Discover Britain Feb-March 2019

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BRITAIN ON SCREEN REAL LOCATIONS FROM YOUR FAVOURITE FILMS
The perfect way to travel the UK
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themed trip to
North Norfolk Pretty villages, Tudor
London houses and seaside charm
Arts & Crafts

St Davids movement
Myths and dragons in Historic homes in
Britain’s smallest city London and the Lakes
Peterloo
The Manchester protest
that defined a nation
Behind
the scenes
True stories of the latest TV and films,
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LETTERS
Welcome!
We’re taking you on a cinematic
journey around the British Isles in
this issue. Our ‘Britain on screen’
special focuses on the historical and
heritage sites that feature in new and
favourite TV shows and films.
We begin with Mary Poppins
Returns (p12), the long-awaited
sequel that swaps a Hollywood studio
for real Edwardian London. Our
deputy editor Zara then goes behind
the scenes of three royal-themed
productions (p18), including a new
series of The Crown. There is also
our favourite movie hotels (p84) and
an article on the Peterloo massacre
Letters its falling-down splendour, heritage and
intrigue, and buy pork pies from Cannon
Hall farm shop.
(p40) by Jacqueline Riding, the Doubling up Forget London’s West End and go to
historical adviser on the recent film. After living in London for 30 years, the Lamproom Theatre in Barnsley – the
And finally, I’d also like to take a I thought I had seen and visited the best lighting is by miner’s lamps set into the
moment to thank everyone who of British cities and other places of interest. alcoves. And you can find real ale and real
voted for us at the British Travel But that was before I started to read and people in little villages all round Barnsley.
then subscribe to Discover Britain and saw Joyce Sokell, Barnsley, UK
Awards 2018. The whole team were
that I had just seen the tip of the iceberg,
thrilled to take home the bronze
so to speak. Now I feel that even another Thanks for some excellent
award in the best consumer holiday 30 years might not be enough time to see tips, Joyce. We’ll definitely
magazine category. all the wonderful things that Britain has to be visiting South Yorkshire
offer that you show in your magazine. again very soon. As the
STEVE PILL Editor
Lauran Stevens, Seattle, USA writer of this month’s star
BRITAIN ON SCREEN REAL LOCATIONS FROM YOUR FAVOURITE FILMS
letter, you’ve won a copy
Well Lauran, it sounds like it’s high time to of Peterloo by Jacqueline
The perfect way to travel the UK
pay us another visit! Riding (Head of Zeus).
Win
a Mary Poppins
themed trip to
North Norfolk Pretty villages, Tudor
London houses and seaside charm
A true disciple
St Davids
Myths and dragons in
Britain’s smallest city
Arts & Crafts
movement
Historic homes in
London and the Lakes
Great that the latest issue of Discover GET IN TOUCH!
Peterloo Write to us and win a book about Britain
The Manchester protest
that defined a nation
Britain came to “God’s Own Country”
Post: Letters, Discover Britain, The Chelsea
Behind (Full Steam Ahead, Issue 207). May I now Magazine Company Ltd., Jubilee House,
the scenes APRIL 2019 US $6.99
True stories of the latest TV and films,

from The Crown to Mary Queen of Scots www.discoverbritainmag.com
suggest you also discover South Yorkshire? 2 Jubilee Place, London SW3 3TQ, UK
On the cover: A charming antiques shop in Kensington and
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Chelsea, home to Mary Poppins and her family – see page 12 Centre, go to Wentworth Woodhouse for
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discoverbritainmag.com 3
CONTENTS
Issue 208
CHARLES FAIRFAX MURRAY/TATE IMAGES/JON ARNOLD IMAGES LTD/ALAMY/HERITAGE IMAGES/GETTY IMAGES

Page 44 John Ruskin in the Lake District
Page 74 Cley Windmill in north Norfolk Page 66 The faded grandeur of the Italianate drawing room at Brodsworth Hall in south Yorkshire
12 32 58 Regulars
MARY POPPINS ST DAVIDS ARTS & CRAFTS LONDON 7
Our ‘Britain on screen’ special begins An expert guide to Britain’s smallest city Celebrate the work of William Morris in NEWS
with the film sequel’s London locations and the patron saint who lived there stylish houses across the capital
29
18 40 64 COMPETITION
ROYALS ON SCREEN PETERLOO NEWCASTLE 51
Behind the scenes of three new films The bicentenary of the Manchester Plan your perfect day out in Tyneside DISCOVER
and shows about the British monarchy protest that shaped our nation with our 24-hour city guide LONDON
73
26 44 66 THE INSIDER
CLASSIC LOCATIONS RUSKIN IN CUMBRIA BRODSWORTH HALL 84
Nine destinations across the UK that you Explore the Lake District locations that A conserved-as-found Yorkshire house
may recognise from the silver screen inspired the Victorian visionary reveals much about its past owners
GREAT ESCAPES
89
30 52 74 CROSSWORD
& BOOKS
MY BRITAIN ALEXANDRA PALACE NORFOLK COAST
Cheesemaker James Keen on our The birthplace of television re-opens Picture-perfect villages, windswept 90
nation’s love of artisan dairy produce its theatre after 80 unlucky years beaches and grand stately homes ONLY IN BRITAIN
4 discoverbritainmag.com
Enjoy crisp days

and vibrant nights
this winter in
SALISBURY
©English Heritage
©Visit Wiltshire ©Visit Wiltshire
Now is a great time to enjoy exploring the city – from the splendour of
Salisbury Cathedral, with its medieval graffiti and breath-taking stained glass,
to art exhibitions, theatre and Fest West festival.
Arts and culture are alive throughout the season…
Enjoy Salisbury Museum’s Origins of Photography Exhibition – see what the city streets looked like before 1914.
Soak up the local artists exhibiting in Fisherton Mill – the south west’s largest art gallery, housed in a beautifully
restored Victorian Mill, before enjoying a pit stop in their award winning café.
Explore the magnificence of Salisbury Cathedral and it’s surrounding medieval streets, laid out in grid pattern.
And winter nights are vibrant...
Theatre lovers will enjoy the winter programme at Salisbury Playhouse, including the Fest West festival, showcasing
new work from across the south west for two weeks in February.
Then warm your toes by the fire in one of our cosy city pubs and restaurants.
visitsalisbury.co.uk to find out more about what to see and do this season.
NEWS
Wish you were here... Inspiring postcards from around the British Isles
Murlough, County Down

Beach portraits commemorated Britain’s war dead
Armistice Day on 11 November is an annual celebration of the end of the

First World War. For the centenary year, however, the day was marked
with a moving tribute to our war dead on beaches across Britain.
Golden Globe-winning director Danny Boyle was commissioned by
14-18 Now to create the Pages of the Sea project, which saw large-scale
portraits of local casualties being drawn in the sands by volunteers.
Communities gathered around the portraits for poetry readings and
commemorative silences, before the tides came in and washed away
the faces in a poignant reminder of the lives lost to the conflict.
www.pagesofthesea.org.uk
KEVIN SCOTT/INM
NEWS
BOSTON, LINCOLNSHIRE
Transatlantic links revealed in
the Midlands market town
Hollywood heartthrob Rob Lowe has

swapped the White House for the
wilds of Lincolnshire in his latest TV
project. The West Wing actor will
star in the forthcoming crime drama
series Wild Bill, filmed in and around
the historic market town of Boston.
Lowe is not the town’s only
transatlantic link, however. The
700-year-old St Botolph’s church has
a pathway with stones dedicated to
America’s founding fathers from the
namesake US city of Boston, while
the Georgian-era Fydell House
[pictured] boasts an ‘American
Room’ that was opened in 1938 by
JFK’s father, Joseph Kennedy.
www.visitbostonuk.com
Helston, Cornwall
Celebrate bluebell season at this atmospheric medieval garden
Woodlands across Britain are awash with purplish blue colour and sweet scents
during early spring. From mid-March onwards, bluebells bloom in the wild
creating carpets of colour for a brief annual period every bit as iconic as Japan’s
cherry blossom season or New England in the fall (or autumn to us Brits).
One of the most atmospheric destinations to catch this natural phenomenon
is the gardens of Godolphin House, a fashionable 17th-century home just a few
miles from St Ives. The wider estate includes a medieval garden and a short
riverside walk.
www.nationaltrust.org.uk/godolphin
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NEWS
Exbury, Hampshire
Rothschild estate opens new centenary gardens
The Conservative MP and plant collector Lionel de Rothschild was part
of the great English banking dynasty and, in 1919, he invested some of
his vast wealth with the purchase of the 200-acre Exbury Estate.
Rothschild oversaw the development of one of Britain’s finest
woodland gardens, which comes to life in spring thanks to daffodils,
azaleas, rhododendrons and more. To celebrate 100 years since his
takeover, his great granddaughter, the RHS Gold Medal-winning
gardener Marie-Louise Agius, has designed a ‘secret’ centenary garden
that opens on 23 March. Hop aboard the estate’s own steam railway for
a leisurely look around this earthly paradise. www.exbury.co.uk
MIKE SHEPHERD
CRUDEN BAY,
ABERDEENSHIRE
Hotel’s literary connections
recognised after 125 years
A commemorative plaque has been
unveiled at the Scottish hotel in
which Bram Stoker wrote his
masterpiece, Dracula. The Dublin-
born author fell in love with Cruden
Bay during a walking holiday and
first visited the Kilmarnock Arms
hotel in 1894.
He returned the following year for
an extended stay with the aim of
working on the opening chapters of
his famous vampire novel. The
hilltop Slains Castle nearby is even
thought to be the inspiration for
Castle Dracula. The 19-room hotel
remains popular today and the
plaque is part of the Historic
Environment Scotland scheme.
www.kilmarnockarms.com
A place of worship, welcome and hospitality, at the

heart of the UNESCO Durham World Heritage
Site. Famous as the Shrine of St Cuthbert and the
resting place of the Venerable Bede, it is renowned
for its stunning Norman architecture.
The Cathedral’s medieval monastic buildings house Open Treasure,
the Cathedral’s award-winning museum that reveals the remarkable
story of Durham Cathedral and its incredible collections through
temporary and permanent displays for visitors of all ages.
There is no set admission to enter Durham Cathedral, though
visitors are invited to donate £3 per person to ensure the Cathedral
can be enjoyed today and by future generations. Charges apply to
tours and Open Treasure.
See www.durhamcathedral.co.uk for information about services,
events and the exhibition programme within Open Treasure which
for 2019 includes Feasting and Fasting: The Great Kitchen at
Durham Cathedral, Vikings! and Mapping the World.
Image: Graeme Peacock

BRITAIN ON SCREEN
BRITAIN ON SCREEN
The Perfect
Stage
While the original Mary Poppins recreated Edwardian
London in a Californian studio, the long-awaited sequel
draws upon the capital’s true character. Felix Rowe reveals
the real-life locations seen on screen
here are some things that seem so ingrained
T in our early memories that it’s difficult to

imagine a world without them. For many
of us, Mary Poppins is one such example.
The classic 1964 Disney film is one of those comforting
institutions of childhood, like the chocolates that return
A ASTES/ALAMY/JAY MAIDMENT/DISNEY ENTERPRISES
without fail every Christmas. The musical made Julie

Andrews a household name, earning her national treasure
status. Enamoured by her performances on stage,
Walt Disney was so keen to have Andrews as his titular
heroine that he halted production while she had a baby.
History has shown that she was worth the wait.
Andrews’ striking feature film debut as the irrepressible,
eponymous nanny won her an Oscar for Best Actress,
Kensington and Chelsea’s kick-starting a glittering career on the silver screen.
townhouses inspired Cherry Co-star Dick Van Dyke proved to be the perfect foil,
Tree Lane in Mary Poppins toe-tapping his way into our hearts as chimney sweep ³
BRITAIN ON SCREEN
Bert, with effortless charm and questionable cockney

accent. Yet there was another huge star of the original
film that went uncredited: London.
Mary Poppins presents Edwardian London in all its
splendour, from the stately architecture to the beautiful
parkland. The opening credits set the scene as the Thames
snakes through the city at night. We then journey into the
Banks’ family home, 17 Cherry Tree Lane, inspired by
the grand townhouses of Kensington and Chelsea. From
then on, it’s essentially a whistle-stop tour through the
city, from the unmistakable dome of St Paul’s Cathedral,
casting its shadow on Feed the Birds, to the green spaces
during Let’s Go Fly a Kite that allude to Primrose Hill
in Regent’s Park. It’s fair to say that Mary Poppins and
the British capital go hand in hand.
The release of Mary Poppins Returns marks the longest
ever wait for a true sequel, arriving 54 years after the
original. Emily Blunt leads an all-star cast including
Colin Firth and Meryl Streep in an original adventure.
This time, the film picks up the action in Depression-era
London. Much has happened in the quarter of a century
since Poppins’ last calling. The world has been ravaged
by the Great War, fascism is sinking its ugly claws into
Europe, and the world is once again on the cusp of war.
More central to the story, however, is the family’s
financial woes and a recent personal tragedy. Times are
hard, and the now grown-up Michael Banks, working
in the same central London bank as his father once did,
faces losing the family home. In these uncertain times,
Mary Poppins returns to bring a spoonful of sugar to
the Banks family – as director Rob Marshall notes,
it is “about finding joy and wonder in a dark time”.
In order to give the film a clear identity, the creators
harked back to the source material for inspiration, the
books by PL Travers. The author famously fell out with
Walt Disney, taking particular offence at the musical
numbers and animation. While these two enduring
aspects of the first film remain present and correct, the
sequel adopts the darker undertone present in Travers’
books. And in placing the action in 1930s London,

