, built the most visible and enduring symbol of the age, the IRONBRIDGE, THE FIRST METAL BRIDGE IN THE WORLD. It has a span of 100 ft (30.5 m) and is still in use by pedestrians, having closed to traffic in 1931.

All along Coalbrookdale are the birthscars Of the Industrial Revolution: the furnace site where Abraham Darby I developed his coke smelting process, the coal mines, rusting pieces Of iron. At BLISTS HILL is the HAY INCLINED PLANE, where boats were lifted on iron rails from the River Severn to the Shropshire Canal, 200 ft (61 In) above at the top of the hill.

Down river at BROSELEY, in 1787, ironmaster JOHN Wilkinson M Westmorland) built the WORLD'S FIRST IRON BOAT. Everywhere there are bridges made from iron, gates and fences, clock towers and railings. For somewhere that had such a profound effect on the world, it is strangely quiet and peaceful now, as if resting from its labours.

Ironbridge Gorge

The Industrial Revolution was born in the Severn River Valley. In its glory days, this valley—blessed with abundant deposits Of iron ore and coal, and a river for transport—gave the world its first iron wheels, steam-powered locomotive, and cast-iron bridge (begun in 1779). Other industries flourished here, too—from mass-produced clay pipes to delicate porcelain and colorful decorative tiles. The museums in Ironbridge Gorge, which capture the essence Of the Victorian age, take you back into the days when Britain was racing into the modern era—and pulling the rest of the West with her.

Near the end Of the 20th century, the valley went through a second transformation: Photos taken just a few decades ago show an industrial wasteland. Today the Severn River Valley is lush and lined with walks and parkland. Even its bricks, while still smoke-stained, seem warmer and more inviting. Those who come for its "industrial" sights are pleasantly surprised to find an extremely charming corner of England, with wooded hillsides and tidy, time-warp brick villages.

Orientation to Ironbridge Gorge

The village of Ironbridge is just a few blocks gathered around the Iron Bridge, which spans the peaceful, tree-lined River Severn. While the smoke-belching bustle is long gone, knowing that this wooded, sleepy river valley was the Silicon Valley of the 1 9th century makes wandering its brick streets almost a pilgrimage. Other villages—including Coalbrookdale, Jackfield, and Coalport —are scattered along the valley, all within a short drive or a long walk. The museum sights are scattered over three miles. The modern cooling towers (for coal) that you'll see west of town, looming ominously over these red-brick remnants, seem strangely appropriate.
Ten museums clustered within a few miles focus on the Iron Bridge and all that it represents—but not all are worth your time. The Blists Hill Victorian Town is by far the best. The Museum of the Gorge attempts to give a historical overview, but the displays are humble (and it may be closed for renovation when you visit). The Coalbrookdale Museum Of Iron is interesting to metalheads. Enginuity is just for kids. The original Abraham Darby Furnace (free to View, located across from the Museum of Iron) is a shrine tO 18th-century technology. And the Jaclcfield Tile Museum, Coalport China Museum, and Broseley Pipeworks delve into industries that picked up the slack when the iron industry shifted away from the Severn Valley in the 1850s.

Iron Bridge

While England was at war with her American colonies, this first cast-iron bridge was built in 1779 to show off a wonderful new building material. Lacking experience with cast iron, the builders erred on the side of sturdiness and constructed it as if it were made Of wood. Notice that the original construction used traditional timber-jointing techniques rather than rivets. (Rivets are from later repairs.) The valley's centerpiece is free and Open all the time, and was used by cars into the 1960s. Walk across the bridge to the tollhouse. Inside, read the fee schedule and notice the subtle slam against royalty. (England was not immune to the revolutionary sentiment inhabiting the colonies at this time.) Pedestrians paid half a penny to cross; poor people crossed cheaper by coracle—a crude tub-like wood-and-canvas shuttle ferry.  Cross back to the town and enjoy a pleasant walk downstream along the towpath. Where horses once dragged boats laden with cargo, locals now walk their dogs.
Museum of the Gorge

Orient yourself to the valley at this simple museum, filling the Old Severn Warehouse (may be Closed for renovation when you visit). It's worthwhile merely for the 12-minute introductory Video that lays the groundwork for what you'll see in the other museums. You'll also see exhibits on local geology and ecology, some of the items that were produced here, and a well-explained, 3 0-foot model of the entire valley in its heyday.
Blist Hill Victorian Town

This immersive open-air folk museum thrills kids and kids-at—heart by re-creating a fully formed society from the 18908. You'll wander through 50 acres of commerce, industry, and chatty locals. It's particularly lively (with everything Open and lots Of docents—and engaged kids) on weekends and in summer; Off-peak times can be sleepy. Compared to other Open-air museums in Britain, it's refreshingly compact and manageable. Pick up the Blists Hill guidebook for a good step-by-step rundown.

How to Smelt Iron... and Change the World

The Severn Valley had an abundance of ingredients for big industry: iron ore, top-grade coal (processed into coke), and water for power and  shipping. And the person who finally put all the pieces together was a clever Quaker bras smaker from Bristol named Abraham Darby.
Before Darby's time, iron ore was laboriously melted over Charcoal—they couldn't use coal because sulfur made the iron brittle. Darby experimented with higher-carbon coke instead. With huge waterwheel—powered bellows, Darby burned coke at super—hot temperatures and dumped iron ore into the furnace. Impurities floated to the top, while the pure iron sank to the bottom Of a clay tub in the bottom of the furnace.

Twice a day, the plugs were knocked off, allowing the "slag" to drain away on the top and the molten iron to drain out the bottom. The low-grade slag was used locally on walls and paths. The high-grade iron trickled into molds formed in the sand below the furnace. It cooled into pig iron (named because the molds look like piglets suckling their mother). The pig-iron "planks" were broken Off by sledgehammers and shipped away.

The River Severn became one Of Europe's busiest, shipping pig iron to distant foundries, where it was melted again and made into cast iron (for projects such as the Iron Bridge), or to forges, where it was worked like toffee into wrought iron. Once Darby cracked the coke code, iron became the gO-to building material. TO this day, many Of the icons of Britain—post boxes, frilly benches, fences in front Of tidy houses—are made of iron. All thanks to  the innovation that took place centuries ago, right here in the Severn Valley.

At BRIDGNORTH, is a leaning tower that has a slant three times that of Pisa. The Leaning Tower of Pisa is 5 degrees out Of true, the Leaning Tower Of Bridgnorth, 17 degrees. It is all that is left of the 12th-century castle keep and owes its tilt to Oliver Cromwell's forces, who tried tO blow it up during the Civil War.

BRIDGNORTH has the ONLY INLAND CLIFF RAILWAY IN ENGLAND. With a vertical rise Of 111 ft (34 m), it links the Low Town with the High Town.

Bath

The best city to visit within easy striking distance of London is Bath—just a 1.5-hour train ride away. If ever a city enjoyed looking in the mirror, Bath's the one. Bath's narcissism is justified. It has more "government-listed" or protected historic buildings per capita than any other town in England. Built of the creamy warm-tone limestone called "Bath stone," it beams in its cover-girl complexion. Two hundred years ago, this city of 90,000 was the trendsetting Tinseltown of Britain. An architectural chorus line, it's a triumph Of the Neoclassical style of the Georgian era—named for the four Georges who sat as England's kings from 1714 to 1830. Proud locals remind visitors that the town is routinely banned from the "Britain in Bloom" urban-beautification contest to give other towns a chance to win. Even with its mobs of tourists (2 million per year) and greedy prices, Bath is a joy to visit.

These days, a growing number of Bath-based professionals catch the 7:13 express train to London on their daily commute. And Bath's soothing hot springs are still around, attracting visitors as they have for thousands of years.

A Quick Dip into the History of Bath

Bath's fame began with the allure Of its hot springs—a rarity in Britain. Even in Celtic times, people made pilgrimages here to bathe in the (supposedly) curative waters. When the Romans conquered Britain, they built a large bathhouse around the spring and made Bath an important town. In medieval times, Bath's thriving wool trade and huge church (where the abbey stands today) made it the religious capital Of Britain. Its influence peaked in 973 when King Edgar was crowned here.

Bath then declined, wasting away to a huddle Of huts, with hot, smelly mud and 3,000 residents, oblivious to the Roman ruins 18 feet below their dirt floors. Then, in 1687, Queen Mary, fighting infertility, bathed here. Within 10 months, she gave birth  to a son. A few years later, Queen Anne found the water eased her painful gout. Word of its miraculous waters spread, and Bath regained fame.

By the mid-17003, Bath (population 30,000) was England's trendiest resort. Thousands Of wealthy vacationers flocked here to soak in the mineral waters, socialize, flirt, see the latest plays, drink, dance, gamble, and party late into the night. It was the place to see and be seen in England.

Bath was rich, thriving on the wealth pouring into England from its overseas colonies in India, Africa, and America. The city built grand new buildings in the Georgian style that set the tone for all Of England. Powdered-wig aristocrats rode in horse-drawn carriages or were carried through the town in sedan chairs. Streets were lined not with scrawny sidewalks but with wide "parades," upon which women in their stylishly wide dresses could Spread their fashionable tails. Bath was a fantastic realm Of frilly Baroque music by Handel (who performed here), lush paintings by Gainsborough (who lived here), and theater by famed actor David Garrick (who staged plays here).
It was all orchestrated by the charismatic party-thrower and bon vivant, Beau Nash. Although this was an era of strict class distinctions, at Bath the classes could mingle more freely—nobles, the rising middle class, bohemians, and even servants. In the early 18003, Bath's luster began to fade. Jane Austen (who lived here then) found all the pretentious trend-chasing, husband-hunting, and status-seeking "tiresome." Over the next century and a half, Bath declined into exactly what Jane Austen had foreseen: a tacky touristy resort with rundown buildings.

Bath suffered considerable damage in World War II. After the Allies bombed the historic and well-preserved German city Of Liibeck, the Germans picked up a Baedeker guide and chose a similarly lovely city to bomb: Bath.

But Bath has rebuilt to its former glory. It's still a major holiday destination for Brits, with much Of the elegance, nightlife, and joie de Vivre of the city in its prime.

Think of Bath as three sightseeing neighborhoods. In the center of town is the main cluster of sights: the Roman Baths, Pump Room, and Bath Abbey. A few blocks northeast is another group of sights around Pulteney Bridge. And a 10-minute walk to the northwest are the Georgian-era sights: the Circus, Royal Crescent, Assembly Rooms, and several museums. Bath is hilly. In general, you'll gain elevation as you head north.

Abbey Churchyard

Ground zero for sightseeing is Abbey Churchyard, a Vibrant square  surrounded by the Roman Baths, Pump Room, and Bath Abbey. The Parade Gardens, Guildhall Market, Victoria Art Gallery, Pulteney Bridge, and River Avon are beyond the left corner of the abbey, a couple of minutes' walk away. Behind you, a block down Bath Street, is the Thermae Bath Spa. Here in Abbey Churchyard, you can see the layers of Bath's history in a glance. The Roman Baths put the city on Europe's radar 2,000 years ago. The abbey made it an important medieval destination. The elegant Pump Room captures the city in its 18th-century heyday. And today's lively street performers show the city hasn't let up since.

The churchyard is also a showcase for Bath's distinctive Georgian architecture. The Pump Room's facade has a faux Greek-temple entrance: four tall columns support a triangular pediment with an inscription in Greek letters ("The greatest blessing is water"). Below that, the doorway is topped with a characteristic Georgian semicircular fanlight window. Five round windows and a fetching balustrade across the roofline complete the Neoclassical look.

