CONTENT
- Cotswold Wool Churches
- London Tours
- UK Travel tips and news
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
Cotswold 'Wool Churches'
During the medieval period the Cotswold area (see map) underwent a startling transition from small scale agriculture to large scale wool production. This shift, most noticeable by the 15th century, enabled wool merchants to realize tremendous profits with the aid of the "Golden Fleece" produced by Cotswold sheep.
The "gold" in this case refers not to the colour of the fleece itself but the tremendous economic value it possessed. The prosperous wool merchants put back some of the money they earned into their local communities, often by building manors for themselves, but just as frequently by endowing their parish churches.
The "wool churches" of the Cotswolds are among the most elaborate and architecturally attractive in the entire country due to the largesse of successful wool merchants.
Read more about Cotswold Wool Churches ...
London Tours
Getting to Know London
There are a bewildering variety of touring options for the visitor to London. The most common way to get a quick overview of the more popular attractions London has to offer is to join a coach tour for an orientation, then return later on your own to places you'd like to examine more leisurely.
Alternatively, some companies offer unlimited hop-on, hop-off services. With these, you can get off at an attraction, then hop on a later coach when you've done sightseeing, all for the price of one ticket.
Read more about London tours ...
Travel Tips and News
Freud Blue Plaques unveiled
Blue plaques commemorating its former residents Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) and his daughter Anna (1895-1982) have been unveiled at 20 Maresfield Gardens, Hampstead - the North London house which is now the Freud Museum. Freud moved to Hampstead from Austria with his family, and completed his final works “Moses and Monotheism” and “An Outline of Psychoanalysis". After his death there, it remained the home of Anna, a pioneer of child psychoanalysis, until her death.
The museum includes Sigmund Freud's study, where he died on Sept.23, 1939, the famous couch he brought from Vienna, and his library. Open Wednesday – Sunday, admission £4 adult, £2 concessions. Website: http://www.freud.org.uk/
Welsh Attractions Offer Special Rates
Several top attractions in South-Eastern Wales are offering special rates to visitors this autumn. Included in the attractions offering specials are Rhondda Heritage Park, Techniquest, The Pit Pony Sanctuary, and Chepstow Museum. Here are the details of the special offers and attractions:
Rhondda Heritage Park (Two adults for the price of one)
Enjoy a fun day out which will tell the story of how Welsh coal once powered the world and what life was like for three generations of mining families. There are guided tours by ex-miners, exhibitions and hi-tech multi-media displays, an exciting underground tour and a simulated ride back to the surface.
Techniquest (One free child admission with every full paying adult)
Techniquest is the UK's most visited Science Discovery Centre. Located in Cardiff Bay, you'll find 160 hands-on, interactive exhibits that explain scientific concepts in a colourful way. The science theatre delivers live performances and the Planetarium provides a tour of the night sky and frequently holds a variety of amazing shows.
The Pit Pony Sanctuary (Two adults for the price of one)
Here's another opportunity to get a glimpse into Old King Coal - with a visit to the Pit Pony Sanctuary near Pontypridd. Here you can meet and greet up to 25 horses and ponies retired now from life down the pit. There's also a collection of mining memorabilia and the reconstruction of a typical pony powered Welsh drift mine.
Chepstow Museum (Two adults for the price of one)
Enjoy attractive displays focused on the history of Chepstow and its people. See collections of 18th and 19th-century local views; activities and quizzes for children.
For full details on these offers visit the Out and About Club at http://www.outandaboutclub.com
New Wine Trail Guide for the Heart of England
Heart of England Fine Foods and Heart of England Tourist Board have collaborated to produce a new brochure outlining vineyards to visit in Herefordshire and Worcestershire. ‘The Wine Trail’ lists a number of vineyards at Astley, Frome Valley, Bodenham, Coddington, Halfpenny Green, Tiltridge, Lulham Court and Wroxetter.
Some 95 vineyards, located throughout the UK, are open to the public and a number of these are in the Heart of England region. With the interest in wines never higher, wine tourism in on the British side of the Channel can be enjoyed to the full. English wines themselves are enjoying greater recognition than ever before – with many scooping competition awards, and often recommended by the leading wine journalists.
English wines are listed by supermarket and off licence chains, and many are stocked in outlets local to vineyards, along with local speciality food. Many vineyards are in beautiful parts of the region, making it viable to tie in a visit to a vineyard with a trip to another attraction.
For further information or a copy of the ‘The Wine Trail’ contact HEFF at E-mail: office@heff.co.uk
Hampton Court Piping Competition
On November 2, the Carlton Mitre Hotel, across the River Thames from Hampton Court Palace in Greater London, will host one of the most prestigious piping competitions in the world. The Scottish Piping Society of London is holding its 63rd annual piping competition, the "Bratach Gorm".
The Carlton Mitre dates back in parts to 1665 and is located on the banks of the Thames. The hotel originally served as lodging for courtiers who could not be accommodated at Hampton Court Palace opposite. Scottish Piping Society of London Website.
Cornish Smuggler's Inn Transformed
A former 17th-century inn, once the haunt of smugglers, has reopened as the elegant Lugger Hotel in the Cornish fishing village of Portloe. Positioned at the very water's edge, this unique inn is reputed to have been the haunt of local smugglers for many years, and indeed one of the hotel's landlords, Black Dunstan, was hanged for smuggling in the 1890s. The liquor licence was withdrawn and the inn ceased trading. Owner Richard Young and his American wife Sheryl, a Wall Street banker, carried out a major refurbishment to transform the property, which stands at the water's edge.
There are 17 bedrooms and suites and a further four bedrooms open in the old lifeboat house later this year. Many rooms have views over the sea and village, and the restaurant overlooking the cove specialises in seafood caught by local fishermen. Unchanged by the passing of time, Portloe is the living reality of a Cornish fishing village
Double rooms are from £180 a night, including breakfast and tax. Website: http://www.luggerhotel.com
Museum of London Prehistory Gallery
A new prehistoric gallery opens at the Museum of London on October 18. "London Before London" takes visitors back over half a million years, and looks at the times when the area was tundra and the site of Heathrow Airport was an Iron Age settlement.
The River Thames is central to the story, and the gallery will explore the lives of the early human communities beside it: a ‘river wall’ will display nearly 500 objects recovered from the banks, including numerous bronze and iron swords. The communities established trade networks, and their tools and weapons will be on display. By the time the Romans arrived in 43 AD, the foundations for London were already firmly laid.
Admission to the museum is free. Website: http://www.museumoflondon.org.uk
Yorkshire Rambles Brochure
A new free guide entitled Hidden Yorkshire highlights an effort by the Yorkshire Tourist Board to encourage visitors to explore the countryside of the region. The guide contains 15 days of itineraries in Yorkshire and North Lincolnshire, with a map showing routes and information sources. Among the attractions featured in the guide are a walled garden containing a 4-acre puzzle, an underground labyrinth, a shire horse centre, horse-drawn cruises, maritime heritage walks, traditional breweries, and a cutlery-grinding workshop dating to 1574. Free copies may be obtained from the Yorkshire Tourist Board online at http://www.yorkshirevisitor.com/
Discount Entry to Yorkshire Attractions
Also from the Yorkshire Tourist Board comes the Powerpass scheme. For the price of only £1, you can purchase a Powerpass card, allowing 2 for the price of 1 entry into a large list of Yorkshire attractions (lowest-priced admission goes free). The card is valid until 31 December 2002 and can be used as often as you wish. All of the proceeds are donated to the children's charity Childline.
You can purchase Powerpass cards at every Tourist Information Centre in Yorkshire, Northern Electric Shops or by sending a cheque for £1 made payable to Childline to: Powerpass Promotion, Yorkshire Tourist Board, 312 Tadcaster Road, York YO24 1GS.
Among the numerous attractions participating in the Powerpass scheme are: (Please contact the attractions before travelling to confirm opening times)
Abbey House Museum
Kirkstall, Leeds
Formerly a great gatehouse to the abbey, 3 streets of full-size reconstructed shops and houses. Displays of toys, silver, domestic equipment, fireplace, gallery and costumes.
Barley Hall
York
A medieval merchant's home in the heart of York. Come and see Barley Hall as it is brought back to its former 15thC glory. Learn about its past, present and future.
Captain Cook Memorial Museum
Whitby
An 18thC merchant's house where Captain Cook lodged when apprenticed to John Walker, the owner. Two rooms furnished as in Cook's day. Models, original manuscripts, pictures.
Duncombe Park
Helmsley
An 18thC mansion, recently restored. Family home of the Lord and Lady Feversham. Unique 18thC landscaped garden with terraces, temples, fine views and walks, 400-acre parkland.
Kew at Castle Howard
York
About 127 acres of trees, with water features. Over 6000 varieties of tree, many rare and unusual and nearly all from natural stock.
Kiplin Hall
Richmond
Jacobean house and contents of outstanding historical and architectural interest. The ancestral home of Lord Baltimore, founder of the state of Maryland, USA. Large grounds.
Lotherton Hall
Aberford, Leeds
Edwardian country house, period gardens, Gascoigne family portraits, furniture, silver, porcelain, 19thC and 20thC art. Oriental gallery. Deer park and bird garden.
Newby Hall and Gardens
Ripon
Late 17thC house with additions, interior by Robert Adam, classical sculpture, Gobelins tapestries, 25 acres of gardens, miniature railway, children's adventure garden.
Ripley Castle
Ripley, Harrogate
Ripley Castle, home to the Ingilby family for over 26 generations is set in the heart of a delightful estate with Victorian walled gardens, deer park and pleasure grounds.
Skipton Castle
Skipton
Fully-roofed Skipton Castle is in excellent condition. One of the most complete and well-preserved medieval castles in England.
Wensleydale Cheese Visitor Centre
Hawes
Museum, video and interpretation area, viewing gallery. Handmade Wensleydale cheese, licensed restaurant, specialist cheese shop, farm animals in their natural environment.
World of James Herriot
Thirsk
Visitors will be taken on a journey through the author's life. The sights, sounds and smells of a bustling 1940s veterinary practice.
York Dungeon
York
Set in dark, musty, atmospheric cellars and featuring life-size tableaux of Dark Age deaths, medieval punishments and persecution/torture of heretics
Yorkshire Museum of Farming
Nr York
Set in 10 acres, Murton Park has something for everyone: farm animals and machinery, replica Dark Age Village, Roman Fort, railway, cafe, gift shop, picnic/play area.
Yorkwalk
York,
North Yorkshire
Operates entertaining historical guided walks throughout York. Running daily at 10.30am and 2.15pm Feb-Nov.
Yorvik Brass Rubbing Centre
York
A large collection of replica medieval brasses and gallery of brass rubbings, situated in a delightful cottage within the gardens of Lady Anne Middleton's Hotel.
For a complete list of attractions taking part in Powerpass, visit: http://www.yorkshirevisitor.com/
UPDATE:
the Powerpass is no longer offered.
That's all for now. Until next issue, let me remind you that laughter is contagious. Be a carrier.
David Ross, Publisher, Britain Express
