THE GREAT BRITISH YEAR 75 MUST-SEE EVENTS IN 2018
Secret Cotswolds
The perfect way to travel the UK
Discover quaint villages off the beaten track
House of Windsor Loch Ness
Celebrate 100 years of The Queen’s dynasty
An insider’s guide to Scotland’s mythical lake
“Shall I be mother?” London’s best afternoon teas
The Glasgow Style
On the trail of architect Charles Rennie Mackintosh
Win
a Scottish city break for two
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Romantic Landscapes & Dramatic Buildings of Yorkshire
Churchill, Darwin & Kipling’s Kent The lush countryside of Kent contains a treasure trove of historic jewels, from romantic moated castles and half-timbered manor houses to the beloved homes of some of Britain’s greatest writers, scientists and political figures. Many found refuge from the busy, modern world in the rural idylls of Kent, and these much-loved family homes, full of interesting artefacts and collections, can still be viewed to this day. 4 nights dinner, bed and breakfast at the Mercure Dartford Brands Hatch Hotel
The beautiful Yorkshire countryside provides the perfect backdrop for the county’s elegant houses, atmospheric ruins and delightful gardens. We explore some of the highlights of this charmingly rugged county, from the magnificent Vanbrugh pile of Castle Howard to the monastic ruins of Fountains Abbey and from the iconic York Minster to the innovative RHS Garden Harlow Carr. 4 nights dinner, bed and breakfast at the Best Western Plus Cedar Court Hotel, Harrogate
Porterage
Porterage
After dinner tea and coffee at the hotel
Coach transfers to and from your excursions
Visits to Chartwell, Down House, Bateman’s, Scotney Castle, Hever Castle & Ightham Mote
After dinner tea and coffee at the hotel
Coach transfers to and from your excursions
Guided tour of Hever Castle (*some dates may be with audio-guides)
Services of a Tour Manager
Visits to York, York Minster, Treasurer’s House, Castle Howard, Malton, Fountains Abbey & RHS Garden Harlow Carr Guided tours of York Minster & RHS Garden Harlow Carr
Guided walk at Fountains Abbey
Services of a Tour Manager
New 2018 brochure OUT NOW!
To request a FREE 2017 brochure please call 08432 244 246 or visit online at justgoholidays.com/NT2017
To request a FREE 2018 brochure call 08432 244 246 or go online justgoholidays.com/NT2018 Join us direct at the hotel
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CONTENTS
Welcome!
BILL ALLSOPP/NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY LONDON/MCATEER PHOTOGRAPH
2018 IS ALREADY SHAPING UP TO
be a vintage year. We wanted to ensure that you made the most of the coming months, so we’ve put together a very special calendar. The Great British Year (p6) is packed with the biggest, best and most eccentric events in 2018 that could only occur here in the British Isles. From grand social occasions like Royal Ascot and the Last Night of the Proms to quaint local festivals that champion unusual pastimes such as worm charming and black pudding throwing, we hope it provides a packed planner for visitors and an enlightening insight into the British psyche for the armchair travellers among you. Elsewhere in the issue, we also launch My Britain (p48), our new regular slot for which we will be interviewing iconic Britons about the places that mean the most to them. We begin halfway up Mount Snowdon with a pioneering female train operator, while next issue will see a Royal Butler at your service. And as we trailed last time, we will be introducing a letters page in the next issue and we’d love to hear from you. If you’ve visited an interesting part of Britain recently, taken part in any of the events in our Great British Year calendar before, or any of our other articles have triggered memories of a favourite holiday, share your thoughts via
[email protected] or the postal address on page 4. STEVE PILL Editor
On the cover: Twilight at Urquhart Castle on the banks of Loch Ness – the subject of our insider’s guide on page 75
Page 82 A once hotly contested border county, Northumberland combines the best of England and Scotland
Contents
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48
THE GREAT BRITISH YEAR
24 HOURS IN YORK
A social calendar with a difference! 75 of Britain’s best historic events and grand occasions in 2018
A whistle-stop guide to the historic Northern English city, home of the much-loved Minster
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SECRET COTSWOLDS Top travel writer and Cotswolds native Carolyn Boyd reveals the area’s sweetest “hidden” villages
MARY SHELLEY
Page 70 The making of a monster
How the troubled young English author created her enduring masterpiece, Frankenstein
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HOUSE OF WINDSOR
BRIGHTON PAVILION
Look back on the first century of our royal dynasty, from King George V to Queen Elizabeth II
Discover the Prince Regent’s Indian-style palace by the sea
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MACKINTOSH’S GLASGOW
NORTHUMBERLAND
On the trail of the stylish architect ahead of his 150th anniversary
Page 38 Timeless Glasgow style
Explore the wild natural beauty and quaint market towns of this Anglo-Scottish border county
discoverbritainmag.com 3
CONTENTS
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Discover Britain is published by The Chelsea Magazine Company Ltd, Jubilee House, 2 Jubilee Place, London SW3 3TQ, UK Tel: 020 7349 3700 Fax: 020 7901 3701 Email:
[email protected] Editor and Publisher Steve Pill Deputy Editor Laura Silverman Art Editor Clare White
LONDON NEWS
The latest shows and happenings
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COVENT GARDEN
Central London’s bustling market place boasts a rich cultural history – and a bright future, too
ADVERTISING Head of Market James Davis Senior Sales Executive Paul Beckham Sales Executive Samuel Sud MANAGEMENT Managing Director Paul Dobson Deputy Managing Director Steve Ross Finance Director Vicki Gavin Digital Marketing Manager James Dobson Circulation Manager Daniel Webb Senior Marketing Executive Drew Brown
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AFTERNOON TEA
Martha Alexander scoffs scones and quaffs Earl Grey to reveal the capital’s best afternoon teas
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Take a stroll along Chelsea’s most coveted street, home to royalty and The Rolling Stones
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© The Chelsea Magazine Company Ltd 2017. All rights reserved. Text and pictures are copyright restricted and must not be reproduced without permission of the publishers. The information contained in Discover Britain has been published in good faith and every effort has been made to ensure its accuracy. However, where appropriate, you are strongly advised to check prices, opening times, dates, etc, before making final arrangements. All liability for loss, disappointment, negligence or damage caused by reliance on the information contained within this publication is hereby excluded. The opinions expressed by contributors to Discover Britain are not necessarily those of the publisher.
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Page 75 An insider’s guide to the mythical depths of Loch Ness
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Discover Britain (ISSN 0950-5245, USPS 000-135; Digital ISSN 23977108) is published bi-monthly by The Chelsea Magazine Company Ltd, Jubilee House, 2 Jubilee Place, London SW3 3TQ, England Distributed in the US by Circulation Specialists LLC, 2 Corporate Drive, Suite 945, Shelton, CT 06484. Periodicals postage paid at Shelton, CT and other offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Discover Britain, PO BOX 37518, Boone, IA 50037-0518. News distribution Australia and New Zealand: Seymour, 2 East Poultry Avenue, London EC1A 9PT, England Tel: +44 20 7429 4000
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Bridge over the River Severn in Shrewsbury
The Great British Year From fire festivals and maypole dancing to Royal Ascot and the Boat Race, explore the most charming and unique events in the British calendar with our 2018 planner
JANUARY If you’ve ended the year with excess, start 2018 by performing your ablutions in the freezing River Forth. The Loony Dook (1 January. www.edinburghshogmanay.com) is part of Edinburgh’s annual Hogmanay (New Year) celebrations and sees brave ‘dookers’ parade through Queensferry in fancy dress before taking a bracing dip in the waters against a backdrop of the Forth Bridge. • Wassailing is a traditional pagan ceremony performed on Twelfth Night to encourage the onset of spring and ensure a bountiful harvest. At the Old Mill Farm in West Sussex, the Apple Howling (6 January. www.crmm.org.uk) wassail sees the Chanctonbury Ring Morris Men lead a torchlight procession before a ceremony in the orchard and then it’s all back to the farm for plenty of wassail cakes and lashings of Wobblegate cider. • Another Twelfth Night ritual is one of the oldest in England.
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Lincolnshire’s Haxey Hood (6 January. www.wheewall.com/hood) began in the 1350s after Lady de Mowbray’s silk riding hood blew away. Thirteen farm labourers chased it across the fields of Haxey and to show her gratitude she donated 13 acres of land to the village on the proviso that the chase was re-enacted each year. A day of festivities culminates in the Sway Hood, a sort of informal rugby match. • The 39th Whittlesea Straw Bear Festival (12-14 January. www.strawbear.org.uk) features storytelling, folk gigs and a barn dance, as well as the procession of the Straw Bear that is ceremonially burned on the Sunday. The tradition originates from a distant custom of dressing a ploughman in straw on the day following Plough Monday. • The AngloWelsh border town of Chepstow combines traditions from both countries at the Chepstow Wassail Mari Lwyd (20 January.
www.chepstowwassailmari.co.uk). An English wassail takes place at the Castle Dell and a Mari Lwyd follows, a daft caper in which a shrouded horse’s skull is carried from house to house. Both sides then meet on the Old Iron Bridge and “all peace breaks out” – if a drunken ceilidh can, in fact, be deemed “peaceful”. • While Valentine’s Day is familiar across the world, St Dwynwen’s Day (25 January. www.wales. com/st-dwynwens-day) is a lesser known Welsh equivalent. Inspired by a 5th-century tale of unrequited love, cards are given to loved ones and events take place across the country. • Game of Thrones fans will delight at Shetland’s Up Helly Aa (30 January. www.uphellyaa.org), a spectacular torch procession dating back to 1881. It sees 1,000 “guizers” make their way through Lerwick before setting light to a replica Viking galley, and dancing and singing until dawn.
2018 PLANNER
DAVID GIFFORD/CHRIS WATT PHOTOGRAPHY/BASPHOTO/PAUL MARRIOTT/ALAMY
Clockwise, from left: The spectacular torch procession at Up Helly Aa features a replica Viking galley; clowns gather at a service held in memory of Joseph Grimaldi; straw bears in Whittlesea; ‘dookers’ take to the icy waters of the River Forth
FEBRUARY If you thought church was no place for clowning around, think again. The Grimaldi Clown Service (4 February. www.clowns international.com) takes place at the Holy Trinity Church in east London and sees comic entertainers attend a full service and then put on a show for the crowds. The tradition began in 1947 when clowns were renegotiating contracts and circus proprietor Billy Smart decided to drum up publicity by encouraging them to attend the grave of pantomime legend Joseph Grimaldi. While the venue has changed, the tradition lives on. • The parish church of St Ia in the Cornish village of St Ives was consecrated in 1434. The anniversary is celebrated with the St Ives Feast (5 February. www.stivescornwall.co.uk). Sit by Porthmeor Beach to watch the highlight of the day, the Hurling of the Silver Ball, a rough-and-ready game that sees the winner rewarded with a silver coin. • This may be only The 34th Jorvik Viking Festival (12-18 February. www.jorvikviking-festival.co.uk) in York, but it is based upon the Jolablot celebrations that occurred
more than 1,000 years ago when the city was under Viking rule. More than 100 events across York will celebrate Norse heritage, including talks, walks, workshops and re-enactments. • At 2pm every Shrove Tuesday (the day before Lent), the Duke of Northumberland marks the start of Alnwick Castle’s annual Shrove Tuesday Football game (13 February. www.alnwickcastle.com) by throwing a ball from the battlements to the crowds below. The goals are some 400 metres apart and the two teams are drawn from the local parishes of St Paul and St Michael. The game is a rather muddy affair, usually straying into the River Aln, and the winning team is the first to score twice. • Meanwhile, in Buckinghamshire, Shrove Tuesday is marked by the annual Olney Pancake Race (13 February. www.olneypancakerace.org). Ladies of the village sprint to the finish line, clutching their frying pans, in an event first held in 1445. The race is run simultaneously in Liberal, Kansas, and spoils go to the country with the quickest time each year.
discoverbritainmag.com 7
New from the Top Author of
Inspirational Regency Romance! In this cozy English village novel, bestselling and
award-winning author Julie Klassen evokes the quiet, comfortable pace of the past and the changing roles for women displayed in the BBC’s Cranford and Lark
Rise to Candleford series. Pour yourself a cup of tea, grab a blanket, and enjoy the T ALES
FROM
I VY H ILL .
Gentlewoman Rachel Ashford has moved into Ivy Cottage with the two Miss Groves. Together with her one-time love Sir Timothy, she searches for answers to the mysteries hidden within her father’s old books—and is forced to face her true feelings. Meanwhile, her friends Mercy Grove and Jane Bell face their own trials in life and love.
“With her signature insight into the human heart, Klassen draws readers into the deceptively quiet English countryside of Austen’s day.” —Publishers Weekly
A Division of Baker Publishing Group | bethanyhouse.com Available at your bookstore or by calling 1-866-241-6733
2018 PLANNER
ENGLISH HERITAGE/STEPHEN CHUNG/ALAMY
Left: Celebrate the Spring Solstice at Stonehenge Below: Flag-bearers perform at the Feast of St George in Trafalgar Square
MARCH March kicks off with St David’s Day, which marks the anniversary of the death of the patron saint of Wales in AD 589. Far from a sombre affair, it sees parades, festivals and feasts take place across the country and beyond. Cardiff is the place to be for the National St David’s Day Parade (1 March. www.stdavidsday.org), beginning at City Hall and celebrating Welsh heritage and culture. • The 11th UK Wife Carrying Race (8 April. www.trionium.com/wife) in Dorking, Surrey sees game husbands lifting their spouses across a steep, 380-metre course. The bizarre race revives an 8th-century pastime and the winning couple is invited to the World Wife Carrying Championships in Finland. • You don’t need to be a druid to enjoy the simple pleasure of watching the sunrise on the Spring Solstice at Stonehenge (20 March. www.english-heritage.org.uk/ stonehenge). Book a tour or arrive early for a spiritual gathering in the shadows of the neolithic stones. • When Cambridge student Charles Merivale challenged his Oxford friend Charles Wordsworth to a boat race in 1829, he could never have foreseen what a tradition it would become. More than 250,000 people now turn out beside the Thames to watch the Cancer Research UK Boat Races (24 March. www.theboatraces.org). Pick your side for a tightly balanced rivalry between England’s top two universities. • The Greyhound pub in Tinsley Green, West Sussex, is the unlikely home for the British and World Marbles Championship (30 March. www.greyhoundmarbles.com), a knockout tournament that dates back to 1588 and welcomes teams from as far afield as Japan.
APRIL To Leicestershire and the Hallaton Bottle Kicking and Hare Pie Scramble (2 April. www.facebook.com/bottlekickinghallaton). This historic Easter Sunday event reputedly dates back to Pagan times. The local vicar blesses a large hare pie before part of it is thrown to the crowds. The remainder is spread on Hare Pie Bank, before the scrum-like Bottle Kicking sees two teams throw three large kegs around. Drinks are then shared with the winners around the conical Butter Cross. • The dragon-slaying patron saint of England gets his due on St George’s Day and London’s Trafalgar Square hosts the annual Feast of St George
(23 April. www.london.gov.uk/events). Cooking demonstrations, musical entertainment and fairground rides add to the patriotic atmosphere. • The views across the city of Edinburgh from Calton Hill are dramatic enough, but the place literally lights up during the annual Beltane Fire Festival (30 April. www.beltane.org). Based on an ancient Gaelic ritual and set on the eve of May, Beltane is a participatory celebration of summer’s arrival and features a procession of the May Queen surrounded by three hours of immersive outdoor performances that the organisers describe as “investigative theatre”.
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2018 PLANNER
MAY In Georgian England, May Day celebrations became so competitive that garlands would cover a person, leading to the name ‘Jack in the Green’. Today, the Jack in the Green Festival (4-7 May. www.hastingsjitg.co.uk) in the Sussex town of Hastings sees a long weekend of music and Morris dancing culminate in a May Day procession. • Taste traditional smoked and jellied eels at the Ely Eel Festival Weekend (4-7 May. www.elyeel festival.co.uk). The festival includes the World Eel Throwing Competition (using stuffed toys, rather than live eels) and an Eel Trail through the Cambridgeshire cathedral city. • The Derbyshire village of Tissington prides itself on holding the first Well Dressing (10 May. www.visitpeak district.com) of the season. This ancient tradition sees villagers throughout the Peak District and beyond decorate the local wells and springs with leaves and petals to give thanks for the fresh water springs. • The Covent Garden May Fayre and Puppet Festival (13 May. www.alternativearts.co.uk) is held outside St Paul’s Church, near where diarist Samuel Pepys spotted Punch and Judy in 1662. The day includes a sermon taken by Mr Punch and an afternoon of puppet shows. • The RHS Chelsea Flower Show (22-26 May. www.rhs.org.uk) was first held in 1862 as the Great Spring Show. Today, some of the leading names in gardening compete to create innovative designs that dazzle the crowds. • Hundreds of big-name writers descend on a small Welsh town for the Hay Festival (24 May-3 June. www.hayfestival.com), described by Bill Clinton as “the Woodstock of the mind”. • The Hunting of the Earl of Rone (25-28 May. www.earl-of-rone.org.uk) goes back to the 17th century when, legend has it, the Earl of Tyrone escaped from Ireland to Combe Martin in Devon. He hid for some time, surviving on biscuits, before being captured. Locals now hunt for the ‘earl’ who is then thrown into the sea. • Worm charming. Two words rarely seen together – for obvious reasons. Except, that is, in another small corner of Devon. The Blackawton International Festival of Worm Charming (27 May. www.worm charming.co.uk) was borne of a drunken conversation in 1983 and continues at The George Inn, as competitors coax worms from their own little patch of earth. • Just as daft is Cooper’s Hill Cheese-Rolling and the Wake (28 May. www.cheese-rolling.co.uk), which sees competitors race down a hill after a wheel of Double Gloucester cheese.