Even the humble building opposite the Pump Room has some Georgian (if less fancy) elements. There's a triangular pediment on top. Doorways are topped with semicircles. The windows are symmetrically arranged, with some windows topped with cornices. The stonework is lightly adorned with classical garlands, and the sloped roof has dormer windows. You'll find Georgian features like these all over town.

Roman Baths

For thousands of years, humans have marveled at the hot water that bubbles out Of the earth on this spot. In ancient Roman times, high society enjoyed soaking in the mineral spring and built a large bathhouse around it. From Londinium, Romans traveled so often to Aquae Sulis, as the city was called, to "take a bath" that finally it became known simply as Bath. Today, a fine museum surrounds the ancient bathhouse. With the help of a great audioguide, you'll wander past Roman artifacts, a temple pediment with an evocative bearded face, a bronze head of the goddess Sulis Minerva, excavated ancient foundations, and the actual mouth of the health- giving spring. At the end, you'll have a chance to walk around the big, steaming pool itself, where Romans once lounged, splished, splashed, and thanked the gods for the gift of therapeutic hot water.

Spa

BATH HAS GIVEN us BATH STONE, BATH CHAIRS, BATH BUNS, BATH OLIVERS — and

SHORTHAND.

Bath stone, a golden limestone, originally came from a number of quarries on COMBE DOWN, south of Bath, owned by RALPH ALLEN (1694—1764), known as ‘The Man Of Bath'. He made his fortune by developing postal routes, based in Bath, that formed the foundations Of today's postal system. It was thanks to Ralph Allen that Bath is the post-mark on the WORLD'S FIRST STAMPED ENVELOPE, bearing a Penny Black, addressed tO a house in Peckham and sent on 2 May 1840.

Bath chairs are a kind of Wheel-chair, usually hooded, devised in Bath in  the 18th century, for use by invalids. Bath buns are a kind of rich, sweet bun, much enjoyed by visitors coming tO Bath to take the waters.

Bath Olivers are a kind of plain, dry biscuit eaten after drinking the waters, to take away the bitter taste. The recipe was invented by DR WILLIAM OLIVER in the mid-1 8th century. Just before he died, he passed on the secret to ATKINS, his coachman, who Opened a shop in Green Street and made a fortune. The WORLD'S FIRST PHONOGRAPHIC SHORTHAND SYSTEM (a method of rapid handwriting based on sound) was devised by ISAAC PITMAN in 1837, and was first taught at the Mechanics Institute, 3 Bath Street, in 1839.

Northwest of the Town Center

Several worthwhile public spaces and museums can be found an uphill 10-minute walk to the northwest Of the town center. If Bath is an architectural cancan, these are its knickers.

The entire area is a palatial housing development built during Bath's golden age Of the 17003. It's the masterpiece of the visionary father—and-son architects John Wood the Elder and John Wood the Younger. As visitors poured into the city, Bath began running out of suitable accommodations. The Woods bought large tracts of land northwest Of downtown and built attractive vacation rentals for the rich and famous. In the process they helped forge the Georgian style of architecture soon found all over Britain.

The Circus

True to its name, this is a circular housing complex. It was Wood the Elder's next great expansion, consisting Of 30 symmetrical townhouses arranged in a perfect circle. The best views are from the middle of the Circus among the grand plane trees, on the capped old well. Imagine the days before indoor plumbing, when servant girls gathered here to fetch water—this was gossip central. If you stand on the well, your clap echoes three times around the circle—try it.

The circle of houses is broken into three segments, so that anyone approaching from the street has a great View of the crescent-shaped facades. Each residence has five stories. You'd enter at street level into the workaday public rooms. The entrances were made large enough that aristocrats could be carried right through the door in their sedan chairs, and women could enter without disturbing their sky—high hairdos. The next floor up (with bigger windows) generally had ballrooms and dining rooms for hosting parties. The floor above that held bedrooms. The top floor (the tiny dormer windows in the roof) housed servant bedrooms, and the basement (below street level) held the kitchen and workrooms. Wood united it all with a
symmetrical facade, but the arrangement of the actual rooms behind the facade was left to the owner's discretion. If you circled around, you'd see that the backs are a jumble, infamous for their "hanging loos" (bathrooms added vears later).

Note the frieze—a continuous band of sculpted reliefs—located just above the ground floor. There are 525 different panels, each one unique, depicting everything from dogs tO eagles to roses, scrolls, guitars, anchors, leaves, and roosters.

In its mid-1700s heyday, the Circus was home to Britain's elite. Prime Minister William Pitt the Elder (who oversaw the American colonies' French and Indian War) lived at #1 1. Baron Robert Clive (who brought India under British control) vacationed here at #14 (on the sunny side Of the Circus).

Thomas Gainsborough set up shop at #17 to paint portraits of fashionable lords and ladies to take home as souvenirs. These days, the Circus has become home to both wealthy residents and businesses—you can get a cavity filled at #13.

Created at the height of Wood's creative powers, the Circus shows Off the architect's mature style. There's Palladio's Greco-Roman classicism—Doric columns on the ground floor, Ionic in the middle, and Corinthian on top—like Rome's Colosseum. For more Georgian effects, Wood added a balustrade and ornamental acorns on the rOOfline. The circular shape was likely inspired by Stonehenge, representing Britain's Druid roots. And the symbolism in the frieze is distinctly Masonic. (When seen from a bird's-eye View, the Circus and its neighbor, the Royal Crescent, form the shape Of a symbol dear to Freemasons—a key.) By combining the three styles—Roman, Celtic, and Masonic—Wood was creating his personal vision of Bath as the "new Rome."

The Royal Crescent

This long, graceful arc of buildings evokes the wealth and gentility of Bath's glory days. The Royal Crescent was the majestic showpiece of John Wood the Younger. He took the Georgian style his father had pioneered and supersized it. The Crescent is a semicircular row Of 30 townhouses 500 feet long and 50 feet tall. It's lined with 1 14 Ionic columns that span the middle two stories. A ground floor of large blocks and a balustrade across the roofline unites it all. In typical Georgian style, the only deviation from the symmetry is in the very center of the crescent, which has two pairs of columns and a taller arched window. The building's warm golden color is typical of the city, made Of limestone from the surrounding hills, which began forming hundreds Of millions of years ago when Bath was covered by an ocean.

Completed in 1774, the Royal Crescent quickly became the trendiest address in Bath. It Offered stunning views of a park—a novel idea that gave city dwellers a slice Of the country. Like his father, Wood the Younger designed only the facade, allowing residents to build whatever home they wanted behind it. Today many of the former five-story townhouses have been subdivided into single—floor apartments or offices. Although Jane Austen never lived here, you might think SO given how Often the Royal Crescent has appeared as a backdrop on TV and in movies.

Note the yellow door at #22. It caused a scandal when it was painted in the 1970s in violation Of the housing covenants. But now the yellow door is practically a historical landmark itself.

Kelston

The first W.C.

THE WORLD'S FIRST WATER CLOSET was designed in 1589 by SIR JOHN HARINGTON (1561—1612), godson to Queen Elizabeth I, and installed in his house at Kelston, near Bath. It was similar in nearly all respects to the modern flush lavatory, with a reservoir of water standing in the bowl to prevent odours from the pipe and a cistern for holding the water that flushed the contents away and cleansed the bowl.

Harington wrote a book about his invention called The Metamorphosis of Ajax, a pun on the word ‘jakes', a slang word for lavatory, in which he expressed the hope that his ‘privie in perfection' would be widely adopted by the better sort. It could be locked to prevent unauthorised use and needed to be emptied twice a day, although ‘once was enough provided it was used by no more than twenty people'.

The book, which is full of smutty innuendoes and puns, proved decidedly popular and caused something of a scandal, resulting in Harington being banned from Court. Queen Elizabeth was, however, something Of an obsessive when it came to matters of hygiene and had even been known to ‘take a bath once a month, whether she need it or no'. Discreetly, she asked Sir John to install one of his ‘Johns' in her palace at Richmond and, to avoid embarrassment, they agreed to refer to the device as her ‘throne'. This, and the original at Kelston, were the only water closets built by Harington. It was not until 17 78, nearly 200 years later, that water closets were produced in any quantity, by London cabinet maker Joseph Bramah.

RISING OUT OF the marshes at Athelney is a little hill with a round church on top called the BURROW MUMP. It was near here, in 878, that KING ALFRED sought refuge from the Norsemen in a swineherd's hut. His forces were scattered, he was weary from constant battle, he had the weight Of a kingdom on his shoulders. For the swineherd's wife, however, there were more important matters

Ca'sn thee mind the ke-aks, man,

An' doossen zee 'em burn?

I 'm boun thee's eat 'em vast enough

Az zoon as tiz the turn.

Alfred's mind wandered, the cakes were burnt and he was roundly scolded for his carelessness, a good lesson in priorities. The experience revitalised him. He regrouped and defeated the Danes at EDINGTON, forcing their leader, Guthrurn, to come to his palace at WEDMORE and negotiate a withdrawal from Wessex to a line north and east of Watling Street — the Danelaw.

Cheesy

CHEDDAR CHEESE WAS discovered over 800 years ago, when a milkrnaid accidentally left a pail of milk inside a cave at CHEDDAR GORGE, after a secret tryst. When she went back to get the milk, it had turned into a delicious, crumbly new substance, thanks to the unique conditions in the cave. The constant temperature of 7°C was found to be ideal for the cheese to mature in and Cheddar cheese was born. Henry II declared it to be the best cheese in Britain.

Cheddar cheese-making skills were exported to the New World and it is now made in Canada, the USA, Australia and New Zealand, as well as Ireland. The caves of the Cheddar Gorge are no longer used for storage, as the cheese attracted vermin, but the conditions are replicated at local farms.

Cheddar Gorge is the BIGGEST GORGE IN BRITAIN and is 500 ft (1 5 2 In) deep at its deepest point.

At BURRINGTON COMBE, a deep gorge in the Mendip Hills, we can find the ROCK OF AGES. In about 1 7 75, AUGUSTUS TOPLADY, the curate of Blagdon, was passing through the gorge when a violent storm blew up and he was forced to take shelter in a cleft of rock. While he was there, with the thunder rolling and the wind howling, he passed the time by composing a hymn:

Rock of Ages, cleft for me,
Let me hide myself in thee.

The SWEET TRACK, on the Somerset Levels, near WESTHAY, west of Glastonbury, dates from 4000 BC and is the OLDEST KNOWN ROADWAY IN THE WORLD. Named after RAY SWEET, who discovered it in 1970, the track extended across the reedy swamps for just over 1 mile (1.5 km), from a ridge at Shapwick to the little island of Westhay. It consists of a walkway made from oak planks, supported by crossed poles of alder and hazel, driven into the ground at an angle and pegged at the sides. Most of the original track is now protected and preserved where it was found.

when the pastoral beauty of the Shire is menaced by the grime and ugliness of
a harsh, industrial evil.

In 1904, Tolkien's mother died, and he and his brother went to live with
their aunt near EDGBASTON, close to the city centre. Here he discovered the TWO
TOWERS: MINAS TIRITH and MINAS MORGUL. One was PERROT'S FOLLY, nearly 100 ft
(3 0.5 In) high and built in 1758 by John Perrot. The other was a Victorian
tower belonging to the Edgbaston waterworks.

