30 St Mary Axe, widely known informally as “the Gherkin” and previously the Swiss Re Building, is a skyscraper in London’s main financial district, the City of London, completed in December 2003 and opened in April 2004. With 41 floors, the tower is 180 metres (591 ft) tall and stands on a street called St Mary Axe, on the site of the former Baltic Exchange, which was extensively damaged in 1992 by the explosion of a bomb placed by the Provisional IRA. read more…
The British Museum is a museum in London dedicated to human history and culture. Its permanent collection, numbering some 8 million works, is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence and originates from all continents, illustrating and documenting the story of human culture from its beginnings to the present. The British Museum was established in 1753, largely based on the collections of the physician and scientist Sir Hans Sloane. The museum first opened to the public on 15 January 1759 in Montagu House in Bloomsbury, on the site of the current museum building. Its expansion over the following two and a half centuries was largely a result of an expanding British colonial footprint and has resulted in the creation of several branch institutions, the first being the British Museum (Natural History) in South Kensington in 1887. Some objects in the collection, most notably the Elgin Marbles from the Parthenon, are the objects of intense controversy and of calls for restitution to their countries of origin. read more…
Felixstowe is a seaside town on the North Sea coast of Suffolk. The town gives its name to the nearby Port of Felixstowe, which is the largest container port in the United Kingdom. The town is situated across the estuary of the River Orwell and the River Stour from Harwich in Essex. read more…
Scarborough is a town on the North Sea coast of North Yorkshire in England, within the borough of the same name. Historically part of the North Riding of Yorkshire, the modern town lies between 10-230 feet (3-70 m) above sea level, rising steeply northward and westward from the harbour onto limestone cliffs. The older part of the town lies around the harbour and is protected by a rocky headland. It is one of the largest settlements in North Yorkshire. read more…
Fishguard (Welsh: Abergwaun, meaning “Mouth of the River Gwaun“) is a coastal town in Pembrokeshire, south-west Wales, with a population of 3,300. The community of Fishguard and Goodwick has a population of 5,000. read more…
St Ives is a seaside town, civil parish and port. The town lies north of Penzance and west of Camborne on the coast of the Celtic Sea. In former times it was commercially dependent on fishing. The decline in fishing, however, caused a shift in commercial emphasis and the town is now primarily a popular holiday resort, notably achieving the award ‘Best UK Seaside Town’ from the British Travel Awards in both 2010 and 2011. St Ives was incorporated by Royal Charter in 1639. St Ives has become renowned for its number of artists. It was named best seaside town of 2007 by the Guardian newspaper. For local information for visitors, holiday makers and local residents, St Ives Town Council opened the St Ives Visitor & Information Centre in June 2011. read more…
Port Isaac is a small and picturesque fishing village on the Atlantic Coast of north Cornwall. The nearest towns are Wadebridge and Camelford, both ten miles away. Port Gaverne, commonly mistaken to be part of Port Isaac, is a nearby hamlet that has its own history. The meaning of the Cornish name is “corn port”, indicating a trade in corn from the arable inland district. Since the 1980s the village has served as backdrop to various television productions, including the ITV series Doc Martin. read more…