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2018 PLANNER
Clockwise, from left: Book-lovers at Hay Festival; RHS Chelsea Flower Show attracts leading gardeners;
JUNE
JOSEPH ALBERT HAINEY/VISITENGLAND/JAMES KERR/SPLASH NEWS/CAROLYN CLARKE/ALAMY
Below: Ironbridge Gorge, a UNESCO World Heritage Site Bottom: The grand Georgian façade of the Guildhall in Worcester
PAUL DANIELS/DAVID GEE/ALAMY
stylish visitors to Royal Ascot; the quirky Jack in the Green Parade; a show at the May Fayre and Puppet Festival
Horse racing, sword fighting and chess featured in the early Cotswold Olimpicks Games (1 June. www.olimpickgames.co.uk), first held in 1612. A man dressed as the Greek poet Homer even entertained the crowds. Since its revival in the 1960s, events have included tug of war, hammer throwing, and relays involving wheelbarrows. • The World Pooh Sticks Championships (3 June. www.pooh-sticks.com) recreates a favourite pastime of Winnie-the-Pooh and friends. The contest, inspired by author AA Milne’s game in which competitors throw sticks in a river, has taken place in Oxfordshire for more than 30 years. • Some 1,400 soldiers, 200 horses and 400 musicians gather in London for the Trooping the Colour (9 June. www.royal.uk/trooping-colour). The parade, which marks HM The Queen’s official birthday, moves from Buckingham Palace down the Mall to Horse Guard’s Parade, accompanied by members of the Royal Family. An RAF flypast rounds off the event. • Celebrating its 250th year in 2018, the Summer Exhibition (12 June to 19 August. www.royalacademy.org.uk) at the Royal Academy of Arts in London is the largest open-submission art exhibition in the world. Elected Academicians select more than
1,000 pieces by emerging and established artists alike. • A procession and service is held on Garter Day (18 June. www.royal.uk/ order-garter) at Windsor Castle for the Most Noble Order of the Garter, a chivalric order founded by Edward III in 1348. The Queen, Knight Companions of the Order of the Garter and a marching band all wear ceremonial dress. • Founded by Queen Anne in 1722, Berkshire’s Royal Ascot (19-23 June. www.ascot.co.uk) race meeting is still a favourite with the monarchy: HM The Queen attends every year. As well as prize stakes, there is singing around the bandstand and a royal procession. • Revellers flock to Stonehenge in Wiltshire at sunrise to celebrate the Summer Solstice (21 June. www.englishheritage.org.uk), the longest day of the year. The pagan festival marks the start of spring. • Swaton Vintage Day (24 June. www.swatonvintageday.com) features 400 classic cars and tractors, as well as a Lancaster Bomber and Dakota Flypast, and the World Egg Throwing Championships, in which teams throw an egg as far as they can without breaking it. The latter dates back to 1322 when monks threw eggs over a river to hungry peasants.
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2018 PLANNER
Left: The Henley Royal Regatta Below: Edwardian pursuits at the Chap Olympiad; Port Eliot is set in the grounds of a historic house
Yorkshire folk celebrate their shepherding heritage with shearing, displays and even sheep dancing on Skipton Sheep Day (1 July. www.facebook.com/skiptonsheepday). It’s an apt location: the Anglo-Saxon name for Skipton is ‘Sceap Tun’, meaning ‘sheep town’. • First held in 1839, Henley Royal Regatta (4-8 July. www.hrr.co.uk) is a highlight of the English social season, giving spectators the chance to wear blazers and frocks. The Stewards’ Enclosure has a strict dress code, but things are less formal in the Regatta Enclosure. More than 200 races, involving Olympians and new crews, take place along the River Thames – the Grand Challenge Cup for Men’s Eights is the most prestigious. • Join London’s most eccentric competitors in Bedford Square Gardens as they joust with umbrellas, pour tea while riding a bicycle and create trousers out of newspapers in the Chap Olympiad (14 July. www.chapolympiad.com). Anyone can take part and dressing like a dandy is encouraged – style wins over sporting talent. • The Queen’s swan warden gives the birds and their cygnets an health check during the annual Swan Upping (16-20 July. www.royalswan.co.uk). A stream of rowers and ‘swan uppers’ make their way
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WENN LTD/ALAMY/LOUISE ROBERTS
JULY
along the Thames, crying “All up!” as the swan uppers lift the birds from the water. The ceremony goes back to the 12th century when the Crown claimed ownership of all mute swans, and the birds were a delicacy. Since the 15th century, The Worshipful Company of Dyers and The Worshipful Company of Vintners also have the right to own swans on the Thames. • Set in the grounds of a Cornish stately home, Port Eliot
Festival (26-29 July. www.porteliot festival.com) combines books, music, art and food. Swim in the estuary, picnic in the grounds or discover a new singer-songwriter. You can also tour the Grade I-listed Port Eliot House, built as a priory, and now the ancestral seat of the Eliot family. Look out for early-morning yoga in the drawing room, while you might encounter a flower show in the basement.
2018 PLANNER
Left: Discover the best of British at Chatsworth Country Fair Below: the Totnes Orange Race stems from a tale about Sir Francis Drake; traditional dress at The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo
SHOOTLIFESTYLE.CO.UK/GARETH IWAN JONES/VISITBRITAIN/ANDREW PICKETT
AUGUST Yorkshire Day (1 August. www.visityork.org) commemorates the Battle of Minden in 1759, when British forces defeated the French, thanks to the King’s Own Yorkshire Light Infantry. The Yorkshire Declaration of Integrity is read aloud in Old English, Latin, Old Norse and modern English in York, while celebrations are held throughout the county. • Marching bands and pipers from the Commonwealth and beyond perform in the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo (3-25 August. www.edintattoo.co.uk). Held during the Edinburgh International Festival, shows and parades take place every night on the Edinburgh Castle Esplanade. • Lendy Cowes Week (4-11 August. www.lendycowes week.co.uk) goes back to 1826, when it was launched for George IV, making it the world’s oldest annual sailing regatta. Up to 1,000 boats compete in 40 daily races on the Solent, between England’s south coast and the Isle of Wight. A flypast by the Royal Air Force’s Red Arrows display team ends the week. • There is less aeronautical grace at the International Bognor Birdman contest (11-12 August.www.birdman.org.uk). Watch competitors leap off a Sussex pier attached to eccentric home-made flying machines. • Scarecrows resembling Henry VIII or Elvis crop up in a Yorkshire village for the Kettlewell Scarecrow Festival (11-19 August. www.kettlewellscarecrow festival.co.uk), with prizes for the most inventive creation. • Totnes Orange Race
(21 August. www.visittotnes.co.uk) commemorates a south Devon legend about Sir Francis Drake. The 16th-century explorer is said to have bumped into a delivery boy carrying a basket of oranges, sending the fruit rolling down the hill. Today, children race to kick, throw and roll oranges downhill, though the winning fruit must cross the finish line in tact. • The feast of St Bartholomew is celebrated with the Sandwich Bartlemas Bun Race (24 August. www.open-sandwich.co.uk). Children run around a chapel and are rewarded for their efforts with a currant bun. Adults are given a biscuit stamped with the Kent town’s coat of arms – for cheering them on. • Intrepid swimmers compete in The 33rd World Bog Snorkelling Championships (26 August. www.greenevents.co.uk) at the Waen Rhydd bog, near Llanwrtyd Wells in Wales. • Steel bands, calypso singers and dancers in headdresses parade the streets in London’s Notting Hill Carnival (26-27 August. www.thelondon nottinghillcarnival.com). One of the biggest street festivals in the world, this joyous celebration of Caribbean culture began in 1966. • Chatsworth Country Fair (31 August to 2 September. www.chatsworth countryfair.co.uk) brings the best of British to one of the country’s finest stately homes. The Derbyshire seat of the Duke and Duchess of Devonshire hosts falconry displays, cookery demos and craft stalls.
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JAYSON FONG/GARETH IWAN JONES
2018 PLANNER
SEPTEMBER
Top: Classic cars at the Goodwood Revival Above: Black pudding throwing in Lancashire
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The biggest event in the Highland Games series, Aberdeenshire’s Braemar Gathering (1 September. www.braemargathering.org) features pipe bands and Highland dancers alongside the athletes. Founded in 1832, it is regularly attended by the Royal Family. The Queen first attended in 1933 and returned last year. • The Goodwood Estate in West Sussex hosts many horse and motor races, but the pick of the season is the Goodwood Revival (7-9 September. www.goodwood.com). The circuit’s post-war heyday from 1948 to 1966 is celebrated as famous drivers take a spin in classic cars, while visitors don vintage frocks and suits. • The historic War of the Roses rivalry between Yorkshire and Lancashire comes to a jolly conclusion at the World Black Pudding Throwing Championships (9 September. www.facebook.com/theoaks ramsbottom39). Crowds line the streets of Ramsbottom in Lancashire to watch competitors lob black puddings (a traditional blood sausage popular in Lancashire) at Yorkshire puddings piled
on a 20-foot high plinth. • The Abbots Bromley Horn Dance (10 September. www.abbotsbromley.com) features 12 performers wearing Tudor costume and antlers, dancing to the music of a melodeon player. The Staffordshire folk ritual began in Anglo-Saxon times and commemorates the granting of hunting rights to villages in the nearby forest. • Dedicated ‘Prommers’ have been swaying along to the annual season of classical music at London’s Royal Albert Hall since 1895. Eight weeks of concerts culminate in the Last Night of the Proms (15 September. www.bbc.co.uk/proms), a gala performance featuring singalong favourites with a focus on British composers – and vigorous flag-waving. • The person who can pull the ugliest face is rewarded in the Gurning World Championships (15 September. www.egremontcrabfair.com). The Cumbrian contest is part of the town’s crab fair, which began in 1267, when the lord of the manor gave crab apples to the locals. Other activities at the fair include horse and pony jumping.
Leighton House Museum
VISIT A PRIVATE PALACE OF ART 12 Holland Park Road London W14 8LZ | Closed Tuesdays | www. leightonhouse.co.uk
2018 PLANNER
NOVEMBER
OCTOBER Nottingham Goose Fair (3-7 October. www.octoberinnottingham.co.uk) dates back to 1284, when it was a trade fair known for selling exceptional cheese and thousands of geese. Today, squawking birds have made way for a more conventional fair of food stalls and rides. • The anniversary of the Battle of Trafalgar is marked across Britain on Trafalgar Day (21 October. www.royalnavy.mod.uk). The battle saw the British, led by Horatio Nelson, triumph over the French and Spanish fleet off Cape Trafalgar in 1805. Celebrations include a ceremony in Birmingham and an event on board Portsmouth’s HMS Victory, the oldest commissioned warship in the world. • The children of Hinton St George parade through the Somerset village with lanterns made of hollowed-out manglewurzel (an orange turnip-like vegetable) illuminated by a candle inside. Despite strong resemblances to Hallowe’en, the original Punkie Night (25 October. www.facebook.com/punkienight) lanterns were made, it is said, by village wives looking for their drunken husbands as they returned from nearby Chiselborough Fair. • The Night of the Hunter’s Moon (27 October. www.facebook.com/mrfoxdance) marks the legend of a drought and the strange discovery of the Red Book of Langsett, which was found in a lake and translated from Latin by the brother of Gunpowder Plotter Guy Fawkes. Mister Fox and his associates perform a rather mysterious masked fire dance in this Sheffield village in commemoration.
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Clockwise, from above: The flaming Tar Barrels of Ottery St Mary in Devon; snow falls at the Dickens Christmas festival; a magnificent state coach at the Lord Mayor’s Show
Flaming tar-soaked barrels have been carried through Ottery St Mary in Devon in the Tar Barrels (5 November, www.tar barrels.co.uk) procession since the 17th century. The event, on Guy Fawkes’ Night, marks the Gunpowder Plot of 1605, when Catholics tried to blow up the Houses of Parliament. • The Lewes Bonfire Night Celebrations (5 November, www.lewes bonfirecelebrations.com) is one of the biggest Guy Fawkes’ events in the country. Six Lewes bonfire societies hold their own firework displays, alongside more than 30 parades. In one, locals hold 17 burning crosses to remember the 17 Protestants burnt at the stake in the 1550s. • The Lord Mayor’s Show (10 November. www.lordmayors show.london) has its roots in the journey of the first Mayor of London in 1215 from the City district to Westminster, where he had to swear loyalty to the Crown. The original journey was by boat, now it’s by state coach. The mayor’s journey has long been popular, appearing in Shakespearean plays, Pepys’ diaries and the tale of Dick Whittington. The Great Twelve Livery Companies (the dozen highest ranked historic companies in the City of London) have floats in the procession. • The Hatherleigh Carnival in Devon (10 November. www.hatherleigh carnival.co.uk) has very different origins: it was first held in 1903 to raise money for residents’ hospital care before the days of the National Health Service. Expect floats, crepe paper tableaux and fancy dress.
R BEEDLE/SIMON KELSEY/PRAXISDESIGN/MEDWAY COUNCIL/MAURITIUS IMAGES GMBH/ALAMY
2018 PLANNER
DECEMBER Lose any Scrooge-like tendencies at the Dickens Christmas Festival (1-2 December. www.rochesterdickensfestival.org.uk), which includes a Victorian-themed ball, two processions and carols. It takes place in Rochester, Kent where the author grew up. • Roman legions light up the streets with flaming torches during the Winter Watch and Chester Saturnalia Parade (13 December. www.visitchester.com) in honour of a time when the city leaders passed over the keys to the city watch. • To mark the shortest day of the year, locals parade the streets of Brighton with paper lanterns before throwing them into a bonfire on the beach in Brighton Burn the Clocks (21 December. www.samesky.co.uk). • Tom Bawcock’s Eve (23 December. www.shipinnmousehole.co.uk) evokes the legend of the 16th-century
fisherman who sailed into stormy seas and apparently caught enough food for the entire village of Mousehole. Stargazy Pie, a Cornish dish made with whole sardines, can be enjoyed at The Ship Inn on the quay. • A wooden wren is carried through Middleton in Suffolk for the Cutty Wren (26 December. www.old-glory.org.uk/ cuttywren), an animal-friendly version of an ancient ritual to hunt the wren, which was designated as the king of the birds. • In Northumberland, 45 local men carry barrels filled with burning hot tar through Allendale during the Tar Bar’l (31 December. www.visitnorthumberland.com) ceremony, which dates back 160 years – and possibly to the Middle Ages. Gather around the bonfire for music and revelry. • More flaming traditions can be observed at the
Stonehaven Fireballs Ceremony (31 December. www.stone havenfireballs.co.uk) to mark Hogmanay. On the stroke of midnight, performers parade the streets of Stonehaven near Aberdeen waving fireballs made of coal, wood and old jumpers tied with chicken wire and dowsed with paraffin. • And there’s yet more fire in Comrie, Perthshire, at the Flambeaux Procession (31 December; www.comrie.org.uk), where eight torches made of six-foot birch poles with rags tied to the top are hoist through the village, before being thrown into the River Earn. A pipe band marches in front of the torchbearers, while a fancy-dress procession follows. Such fire ceremonies go back to pagan times when locals would try to drive out evil spirits of the old year and then welcome in the next. n
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The Quiet Life While many visitors head to Bourton-on-the-Water or Castle Combe, there are dozens more Cotswolds villages waiting to be discovered. Carolyn Boyd reveals five of the best
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The sun rises over the idyllic Bourton-on-the-Hill
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Clockwise, from left: A decorated well in Bisley; The Bear Inn serves tasty traditional meals; peaceful Adlestrop;
COTSWOLDS PHOTO LIBRARY/KRYS BAILEY/TIM GAINEY/ALAMY
JOHN HAYWARD/PAUL MELLING/ALAMY. MAP ILLUSTRATION: ELLY JAHNZ. PREVIOUS
S
et in the peaceful countryside between Stroud and Cirencester, Bisley is known for being the home of best-selling novelist Jilly Cooper, but this sleepy village has its own tales to tell that are rather more sedate than Cooper’s racy storylines. A good place to start is the All Saints Church, parts of which date from Roman times. In the churchyard, a mysterious stone monument has foxed residents for centuries: the hexagonal pedestal is known as a poor souls’ light and was used to hold candles for masses said for the poor. It dates from the 13th century. It was originally thought to be a well cover, but it is known locally as ‘The Bonehouse’, holding further intrigue. The village was once a thriving community thanks to the wool trade, as the presence of a former courthouse and a second chapel suggest. At the top of the village, two small, gated cells known as the ‘Bisley Lock-up’ were used until the 1850s as “a place of temporary confinement for wrongdoers awaiting appearance before the magistrate”. At the bottom of the village, however, such sins could be absolved at the Seven Wells, a seven-fountain well built in 1863. The Blessing of the Wells ceremony is held each year on Ascension Day (in 2018, this falls on 10 May). For a coffee or bite to eat, the Post Office has a small tearoom at the back, while The Bear Inn, a public house dating back to 1639, serves tasty traditional meals.