Sarehole Mill has been restored (largely thanks to a donation from Tolkien)
and is now a museum. Moseley Bog still exists, as do the two towers, and they
can all be visited.

BIRMINGHAM was comprehensively bombed during the Second World War and much of the city centre is modern. One noble building that survives from the City's Victorian grandeur is the TOWN HALL, Opened in 1834 and designed by JOSEPH HANSOM (1803—82), inventor of the Hansom cab (see Leicestershire).

Salisbury

Salisbury, an attractive small city set in the middle of the expansive Salisbury Plain, is the natural launch pad for visiting nearby Stonehenge. But it's also a fine destination in its own right, with a walkable core, a famously soaring cathedral (with England's tallest spire and largest green), and a thriving twice-weekly market (Tue and Sat). While well-cared—for, practical Salisbury isn't particularly cute or quaint. But that's part of its charm.

As the city most associated with Stonehenge, it's no surprise that Salisbury also has a very long history: It was originally settled during the Bronze Age —possibly as early as 600 BC—and later became a Roman town called Sarum (located on a hill above today's city). When the Old settlement outgrew its boundaries, the townspeople relocated to the river valley below.

Today, Sightseers flow through Salisbury on their way to Stonehenge. But if you have time to spare, spend some of it exploring this fine town.

Salisbury Cathedral

This magnificent cathedral is visible for miles around because of its huge spire (the tallest in England at 404 feet). The surrounding enormous grassy field (called a "close") makes the Gothic masterpiece look even larger. What's more impressive is that all this was built in a mere 38 years. When the old hill town of Sarum was moved down to the valley, its cathedral had to be replaced in a hurry. So, in 1220, the townspeople began building, and in 1258 their sparkling-new cathedral was ready for ribbon-cutting. Since the structure was built in just a few decades, its style is uniform, rather than the centuries-long patchwork common in cathedrals of the time. The cathedral also displays a remarkably well-preserved original copy of the Magna Carta (in the Chapter House).


THE ANCIENT, UNCHANGING city Of Salisbury slumbers at the meeting place of five rivers, exuding history and utter Englishness. It is the model for ANTHONY TROLLOPE'S ‘BARCHESTER'.

The view of SALISBURY CATHEDRAL across the water meadows of the River Avon has been voted the LOVELIEST VIEW IN ENGLAND and was painted by Constable from the gardens of the Bishop's Palace.

The foundation stone of the Cathedral was laid in 1220, and the building was finished just 38 years later, with the result that Salisbury is one of the few English cathedrals to have been completed in a single architectural style, Early English. The spire, added in 1334, is 404 ft (123 m) high, the HIGHEST SPIRE IN ENGLAND. It stands on marshy ground, with foundations just 6 ft (1.8 m) deep, and leans 21/2 ft (75 cm) out Of true. Inside the Cathedral is the OLDEST WORKING CLOCK IN EUROPE, dating from 1386.

The Cathedral CLOSE is the LARGEST IN BRITAIN and iS flanked with beautiful houses, one of them occupied by the former Prime Minister, Edward Heath. The actor MICHAEL CRAWFORD was born in Salisbury in 1942.

Old Sarum

Today, little remains of the original town of Old Sarum, but a little imagination can transport you back to very Olde England. The city was originally founded on a slope overlooking the plain below. Uniquely, it combined both a castle and a cathedral within an Iron Age fortification. Old Sarum was eventually abandoned, leaving only a few stone foundations. The grand views of Salisbury from here have in-"spired" painters for ages and provided countless picnickers with a scenic backdrop (bring lunch or snacks).

Wilton House and Garden

This sprawling estate, with a grand mansion and tidy gardens, has been owned by the Earls of Pembroke since King Henry VIII's time. The Pembrokes are a Clas sy clan, and—unlike the many borderline—scruffy aristocratic homes in Britain—their home and garden are in exquisite repair and oozing with pride. Jane Austen fans particularly enjoy this stately home, where parts of 2005's Oscar-nominated Pride and Prejudice were filmed. But, alas, Mr. Darcy has checked out. Note the unusual weekend closure—the Pembrokes like to have the place to themselves on Fridays and Saturdays.

Stonehenge

As old as the pyramids, and far older than the Acropolis and the Colosseum, this iconic stone circle amazed medieval Europeans, who figured it was built by a race of giants. And it still impresses visitors today. As one of Europe's most famous sights, Stonehenge, does a valiant job of retaining an air of mystery and majesty (partly because cordons, which keep hordes of tourists from trampling all over it, foster the illusion that it stands alone in a field). Although cynics manage to be underwhelmed by Stonehenge, most of its almost one million annual visitors agree that it's well worth the trip. At few sights in Europe will you overhear so many awe-filled comments.

Permanent Exhibit

This excellent, state—of—the-art exhibit uses an artful combination of multimedia displays and actual artifacts to provide context for the Stones. You'll begin by standing in the center of a Virtual Stonehenge, watching its evolution through 5,000 years—including Simulated solstice sunrises and sunsets.

Then you'll head into the exhibits, where prehistoric bones, tools, and pottery shards tell the story of the people who built Stonehenge, how they lived, and why they might have built the stone circle. Find the forensic reconstruction of a Neolithic man, based on a skeleton unearthed in 1863. Small models illustrate how Stonehenge developed from a simple circle of short, stubby stones to the stout ring we know today. And a large screen shows the entire archaeological area surrounding Stonehenge (which is just one of many mysterious prehistoric landmarks near here). In 2010, within sight of Stonehenge, archaeologists discovered another 5,000-year- old henge, which they believe once encircled a wooden "twin" of the famous circle. Recent excavations revealed that people had been living on the site since around 3,000 BC—about five centuries earlier than anyone had realized.

Then step outside and explore a village of reconstructed Neolithic huts modeled after the traces of a village discovered just northeast of Stonehenge. Step into the thatched-roof huts to see primitive "wicker" furniture and straw blankets. Docents demonstrate Neolithic tools—made of wood, flint, and antler. You'll also see a huge, life-size replica of the rolling wooden sledge thought to have been used to slooooowly roll the stones across Salisbury Plain. While you can't touch the stones at the site itself, you can touch the one loaded onto this sledge.

Avebury

Avebury is an open-air museum of prehistory, with a complex of fascinating Neolithic sites all gathered around the great stone henge (circle). Among England's many stone circles, Avebury is unique for its vast size—a village is tucked into its center, and roads rumble between its stones. Because the surrounding area has only a thin skin of topsoil over Chalk, it is naturally treeless (similar to the area around Stonehenge). Perhaps this  unique landscape—where the land connects with the big sky—made it the choice of prehistoric societies for their religious monuments. Whatever the case, Avebury dates to 2800 BC—six centuries older than Stonehenge. This complex, the St. Peter's Basilica of Neolithic civilization, makes for a fascinating visit. Some visitors enjoy it even more than Stonehenge.

Avebury Stone Circle

The Neolithic stone circle at Avebury is 1,400 feet wide—that's 16 times as big as Stonehenge. It's so vast that it dwarfs the village that grew up in its midst. You're free to wander among 1 00 stones, ditches, mounds, and curious patterns from the past.

In the 14th century, in a frenzy of ignorance and religious paranoia, Avebury villagers buried many Of these mysterious pagan stones. Their 18th-century descendants hosted social events in which they broke up the remaining stones (topple, heat up, douse with cold water, and scavenge broken stones as building blocks). In modern times, the buried stones were dug up and re-erected. Concrete markers Show where the missing broken-up stones once stood.

Explore. Touch a chunk of prehistory. While even just a short walk to a few stones is rewarding, you can stroll the entire half-mile around the circle, much of it along an impressive earthwork henge—a 30-foot-high outer bank surrounding a ditch 30 feet deep, making a 60-foot—high rampart. This earthen rampart once had stones standing around the perimeter, placed about every 30 feet, and four grand causeway entries. Originally, two smaller circles made Of about 200 stones stood within the henge.


Stone Circles: The Riddle of the Rocks

Britain is home to roughly 800 stone circles, most of them rudimentary, jaggedly sparse boulder rings that lack the iconic upright-and—lintel form of Stonehenge. But their misty, mossy settings provide curious travelers with an intimate and accessible glimpse Of the mysterious people who lived in prehistoric Britain. Bronze Age Britain (2000-600 BC) was populated by farming folk who had mastered the craft of smelting heated tin and copper together to produce bronze, which was used to make durable tools and weapons. Late in the Bronze Age, many of these clannish communities also put considerable effort into gathering huge rocks and arranging them into circles, perhaps for use in rituals with long-forgotten meanings. Some scholars believe the circles may have been used as solar Observatories —used to calculate solstices and equinoxes to help plan life—sustaining seasonal crop-planting cycles. A few human remains have been discovered in the centers of some circles, but their primary use seems to have been ceremonial, not as burial sites. The superstitious people of the Middle Ages believed Stonehenge was arranged by giants (makes sense to me); nearby circles were thought to be petrified partiers who had dared to dance on the Sabbath. 

Britain's stone circles generally lie in Scotland, Wales, and at the fringes of England. You'll find them marked in the Ordnance Survey atlas and signposted along rural roads. Ask a local farmer for directions —and savor the experience. I've highlighted my favorites in this book: Stonehenge is by far the most famous, the only one with horizontal "lintels" connecting the monoliths, and comes with the most insightful visitors center.
Avebury is by far the biggest—so large that a small village was built inside it. Less crowded and simpler to visit than Stonehenge, it's easy and fun to explore on your own. 

Castlerigg is a pretty standard—issue stone circle, but it's handy for those going to the Lake District.

Scorhill, in Dartmoor, is the most remote, mysterious, and magical stone circle, requiring a long drive on rough roads, then a stroll across a moor. It's hard to reach but worth the effort.

Silbury Hill

This pyramid-shaped hill just outside of Avebury is a 130-foot-high, yet-to-be-explained mound of chalk. More than 4,000 years Old, the mound is considered the largest man--made Object in prehistoric Europe (with the surface area Of London's Trafalgar Square and the height of the Nelson Column). It's a reminder that we've only just scratched the surface of England's puzzling and ancient religious landscape.

Inspired by a legend that the hill hid a gold statue in its center, locals tunneled through Silbury Hill in 1830, undermining the structure. Work is underway to restore the hill, which remains closed to the public. Archaeologists (who date things like this by carbon-dating snails and other little critters killed in its construction) figure Silbury Hill took only 60 years to build, in about 2,200 BC. This makes Silbury Hill the last element built at Avebury and contemporaneous with Stonehenge. Some think it may have been an Observation point for all the other bits of the Avebury site. You can still see evidence of a spiral path leading up the hill and a moat at its base.

The Roman road detoured around Silbury Hill. (Roman engineers often used features of the landscape as visual reference points when building roads. Their roads would commonly kink at the crest of hills or other landmarks, where they realigned with a new visual point.) Later, the hill sported a wooden Saxon fort, which likely acted as a lookout for marauding Vikings. And in World War II, the Royal Observer Corps stationed men up here to count and report Nazi bombers on raids.

Cherhill White Horse

Throughout southern England, you'll see horses (and other Objects) like this one carved into the downs (chalk hills). There is one genuinely prehistoric white horse in England (the Uflington White Horse); the Cherhill White Horse is an 1 8th-century creation. Prehistoric discoveries were all the rage in the 1 7 003, and it was a fad to make fake ones by cutting into the thin layer of topsoil to expose the chalk beneath. Nowadays, figures like this are cemented and painted white so that the design doesn't need to be weeded. Above the horse are the remains of an Iron Age hill fort known as Oldbury Castle—described on an information board at the pullout.