Mary Poppins Returns honours the era in which the
original book was both published and set.
Despite unemployment and economic uncertainty, the
1930s were a dynamic decade – an era of contradiction
STEVE ULLATHORNE/ALAMY/JAY MAIDMENT/DISNEY ENTERPRISES
and change for the capital. London was largely insulated

from the worst strains felt elsewhere. The population was
growing, marked by European immigration to the West
End and huge suburban expansion. The very fabric of
the city was evolving, as old buildings were torn down
to make way for new ones.
Still, as with the Banks family, the threat of losing one’s
home was a genuine concern for many of the wealthier
contingents of London society at the time. Faced with
rising taxes, several imposing private residences in
St James’s and Mayfair were sold and demolished during
the late 1920s and 1930s, to be replaced with new
³ commercial developments. Park Lane’s Grosvenor House
BRITAIN ON SCREEN
NATIONAL TRUST IMAGES/JOHN MILLER/ANDREAS VON EINSIEDEL/WILLIAM BRAY
Clockwise from this

image: The corner of
This image:
Blossom Street and Folgate
caption to go here
Street in London’s East End;
Above: caotf sifu oiu
the Royal Exchange; the
oiuslsdfoiu ouef oiu
‘Big Ben’ clockface; a scene
iyewi sfoiu
from the 2018 sequel
and Dorchester House, for example, both succumbed to

the equally grand hotels that still stand today. Meanwhile,
Mayfair’s Chesterfield House, a grand Palladian style
mansion, built in the mid-18th century by the 4th Earl
of Chesterfield, shared a similar fate. The 1930s stamped
a new identity on London; one in contrast to the Regency
TRAVEL PIX COLLECTION/AWL IMAGES/PJR TRAVEL/ALAMY
and Victorian periods that preceded it.

Unlike the original film, which was entirely shot in a
studio in Burbank, California, Mary Poppins Returns
makes the most of London’s very particular architecture
as the crew made a conscious decision to incorporate
real-life exterior scenes as much as possible. As Marshall
explains, it was a way of distinguishing between the
different moods of the film. “We wanted to portray the
real world of London of the 1930s in order to contrast it
with the unique fantasy world created by Mary Poppins.”
The production team went to great lengths to capture
the essence of the city during the Depression. The Royal ³
BRITAIN ON SCREEN
experience its stately splendour firsthand during the

annual Open House London festival (21-22 September).
Meanwhile, the majestic Westminster townhouses of
Cowley Street and Queen Anne’s Gate provide a solid
grounding to offset Mary’s wilder antics and lend
continuity with the sets created for the first film. Queen
Anne’s Gate, which features in the scene set to the song
(Underneath the) Lovely London Sky, is celebrated for
its Queen Anne architecture, a Baroque style that emerged
during the Stuart monarch’s reign. Over the years, its
listed buildings have been home to noted politicians,
luminaries and institutions, including the National Trust.
From here, it’s just a short walk to the Houses of
Parliament and its iconic clock tower, upon which
Jack finds himself precariously perched in one scene.
It’s the less well-known locations that bring the
audience closest to ‘real’ London, with scenes shot in the
IAIN SARJEANT/VISITSCOTLAND/DAVID GOWANS/ALAMY
East End borough of Tower Hamlets. Blossom Street and

Fleur de Lis Street, near the fashionable boutiques and
bars of Spitalfields, were chosen to present an alternative
side to the capital. In the words of the Film Office, these
streets, “with their Victorian town houses and cobbled
alley ways, provide the perfect backdrop and evoke both
the period and visual link with the original film.”
PETER ZELEI/GETTY IMAGES/ROBERTO HERRETT/ALAMY

“We wanted to open up the film and shoot on these
locations in London to give the audience a true feel for
the city,” adds producer John DeLuca. “We even began
to think of these locations as their own characters.”
Blunt is a born-and-bred Londoner and hails the
approach. “I think of the film as a love letter to London,”
she said. “I love that it captures the city so beautifully.”
So while you can expect a degree of Disney-fication,
Mary Poppins Returns is a visual feast that celebrates
the character of the British capital. And this time, you
can actually visit these wonderful locations in real life. ■
Above: St Paul’s
Exchange and Cornhill appear as symbols of the City’s Cathedral, where
financial district, the apt setting for Banks’ employer, the birds are fed
This image:
the Fidelity Fiduciary Bank. The current Royal Exchange
A grand archway
building was opened in 1844 by Queen Victoria and royal leading to Whitehall
proclamations are still delivered from the stone steps.
The building suffered bomb damage in the Second
World War, and today it is home to a cluster of designer
boutiques. Fortnum & Mason recently took up residency
in the central courtyard, offering a contemporary menu
in an opulent setting, where booking is essential.
London is blessed with an abundance of stunning
architecture, and the film shows this off beautifully.
Emily Blunt and Lin-Manuel Miranda (playing
lamplighter Jack) stopped traffic as they cycled around
iconic landmarks, including St Paul’s Cathedral and
Buckingham Palace. Filming also took place at one of the
city’s oldest institutions, the Tower of London, and on one
of its grandest thoroughfares, King Charles Street, home
to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. This Italianate
classical building, completed in 1868, was designed by the
great Victorian architect George Gilbert Scott as a palace
“for the nation” to awe foreign dignitaries. Visitors can
OPENS 2ND APRIL – 3RD NOV 2019

Ancient Castle, for more details,
Stately Home call 01903 882173 or visit
& Gardens www.arundelcastle.org
ROYALS ON SCREEN
Royals
on Screen
From murder plots to scandalous affairs, the British
monarchy’s fascinating history features in three major
new TV and film productions. Zara Gaspar explores
the back stories and real-life locations
BRITAIN ON SCREEN
ritain’s rolling green hills, picturesque villages, dramatic
B castles and grand stately homes all provide the ideal

backdrop for period dramas and historical films. And
by coincidence there are three major new productions
that all feature the British monarchy: The Crown on Netflix, and
Hollywood blockbusters The Favourite and Mary Queen of Scots –
all of which have been filmed on location here in the UK.
Later this year, Netflix is due to release the third series of its
popular historical drama, The Crown, which portrays the life of
Queen Elizabeth II and her family. This particular series will focus
on the period between 1964 and 1976, when Harold Wilson was
Prime Minister, Prince Charles met Camilla Parker Bowles, and
Princess Margaret caused controversy with her extramarital affair.
Olivia Colman, who plays Queen Elizabeth, and Helena Bonham
Carter, as her sister, Princess Margaret, were seen filming a scene
at Winchester Cathedral, thought to be the funeral of Sir Winston
Churchill, who died on 24 January, 1965. Churchill’s funeral was in
fact held at St Paul’s Cathedral, and was at the time the largest state
funeral ever held, but Winchester acts as an impressive stand-in.
The gothic structure is Europe’s longest medieval cathedral
and dates back to the 7th century. It was once the seat of Anglo-
Saxon and Norman power and is the burial place of King Alfred
the Great and the famous novelist Jane Austen. It has also played
host to a number of recent Hollywood blockbusters, including Les
Misérables, The Da Vinci Code and Elizabeth: The Golden Age.
Scenes for the third series of The Crown have also been filmed
in Cwmaman, south Wales, and are believed to be a re-enactment
FOX PHOTOS/HULTON ARCHIVE/GETTY IMAGES
of the events following the Aberfan mining disaster on 21 October

1966, which saw a colliery spoil tip collapse killing 116 children and
28 adults. The Duke of Edinburgh visited the scene of the tragedy
a day afterwards, but the Queen received criticism for only arriving
JEFF GILBERT/ALAMY/NETFLIX
This image: Lancaster eight days later – something which she is said to regret.
House doubles as Caernarfon Castle was the setting for Prince Charles’s investiture
Buckingham Palace
as the Prince of Wales on 1 July 1969, and the north Wales town
in The Crown
Top right: Olivia has also been used for the drama. Although Prince Charles actually
Colman plays Queen didn’t meet Camilla until a polo match at Windsor Great Park in
Elizabeth in the series 1971, the actress who plays her in the series, Emerald Fennell, ³
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BRITAIN ON SCREEN
Clockwise, from this

image: Caernarfon
Castle; Hylands House
in Essex; Prince Charles
at his investiture
was also seen on set at Caernarfon Castle. Built by King Edward I of the north-west city. Visitors can also explore the more modern
in the 13th century to assert his dominance after conquering Wales, Museum of Liverpool next door.
this UNESCO World Heritage Site is one of the most beautiful Princess Margaret and her husband, the Earl of Snowden (played
AGE FOTOSTOCK/KAREN MERCER/ALAMY/RAY BELLISARIO/POPPERFOTO
castles in the country – the imposing medieval fort was, after all, by Ben Daniels), also visited the US in 1965 as a guest of President
built to impress and intimidate. Lyndon B Johnson and the partying princess caused controversy
Even when the Queen travelled far from home, the production due to the behaviour of her social circle. It is also where she started
didn’t. In 1976, Her Majesty visited Washington DC to mark the talking to Roddy Llewellyn, with whom she later had an affair.
bicentennial of the American Revolution. The trip is notable for Hylands House in Essex is believed to be doubling as The White
the drama caused when an inappropriate song, The Lady is a House for the show. The grade II listed building was built in 1730
Tramp, was played while the Queen was dancing with President and restored in 2007, so it now displays its stunning neoclassical
Ford at a state banquet. Rather than shift production stateside, features within 570 acres of historic parkland. The house opens
Liverpool Waterfront was transformed to on one Sunday of every month, too.
look like the American capital for the series. The Crown’s production team has not
The location, on the banks of the River
Hylands House in Essex is been able to film at Buckingham Palace,
Mersey, is part of another UNESCO World believed to be doubling as yet a number of locations were used in
Heritage Site with the 1911 Royal Liver the first two series that we may see again.
Building the most iconic structure here,
The White House for the London’s Lancaster House, Wilton House in
topped by two Liver Birds, the emblem new series of The Crown Salisbury, and Greenwich Naval College ³
BRITAIN ON SCREEN
were all used as Buckingham Palace, while Ardverikie Estate in romantic involvement continued after they were both married
the Scottish Highlands stood in for the Royal Family’s holiday home and was considered an “immoderate passion”. When Anne was
of Balmoral. “In Britain we’ve got a vast range of locations that are crowned in 1702 she made Sarah the ‘first lady of the bedchamber’,
very attractive to filmmakers,” says supervising location manager which gave the Whig supporting Duchess a great deal of influence.
FOX SEARCHLIGHT PICTURES/GREG BALFOUR EVANS/LISA EDIE/ALAMY
Pat Karam. “The Crown is a very good showcase for some of the However, when Anne started spending more time with Sarah’s
best of British locations. We always enjoy filming at Lancaster cousin, Abigail, who supported the Tories, a bitter rivalry to win
House because it is one of the centres of the story. It is one of the over the Queen began.
grandest buildings in the country and it’s the grandeur that people The majority of The Favourite was filmed in Hatfield House in
want to see.” Hertfordshire. As well as the exterior and gardens of the Jacobean
Olivia Colman is not only set to portray Queen Elizabeth in manor, scenes were shot in the Marble Hall with its black-and-white
The Crown but also plays Queen Anne in The Favourite, the chequered floor, the Long Gallery with its impressive gold-leaf
new period drama about the 18th-century monarch. The film tells ceiling, and the Winter Dining Room, decorated with tapestries
the story of the rivalry between two cousins – Rachel Weisz as depicting the four seasons. Built in 1611, the house’s ornate features,
Sarah Churchill, the Duchess of Marlborough, and Emma Stone furnishings and art, create the ideal backdrop for a period drama.
as Baroness Masham – vying for the Queen’s affection. The film’s director, Yorgos Lanthimos, wanted an oversized
Anne Stuart and Sarah Jennings (later Churchill) were close location, with a lot of excess to highlight the “lonely characters”
childhood friends and shared an intimate relationship, which was at the palace, but while the crew were mindful of furniture styles
quite common for unmarried women at the time. However, their of the era, they focused more on shapes and structures that fit the
BRITAIN ON SCREEN

image: a scene from
The Favourite; the
kitchens at Hampton
Court; the 17th-century
Fountain Court; the
Marble Hall
characters. Lanthimos says, “We were inspired by the real people Anne’s brother-in-law, and the 17th-century Fountain Court.
and stories, but largely reimagined them in order to make a film that, Costumes from The Favourite will be on display at Kensington
hopefully, alludes to similar issues that we all can identify with.” palace until February 8.
Production designer Fiona Crombie developed the design palette Another famous rivalry was that of Mary, Queen of Scots and
for the film to emphasise that loneliness, adding gold, champagne, Elizabeth I. A new film, Mary Queen of Scots, starring Saoirse
pineapple and oak tones to the hall’s decoration to contrast with the Ronan in the title role and Margot Robbie as Queen Elizabeth I,
rather monochrome costumes. tells the story of Mary’s attempt to become Queen of England and
“We were all delighted by the way that the costumes sit in this Scotland, her downfall, and finally her execution.
gold and wooden, warm world,” she says. “To create Queen Anne’s The real Mary Stuart was born on 8 December 1542 in
room, we stripped out lots of paintings, furniture and drapes. Of Linlithgow Palace, 15 miles west of Edinburgh. Although many of
course, we were incredibly respectful. Everything in there is so the film’s scenes were shot on location across Scotland, Linlithgow
precious and so beautifully created.” Palace was recreated digitally to look like it did in the 16th century,
Queen Anne actually resided in Kensington Palace during her as it was burned out by a fire in 1746 – the ruins can still be visited.
reign, but she didn’t spend much time there, preferring the hunting In the film, Mary’s story mainly takes place in the Palace of
grounds of Hampton Court Palace. While scenes from the film Holyroodhouse and Elizabeth’s story is set at Hampton Court
weren’t shot at Kensington Palace itself, Hampton Court was used. Palace. The 15th-century Blackness Castle on the southern shore
Filming took place in Henry VIII’s kitchens, which date back to of Firth of Forth was used for the exterior of Holyrood due to its
Tudor times, the Cartoon Gallery designed for William III, Queen stunning location. The interior scenes at Hampton Court Palace ³
BRITAIN ON SCREEN
This image: The State

