Islay, Scotland’s whiskey island

20 January 2024 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Bon appétit Reading Time:  6 minutes

Main street of Bowmore © panoramio.com - Martin Cígler/cc-by-sa-3.0

Main street of Bowmore © panoramio.com – Martin Cígler/cc-by-sa-3.0

Islay (Scottish Gaelic: Ìle, Scots: Ila) is the southernmost island of the Inner Hebrides of Scotland. Known as “The Queen of the Hebrides“, it lies in Argyll just south west of Jura and around 40 kilometres (22 nautical miles) north of the Northern Irish coast. The island’s capital is Bowmore where the distinctive round Kilarrow Parish Church and a distillery are located. Port Ellen is the main port.   read more…

Bibury in the Cotswolds

19 January 2024 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  6 minutes

© LeighCousins/cc-by-sa-4.0

© LeighCousins/cc-by-sa-4.0

Bibury is a village and civil parish in Gloucestershire, England. It is on the River Coln, a Thames tributary that rises in the same (Cotswold) District. The village centre is 6.5 miles (10.5 kilometres) northeast of Cirencester. Arlington Row is a nationally notable architectural conservation area depicted on the inside cover of some British passports. It is a major destination for tourists visiting the traditional rural villages, tea houses and many historic buildings of the Cotswold District; it is one of six places in the country featured in Mini-Europe, Brussels. The world’s first horse racing club, The Bibury Club, was formed in 1681 and held race meetings on Macaroni Downs above the village until the early 20th century.   read more…

Longleat House in Warminster

14 January 2024 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Palaces, Castles, Manors, Parks Reading Time:  8 minutes

© Saffron Blaze/cc-by-sa-3.0

© Saffron Blaze/cc-by-sa-3.0

Longleat is a stately home about 4 miles (7 km) west of Warminster in Wiltshire, England. A leading and early example of the Elizabethan prodigy house, it is a Grade I listed building and the seat of the Marquesses of Bath.   read more…

Highland Main Line in Scotland

11 January 2024 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Bon voyage Reading Time:  6 minutes

Culloden Viaduct © geograph.org.uk - Peter Moore/cc-by-sa-2.0

Culloden Viaduct © geograph.org.uk – Peter Moore/cc-by-sa-2.0

The Highland Main Line is a railway line in Scotland. It is 118 mi (190 km) long and runs through the central Scottish Highlands, mainly following the route of the A9, and linking a series of small towns and villages with Perth at one end and Inverness at the other. Today, services between Inverness and Edinburgh, Glasgow and London use the line. At Inverness the line connects with the Far North Line, the Aberdeen-Inverness Line and the Kyle of Lochalsh Line. All trains are diesel-powered.   read more…

Unst, the northernmost of the inhabited British Isles

6 January 2024 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  7 minutes

Viking ship, Skibladner © Unstphoto/cc-by-sa-4.0

Viking ship, Skibladner © Unstphoto/cc-by-sa-4.0

Unst (Scots: Unst; Norn: Ønst) is one of the North Isles of the Shetland Islands, Scotland. It is the northernmost of the inhabited British Isles and is the third-largest island in Shetland after Mainland and Yell. It has an area of 46 sq mi (120 km²).   read more…

Evesham in Worcestershire

4 January 2024 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  9 minutes

© Nilfanion/cc-by-sa-4.0

© Nilfanion/cc-by-sa-4.0

Evesham is a market town and parish in the Wychavon district of Worcestershire, in the West Midlands region of England. It is located roughly equidistant between Worcester, Cheltenham and Stratford-upon-Avon. It lies within the Vale of Evesham, an area comprising the flood plain of the River Avon, which has been renowned for market gardening. The town centre, situated within a meander of the river, is subjected regularly to flooding. The 2007 floods were the most severe in recorded history.   read more…

Clovelly in Devon

29 November 2023 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  6 minutes

Donkeys outside Clovelly Post Office © Adrian Pingstone

Donkeys outside Clovelly Post Office © Adrian Pingstone

Clovelly is a privately owned harbour village in the Torridge district of Devon, England. The settlement and surrounding land belongs to John Rous who inherited it from his mother in 1983. He belongs to the Hamlyn family who have managed the village since 1738.   read more…

Bournemouth in Dorset

27 November 2023 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  7 minutes

© flickr.com - NMOS332/cc-by-sa-2.0

© flickr.com – NMOS332/cc-by-sa-2.0

Bournemouth is a coastal resort town on the south coast in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole borough of Dorset, England. The town’s urban subdivision had a population of 187,503 at the 2011 census making it the largest town in the county; the town is part of the South East Dorset conurbation, which has a population of 465,000.   read more…

Warner Bros. Studios Leavesden

12 November 2023 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, London Reading Time:  5 minutes

Warner Bros. Studio Tour London - The Making of Harry Potter entrance © Karen Roe/cc-by-3.0

Warner Bros. Studio Tour London – The Making of Harry Potter entrance © Karen Roe/cc-by-3.0

Warner Bros. Studios, Leavesden is an 80 ha (200-acre) studio complex in Leavesden in Watford, Hertfordshire, in the East of England. Formerly known as Leavesden Film Studios and still colloquially known as Leavesden Studios or simply Leavesden, it is a film and media complex owned by Warner Bros. The studios were all converted from an aircraft factory and airfield called Leavesden Aerodrome, a centre of British aircraft production during World War II. The nearest railway station is King’s Langley which is a walking distance of 1.3 miles (2.1 km).   read more…

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