A base for outings and walks in the New Forest, the village of Lyndhurst is home to the national park’s Heritage Centre and the Forestry Commission. As the largest swathe of common land in the UK, the New Forest has few fences along its roads. This enables the park’s famous ponies to go where they …
In 1898 the social reformer Ebenezer Howard published his book, To-morrow: A Peaceful Path to Reform, outlining many principles of towns that we take for granted today, like the allocation of parks, a green belt and zoning to keep industry away from residential areas. Howard’s ideas were ridiculed by many, but championed by members of …
Next to the Malvern Hills on the east side of Herefordshire, Ledbury is a lovable market town with lots of black and white timber-framed houses. This is an ancient borough that was mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086, and founded as long ago as the 7th century. Your first port of call has to …
On the high west bank of the River Lune, Kirkby Lonsdale is a dinky market town graced with one of England’s greatest views. Ruskin’s View, as it’s known, was painted by J. M. W. Turner in 1822 and later eulogised by John Ruskin, a cultural giant of Victorian Britain. The view is part of a …
In the north of Hertfordshire at the foothills of the Chilterns, Hitchin is a cute market town with a Medieval layout. Market Place, where corn was traded for centuries, is very pretty, as are the old cobblestone streets that radiate from it. For fans of historic architecture Hitchin has its fair share of half-timbered houses …
Leicestershire’s second-largest town is halfway between the cities of Leicester and Coventry, close to the site of the Battle of Bosworth Field (1485). From the 1600s to the 20th century Hinckley was renowned for its stockings, first made in framework knitters’ cottages and then in large factories still standing around the town. One group of …
Hertfordshire’s county seat is a small but well-preserved market town at an ancient crossing on the River Lea. The English church’s first general Synod happened in this place in 673, when the date for Easter was decided on. Not long after, the Anglo-Saxons identified Hertford as a strategic site at the confluence of four rivers, …
With rustic stone buildings, a lively market place and spring blooms, Helmsley in Ryedale is a quintessential English market town. There’s a rare amount of heritage close by, whether it’s the Medieval ruins of Rievaulx Abbey or Helmsley Castle, or the landscaped terrace and temple follies of Duncombe Park. A holdover from this estate is …
At 260 metres above sea level Hawes is the highest market town in England. The backdrop for Hawes is Wensleydale, the breathtaking valley of the River Ure, well-known for crumbly cow’s milk cheese that is made only in this part of North Yorkshire. Cheese lovers need to head straight to the Wensleydale Creamery, where you …
Opposite Newcastle, Gateshead is a mining and industrial town that has redefined itself early in the 21st century. The Tyne riverside has become a cultural quarter home to Sage Gateshead, a dynamic concert venue, and the capacious Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art in a old flour mill. Combine this with the Shipley Art Gallery and …