Opening of Parliament
Right: A royal lunch at
Windsor Castle, filmed
for TV’s Royal Family

image: Saoirse Ronan
as Mary, Queen of
Scots; Stirling Castle;
Glencoe
were filmed at Haddon Hall in Derbyshire. This elegant medieval Most of the outdoor scenes that show Mary marching with
manor was also used for the films Elizabeth and The Other Boleyn her army were filmed in Glencoe in the Scottish Highlands. This
Girl thanks to its grandeur. The exterior Hampton Court scenes dramatic mountain landscape makes a stunning backdrop for the
were also filmed in Derbyshire at Hardwick Hall. This was actually drama, highlighting the beauty of the country Mary is fighting for.
built in 1590 by Elizabeth I’s friend, Bess of Hardwick, who features The biggest scene in the film comes when Mary and Elizabeth
in the film. Gloucester Cathedral also doubles up as the English meet. This was filmed at the Chiltern Open Air Museum in
court, as well as the cell where Mary is kept before execution. Buckinghamshire. The two never actually met, but the historic
This ornate, medieval building dates back to the 7th century and working farm is the ideal rural setting for a secret meeting.
its architecture encompasses everything from Romanesque to Finally, the 14th-century Penshurst Place in Kent doubles
perpendicular styles. as Fotheringhay Castle where Mary was executed in 1567.
Cowdray Ruins in Midhurst, West Sussex, meanwhile, is the The castle had fallen into disrepair by 1635 and was demolished
VISITSCOTLAND/KENNY LAM
setting for Lord Darnley’s murder. In reality the king consort was soon afterwards, but the site can still be visited today.
murdered in 1567 at Kirk o’ Field, a Tudor house in Edinburgh, yet Pat, who was also locations manager for Mary Queen of Scots,
Cowdray has its own real-life royal connections. Elizabeth I visited says Scotland was a great place to film. “All the locations were
what was one of the finest Tudor houses in Britain in 1591 to hunt in beautiful. It’s pretty hard to be in the Highlands and not be
the parklands. Sadly, however, the manor was largely destroyed by impressed by the natural splendour of it all,” he says. ■
a fire in 1973, though atmospheric guided tours can still be booked. To read the full interview with Pat visit discoverbritainmag.com
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As seen on
SCREEN
Continuing our film-themed special, here are nine
of the most recognisable and versatile British locations
to appear in your favourite blockbuster movies
BRITAIN ON SCREEN
1 Old Royal Naval College,

Greenwich
As seen in: Four Weddings and a Funeral,
Clockwise from left:
The Old Royal Naval
College; Buachaille
Etive Mòr seen from
4 Aldwych Tube Station,
London
As seen in: Atonement, V for
The Queen, The King’s Speech the A82; Lacock Vendetta, The Edge of Love
The second of the four nuptials attended Abbey’s cloisters; While you won’t find this station on any
by Hugh Grant and chums was set in the Antony House modern London Underground map, it has
chapel of this UNESCO World Heritage appeared in dozens of blockbusters – largely
Site. The college’s Lower Grand Square has thanks to one of its two platforms being
also proved popular with Hollywood, not closed in 1917, hence preserving it in a
only graced by the likes of Meryl Streep perfect, wartime period state. Situated on
(The Iron Lady) and Harrison Ford (Patriot the Strand and completely closed since
Games), but also doubling as revolutionary 1994, this atmospheric setting is still
Paris in Les Misérables. accessible via certain guided tours,
www.ornc.orgy including London Transport Museum’s
Hidden London.
www.ltmuseum.co.uk
5 The A82, Western Scotland

As seen in: Skyfall, Braveheart
This 167-mile road from Glasgow to
Inverness runs via many of Scotland’s major
attractions, including Ben Nevis, Loch Ness
and Urquhart Castle.
Daniel Craig’s James Bond drove his
Aston Martin along the dramatic stretch
from Fort William to Glencoe that is
dwarfed by Buachaille Etive Mòr, the
mountain that also appears in Braveheart
prior to the burning of the fort. ³
www.visitscotland.com
2 Antony House, Cornwall

As seen in: Alice in Wonderland
Tim Burton’s 2010 Disney blockbuster
adaptation of Alice’s Adventures in
Wonderland needed a suitably fantastical
setting and this 18th-century manor in
Torpoint on the Rame Peninsula near
Plymouth proved ideal.
Still home to the Carew Pole family,
parts are nevertheless open to the public
including the portrait-laden hallway and the
Humphry Repton-designed formal gardens
MAURICE CROOKS/ED RHODES/ALAMY/ANDREW BUTLER/NATIONAL TRUST IMAGES

filled with daylilies.
www.nationaltrust.org.uk/antony
3 Lacock Abbey, Wiltshire

As seen in: Harry Potter, The Other
Boleyn Girl, Fantastic Beasts
This 13th-century Augustinian nunnery
was the home of Victorian photography
pioneer William Henry Fox Talbot and has
been preserved as a National Trust museum
to his life and work. The medieval cloisters
and side rooms have doubled as Hogwarts
classrooms in several JK Rowling
adaptations as well as Catherine of Aragon’s
chambers in The Other Boleyn Girl.
www.nationaltrust.org.uk/lacock-abbey-
fox-talbot-museum-and-village
BRITAIN ON SCREEN
6 Ham House, Surrey

As seen in: Never Let Me Go,
The Young Victoria, Anna Karenina
Overlooking the River Thames, the former
home of the Duchess of Lauderdale is both
ostentatious and imposing, meaning it can
double as both Kensington Palace in The
Young Victoria and as a daunting boarding
school in the adaptation of Kazuo Ishiguro’s
novel, Never Let Me Go.
The house remains a popular destination
today, not least because of the fine art,
furniture and other exquisite objects on
display – a collection largely amassed
400 years ago.
www.nationaltrust.org.uk/
ham-house-and-garden
7 Tretower Court, Powys

As seen in: The Libertine
The Libertine was based upon the
true story of the womanising Earl of
Rochester and prominently featured this
restored courtyard house near Crickhowell.
How the locals must have swooned when
Johnny Depp arrived in rural Wales for the
shoot, not least when, according to the BBC,
the Pirates of the Caribbean star joined
Saturday night regulars in the bar of the
nearby Bear Hotel.
www.cadw.gov.wales
8 Osterley House, Middlesex

As seen in: Dark Knight Rises,
The Duchess, The Young Victoria
When director Christopher Nolan needed
Above: Ham House has
amassed an incredible
a new Wayne Manor for his third Batman
collection of fine art film, Osterley House was his choice for the
Left: The interior of interior scenes – the library’s false book case
Osterley House doubles as the entrance to the Bat Cave.
The neoclassical house near Heathrow
airport has a long screen history, including
starring as the home of Cary Grant’s Earl
Rhyall in 1960’s The Grass is Greener.
www.nationaltrust.org.uk/osterley-park-
and-house
9 The Globe Tavern, London

As seen in: Bridget Jones’s Diary
While there were qualms at the
time about an American actress – Renée
JOHN HAMMOND/NATIONAL TRUST IMAGES
Zellweger – being cast as Helen Fielding’s

unmarried, uncensored and unmistakably
British heroine Bridget Jones, there were
no such problems with the film’s setting.
A host of stately homes and London streets
featured, none more prominently than
Bridget’s flat above the Globe Tavern
on Borough Market’s Bedale Street.
www.theglobeboroughmarket.com
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MY BRITAIN
Portrait by Gareth Iwan Jones
James Keen
Cheesemaker
The Keens have been making cheese for 120 years.

Our family moved to Moorhayes Farm in 1899 and
I’m the fifth generation to do it. Years ago, if you had
spare milk on a dairy farm in Somerset you made
cheddar and we, as a family, stubbornly carried on.
Britain makes good cheese. We’ve got a good climate

for growing grass, so we’ve got good milk. It’s not just
the traditional British cheeses like cheddar, but new
businesses making European-style artisan cheese too.
My favourite British cheese is Colston Bassett stilton.

Some stiltons are a bit bitter, but this has got a nice
‘blue’ flavour to it.
To buy good cheese, I’d recommend Neal’s Yard Dairy

in London. The founder is a chap called Randolph
Hodgson and he was instrumental in bringing the
quality of traditional products to the forefront.
Our farm is in Wincanton, Somerset. I like it because

you can drive an hour in any direction and get
somewhere interesting – you can go to the coast or
you’re an hour away from Bristol, Bath, Salisbury and
Stonehenge. People tend to drive through Somerset
on their way to Cornwall but it’s a good place to stop.
There are good gastropubs in our local area. We went

to the Stapleton Arms in Buckhorn Weston recently
for my wife’s birthday. We didn’t have any cheese,
but the meal was good. I often stay away from the
cheeseboard when I go out, just in case it’s not good.
I’ve got young children and we’ve been on holiday a

lot in Britain recently. We went to north Norfolk last
year, which was nice. It’s interesting to visit different
landscapes – Norfolk is very flat whereas Somerset is
rolling hills. We’re thinking of going to north Wales
next year because my son’s interested in trains and
there are lots of steam railways there. ■
www.keenscheddar.co.uk
MY BRITAIN
“The Keen family has

been making cheese
for 120 years… I’m the
fifth generation”
James Keen inspects

truckles of cheddar
at Moorhayes Farm
ST DAVIDS
LITTLE THINGS
St Davids is Britain’s smallest city, a captivating coastal spot with subtle
charms that nevertheless made an important contribution to Welsh
national identity, as Nicola Rayner discovers
ST DAVIDS
St Davids Cathedral
at the heart of
Britain’s smallest city
SEBASTIAN WASEK/ALAMY
St Davids Cathedral
Visit this 12th century building

and see the newly restored
shrine of St David.
Concerts • Refectory
Bookshops • Daily services
Disabled access
Open 9am to 5pm
Pembrokeshire SA62 6RD
T: +44 (0) 1437 720202
E: info@stdavidscathedral.org.uk
www.stdavidscathedral.org.uk
ST DAVIDS
he tiny city of St Davids unfolds its secrets country’s patron saint, St David – or Dewi Sant in Welsh
T gently. Take, for example, the way its famous

cathedral hides tucked away in a hollow with
no conspicuous silhouette proclaiming its
presence on the horizon. Its hiding place is no mistake
– on the most westerly point of Wales, the city sits in what
– founded a monastery around the year 560.
“It has been altered, extended and repeatedly rebuilt
down the ages,” writes Jan Morris in Wales: Epic Views
of a Small Country, “and has fine things to show the
sightseer: a gorgeous roof of Irish oak, monumental
was once a vulnerable location, falling victim time and pillars, quaintly carved misericords, memorials to
again to Viking marauders. long-dead bishops, bequests of forgotten grandees”.
This means that visitors are often found wandering Tellingly, she adds: “Visitors sensitive to numen [the
the streets of the coastal city, past cafés, tiny galleries and spirit of the place], though, will hardly notice these things,
bookshops, actually searching for the cathedral. As you for much the most compelling element of the building is
pass downhill through the gatehouse, the discovery of something much more ethereal, a tremulous combination
the grey-purplish towered building and the eerie ruins of light, hush and muted colour.”
of the Bishop’s Palace next to it is a rewarding one. It’s the mysterious beauty of St Davids – the cathedral
The building, like the city, is not grand or imposing in and the windswept peninsula on which it stands – that
the way that some of Britain’s cathedrals are, but it is a lingers in the mind. Ever since Pope Calixtus II announced
IAN DAGNALL/ALAMY
remarkable place – hushed and mysterious – as well you in the 12th century that two pilgrimages to St Davids
might expect from the holiest site in Wales. The current Above: Pretty were the equivalent to one to Rome, and three were the
Norman construction, started between 1180 and 1182, is flowers in Cross equal of one to Jerusalem, visitors from all over the world
believed to be the fourth to stand on the spot since the Square, St Davids have been drawn to the saint’s final resting place. ³
ST DAVIDS
The saint’s bones are said to lie along with those of