SECRET COTSWOLDS
Adlestrop by Edward Thomas Yes. I remember Adlestrop – The name, because one afternoon Of heat the express-train drew up there Unwontedly. It was late June. The steam hissed. Someone cleared his throat. No one left and no one came On the bare platform. What I saw Was Adlestrop – only the name And willows, willow-herb, and grass, And meadowsweet, and haycocks dry, No whit less still and lonely fair Than the high cloudlets in the sky. And for that minute a blackbird sang Close by, and round him, mistier, Farther and farther, all the birds Of Oxfordshire and Gloucestershire.
“Adlestrop inspired a poem capturing both the stillness of the village and the calm before the storm that was the First World War” Few villages the size of Adlestrop are immortalised in poetry, but this hamlet on the GloucestershireOxfordshire border and its former railway station inspired the poet Edward Thomas. The story goes that, on 24 June 1914, Thomas was on his way to visit the American poet Robert Frost, who had encouraged the critic to write poetry to ease his depression, when the train made an unscheduled stop at Adlestrop. Although Thomas didn’t alight the train, and nothing in particular happened, the village inspired a poem that captured both the stillness of the place and the calm before the storm that was the First
World War, which broke out a month later. Thomas was killed in battle in 1917, so he never saw his poem published, but Adlestrop [see box above] is now widely considered one of England’s finest. A century on, the village is no larger than it was in Thomas’s day, but it is equally peaceful, indeed even more so, with the station having closed in 1966 (as result of railway closures known as the Beeching cuts). The old station sign can now be found in the bus shelter, while Main Street is home to a thatched post office, a charming little church and many Cotswold stone cottages. The village also has links to Jane Austen who visited family there – Adlestrop Park and Parsonage House are thought to have inspired locations in her novel, Mansfield Park. For lunch, drive or walk to nearby Bledington, home of The King’s Head Inn, which has been named Britain’s Pub of the Year 2018 by The Good Pub Guide.
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LOCAL KNOWLEDGE Lesley Southgate, author of Cotswolds blog Amble Pie: “I like to sit by the fire in The Bell at Sapperton after a walk through the nearby valley, where you’ll find the abandoned canals of the Severn and Thames. Foston’s Ash Inn, beside the National Trust’s Ebworth estate, also has a homely feel and hearty food. “Walkers should pack sturdy shoes and explore part of the Winchcombe Way trail. Once you’ve worked up an appetite, tuck into a delicious three-course meal at Wesley House in Winchcombe, where you can also taste the local Cotswolds gin.” www.amblepie.com
Another gorgeous Cotswolds village lies just a few miles northwest of Adlestrop: Bourton-on-the-Hill. While Bourton-on-the Water is well known to visitors to the Cotswolds, its elevated namesake is easy to miss as you drive out past the Batsford Arboretum on the road from Moreton-in-Marsh. Those who stop at the Horse and Groom pub and look back down the main street will be rewarded with one of the best views in the area. The village’s golden-stone houses step down the hill and frame a breathtaking panorama of fields and countryside, across Moreton-in-Marsh and the Evenlode Valley. Halfway down the hill is St Lawrence’s Church, a Grade I-listed Anglican parish church with a 12th-century nave, while other buildings hark back to days gone by with the old school serving as a village hall, and an old bakery now a house. At the bottom of the hill is the village’s main attraction, Bourton House Garden. Set in the grounds of an elegant 18th-century manor house, the three-acre garden is a showcase for stunning topiary, including a large and striking parterre with a raised pond (from the Great Exhibition of 1851), as well as perfectly manicured lawns, exotic plants and a raised walkway with superb views of the surrounding countryside. The tearoom and gift shop are set in an atmospheric Tithe Barn – the ideal place to enjoy a cream tea. Not far from Bourton-on-the-Hill, Sezincote is perhaps the Cotswolds’ most unusual attraction. A 200-year-old Indian Mogul palace set in a 4,500-acre estate, it is as incongruous as it is awe-inspiring. With domes, turrets and pavilions, it is said to have inspired the design of Brighton’s Royal Pavilion [see page 76] following a visit from the Prince Regent in 1807. The opening hours are
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STEPHEN DOREY ABIPP/NICK TURNER/STUART BLACK/ALAMY
Clockwise, from far left: Topiary in Bourton House Garden; Laurie Lee grew up at Rosebank in Slad; three acres of woodland are named after the author; the awe-inspiring Sezincote House
limited (check www.sezincote.co.uk for details), but it’s worth timing your visit to take a look. Back towards Stroud, Slad is perhaps the worst-kept secret among the Cotswolds’ hidden villages. Set in the picturesque Slad Valley, literature lovers will know it thanks to renowned writer Laurie Lee, who lived here with his family in the early 20th century. His best-known book, Cider with Rosie, captures an innocent time before cars, streetlights, radio and television, and although the world has moved on, it’s easy to imagine the place as Lee saw it, such is the unspoiled nature of the Cotswold Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty that surrounds Slad. Take a walk in the Laurie Lee Wood, three acres of woodland close to the village, or follow the five-mile walking trail The Laurie Lee Wildlife Way, where 10 poetry posts punctuate the route, each featuring Lee’s poems which bring the landscape to life. Lee died in 1997, but he is well remembered in the 200-year-old Woolpack Inn, the village’s rustic pub where he would hold court in the back room. With creaking floorboards and an open fire, the Woolpack maintains a charm so often lost in other Cotswolds gastropubs after frequent refurbishments. Across the road from the Woolpack, the small school house was where Lee and his siblings studied during a childhood so evocatively told
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in Cider With Rosie. Just a few steps away, up the sloping path to the Holy Trinity Church’s front door, is the churchyard where Lee is buried beneath a gravestone decorated with roses. Few villages can boast the timeless appeal of Wyck Rissington, not far from Stow-on-the-Wold. At its heart is a wide, central meadow complete with duck pond, as well as a number of horse chestnut trees that were planted in 1937 for the coronation of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth, the parents of our current Queen. Several 17th-century Cotswold stone cottages surrounding the green are set back from the road and the overall scene is utterly enchanting; it almost feels as if a horse-drawn cart will appear at any minute. Amenities are sparse in Wyck Rissington, but that is part of the village’s charm. What it does have is a 12th-century church and therein holds its claim to fame. The organ, which is still in use, was played by classical composer Gustav Holst who, at the tender age of 17, was appointed resident organist and choirmaster. Holst, who was born in 1874 in nearby Cheltenham (where his former home is now a museum), also served as the conductor for Bourton-on-the-Water’s choral society, which gave him precious experience for later work. For a bite to eat, head to the Feathered Nest Inn in the nearby village of Nether Westcote. n
COLIN UNDERHILL/TIM GAINEY/ALAMY
Top: St Laurence’s Church in Wyck Rissington Right: A typical charming Cotswold stone cottage in Wyck Rissington
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CJ_DiscoverBritain_10.3.17.qxp_Layout 1 10/3/17 6:57 AM Page 1
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Isles of Lewis, Harris, Skye, Mull, Iona Western Scotland and the islands ruled by the Lords of the Isles until the 15th Century. Includes the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo.
August 11-23, 2018 • 12 Nights • $5,395
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HISTORY
The
Houses of Windsor As the British Royal House celebrates its centenary, Marianka Swain explores its defining residences and the history behind them 28 discoverbritainmag.com
HERITAGE IMAGE PARTNERSHIP/ALAMY/PETER PACKER/MARK FIENNES/ THE ROYAL COLLECTION © HER MAJESTY QUEEN ELIZABETH II
HISTORY
I
t was anti-German feeling that inspired the birth of the House of Windsor as a royal dynasty in 1917. King George V, with a shrewd grasp of public sentiment, refuted claims that he held “an alien and uninspiring court” by rebranding the House of SaxeCoburg and Gotha. It was the first of many astute choices that have seen the gradual and necessary adaptation of this royal clan, enabling it to endure while many others have fallen victim to a changing world. George V was equally unafraid to separate himself from his family’s European history, should it prove burdensome; he refused to allow the beleaguered Russian Romanovs to seek refuge in England, despite Tsar Nicholas II being his cousin. One monarch met his doom, the other escaped the era’s royal bloodbath.
While the name Gotha in particular had a distinctly unsavoury association – the bombs raining down on London during the First World War were dropped by Gotha G.IV biplanes – Windsor is a title lent heritage, security and gravitas by the castle of the same name in Berkshire. Home to British monarchs for almost 1,000 years, it’s a stalwart survivor of turbulent times, bearing the influence of a variety of rulers. The original Windsor Castle was built by William the Conqueror following the Norman conquest of 1066 as one of several defensive motte-and-baileys a day’s march from London. King John held negotiations at Windsor before the sealing of Magna Carta in nearby Runnymede, and Edward III established the Order of the Garter there in the 14th century. Subsequent monarchs made their
Far left: George V, right, with his cousin, Tsar Nicholas II of Russia Above left: Windsor Castle, home to British monarchs for almost 1,000 years Above: The ornate Crimson Drawing Room at Windsor
discoverbritainmag.com 29
HISTORY
mark, from the chapel in which Henry VIII was buried to Charles II’s Louis XIV-rivalling extravagance, and George IV’s richly decorated Semi-State Rooms. George V continued those centuries of development alongside his wife, Queen Mary, whose love of the miniature is evident in her Edwin Lutyens-designed dolls’ house. The Windsors faced a steep challenge when Edward VIII broadcast his abdication to the British Empire from the castle in 1936, but successor George VI cannily revived the annual Garter Service at Windsor – re-establishing their monarchical legacy by harking back to Edward III. A damaging fire at Windsor Castle in 1992 again challenged the place of the crown in modern society, with a truculent British press demanding Queen Elizabeth
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herself pay for repairs. A compromise was reached, with restoration work funded by opening both Windsor Park in Berkshire and London’s Buckingham Palace to the paying public. That also reflects the Windsors’ increasing visibility and availability to their people – in line with the notion of modern celebrity. Windsor Castle has become a major tourist attraction and showcase for art from the Royal Collection, alongside its use as HM The Queen’s residence and venue for official entertaining. Buckingham Palace occupies a similar role. Built for the Duke of Buckingham in 1703, and acquired for the crown by George III in 1761, it became the monarch’s principal London residence on the accession of Queen Victoria in 1837. Now, it’s a strong symbol of the Windsor-defined constitutional monarchy.
ROYAL COLLECTION TRUST © HER MAJESTY QUEEN ELIZABETH II/ DPA PICTURE ALLIANCE ARCHIVE/ALAMY/JOHN STILLWELL/ WPA POOL/GETTY/HELOISE/ALAMY
HISTORY
At Buckingham Palace, Elizabeth II holds regular audiences with the Prime Minister, receives newly appointed ambassadors, confers investitures (such as knighthoods) in the ballroom and hosts public receptions and garden parties. The balcony has become a key symbol of the Windsors’ carefully cultivated appearances, such as the Queen’s birthday or the VE Day celebrations accompanied by Winston Churchill. Notices of royal births and deaths are still fixed to the palace railings for the public to read. The latter indicates the Windsors’ shifting of emphasis from monarch to royal family as a whole. In Scotland, the Queen carries out ceremonial duties at the 16th-century Palace of Holyroodhouse, such as the Presentation of the Keys of the City of Edinburgh, but Balmoral in
Aberdeenshire is closer to the Windsor take on monarchy – more that of landed gentry than aloof nobility. Queen Victoria and Prince Albert were perhaps the pioneers of this approach, constructing the new castle at Balmoral to accommodate their growing clan. Balmoral’s multiple other buildings include Birkhall, formerly the official residence of the Queen Mother and now used by Prince Charles as a summer home, and the extended family takes a hands-on interest in the running of the estate. Keen attention is also paid to the running of Highgrove House, the Gloucestershire residence of Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall. Since his arrival in 1980, His Royal Highness has transformed the 18thcentury house and its extensive grounds according to his architectural tastes and passion for organic,
Opposite page: The Duke of Cambridge and the Prince of Wales; the State Entrance at Windsor Castle Above: The Queen meets the Governor General of Papua New Guinea at Buckingham Palace; Princess Charlotte’s birth is announced on the Palace gates
discoverbritainmag.com 31
HISTORY
sustainable farming and gardening. Highgrove is demonstrable evidence of Prince Charles’s championing of environmental and charitable causes. The Windsors have become adept at the use of such soft power at their residences, rather than the more overt displays of wealth and military might of their predecessors. The younger Windsors tread a fine line between fairytale royalty and relatable, everyday folk, and Highgrove was, for a time, also just the home of a new family: Charles and wife Diana with their young children, Princes William and Harry.
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Joint monarchs William and Mary bought Kensington Palace, originally a Jacobean mansion known as Nottingham House, in 1689; Sir Christopher Wren was instructed to expand the house for their use. It later became the London residence of the Prince of Wales following his marriage to Diana, and their sons went to school nearby. Following the couple’s divorce, Diana remained in residence at Kensington, which subsequently became a beacon for mourners after her death – another pivotal moment for the Windsors, and one that sorely tested their ability to respond swiftly to public demand. The young princes have been instrumental in rehabilitating the Windsor image, with William’s marriage to Kate Middleton, now the Duchess of Cambridge, contributing to the reframing of the
THE ROYAL COLLECTION © HER MAJESTY QUEEN ELIZABETH II/ KEYSTONE PICTURES USA/ALAMY
Right: Clarence House, the London residence of the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall Below: The late Queen Mother celebrates her 60th birthday with, from left, Prince Charles, Prince Andrew and Princess Anne, at Clarence House
The Schubert Ensemble 26–28 January 2018 The Castle Hotel, Taunton
Chamber Music Weekends: 2018 Martin Randall Travel engages some of the finest ensembles in the UK and Europe for its chamber music weekends. The music is carefully chosen within an overarching theme and talks with a musicologist are often incorporated. Undeniably indulgent and leisurely retreats, these events are also intended to stimulate the mind and enchant the aesthetic sensibilities.
Contact us: 020 8742 3355 martinrandall.com/music-weekends-2018
Winding roads. Learning curves. Our walking tours stretch minds as well as legs as we criss cross some of Europe s finest landscapes on historic routes and country trails. Deepen your knowledge of Renaissance art on Footpaths of Umbria. Visit a private Elizabethan manor on Walking to Cornish Houses. Whatever your chosen tour, enjoy our thoughtful balance of walks, talks and local hospitality. Our walking tours in 2018 also include: Walking to Santiago Walking Hadrian’s Wall | Walking in Slovenia | Walking & Gardens in Madeira | Walking in Southern Bohemia
‘Encompassed all my interests. The walks were varied, the food and wine excellent and the visits to view the art an absolute treat.’
