Vastly diverse and with a wonderful blend of international cultures from around the globe, Great Britain is situated in Western Europe, is a thriving nation that offers all the elements of modern day living. Its amazing heritage are the historical monuments and buildings that rise tall in every village, town, city, and country. At the forefront of British culture are the values of education, religion, and the rich traditions of the performing arts. Britain also host the preservation of thousands of acres of picturesque nature parks, reserves, and ancient gardens in the parliamentary districts of England, Wales, Scotland.
Population of England 55,619,400 Wales 3,125,200 and Scotland 5,424,800
Flag of England
We had been to England on several occasions but spent most of our time in London, on this trip we wanted to move outside London to see what else England had to offer. We were not disappointed.
Our first stop was Essex, we stayed in a lovely B&B in the small village of Henham, it was close to Stansted the airport we arrived into. It had lots of thatched cottages and a beautiful pub that served great food the called the Cock Inn.
We drove from here to Avebury, Avebury is a Neolithic henge monument containing three stone circles, around the village of Avebury in Wiltshire. it contains the largest megalithic stone circle in the world, we also watched a local game of Cricket while having a picnic lunch.
For the next two nights we stayed in the most picturesque villages I have ever seen Castle Combe, with its beautiful thatched cottages that line the main street, an old water pump in the centre and a small river known as the By Brook. it is no surprise that nowadays it enjoys a reputation for being one of the most photographed and prettiest villages in the UK. This magical village was once a weaving town at the heart of the Cotswolds wool trade: you can still see weavers’ cottages where the local red and white cloth were produced. In St Andrew’s Church, don’t miss the Norman monument to a knight; his legs are crossed to indicate that he fought in the Crusades. Also in the church is a medieval faceless clock, one of the oldest working clocks in the country.
Castle Combe village (not far from Lacock) is a popular Filming location. Part of ‘The Wolfman (2009) ‘ shot here and the TV series Agatha Christie: Poirot (1989): ‘The Murder of Roger Ackroyd TV Episode’. Other films include Doctor Dolittle (1967) and Stardust (2007). More recently used as the backdrop to Steven Speilberg’s film War Horse
The Manor house and Golf Club is definitely worth a visit the house and grounds are just breath taking.
And Castle Combe presents this charming scene,
of hill, woods and meadows cloth’d in green.
Here grand terrestrial scenes, almost celestial nice,
makes Castle Combe, sweet vale, an earthy Paradise.
Poem by Edward Dowling
From here we took a day trip to Bath it is a unique, feel-good city combining contemporary culture a rich history and heritage. Bath is the largest city in county of Somerset, known for its Roman-built baths. Bath is in the valley of the River Avon, 97 miles west of London and 11 miles south-east of Bristol. The city became a World Heritage Site in 1987. It is a beautiful city and the day we visited the temperature was 24 degrees very pleasant.
As the weather was so good we decided to continue down the coast to Bournemouth South Dorset it is a large coastal resort town to the east of the Jurassic Coast, a World Heritage Site, 96 miles long. It has seven miles of award-winning sandy beaches and perfect place to be in this hot weather.
We stopped at Durdle Door it is a natural limestone arch on the Jurassic Coast near Lulworth in Dorset. It is privately owned by the Welds, a family who owns 12,000 acres in Dorset in the name of the Lulworth Estate. It is open to the public. It is a beautiful area and you would never think you were on the English coast line. The photos speak for themselves. We stayed two nights in Bournemouth.
We stayed 2 nights at Torquay a seaside town in Devon, It lies 28 miles east-north-east of Plymouth, it is Renowned for its healthful climate and the town earned the nickname the English Riviera. The writer Agatha Christie was born in the town and lived there during her early years.
From Torquay we did a day trip tip to St Michael’s Mount a small tidal island in Mount’s Bay, Cornwall. The island is a civil parish and is linked to the town of Marazion by a man-made causeway of granite setts, passable between mid-tide and low water. The castle and chapel have been the home of the St Aubyn family since approximately 1650. Marazion is a beautiful tourist resort with lots of artists who produce and sell paintings and pottery in the town. We had a lovely lunch that included the famous Cornish pasties.
Our final stop that day was to Lands’ End it is a headland and holiday complex in western Cornwall. It is the most westerly point of mainland Cornwall and England, it was beautiful but very wind here.