St Justinian in the shrine, although modern carbon dating
Below: St David
and the white dove
It’s the mysterious beauty of
has challenged the veracity of that story. Certainly the Bottom: Inside St
Davids Cathedral
St Davids – the cathedral and the
shrine has suffered the slings and arrows of outrageous
fortune and was destroyed in the Reformation – the
windswept peninsula on which it
Protestant challenge to papal authority in 16th-century stands – that lingers in the mind
Catholic Europe – as was the neighbouring Bishop’s
Palace. The medieval shrine was recently restored. that now sits at the altar in his namesake cathedral.
According to legend, St David was born just south of By the 12th century, more than 60 churches in Wales
the cathedral on a windswept clifftop at the beginning had been dedicated to St David, including one in nearby
of the 6th century. The spot is marked today by the Ceredigion, where his most famous miracle took place.
13th-century ruins of St Non’s Chapel, When people at the back of the crowd
which was named after the saint’s complained that they could not hear
mother. The daughter of a local him as he was preaching there, a hill
chieftain – or, in one version of the rose beneath his feet and a white dove
story, King Arthur – Non is to have – a symbol of the Holy Spirit – settled
been “unhappily seized and exposed to on his shoulder. The dove became an
the sacrilegious violence of one of the emblem of St David, who is often
princes of the country,” according to represented with the bird on his
A Menology of England and Wales. shoulder, as he is in a carving in the
St David’s biographer, Rhigyfarch, nave of the cathedral.
recounts the tradition that the saint’s St David died on 1 March 589 and the
father was Sanctus, King of Ceredigion, date is celebrated annually as St David’s
but even as he was writing in the Day with a traditional Welsh feast.
11th century the rumours had become His countrymen wear leeks or daffodils
a little murky. Nevertheless, it makes (or broaches of them) and fly his flag,
for a good story, as does St David’s which features a yellow cross on a black
dramatic birth during a storm on the background, or the Welsh flag (the red
Pembrokeshire clifftop, which is said to dragon passant on a white and green
have been so challenging that Non’s field). Schools across the country often
fingers left marks on the rocks where hold eisteddfods – traditional festivals
she grabbed them. When her son was of Welsh poetry and music – and the
born, the story goes that a bolt of national parade takes place in Cardiff,
lightning struck the rock and split it in which starts in King Edward VII
two. The spring that emerged is still Avenue and concludes at St David’s Hall
believed to have healing properties and with a rendition of the national anthem,
a holy well remains on the site today. Hen Wlad fy Nhadau. ³
This was the first of St David’s many
miracles, which later included bringing a child back to life
with his tears and restoring a blind man’s sight. A famed
preacher, the saint was an abstentious man, who refrained
from eating meat or drinking beer. The austerity of his
diet led to the Welsh name Dewi Dyfrwr, or David
the Waterdrinker, and his preference for vegetables,
specifically leeks, is cited as a possible reason for the
leek becoming a national symbol of Wales.
Another version tells of St David advising his fellow
countrymen to wear leeks in their hats in order to
distinguish themselves from their Saxon enemies in
battle. A similar version swaps the 7th-century king
LOOK AND LEARN/BRIDGEMAN IMAGES/MOORHEN
Cadwaladr of Gwynedd for David but, whatever its

origins as a national symbol, the leek was firmly
established by Shakespeare’s time, making an appearance
in the Bard’s play, Henry V.
In his lifetime, St David travelled widely, founding
monasteries and churches in Wales, Brittany and
southwest England, including, perhaps, Somerset’s
Glastonbury Abbey, where he is depicted on a tapestry in
the church’s shrine. Further afield, on a pilgrimage to
Jerusalem, the saint is said to have brought back a stone
ST DAVIDS
Right: A clifftop
view in north
Pembrokeshire
Below: Chapel of
Our Lady and St
Non, near St Davids
A number of Welsh heritage sites are often also open

for free on St David’s Day, including St Davids Bishop’s
Palace. Indeed, March is a good time for a visit to the city,
when the winter weather should be brightening and the
daffodils are in full bloom. A range of events usually
includes bellringing and special choral services, as well as
a pilgrims’ walk from St Non’s Chapel to the cathedral.
In his last words to his followers, St David famously said:
“Be joyful, keep the faith, and do the little things that you
have heard and seen me do.” The phrase “Gwnewch y
pethau bychain mewn bywyd” – “Do the little things in
life” – is still a well-known Welsh saying. It is a satisfying
coincidence, then, that the city most closely associated
with the saint is also very little as cities go.
With a population of around 1,800 – so few that one
local artist is painting the portrait of every single inhabitant
– St Davids has the smallest population of any British city.
Indeed, in layout and atmosphere it much more closely
resembles a rural village. It’s a charming place to explore
in a leisurely fashion – not just for the cathedral and
Bishop’s Palace but the glorious clifftops beyond.
Do absorb these sea views while you’re there – the
walk from Porthgain to Whitesands is particularly
captivating, taking in the Blue Lagoon and the abandoned
DREW BUCKLEY/AFOTOGRAFF/ALAMY
slate workers’ cottages in Abereiddi. On a pleasant day on

the peninsula, or even on a wild one, there are few places
more beautiful in all of Britain. And as the mist creeps
off the sea, the seagulls shriek and the wind whips up your
hair it’s easy to understand how the dramatic legends of
St David might have flourished in such a setting. ■
For a full schedule of St David’s Day events in 2019,
head to www.visitwales.com and cadw.gov.wales
A panel of 340 National Geographic magazine

experts ranked Pembrokeshire as the second best
coastline in the world, sharing second place with
the Tutukaka Coast in New Zealand and beating MORE AWARDS:
places like The Seychelles, Bermuda and Costa Rica. The Times top 20 walks - Stackpole Head
Tripadvisor asked its customers to vote for their The Telegraph 12 best beaches in Britain
- Marloes Sands
favourite beach destinations in the UK. Tenby
The Independent UK’s hottest tourist spots
was rated 5th in front of Woolacombe, Padstow,
- Freshwater West Beach
Shanklin and Swanage.
Great Outdoors best places to camp in the UK
The Pembrokeshire Coast path was rated as the - Caerfai Bay
third best walking trail in the world by another Sunday Mirror best beaches - Barafundle
online travel advisor, Cheapflights. It even beat Best Magazine best beaches - Tenby
Mount Kilimanjaro and the Inca Trail. The Independent best European beaches
- Barafundle
Visit Britain also recognised how special the
Wild Swimming best swim spots
Pembrokeshire Coast is by rating it the 4th best
- The Blue Lagoon at Abereiddi
Coastal Place in Britain behind The White Cliffs of The Independent best summer walks
Dover, The Jurassic Coast and Brighton. - The Pembrokeshire Coast Path
To findGo
outtomore and discover all the places
www.visitpembrokeshire.com to find
mentioned above
out more and discover all of the places mentioned pp ee m
m bb rr oo kk ee ss hh ii rr ee
www.visitpembrokeshire.com
above and order a brochure.
HISTORY
TAKING
LIBERTIES
Author and historical adviser to the new Peterloo film,
Jacqueline Riding tells the story of the infamous Manchester
protest that became one of the defining moments
in modern British history
A severely depressed labour market was
O
n 16 August 1819, a local
yeomanry cavalry supported made worse by the return of thousands of
by British Army regulars sliced unemployed veterans, while the despised
through a 60,000-strong crowd Corn Laws artificially inflated the price of
at a pro-democracy meeting in Manchester, basic foodstuffs – in particular bread, the
then a major textile town in England’s staple of the working class. Desperation
north-west. This amateur citizen regiment could so easily turn to violence.
– by all accounts incompetent, some visibly The crowd in Manchester had gathered
drunk – killed at least 15 people, including from all over urban and rural Lancashire,
an infant, and injured more than 650 others. from the county’s great trading city of
The event itself lasted less than half Liverpool and, beyond, from adjoining
an hour, but its infamy continues to echo Cheshire, the West Riding of Yorkshire, and
down through the centuries. For this was even London. Most had cheerfully walked
the British state, only four years after the the many miles to Manchester dressed
defeat of the “tyrant” Napoleon Bonaparte in their Sunday best: women in bonnets
at Waterloo, turning its forces against the and white frocks, cotton and silk banners
people – artisans, tradesmen, women, fluttering aloft, the rousing sound of
children – as they peaceably exercised church and folk songs played on the drums,
their time-honoured rights brass and woodwind of village
and liberties.
The French Revolution,
with the so-called ‘Reign of
Terror’ and mob-rule horrors
that ensued, when thousands
were guillotined including
Louis XVI and his queen, Marie
Antoinette, were well within
living memory and cast a long,
dark shadow over British politics
and society.
The fear that such
constitutional devastation could
erupt here at any time dictated
an often-draconian reaction
from the government to civil
unrest, or even, as happened
in Manchester, to large-scale
demonstrations for reasonable
electoral reform. Yet given the
volatile atmosphere at the end of
the Napoleonic Wars, such fears
were not without justification.
HISTORY
This image:
An engraving of the
Peterloo Massacre
Below left: The
cavalry charging in
the new film Peterloo
musicians. Eyewitnesses describe a holiday did not represent the common man or, more the charismatic Henry ‘Orator’ Hunt.
atmosphere. But this was much more than broadly, modern, industrialising Britain. Unlike some elements of the radical reform
a community outing. Reformers within (as well as beyond) movement, Hunt believed that change
The specific purpose, as the banners Parliament judged it was time for the old could be achieved through peaceful, legal
CLASSIC IMAGE/ALAMY/SIMON MEIN/AMAZON STUDIOS
scattered throughout the crowd declared, corrupt order – which allowed the system means, using established processes, rather
was to address the root cause of their of ‘rotten boroughs’ like Old Sarum than armed revolt and mob rule. Yes,
suffering: the lack of representation in the to continue unabated – to undergo recent petitions to the House of Commons
UK parliament. In 1819 less than 5 per cent fundamental reformation. Their demands demanding reform had failed to stir an
of the adult male population could vote in were straightforward, at least from a intransigent government, but Hunt was
general elections. Manchester, the industrial modern perspective: ‘one man, one vote’, convinced that an orderly public display of
heart of the cotton trade, had no member of secret ballots, equal representation, strength and support – tens of thousands of
parliament. The entire county of Lancashire regular parliaments. honest, law abiding citizens – would surely,
had only two MPs, the same number as On 16 August the people had gathered finally, tip the balance in their favour.
Old Sarum, a hill in Wiltshire with no on St Peter’s Field on the southern side of As the people gathered, William Hulton
inhabitants. Clearly, the House of Commons Manchester to hear one such reformer, and his fellow local magistrates were ³
HISTORY
watching from the first floor of Mr Buxton’s Nadin, and his men, accompanied by the and yeomanry were in some difficulties,
house on Mount Street, located along the local Manchester and Salford Yeomanry the great mass of people unwilling or,
eastern side of the field. They had been Cavalry, moved in to arrest Hunt who, more likely, unable to move aside, the 15th
preparing for trouble and had the support having arrived on the hustings 100 yards Hussars and infantry regiments were sent in
of the government in Westminster. But they from where the magistrates were watching, to clear the field. Panic ensued. The people
were in a somewhat skittish state. had barely cleared his throat, let alone fled in every direction, some falling into the
To any official responsible for law uttered the sedition for which an arrest open basements of nearby houses, others
and order, a crowd of 60,000, in a town would have been justified. crushed as they attempted to leave through
whose total population was 100,000, was When it became clear that the constables narrow exit points around the perimeter.
downright threatening. Even before It is believed that women reformers,
Hunt’s arrival on the field, some distinctive in their white dresses,
local businessmen, fearing violence were specifically targeted by the
would break out, demanded that yeomanry cavalry. A great many
Hulton act. As the immense crowd’s people ran towards the Quaker
cheers lifted to a deafening roar on Meeting House on the north side
the arrival of Hunt’s open carriage, of the field, finding some protection
the magistrates made their decision. within its walled burial ground,
The Riot Act was read, although while the injured were dragged into
no one could hear it over the noise. the building itself. It is here that
This 1714 parliamentary act gave some resistance from the people
the people one hour to leave the towards their attackers, by means
field by their own volition. Then the of stone throwing, is recorded by
notorious police constable, Joseph contemporaries.
Clockwise from this

image: St Peter’s Square
in Manchester; the title
page of contemporary
publication Disturbances
at Manchester!; scenes
from the 2018 film
HISTORY
Among the crowd was John Lees,

