CONTENT
1. Great British Web Sites
2. UK Destinations
3. Books on Britain
4. Travel news from Britain
Welcome friends, its time to put the kettle on, settle into a comfortable armchair, and enjoy the best of Britain with Britain Update. But before you do, please take the time to forward this newsletter to someone who loves Britain as much as you do.
David Ross, Publisher
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The Scotland Guide
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What's that sound I hear? Could it be? Yes, it is ... bagpipes! After months of hard work and far too much haggis, Britain Express is proud to announce our new Scotland Guide. Browse through an A-Z gazetteer chock full of historical information and visitor details for castles, abbeys, gardens, stately homes, museums, and more. The attractions are all marked on custom maps of the major regions of Scotland so you can browse by area or by type of attraction.
The Guide owes its existence to the dedication of our Scotland Editor, Barbara Ballard. Barbara is a native of Texas who now makes her home in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, though she swears she'll move to Britain the minute she wins the lottery. I think you'll agree that she's done a great job with the Scotland Guide.
We'll be adding more in the coming months, including "Countryside" and "Ancient Scotland" sections, as well as feature articles about great places to visit in Scotland. Take a peek at our the Scotland Guide and let us know your thoughts.
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Great British Web Sites
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Two sites for the price of one this time! Megalithic Mysteries is a photo-guide to stone circles and other prehistoric sites with high-quality images, including many aerial photographs. Well-researched details and links to other sites dealing with ancient sites in the UK make this an indispensable guide to Ancient Britain. I highly recommend their new sub-site, Megalithic Map. Its a very clear and easy to navigate site with clickable maps of the British Isles showing the location of every stone circle and stone row.
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UK Travel Tips
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JANE AUSTEN WALKS IN BATH
Jane Austen is one of England's most celebrated authors and now you can join regular walking tours of one of her favourite cities, Bath. This Georgian city - Britain's only World Heritage City - has changed remarkably little since Jane lived there. Taking in the places where she stayed, where she walked, talked and shopped and the settings of her two Bath novels, "Northanger Abbey" and "Persuasion", the 90-minute tours operate three times a week (Tuesday, Friday and Sunday mornings). Tickets (£3.50 adults, £2.50 concessions) are available from the tourist information centre. The Jane Austen Centre opened last year at 40 Gay Street and provides a sense of her life and times. Exhibits show the inspiration for many of her characters and examine her family life and places of residence. It is open daily, admission £4 adult, concessions £3.
BATH'S AMAZING MICROWORLD
A remarkable collection of tiny sculptures, most so small they can only be seen with the aid of magnification, is the latest attraction in the historic city of Bath. Microworld - at 4 Monmouth Street, behind the Theatre Royal - features the work of the Birmingham microsculptor Willard Wigan, and the Spanish sculptor Manuel Ussa
The diminutive exhibits include a polar bear on a granule of sugar; Tower Bridge in the eye of a needle; birds nesting on an eyelash; a horse standing on the head of an ant; a ballerina dancing on a pinhead; members of Britain's Royal Family; and the 1999 heavyweight fight between Lennox Lewis and Evander Holyfield. Microworld is open daily, admission £3.95 adults, and £2.95 concessions, £1.95 under-16s, family tickets £9.95. Web site: www.bath.co.uk/microworld.
STEP INTO 3,530 BRITISH GARDENS
How often visitors to Britain express their desire to step into one of the thousands of delightful private gardens; to wander among roses, hollyhocks and lily-ponds tantalisingly glimpsed behind hedges and fences. Thanks to the National Gardens Scheme, a charity, you can do just this: in fact, more than 3,530 private gardens - most not normally open to the public - will open their gates in 2000. They include 310 cottage gardens, 155 water gardens and nearly 1,000 rose-decked plots. Some are large, others small, but they are all tended by enthusiastic garden-lovers and you can enjoy tea and home-made cakes at many!
They are open on selected dates only, throughout the year, though June is probably the month with the biggest selection. Admission to each is as little as £1-£2, with the money going to good causes. To find out where and when the gardens open, there is an invaluable guide, "Gardens of England and Wales Open for Charity", known as the 'yellow book' among devotees. At £4.50 it is the most comprehensive guide to gardens open to the public. It includes a special section devoted to Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother (the scheme's patron who is 100 years old in 2000) and details of evening openings, plant sales and picnic concerts. Available from British bookshops or through the National Gardens Scheme.. Web site: www.ngs.org.uk.
For those of you planning a summer trip to the UK, English Heritage stages a wide variety of events at their properties throughout the UK. Here' a few highlights of what's on tap for this year:
10/11 June - Carlisle Castle Through the Ages, Cumbria
10/11 June - Medieval Siege and Joust, Kenilworth Castle, Warwickshire
1/2 July - Food and Drink Fair, Wrest Park Gardens, Bedfordshire
14/16 July - Early Music Festival, Brinkburn Priory, Northumberland
23 July - Canterbury Tales, St. Augustine's Abbey, Kent
29/30 July - Old Sarum Through the Ages, Wiltshire
2/3 August - Children's Fun Days, Battle Abbey, East Sussex
5/6 August - Medieval Jousting, Scarborough Castle, North Yorkshire
26/28 August - Gardener's Weekend, Audley End House, Essex
10 September - Victorian Vittles!, Kenwood House, London
That's all for now. Until next issue, let me remind you that laughter is contagious. Be a carrier.
David Ross, Publisher, Britain Express
