Theme Week East Anglia – Great Yarmouth

27 May 2015 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  8 minutes

Britannia Pier © Leigh Last/cc-by-sa-3.0

Britannia Pier © Leigh Last/cc-by-sa-3.0

Great Yarmouth, often known to locals as Yarmouth, is a coastal town in Norfolk. It is located at the mouth of the River Yare, 20 miles (30 km) east of Norwich. The town has a beach and two piers.   read more…

Theme Week East Anglia – Bury St Edmunds

26 May 2015 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  7 minutes

Abbey Gardens and Cathedral © geograph.org.uk - Robert Edwards/cc-by-sa-2.0

Abbey Gardens and Cathedral © geograph.org.uk – Robert Edwards/cc-by-sa-2.0

Bury St Edmunds is a market town in the county of Suffolk, and formerly the county town of West Suffolk. It is the main town in the borough of St Edmundsbury and known for the ruined abbey near the town centre. Bury is the seat of the Diocese of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich, with the episcopal see at St Edmundsbury Cathedral.   read more…

Theme Week East Anglia

25 May 2015 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Bon voyage, Theme Weeks Reading Time:  8 minutes

Burghley House in Peterborough © flickr.com - Anthony Masi/cc-by-2.0

Burghley House in Peterborough © flickr.com – Anthony Masi/cc-by-2.0

East Anglia is one of three constituent parts of the East of England – a first level region. The name has also been applied to the ancient Anglo-Saxon kingdom of the East Angles. The region’s name is derived from the Angles – a tribe that originated in Angeln, northern Germany. The region comprises four areas of local government: the administrative counties of Norfolk, Suffolk, northern Essex and Cambridgeshire, the unitary authority area of the city of Peterborough.   read more…

Theme Week London – Greenwich

20 May 2015 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Architecture, London, UNESCO World Heritage Reading Time:  14 minutes

Great River Race, Royal Naval College in the backgorund © Motmit

Great River Race, Royal Naval College in the backgorund © Motmit

Greenwich is a district of South East London, England, located in the London Borough of Greenwich. Greenwich is best known for its maritime history and for giving its name to the Greenwich Meridian (0° longitude) and Greenwich Mean Time. The town became the site of a Royal palace, the Palace of Placentia from the 15th century, and was the birthplace of many in the House of Tudor, including Henry VIII and Elizabeth I. The palace fell into disrepair during the English Civil War and was rebuilt as the Royal Naval Hospital for Sailors by Sir Christopher Wren and his assistant Nicholas Hawksmoor. These buildings became the Royal Naval College in 1873, and they remained an establishment for military education until 1998 when they passed into the hands of the Greenwich Foundation. The historic rooms within these buildings remain open to the public; other buildings are used by University of Greenwich and the Trinity College of Music. The town became a popular resort in the 17th century with many grand houses, such as Vanbrugh castle established on Maze Hill, next to the park. From the Georgian period estates of houses were constructed above the town centre. The maritime connections of Greenwich were celebrated in the 20th century, with the sitting of the Cutty Sark and Gipsy Moth IV next to the river front, and the National Maritime Museum in the former buildings of the Royal Hospital School in 1934. Greenwich formed part of Kent until 1889 when the County of London was created. To mark the Diamond Jubilee of Elizabeth II, it was announced on 5 January 2010 that in 2012, the London Borough of Greenwich is to become the fourth to have Royal Borough status. The three others being The Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea and The Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead Royal Borough. Due to its historic links with the Royal Family, and its status as home of the Prime Meridian and as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.   read more…

Burlington House on Piccadilly

6 May 2015 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, London, Museums, Exhibitions, Palaces, Castles, Manors, Parks Reading Time:  7 minutes

© Tony Hisgett/cc-by-2.0

© Tony Hisgett/cc-by-2.0

Burlington House is a building on Piccadilly in London. It was originally a private Palladian mansion, and was expanded in the mid-19th century after being purchased by the British government. The main building is at the northern end of the courtyard and houses the Royal Academy, while five learned societies occupy the two wings on the east and west sides of the courtyard and the Piccadilly wing at the southern end. These societies, collectively known as the Courtyard Societies are:   read more…

The seaside town of Blackpool

4 May 2015 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  8 minutes

Central Pier © flickr.com - David P

Central Pier © flickr.com – David P

Blackpool is a borough, seaside town, and unitary authority area of Lancashire, in North West England. It is situated along England’s west coast by the Irish Sea, between the Ribble and Wyre estuaries, 17.5 miles (28.2 km) northwest of Preston, 30 miles (48 km) north of Liverpool, and 40 miles (64 km) northwest of Manchester. It has a population of 142,900, making it the third most populous settlement in North West England, and a population density which makes it the fourth most densely populated district of England and Wales outside Greater London. Throughout the Middle Ages and Early Modern period, Blackpool was a coastal hamlet in Lancashire’s Hundred of Amounderness, and remained such until the mid-18th century when it became fashionable in England to travel to the coast during Summer to bathe in sea water to improve wellbeing. In 1781, visitors attracted to Blackpool’s 7-mile (11 km) sandy beach were able to use a newly-built private road, built by Thomas Clifton and Sir Henry Hoghton. Stagecoaches began running to Blackpool from Manchester in the same year, and from Halifax in 1782. In the early-19th century, Henry Banks and his son-in-law John Cocker erected new buildings in Blackpool such that its population grew from less than 500 in 1801 to over 2,500 in 1851. St John’s Church in Blackpool was consecrated in 1821.   read more…

Harrogate in North Yorkshire

31 March 2015 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  8 minutes

Betty's Tea Rooms © Bucs

Betty’s Tea Rooms © Bucs

Harrogate is a spa town in North Yorkshire, England. Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, the town is a tourist destination and its visitor attractions include its spa waters and RHS Harlow Carr gardens. Nearby is the Yorkshire Dales national park and the Nidderdale AONB. Harrogate grew out of two existing smaller settlements, High Harrogate and Low Harrogate, in the 17th century. It is consistently voted as one of the best places to live in the UK and in 2013 a poll by Rightmove of 40,000 people found that Harrogate was the happiest place to live in the United Kingdom. In 2013 Harrogate was declared to be the third most romantic destination in the world, beating off rivals including Paris, Rome and Vienna.   read more…

Salisbury in Wiltshire

31 March 2015 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  6 minutes

Ox Row © geograph.org.uk - Chris Talbot/cc-by-sa-2.0

Ox Row © geograph.org.uk – Chris Talbot/cc-by-sa-2.0

Salisbury (the anglicised form of Salzburg) is a cathedral city in Wiltshire, England and the only city within the county. It is the 2nd largest settlement in the county by population, between Chippenham and Swindon. It has also been called New Sarum to distinguish it from the original site of settlement to the north of the city at Old Sarum, but this alternative name is not in common use. The city is located in the south-east of Wiltshire, near the edge of Salisbury Plain. It sits at the confluence of five rivers: the Nadder, Ebble, Wylye and Bourne are tributary to the Avon, which flows to the south coast and into the sea at Christchurch, Dorset. Salisbury railway station serves the city, and is the crossing point between the West of England Main Line and the Wessex Main Line, making it a regional interchange.   read more…

The seaside town of Deal in South England

29 March 2015 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  5 minutes

Seafront © Shantavira

Seafront © Shantavira

Deal is a town in Kent, England. It lies on the English Channel eight miles north-east of Dover and eight miles south of Ramsgate. It is a former fishing, mining and garrison town. Closely associated with Deal are the villages of Kingsdown, Sholden and Walmer, the latter being where Julius Caesar first arrived in Britain.   read more…

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