a veteran of Waterloo, who was cut several
Eyewitnesses describe and imprisoned. But it also stimulated
greater understanding and support, across
times by sabres as he attempted to protect a holiday atmosphere… all levels of society the length and breadth
himself and then savagely clubbed while
he lay defenceless on the ground. Having
The crowd’s purpose was of the nation, that a reform of Parliament
and particularly the representation of the
to address their lack of
MARY EVANS PICTURE LIBRARY/JOE DUNCKLEY/ALAMY/SIMON MEIN/AMAZON STUDIOS
staggered home to Oldham, eight miles industrial north was now necessary. This
away, John exclaimed to a friend:
“At Waterloo there was man to man, but
representation in the eventually led to the Great Reform Act of
1832, in which 67 new constituencies were
at Manchester it was downright murder.” UK Parliament created (including two for Manchester),
He died three weeks later. Meanwhile the ‘rotten boroughs’ disappeared, and the
carnage, carried out vote was extended: it was a modest
on St Peter’s Field, was move in the right direction. One
immediately dubbed hundred years after Peterloo and in
Peterloo, in mock the wake of another devastating war,
reference to this other the vote was finally extended to
‘battle field’. all adult men. Ten years after this,
In the short term, the franchise was extended to all
the event provoked adult women.
greater repression by the Although Manchester is now,
government and local largely, Victorian or later in
authorities, with the
radical leaders, including
Henry Hunt, arrested
appearance, the street plan around the area

once called St Peter’s Field, lying to the west
and south of the Central Library, would
be recognisable to an early 19th-century
Mancunian. Peter Street still crosses the site
from west to east. If a visitor stands midway
along Windmill Street, where Henry
Hunt addressed the crowd, facing roughly
northwards, as he did, located to the right
is the Midland Hotel, where Mr Buxton’s
house once stood, and, directly ahead,
through a gap in the buildings, they will
see the Quaker Meeting House, built on the
same spot of the house that bore witness
to the terrible events of 1819. As the
bicentenary approaches, it is the moment
to honour this significant staging post in
Britain’s long journey to democracy. ■
Jacqueline is the historical adviser on Mike
Leigh’s latest film, Peterloo. Her new book,
Peterloo: The Story of the Manchester
Massacre, is published by Head of Zeus.
www.headofzeus.com
RUSKIN IN CUMBRIA
A CLEAR
CHARLES FAIRFAX MURRAY/TATE/FIONA MCALLISTER PHOTOGRAPHY/GETTY IMAGES
VIEW John Ruskin’s bicentenary offers a chance

to celebrate the legacy of one of Victorian
Britain’s most forward-thinking talents.
David Atkinson visits the Lake District where
his Romantic vision took flight
RUSKIN IN CUMBRIA
This image: The

banks of Coniston
Water near where
John Ruskin lived
Inset: An 1875
portrait of Ruskin
by artist Charles
Fairfax Murray
RUSKIN IN CUMBRIA
ohn Ruskin was the original polymath. A leading
J light in the Romantic movement and an intellectual

voice of Victorian Britain, his writing informed the
work of authors, thinkers and activists as diverse as
Leo Tolstoy, Marcel Proust and Mahatma Gandhi.
He championed the artists of the Pre-Raphaelite
Brotherhood and tackled many key issues of the
Industrial Age, his big-picture clarity helping warn of
environmental impact. Yet the scholarly gentleman who
made his home on the banks of Coniston Water has fallen
from fashion in comparison to his fellow Lake District
writers such as William Wordsworth and Beatrix Potter.
Until now, that is. A series of exhibitions and events,
centring upon his Cumbrian home, will mark the
bicentenary of his birth in 2019. It’s a chance to explore
his legacy, not only on William Morris and the Arts &
Crafts movement in Britain [see page 58] but also on the
international stage. After all, his eye for aesthetics and
championing of artisan crafts inspired the American
architect Frank Lloyd Wright and Yanagi Soetsu’s Mingei
folk art movement in Japan among others.
“Ruskin is part of Cumbria’s DNA,” says Howard
Hull, the director of Brantwood, Ruskin’s former home,
which is now a museum dedicated to his life and work.
“His message is very profound, yet also simple:
the importance of collaboration, not competition.
As societies, and individuals, we need to collaborate
with each other and with the world around us.”
While the Romantics poets such as Wordsworth and
Samuel Taylor Coleridge were the first to craft purple
prose about the beauty of the Lake District, a new
movement of artists was also discovering Cumbria in the
early 19th century. Inspired by Gainsborough before
them, Britain’s finest artists of the era, JMW Turner and
John Constable, both journeyed north in search of those
quintessentially brooding Lakeland vistas. Ruskin picked
up their Romantic mantle and evolved it. “He combined
Romanticism with a harder look at the social and
environmental questions of the day. He understood the
connectedness of things — a message still relevant
today,” adds Hull.
“The clarity and power of his writing, mixed with
his sense of humanity, made him the pre-eminent thinker
of the Victorian era, but also one of the most vilified,”
adds Vicky Slowe, the director of the Ruskin Museum
in the village of Coniston, which is situated across the
NATIONAL TRUST IMAGES/JAMES DOBSON/GRAHAM PRENTICE/ALAMY
lake from Brantwood. “Ruskin talked about the welfare

state, minimum wage and environmental warming.
He was effectively speaking out against the Industrial
Revolution.”
“Ruskin’s message is very

profound: as societies, and
individuals, we need to
collaborate with each other
and with the world around us”
RUSKIN IN CUMBRIA
John Ruskin was born in London on 8 February 1819 an unhappy one and, at a time when polite society Clockwise, from
to a devoted, wine-merchant family, who pushed him couldn’t countenance divorce, the marriage was annulled top left: Ruskin’s
academically and countered his poor health with Grand some six years later. She was then free to marry Ruskin’s gravestone at St
Andrew’s Church;
Tour-style trips to take the air in the Swiss Alps. After protégé, the Pre-Raphaelite artist John Everett Millais,
Brantwood House;
STAN PRITCHARD/ALAMY/RICHARD TAYLOR/4CORNERS IMAGES
graduating from the University of Oxford, Ruskin started who had joined them on a holiday to Scotland. It’s a story Dawn, Coniston,
to build a reputation as a writer and lecturer. His 1843 retold in the 2014 film Effie Gray, scripted by the British one of Ruskin’s
work, Modern Painters, written at the age of just 24, actress Emma Thompson. paintings featured
made his name. It started as a defence of Turner but, “Hampered by his ill health and overprotective parents, in Ruskin, Turner &
extending over five volumes, went on to discuss I fear Ruskin cut a bit of a lonely figure,” explains Slowe, the Storm Cloud
[see page 48]
landscape, religion and art. He would go on to become as she introduces the museum’s collection, which includes
the first Slade Professor of Fine Art at Oxford, where a letter, written by a nine-year-old Ruskin to his father in
Oscar Wilde and Canon Rawsley (the latter one of the perfect, copperplate handwriting.
founders of the National Trust) were amongst the “I think it’s unfair to say he didn’t like women,” she
undergraduates. adds. “The marriage was rather forced upon the couple
Ruskin’s personal life was more troubled, however. and, in the end, I believe he was trying to act chivalrously,
He had married Euphemia Gray, the beautiful 19-year-old protecting Effie from being [seen as] the scarlet woman.”
daughter of family friends, in 1848. But the marriage was Ruskin’s move to the Lake District, following his ³
RUSKIN IN CUMBRIA
mother’s death in 1871, marked the beginning of a golden AT A GLANCE…

period in his professional life. It remained his main home
until his death in 1900. Ruskin’s former home of Brantwood will stage several
Today Brantwood, set in a 250-acre woodland estate on bicentennial exhibitions. Tea, Mingei & Fors: Celebrating the
the eastern side of Coniston Water, is a testament to his Legacy of John Ruskin in Japan (15 May to 5 August) features
aesthetic tastes in architecture, gardening and design. pottery inspired by Ruskin, while Incandescence: Turner’s
Venice (11 April to 4 August) will be the gallery’s first public
Badger’s Cottage, a converted staff cottage within the
exhibition devoted to Ruskin’s peer.
grounds, can be rented through The Coppermines and
makes the perfect base for exploring the location that John Ruskin: The Power of Seeing (26 January to 22 April) at
inspired Ruskin to write some of his most profound work. London’s Two Temple Place explores Ruskin’s influence on
“Brantwood was a place of healing for him, escaping arts, the economy and the environment today. Produced in
the pressures of London,” says Hull. “Here Ruskin conjunction with the Guild of St George, which Ruskin
perfected his eye, his openness to see beyond the himself founded in 1871, the exhibition then tours to the
superficial. He shows us how, by seeing clearly, we Millennium Gallery, Sheffield (29 May to 15 September).
deepen our relationship with the world.”
With its stately desk and an armillary sphere, Ruskin’s More than 40 of the artist’s drawings and watercolours will
study at Brantwood was used to observe the movements appear in Turner, Ruskin and the Storm Cloud at the York
Art Gallery (29 March to 23 June). It will focus on his interest in
of the stars. He worked each day in the early morning
weather patterns and transfers to the Abbot Hall Art Gallery
before tending to his estate in the afternoon. A picture on
in Kendal, Cumbria (12 July to 5 October).
the wall shows the author sat in his favourite armchair,
overlooking the lake. The dining room, meanwhile,
commands a superb view across the lake to the Old Man
of Coniston, a 2,600-foot peak that dominates the
landscape.
After several years, Ruskin suffered a series of mental
HAZEL DRUMMOND/BEN BARDEN PHOTOGRAPHY

breakdowns and increasingly retreated from public life to
lead a more reclusive existence at Brantwood. In the
bedroom, he experienced a series of harrowing Above: Opal
hallucinations that culminated in a psychotic episode on minerals from
Good Friday 1878. “He describes in his letters how the Ruskin’s collection,
sheer volume of thoughts in his head would spiral out of included in The
Power of Seeing
control,” says Hull. “He would weave beautiful tapestries
exhibition [see
of these thoughts at times but, during his breakdowns, box opposite]
they took on terrifying proportions.” They troubled him Below: Ruskin’s
so much he never slept in this room again until he was on study at Brantwood
his deathbed and only then when he was surrounded by

the Turner paintings he loved.
Ruskin died at Brantwood on 20 January 1900 and was
buried five days later in the churchyard at St Andrew’s
Church in Coniston. Both the Celtic cross-style grave and
the Ruskin Museum, founded in 1901 on the site of the
former Mechanics’ Institute and Literary Society, were
overseen by WG Collingwood, a former student of Ruskin
at Oxford. Collingwood also acted as an assistant to
Ruskin at Brantwood and wanted to honour his
contribution to the Coniston community.
His artistic legacy survives among more dedicated
followers too. “Ruskin, through his love of Turner, was
fascinated by mountains. As an artist, my own infatuation
with painting big rock faces can be traced back to
Ruskin’s view of rock as a living substance,” says the
Lake District artist Julian Heaton Cooper. “Ruskin has
been somewhat overlooked but I hope, this year, we will
come to consider him more kindly. He had vision,
especially to foresee the fragile relationship between
man and the planet we dwell on.”
As Ruskin himself said: “To see clearly is poetry,
prophecy and religion – all in one.” ■
www.ruskinto-day.org
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THERE’S SOMETHING ABOUT MARY

The fashion designer often credited with creating the mini skirt is to be honoured with a major retrospective at the
V&A. Blackheath-born Mary Quant took the British fashion world by storm in the 1960s, creating a string of colourful,
iconic looks and starting an influential clothes shop on the ultra-fashionable Kings Road in Chelsea. A launch event at
the V&A with go-go dancers and a red, open-top double-decker bus set the ‘Swinging Sixties’ tone for the forthcoming
exhibition, which will include original garments, archive photography and Quant’s own drawings.
The launch caps a busy few months for the South Kensington-based museum following the debut of a new
Photography Centre in October and the restoration of the sculpture-filled Cast Courts that re-opened in December.
Mary Quant runs from 6 April to 16 February 2020 at the Victoria and Albert Museum. www.vam.ac.uk/exhibitions
DISCOVER LONDON
Out of the
ASHES
Alexandra Palace is the birthplace of British
television, yet it has been blighted by fires,
bomb damage and neglect. As the theatre
re-opens after 80 years, Steve Pill explores
the Victorian venue’s entertaining history
DISCOVER LONDON
he word ‘palace’ tends to conjure up images of football and cricket pitches, and a nine-hole golf course, Top left: The newly
T a grand, gilded building that is the preserve of

a select few, yet in the case of north London’s
Alexandra Palace, nothing could be further
from the truth. First opened in 1873 as “The People’s
while a horse-racing course, known as the “frying pan”
on account of its unusual shape, played host to the
London Cup and other races.
The majority of the entertainment took place within
restored theatre
Bottom left: The
theatre as it was in
the 1920s
Above: Ally Pally
RICHARD BATTYE/GREG BALFOUR EVANS/ALAMY
Palace”, this was a purpose-built entertainment venue the palace itself though. There was a library, a banqueting is known as the
and recreation centre for Victorian England and almost hall, a monkey house, a museum and art galleries filled birthplace of
100,000 people visited in its first two weeks alone. with paintings and sculptures. A theatre was fitted out television
The location was key to the success. The palace was with scenery that lifted up from below the stage and
built in Alexandra Park – a 196-acre green space that state-of-the-art traps that could fire performers into the
had been created 10 years previously by the acclaimed midst of the action, while “Father” Henry Willis, the
landscape architect Alexander Mackenzie and offered finest organ builder in Victorian Britain, created a giant
panoramic views of the central London skyline. instrument in the Great Hall. The latter, regularly hosting
Sports were popular here. Over the years, the park concerts and lectures, was so vast that a life-size replica of
has featured a boating lake, an outdoor swimming pool, Nelson’s Column was fitted inside for a ball to mark the ³
‘Beyond superb!
The performances, CELEBRATING MUSIC AND PLACE
the choice of
repertoire, the
venues... all perfect
in my opinion!’
Martin Randall Festival participant in 2017
Photo: Gabrieli, performing at