Wales with its rugged coastline, mountainous national parks, Welsh language and Celtic culture is definitely worth visiting.
Flag of Wales
Cardiff, the capital, is a coastal city. Cardiff medieval castle with its ornate Gothic Revival interior and lush green gardens is sure to whet your appetite. The city has all the usual shops and restaurants but looks better at night, during day light it can look somewhat tired and worn. Mermaid Quay is a nice place for an evening stroll or meal. It would not have been a trip to Cardiff with visiting Barri Island Beach (the old TV show Gavin and Stacy was set around this area)
Mermaid Quay
Barri
I was happy to move on from the city out to the country side, our first stop was the Springfield Hotel which was North of Wales to celebrate our 28th wedding Anniversary. The hotel in Ireland we got married in 28 years ago was called the Springfield therefore Martin felt this was very apt, and surprised me by booking us in here for two nights. We had a lovely time and a beautiful dinner. The next day we went to Bodelwyddan where we visited the Bodelwyddan Castle and local fair. We had a very nice breakfast at the castle, Martin tried the Welsh rarebit he thought it was very nice.
On our way to Beddgelert we stopped at a village, Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch it is the longest single-word village name in the world 58 letters. Translated to English, the name means, “Saint Mary’s Church in a hollow of white hazel near the swirling whirlpool of the church of Saint Tysilio with a red cave.”
Bodelwyddan Castle
Train Station at Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch
From here we continued to Beddgelert in the Snowdonia area of Gwynedd a beautiful country village, with Thatched roof cottages and each with its own name. Beddgelert is situated eight miles north of Porthmadog in a secluded valley at the merging of two rivers, the Afon Glaslyn and Afon Colwyn. Above the junction of the rivers, in the village centre, stands the old two-arched stone bridge. The stunning landscape surrounding the village was used in the 1958 movie, ‘The Inn of the Sixth Happiness.
We stopped for a swim at Black Rock Sands, even though the name suggests a dark beach, there was no black sand to be seen, it is an open, wide beach with fine sands. The name comes from the area to the west of the beach dominated by a large, multi-coloured headland rock, low-tide caves and rock pools. You can drive onto the beach here – so it’s a popular spot not just for picnickers and sandcastle builders, but also for motor boats and water bikes which have a special zone designated for their use.
We stopped for dinner in Portmadog a small coastal town and community in the Eifionydd area of Gwynedd. It developed in the 19th century as a port exporting slate to England and elsewhere, but since the decline of the industry it has become a shopping centre and tourist destination. It is a quaint town and we could not believe that it had an Australian Pub, so guess where we had dinner. Very good too.
Scotland towering mountains, glittering lakes, thick woodland and valleys surrounded by mountains in the Highlands, miles of rugged coastline, a landscape that will really take your breath away. Its major cities are Edinburgh, the capital, with its iconic hilltop castle, and Glasgow, famed for its vibrant cultural scene. Scotland is also famous for golf, the game first played at the Old Course at St Andrews in the 1400s.
Flag of Scotland
Located on the River Clyde, (67 km) west of Edinburgh and (639 km) north of London, Glasgow is Scotland’s largest city. Glasgow Cathedral is an impressive structure the current congregation is part of the Church of Scotland’s Presbytery of Glasgow. This magnificent example of Scottish Gothic architecture was built between the 13th & 15th Centuries and is widely regarded as the high point of cathedral building in Europe. We moved onto George Square the principal civic square in the city of Glasgow. It is named after King George III. Built by Glasgow Corporation it is the continuing headquarters of Glasgow City Council.
Very cute Tardis coffee shop
Great street Art by Smug, an Australian artist living in Glasgow beautifying the city
We spent a few hours walking through the Glasgow Necropolis. close to the City Centre, this beautiful Victorian garden cemetery. The Necropolis is the resting place of the great and the good of Victorian Glasgow. it is multi-faith, the 50,000 residents are made up of Catholics, Protestants, Quakers, Jews, Lutherans and everybody else. Due to their beliefs the Jewish people buried in the Necropolis had to be buried in a separate plot. The view over Glasgow is wonderful from here, a nice place to be buried.