Contact us: +44 (0)20 8742 3355 martinrandall.com/walking ATOL 3622 | ABTA Y6050 | AITO 5085
The Mandelring Quartet 9–11 March 2018 The Castle Hotel, Taunton The Chilingrian Quartet 13–15 April 2018 The Castle Hotel, Taunton The Phoenix Piano Trio 4–6 May 2018 The Castle Hotel, Taunton The Elias Quartet 4–6 June 2018* The Swan Hotel & Spa, Lavenham (*mid-week dates)
HISTORY
Above: Sandringham, the Queen’s country retreat in Norfolk Right: A royal shooting party at Sandringham, during a visit of Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany
family as appealing and forward-looking. In 2011, renovations were carried out to prepare Kensington Palace for the newlyweds, with original features such as the crown mouldings retained, but updated heating and electrics installed: emblematic of a couple skilled at harmonising old and new. Prince William previously occupied another London royal residence, Clarence House. It was built in the 1820s to a design by John Nash, commissioned by the Duke of Clarence – later William IV. Princess Anne was born there in 1950 to Princess Elizabeth and Prince Philip, and the Prince of Wales returned there in 2003 following the death of the Queen Mother. It’s now his official working residence, but also displays much of the art and personal taste of his late grandmother. The Windsors may be comparatively progressive royals, but they maintain that historical role as patrons, collectors and curators. Norfolk retreat Sandringham was bought in 1870 by Edward VII and Queen Alexandra – then the Prince and Princess of Wales – and displays the Princess’s passion for objets d’art. European royal family
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members were frequent guests at Sandringham, and their gifts still adorn it, from enamel and silver trinkets to the fine Dresden porcelain chandelier and mirror frame from Kaiser Wilhelm I of Germany. That Germanic link isn’t one the Windsor-creating George V would choose to champion, but the longserving Queen Elizabeth II – who opened Sandringham to the public in her Silver Jubilee year, 1977 – has far less cause to be nervous of public sentiment than her ancestor. She leads a family that judiciously balances grandeur with approachability, and which, if it continues to successfully evolve, looks set to thrive for another 100 years. n
THE ART ARCHIVE/ALAMY
“The House of Windsor balances grandeur with approachability, and looks set to thrive for another 100 years”
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Liz Partridge Fireman, Snowdon Mountain Railway My love of trains started with my grandparents. I grew up in the West Midlands and they used to take me and my younger brother for days out to the Severn Valley Railway in Bridgnorth, Shropshire. The engines were fascinating: all the different shapes, sizes, colours and noises, and the way they scuttled up and down the line to get to their place. The smell of steam was addictive. It was always exciting when the trains started to move, and I enjoyed listening to the ‘clickety clack’ of the wheels going along the rails. The Severn Valley line will always be my favourite, it’s where the passion started. My own adventure began at the Bala Lake Railway in 2014. I booked a driver experience on one of their Quarry Hunslet trains as a birthday treat. I still volunteer there as a fireman, and help out when I can with things like painting or downing the track. I moved to Bala to be nearer to the railway. It’s a very beautiful market town on the edge of Snowdonia National Park. On lovely clear, crisp mornings you can see the Aran Fawddwy peak reflected in the waters of Llyn Tegid, with a touch of mist here and there, and the boats sitting still and quiet. Earlier this year, I became Snowdon Mountain Railway’s first female fireman. I am very, very proud to be the first woman to fire these spectacular, hard-working engines. It feels good to know that it also sends the message out to other women that we can also do things like this, and it’s not just a man’s role. I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve been up the mountain. The whole view is amazing, even standing on the summit point is breathtaking. The weather is very unpredictable up there. You get a clear view when you least expect it, and you can also get a spectacular sight when you’re above the clouds. n www.snowdonrailway.co.uk
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MY BRITAIN
“I am very, very proud to be the first woman to fire these spectacular, hard-working engines. It’s not just a man’s role”
MACKINTOSH’S GLASGOW
Glasgow
STYLE
Charles Rennie Mackintosh’s elegant designs have come to define the Scottish city. On the eve of the architect’s 150th birthday, Steve Pill explores his creative legacy
The bright, white drawing room at The Mackintosh House
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MACKINTOSH’S GLASGOW
discoverbritainmag.com 39
© THE HUNTERIAN, UNIVERSITY OF GLASGOW/WWW.MCATEERPHOTO.COM
MACKINTOSH’S GLASGOW
This image: Glasgow School of Art Left: Mackintosh’s 1901 drawing of the Daily Record Building Top right: The Music Room in the House for an Art Lover
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MACKINTOSH’S GLASGOW
I
f you visit Charles Rennie Mackintosh’s House for an Art Lover in search of an actual work of art in the traditional sense, you may struggle to find one. Aside from a few contemporary works for sale in the café downstairs, there is barely a framed painting or piece of sculpture to be found inside. Anyone with an artistic eye will be far from disappointed though. From the ornately carved piano to the subtle colour schemes, every room is a work of art in its own right; a balm for sore eyes thanks to the grace and simplicity of his designs. A Renaissance man in the mould of Frank Lloyd Wright or Barcelona’s Antoni Gaudí, Mackintosh believed that it was an architect’s responsibility to possess “an intimate knowledge of the crafts” and he was able to switch between disciplines as elegantly and effortlessly as one of the sweeping curves in his relief carvings. Rarely moved to explain his motivations, Mackintosh instead drew inspiration from nature and pledged, during a 1902 talk, that his work dealt with “intangible” qualities, “not so much with the technical as with the ethereal, the indefinable side of art”. Nevertheless, he combined elements of Gothic architecture, Japanese prints and the Arts & Crafts style to create an aesthetic that pre-empted the Art Nouveau and Modernist movements. In 2018, Glasgow will celebrate the 150th birthday of one of its most creative sons via a host of events and openings, including Charles
Rennie Mackintosh: Making the Glasgow Style (31 March to 14 August 2018), a major exhibition at the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum. Born on 7 June 1868, Charles was the second son of a Glasgow police superintendent. He completed an apprenticeship with architect John Hutchison, which he complemented with evening classes at the Glasgow School of Art. He joined the practice of Honeyman and Keppie as a draughtsman in 1889, and within six years he had completed his first major public commission for the Glasgow Herald Building. As the newspaper would be printed on-site, the designer used some clever innovations such as fire-resistant concrete flooring and a striking, 8,000-gallon water tower on the roof that fed a sprinkler system. More importantly however, the design also contained elements that would define Mackintosh’s style, like the natureinspired motifs carved into the red sandstone façade and the asymmetrical windows – another debt to organic forms that contrasted with the era’s prevalent neoclassical style. Today the extended building, renamed The Lighthouse, is home to the Mackintosh Interpretation Centre, a perfect place to begin a themed visit to Glasgow with chronological displays and temporary exhibitions. Sadly, one of Mackintosh’s most iconic creations can’t be fully appreciated in his anniversary year. His Glasgow School of Art building was named Britain’s favourite of the
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*
*Temporarily closed for refurbishment until 2020
MACKINTOSH’S GLASGOW
past 175 years in a Royal Institute of British Architects poll, yet a 2014 fire caused severe damage, including destroying the dramatic double-height wooden library. A major restoration process is under way, but the building isn’t set to re-open fully until 2019. Peak between the scaffolding however and a subtle shift in the architect’s style can still be seen. To give the school time to raise funds, the building was completed in two phases – the first begun in 1897, the latter completed in 1909 – so the design moves from the natural, asymmetrical windows on the earlier east front to the early modernist arrangement of the west elevation. Despite the fire closure, enthusiastic, student-led tours are still taking place via the Window on Mackintosh visitor centre opposite, and include an exclusive look inside a new gallery of his original furniture. A mile north up the Maryhill Road sits another of the architect’s major projects. In 1896, the Free Church of St Matthew commissioned a new church in the then fast-growing community of Springbank. The resulting building, Queen’s Cross church, was Mackintosh’s only completed church design. After the congregation dwindled in the 1970s, the Free Church vacated the premises and the Charles Rennie Mackintosh Society eventually purchased Queen’s Cross in 1999, exactly 100 years after it first opened for worship. Now the building attracts pilgrimages of an architectural rather than a religious kind, thanks not only to the chancel’s iconic ‘blue heart’ stained glass window, but also the small temporary displays curated by the society in the rear hall. One of the most personal expressions of Mackintosh’s creativity can be seen in the aforementioned House for an Art Lover. The plans were drawn up in 1901 for a competition organised by a German interior design magazine. Mackintosh set about creating an elegant country retreat for a person of “taste and culture”. As there were no immediate plans to actually construct the house, Mackintosh could be more fanciful in his approach and less constricted by budgets and structural
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DISCOVER GLASGOW Sleep For a classy retreat in the heart of the city, head to the Carlton George (www.carlton.nl/en). The seventh floor dining room pays subtle homage to Mackintosh, while offering breathtaking views
across the Glasgow rooftops. The executive lounge is far comfier than the name suggests too – enjoy free snacks and drinks while reclining in comfy chairs in front of a roaring fire. Eat and drink Finnieston is Glasgow’s foodie hotspot. Follow up a visit to the Kelvingrove with dinner at The
Top: Iconic, highbacked chairs in the Mackintosh House dining room Left: The blue heart window at Queen’s Cross church
Gannet (www.thegannetgla.com), a stylish eatery, all bare tenement brickwork and Hebrideaninfluenced menus that major on excellent fish. Meanwhile, near Mackintosh’s Glasgow School of Art building, the bustling Singl-end café (www.thesingl-end.co.uk) offers cakes, salads and open sandwiches, as well as a warm, friendly service.
Travel Virgin Trains run direct from London Euston to Glasgow Central every hour and take around four and a half hours. ScotRail trains from Edinburgh take about an hour (www.nationalrail.co.uk). Glasgow Airport has direct flights to and from airports across Europe, the US and Australia, among others (www.glasgowairport.com).
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MACKINTOSH’S GLASGOW
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Below: Ornate glass in the House for an Art Lover Right: The original Willow Tearooms on Sauchiehall Street, before it was refurbished
LOCAL KNOWLEDGE Sven Burghardt, heritage officer, Charles Rennie Mackintosh Society “The Daily Record Building is tucked away down Renfield Lane but people can live in Glasgow for years and not know it is here. Mackintosh used white bricks on the façade to lighten the dark alleyway. Today it is home to Stereo, an excellent vegan restaurant and music venue.” www.crmsociety.com
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requirements – something that would cause plenty of headaches when the House was eventually built in 1996. Though modern craftsmanship isn’t quite on a par with turn-of-the-century standards, the House for an Art Lover nevertheless allows visitors the opportunity to immerse themselves fully in Mackintosh’s aesthetic. Much of the credit here must go to his wife, Margaret Macdonald, however, who provided decorative panels, design ideas and more. The couple married in 1900, eight years after meeting at the Glasgow School of Art. Charles believed he only had talent, whereas Margaret was the true genius. In a 1928 letter, he sweetly told her that, “in all my architectural efforts you have been half if not three-quarters of them”. Margaret’s input is also evident in The Mackintosh House, a recreation of the couple’s former home at 6 Florentine Terrace. The original was demolished in the early 1960s, yet the University of Glasgow has meticulously recreated the interiors within the Hunterian Art Gallery. Classic examples of Mackintosh furniture sit alongside Margaret’s gesso and repoussé panels in a recreation of a home that would have felt dazzlingly modern to guests. While this was the couple’s private space, the first glimpse of a Mackintosh interior for much of Edwardian society would have come at
Kate Cranston’s Willow Tea Rooms. Mackintosh initially impressed the proprietor when assisting on the interiors for her Buchanan Street branch, which included art nouveau friezes and dramatic high-backed chairs. He was then given the chance to redesign the whole tearoom at Ingram Street and then, in 1903, create an entire three-storey building on Sauchiehall Street. No detail was left to chance: everything from the cutlery to the light fittings was meticulously thought out. An ambitious restoration of Sauchiehall Street is set to re-open by June 2018 – the dining room doors alone have been insured for £1.5 million. After completing his last major Glasgow project, the Scotland Street School, in 1906, commissions became rare and Mackintosh left the city at Margaret’s suggestion eight years later. The couple moved to England, before spending Charles’ final five years in the south of France before his death in 1928. His death went largely unnoticed at the time, yet 90 years later Glasgow is a city fully aware of the rich legacy he left behind. As the German architect Hermann Muthesius perceptively put it, Mackintosh’s buildings “breathe when one sees them in reality” and possess “a soulful depth and a nervous delicacy of feeling that ranks them with the most spiritualized creations of art in our time”. n
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COMPETITION
WIN a stylish Glasgow city break Celebrate the spirit of Charles Rennie Mackintosh in his 150th anniversary year with our fantastic competition To coincide with this anniversary year, we have teamed up with Glasgow Life to offer one reader the chance to enjoy a stylish city break for two people. www.peoplemakeglasgow.com
The Prize One lucky winner drawn at random from all entries received will enjoy the following: A two-night stay for two adults in a deluxe double room at the Double Tree by Hilton Central Glasgow, with full Scottish breakfast A guided tour for two of House for an Art Lover, followed by tea or coffee and scones in the Art Lover’s Café
ENTRY FORM SEND YOUR COUPON TO: US readers – Glasgow Competition, Discover Britain, c/o Circulation Specialists, 2 Corporate Drive, Suite 945, Shelton, CT 06484 UK and Rest of World readers – Glasgow Competition, Discover Britain, Jubilee House, 2 Jubilee Place, London SW3 3TQ, United Kingdom
Dinner for two at Two Fat Ladies restaurant at The Buttery A copy of Roger Billcliffe’s new book Charles Rennie Mackintosh and the Art of the Four, published by Frances Lincoln (RRP £40) www.hilton.com, www.houseforan artlover.co.uk, www.twofatladies restaurant.com, www.frances lincoln.com
HOW TO ENTER Visit www.discoverbritainmag.com/ glasgowcomp or fill in the coupon on the left with your answer to the following question:
When was Charles Rennie Mackintosh born? a) 8 December 1542 b) 25 January 1759 c) 7 June 1868
My answer: Name: Address: Postcode: Tel no:
Email:
Terms and conditions apply – see www.discoverbritainmag.com/glasgowcomp. Please tick here if you subscribe to Discover Britain Please tick if you would prefer not to be contacted by Discover Britain , our competition providers , or carefully selected third parties
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The closing date for all entries is 18 January 2018. The prize is subject to terms and conditions. For details, please visit www.discoverbritainmag.com/glasgowcomp
VISITSCOTLAND / KENNY LAM
A
rchitect and designer Charles Rennie Mackintosh created many elegant buildings across Glasgow as our feature on page 38 reveals. And there has never been a better time to explore his elegant legacy in his home city as 2018 marks the 150th anniversary of Parkhead’s favourite son, who was born on 7 June 1868. Celebrations during this landmark year will include Charles Rennie Mackintosh: Making the Glasgow Style, a major exhibition at the Kelvingrove Museum and Art Gallery, and the re-opening of the Willow Tea Rooms on Sauchiehall Street following a £3.5 million restoration.
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YORK
24 hours in…
YORK
Make the most of your day in this picturesque medieval city with our whistle-stop guide While archaeologists have found Mesolithic remains in York, the city as we know it today began in AD 71 when a Roman fort was built where the rivers Foss and Ouse meet. It remained a key outpost for the empire and Constantine the Great became the only Roman emperor crowned outside Rome when he was proclaimed here in AD 306. York came of age in the medieval era, a time when many of the fantastically-named alleyways (or ‘ginnels’ in local parlance), such as Swinegate, Mad Alice Lane (now Lund Court) and The Shambles, were constructed. It was also during this period that the city’s crowning achievement, the vast York Minster, was built. Begun in 1220, it was consecrated in 1472. Half a millennium on, it is one of the most popular visitor attractions in England.
Morning Stroll down Castlegate Enjoy a morning walk along Castlegate past York St Mary’s church (currently closed to visitors) and Fairfax House, an immaculately maintained Georgian townhouse complete with original 18th-century John Carr interiors. At the end of the street sits Clifford’s Tower, an unusual four-lobed former prison built during the reign of King Henry III that offers great views across the city. www.yorkstmarys.org.uk, www.fairfaxhouse.co.uk, www.english-heritage.org.uk
Discover Viking tales Around the corner from Clifford’s Tower is Jorvik Viking Centre, a family-friendly telling of York’s marauding past. The centre was hit by floods and reopened in 2017 with new animatronic characters and touch-screen displays. The York Dungeon, meanwhile, tells the dark history of the city through 10 live shows that include two Viking-themed
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Clockwise, from top: Fairfax House; York Minster; the Chapter House bar at The Principal; the National Railway Museum Inset: Medieval stained glass at the Minster
YORK
sections and an appearance from Guy Fawkes – the infamous Gunpowder Plotter born in nearby Stonegate. www.jorvikvikingcentre.co.uk, www.thedungeons.com/york
is no Charlie-style golden ticket to the factories, you can learn about the city’s sweet-toothed history in a fully guided tour at York’s Chocolate Story. www.yorkschocolatestory.com
Channel your inner Willy Wonka
Afternoon
Major international chocolatiers and confectioners such as Rowntree’s and Terry’s began life in York, so we have the city to thank for Smarties, KitKats, Chocolate Oranges and more. While there
Go off the rails The National Railway Museum is one of the UK’s most popular attractions with displays curated from an archive of more than one million objects. These include the only Shinkansen bullet train outside Japan, Queen Victoria’s palatial train carriage, and even a lock of hair belonging to the great 19th-century railway engineer Robert Stephenson. www.nrm.org.uk
Explore new galleries York Art Gallery recently increased its display space by 60 per cent after a major £8 million redevelopment meaning more opportunities to see both Old Masters from the collection and new temporary exhibitions. A recent display of Picasso’s ceramics has been followed by Paul Nash and the Uncanny Landscape (until 15 April), a focus on the former war artist. www.yorkartgallery.org.uk
Attend a historic service York Minster is one of Britain’s finest buildings, an early Gothic masterpiece famed for its vaulting central tower and 128 medieval stained-glass windows (John Thornton’s 311-panel Great East Window is the size of a tennis court). Stop for afternoon tea at Bettys Café Tea Rooms around the corner in St Helen’s Square and then head to the Minster for the atmospheric Evensong, a 5.15pm service unchanged since 1549. www.yorkminster.org
Evening
Drink in the history Appropriately for an ancient city, York has its fair share of medieval drinking establishments. The timber frame and taxidermy heads at The House of the Trembling Madness are particularly evocative, while a few doors down on Stonegate sits Ye Olde Starre Inne, the oldest licensed premises in the city. www.tremblingmadness.co.uk
Walk with the spirits The medieval architecture and narrow ginnels makes a particularly atmospheric backdrop for The Original Ghost Walk of York. Meet outside the Kings Arms pub at 8pm for a spirited telling of haunting stories with a suitably theatrical delivery that has attracted a number of starry visitors including Hollywood actors Morgan Freeman and Richard Dreyfuss. www.theoriginalghostwalkofyork.co.uk
Night Rest at the Convent For a peaceful sleep, check into the guesthouse at The Bar Convent. Founded in 1686, it remains home to the Congregation of Jesus community, while a living heritage centre was added in 2015 to share the story of these radical Yorkshire nuns. Despite the religious backdrop, the accommodation is hardly meagre; many of the plush rooms were designed by Olga Polizzi, daughter of the renowned hotelier Baron Forte. www.bar-convent.org.uk
Dream of the Minster Popular during racecourse meetings, the Chapter House bar at The Principal opens late for craft beers and classic cocktails. The imposing hotel combines a certain late Victorian grandeur with modern amenities such as superfast broadband, while many of the 155 rooms offer views of York Minster. www.phcompany.com
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Visit the theatre Dame Judi Dench learned her craft by treading the boards in her home city of York and it is still blessed with a healthy theatre scene today. Reopened in April following a £6 million redevelopment, the 273-year-old Theatre Royal is the grandest of the city’s four major auditoriums with forthcoming highlights including a new production of Graham Greene’s Brighton Rock (16 February to 3 March 2018). www.yorktheatreroyal.co.uk
Let sleeping dogs lie The Bloomsbury guesthouse on leafy Clifton would be a homely enough place to spend the night, even without the presence of Harvey, the Townsley family’s resident Yorkshire terrier. You don’t have to be a dog-lover to delight at the eight flower-themed rooms and the promise of a locally-sourced Full English breakfast to look forward to the morning after. n www.thebloomsburyguesthouse.com
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The Bloody Tour of York A DAY TO REMEMBER D I S C OV E R O N E O F E N G L A N D’ S M O ST B E AU T I F U L A N D H I S T O R IC C A ST L E S
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YOUR 16-PAGE GUIDE TO THE BEST OF THE BRITISH CAPITAL
DISCOVER LONDON
ROYAL COLLECTION TRUST/© HER MAJESTY QUEEN ELIZABETH II
A secret history of Covent Garden The city’s best afternoon teas Chelsea’s most desirable street
SMALL PRINT The Royal Collection Trust in St James’s is set to publish a never-before seen story by Vita Sackville-West. A Note of Explanation is the first printed edition of a fairy story that the author wrote in 1922. With pages measuring less than 4cm high, her original handwritten book sits alongside 200 miniatures, including titles by Rudyard Kipling and Arthur Conan Doyle, in the library of a dolls’ house designed for Queen Mary by the architect Sir Edwin Lutyens. The new edition of A Note of Explanation has far more legible 25cm-high pages and features newly commissioned illustrations by London artist Kate Baylay [above]. Despite remaining unpublished until now, Sackville-West’s story is believed to have influenced Orlando, the 1928 novel by her lover Virginia Woolf. www.royalcollection.org.uk discoverbritainmag.com 51
DISCOVER LONDON
KING’S RANSOM The Royal Academy of Arts kicks off its 250th year with Charles I: King and Collector, an exhibition that pays tribute to the 17th-century monarch’s discerning eye. During a 24-year reign that ended with his execution in 1649, Charles had amassed more than 2,000 works of art, around 150 of which will be displayed together for the first time since the Stuart era. Many of the works were commissioned by – and pay handsome tribute to – Charles himself, including several portraits by Anthony van Dyck [1635’s Charles I at the Hunt, below]. Paintings by Titian, Rubens and Dürer are further testament to the man behind this royal hoard. Charles I: King and Collector runs from 27 January to 15 April at the Royal Academy of Arts, London W1. www.royalacademy.org.uk
KIND OF BLUE Jazz may be an American creation, yet this swinging music also caught the imagination of the British public in the aftermath of the First World War. Notionally timed with the centenary of the music first reaching these shores, a new exhibition, Rhythm & Reaction – The Age of Jazz in Britain, looks at the cultural impact that it would have on several generations of creative types. The display features Harlem-themed paintings by English Modernist Edward Burra, as well as 20th-century design classics including Clarice Cliff’s Art Deco ceramics and jazzy soft furnishings from Arthur Sanderson. Rhythm & Reaction – The Age of Jazz in Britain runs from 27 January to 22 April at Two Temple Place, London WC2. www.twotempleplace.org
Lia Williams and Juliet Stevenson garnered five-star reviews for Mary Stuart at the Almeida last year and now the production transfers to London’s West End. The five-act play explores an imagined meeting between Elizabeth I and Mary, Queen of Scots during the latter’s imprisonment. To emphasise the delicate balance of power, director Robert Icke adds an interesting twist: a coin is tossed before each performance to determine which of the two actresses takes on which lead role. The production runs from 13 January to 31 March at Duke of York’s Theatre, London, and then tours. www.almeida.co.uk
BEST BAR NONE When you can claim to be London’s longest serving cocktail bar and count Sir Winston Churchill among your former regulars, you’d be forgiven for resting on your laurels. Yet 113 years after opening, The Savoy’s American Bar has done no such thing. At the 9th Annual World’s Best Bar Awards in Southwark, the American Bar scooped the coveted title. The current menu has a decidedly British flavour, its ‘Coast to Coast’ theme taking in ‘Garden of England’ cocktails based around the history of Kent and ‘Castle Rock’ drinks that lean heavily of Scottish whiskies. www.fairmont.com/savoy-london
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Explore Victorian London at the Jack the Ripper Museum The museum is a dedicated to the history of the East London in the 1880s, providing a serious examination of the crimes of Jack the Ripper within the social context of the period. For the first time it tells the story of the man known as ‘Jack the Ripper’ from the perspective of six of the women who were his victims. Come along and see if you can work out who Jack was!
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DISCOVER LONDON
Covent Garden remains a haven for shoppers Below: Audrey Hepburn in 1964 film My Fair Lady
The Garden of Culture SYLVAIN SONNET/GETTY/AF ARCHIVE/ALAMY
Laura Silverman explores Covent Garden, the once-bustling marketplace that became a cultural magnet in the heart of the capital
I
t was My Fair Lady that made Covent Garden world famous, even if the 1964 film was shot in a Hollywood studio. Thanks to Audrey Hepburn, many a film lover will know that this area of central London was once a bustling market. Yet this is only one scene in the life of one of the British capital’s most cultured quarter square miles, one which historically stretched from Long Acre in the north to The Strand in the south, yet now extends much further. Over the centuries, Covent Garden has been home to monks and prostitutes (not simultaneously), the haunt of writers and artists, and the setting of riots and murders. The area, now best known for its shops,
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DISCOVER LONDON
has largely returned to its market roots, but there have been many fascinating sub-plots along the way. The area’s original name of Convent Garden holds a clue to its history. In the 1200s, this was part of a walled garden run by Benedictine monks. After the dissolution of the monasteries, the land was seized by Henry VIII, passed to his son Edward VI, and given to John Russell, the 1st Earl of Bedford in 1552. It was the 4th Earl, Francis Russell, who had the grand vision for the area, asking British architect Inigo Jones in 1630 to create “houses and buildings fit for the habitations of gentlemen and men of ability”. Jones designed an Italianate square, bound by portico houses on two sides, with a church on the third. The abbey
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wall was left exposed. While all of the original houses have since been demolished, Bedford Chambers was rebuilt in 1878 with a similarly styled façade. A market appeared in 1654, but it quickly grew out of control. The surrounding houses had initially attracted wealthy Londoners, but when the market peddlers and donkeys took over, they soon left for more civilised Soho and Mayfair. As the aristocracy moved out, the creatives moved in. Poet William Blake worked as an apprentice engraver at 31 Great Queen Street, and author Charles Dickens ran his weekly magazine, All the Year Round, from 26 Tavistock Street. It wasn’t just British talents who were attracted to this central hub. Italian painter
Canaletto lodged with a cabinet-maker in Silver Street, Austrian composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart with a barber off St Martin’s Lane and French philosopher Voltaire with a wig-maker at Maiden Lane. In the early 1700s, Button’s coffee house in Bow Street was the place to be. The writer Joseph Addison installed a letterbox shaped like a lion’s head there to garner responses to articles in his newspapers. Fellow writers Alexander Pope and Jonathan Swift often swung by. Button’s closed in 1754, but the building has become a coffee house again: a branch of Starbucks. At that time Covent Garden was lively, but chaotic. Pickpocketing was so common that wary (and wealthy) men employed people to carry them through the night
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Clockwise, from this image: Stalls of handmade gifts in the Apple Market; St Paul’s Church has theatrical links; the flower market in 1872
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streets by sedan chair. There were 22 gambling dens in the area; and 107 brothels in Drury Lane alone. In 1780, during the Gordon Riots, anti-Catholic mobs tore down houses and set fire to a prison. Soldiers, sent to keep the peace, killed about 700 people. To bring order to the market, the 6th Duke of Bedford, John Russell, commissioned Charles Fowler to design a neoclassical building to cover the stalls. The attempt in 1830 was a partial success, but a visit would hardly have been a calm experience. Costermongers thrust silkworms and fried eggs into the hands of passers-by; Irish basket-women bustled along with loads on their backs and their heads. When Dickens, in Little Dorrit, described it as “a place of past and present
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mystery, romance, abundance, want, beauty, ugliness, fair country gardens, and foul street gutters”, he is seeing the positives. For many, ugliness and gutters prevailed. Traffic has been the biggest problem in recent years, and in 1974, the market moved to Vauxhall in southwest London. Covent Garden was nearly demolished. Narrowly rescued, the piazza reopened as a more modern shopping area in 1980. To absorb a little history, head for the landmarks. St Paul’s Church on Bedford Street was part of the initial grand design. The Earl asked Jones for a simple church “not much better than a barn”, to which Jones replied, “Then you shall have the handsomest barn in England”. Rebuilt in 1795 following a fire, the style reflects an early Roman temple. The church has strong theatrical links. It is known as the Actors’ Church because of its proximity to the Theatre Royal and the Royal Opera House (ROH). The latter was built as the Covent Garden Theatre in 1732. It too has suffered fires, but the outside, foyer and auditorium have been around since 1858 –you can drink champagne in
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the old Floral Hall, once an exotic flower market, and today part of the theatre. Now home to the Royal Opera and Royal Ballet companies, the ROH held the first performances in England of Verdi’s Rigoletto, Tosca’s Madama Butterfly and Wagner’s The Ring Cycle. Real life has occasionally matched the melodrama on stage: in 1779, Martha Ray, the mistress of the 4th Earl of Sandwich, was killed by her admirer, the Rev. James Hackman, outside. The nearby Theatre Royal on Drury Lane is the oldest continuously used theatre in London, even if the current building is the fourth to be built on the site. The theatre first opened in 1663 and held performances by Nell Gwyn, the mistress of King Charles II. That theatre was destroyed by fire in 1672. The second building opened two years later, staging performances by Charles Macklin, who murdered a fellow actor in the green room. That building was demolished to make way for a larger theatre in 1794, yet despite having the world’s first safety curtain, it burned down just 15 years later. The current theatre opened in 1812 and the
front of house looks very similar today. Aside from culture, the area has several historic pubs, including one of the oldest in London: the Lamb & Flag on Rose Street. There has been a pub on the site since at least 1772, when it was called the Cooper’s Arms and staged bare-knuckle prize fights, acquiring the nickname ‘Bucket of Blood’. Rules, on Maiden Lane, was founded in 1798, making it London’s oldest restaurant. Serving traditional British food such as oysters and pies, it has long been a favourite of everyone from HG Wells to Charlie Chaplin. The original Ivy restaurant is in Covent Garden, too, opening in 1917 as an Italian café. A celebrity haunt even then, it attracted actors Marlene Dietrich and Noël Coward, and retains its glamour. In fact, the whole area bears a striking resemblance to its past. Even the numerous street performers are part of a rich history – the first performance of Punch and Judy took place outside St Paul’s Church. It can be a challenge, however, to find a singing flower girl, especially one that looks like Hepburn. But then they did shoot that film in Hollywood. n
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AT A GLANCE… See the city commute in a new light at the London Transport Museum, home to old Routemaster buses and vintage Tube posters. The exhibition Poster Girls (until November 2018) focuses on 100 years of female graphic designers. www.ltmuseum.co.uk
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The area is blessed with countless stunning theatres. Look out for the sweeping Art Deco grandeur of the Savoy-facing Adelphi Theatre, the triple-balconied Novello Theatre (formerly The Strand, renamed after Welsh composer Ivor Novello who once lived there with his mother), and the grand dame of Drury Lane, the Theatre Royal. www.officiallondontheatre.co.uk
We listen to what ou and then exceed thei
We listen to what our clients want and then exceed their expectations. Agent 007 has taken over the London Film Museum, as the entire venue is devoted to Bond in Motion. Pose with original cars, including Bond’s Aston Martin, while the mezzanine gallery contains storyboards and concept art. www.londonfilmmuseum.com
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The Grade I-listed Royal Opera House is also home to a second royal company, the Royal Ballet. Highlights of the 2018 season include Verdi’s Shakespearean opera Macbeth (25 March to 10 April) and the Royal Ballet’s new take on Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake (17 May to 21 June). www.roh.org.uk
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The stunning Royal Opera House auditorium Above left Visitors relax in the Italianate square
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Shall I be
Mother? London is the spiritual home of the afternoon tea. Martha Alexander samples the capital’s best, from the classic to the contemporary
Mondrian London
The Wyld Tea at the Dandelyan bar of this boutique riverside hotel is boozy, beautiful and bends the rules. It boasts a 1970s-inspired food menu and a changing array of cocktails created by award-winning bartender Ryan ‘Mr Lyan’ Chetiyawardana to complement it. Everything nods to botany – from the Cake or Death cocktail with its mint-stem infused Caña Brava and nettle cordial to the Blackcurrant and Verbena Battenberg cake. With four courses, each served with a fitting cocktail, this is the perfect choice for the bon vivant. Wyld teas aren’t just for imbibers: there is a ‘boozeless’ option with plenty of hand blended, loose-leaf teas from Camellia’s Tea House. If you don’t fall in love with the Tom Dixondesigned pink leather banquettes, just gaze out at the Thames – the views across to St Paul’s Cathedral are epic. Upper Ground, London SE1. www.morganshotelgroup.com
T
ea. It is our national obsession: we drink 165 million cups of it every day and think there’s nothing a nice brew won’t fix. A good cuppa is a British institution, cutting through class, status and wealth. Yet an afternoon tea is a totally different animal. It’s a celebration, a fancy treat of crust-less sandwiches, delicate pastries, loose-leaf tea, and a whole load of cake. While tea has been popular in the UK since the 17th century, afternoon tea became a meal in its own right in the 1840s thanks to Anna Maria Russell, the 7th Duchess of Bedford, who began serving it to stave off mid-afternoon hunger pangs. Other fashionable ladies soon followed suit. Over time it became an important social occasion: the best china would come out to deliver the tastiest of treats. Sample this delicious ritual today at one of these seven carefully chosen destinations.
One of the grandest hotels in London, The Connaught has welcomed royalty, politicians and film stars since it opened in 1897. Afternoon tea is now served in the Jean-Georges restaurant, which only opened this year. Overlooking Mayfair, guests can’t help but feel that this really is ‘the life’ as they take their first sip of tea (or Laurent-Perrier champagne for an extra kick). There is a traditional savoury start with finger sandwiches filled with English classics such as Coronation chicken or cucumber. The pastries are like jewels: especially tasty is the Orange Blossom with touches of bitter lemon. This gloriously excessive menu is not for those with the appetite of a sparrow, as pastries are followed by a raisin scone with clotted cream and a chocolate fondue. Carlos Place, London W1. www.the-connaught.co.uk
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NICOLAS BUISSON/RAY MAIN
The Connaught
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Fortnum & Mason
Opened by HM The Queen to mark her 60 years on the throne, the Diamond Jubilee Tea Salon is a calm retreat from the hustle and bustle of the vast Fortnum & Mason fine food department store. The tables are laid with ‘Fortnum’s turquoise’ crockery and fresh flowers on crisp white cloths. The Battenberg cake is a staple, having been served here since 1926. No one is certain about the pink-and-yellow chequered cake’s origins, however. Was it invented to celebrate the marriage of Princess Victoria to Prince Louis of Battenberg in 1884? Wherever it came from, it’s a must-have. Fortnum & Mason’s tea salon caters for all with thoughtful options for vegetarians, vegans and coeliacs. It also offers a savoury menu for those without a sweet tooth. Arguably, the best thing about this experience is being able to shop for all the ingredients in the food halls afterwards. Bliss! Piccadilly, London W1. www.fortnumandmason.com
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Taking tea at The Ritz is a pretty big deal and you’ll need to dress for the occasion, including jackets and ties for men. Denim and trainers are strictly forbidden too. This most famous of London hotels is right to insist on a dress code. From the moment you are ushered into Palm Court – the camp, gilded theatre of a room in which the afternoon tea is served – you are treated like a VIP. The Ritz is the only hotel in Britain with a certified tea sommelier who visits plantations around the world and offers guests guidance on which of the 18 loose-leaf varieties (including the Ritz Royal Tea Blend) to try. The waiters start by serving a glass of champagne and are attentive, very charming and full of jokes – the days of stiff formality are clearly over. Plates of fresh sandwiches keep appearing so you never finish them and just when you think you might have to be rolled out of there, a cake trolley is wheeled up and you’ll find yourself saying yes to another intricate coconut and milk chocolate confection. Piccadilly, London W1. www.theritzlondon.com
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MICHAEL WEBER PHOTOGRAPHY/ANTONIO BUSIELLO
The Ritz
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Sketch
The décor in this multi-room Mayfair eatery is surreal to say the least. Afternoon tea is served in the Gallery, which is a joyful assault of powder pink, from the banquettes to the paintwork – it’s like dining inside a gum bubble. Original drawings by David Shrigley adorn the walls, and the British artist’s sense of humour is also writ large on the crockery – your teacup tells you to ‘forget about it’, adding to the off-beat atmosphere. Despite the dedication to aesthetics, Sketch takes afternoon tea seriously. A gold trolley holds more than 40 different jars of tea, including a suitably sweet whole rosebud tea. And do try the fig jam on your scones, a brilliant departure from conventional strawberry. Pommery Brut Silver champagne is also available – an ideal toast to this whimsical tea party. Conduit Street, London W1. www.sketch.london
The Langham The Langham claims to be the birthplace of afternoon tea, with delicious delicacies and tasty teas served in the Palm Court since 1865. Today, the Art Deco interior continues to be the jewel in the crown of this famous central London hotel. The Wedgwood Afternoon Tea pays scrumptious homage to the celebrated British ceramics company: the entire feast served on ‘Langham Rose’ crockery. Waiters serve sandwiches – Burford Brown egg and Scottish smoked salmon – from trays to your plates, ensuring they are always fresh. Interestingly for such an acceptably indulgent meal, The Langham is on something of a health kick, and some of the pastries and cakes contain less sugar than is traditional. Portland Place, London W1. www.langhamhotels.com
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The Art Afternoon Tea at Rosewood London is an ode to the capital’s contemporary art scene. Laid out in the hotel’s Mirror Room, a relaxed but sumptuous space decorated by an abundance of reflective glass, you can expect traditional loose-leaf tea, scones and sandwiches (the Le Madru ham, Comté and mustard gets our vote). When the pastries arrive, all conventionality ceases thanks to the imaginative and intricate art-inspired designs, painstakingly devised by executive pastry chef, Mark Perkins. Each one focuses on a famous work by different artists including Mark Rothko, Damien Hirst and Banksy. Art lovers won’t take long to guess which is which – Hirst’s distinctive spots decorate a white chocolate and cassis jelly tart, while the Rothko is a coconut sponge cake of different coloured layers. And if you can escape the guilt involved in taking a mouthful out of a mini masterpiece, the Rosewood is an unashamedly modern update on a classic tradition. n High Holborn, London WC1. www.rosewoodhotels.com
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Chelsea’s F Walk of Fame It might look like just another grand street, yet Cheyne Walk has been home to everyone from King Henry VIII to Sir Mick Jagger, as Laura Silverman discovers
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ew streets in London can have attracted as many famous names as Cheyne Walk in Chelsea: JMW Turner, George Eliot and Sir Mick Jagger, to name a few. The street, which runs parallel to the King’s Road, and extends from the World’s End Estate to Royal Hospital Road, is composed of a wealth of tall, elegant houses, built largely in the 17th and 18th centuries. Before the construction of the Chelsea Embankment in 1874, the houses even fronted the River Thames. Idyllic. Now firmly part of west London, Chelsea was once a village on the outskirts of the city – more of a sprinkling of houses across fields. It became popular in the 16th century with royal officials and courtiers who wanted to live near Whitehall. Then the names started coming. Sir Thomas More,
Henry VIII’s adviser, settled in the area, swiftly followed by the king himself. In 1536, Henry built his New Manor House in Cheyne Walk, living there on and off with several of his wives, including his sixth and final spouse, Catherine Parr. The New Manor House, or Chelsea Place as it was later known, was also the childhood home of Elizabeth, Henry’s daughter with Anne Boleyn and a future Queen. After the English Civil War, the house was sold to the Cheyne family, who gave their name to the street. It then fell into the hands of Sir Hans Sloane, King George I’s doctor, who lived there until his death in 1753. The house was demolished in 1755, but the original garden still exists, containing mulberry trees believed to be planted by the young Elizabeth I.
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At the time of Sloane’s arrival, Cheyne Walk pulsed with life. Don Saltero’s at No 18 was the place to go, housing a coffee shop run by Sir Hans’ former valet, John Salter. The shop had a unique draw: as well as offering a steaming mug of caffeine, it had a display of stuffed crocodiles, turtles and rattlesnakes donated by the doctor. An advert in Mist’s Weekly Journal in 1728 boasted that the café included ‘monsters of all sorts’: apparently, a real appeal. Scientist Sir Isaac Newton was a regular. Visitors also flocked to the ‘medicinal baths’ at No 6. This was the third in a chain run by the Italian doctor Dominicetti. The others were at Bristol and Milbank. About 16,000 patients attended his three establishments between 1755 and 1780. Popular as they were, some claimed he was
a ‘quack’. Samuel Johnson, the writer, told one believer in bathing cures: “Well, Sir, go to Dominicetti and get thyself fumigated, but be sure that the steam is directed to thy head, for that is the peccant part.” As the years went by, Chelsea grew almost too popular. Industrialisation brought cargo and noise, lowering the area’s appeal to anyone who could afford a quieter spot. Surprisingly, it worked in the area’s favour: Cheyne Walk became affordable to those with taste, but little money. Writers and artists made the area their own. In 1862, the painter Dante Gabriel Rossetti, the poet Algernon Swinburne and the writer George Meredith tumbled into No 16. What a house share it was. An armadillo, a kangaroo and wombats were kept in the back garden, as well as
peacocks – although the birds were eventually banned for their screeching. Servant girls who would hang around Cremorne Gardens at the end of the road inspired Rossetti’s Pre-Raphaelite paintings. A lifetime’s worth of galleries could be filled with the work of other artists who have populated the street. James Abbott McNeill Whistler, the 19th-century artist, lived at No 96, the largest part of what was once Lindsey House, the original manor house of Chelsea. Whistler bought it for £2,000; today, it is worth £25 million. JMW Turner, meanwhile, lived at No 119, building a balcony for a clearer view of the Thames, which he would often sketch. Landscape painter Cecil Gordon Lawson lived at No 15; his first submission to the Royal Academy of Arts was even titled
Clockwise, from left: Grand terraced houses in Cheyne Walk; the River Thames on the opposite side of the Embankment; former resident Sir Hans Sloane; Chelsea Old Church
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simply Cheyne Walk. Today, Gerald Scarfe, the political illustrator famed for his work on Pink Floyd’s The Wall, continues the street’s artistic tradition, living here with his wife, the actress Jane Asher. The literary tradition of Cheyne Walk is equally illustrious, with the imposing redbrick edifice of Carlyle Mansions even acquiring the nickname ‘The Writers’ Block’ for its library of residents. TS Eliot wrote his play The Cocktail Party at No 19, Henry James penned The Portrait of a Lady at No 21, and Ian Fleming began writing his first James Bond novel, Casino Royale, at No 24. Elsewhere in Cheyne Walk, Cranford author Elizabeth Gaskell was born at No 93; Bram Stoker, the creator of Dracula, stayed briefly at No 27; poet Hilaire Belloc lived at No 104; and Mary Anne Cross (better
Clockwise, from above: Painter Dante Gabriel Rossetti with writer Theodore Watts-Dunton at No 16; Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards and Anita Pallenberg at No 3 in 1970; many of the houses have been turned into flats; Albert Bridge opposite
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known as Middlemarch novelist George Eliot), died at No 4. While these are all private houses, a little more is known about No 4, after former Mayor of New York, Michael Bloomberg, bought the property in 2015. The Grade II*-listed mansion, which dates from 1715, has an original ceiling mural of Venus by James Thornhill, who painted the dome of St Paul’s Cathedral. Musicians aren’t to be outdone either. Composer Ralph Vaughan Williams wrote his first three symphonies at No 13, while The Rolling Stones caused the largest stir, with three of the band having called Cheyne Walk home. In the late 1960s, Mick Jagger and his girlfriend Marianne Faithfull lived at No 48, Ronnie Wood lived at No 119, and Keith Richards and Anita Pallenberg lived at No 3. The houses attracted hordes
Top left: Berry Bros. & Rudd, Britain’s oldest wine shop This image: The shop’s Georgian interior Left: Lock & Co. hats are cleaned using a steamer
of fans – and police officers during several reported drugs raids. Mick lived here until 1975, and he returned in 2009, buying another house on the street with his then-girlfriend, the designer L’Wren Scott. Today, Cheyne Walk is in a prime location: walking distance to central London, right by the Thames and close to Battersea Park. Much of the architecture, even those houses now divided into flats, are grand and elegant. Residents shop on the King’s Road, once a hotbed of 1960s style, associated with Mary Quant and Vivienne Westwood, now the natural home of designer stores, high-street names and upmarket bars and restaurants. And then there’s the history of its many famous residents – an ever-growing list that makes it an even more desirable place to live. n
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AT A GLANCE… Chelsea Old Church contains a memorial plaque to author Henry James and a clock made by Dent, the makers of Big Ben’s famous face. www.chelseaoldchurch.org.uk
and Jane Carlyle once entertained the likes of Charles Dickens. It is now in National Trust care. www.nationaltrust.org.uk/ carlyles-house
While the rest of the street is almost exclusively private residences, Cheyne Walk Brasserie brings a little Parisian culinary flair to a former Victorian pub at No 50. www.cheynewalkbrasserie.com
Founded in 1673, Chelsea Physic Garden is one of London’s oldest botanic gardens and contains 5,000 medicinal and historical plants. www.chelseaphysicgarden.co.uk
One local residence you can visit is Carlyle’s House [right] in adjacent Cheyne Row. The former home of 19th-century literary couple Thomas
Further up Royal Hospital Road, the National Army Museum houses five galleries covering British military history from the English Civil War to the present day. www.nam.ac.uk
Distinguished Savile Row tailors Henry Poole & Co.
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HISTORY
Richard Rothwell’s 1840 portrait of Mary Shelley Top right: Theodore von Holst’s illustration for the 1831 edition of her novel, Frankenstein
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MARY SHELLEY
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W
hen Mary Shelley, but accidental reflection of the the author of way the fates of the two – creator Frankenstein: and created – are inextricably or, The Modern intertwined in the book, as well Prometheus, died in 1851, a as in the popular imagination. worrying rewriting of history began The novel’s birth, like Mary’s own that continued for decades. A trend tragic arrival in the world, is now appeared in the obituaries of the the stuff of legend. She writes about time: “It is not... as the authoress it in the revised 1831 version of the even of Frankenstein... that she book – the 1818 edition had been derives her most enduring and published anonymously. Mary Shelley wrote Frankenstein while endearing title to our affection,” Mary began the novel in Geneva, she was still a teenager. Two centuries on, ran a piece in The Literary Gazette, Switzerland, where she had eloped “but as the faithful and devoted at 16 with Shelley and a group that Nicola Rayner explores the troubled wife of Percy Bysshe Shelley.” also included the poet Lord Byron gestation of this landmark British novel Others followed suit, focusing on and Mary’s stepsister, Clara Mary her roles as wife of the famous poet Jane Clairmont, known as “Claire”, and daughter of the renowned radicals William Godwin and Mary who was madly in love with Byron and pregnant with his child. Wollstonecraft. The latter, the author of A Vindication of the Rights The impetuous young Claire, after seeing her stepsister elope with of Women, had died of puerperal fever 11 days after giving birth to a renowned Romantic poet, decided she wanted one of her own Mary in a tragedy that would colour her daughter’s life for ever. But and pursued a largely indifferent Byron relentlessly. Mary Shelley was extraordinary in her own right and one need look To add to what must have been a charged atmosphere of no further than her Gothic masterpiece Frankenstein to understand unrequited love and recriminations, June and July 1816 – dubbed that. Published 200 years ago, in 1818, it still has an astonishing the “year without a summer” – were wet and uncongenial. The power – and Mary wrote it when she was barely 19 years old. assembled party regularly holed up around the fire, telling stories Often called the first true work of science fiction, the novel tells and swapping ideas. On one particular night, Lord Byron threw the story of scientist Victor Frankenstein and the most famous down the gauntlet, as Mary writes in her introduction: “We will experiment-gone-wrong in literary history. One of those words each write a ghost story,” he announced. that has migrated from its original meaning, “Frankenstein” has In Mary’s version of events, the challenge was a struggle and been used so often to refer to the scientist’s vengeful creature, as inspiration finally struck in a waking dream: “I saw the pale student well as the man himself, that it is almost acceptable. It is a neat of unhallowed arts kneeling beside the thing he had put together.
The Birth of a Monster
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I saw the hideous phantasm of a man stretched out, and then, on the working of some powerful engine, show signs of life.” Attributing her inspiration to a vision could have been modesty on Mary’s part or, as Charlotte Gordon points out in Romantic Outlaws, a tactical move to distance herself from the creation of a novel many believed was too grotesque to be written by a delicate young woman. Whatever the reason, it made for a good story, and Mary knew a good story when she heard one. She describes sitting as a “devout but nearly silent listener” in conversations between Shelley and Byron about galvanism – Galvani’s most famous work involved animating dead animals with electrical currents – and the “experiments of Dr Darwin”. On an earlier European trip, there had been another source of inspiration. Mary had caught sight of the towers of a castle called Frankenstein, a few miles north of Mannheim, where, legend had it, alchemist Konrad Dippel was so obsessed with finding a cure for death that he attempted to bring stolen corpses back to life. Which is not to say that Frankenstein came purely from external sources. The novel is full of Mary Shelley – her Swiss surroundings, her passion for the natural world, her loves and losses. The book, which took nine months to write, also corresponds with her own gestation, starting in December 17— and ending in September 17— (Mary famously didn’t specify years in the book). Mary Wollstonecraft conceived in early December 1796, gave birth to Mary on 30 August 1797 and died on 10 September 1797. Charlotte Gordon writes: “By connecting Frankenstein to her own genesis, Mary hints at the many ties she felt to her story... Since the novel is framed by Walton’s letters to Margaret, whose initials were the same as Mary’s now that she had married Shelley (MWS), it is as though she wrote the tale for herself.” With its deep sense of wildness and loss, dying children and absent mothers – or creators – Frankenstein’s subjects were ones with which Mary was all too familiar. In February 1815, she lost her first child, born prematurely. Not long after her baby died, in a heartbreaking passage in her journal she wrote: “Dream that my little baby came to life again; that it had only been cold, and that we rubbed it before the fire, and it lived.” It was a haunting foreshadowing of the creature brought to life in her novel. Death had accompanied Mary’s entrance to the world. Brought up by her grief-stricken father, she had learned to read tracing the letters on her mother’s gravestone in St Pancras churchyard. It was at Wollstonecraft’s gravestone, too, that, in 1814, she first declared her love for Shelley, a disciple of her father’s who had been captivated by Mary’s flame-haired beauty, fierce intelligence and
impeccable revolutionary credentials, as well as “the irresistible wildness and sublimity of her feelings”. Mary thought her reactionary father would understand – her parents were against marriage and had resisted it initially themselves. Unfortunately, when it came to his daughter, Godwin was more conventional and he disowned Mary when she eloped with Shelley. Nor was he won over by her dedication to him in Frankenstein, which suggested to the world, along with Shelley’s preface, that the poet was the author of the anonymous publication. As the person closest to Mary, Shelley did, of course, influence Frankenstein, both in terms of his character – he had conducted some pretty macabre scientific experiments himself as a young man – and as an editor, but Mary did the same for him. The pair encouraged and supported each other’s writing throughout their time together. Despite their mutually collaborative efforts, it is rarely suggested that Mary is responsible for Shelley’s work, though the reverse, of course, has been claimed since Frankenstein appeared – and continues to be a matter of debate among some scholars. The couple married in 1816 following the suicide of Shelley’s wife, Harriet – one of many tragedies that put a strain on their relationship, including the death of their children, Clara and William, which caused Mary to retreat into herself and Shelley to look for attention elsewhere. They lived briefly in Marlow, Buckinghamshire, but preferred to travel in Europe. Sadly, the couple had not recovered from these rifts when Shelley drowned at sea during a storm off the Italian coast in 1822. Throughout her life, Mary’s tendency to withdraw into herself during dark times was misinterpreted by those around her, not least her flamboyantly expressive husband. There were depressive tendencies in her family: her mother and half-sister, Fanny Imlay, had both attempted suicide – the latter successfully in October 1816. Yet Mary believed she had something worth living for: her one surviving child, Percy Shelley, with whom she returned to London, where she pursued her career as a novelist, biographer and travel writer. She also tirelessly edited and promoted her husband’s work, treading a fine line between doing so and keeping peace with her father-in-law, who still blamed her for the scandal of the elopement. Percy Shelley was devoted to his mother and she to him, but it was with his wife, Jane, that the rewriting of history began. Jane burned the more contentious parts of her mother-in-law’s journals and letters, leaving for posterity Mary Shelley as dutiful wife, mother and daughter rather than the radical talent she truly was. It took the 1970s – and the rise of feminism – to change that. n
“The novel’s birth, like Mary Shelley’s own tragic arrival in the world, is now the stuff of legend”
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PHOTO 12/CHARLIE HARDING/CURZON ARTIFICIAL EYE/JOE DUNCKLEY/NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY, LONDON/CAROLYN JENKINS/ALAMY
MARY SHELLEY
MARY SHELLEY
This page, clockwise from top left: Marlow in Buckinghamshire, Mary’s home while writing Frankenstein; Elle Fanning stars in forthcoming film, Mary Shelley; St Pancras Old Church, London; Percy Bysshe Shelley; Mary’s grave at St Peter’s Church, Bournemouth Facing page, inset: The cover of a late 19th-century edition of Frankenstein
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THE INSIDER
LOCH NESS Discover facts and stories about the freshwater lake with the (possibly) mythical monster
CRASH SITE
IN NUMBERS 1
On 29 September 1952, racing driver John Cobb attempted to break the world’s water speed record on Loch Ness. While he succeeded in being the first person to travel more than 200mph on water, Cobb was killed in the process as his Crusader speedboat lost control.
Number of islands in the loch
7
Number of recorded sightings in 2017 according to the website www.lochnesssightings.com
36
Length (in km) of the loch
230
The maximum recorded depth (in metres) of the loch
60,000,000
STRANGE BUT TRUE
The estimated value (in £GBP) of Nessie to the Scottish economy
The volume of water in Loch Ness measures some 7 billion cubic metres – large enough to hide the world’s entire human population. No wonder a single monster is so hard to find!
DID YOU KNOW?
HERITAGE IMAGE PARTNERSHIP/ALAMY/ANDREW PICKETT/VISITSCOTLAND/VISITBRITAIN
The first recorded sighting of the Loch Ness “water beast” came in AD 565 courtesy of St Columba. According to his biography, the Christian pilgrim invoked God’s name to banish the beast after it attacked one of his followers.
W
hile neither the longest nor deepest body of water in the British Isles, Loch Ness is nevertheless the largest by volume, containing as it does more freshwater than can be found in all the lakes, rivers and reservoirs in England and Wales combined. It is also the most famous. Whether or not you believe in the existence of the Loch Ness monster, this steep-sided lake, sitting in a geological fault line that bisects Scotland, has more than enough murky depths to hide a few secrets. Over the years, the desire to find conclusive evidence that the monster exists
has led to a host of expeditions that range from the scientific to the eccentric. A decade of work by the Loch Ness Phenomena Investigation Bureau, for example, began in 1962, employing submarines, infrared cameras and sonar. More recently, US actor Charlie Sheen stayed at Aldourie Castle and donned a bronze helmet for an unsuccessful late night sortie in search of “Nessie” during the summer of 2013. So does the monster really exist? While all manner of hoaxes abound, more plausible theories suggest that the monster could be a descendent of the prehistoric Plesiosaurus, a description that fits with many of the claimed sightings. In 1959,
Dr Denys Tucker, a curator at London’s Natural History Museum, put forward this theory in several lectures, leading the museum’s trustees to issue a memo banning all staff from discussing the monster. Of course, there is more to Loch Ness than just Nessie spotting. On the western bank sits Urquhart Castle, once one of Scotland’s largest medieval fortresses left ruined since the Jacobite Risings. The nearby village of Drumnadrochit is home to the Loch Ness Centre and Exhibition, a fascinating museum that also maps 500 million years of local geological history and folklore with translations available in 17 languages. n
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ROYAL PAVILION
Dream Palace
From hospital and humble lodgings to party palace and queenly abode, Brighton’s Royal Pavilion has enjoyed a series of reincarnations. Martha Alexander looks at the many guises of this extraordinary building 76 discoverbritainmag.com
ROYAL PAVILION
Brighton’s Royal Pavilion Right: The Prince of Wales lived a life of excess
EYE35.PIX/WORLD HISTORY ARCHIVE/ALAMY
H
ospitals are usually stark places: functional, unglamorous and often grave. They are not frivolous, fancy or fun. So it might be a surprise to learn that Brighton’s Royal Pavilion – the ornate palace in the heart of this energetic English seaside town, laden with minarets and turrets, dazzling with decorative features and so defiantly aesthetic – was once home to wounded soldiers. During the First World War, some 2,300 injured servicemen from the Indian Army were treated here in what was known as the Pavilion Hospital. Elaborate arrangements were made for the patients’ variety of religious and cultural needs, including different kitchens and prayer areas. Certainly, it’s not a role the palace’s creator would have predicted for it. King George IV was charming, fast-living and utterly irresponsible: in the history of bad boys you’d be hard pushed to find one as wayward and defiant as this Regency royal. Attention seeking and eccentric, George’s character is perfectly reflected in the Brighton Pavilion that he commissioned as a seaside retreat. Since his birth in 1762, the Prince of Wales, as George was then, was brought up in a strict environment, stifled by discipline, expectation and protocol. It wasn’t long before he began to rebel. By 21, the young prince loved nothing more than to swig alcohol, feast on fine food, womanise, and go to wild parties. And where better for a royal bon vivant to enjoy a life of excess than Brighton? In the early 1780s, the seaside town was swiftly transforming from a quaint fishing village on England’s south coast into a fashionable coastal retreat for the rich and famous. George was so taken by it, that he initially rented a distinctly ordinary house facing the Steine – the old promenade where fishermen would hang their nets. Ostensibly, he was there to cure his recurring gout, an unpleasant by-product of his lifestyle. The seawater treatments offered in Brighton were said to be potently restorative. However, Brighton also served as a place where he could conduct his illicit affair with Maria Fitzherbert, who he eventually married in secret, despite it being illegal because of her Roman Catholicism. The prince’s penchant for excess saw him plough through money until he had to beg Parliament to clear his debts.
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They wiped the slate clean and gave him an even larger income on the condition that he married his first cousin, Princess Caroline of Brunswick, in 1795. Although the marriage was a disaster from the off, George was rich once again and rather than have the money burn a hole in his pocket, he promptly hired architect Henry Holland to revamp his modest Brighton house into a smart seaside villa, known as the Marine Pavilion, complete with Chinese export furniture and hand-painted oriental wallpapers. He also threw money at his horses. His steeds lived more impressively than most people by 1808 when the new stable complex was completed housing 62 horses. A vast structure that overshadowed the prince’s own dwellings, this building now houses Brighton Museum and the Brighton Dome concert hall. It wasn’t long before the prince was plotting a bigger, better seaside home. In 1811, George became Prince Regent – a prince who rules a monarchy – after his father, George III, was declared unfit to reign due to mental illness. With the prince’s new role came a fresh desire for home improvements. After all, he’d be hosting all sorts of important parties and the Marine Pavilion was simply far too small. Within four years, George had commissioned architect John Nash, who would later work on Buckingham Palace, to begin the transformation from modest villa into the magnificent oriental palace that we see today. Nash’s design for the pavilion was a clear response to the existing stables’ Indian influence: an opulent Eastern exterior the likes of which were beyond the imaginations of most Brits at the time. The exterior was only the beginning, however, and George’s extravagance was unstoppable. He wanted bombastic interiors: lavish, sophisticated, rich. The Prince Regent hired artist-designers Frederick Crace and Robert Jones to execute his vision. George was delighted with this new project and would frequently give post-dinner tours of the palace, architectural plans in hand, pointing out developments to his guests. One of the most stunning rooms is the Banqueting Room. Here, George would treat his guests to up to 70 different dishes per meal in yet another display of outrageous excess. The banquets would last hours in this vast room themed around Chinese domesticity. Suspended 30 feet high from the claws of a silver dragon, the central chandelier comprises a further six dragons who appear to be producing light from their mouths. There is an original sideboard, on loan from HM The Queen, which features yet more dragon motifs. The collection of Regency silver gilt, meanwhile, is the most important of its kind anywhere on public view. George would have also insisted on his silverware being out to highlight his wealth. The Great Kitchen at the Royal Pavilion is notable for being one of the first that was acceptable to show to guests. Most kitchens on big estates were for ‘downstairs’ staff only, but George’s need for innovation and luxury extended to domestic matters. His kitchen included the latest technology, including steam heating, a constant water supply and a complex ventilation system. George was an original foodie. Not only did he have a formidable appetite for rich, fatty foods, but he also insisted that his meals looked beautiful, too. He employed French chef Marie Antonin Carême, who created dishes that were as much about
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HULTON ARCHIVE/GETTY IMAGES/BRIGHTON MUSEUMS
ROYAL PAVILION
GEORGE MUNDAY/HEMIS/THE NATIONAL TRUST PHOTOLIBRARY/ALAMY. PREVIOUS PAGE: MATTHEW ANTROBUS /NATIONAL TRUST IMAGES
ROYAL PAVILION
Clockwise, from top left: Indian soldiers recover in the Pavilion during the First World War; the Banqueting Room features a dragon chandelier [top right]; John Nash’s 1826 illustration of the room
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BRIGHTON LUXURY APARTMENTS
IN THE HEART OF THE CITY CENTRE A stones throw from the Lanes, beach, shops and bars, our apartments are perfectly placed for a weekend break or business trip in the city. At Brighton Luxury Apartments we strive to give you an unforgettable experience with our top spec accommodation. Why not make Brighton your next destination and be sure to stay with us, whether its a holiday or a business trip you can count on us for a great experience.
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THE ANGEL INN PETWORTH, WEST SUSSEX
Petworth and the surrounding area has so much to offer visitors. With award winning shops and antiques, vineyards, music and arts festivals, Petworth House and internationally acclaimed sporting events on the doorstep, there is something for all tastes and ages to experience.
Discover Britain - Dec/Jan 17 .indd 1
REST - RELAX - EXPLORE Enjoy a relaxing stay in one of The Angel’s six cosy and luxurious bedrooms. We have a variety of rooms to suit couples, families and individuals, all recently refurbished.
www.angelinnpetworth.co.uk t: +44(0)1798 344445 13/10/2017 15:02
ROYAL PAVILION
style as substance. Baking was his forte and, in true Great British Bake Off style, his “showstoppers” could be four feet tall. Such gastronomy was talked about long after it was digested, which naturally pleased George. Music was another of George’s passions and so, of course, he had a vast room in which his own band would perform with celebrated musicians of the day, including the Italian composer Rossini. However, it’s hard to imagine that listeners could concentrate on anything other than the décor. Dragons are a recurring motif and vivid red and gold chinoiserie canvases dominate. The oldest part of the Royal Pavilion is now known as the Prince Regent Gallery. This was George’s bedroom until 1823, when he was moved to apartments on the ground floor to make life easier for the portly royal who struggled to climb the stairs. As his weight gain became more serious and his gout more painful, George’s bed even had a special system to tip out its occupant. The king’s bathroom led off that bedroom and housed the latest in luxurious bathing equipment. Local springs meant that running water was readily available, so George enjoyed a properly plumbed bathroom and flushing toilets were installed throughout the palace. The palace can be said to have two interiors: the rooms designed for show filled with expensive furniture and art, and a second, secret interior of underground passages, hidden doors and secluded stairways. The corridor that runs beneath the palace was installed, not as is rumoured, to connect with Maria Fitzherbert’s house, but for privacy. As the years rolled by, George became not only very fat but also increasingly unpopular with his subjects. Embarrassed by his public image, he wanted to be able to cross his property without being spotted. Subsequent monarchs were far less attached to the Royal Pavilion. When George died in 1830, his brother William succeeded the throne, yet there is little of the new king’s personality impressed upon the palace, even though he enjoyed a relatively unremarkable life here. When Queen Victoria visited the Royal Pavilion in 1837, the year she took the throne, many took it as a sign of favour for the palace and Brighton as a whole. However, the truth was rather different. The Royal Pavilion wasn’t her style: she apparently thought the foreign influence “odd” and also felt the extravagant displays of wealth were unbecoming. She was further discouraged when the London to Brighton railway began running in 1841, encouraging mass tourism to the coast. With the palace in the heart of the town, Victoria felt an acute lack of privacy. On top of this, the Royal Pavilion was simply not big enough for her growing brood. In 1845, she sold the building to the town for £50,000, taking the furnishings with her. However, anyone looking into her rooms today – restored to reflect her residence at Royal Pavilion – will see an apartment just as smart as her uncle’s. Arguably the most unusual aspect of the building is the ‘bottle’ – the dome that crowns the Royal Pavilion’s saloon. It holds a suite of rooms that were once servants’ quarters. Its unkempt look, all peeling wallpaper and graffiti, is at odds with the rest of the palace, but the views from up here are surely the best Brighton has to offer. A bustling seafront, full of life, crowned by a fantasy palace: in essence, King George IV’s dream come true. n
BRIGHTON MUSEUMS
Attention seeking and eccentric, King George’s character is reflected in the Brighton Pavilion
Top: The highspecification kitchen was designed for show Above: The Pavilion’s entrance hall with painted windows Left: The South Galleries features rich Blue Verditer walls
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NORTHUMBERLAND
BEYOND BORDERS Once Britain’s most hotly contested county, today Northumberland is a beguiling mix of dramatic landscapes, ancient ruins and quaint market towns as Florence Sheward discovers
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NORTHUMBERLAND
Alnwick Castle starred as Hogwarts in the first two Harry Potter films
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NORTHUMBERLAND While it remains sparsely populated (even the county’s largest built-up area, the pretty market town of Blyth, is home to fewer than 40,000 people), Northumberland has long been an area in demand. Before the Union of the Crowns in 1603, relations between the kingdoms of England and Scotland were heated to say the least, and Northumberland’s location on the Anglo-Scottish border saw territories change hands frequently. The Wars of Scottish Independence began in March 1296, for example, with England’s brutal capture of Berwick-upon-Tweed. Despite this liminal existence, this is far from being a no man’s land. That conflicted history means the area is blessed with more than its fair share of castles, walls and ruins. And what Northumberland lacks in urban bustle, it more than makes up for in sheer variety. Want a beach holiday? Explore more than 40 miles of sand dunes and hidden coves along the Heritage Coast. Keen to get back to nature? Lose yourself in Kielder Forest or the National Park. Looking for a little historic drama? Seek out Roman forts or walk along Hadrian’s Wall, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Missing the comforts of your TV? Head to Alnwick Castle, a filming location featured in Downton Abbey, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves and several Harry Potter films. Fought over by many, Northumberland, it seems, has become the most accommodating county.
EXPLORE
NORTHUMBERLAND NATIONAL PARK One could spend a lifetime walking the Northumberland National Park without discovering every Roman ruin, crumbling farmhouse and natural wonder on the 250,000-acre site. Indeed, much of the enjoyment comes from the surprises that occur as you follow the many footpaths and guided walks. The Pennine Way, England’s first national trail, cuts north to south across the park on its way from the Peak District to the Scottish Borders, while Hadrian’s Wall also forges east to west on a route dotted with milecastles and dramatic escarpments. Highlights to search for include Sycamore Gap (winner of UK Tree of the Year in 2016) and The Sill, an ultra-modern National Landscape Discovery Centre complete with hostel and café. www.northumberlandnationalpark.org.uk
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NORTHUMBERLAND
BERWICK-UPON-TWEED Prior to Tudor times, Berwick was more hotly contested than a favourite child in a custody battle. England and Scotland were the warring parents and the town changed hands 13 times before eventually falling on the English side of the border in 1482 (although the local football team plays in the Scottish League Two). Two sets of walls exist around the town as a legacy from this era: the ruins of the original 13th-century defences and the later Elizabethan walls, which are among the finest surviving examples in Europe. Elsewhere, the Nicholas Hawksmoordesigned Berwick Barracks is home to several museums and displays, including the By Beat of Drum exhibition about life in the British infantry, and the Berwick Museum and Art Gallery, which features key works loaned from Glasgow’s Burrell Collection. Art lovers should also follow the Lowry Trail, based around Mancunian artist LS Lowry’s paintings of the town. www.visitberwick.com
LOOP IMAGES/ALAMY/PETER ATKINSON/NATIONAL TRUST IMAGES/JOE CORNISH
LINDISFARNE This Holy Island, accessed via a paved causeway only when the tide is out, has such a rich history that the 16th-century Lindisfarne Castle is often referred to as a “recent” addition (it is currently closed for restoration work and scheduled to reopen in April 2018). It was St Aidan who arrived from Iona in AD 635 and founded a monastery on the island to spread the word of the Christian faith. His teachings were compiled in the Lindisfarne Gospels, an illuminated manuscript book that is one of the treasures of London’s British Library. As well as pilgrim sites and religious retreats, the island also caters for the casual visitor with the National Trust-run Gertrude Jekyll Garden, the hip Pilgrims Coffee House and an English Heritage museum at the ruined priory. www.lindisfarne.org.uk
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Jackie Simkins
Bob Rutherford
05/06/17
Green Tourism & Heritage Guide 2017/2018
LANGLEY CASTLE HOTEL
LANGLEY CASTLE HOTEL 14th Century splendour...today 14th Century splendour...today.
Built in 1350, the magnificence of Langley Castle is apparent from the moment you enter the private and secluded 10 acre woodland estate. Langley offers Built in 1350, the magnificence of Langley Castle is apparent from the 27 luxuriously appointed guest rooms andyou anenter award winning restaurant. Full estate. moment the private and secluded 10 acre woodland offers 27 luxuriously appointed rooms and an award winning banqueting and conference facilitiesLangley are also available for up guest to 120 guests, restaurant. Full banqueting and conference facilities are also available for up with an option of hiring the Castle Exclusively. Whatever your reason for visiting, to 120 guests, with an option of hiring the Castle Exclusively. Whatever your you will be guaranteed a warm Northumbrian welcome. reason for visiting, you will be guaranteed a warm Northumbrian welcome. Langley on Tyne, Hexham, Northumberland Langley on Tyne, Hexham, Northumberland NE47 5LUNE47 5LU Tel: 01434 688888 Email:
[email protected] www.langleycastle.com Tel: +44 (0)1434 688888 Email:
[email protected] www.langleycastle.com
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Star-spangled getaways at Battlesteads Hotel Looking for a weekend away with a difference? An observatory break at Battlesteads Hotel is perfect for anyone interested in discovering Britain’s beautiful night skies. Located on the edge of Northumberland National Park, Euromedia Associates Ltd • Rhone House • Canal Side • Chorley • PR6 0BU Battleteads’ observatory is an official Dark Sky Discovery site, where on a clear night the Milky Way can be seen with the naked eye. One-night breaks at Battlesteads Hotel & Observatory start from £80 per person, including observatory tickets and breakfast. www.battlesteads.com
[email protected] +44 (0)1434 230 209 @Battlesteads
WASHINGTON IMAGING/ALAMY/NATIONAL TRUST IMAGES/NADIA MACKENZIE
NORTHUMBERLAND
VISIT NORTHUMBERLANDIA CRAGSIDE William George Armstrong was one of life’s visionaries. A keen angler, his time fishing inspired him to explore the potential of renewable energy. His company, Armstrong Whitworth, developed innovative hydraulic machinery. He was knighted in 1859 for gifting lucrative gun patents during the Crimean War and elevated to the House of Lords in Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee year. Cragside was Lord Armstrong’s country pile, the first home in the world to be lit by hydroelectricity. Now in National Trust care, the Electrical Room is filled with his many experiments. Outside, the three-acre Victorian formal garden is home to the newly-repainted Orchard House, used to cultivate exotic plants and fruits. www.nationaltrust.org.uk/cragside
While Dorset has the famous Cerne Abbas Giant, Northumberland has “The Lady of the North” – a similarly large human figure carved into the hillside. Aside from gender, however, the main difference is that while the Dorset giant is believed to date back to the 17th century at the very least, Northumberlandia is a contemporary piece of landform sculpture set within a 46-acre community park that only opened to the public five years ago. US-born landscape architect Charles Jencks designed the lady, taking inspiration from the nearby Cheviot Hills and packing more than 6km of paths into a figure that measures about 400 metres head to toe. Though neatly manicured now, the hope is that she will mature over time into a more natural, developed installation. www.northumberlandia.com
HEXHAM OLD GAOL England’s oldest purpose-built prison (or ‘gaol’) dates back to 1330 and held prisoners for almost 500 years. Today the building’s four floors are given over to a modest museum dedicated to crime and punishment. Descend the glass lift into the basement dungeon for a suitably atmospheric introduction, while mischievous family members can be placed in the stocks. Permanent exhibitions expand upon the theme, looking more broadly at border history, local archaeology, armour and weaponry. Further historical treasures can be found in nearby Hexham Abbey, the market town’s 12th-century parish church. www.hexhamoldgaol.org.uk
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Thistleyhaugh is a picturesque Georgian farmhouse situated on the banks of the River Coquet in the heart of rural Northumberland. Set in 720 acres of rganic farmland this beautiful rural retreat is the ideal location from which to sample the rugged beauty of the Cheviot Hills, the striking Co uetdale landscape and the magni cent orthumberland coastline.
Thistleyhaugh, Longhorsley, Morpeth, Northumberland NE65 8RG T/F: 01665 570 629 | E:
[email protected]
www.thistleyhaugh.co.uk
NORTHUMBERLAND
PEEL BOTHY, HEXHAM
SLEEP
With its remote location and modest size, this one-bed cottage doesn’t look fit for royalty. However, a plaque above the door commemorates the day in 1989 when this refurbished 1850s bothy was reopened by the Queen Mother (her uncle once owned the nearby Ridley Hall). Nowadays a bothy is often little more than an open shelter, yet this National Trust let is far more comfortably appointed, providing a cosy stop while exploring both Hadrian’s Wall and the pretty market town of Hexham. www.nationaltrust.org.uk/holidays
LORD CREWE ARMS The tiny village of Blanchland grew around the 12th-century Blanchland Abbey and what it is now the rather romantic, 21-bedroom Lord Crewe Arms began life as the local abbot’s lodgings and guesthouse. Over the years, the Grade II*-listed building has entertained all walks of life, as it became a manor house, then a hostelry for local tin miners, before the 20th century saw author WH Auden and composer Benjamin Britten among the hotel’s cultured guests. Today, period features such as open fireplaces and wood-beamed ceilings mix with contemporary luxuries like Roberts radios and rolltop baths. www.lordcrewearmsblanchland.co.uk
THE WAREN HOUSE HOTEL
For a base when visiting Bamburgh Castle and the Holy of Island of Lindisfarne, this Georgian country house hotel is a tempting retreat. The period décor is defiantly traditional (think Chesterfield sofas and clutters of family photos), but the welcome is always warm and friendly. The restaurant prides itself on diligently sourcing the finest local ingredients. www.warenhousehotel.co.uk
In medieval times, being “sent to the tower” resulted in imprisonment or death. At this 14th-century castle hotel near Hexham, however, this is simply the location of one of five feature rooms. You can truly live out your fairy-tale fantasies here with four-poster beds decked out in red and gold, and window seats set deep into the seven-foot walls. US professor Dr Stuart Madnick bought the castle in 1986, converting it into a hotel and later adding eight castle view rooms by renovating the old coach house and stables. www.langleycastle.co.uk
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NATIONAL TRUST IMAGES/ROGER COULAM
LANGLEY CASTLE
NORTHUMBERLAND
BAMBURGH CASTLE In the 7th century, Bamburgh was a royal city, home to the kings of Northumbria and regarded as “the very foundation stone” of England. The area was a key strategic outpost throughout the medieval era and by 1164 the heart of the current castle – the Great Tower – was built for the princely sum of £4. In 1894, the Victorian inventor Lord Armstrong of Cragside purchased the castle and it remains in his family today. Fourteen state rooms are open to the public, while the small Armstrong and Aviation Artefacts Museum pays tribute to the owner’s pioneering spirit. And talking of spirits, the site is said to be haunted by several ghosts, including The Pink Lady, a heartbroken medieval princess who threw herself on the rocks below.
KIELDER WATER & FOREST PARK With no major urban areas, resulting in minimal light pollution, Northumberland has particularly dark skies that make it an ideal place for stargazing. Nowhere is this more apparent than Kielder, home to both England’s largest working forest and Northern Europe’s largest man-made lake. The Kielder Observatory caters for wannabe astronomers, offering talks, late-night events and the chance to use the large telescopes, while three visitor centres include Kielder Castle, the former hunting lodge built by the Duke of Northumberland in 1775. Follow trail guides on the website to discover all manner of contemporary art installations and unique architectural sites dotted around the landscape, too. www.visitkielder.com
www.bamburghcastle.com
DON’T MISS This small medieval market town is full of surprises, from Barter Books, one of Britain’s largest secondhand bookshops, to the spectacular Alnwick Garden and the ornamental Brizlee Tower that overlooks the town from the west. The main draw, however, is Alnwick Castle [left], which starred as Hogwarts in the first two Harry Potter films, and is the home of the Duke and Duchess of Northumberland. Visitors can even go to broomstick training sessions. The Castle also offers dazzling Renaissance-style State Rooms and ‘Capability’ Brown grounds. n www.visitnorthumberland.com/alnwick
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CLAIRE WILLANS/ALAMY/VISITBRITAIN
ALNWICK
GREAT ESCAPES
1
Couples retreat Plan the perfect Valentine’s getaway at one of these five romantic hotels
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Grays Court Yorkshire
Edinburgh
If you’re looking for lasting love rather than a fleeting fling, prove your commitment at Grays Court in York – a building that has certainly stayed the distance. Dating back to 1080, this is thought to be the oldest inhabited house in Britain. The Jacobean, wood-panelled Long Gallery has hosted kings and you’ll feel like royalty when you look out of the windows onto either the historic York Minister or the hotel’s own private, rose-filled gardens in which afternoon tea is served. There are suitably romantic touches inside, with the individually designed rooms variously boasting double monsoon showers and a William IV four-poster bed, while The Bow Room restaurant caters to a select number of covers in elegant surrounds.
The interiors of this 17th-century hotel are something of a sensory overload, a riot of dark antique furniture, decorative flock wallpapers and rich scarlet-and-gold drapery. It is one of Britain’s most decadent hotel experiences and entirely fitting for a place with a wealth of history. Completed in 1687, the once-private estate welcomed Benjamin Franklin and Samuel Johnson as guests, while Sirs Winston Churchill and Elton John have frequented the property since it became a hotel in the 1960s. Little wonder that such figures gravitate towards a place that offers five-star service in a secluded locale just minutes from the capital’s Holyrood Park. Couples can curl up by the log fire in the Leather Room or sip a wee dram of a rare malt in the Whisky Bar.
www.grayscourtyork.com
www.prestonfield.com
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Prestonfield House
GREAT ESCAPES
2
THE RED CARNATION HOTEL COLLECTION
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4
Old Railway Station
West Sussex
The Chesterfield London
5
Ardanaiseig Argyllshire
Channel a little Brief Encounter-style romance with a night at the former Petworth railway station. The Grade IIlisted Old Station House was built in 1892 by order of the future King Edward VII but the last train stopped here in 1966. As such, the pace of life today is more ‘slow train’ than ‘rush hour’. Check-in happens via a ticket officestyle hatch, the waiting room is now an atmospheric guest lounge with a colonial feel, and two rooms in the main building include a secluded yet generous attic space. Just along the tracks, the hotel adds a whole new twist on ‘sleeper trains’ with a further eight suites inside four restored Pullman carriages – the sort still pulled by the Orient Express today.
Three Mayfair properties form The Chesterfield hotel today, including the former home of Irish actress Dorothea Jordan, perhaps better known as the mistress of the future King William IV. The couple had 10 children together, yet when William attempted to later reduce her stipend, the witty actress apparently sent him a piece of paper that was normally attached to theatre programmes. It simply read: “No money refunded after the rising of the curtain”. Thankfully, the modern iteration of 35 Charles Street is not lacking in romance. Sweep through the Greek columns of the glamorous foyer, check into one of 13 plush suites and indulge in the Art Deco-style Terrace Bar to the sounds of live jazz.
While couples can still find all the trappings for an amorous escape at Ardanaiseig, this Grade II-listed property also embodies Romanticism with a capital R. It was built in 1834 when the movement was at its peak across Europe. Here, visitors can escape the urban sprawl and embrace the sublime Scottish countryside by taking a romantic stroll in the 120-acre woodlands (wellies are provided) or renting a boat on Loch Awe. Inside, indulgent breakfasts include Inverawe salmon and kippers, while after-dinner drinks can be enjoyed in the bar library. For a truly secluded experience, rent the Boatshed, a standalone ‘honeymoon suite’ with a king-size bed on the mezzanine level overlooking Loch Awe through floor-to-ceiling windows. n
www.old-station.co.uk
www.chesterfieldmayfair.com
www.ardanaiseig.com
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BOOK REVIEWS
Crossword no 201
Curl up with one of the best new reads for Anglophiles
The History of the Port of London by Peter Stone This meticulously researched account underlines the importance of the capital’s docklands. Details of minor Elizabethan reforms may appeal only to committed maritime historians, yet the overall arc, from Roman landing to modern financial centre, is illuminated by maps, photos and the sheer scale of research. (Pen & Sword, £19.99) Islander by Patrick Barkham Guardian journalist Patrick Barkham takes a warm, witty and wise look at 11 of the 6,000-plus islands that comprise the British Isles. As he explores the tensions of tourism among the natives of ‘idealistic’ Eigg and gets giddy with the wildlife on the ‘lost’ island of Hirta in St Kilda, a vivid picture of contemporary life on these remote locales unfolds beautifully. (Granta, £20)
Across 1 Thomas ———, political philosopher, born in Malmesbury in 1588 (6) 4 London thoroughfare from Trafalgar Square eastwards to Temple Bar (6) 9 West Sussex river (4) 10 West Devon town situated at the northern edge of Dartmoor (10) 11 Fingal’s Cave island (6) 12 ——— Court, 14th-century manor house in Somerset (8) 13 Thomas Babington ———, celebrated historian, poet and Whig politician (8) 15 Cereal from which porridge is made (4) 18 Local name for the River Thames in Oxford (4) 19 The third largest city in Scotland (8) 22 The ——— of the New Forest, a classic novel by Frederick Marryat (8) 24 Charles Edward ———, commonly known as Bonnie Prince Charlie (6) 26 Bird symbolising conjugal affection and constancy (6,4) 27 Anglo-Saxon theologian and historian canonised in 1899 (4) 28 ——— Grant, Scottish painter and member of the Bloomsbury Group (6)
29 Laurence ———, clergyman who
House of Fiction by Phyllis Richardson Great British literature and grand architecture: two of Discover Britain’s favourite subjects collide as we discover how our country houses inspired the novels of Hardy, Brontë, Woolf and Austen. It isn’t all repressed Victorian melodrama, however. Later chapters tackle the high-rises of JG Ballard and Kazuo Ishiguro’s post-modern view of the English upper classes. (Unbound, £20)
wrote The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman (6)
Down 1 A novel by Charles Dickens (4,5) 2 Scottish resort and fishing port at the mouth of the River Deveron (5) 3 Roman name for York (8) 5 District of Kent containing Margate (6) 6 Sailing resort at the mouth of the River Torridge in North Devon (9) 7 Castle ———, Devon country house, designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens (5) 8 Anglian kingdom centred on Tamworth (6) 14 Derbyshire village renowned for its Oak Apple Day garland ceremony (9) 16 Market town on the River Medway in Kent (9) 17 A curved street or terrace (8) 20 University city in North Wales (6) 21 Partially restored Roman fort in South Shields, Tyne and Wear (6) 23 The ——— of the Baskervilles, a Sherlock Holmes story by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (5) 25 A natural pigment resembling but darker than ochre (5)
Solutions to crossword 200 Across: 1 Boscastle, 6 Attic, 9 Locke, 12 Waltham, 13 Sense, 14 Arundel, 15 Stroud, 16 Amis, 17 Anglicans, 19 Armstrong, 21 Walnut, 23 Sloe, 25 Terence, 27 Lollard, 29 Amble, 31 Easby Abbey, 33 Thorpeness, 36 Miser, 37 Art deco, 38 Rackham, 40 Dart, 42 Wharfe, 44 EM Forster, 47 Lyme Regis, 49 Inch, 51 Prince, 53 Hilaire, 54 Eliza, 55 Bodnant, 56 Morse, 57 Ellen, 58 Tenterden Down: 1 Bowes Castle, 2 Saltram, 3 Ashburton, 4 Teme, 5 Epsom, 6 Anna Sewell, 7 The Mall, 8 Craig, 9 Laurie, 10 Cadfael, 11 Ellesmere, 18 Dover Beach, 20 Gilbert, 22 Undercroft, 24 Ware, 26 Roses, 28 Ashmole, 30 Beech, 32 York, 34 Somerleyton, 35 Ceredigion, 36 Middleham, 39 Corbridge, 41 Rambler, 43 Russell, 45 Tankard, 46 Ermine, 48 Glebe, 50 Coast, 52 Oban
discoverbritainmag.com 97
SYMBOLS OF BRITAIN
Manchester and the worker bee In our new series, Steve Pill looks at the symbols that define different corners of Britain
I
n 1842, a little over a decade before it would be granted official city status, the borough of Manchester adopted an official heraldic achievement. The grand design featured several animals, including an antelope and a lion, respective symbols of harmony and strength that were both derived from the arms of King Henry IV, the Duke of Lancaster. The more important featured creatures, however, were the seven worker bees on the crest – a relatively small detail that would nevertheless become a far more fitting symbol for this buzzing industrial city. Manchester had long been a hub for England’s wool trade, yet by the mid 19th century it had evolved into arguably the world’s first industrial city, largely thanks to its booming cotton industry. Raw cotton was imported via Liverpool from the US and turned into finished clothing in the dozens of textile factories that sprang up across the city. Canals, warehouses and railways all followed, quickly developing the infrastructure for a city that the now-defunct Manchester Times referred to as “this blessed Cottonopolis of ours”. The bees not only symbolised Mancunians’ work ethic, but also Manchester itself becoming a hive of activity. In the century before gaining city status, the population had risen from around 17,000 to more than 300,000. Manchester struggled to cope and living conditions were bleak. Nevertheless, by the late 19th century, the worker bee was well and truly adopted as the
city’s mascot. The mosaic floor on the landing outside the Great Hall in Manchester Town Hall, completed in 1877, features dozens of individually tiled bees, while they also adorn the clock face on the former Refuge Assurance Building – the distinctive red-brick and terracotta building at the top of Oxford Street that is now home to the Principal Manchester hotel. In 1900, Manchester-based Boddingtons Brewery introduced a new yellow-and-black logo featuring two bees on a barrel – a homage to the city’s symbol and also a pun on the initials of the company (two Bs). Today, the bee can be found on new bins and bollards dotted around the city centre, while the walkway between the Central Library and the town hall extension has graphic bee motifs on the windows. Until recently, Manchester Art Gallery even sold honey in its gift shop made by bees kept in hives on the gallery roof (they’ve since shifted to the university). While the worker bee is a proud symbol of Manchester’s industrial heritage, it has taken on a new life in the 21st century. In the wake of the terror attack at the Ariana Grande concert at Manchester Arena, an estimated 10,000 locals paid for worker bee tattoos as part of a charity appeal that raised more than £520,000 for the victims. What began as a symbol of industry and endeavour has become a badge of resilience and collective power. The humble bumble continues to colonise this proud, defiant city. n
98 discoverbritainmag.com
JACKIE ELLIS/SUE HEATON/ALAMY
“What began as a symbol of industry and endeavour has become a badge of resilience and collective power”
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