‘Music in the Cotswolds’ 2018 ©Bill Knight.
Contact us: The J.S. Bach Journey 13–19 May 2019

West Country Choral Festival 7–11 July 2019
+44 (0)20 8742 3355
Music Along the Danube 31 August–7 September 2019
martinrandall.com/festivals Sacred Music in Santiago 26 or 28 September–2 October 2019
The Thomas Tallis Trail 1–3 November 2019
ATOL 3622 ABTA Y6050 AITO 5085 Opera in Southern Sicily 5–11 November 2019
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
centenary of the Battle of Trafalgar in 1905. Eight years

later, Winston Churchill gave a speech during his time
as First Lord of the Admiralty and could barely be heard
beyond the first few rows – the man who would become
the nation’s most rousing wartime voice, beaten by the
acoustics of this cavernous, 8,250-capacity space.
Nevertheless, the blank canvas that this multi-purpose
venue provided would attract all manner of weird and
wonderful performers and stars. American aviation
pioneer Samuel Franklin Cody staged an exhibition of his
early flying machines here in 1903, as well as bringing
his Wild West-themed show The Klondyke Nugget to
the theatre. Alexandra Palace’s biggest claim to cultural
fame, however, came on 2 November 1936. The previous
year, trustees from the British Broadcasting Corporation
(BBC) had leased the East Wing for its fledgling BBC
Television service. An antenna was duly installed,
competing systems were tested, and on that fateful late
autumn day, the world’s first high-definition television
service was launched. Presenter Elizabeth Cowell would
introduce the broadcasts with the words “This is direct
television from Alexandra Palace”. Aside from a break
during the war, when the antenna was used to interrupt
the radar systems during the Blitz, broadcasts would
continue here for 45 years and Alexandra Palace became
known as the “birthplace of television”.
Despite its key role in entertainment history, Alexandra
Palace has not been without its share of neglect and
misfortune. The original palace had only been open
for 16 days when a fire
when troops were sent here for dispersal Above: The view of
following Armistice Day, they caused London’s skyline
irreparable damage to Willis’s famous and Alexandra Park
as seen from the
organ and left the looted pipes scattered Alexandra Palace
across London. Willis’s grandson rebuilt the organ with Left: The Windmill
broke out in the dome and spread quickly. With the the help of the Alexandra Palace Restoration Committee, Girls filmed at the
hilltop location making it tricky to source enough water ensuring a heyday during the 1930s, before bomb Palace’s BBC
to douse the fire, only fragments of the outer walls damage in 1944 exposed the instrument to the elements studios in 1946
survived the blaze. A second palace was constructed in and it was eventually dismantled.
FOX PHOTOS/GETTY IMAGES
record time and opened on 1 May 1875, less than two By the 1960s, the palace was hosting successful
NATHANIEL NOIR/ALAMY/
years after the fire. Crucially, the rebuilt palace contained trade shows and wildlife exhibitions, while becoming
spaces that could be shut off to prevent fires spreading synonymous with gigs that continue today. On 29-30
and water tanks were installed in the four corner towers. April 1967, the 14 Hour Technicolor Dream, a landmark
The palace was used as an internment camp and benefit concert, attracted the hippy counter-culture to the
temporary hospital during the First World War, and Great Hall with John Lennon in attendance and Pink ³
DISCOVER LONDON
Floyd topping the bill. This was followed by headline

This image: The
restored theatre’s
shows by the Rolling Stones and Led Zeppelin. Tragedy
period features was never far away though. On 10 July 1980, the palace
have been left caught fire once more, destroying much of the original
looking shabby building, including the Great Hall, and the following year
Below: A 1925 saw the BBC move its last operations to White City.
performance
While the restored Alexandra Palace – known
affectionately by locals as “Ally Pally” – reopened again
in 1988, the sheer size of the venue means raising funds
for the upkeep proves tricky. Nowhere has this been
more apparent than the theatre. Prior to reopening in
December, it had been hidden from the public for more
than 80 years, having served in the interim as a rather
grand props store.
The current restoration plans were first mooted in 2011
and construction work began in 2016. “There have been
many plans over the years so this has been many decades
in the making,” says the venue’s chief executive, Louise
Stewart. The theatre’s wonderful period features were
damaged during its time storing props, yet the surprising
decision was made to not restore them. The £26 million
funding was instead spent on strengthening work, with
15,000 concrete blocks and 32,000 feet of steel used, as
well as improving sight lines (the 1875 theatre’s original
architect John Johnson had little experience in theatre
design), creating modern facilities, and opening out the
rest of the East Wing entrance hall. The result is a state-
of-the-art theatre in an atmospheric, crumbling shell that
is similar in spirit to Wilton’s Music Hall in east London.
The rejuvenated theatre’s opening programme includes
mainstream comedy, cinema, classical music and a
production of Shakespeare’s Richard III (13-31 March).
“We are about unashamedly populist entertainment,”
says Stewart. “It was why the palace was built and this
space has to deliver our charitable purposes in that
regard, really getting to a broad audience with a broad
entertainment offer.”
Almost 150 years after it first opened, this sprawling
and rather unlucky venue is poised for another
The theatre’s period features were damaged, renaissance and it is proudly doing so by remaining true
to its Victorian origins as a palace fit for the people. ■
yet the decision was made not to restore them www.alexandrapalace.com
Enjoy a 10-day package staying at

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DISCOVER LONDON
DISCOVER LONDON
Nature Boy
As Waltham Forest becomes London Borough of
Culture, Steve Pill explores the legacy of its most
famous resident, Arts & Crafts designer William Morris
altham Forest has been
W named the first ever

MARY EVANS PICTURE LIBRARY
London Borough of
Culture and the year-long
celebrations, taking place throughout 2019,
will include a three-day music festival, art
installations, new dance commissions and
a children’s theatre production in the wilds
of Epping Forest. At the heart of the event,
however, is the work and legacy of the
borough’s most famous son, William Morris.
The guiding light of the Arts & Crafts
movement, Morris revolutionised Victorian
society not only with his ornate designs for
fabrics, furniture, wallpaper and more, but
MATT CLAYTON/GL ARCHIVE/ALAMY
also for his democratic views on art and

society. As a result, his former home has
become a destination gallery and one of
several venues across the capital at which to
admire his ground-breaking work. Left: The dining room
Morris was born on 24 March 1834 in at Emery Walker’s House
³
Walthamstow, which was then a small Above: William Morris
DISCOVER LONDON
Essex village and not the up-and-coming

London suburb it is today. In his 1890 novel
News from Nowhere, one of his characters
describes the area as “a pretty place… a
very jolly place, now that the trees have had
time to grow again”.
Morris was particularly well read. His
friend and biographer Aymer Vallance notes
that he “acquired his first taste for art and
romance” from Sir Walter Scott, the author
of epic adventure novels like Rob Roy,
Ivanhoe and The Heart of Midlothian.
The young Morris was also keen to
experience nature for himself, spending
plenty of time exploring the length and
breadth of the nearby Epping Forest and in
particular the Queen Elizabeth’s Lodge, a
16th-century, timber-framed hunting stand
near Chingford Hatch that survives today.
“How well I remember as a boy my first
acquaintance with a room hung with faded
greenery,” he recalled, “and the impression
of romance that it made upon me”.
When William’s father died unexpectedly
in 1847, the family moved to Water House,
a more modest mansion that has been the
home of the William Morris Gallery for
the last 70 years. This beautiful Georgian
mansion on the edge of Walthamstow’s
Lloyd Park boasts a dramatic Corinthian-
style porch out front and extensive wild
gardens to the rear. The most important
feature, however, are the nine galleries
dedicated to the polymath’s life and legacy,
The young Morris was covering displays about his early life, his
workshops, and his campaigning.
keen to experience Two of the key early influences on Morris
nature for himself, himself were John Ruskin [see page 44]
and the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. The
spending time exploring latter was formed in 1848, a group of his
the nearby Epping Forest almost-peers with a shared ideology and
centred upon the fine artists John Everett
Millais, Dante Gabriel Rossetti and William
Holman Hunt. All three rejected the
classical compositions of Raphael (hence
their name) and instead conspired to create
some of Britain’s best-loved paintings –
including Millais’s Ophelia and Hunt’s Our
English Coasts, both part of the permanent
collection at London’s Tate Britain.
Yet while the Pre-Raphaelite paintings
belong in our nation’s grandest galleries,
ILYAS AYUB/ALAMY/PAUL TUCKER/WMG
the guiding principles for Morris’s own

work were far more quotidian. He placed
huge importance on functional design,
natural patterns and creative, manual work.
As Vallance noted in his 1897 biography,
From top to bottom: Morris has “done more than any man in the
Epping Forest; the present century to beautify the plain, every
³
Willliam Morris Gallery day home-life of the people.”
VISIT KELMSCOTT MANOR
VISIT THE COTSWOLDS RETREAT OF WILLIAM MORRIS

VISITING HOURS (APRIL - AUGUST)
Wednesday and Saturday, 11am to 5pm
Explore William Morris’s “Heaven on Earth” and view the iconic collection of
artwork and objects owned and designed by the Father of the Arts & Crafts
Movement. Discover why the Cotswold home became an inspiration for
him and his family and explore the gardens, enjoy homemade food from
our licensed tearoom and visit our gift shop.
International Excellence Award (TravelZoo, 2015)

“Secret Britain: 50 Hidden Gems to Seek Out This Summer” (Telegraph, 2015)
One of the 100 Irreplaceable sites A History of England in 100 Places (Historic England)
Certificate of Excellence (TripAdvisor, 2014)
WWW.KELMSCOTTMANOR.ORG.UK
Kelmscott Manor is owned by the Society of Antiquaries of London (registered charity 207237).
Address: Kelmscott Manor, Kelmscott, Lechlade GL7 3HJ | Tel: 01367 252486 | Email: admin@sal.org.uk
Web: www.kelmscottmanor.org.uk | Twitter: @KelmscottManor
DISCOVER LONDON
His early attempts at design were borne May bequeathed a large collection of her
of practical concerns and a frustration with father’s work to the V&A, including fabrics,
other poor quality, “unnatural” objects. embroidery and 30 wallpaper designs, many
After graduating from Oxford, he moved of which are on display today.
into a Bloomsbury flat with his university In contrast to those two grand locations,
friend, the artist Edward Burne-Jones one of the finest examples of the company’s
(subject of a recent solo exhibition at Tate more intimate, homely style can be found
Britain, which runs until 24 February) – on the banks of the River Thames at
the pair had no furniture, so Morris Hammersmith. Emery Walker’s House is a
designed their own. Suitably inspired, wonderfully preserved Arts & Crafts-style
the pair became partners in the decorative home that belonged to the well-connected
arts company Morris, Marshall, Faulkner printer and young friend of Morris.
& Co., which would later become simply Walker’s narrow, three-storey terrace
Morris & Co. The company’s output became can be visited via small, pre-booked tours
fashionable following the 1862 International (www.emerywalker.org.uk) and is thought
Exhibition and it soon landed two major to be one of the only houses in the world to
interior design commissions: two rooms at contain original Morris & Co. wallpapers in
St James’s Palace, a royal residence, and a every room. Curtains and soft furnishings
refreshment room at the South Kensington further add to the impact. Meanwhile,
Museum (as the V&A was then known). a drawer in the dining room filled with
The design for the latter combined personal effects further highlights the
Elizabethan-style wood panelling with close bond between Walker and Morris
ornate wallpapers, bottle-glass windows – it includes spectacles and a lock of hair
and a frieze depicting hounds chasing belonging to the latter.
hares. The Green Dining Room (as it is now Morris’s final home in London provides
known thanks to the distinctive olive-bough another key destination for an Arts & Crafts
wallpaper) was such a success that it began pilgrimage. Hammersmith’s 26 Upper
a long-running collaboration between Mall – renamed Kelmscott House after the
Morris and the museum, as he became Oxfordshire village of his country home –
an examiner at its art school and joined became his residence in the capital for the
the committee responsible for purchasing 18 years prior his death in 1896. Though it
new works. In 1938, Morris’s daughter largely remains a private house today, the
SILWEN RANDEBROCK/NATIONAL TRUST PHOTOLIBRARYY/ALAMY
DISCOVER LONDON
coach house and basement rooms are given

over to the William Morris Society. As well TAILOR-MADE PRIVATE
as holding extensive archives and staging
TOURS FOR THE DISCERNING
regular events, the society opens its doors
www.bhctours.co.uk | info@bhctours.co.uk | +44 (0)1296 620173
twice a week to allow visitors the chance to
visit the print room and exhibition space.
In 1881, Morris moved Morris & Co. to
an 18th-century watermill on the River
Wandle at Merton Abbey, which would later
become a textile factory that printed fabrics
for the luxury department store Liberty.
The store’s current incarnation on Great
Marlborough Street was built in 1924 at
the height of the Tudor revival and was
largely constructed from the timber of
two Royal Navy ships. Founder Arthur
Lasenby Liberty would travel extensively,
particularly in Asia, in search of inspiration
and stock, yet he also commissioned or
worked with a number of leading designers,
including Arthur Silver and Morris, who
opened his own Morris & Co. showroom
in nearby Oxford Street in 1877. Today
Liberty is one of the best places in London
to buy Morris-branded items and Arts-&-
Crafts gifts. As you walk along the creaky
floorboards or browse the lush garments
and fabrics on display, it is an ideal time to
recall a famous Morris quote that perfectly
sums up his philosophy: “Have nothing in
your houses that you do not know to be
useful or believe to be beautiful.” ■
We listen to what our clients want

and then exceed their expectations.
Clockwise from left:

