On the second largest natural harbour in the world, Poole is a port town and tourist resort with beaches, cultured gardens and lots of inspiration for days out. In the 1700s Poole was one of England’s most active ports, then played a part in the D-Day landings in 1944 and maintains a cross-Channel ferry terminal …
Embedded in the rolling chalk hills of the South Downs, Winchester is an ancient cathedral city and former royal capital. Your first stop in Winchester should be the longest Gothic cathedral in the world, a Norman and Gothic masterpiece. Some of the country’s oldest institutions can be found in Winchester. You can call in on …
In the 13th century the whole city of Salisbury moved from its ancient hilltop two miles down the road to the floodplain of three rivers. New Sarum, as Salisbury’s new settlement was once called, has an amazing Gothic cathedral with the tallest spire in the country and housing one of the oldest working clocks in …
Both the largest natural lake in England and the name of the small town on its east shore, Windermere is a coveted summer holiday escape and arguably one of the most beautiful places in the UK. Tourists began to arrive in the mid-19th century when the Kendal and Windermere Railway opened. One person who was …
The market town of Darlington is rooted in Medieval times, but was built up in the 19th century by two families wealthy Quaker families, the Peases and Backhouses. They spearheaded projects like the Stockton and Darlington Railway (1825), the first public line in the world to use steam locomotives, and donated monuments like the clock …
Pulling into Durham on the train from the south you’ll be treated to a view you won’t soon forget. High in the east are the towers of Durham Cathedral, the pride of this Medieval university city and one of Europe’s greatest Romanesque monuments. Like all of Durham’s UNESCO World Heritage it is built from a …
Warwickshire’s county town is a genteel sort of place on the River Avon, dating back to the start of the 10th century. Warwick was founded by the sister of the Anglo-Saxon King Edward the Elder, and in 1088 became the seat of the Earls of Warwick. Their castle is an icon of 14th-century military architecture …
In the north of Wiltshire, between the Cotswolds and the North Wessex Downs, Swindon is a large and growing town in undulating countryside. This had been a small, traditional market town until the middle of the 19th century when the construction of the Great Western Railway turned Swindon into a transport hub. The fabled engineer …
A market town in the Lake District, Keswick has Medieval roots and sits just in from the northeast shore of Derwentwater, a lake of staggering beauty. The lake is in an awesome crucible of hills that you can climb directly from the town, while the Derwent Launch will whisk you off on a cruise. Keswick’s …
On the southwestern periphery of Greater London, Guildford is a prosperous town that has held onto its historic character. This shines through on the High Street, laid with cobblestones and fronted by 17th and 18th-century facades that conceal far older buildings. The Guildhall for instance dates from the 1300s despite its Baroque 17th-century lines. Guildford …