We took a walk-through Glasgow Green and the People’s Palace, although a concert had been on the day before so a lot of it was out of bounds to the public while they dismounted the seating areas.
We could not go to Glasgow with doing a tour of the Tennent’s Brewery, the history of the brewing in Glasgow can be dated back to 1136, when the monks began building the Glasgow Cathedral and undertook brewing not for profit, but as a service to the local population as beer was often safer to drink than water. The Wellpark Brewery is home to more than 450 years of brewing tradition, making it the city’s oldest on-going commercial operation. The tour is well worth taking and Martin reckons it is not a bad drop at all.
Edinburgh is Scotland’s compact, hilly capital. It has a medieval Old Town and an interesting Georgian New Town with gardens and neoclassical buildings. Looming over the city is Edinburgh Castle, home to Scotland’s crown jewels and the Stone of Destiny, used in the coronation of Scottish rulers.
Arthur’s Seat is an imposing peak in Holyrood Park with sweeping views, and Calton Hill which is topped with monuments and memorials both worth a visit.
The city’s Palace of Holyroodhouse is the official residence of the monarchy in Scotland. The city has long been a centre of education, particularly in the fields of medicine, Scots law, literature, the sciences and engineering. The city’s historical and cultural attractions have made it a popular tourist destination. It was great to walk through the medieval old town and to have lunch in an old pub, it was like walking back in time.
St. Andrews is a seaside town northeast of Edinburgh, on Scotland’s east coast. It’s known for its many golf courses, including the Old Course, with the landmark Swilcan Bridge at the 18th hole.
We were very excited to visit St Andrews Links golf courses. It was one of my bucket list items to play a round of golf at St Andrews where the sport originated back in the 15th century. Some of the greatest golf courses in the world are in Scotland, St. Andrews is a nationally recognized name and is one of the oldest golf courses in the world.
We learned a lot about how things work at St Andrews Links golf courses. Firstly, there are 7 golf courses. There are 5 private Golf clubs but none of them own any of the courses. The land is owned by the public and managed by St Andrews Links. The only course you need an official handicap to play is the old course. There are three ways to get a game on the old course, book into one of the more expensive hotels that are allocated a number of tee tmes each year, go into a ballot 48 hours before you wish to play and hope your name is selected. (We spoke to several people that had been successful doing this) Finally queue up very early to be the first in line to be paired up with a two or 3-ball. These tee times are announced at 7am so if your tee time is not until 3pm you can go home and catch-up on sleep. Most people seem to manage to get a game on the old course, keep in mind it is not cheap and you are recommended to have a caddy as you must carry your golf clubs, there are no buggies allowed on the course unless you are over 65 and have a medical condition. Note when you play the old course you must play a second round of golf on one of the other courses as a package. Don’t be surprised, but there is a road and walk way, that cuts across the 1st and 18th fairway. Yes, I know who would have guessed, at any time you can cross the fairways wants you are careful. The reason for this is that it is public land. The old course is closed on a Sunday unless there is a major competition. The old course becomes a picnic area to the public most Sundays. As we did not have our official handicap we could not play on the old course, but we did have two wonderful games, one on the Strathyrun Course the second was a fun game on the ladies 18-hole par three course that is affectionately known as the Himalayas. I had a wonderful refreshing swim in the West sand beach that runs along the front of the Links golf course. Nothing better to loosen up your bones before a game of golf. It really is a wonder place to play golf, we are so happy we got to play a round and we had a better round when it was over.
The town of St Andrews is very quaint with lots of pubs, restaurants, shops and coastal walks. On a headland nearby are the ruins of St. Andrews Castle, with its medieval bottle dungeon. Close to the castle is the University of St. Andrews, founded in 1413.
We stayed in Dundee for a couple of nights, the area is simply but nice with the wide Tay estuary running past. They do have wildlife that many in the UK don’t have dolphins, otters and sea eagles. The hangover from a failed industrial past is still felt, but Dundee itself is improving as a city with lots of shops, restaurants and entertainment facilities their coffee shops are particularly good.
We really enjoyed our time in Great Britain from the amazing coastline, magnificent Gothic cathedrals and fairytale-like towns and villages to large fortresses that dot the landscape, England’s architecture of the medieval era offers a clear look back into history.