The Leicester wallpaper
from Morris & Co; the
Green Dining Room
at the V&A; Liberty
department store
© Highclere Castle LLP 201

24 hours in…
NEWCASTLE
Make the most of your time in the Tyneside city
In 1080, William the Conqueror sent his Paddy Freeman’s Park.

eldest son, Robert, to Scotland to defend his www.jesmonddene.org.uk
kingdom. On his successful return, Robert
set about creating a timber fort on the River Discover Tudor life
Tyne to prevent against further sorties south The Bessie Surtees House is a wonderful
of the border. While the structure lasted for example of original Jacobean architecture
less than a century before it was replaced, it that functions as an Historic England-run
was this novum castellum or “new castle” museum portraying life in the 16th and
that would give the modern city its name. 17th centuries. A plaque commemorates
By the 14th century, Newcastle was the the window from which Surtees escaped
fourth richest town in England, behind to elope with John Scott, the future Lord
just London, Bristol and York, thanks to Chancellor of England, in 1772.
its strategic position and also burgeoning www.historicengland.org.uk
wool, leather and coal industries. It was
eventually granted city status in 1882, in See the best of British art
the midst of an Industrial Revolution boom The Laing Art Gallery is one of England’s
that saw the population triple in 60 years. finest council-run museums with a
Newcastle is often twinned for touristic permanent collection of great British tunnel are accessible via guided tours that
purposes with Gateshead, accessible via the paintings. Temporary exhibitions include give a potted history of the city’s underbelly.
tilting Millennium Bridge among others, Watercolour at War (until 1 November www.ouseburntrust.org.uk
yet that shouldn’t detract from enjoying a 2019), a look at how the delicate medium
proud, historic city in its own right. produced vivid records of two world wars. Make time for tea
Head to the 183-year-old Grainger Market The Quilliam Brothers grew up in the
nearby for a wide choice of lunches. Northumberland village of Wylam, yet
Morning laingartgallery.org.uk came to Newcastle with a mission: to open
Explore leafy suburbs a teahouse that offered, with tongues
Begin your day with a brisk walk along firmly planted in cheeks, “an alternative to
the Ouseburn river at Jesmond Dene.
Afternoon the boozy, get-your-bloomers-out-for-the-
We have Victorian arms manufacturer Hit the underground gentlemen scene”. Choose from 60 loose
Lord Armstrong to thank for enclosing The Victoria Tunnel was initially built leaf varieties alongside a delicious array
this wooded area, filling it with interesting under Newcastle in 1842 to transport coal of baked goods.
trees and shrubbery, and gifting it to the wagons from the Spital Tongues Colliery www.quilliambrothers.com
people of the city in 1883. Look out for to the River Tyne. It has since served as
the 12th-century St Mary’s Chapel and the a mushroom farm and an air-raid shelter. Climb the ramparts
picturesque waterfall opposite Around 760 yards of the original 2.5-mile No visit to Newcastle is complete without
NEWCASTLE
Clockwise, from left:

The Tyne Theatre
and Opera House;
the view from High
Level Bridge; Bessie
Surtee’s House;
Victoria Tunnel; the
House of Tides
Blackfriars – a former Dominican priory

that dates back to 1239 and claims to be the
oldest dining room in Britain. Choose from
an 80-cover restaurant with à la carte menu
or go all out with a medieval banquet in a
candlelit hall that was a favourite of King
Edward III. A five-course Olde English feast
includes suckling pig and spiced mead.
www.blackfriarsrestaurant.co.uk
Night
Sleep in the county hall
The Vermont Hotel is located within
Castle Garth, the area of Newcastle
once enclosed within the medieval castle
walls. The building itself once housed
exploring its namesake castle. Allowed to brickwork and gnarled wooden beams. Northumberland’s county hall so offers a
fall into disrepair following the building www.houseoftides.co.uk suitably grandiose setting with view of the
GARY BARRET/STUDIO 2112/NEIL MCALLISTER/ALAMY/AVAILABLE LIGHT STUDIOS
of the town walls, two main structures Tyne. Forgive the tartan carpets south of
survive: the 13th-century Black Gate and Spend a night at the opera the border and this is a comfortable and
the Castle Keep, home to a Norman chapel In a typical example of Victorian industry quality night’s stay.
and ramparts that offer bracing views funding local culture, it was Blaydon www.vermont-hotel.com
across the city. Brickworks owner Joseph Cowen who
www.newcastlecastle.co.uk commissioned the Tyne Theatre and Opera Get cosy in Jesmond Dene
House back in 1867. Still staging live music, End as you started, back at Jesmond Dene
theatre and comedy today and judged by House, an 1822 Arts & Crafts property in
Evening English Heritage to be one of “the top 4%” Jesmond Dene that is now a luxurious hotel.
Dine in style of listed buildings, the gilded auditorium Open fires and suites in the eaves make
Kenny Atkinson’s House of Tides restaurant can also be explored via fascinating one- for a pleasantly cosy experience. Wake up
has a coveted Michelin star thanks to two hour backstage tours. refreshed to enjoy a kitchen garden on your
ambitious tasting menus packed with local, www.tynetheatreandoperahouse.uk doorstep and artwork by leading British
seasonal produce. The building itself is talents, including the late miner-turned-
equally worthy of awards – a five-storey, Tuck in to a medieval banquet painter, Norman Cornish MBE. ■
grade I listed merchant’s house, all exposed For an atmospheric meal, head to www.jesmonddenehouse.co.uk
BRODSWORTH HALL
Real Estate
Conserved as found, Brodsworth Hall is one of English
Heritage’s most genuine properties. As such, this grand
Yorkshire house reveals much about its former
inhabitants, says Natalie Marchant
ANTHONY CHAPPELROSS/GETTY IMAGES/HERITAGE IMAGES/HISTORIC ENGLAND
pon entering Brodsworth Hall, it is soon There has been a substantial landholding at the site
U apparent that this isn’t your average Victorian

country house. The wallpaper is showing its
age; there are water marks on some of the
books, seemingly from an ill-placed kettle; and the
servants’ rooms have long been used for storage.
near Doncaster ever since the Norman Conquest of
England in the 11th century. Brodsworth became a seat of
the 8th Earl of Kinnoull in the early 18th century and, by
1791, was sold to banker Peter Thellusson. His family
were Huguenots, French Protestants who had fled
What is particularly remarkable about this Yorkshire religious persecution. By 1760, Peter had built his fortune
gem, however, is that it survives as an ensemble, complete in London and become a British citizen. He died six years
with contents and gardens. Built between 1861 and 1863 after buying Brodsworth Hall and was buried there.
by Charles Sabine Thellusson, a captain in the 12th Royal Peter left behind a notorious will, which declared the
Lancers, Brodsworth Hall was continuously occupied by estate should be managed by trustees for 60 years after
three generations of his family, before passing into his death. It made such a societal impact, given fears the
English Heritage’s hands in 1990. The result is a unique terms could create enormous wealth in the future, that
collection of objects telling the family’s history. Parliament passed a law to prevent such a will being ³
BRODSWORTH HALL
Clockwise from
this above: A view
of Brodsworth Hall
from the gardens;
the drawing room;
a portrait of the
hall’s original owner
Charles Augustus
Thellusson
BRODSWORTH HALL
This image:
Topiary outside
Brodsworth Hall
Above: The library
BRODSWORTH HALL
drawn up again – the 1800 Accumulations Act, also

known as the Thellusson Act. While some of his fortune
was divided between his three sons, the majority of it –
some £600,000 (about £33.6 million today) – was left to
accumulate for future generations. After five decades of
legal wrangling, in a case thought to have inspired the
Jarndyce vs Jarndyce case in Charles Dickens’ Bleak
House, the estate was eventually left to Charles Sabine.
Adapting old country houses and creating new ones
was a popular thing to do in the 1860s, and Charles
Sabine pulled down the existing building and had a new
one designed, constructed, roofed and furnished within
three years for just £45,000. The result was a grand
country house, designed in an Italianate style by little-
known architect Philip Wilkinson and furnished by
London firm Lapworths.
When Charles Sabine died in 1885, each of his four
sons inherited the estate in turn, although due to a drop
in agricultural income, the house was largely unchanged.
His son, also Charles, revived the family fortunes by
granting permission for a mine to be sunk on the land and
he and his wife, Constance, were able to live in some
style. After he died in 1919, his brother Augustus tended
to only use the property during the shooting season.
In 1931, Brodsworth Hall was inherited by Charles
Grant-Dalton, son of Charles Sabine’s daughter
Constance. He, his wife Sylvia and their 12-year-old
daughter Pamela moved into the house which was, by
then, in need of substantial refurbishment. But, as was the
case with so many country homes, death duties and the
Great Depression meant there was little money to carry
out repairs. Instead they made the house more liveable
by closing off some rooms, redecorating others, and
installing mod-cons like an Aga cooker.
This contrast between the house’s former Victorian Above: Inside the The Morning Room then, with its electric fire and faded
grandeur and its more lived-in later state becomes marble-columned Victorian wallpaper, can come as a bit of surprise after
obvious upon entering the house. The exquisite crimson- South Hall the grand entrance hall. This room was first used for
Below: Sylvia
ENGLISH HERITAGE TRUST/GETTY IMAGES/HERITAGE IMAGES/HISTORIC ENGLAND/JEREMY ALAN BAXTER/ALAMY
and-gold entrance hall, complete with imitation marble business, but its small size meant it became the family’s
Grant-Dalton
columns, leads through to an equally grand inner hall that photographed at sitting room. The neighbouring dining room is more
hints at the house’s original role as a country gentleman’s Brodsworth opulent, with a large mahogany table designed for the
abode. Head left into the Morning Room instead and large-scale entertaining that was typical of the Victorian
Brodsworth Hall’s unusual status of being a house that era. But again, not all is as it first appears. The carpet was
was “conserved as found” is soon apparent. last replaced in 1904, the curtains in 1970. The table itself
After her husband died in 1952, Sylvia remained is an example of a Victorian mod-con, with a mechanised
here until her death 36 years later. system to extend it. Mary Storey,
Her daughter Pamela did not want to now one of the English Heritage
take on the now-dilapidated property volunteers, remembers Sylvia sitting
so two years later gave the house and at the end of the long table eating her
gardens to English Heritage, which breakfast, alone, when much of the
opened it to the public in 1995. house was shut off during the 1980s.
The family rarely threw anything The room also nods to the family’s
away so each generation added a equestrian links. Charles Sabine’s
new layer of history – from Georgian wife Georgiana was a member of
furniture, Victorian decoration and renowned horse-racing family, the
Edwardian objects, right through to a Theobalds. Many of the paintings
Miss Piggy statuette from the 1980s. came from them and her grandfather
English Heritage made the unusual John’s 1835 Goodwood Cup also
decision to conserve Brodsworth takes pride of place on the sideboard.
Hall as found, rather than restore Walk across the marble-columned
it to reflect just one particular era. South Hall and you find yourself in ³
BRODSWORTH HALL
over the house, the screw was so

worn it was lucky to still be attached.
The hand-knotted Axminster carpet
on display here was the most
expensive in the house, and the silk
wall coverings add to the sumptuous
feel of the room. Dinner guests
would emerge from here into the
West Hall, where many of the finest
items from the family’s extensive
19th-century sculpture collection –
a common mark of prestige in the
Victorian era – are still on show.
In contrast, the library is a more
intimate space that Sylvia used as her
main sitting room. Mary, who used
to help put Sylvia to bed at weekends
in her later years, fondly remembers
the last lady of the house sitting in
there beside a piano. Being one of
the smallest rooms, it was one of the
easier ones to heat. “She weren’t like
‘I’ve got money, I’ve got a big
house’,” Mary says in her broad
Yorkshire accent. “She was fantastic,
but she were lonely.”
the billiard room, one of the most popular in the house. Above: The The family slept upstairs and Sylvia’s husband installed
The well-worn linoleum floor dates back to 1880 and the Fountain Garden a lift. It broke down so often, however, that she lined it
original scoreboard, cues and table came from specialists Below: The boat- with photos and cards to keep her entertained during the
shaped bed in the
Cox & Yemen of London. Unusual exhibits include a pair many times she waited to be winched out. By the 1950s,
main guest room
of mummified horse’s hooves and a set of jockey scales. many of the bedrooms were closed off and only one
The latter became part of a family party trick: a book bathroom has been modernised. Signs of the house’s
recording the weight of everyone who visited Brodsworth previous glory do remain though, notably the mid-1800s
Hall between 1907 and 1982 remains in the archive. boat-shaped bed in the main guest room.
Also used for entertaining, particularly by the women, Back on the ground floor is the original kitchen, which
was the Rococo-style drawing room. The size of the lies at the heart of the house. Most fittings date back to
household declined in mid-20th century and legend has it the 1860s, but as the size of the family declined between
that Charles Grant-Dalton even cleaned the 24-light gas the wars, cooking moved to the former still room. The
chandelier himself. By the time English Heritage took newer and more modern kitchen, known as the Aga
Room, was the domain of Emily Chester, who worked
as cook and housekeeper for 45 years. It was known for
smelling of Sylvia’s strong ground coffee.
No visit to Brodsworth Hall is complete without a tour
of its grounds, which include 15 acres of pleasure gardens.
Unlike the house, English Heritage decided to restore
them to their 1860s heyday and the result is a series of
“garden rooms” with no section fully visible until you’re
standing in it. The west lawns next to the house, often
used for croquet, are divided from the elaborate fountain
garden by a shrub bed set with cedar trees. Behind here
is a summer house, which sits on a mound that was once
NIGEL WALLACE/ENGLISH HERITAGE TRUST
used as an ice store. Paths lead to a woodland area called

the Grove and a truly magical grotto arranged in a series
of small pockets to display a cascade of ferns. There is also
an archery range, a rose pergola and a Victorian privy.
The restored grandeur of the gardens may stand in
contrast to the conserved time capsule nature of the
house, but that doesn’t detract from one of England’s
most fascinating and authentic country estates. ■
www.english-heritage.org.uk
www.visitdoncaster.com
Y
ou might know Doncaster for its world famous horseracing fixtures The St in food, produce and entertainment.
Leger Festival in September or more recently the family friendly multi award Visiting Doncaster is a treasure trail of country houses, ancient wetlands and
winning Yorkshire Wildlife Park home of England’s only Polar Bears and the moors, Norman castles, villages with Mill ponds and a Buttercross, attractions, and
recently rescued Brown Bears from Japan, but this is not the full package. accommodation that offers world class experiences.
Doncaster or the name the Romans used from AD 71 “Danum” that some We have built the fastest steam trains in the world, run the world’s oldest classic
pronounce as Dan-um or as the locals do Day-numb is a vast Borough of some horseraces since 1766 and was the home of one of the most important of the
200 square miles that is made up of over 70 market towns and villages mostly in Pilgrim Fathers who sailed on the Mayflower in 1620 to Provincetown America.
rural locations as the borough is two thirds rural. The Mayflower story starts in the Doncaster village of Austerfield and Scrooby
The geography of the area made Doncaster attractive to the Romans being on that is over the border in neighbouring Nottinghamshire and in 2020 Doncaster,
the Great North road the main route from South to North that until the 1960’s ran Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire will be commemorating the 400th anniversary of
through the centre of the town, and the reason why so many wealthy landowners the sailing of the Mayflower and the Mayflower Pilgrims.
built their Mansions at locations such as Brodsworth, Hooton Pagnell, and Cusworth William Bradford was born and baptised in the village of Austerfield, where the
and that can still be visited. original font can still be viewed at St Helena’s Church as is the Manor house where
The architecture of the town is a mix of mainly Regency, and Georgian that sits he lived. He became the second governor of the colony for some thirty years and
alongside later styles and buildings that you can love or dislike, but one that is truly was one of the first signatories of the Mayflower Compact along with his mentor
awe inspiring is the magnificent Grade 1 Mansion House that sits on the high street, William Brewster.
built by the great architect James Payne from 1745-49 This building is one of only Austerfield is only one of the 7 villages in Doncaster having connection to
three Civic Mansion House in England others being York and London, we think we the Mayflower story that have been identified through research by Sue Allan a
have the best and that offers the most exclusive Afternoon Tea in Yorkshire. renowned author and researcher of the Mayflower separatists, who has featured
Doncaster is not the typical quintessential English town with cobbled streets, in ‘The American Genealogist’ publication and written several books and advised
quirky alleyways and rows of heritage facades but is reflective of its progress on a number of television and films in the UK and the USA.
through time. We do however boast one of the finest markets in Britain that has Our connections with America today extend to our twin town of Wilmington
won several awards for the range of fresh produce and food producers having in North Carolina and we look forward to welcoming the descendants of the
received accolades from many well-known foodies and chefs. Building on this will Mayflower Pilgrims and other visitors from America to Doncaster in the run up to
be the revitalised Wool Market opening in spring 2019 that will offer new concepts and beyond the 2020 Mayflower 400 commemoration.
The Wales Way

is a new family of three national routes
that lead you into the heart of real Wales.
The Coastal Way travels the west coast of Wales around Cardigan Bay, a 180-mile (290km)
road-trip between the sea and mountains. The Cambrian Way crosses the spine of Wales
for 185 miles (300km) between Llandudno and Cardiff, through National Parks and big
green spaces. The North Wales Way leads 75 miles (120km) past mighty castles into the
island of Anglesey.
visitsnowdonia.info / visitpembrokeshire.com / discoverceredigion.wales
thewalesway.com
THE INSIDER
PORTMEIRION
Fact, figures and stories about the picture-perfect Welsh tourist village
IN NUMBERS DID YOU

50 KNOW?
Clough’s daughter Susan
Years taken to build Portmeirion
Williams-Ellis founded
Portmeirion Pottery in 1960.
58 Originally conceived to
Number of hotel rooms provide gifts for the local
available to rent in the village village shop, many of the
botanical-inspired pieces are
70 highly collectable today.
Size of exotic woodland (in
acres) surrounding Portmeirion
17
Number of episodes of the cult
1960s, Portmeirion-set TV show
The Prisoner
STRANGE
BUT TRUE
In 1956, Frank Lloyd Wright stayed
with Clough Williams-Ellis during
his only visit to his ancestral country,
Wales. The famous US architect
admired the Portmeirion founder’s
philosophy.
ortmeirion is a reminder to the sloping aspect and clever contrasts of a shoal, he would use the salvaged wood
P always dream big. Bertram

Clough Williams-Ellis had long
fantasised about creating his own
model village prior to acquiring the Aber lâ
architectural styles. The most distinctive
part of the village remains the loop of
candy-coloured cottages, cafés and shops
that centres around an Italian-inspired
in the dining room of the Hotel Portmeirion,
while also creating a huge stone tribute to
Amis Reunis that can be visited in the
harbour today.
NIGEL DICKINSON/PAUL WESTON/JEREMY PEMBREY/ALAMY
estate in 1925. The British architect didn’t piazza and winds down the hill towards the More than these personal touches,
start from scratch, however, but rather set Dwyryd estuary. Williams-Ellis’s driving motivation was to
about moulding an existing coastal While Portmeirion was conceived as a demonstrate that it was possible to enhance
settlement into his own vision. place for thousands to live or visit and the natural environment with “architectural
He began by converting the main enjoy, it also remained a very personal good manners”. Portmeirion more than
waterfront house into the Hotel Portmeirion project for Williams-Ellis. As work on the succeeded in this respect and began to take
and pegging out the village with other key village first began, he bought the Amis on a life of its own. As Williams-Ellis noted
structures prior to the outbreak of the Reunis (or ‘Friends Reunited’), a converted in 1977, a year prior to his death,
Second World War. The second phase of trading ketch that had worked the channel Portmeirion has “taken over from me to
building began in earnest in 1954. The out of the Porthmadog harbour across from stand in my place as I myself recede into the
result is a compact place, yet one that Portmeirion. When the boat became friendly shade of the middle nineties”. ■
Williams-Ellis made appear larger through inadvertently stranded and damaged on www.portmeirion.wales
NORFOLK COAST
ENGLAND
ON SEA
With picture-perfect villages and grand stately homes sat beside
nature reserves and windswept beaches, the Norfolk Coast is England
in microcosm, as Florence Sheward discovers
NORFOLK COAST
Cley Windmill
Historic Thames is
a highlight of the
barges on
north Norfolk
estuary coast
in the Essex
village of Maldon
JON ARNOLD IMAGES LTD/ALAMY
Pomp, ceremony and hats

are just as important as
the horse racing at Ascot
NORFOLK COAST
NORTH NORFOLK COAST

The Poet Laureate and founder member of the Victorian Society Sir John Betjeman once claimed that
his love of architecture was inspired by seeing St Peter’s Church in Belaugh from his father’s boat as a
child. When he penned his 1954 poem Norfolk he went further, fondly recalling “those languorous
miles of ash and alder-shaded lanes” and “the lap lap lapping of the weedy Bure”. The authorities
clearly agreed. The county’s northern coast was designated an official Area of Natural Beauty (AONB)
in 1967, blessed as it is with abundant wildlife, 42 conservation areas and those famous big skies.
In fact, the Norfolk Coast boasts all the features one might require from a holiday. The A149 Coast
Road strings together a stretch of quaint, picturesque villages, while the beaches of Holkham,
Hunstanton and Cromer encapsulate the very best of traditional seaside fun. In between these, the
nature reserves at Blakeney and Scolt Head are visited by rich and diverse flocks of migrating birds,
and a number of historic houses lend an air of grandeur to a stretch of coastline around 50 miles wide.
Factor in a few of the attractions that fall outside the designated AONB, including the Queen’s beloved
country estate at Sandringham and the Jacobean splendour of Blickling Hall, and this area truly offers
the best of British in microcosm.
BURNHAM MARKET
With its perfectly manicured village green
lined with quaint flint cottages, Burnham
Market is every bit the idyllic English
destination. In fact, the village is often
called “Chelsea on Sea”, a reference to the
wealthy West Londoners who have second
homes here. Part of the draw is the range of
traditional, independent shops, which include
a general store and a local butchers.
In truth, Burnham Market has been an
attractive proposition for centuries.
The great Georgian architect
Sir John Soane designed the
TOP privately-owned Burnham
Westgate Hall for Baron
TIP Camelford, while Reverend
Edmund Nelson, the father of
the naval hero Horatio Nelson,
was the rector of the All Saints
Church in nearby Burnham Thorpe.
Horatio was born there and, following his
death at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805, that
association was marked in a typically British
way: by naming a pub after him. Edmund
was in attendance when The Mermaid was
rechristened The Admiral Nelson and it
³
survives today as The Nelson Inn.
www.burnhammarket.co.uk
NORFOLK COAST
DATES FOR
YOUR DIARY
Sandringham
1 April 2019
The Queen’s beloved Norfolk retreat
re-opens its doors for the season
SIMON WHALEY LANDSCAPES LTD/ALAMY/CHRIS TAYLOR/ILLUSTRATION: ELLY JAHNZ
following a winter break.

www.sandringhamestate.co.uk
Folk on the Pier

10-12 May 2019
The Pavilion Theatre at the end of
the historic, 500-foot Cromer Pier
plays host to this three-day festival of
folk rock and roots music.
www.cromerpier.co.uk
Wells Carnival Week

26 July to 4 August 2019
Formerly the Wells Regatta, this
major, century-old event includes
a summer fete, craft and food fairs,
and a colourful procession.
www.wellscarnival.co.uk
Norfolk Hideaways, based in the coastal town

of Wells-next-the-Sea, is North Norfolk’s largest
boutique holiday cottage agency.
We have over 350 self-catering properties, from cosy cottages
crammed full of Norfolk charm to luxury retreats; close to beautiful
beaches, in rural hotspots or in the middle of quaint market towns.
So whether you’re looking for something romantic, dog-friendly
or somewhere for that large family get-together, you’re sure to find
the perfect holiday property with us.
Nestled in the beautiful North Norfolk countryside near Holt,

Manor Farm Holiday Barns offers a complex of six 5 Star
self-catering barns. Situated around a central courtyard, they
are fully equipped and have their own private patio/garden
area. These superb grade two listed barns have been lovingly
converted providing spacious and comfortable accommodation,
whilst still retaining the character of traditional brick and
flint farm buildings.
Contact: Pat Cubitt | Call: +44 (0)1263 710240
Email: bookings@manorfarmholidaybarns.co.uk
www.norfolkhideaways.co.uk
www.manorfarmholidaybarns.co.uk or call us on 01328 887 658
‘One of the most Romantic Hotels

in the UK’ - The Telegraph The Lawns Hotel
‘Top 50 British Hotels’ - The Independent
& Wine Bar
A wonderful place to stay to explore the North Norfolk Coast
Comfortable rooms, great food and excellent service
Shhhh! Don’t tell anyone......

Cley Windmill, