Hever Castle in Kent

31 October 2018 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Palaces, Castles, Manors, Parks Reading Time:  9 minutes

© Nessy-Pic/cc-by-sa-4.0

© Nessy-Pic/cc-by-sa-4.0

Hever Castle is located in the village of Hever, Kent, near Edenbridge, 30 miles (48 km) south-east of London. It began as a country house, built in the 13th century. From 1462 to 1539, it was the seat of the Boleyn (originally ‘Bullen’) family. Anne Boleyn, the second queen consort of King Henry VIII of England, spent her early youth there after her father, Thomas Boleyn, inherited it in 1505. The castle passed to him upon the death of his father, Sir William Boleyn. It later came into the possession of King Henry VIII’s fourth wife, Anne of Cleves. The castle is now open to the public as a tourist attraction.   read more…

Käthe Kollwitz Museum Berlin

29 October 2018 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Berlin, Museums, Exhibitions Reading Time:  5 minutes

Käthe-Kollwitz-Museum Berlin © De-okin/cc-by-sa-3.0

Käthe-Kollwitz-Museum Berlin © De-okin/cc-by-sa-3.0

The Käthe Kollwitz Museum in Berlin owns one of the largest collections of works by the German artist Käthe Kollwitz (1867–1945). Kollwitz lived and worked in Berlin’s Prenzlauer Berg for over 50 years.   read more…

Theme Week Scottish Borders – Hawick

27 October 2018 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  7 minutes

Dovemount Place © geograph.org.uk - Walter Baxter/cc-by-sa-2.0

Dovemount Place © geograph.org.uk – Walter Baxter/cc-by-sa-2.0

Hawick is a town in the Scottish Borders council area and historic county of Roxburghshire in the east Southern Uplands of Scotland. It is 10.0 miles (16.1 km) south-west of Jedburgh and 8.9 miles (14.3 km) south-southeast of Selkirk. It is one of the farthest towns from the sea in Scotland, in the heart of Teviotdale, and the biggest town in the former county of Roxburghshire. Hawick’s architecture is distinctive in that it has many sandstone buildings with slate roofs. The town is at the confluence of the Slitrig Water with the River Teviot. Hawick is known for its yearly Common Riding, for its rugby team Hawick Rugby Football Club and for its knitwear industry.   read more…

Theme Week Scottish Borders – Peebles

26 October 2018 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  10 minutes

Tweed Bridge © Kjetil Bjørnsrud/cc-by-2.5

Tweed Bridge © Kjetil Bjørnsrud/cc-by-2.5

Peebles is a royal burgh in Peeblesshire, of which it is the county town, within the Scottish Borders region with a population of 8,400. In 2014 Creative Scotland named Peebles the most creative place of its size in Scotland, presenting the town with a Creative Place Award and £100,000 to enhance arts events, festivals and arts commissions. Most arts performances take place in the Eastgate Theatre on the High Street which has a year-round programme of music, drama, dance, talks and classes for children and adults. The town also has four major annual festivals – the Beltane Festival, Peebles Arts Festival, Tweedlove Bike Festival and Imaginarium.   read more…

Dallas in Texas

26 October 2018 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  9 minutes

Southfork Ranch © Sf46

Southfork Ranch © Sf46

Dallas is a city in Texas. It is the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, which is the fourth most populous metropolitan area in the United States. The city’s population ranks ninth in the U.S. and third in Texas after Houston and San Antonio. The city’s prominence arose from its historical importance as a center for the oil and cotton industries, and its position along numerous railroad lines. The bulk of the city is in Dallas County, of which it is the county seat; however, sections of the city are in Collin, Denton, Kaufman, and Rockwall counties. The city has a population aof 1,3 million. Dallas is one of the fastest-growing cities in the United States. Dallas is known for its barbecue, authentic Mexican, and Tex-Mex cuisine. Famous products of the Dallas culinary scene include the frozen margarita.   read more…

Theme Week Scottish Borders – Melrose

25 October 2018 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  6 minutes

Market Square © geograph.org.uk - Walter Baxter/cc-by-sa-2.0

Market Square © geograph.org.uk – Walter Baxter/cc-by-sa-2.0

Melrose is a small town and civil parish in the Scottish Borders, historically in Roxburghshire. It is in the Eildon committee area. The town’s name is recorded in its earliest form as Mailros, ‘the bare peninsula’ (Old Welsh or Brythonic), referring to the original site of the monastery, recorded by Bede, in a bend of the river Tweed. The original monastery at Melrose is referred to in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle with the name Magilros. In the late Middle Ages, when the monastery had been re-founded in its present position, its name was symbolically represented by the visual pun of a mell (mason’s hammer) and a rose (symbolising the Virgin Mary, to whom all Cistercian abbeys were dedicated).   read more…

Theme Week Scottish Borders – Galashiels

24 October 2018 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  10 minutes

© geograph.org.uk - Walter Baxter/cc-by-sa-2.0

© geograph.org.uk – Walter Baxter/cc-by-sa-2.0

Galashiels is a town in the Scottish Borders and historic county of Selkirkshire, on the Gala Water river. The name is often shortened to “Gala”. The town, with a population of around 12,600, is a major commercial centre for the Borders region. The town is known for textile making, and is the location of Heriot-Watt University‘s School of Textiles and Design, Galashiels Academy and one campus of the Borders College, which as of 2009 has moved and now joins with the University. Galashiels’ population grew fast through the textile trade with several mills. A connection with the town’s mill history, the Mill Lade, still links the town from near the site of mills at Wheatlands Road, to Netherdale, via Wilderhaugh, Bank Street, the Fountain and next to the Tesco/retail development Street.   read more…

Portrait: Roman emperor Hadrian

24 October 2018 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: Portrait Reading Time:  7 minutes

Emporer Hadrian and Antinous busts in the British Museum in London © SanGavinoEN/cc-by-sa-3.0

Emporer Hadrian and Antinous busts in the British Museum in London © SanGavinoEN/cc-by-sa-3.0

Hadrian was Roman emperor from 117 to 138. He was born Publius Aelius Hadrianus, probably at Italica, near Santiponce (in modern-day Spain), into a Hispano-Roman family. His father was of senatorial rank, and was a first cousin of the emperor Trajan. Early in Hadrian’s career, before Trajan became emperor, he married Trajan’s grand-niece Vibia Sabina, possibly at the behest of Trajan’s wife, Pompeia Plotina. Plotina and Trajan’s close friend and adviser Licinius Sura were well disposed towards Hadrian. When Trajan died, his widow claimed that immediately before his death, he had nominated Hadrian as emperor.   read more…

Theme Week Scottish Borders – Selkirk

23 October 2018 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  14 minutes

Haining House © geograph.org.uk - Adam D Hope/cc-by-sa-2.0

Haining House © geograph.org.uk – Adam D Hope/cc-by-sa-2.0

Selkirk is a town and historic Royal Burgh in the Scottish Borders Council district of southeastern Scotland. It lies on the Ettrick Water, a tributary of the River Tweed. The people of the town are known as Souters, which means cobblers (shoe makers and menders). Selkirk’s population is at 5800.   read more…

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