Sevenhampton

Fleming, Ian Fleming

SEVENHAMPTON IS A picture-postcard village, too small to notice, that seems lost in slumber. Nothing, it seems, could ever happen here, even though it is only 5 miles (8 km) from the beating heart of Swindon, Wiltshire's largest town. The Church lies in a field on the edge of the village, in the company of a few trees. Walk in through the gate and turn left down a barely visible path and you will see a gaunt obelisk Standing amongst the gravestones. On it is an oval plaque that reads: ‘In memoriam Ian Fleming B. 28 May 1908 D. 12 Aug 1964.' Here, in this modest grave, lies the greatest spymaster of them all, creator of the ultimate secret agent, James Bond, 007.

IAN FLEMING came from a banking family and was educated at Eton. During the Second World War, he worked for the Intelligence Service, reaching the rank of Commander, the same rank as Bond. After the War, he built himself a house on the island Of Jamaica called Goldeneye. In 1952, he married Ann, former wife of Lord Rothermere, who was expecting his child, born later that year. He also wrote his first Bond story, Casino Royale. He was to write 12 Bond novels in all. The name James Bond came from a real ornithologist whose book, Birds of the West Indies, Fleming had seen at the island's airport shop. He also wrote the children's story, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (fl Brooklands, M).

In 1960, suffering failing health, due to a bad heart, he returned to England and bought the demolished Warneford Place in Sevenhampton, which he rebuilt as SEVENHAMPTON PLACE in 1963. Ian Fleming died in 1964. Buried with him are his wife, Ann, and only son, Caspar. 

Two Of the Bond films include scenes shot in Swindon. In 1984, for A View to a Kill, the inside of the Renault building was used for scenes featuring Roger Moore as James Bond and Patrick McNee as Sir Godfrey Tibbett. Then, in March 2000, Swindon's futuristic Motorola factory at Groundwell doubled as an Oil pumping station in The World Is Not Enough, starring Pierce Brosnan as Bond.

The ORIEL WINDOW at LACOCK ABBEY is the subject of the WORLD'S OLDEST PHOTOGRAPH, taken by WILLIAM FOX TALBOT in 1835 . Fox Talbot's work laid the foundations of modern photography, although he could never have foreseen that the Cloisters of his old home would one day serve as the classrooms of HOGWART'S in the Harry Potter films. Lacock Abbey, and the unspoiled old-world village of Lacock, are owned by the National Trust and are much in demand as film locations.

Plymouth

Bowls, Gin and Pilgrims

IN 1439, PLYMOUTH, often voted as the city with the best quality of life, was the FIRST CITY IN ENGLAND TO BE INCORPORATED BY PARLIAMENT rather than by the monarch.

All roads in Plymouth lead to the HOE, a windswept cliff-top expanse with spectacular views across Plymouth Sound. SIR FRANCIS DRAKE was playing a game of bowls up here in August 1 5 8 8 when he was informed of the approach of the Spanish Armada. Testing the wind, he is said to have remarked, ‘There is plenty of time to win this game and to thrash the Spanish too.' He did both.  A steep walk down the hill arrives at the BARBICAN, Plymouth's historic heart, which has the LARGEST AREA OF COBBLED STREETS IN BRITAIN. Along one of these streets, a short walk from the harbour, is the BLACK FRIARS DISTILLERY, home of PLYMOUTH GIN since 1793, and the OLDEST WORKING GIN DISTILLERY IN ENGLAND. Plymouth Gin is Specified in the first-ever recipe for a dry Martini cocktail.

In 1620, the PILGRIM FATHERS stayed here for their last night in England, just two minutes' walk from the MAYFLOWER STEPS. From these steps, they left their homeland forever to sail across the ocean and to found an empire. They named their first landfall in America, Plymouth Rock.

Close by, in Southside Street, is JACKA'S BAKERY, the OLDEST WORKING  COMMERCIAL BAKERY IN BRITAIN, where they have been baking bread since the time of the Armada. They baked the ship's biscuits for the Pilgrim Fathers to take with them on the Mayflower.

WILLIAM BLIGH (1754—1817), Captain of the Bounty, was born in Plymouth. He sailed to the South Seas with James Cook and was, for a time, Governor of New South Wales, but is best known for the part he played in provoking the infamous mutiny on the Bounty in 1789.

MICHAEL FOOT, leader Of the Labour Party from 1980 to 1 983, was born in Plymouth in 1913. As was, ten years later, the actor, DONALD SINDEN. Other famous sons include RON GOODWIN (1925—2003), the musician, best known for his score for the film Battle of Britain, DAVID OWEN, Labour Foreign Secretary and founder of the SDP, who was born in 1938, and the ballet dancer WAYNE SLEEP, who was born in 1948.

Worcester

Royal Sauce

WORCESTER CATHEDRAL, WHERE King John and Henry VII'S eldest son, Prince Arthur, are buried, forms a glorious backdrop to Worcestershire Cricket Ground across the River Severn, a setting often voted the MOST PERFECT IN ENGLISH CRICKET.

Perhaps the best-known product to come from Worcester is LEA & PERRINS WORCESTERSHIRE SAUCE, made from a recipe brought back from India in 1835 by a former GOVERNOR OF BENGAL, the third LORD SANDYS. He gave two Worcester chemists, John Lea and William Perrins, the recipe to a spicy concoction he had grown rather partial to during the time of the Raj, and asked them to brew him up a large batch. This they did, but the results were hugely disappointing: the mixture was nothing like the original and ‘tasted filthy'.

Lea and Perrins stashed the unwanted brew in the cellar and forgot about it. Some months later, when they came to Clear out the cellar, they decided to give the mixture a tentative sip before they threw it out and, to their joy and astonishment, it had matured into the spicy condiment known and loved across the world today. They purchased the recipe from Lord Sandys and never looked back.

The sauce is made today by the French-owned company Danone, at a heavily-guarded factory in the Midland Road, right next to Worcester Shrub Lane Railway Station. The gates are barred and the public kept well away for fear of industrial espionage. Even in these days of compulsory labelling, the recipe remains top secret.

BERROW'S WORCESTER JOURNAL, established in 1690, is ENGLAND'S OLDEST NEWSPAPER.

Canterbury has long been one of England's most important religious destinations. For centuries, it welcomed crowds of pilgrims to its grand cathedral. While these days you'll see tourists rather than pilgrims, the town is rich in history and architectural splendor.

Pleasant, walkable Canterbury, like many cities in southern England, was founded by pagan Romans. Then along came St. Augustine, sent by the pope in AD 597 to convert England's King Bthelbert of Kent to Christianity. Bthelbert (who had a Christian wife) joined the Church and gave St. Augustine land to set up a monastery on the edge of town. As Christianity became more established in England, Canterbury became its center and the Archbishop of Canterbury emerged as one of the country's most powerful men.

The famous pilgrimages to Canterbury increased in the 1 2th century, after the assassination of Archbishop Thomas Becket by followers of King Henry II. Becket was canonized as a martyr, rumors of miracles at the cathedral spread, and flocks of pilgrims showed up at its doorstep. Along the way, they'd stop off at inns and entertain each other with tales—sometimes bawdy and just for fun, sometimes devout and meaningful.

Today, the medieval city—heavily bombed during World War II—has been largely restored. The cathedral and surrounding streets are fairly well preserved. With its huge student population and thriving pedestrian-friendly zone in the center, Canterbury is a livable and fun-to-visit town.

While the streets immediately surrounding the cathedral are quite touristy, beyond that core you'll discover a real, thriving town—with areas both gritty and genteel. It's a joy to simply wander the back streets, exploring fine gardens, sleepy canals, and student pubs. See the cathedral...then get lost in Canterbury.

With about 40,000 inhabitants (plus another 30,000 when its four universities are in session), Canterbury is big enough to be lively but small enough to be manageable.

Historic Canterbury lies within the remains of a medieval wall, which itself was built on top of an ancient Roman wall (you'll see fragments here and there, and the lone surviving gate is at the end of my Canterbury Walk). The old center, dominated by the towering cathedral, is cut down the middle by bustling High Street (which changes names to St. Peter's Street at one end and St. George's Street at the other). During the day, the action is on High Street and in the knot of medieval lanes surrounding the cathedral. At night, the city is quiet all around.



Canterbury Cathedral

One of the most important churches in England, this cathedral, is the headquarters of the Anglican Church (that makes it akin to the English Vatican). There's been a church here ever since St. Augustine, the cathedral's first archbishop, broke ground in 597. In the 12th century, the cathedral's archbishop, Thomas Becket, was murdered in front of the altar. Just over two years later he was sainted, and Canterbury became a prime destination for religious pilgrims. When Henry VIII broke with the Roman Catholic Church 400 years later, this cathedral became the Anglican version of St. Peter's Basilica. A visit here leaves you impressed by the resilience of this spot—so holy to so many for so long.



Thomas Becket and Canterbury Cathedral

In the 12th century, Canterbury Cathedral had already been a Christian church for more than 500 years. The king at the time, Henry II, was looking for a new archbishop, someone who would act as a yes-man and allow him to gain control of the Church (and its followers). He found a candidate in his drinking buddy and royal chancellor: Thomas Becket (also called Thomas a Becket). In 1 162, the king had his friend made a priest one day and consecrated as archbishop the next. But Becket respected his holy office—surprising the king, and maybe even himself. Inspired by his new position and wanting to be a true religious leader to his vast flock, he cleaned up his act, became dedicated to the religious tenets of the Church (dressing as a monk), and refused to bow to the king's wishes.

In December 1170, as tensions grew, Henry wondered aloud, "Will no one rid me of this turbulent priest?" Four knights took his words seriously, and assassinated Becket, cutting ofi the top of his head with their swords during vespers in the cathedral. The act shocked the medieval world. A furious yet regretful King Henry later submitted to walking barefoot through town and to being flogged by priests as an act of pious penitence.

Soon after Becket's death, word spread that miracles were occurring in the cathedral—prompting the pope to canonize Becket just over two years after his assassination. Soon the pilgrims came, hoping some of St. Thomas Becket's steadfast goodness would rub off (perhaps they also wanted to see the world—just like travelers today). 



The Canterbury Tales

The Canterbury Tales is one of the earliest and most influential works of English literature. In the late 14th century, author and diplomat Geoffrey Chaucer (c. 1343-1400) was so inspired by the cross-section of humanity undertaking the pilgrimage to Canterbury that he penned a collection of 24 engaging, sometimes bawdy tales told by fictional travelers.

The Canterbury Tales is arguably the oldest surviving travelogue, and the greatest work written in the Middle English vernacular—a bold move at a time when Latin and French were the literary languages of choice. (Chaucer's difl‘lcult—to-decipher Middle English is typically read today in a modern English translation.) But Chaucer lived on the cusp of a new age, which he helped bring to fruition: He was writing approximately 50 years after the Black Death had wiped out half of England's population, disproportionately killing French speakers (who tended to live in cities, where the plague spread quickly). He was also writing during the series of English—French conflicts that would come to be known as the Hundred Years' War—turning public opinion further against the French. His embrace of everyday English as a language worthy of literature was revolutionary (and later influenced Shakespeare, among other great English writers).

Chaucer demonstrates an impressive range of themes and genres within these tales, ranging from tragedy to romance to humor. Intensely relatable even hundreds of years later, The Canterbury Tales is a microcosm of human experience, featuring yarns spun by people from diverse walks of life: knight, miller, cook, lawyer, wife, merchant, squire, physician, monk, and nun. Despite their obvious differences, all of these travelers were drawn together by a shared faith and the desire to experience the power of the shrine of Thomas Becket...and by a mutual appreciation for a good story.

St. Augustine's Abbey

The ruins of the original abbey—founded by the man himself, St. Augustine —sit right on the edge of town. At its peak, the abbey was a hive of activity, with a large church, cloister, and a cluster of service buildings for the monks. In the 1 6th century, King Henry VIII grew jealous of the wealth and influence held by England's monks, so he closed the monasteries, retired the monks, and sold off the land and buildings to fill his own coffers. The abbey's buildings were converted to houses, while the large church was slowly dismantled and used as a building-material quarry for projects in the area.

Buttermarket

Originally the dairy market, Buttermarket functioned as the center of medieval Canterbury. The buildings lining this charming square were built to house and feed pilgrims, whose business supported this town. When Archbishop Thomas Becket was brutally murdered inside his own cathedral in 1 1 70 (see the sidebar later in this chapter), this already-holy place gained even more importance. Visitors began to report miraculous healings and other wondrous occurrences. Before long, pilgrims were coming from all over Europe to pay their respects and pray for miracles. Geoffrey Chaucer immortalized these pilgrims—and the tales they told while on the road—in The Canterbury Tales (see the sidebar later in this chapter).

The square's centerpiece is a WWI memorial, ravaged by a century of weather. Like many such monuments around Britain, it was later amended to also honor the local dead of World War II. On the monument, notice the shield with three black birds (called choughs, related to the crow—taken from the personal coat of arms of Thomas Becket). This is the symbol of Canterbury—watch for it all over town.

Christ Church Gate

This fancy gate is packed with coats of arms that recognize leading families for their contributions. Its construction began in 1504 to commemorate the marriage of Prince Arthur of Wales (the heir to the English throne) to Catherine of Aragon. A year after their marriage, Arthur died without ever taking the throne, and Catherine went on to marry Arthur's brother, Henry--the first of Henry VIII's six wives. It was Henry's desire to divorce Catherine--and to marry her lady-in-waiting, Anne Boleyn--that caused the ecclesiastical split between England and Rome, which in turn boosted Canterbury Cathedral's status as simply the most important Catholic church in England to head of England's own Anglican Church.

Examine the gate's details. Above the high point of the arch are the royal Tudor coat of arms and the Tudor rose (the family seal of Arthur and Henry). To the right of the rose is the coat of arms of Catherine of Aragon (part of today's Spain--notice the red and yellow stripes). A modern bronze statue of Jesus welcomes all who enter. The Puritans pulled down the original statue in the 1 7th century, and the niche remained empty until this replacement was installed in 1990. Higher up is a strip of shields with symbols representing various biblical tales.

Windsor

Windsor, a compact and easy walking town of about 30,000 people, originally grew up around the royal residence. In 1070, William the Conqueror continued his habit of kicking Saxons out of their various settlements, taking over what the locals called "Windlesora" (meaning "riverbank with a hoisting winch")—which eventually became "Windsor." William built the first fortified castle on a chalk hill above the Thames; later kings added on to his early designs, rebuilding and expanding the castle and surrounding gardens.

By setting up their primary residence here, modern monarchs increased Windsor's popularity and prosperity—most notably, Queen Victoria, whose stern statue glares at you as you approach the castle. After her death, Victoria rejoined her beloved husband, Albert, in the Royal Mausoleum at Frogmore House, a mile south of the castle in a private section of the Home Park (house and mausoleum rarely open). Within the grounds of Frogmore House is Frogmore Cottage—the former home of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle). The late Queen Elizabeth II considered Winds or her primary residence and generally hung her crown here on weekends. As of this writing, it's believed that the newly ascended King Charles III will also spend time here. You can tell if the monarch is in residence by which flag is flying above the round tower: If it's the royal standard (a red, yellow, and blue flag) instead of the Union Jack, the King is in.

While 99 percent of visitors just come to tour the castle and go, some enjoy spending the night. Daytime crowds trample Windsor's charm, which is most evident when the tourists are gone. Consider overnighting here—parking and access to Heathrow Airport are easy, and an evening at the horse races (on Mondays) is hoof-pounding, heart-thuniping fun.

Windsor Castle

Windsor Castle, the ofiicial home of England's royal family for 900 years, claims to be the largest and oldest occupied castle in the world. Thankfully, touring it is simple. You'll see sprawling grounds, lavish staterooms, a crowd-pleasing dollhouse, and an exquisite Perpendicular Gothic chapel. Allow at least two hours for a complete visit.

The Order of the Garter

In addition to being the royal residence, Windsor is the home of the Most Noble Order of the Garter—Britain's most prestigious chivalrous order. The castle's history is inexorably tied to this order.

Founded in 1348 by King Edward 111 and his son (the "Black Prince"), the Order of the Garter was designed to honor returning Crusaders. This was atime when the legends of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table were sweeping England, and Edward III fantasized that Windsor could be a real—life Camelot. (He even built the Round Tower as an homage to the Round Table.)

The order's seal illustrates the story of the order's founding and unusual name: a cross of St. George encircled with a belt and a French motto loosely translated as "Shame be upon he who thinks evil of it." Supposedly while the king was dancing with a fair maiden, her garter slipped off onto the floor; in an act of great chivalry, he rescued her from embarrassment by picking it up and uttering those words.

The Order of the Garter continues to the present day as the single most prestigious honor in the United Kingdom. There can be only 24 knights at one time (perfect numbers for splitting into two 12-man jousting teams), plus the sitting monarch and the Prince of Wales. Aside from royals and the nobility, past Knights of the Garter have included Winston Churchill, Bernard "Monty" Montgomery, and Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie. In 2008, Prince William became only the 1,000th knight in the order's history. Other current members include various eX-military ofiicers, former British Prime Minister John Major, and a member of the Colman's Mustard family.
The patron of the order is St. George—the namesake of the State Apartments' most sumptuous hall and of the castle's own chapel. Both of these spaces—the grandest in Windsor—are designed to celebrate and honor the Order of the Garter.



Queen Elizabeth II (1926-2022): A New "Elizabethan Era"

Britain's longest-serving monarch was known for her winning smile, corgis, and sly sense of humor, but was best defined by one trait: an unwavering devotion to duty.

Born a relatively minor princess (the great-great—granddaughter of Queen Victoria), young "Lilibet" was thrust into the spotlight at age 10 when her uncle abdicated the crown, putting her next in line. By 25 she was queen, inheriting a nation decimated by World War II and the loss of its colonial empire.

Elizabeth immediately began shoring up the Commonwealth—flying to far—off continents to shake hands with Maori Chieftains and have tea with locals. At home, she dutifully assumed the politically powerless but symbolic role of constitutional monarch: cutting ribbons, laying wreaths, and giving upbeat holiday greetings on TV. She also produced heirs to the throne, while guiding her often wayward family through marriages, divorces, and sex scandals.

Over her 70-year reign, Elizabeth rubbed shoulders with everyone from Churchill to Truss, Truman to Biden, and Sinatra to Gaga—from  typewriters to TikTok. She was a steady keel as Britain reinvented itself from global superpower to small-but-vital nation. In the new millennium, Elizabeth playfully welcomed the world to London's Olympic Games alongside James Bond (Daniel Craig). Now a pop icon, her life story was often portrayed in books, movies, and on TV. Through the Great Recession, a tumultuous Brexit, and her battle with Covid—at age 95—she kept calm and carried on. Just months after her 70-year Jubilee, Elizabeth unexpectedly
passed. Her pomp—pumped funeral put many of Britain's great sights in the global spotlight. Her official funeral was in the 1,000-year-old Westminster Abbey—the same place she'd been crowned and married. Finally, at Windsor Castle, she was buried alongside her beloved husband, Prince Philip.

The only monarch most Brits had ever known was gone. But she'd guided the nation from the ashes of an old century to the promise of a new one. As Elizabeth's son Charles was crowned, a new era began: "God Save the King!"

Glastonbury

Marked by its hill, or "tor," and located on England's most powerful line of prehistoric sites, the town of Glastonbury gurgles with history and mystery. In AD 37, Joseph of Arimathea—Jesus' wealthy uncle—reputedly brought vessels containing the blood of Jesus to Glastonbury, and with him, Christianity came to England. (Joseph's visit is plausible—long before Christ, locals traded lead and tin to merchants from the Levant.)

While this story is "proven" by fourth-century writings and accepted by the Church, the King-Arthur-and-the-Holy-Grail legends it inspired are not. Those medieval tales came when England needed a morale-boosting folk hero for inspiration during a war with France. They pointed to the ancient Celtic sanctuary at Glastonbury as proof enough of the greatness of the fifth-century warlord Arthur. In 1191, after a huge fire, Arthur's supposed remains (along with those of Queen Guinevere) were dug up from the abbey garden. Reburied in the abbey choir, Arthur and Guinevere's gravesite is a shrine today. Many think the Grail trail ends at the bottom of the Chalice Well, a natural spring at the base of the Glastonbury Tor.

By the 10th century, Glastonbury Abbey was England's most powerful and wealthy, part of a nationwide network of monasteries that by 1500 owned one-quarter of all English land and had four times the income of the Crown. Then Henry VIII began dissolving the abbeys in 1536. He was particularly harsh on Glastonbury—he not only destroyed the abbey but also hung and quartered the abbot, sending the parts of his body on four different national tours...at the same time. This was meant as a warning to other religious clerics, and it worked.

But Glastonbury rebounded. In an 18th-century publicity campaign, thousands signed afidavits stating that they'd been healed by water from the Chalice Well, and once again Glastonbury was on the tourist map. Today, Glastonbury and its tor are a center for "searchers"—too weird for the mainstream Church but just right for those looking for a place to recharge their crystals. Glastonbury is also synonymous with its summer music-and-arts festival, a long-hair—and-mud Woodstock re—creation that's a rite of passage for young music lovers in Britain.

Part of the fun of a visit to Glastonbury is just being in a town where every other shop and eatery is a New Age place. Locals who are not into this complain that on High Street, you can buy any kind of magic crystal or incense—but not a roll of TP. But, as this counterculture is their town's bread and butter, they do their best to sit in their pubs and go "Ommmmm."

Glastonbury Town

The tiny town itself is worth a pleasant stroll. The abbey came first, and Glastonbury grew up to serve it. For example, the George and Pilgrims Inn  was originally a freestanding structure built in the 15th century to house spiritual sojourners. And St. John's Church, which dates from the same century, was constructed to give townsfolk a place to worship, as they weren't allowed in the abbey. The Market Cross at the base of High Street dates from around 1800.
Though Glastonbury is much older, its vibe dates to 1970, when the town hosted its first rock festival. Like Woodstock, it was held on a farm. Unlike Woodstock, the Glastonbury Festival had legs—it's been held on the same farm almost every year since. You'll still see many hippie and New Age shops in town.

Glastonbury Abbey

The massive and evocative ruins of the first Christian sanctuary in the British Isles stand mysteriously alive in a lush 3 6-acre park. Because it comes with a small museum, a dramatic history, and enthusiastic guides dressed in period costumes, this is one of the most engaging to visit of England's many ruined abbeys.

Background: The space that these ruins occupy has been sacred ground for centuries. The druids used it as a pagan holy site, and during Joseph of Arimathea's supposed visit here, he built a simple place of worship. Because of that legendary connection, 12th-century Glastonbury was the leading Christian pilgrimage site in all of Britain. The popular abbey grew powerful and very wealthy, employing a thousand people to serve the needs of the pilgrims.

In 1184, there was a devastating fire in the monastery, and in 1191, the abbot here "discovered"—with the help of a divine dream—the tomb and bodies of King Arthur and Queen Guinevere. Of course, this discovery boosted the pilgrim trade in Glastonbury and the new revenues helped to rebuild the abbey.

Then, in 1539, King Henry VIII ordered the abbey's destruction. When Glastonbury Abbot Richard Whiting questioned the king's decision, he was branded a traitor, hung at the top of Glastonbury Tor (after carrying up the plank that would support his noose), and his body cut into four pieces. His head was stuck over the gateway to the former abbey precinct. After this harsh example, the other abbots accepted the king's dissolution of England's abbeys, with many returning to monastic centers in France. Glastonbury Abbey was destroyed. With the roof removed, it fell into ruin and was used as a quarry.
Today, the abbey attracts both the curious and pious. Tie-dyed, starry-eyed pilgrims seem to float through the grounds, naturally high. Others lie on the grave of King Arthur, whose burial site is marked off in the center of the abbey ru1ns.

Chalice Well Gardens

According to tradition, in AD 37 Joseph of Arirnathea brought the chalice said to have been used by Jesus at the Last Supper to Glastonbury. Also known as the Holy Grail, supposedly the chalice ended up at the bottom of a well, which is now the centerpiece of this peaceful and inviting garden. Even if the fabled chalice is not at the bottom of the well (another legend says it made the trip to Wales), and the water is red from iron ore and not Jesus' blood, the tranquil setting attracts pilgrims. If you're a fan of gardens—or want to say you've completed your grail quest—this place is worth a visit. To find the well itself, follow the well—marked path uphill alongside the gurgling stream, passing several places where you can drink from or wade in the healing water, as well as areas designated for silent reflection. The stones of the well shaft date from the 12th century and are believed to have come from the church in Glastonbury Abbey (which was destroyed by fire). In the 18th century, pilgrims flocked to Glastonbury for the well's healing powers. Have a drink or take some of the precious water for the road—they sell empty bottles to fill.



Red and White Spring Waters

If you'd just like to sample the fabled water, two waterspouts are just around the corner from the Chalice Well Gardens entrance (just beyond the trailhead to the tor, where the bus drops off). The spout on the Chalice Well side comes from the Red Spring; the other spout's source is the White Spring. Try both and see which you prefer.



Glastonbury Tor

Seen by many as a Mother Goddess symbol, the Glastonbury Tor—a natural plug of sandstone on clay—has an undeniable geological charisma. Climbing the tor is the essential activity on a visit to Glastonbury. A fine Somerset view rewards those who hike to its 520-foot summit.

Climbing the Tor: From the base of the tor, a trail leads to the top (about 1 5-20 minutes, if you keep a brisk pace). While you can hike up the tor from either end, the less-steep approach (which most people take) starts next to the Chalice Well. 

Hiking up to the top of the tor, survey the surrounding land—a former swamp, inhabited for 1 2,000 years, which is still below sea level at high tide. Up until the 1 1th century you could actually sail to the tower. The ribbon-like man-made drainage canals that glisten as they slice through the farmland are the work of engineers—Huguenot refugees who turned the marshy wasteland into something arable.
Looking out, find Glastonbury (at the base of the hill) and Wells (marked by its cathedral) to the right. Above Wells, a TV tower marks the 996-foot high point of the Mendip Hills. It was lead from these hills that attracted the ancient Romans (and, perhaps, Jesus' uncle Joe) so long ago. Stretching to the left, the Mendip Hills define what was the coastline before those Huguenot engineers arrived.

The tor-top tower is the remnant of a chapel dedicated to St. Michael. Early Christians often employed St. Michael, the warrior angel, to combat pagan gods. When a church was built upon a pagan holy ground like this, it was frequently dedicated to Michael. But apparently those pagan gods fought back: St. Michael's Church was destroyed by an earthquake in 1275.

Wells

Because this well-preserved little town has a cathedral, it can be called a city. It's England's smallest cathedral city (pop. just under 12,000), with one of its most interesting cathedrals and a wonderful evensong service (generally not offered July-Aug). Of all the towns you'll visit, Wells has the most buildings still operating as originally intended, and you'll spot a number of wells, water, and springs that helped give the town its name. Markets fill the town square on Wednesday (farmers market) and Saturday (general goods).

WELLS CATHEDRAL

The city's highlight is England's first completely Gothic cathedral, dating from about 1200 and rated AA. Locals claim this church has the largest collection of medieval statuary north of the Alps. It certainly has one of the widest and most elaborate facades I've seen, and unique figure-eight "scissor arches" that are unforgettable.



Vicars' Close

Lined with perfectly pickled 14th-century houses, this is the oldest continuously occupied complete street in Europe (since 1348; just a block north of the cathedral—go under the big arch and look left). It was built to house the vicar's choir, and it still houses church officials and choristers. These dwellings were bachelor pads until the Reformation allowed clerics to marry; they were then redesigned to accommodate families. Notice how the close gets narrower at the top, creating the illusion that it is a longer lane than it is. Note also the elevated passageway connecting these choristers' quarters with the church.


Bishop's Palace

Next to the cathedral stands the moated Bishop's Palace, built in the 13th century and still in use today as the residence of the bishop of Bath and Wells. While the interior of the palace itself is dull, the grounds and gardens surrounding it are the most tranquil and scenic spot in Wells, with wonderful views of the cathedral. It's just the place for a relaxing walk in the park. Watch the swans ring the bell—hanging over the water just left of the entry gate—when they have an attack of the munchies.

Nunney Castle

The centerpiece of the charming and quintessentially English village of Nunney (between Bath and Glastonbury, off the A—361) is a striking 14th-century castle surrounded by a fairy-tale moat. Its rare, French-style design brings to mind the Paris Bastille. The year 1644 was a tumultuous one for Nunney. Its noble family was royalist (and likely closet Catholics). They defied Parliament, so Parliament ordered their castle "slighted" (deliberately destroyed) to ensure that it would threaten the order of the land no more. Looking at this castle, so daunting in the age of bows and arrows, you can see how it was no match for the modern cannon. The pretty Mendip village of Nunney, with its little brook, is also worth a wander.

Chipping Campden

Just touristy enough to be convenient, the north Cotswold town of Chipping Campden (CAM-den) is a sight. This market town, once the home of the richest Cotswold wool merchants, has some incredibly beautiful thatched roofs. Both the great British historian G. M. Trevelyan and I call Chipping Campden's High Street the finest in England. Market Hall: Begin at Campden's most famous monument—the Market Hall. It stands in front of the TI, marking the town center. The Market Hall was built in 1627 by the 17th-century Lord of the Manor, Sir Baptist Hicks.

(Look for the Hicks family coat of arms on the east end of the building's facade.) Back then, it was an elegant shopping hall for the townsfolk who'd come here to buy their produce. In the 19405, it was almost sold to an American, but the townspeople heroically raised money to buy it first, then gave it to the National Trust for its preservation. The timbers inside are true to the original. Study the classic Cotswold stone roof, still held together with wooden pegs nailed in from underneath. (Tiles were cut and sold with peg holes, and stacked like waterproof scales.) Buildings all over the region still use these stone shingles. Today, the hall, facade.) Back then, it was an elegant shopping hall for the townsfolk who'd come here to buy their produce. In the 1940s, it was almost sold to an American, but the townspeople heroically raised money to buy it first, then gave it to the National Trust for its preservation. 

The timbers inside are true to the original. Study the classic Cotswold stone roof, still held together with wooden pegs nailed in from underneath. (Tiles were cut and sold with peg holes, and stacked like waterproof scales.) Buildings all over the region still use these stone shingles. Today, the hall, marking the southern end).

The TI is across the street, in the old police courthouse. If it's open, you're welcome to climb the stairs and peek into the Magistrate's Court (free, same hours as T1, ask at TI to go up). Under the open-beamed courtroom is a humble little exhibit on the town's history.

"Green Dragons": The house's decorative, black cast-iron fixtures (originally in the stables) once held hay and functioned much like salad bowls for horses. Pine-cut stones define the door, but "rubble stones" make up the rest of the wall. The pink stones are the same limestone but have been heated, and likely were scavenged from a house that burned down.

Silk Mill: The tiny River Cam powered a mill here since about 1790. Today it houses the handicraft workers guild and some interesting history. In 1902, Charles Robert Ashbee (1863-1942) revitalized this sleepy hamlet of 2,500 by bringing a troupe of London artisans and their families (160 people in all) to town. Ashbee was a leader in the romantic Arts and Crafts movement —craftspeople repulsed by the Industrial Revolution who idealized the handmade crafts and preindustrial ways. Ashbee's idealistic craftsmen's guild lasted only until 1908, when it ran into financial difiiculties and the individual artisans were left to run their own businesses.

Today, the only shop surviving from the originals is that of Silversmith David Hart. His grandfather came to town with Ashbee, and the workshop (upstairs in the mill building) is an amazing time warp—little has changed since 1902. Hart is a gracious elderly man as well as a fine Silversmith, and he, his son William, and nephew Julian welcome browsers six days a week (Mon-Pri 9:00-16:00, Sat until 12:00, closed Sun, +44 1 386 841 100). They're proud that everything they make is a "one-off."

High Street: Chipping Campden's High Street has changed little architecturally since 1840. (The town's street plan and property lines survive from the 12th century.) As you now walk the length of England's finest historic High Street, study the skyline, see the dates on the buildings, and count the sundials. Notice the harmony of the long rows of buildings. While the street comprises different styles through the centuries, everything you see was made of the same Cotswold stone—the only stone allowed today.

To remain level, High Street arcs with the contour of the hillside. Because it's so wide, you know this was a market town. In past centuries, livestock and packhorses laden with piles of freshly shorn fleece would fill the streets. Campden was a sales and distribution center for the wool industry, and merchants from as far away as Italy would come here for the prized raw wool. High Street has no house numbers: Locals know the houses by their names. In the distance, you'll see the town church (where this walk ends). Notice that the power lines are buried underground, maldng the scene delightfully uncluttered.

As you stroll High Street, you'll find the finest houses on the uphill side. Decorative features (like the Ionic capitals near the T1) are added for nonstructural touches of class. Most High Street buildings are half-timbered, but with cosmetic stone facades. You may see some exposed half-timbered walls. Study the crudely beautiful framing, made of hand—hewn oak (you can see the adze marks) and held together by wooden pegs.

Peeking down alleys, you'll notice how the lots are narrow but very deep (33 x 330 feet). Called "burgage plots," this platting goes back to 1170. In medieval times, rooms were lined up long and skinny like train cars: Each building had a small storefront, followed by a workshop, living quarters, staff quarters, stables, and a garden at the very back. Now the private alleys that still define many of these old lots lead to comfy gardens. While some of today's buildings are wider, virtually all the widths are exact multiples of that basic first unit (for example, a modern building may be three times wider than its medieval counterpart).

as impressive. A short hike beyond the tower just before sunset can be
unforgettable.

Stanway

More of a humble crossroads community than a true village, sleepy Stanway is worth a visit mostly for its manor house, which offers an intriguing insight into the English aristocracy today.



Stanway House

The Earl of Wemyss (pronounced "Weemz"), whose family tree charts relatives back to 1202, opens his melancholy home and grounds to visitors two days a week in the summer. Walking through his house ofiers a unique glimpse into the lifestyles of England's eccentric and fading nobility.

Hailes Church and Abbey

A three—mile drive or pleasant 2.5 —mile walk from Stanway House along the Cotswold Way leads you to a fine Norman church and tranquil abbey ruins. There's also an adjacent museum displaying the abbey's surviving artifacts. While little remains of the abbey, just being here can be a moving experience.

Visiting the Abbey: Richard, Earl of Cornwall (and younger brother of King Henry III) founded the abbey after surviving a shipwreck. His son Edmund turned it into a pilgrimage site after buying a vial of holy blood and bringing the relic to Hailes around 1270. Because of Henry VIII's dissolution of monasteries in the 1 6th century, not much remains of the abbey today. The church—which predates the abbey by about a century—houses some of its original tiles and medieval stained glass. It's worth a look for its 800-year-old baptismal font and faded but evocative murals (including St. Christopher, patron saint of travelers, and a hunting scene attributed to a local knight). Check out the wooden screen added long after the original construction—notice how the arch had to be cut away in order for the screen to fit.

Stanton

Pristine Cotswold charm cheers you as you head up the main street of the village of Stanton, served by a scant few buses. Go on a photo safari for flower-bedecked doorways and windows.

Stanton's Church of St. Michael (with the pointy spire) betrays a pagan past. It's safe to assume any church dedicated to St. Michael (the archangel who fought the devil) sits upon a sacred pagan site. Stanton is actually at the intersection of two ley lines (a line connecting prehistoric or ancient sights). You'll see St. Michael's well—worn figure (and, above that, a sundial) over the door as you enter. Inside, above the capitals in the nave, find the pagan symbols for the sun and the moon (see photo). While the church probably dates back to the ninth century, today's building is mostly from the 15th century, with 13th-century transepts. On the north transept (far side from entry), medieval frescoes show faintly through the 1 7 th-century whitewash. (Once upon a time, these frescoes were considered too "papist.") Imagine the church interior colorfule decorated throughout. Original medieval glass is behind the altar. The list of rectors (at the very back of the church, under the organ loft) goes back to 1269. Finger the grooves in the back pews, worn away
by Sheepdog leashes. (A man's Sheepdog accompanied him everywhere.)

From Stanway to Stanton

These towns are separated by a row of oak trees and grazing land, with parallel waves echoing the furrows plowed by medieval farmers. Centuries ago, farmers were allotted long strips of land called "furlongs." The idea was to dole out good and bad land equitably. (One square furlong equals 10 acres.)

Over centuries of plowing these, furrows were formed. Let someone else drive, so you can hang out the window under a canopy of oaks, passing stone walls and sheep. Leaving Stanway on the road to Stanton, the first building you'll see (on the left, just outside Stanway) is a thatched cricket pavilion overlooking the village cricket green. Originally built for Peter Pan author I.

M. Barrie, it dates from 1930 and is raised up (as medieval buildings were) on rodent-resistant staddle stones. Stanton is just ahead; follow the signs.

Snowshill

Another nearly edible little bundle of cuteness, the village of Snowshill (SNAH-zul) has a photogenic triangular square with a characteristic pub at its base.



Snowshill Manor

Dark and mysterious, this old manor house is stuffed with the lifetime collection of Charles Paget Wade (its management made me promise not to promote it as an eccentric collector's pile of curiosities). It's one big,  musty celebration of craftsmanship, from finely carved spinning wheels to frightening samurai armor to tiny elaborate figurines carved by prisoners from the bones of meat served at dinner. Taking seriously his family motto, "Let Nothing Perish," Wade dedicated his life and fortune to preserving things finely crafted.


Cotswold Lavender

In 2000, farmer Charlie Byrd realized that tourists love lavender. He planted his farm with 250,000 plants, and now visitors come to wander among his 53 acres, which burst with gorgeous lavender blossoms from mid-June through late August. His fragrant fantasy peaks late each July. Lavender—so famous in France's Provence—is not indigenous to this region, but it fits the climate and soil just fine. A free flier in the shop explains the variations of blooming flowers. Farmer Byrd produces lavender oil (an herbal product valued since ancient times for its healing, calming, and fragrant qualities) and sells it in a delightful shop, along with many other lavender-themed items. In the café, enjoy a pot of lavender-flavored tea with a lavender scone.

Hidcote Manor Garden
This is less "on the way" between towns than the other sights in this section —but the grounds around this manor house are well worth a detour if you like gardens. Hidcote is where garden designers pioneered the notion of creating a series of outdoor "rooms," each with a unique theme (such as maple room, red room, and so on) and separated by a yew-tree hedge. The garden's design, inspired by the Arts and Crafts movement, is most formal near the house and becomes more pastoral as it approaches the countryside. Follow your nose through a clever series of small gardens that lead delightfully from one to the next. Among the best in England, Hidcote Gardens are at their fragrant peak from May through August. But don't expect much indoors—the manor house has only a few rooms open to the public.

Broad Campden, Blockley, and Bourton-on-the-Hill

This trio of pleasant villages lines up along an off—the-beaten-path road between Chipping Campden and Moreton or Stow. Broad Campden, just on the outskirts of Chipping Campden, has some of the cutest thatched-roof houses I've seen. Blockley, nestled higher in the picturesque hills, is a popular setting for films. The same road continues on to Bourton-on-the-Hill (pictured), with fine views looking down into a valley and an excellent gastropub (Horse and Groom, described on m. Blockley is connected to Chipping Campden by bus #1 and #2, or you can walk (easy to Broad Campden, more challenging to the other two).

Broad Campden, Blockley, and Bourton-on-the-Hill

Stratford-Upon-Avon

To see or not to see? Stratford, Shakespeare's hometown, is a must for every big-bus tour in England, and one of the most popular side trips from London.

English majors and actors are in seventh heaven here. Sure, it's touristy, and nonliterary types might find it's much ado about nothing. But nobody backhome would understand if you skipped Shakespeare's house.

Shakespeare connection aside, the town's riverside and half-timbered charm, coupled with its hardworking tourist industry, make Stratford a fun stop. But the play's the thing to bring the Bard to life—and here you can see the Royal Shakespeare Company (the world's best Shakespeare ensemble) performing in a state-of—the-art theater complex.

Stratford, with around 30,000 people, has a compact old town, with the TI and theater along the riverbank, and Shakespeare's Birthplace a few blocks inland; you can easily walk to everything except Mary Arden's Farm. The core of the town is lined with half-timbered houses. The River Avon has an idyllicyet playful feel, with a park along both banks, rowboats, swans, and a fun old crank-powered ferry.
Stratford's five biggest Shakespeare sights are run by the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust (www.5hakespeare.org.uk). While these sights are promoted like tacky tourist attractions—and designed to be crowd-pleasers rather than to tickle academics—they're well run and genuinely interesting. Shakespeare's Birthplace, Shakespeare's New Place, and Hall's Croft are in town; Mary Arden's Farm and Anne Hathaway's Cottage are just outside Stratford. Each has a tranquil garden and helpful, eager docents who love to tell a story; and yet, each is quite different, so visiting all five gives you a well-rounded look at the Bard and his influences. (A sixth sight, Shakespeare's Schoolroom and Guildhall, is run by a separate organization, with a separate ticket.)

If you're here for Shakespeare sightseeing—and have time to venture to the countryside sights—you might as well buy a combo-ticket and drop into all five Shakespeare Birthplace Trust sights (described next). If your time is limited, visit only Shakespeare's Birthplace, which is the most convenient to reach (right in the town center) and offers the best historical introduction to the playwright.

Shakespeare's Birthplace

While the birthplace itself is a bit underwhelming, it's rewarding to stand in the bedroom where Shakespeare was born, and helpful docents make this a good introduction to the Bard. A modern exhibit and live mini-performances emphasize how his work continues to inspire.

Visiting Shakespeare's Birthplace: An introductory exhibit shows Shakespeare's enduring influence, with a video mash-up ranging from The Simpsons to the Hip-Hop Shakespeare Company. Check out the timeline of Shakespeare's plays, and peruse information about his upbringing, family life, and career in London. A few historical artifacts, including an original 1 623 First Polio of Shakespeare's work, are also on display.

I find the half-timbered Elizabethan building, where young William grew up, a bit disappointing, as if millions of visitors have rubbed it clean of anything authentic. It was restored in the 1 8003, and the furnishings are true to 1575, when William was 11. To enliven the otherwise dead-feeling house, chat up the well-versed, often costumed attendants posted in many of the rooms, eager to engage with travelers and answer questions.
Shakespeare's father, John—who came from humble beginnings but bettered himself by pursuing a career in glove-making (you'll see the window where he sold them to customers on the street)—provided his family with a comfortable upper-middle-class existence. The guest bed in the parlor was a major status symbol: They must have been rich to afford such a nice bed that wasn't used every day. This is also the house where Shakespeare and his bride, Anne Hathaway, began their married life together. Upstairs are the rooms where young Will, his siblings, and his parents slept (along with their servants). Look for the window etched with the names of important visitors, from Sir Walter Scott to actor Henry Irving. After Shakespeare's father died and William inherited the building, the thrifty playwright converted it into a pub to make a little money.

Exit into the fine garden where Shakespearean actors often perform brief scenes (they may even take requests). Pull up a bench and listen, imagining the playwright as a young boy stretching his imagination in this very place. 

Shakespeare's New Place

While nothing remains of the house the Bard inhabited when he made it big (it was demolished in the 18th century), its manicured grounds are a tranquil spot to soak up some history. Today, modern sculptures and traditional gardens adorn the grounds of the mansion Shakespeare called home for nearly 20 years. It's hard to imagine a house on this site, but vivid docent descriptions and visual aids bring the history to life. The expansive  lawn is a pleasant respite from the hubbub of town, and the perfect place to sip a coffee or compose sonnets. Next door, Nash's House (which belonged to Shakespeare's granddaughter and her husband) hosts a  model of Shakespeare's house, domestic artifacts, period clothing, and a balcony view of the knot garden.
William Shakespeare (1564-1616)

To many, William Shakespeare is the greatest author, in any language, period. In one fell swoop, he expanded and helped define modern English—the unrefined tongue of everyday people—and granted it a beauty and legitimacy that put it on par with Latin. In the process, he gave us phrases like "one fell swoop," which we quote without knowing that no one ever said it before Shakespeare wrote it.

Shakespeare was born in Stratford-upon-Avon in 1564 to John Shakespeare and Mary Arden. Though his parents were probably illiterate, Shakespeare is thought to have attended Stratford's grammar school, finishing his education at age 14. When he was 18, he married 26-year-old Anne Hathaway (she was three months pregnant with their daughter Susanna).

The very beginnings of Shakespeare's writing career are shrouded in mystery: Historians have been unable to unearth any record of what he was up to in his early 203. We only know that seven years after his marriage, Shakespeare was living in London as a budding poet, playwright, and actor. He soon hit the big time, writing and performing for royalty, founding (along with his troupe) the Globe
Theatre (a functioning replica of which now stands along the Thames' South Bank), and raking in enough dough to buy New Place, a swanky mansion back in his hometown. Around 1611, the rich-and—famous playwright retired from the theater and moved back to Stratford, where he died at the age of 52.

With plots that entertained both the highest and the lowest minds, Shakespeare taught the play—going public about human nature. His tool was an unrivaled linguistic mastery of English. Using borrowed plots, outrageous puns, and poetic language, Shakespeare wrote comedies (c. 1590—Tamz'ng of the Shrew, As You Like It), tragedies (c. 1600—Hamlet, Othello, Macbeth, KingLear), and fanciful combinations (c. 1610—The Tempest), exploring the full range of human emotions and reinventing the English language. 

Perhaps as important was his insight into humanity. His father was a glove-maker and wool merchant, and his mother was the daughter of a landowner from a Catholic family. Some scholars speculate that Shakespeare's parents were closet Catholics, practicing their faith during the rise of Protestantism. It was this tug-of-war between two worlds, some think, that gave rise to Shakespeare's humanism. Think of his stock of great characters and great lines: Hamlet ("To be or not to be, that is the question"), Othello and his jealousy ("It is the green-eyed monster"), ambitious Mark Antony ("Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears"), rowdy Falstaff ("The better part of valor is discretion"), and the star-crossed lovers Romeo and Juliet ("But soft, what light through yonder window breaks"). Shakespeare  probed the psychology of human beings 300 years before Freud. Even today, his
characters strike a familiar chord.

The scope of his brilliant work, his humble beginnings, and the fact that no original Shakespeare manuscripts survive raise a few scholarly eyebrows. Some have wondered if Shakespeare had help on several of his plays. After all, they reasoned, how could a journeyman actor with little education have written so many masterpieces? And he was surrounded by other great writers, such as his friend and fellow poet, Ben Jonson. Most modern scholars, though, agree that Shakespeare did indeed write the plays and sonnets attributed to him.

His contemporaries had no doubts about Shakespeare—or his legacy. As Jonson wrote in the preface to the First Folio, "He was not of an age, but for all time!"



Shakespearean Plays 101

Shakespeare's 38 plays span (and often intermix) three genres: comedy, history, and tragedy. Brush up on some of the Bard's greatest hits before enjoying a performance in Stratford.

Comedy

As You Like It: Two brothers, a banished duke, noblemen, and a duke's daughter (Rosalind) fight and fall in love in the Forest of Arden, contemplating life, love, and death.

Much Ado About Nothing: Soldier Claudio and a nobleman's daughter, Hero, fall in love and play matchmakers to their unsuspecting friends. Trickery, slander, and heartbreak are ultimately overcome in a happy ending.

A Midsummer Night's Dream: Four Athenian lovers, two eloping, follow each other into the woods, where fairy king Oberon enchants them with a love potion. A mistaken identity leaves Lysander and Demetrius both pining after Helena, and Hermia without a groom.

The Tempest: Prospero, duke of Milan, is overthrown by his brother and Alonso (the king of Naples) and dwells on an enchanted island with daughter Miranda. When his old enemies wash ashore, Prospero enlists island spirits to seek his revenge—and Miranda falls in love with Alonso's son Ferdinand.

History

The Henriad: A series of four plays chronicles the demise of England's King Richard II, the rule of successor King Henry IV, and his relationship with rebellious son Prince Harry (eventually King Henry V). War across England and France forms the backdrop for Shakespeare's exploration of honor, nationalism, and power.

Tragedy

Romeo and Juliet: Lovers from rival families seek to marry but are torn apart by their families. When Juliet fakes her death to avoid an arranged marriage, misunderstanding breeds heartbreak.

Macbeth: Three witches prophesize Macbeth's ascension from nobility to the throne of Scotland, leading Macbeth, aided by his ambitious wife, to embark on a violent mission to become king. Plagued by paranoia and hallucinations, he commits heinous crimes to gain—and maintain—power.

Othello: General Othello promotes Cassio to lieutenant over officer Iago. After Othello elopes with senator Brabantio's daughter Desdemona, a bitter Iago seeks revenge, manipulating the couple and Cassio by pitting one against another.

Hamlet: Haunted by his father's ghost, Prince Hamlet plots to kill his father's murderer, King Claudius. When Hamlet inadvertently causes his lover Ophelia's death, her brother Laertes vows to kill Hamlet, with Claudius' help. A climactic duel between Laertes and Hamlet leads to a bloodbath.

King Lear: King Lear banishes daughter Cordelia to France, while daughters Regan and Goneril secretly plot his death. Lear's ally the Earl of Gloucester, at odds with his own sons, warns Lear of the vengeful plot, and Lear drifts into madness. Both men succumb to the political chaos created by their families' greed and betrayal.

Anne Hathaway's Cottage

Located 1.5 miles out of Stratford (in Shottery), this home is a 12-room farmhouse where the Bard's wife grew up. William courted Anne here—she was 26, he was only 18—and his tactics proved successful. (Maybe a little too much, as she was several months pregnant at their wedding.) Their 34-year marriage produced two more children and lasted until his death in 1616 at age 52. The Hathaway family lived here from the 1500s until 1911, and much of the family's 92-acre farm remains part of the sight.

Warwick

Just north of Stratford, you'll find England's single most spectacular castle: Warwick. This medieval masterpiece, which has been turned into a virtual theme park, is extremely touristy—but it's also historic and fun, and may well be Britain's most kid-friendly experience. The town of Warwick, huddled protectively against the castle walls, is a half-timbered delight—enjoyable for a lunch or dinner, or even for an overnight.

The pleasant town of Warwick ("WAR-ick") is home to England's finest medieval castle, which dominates the banks of the River Avon just upstream from Stratford. The castle is impressive in itself, but its lineup of theme park-type experiences makes it particularly entertaining, especially for kids. The castle-related attractions, while pricey, offer something for everyone, and on a sunny day, the grounds are a treat to explore.
Meanwhile, Warwick town—with a fine market square and some good eateries—goes about its business almost oblivious to the busloads of tourists passing through. While handy for an overnight, Warwick offers relatively little to see beyond its castle.

WARWICK CASTLE

Almost too groomed and organized, this castle gives its crowds of Visitors a decent value for the stifi entry fee. The cash-poor but enterprising Earl of Warwick hired the folks at Merlin Entertainments (which owns many other big-name British attractions) to wring maximum tourist dollars out of his castle. They've made the place entertaining indeed, and packed it with lively exhibits...but also watered down the history, and added several layers of gift shops, overpriced concessions, and nickel-and-dime add-ons. The greedy feel of the place can be a little annoying, considering the already—steep admission. But—especially for kids—there just isn't a better medieval castle experience in England. With a lush, green, grassy moat and fairy-tale fortifications, Warwick Castle will entertain you from dungeon to lookout.

The castle is a 14th— and 15th-century fortified shell, holding an 18th-and 19th-century royal residence, surrounded by another one of "Capability" Brown's dandy landscape jobs (like at Blenheim Palace). You can tour the sumptuous staterooms, climb the towers and ramparts for the views, stroll through themed exhibits populated by aristocratic wax figures, explore the sprawling grounds and gardens, and—best of all—interact with costumed docents who explain the place and perform fantastic demonstrations of medieval weapons and other skills.

Demonstrations and Events: It's the well-presented demos and other events that make this castle particularly worthwhile. These can include jousting competitions, archers showing off their longb ow skills, sword fights, jester acts, falconry shows, and demonstrations of the trebuchet (like a catapult) and ballista (a type of giant slingshot). They're offered year-round, but most frequently in summer and on weekends and school holidays. Ask for the schedule at the entrance, or find updated times posted in front of the Great Hall or on the Warwick Castle app.

The most photogenic building in town (aside from the castle) is Lord Leycester Hospital, a gaggle of adjoining 14th-century half~timbered houses next to the southern gate of High Street. Converted into a "hospital" (rest home for the elderly or ill) in 1571, it has a chapel, great hall, maze of old rooms, and pretty garden (overpriced at £8.50, garden only-£ 2; borrow self-guided tour brochure at entry; Tue-Sun 10:00-17:00, until 16:00 in winter, closed Mon year-round except Bank Holidays; 60 High Street, +44 1926 491 42 2, wwwlordleycestercom >.

Coventry

Coventry was bombed to smithereens in 1940 by the Nazi Luftwaffe (air force). From that point on, the German phrase for "to really blast the heck out of a place" was (roughly) "to coventrate" it. But Coventry rose from its ashes, and its message to our world is one of forgiveness, reconciliation, and the importance of peace.

Before it was infamous as a victim of World War 11, Coventry had an illustrious history. According to legend, Coventry's most famous hometown girl, Lady Godiva, rode bareback and bare-naked through the town in the 1 1th century to convince her stubborn husband to lower taxes. You'll see her bronze statue on the market square a block from the cathedral, and a fun exhibit about her in the Herbert Art Gallery and Museum.

The cloth trade made Coventry one of England's leading cities in the Middle Ages. Its fortunes rose and fell over time, and by the 20th century it had become a major industrial center—first as Britain's main bicycle manufacturer, later as its top car-making city, and eventually as a major center of armaments and aircraft assembly (making it a key target for the Luftwaffe bombers). The city was utterly devastated by the Blitz; aside from the human toll, its greatest loss was its proud and famous St. Michael's Cathedral, which burned to the ground—the only English cathedral destroyed by the Nazis. Tellingly, Coventry's sister cities include two other places synonymous with horrific WWII destruction: Dresden, Germany, and Volgograd (formerly Stalingrad), Russia.

Today's Coventry isn't pretty. While many other WWII-damaged English towns were rebuilt quaint and cobbled, Coventry is all characterless modern concrete. But its cathedral—combining the still bombed-out shell of the old building, and a highly symbolic, starkly modern new one—is poignant and inspiring, and its other museums are quite good (and most are free). While I wouldn't go out of my way to visit Coventry, if you're passing by, consider stopping off to browse through a bit of normal, everyday, urban England.



ST. MICHAEL'S CATHEDRAL

The symbol of Coventry is the bombed-out hulk of its old cathedral, with the huge new one adjoining it. This inspiring complex welcomes visitors. 



Herbert Art Gallery and Museum

This expanded, impressive museum complex and cultural center combines town history exhibits and art collections. Since it's free and directly behind the cathedral, it's well worth dropping in if you have some time to spare. As there are several exhibits—both permanent and temporary—be sure to explore the entire building (ask for a floor plan).



St. Mary's Guildhall

The story of this fine half—timbered building, sitting next to the cathedral and originally built for the merchant guild of St. Mary, is rooted in the fascinating history of England's often-overlooked King Henry VI (r. 1422-1461).  Afflicted with what today would be diagnosed as catatonic schizophrenia, Henry seemed to his medieval subjects to exist between our world and another—he'd drift into a trance and be unreachable for days or weeks at a time, then emerge reporting the vibrant visions he'd had. During the Wars of the Roses, Henry briefly moved the capital of England to Coventry, creating a special bond with the city. After his death, Henry's corpse reportedly bled in front of observers, leading them to conclude that he was miraculous.

A cult of followers sprang up around Henry, centered here in Coventry. People began to pray for divine intervention from the man they came to call "Saint Henry." One young girl, who had been crushed under a wagon wheel, was miraculously healed when her mother prayed to Henry. (The pope sent delegates to verify some 300 reported miracles, and his half-nephew Henry VII unsuccessfully petitioned to have him canonized.) The local businessmen's guilds of Coventry built this fine hall to venerate their favorite king and unofficial saint.



Coventry Transport Museum

A 10-minute walk from the cathedral, this good museum pays homage to Coventry's car-making heritage. For much of the 20th century, Coventry was the main auto production center of Britain, and in the 1950s and 1960s, more than a third of the city's population built cars.

England

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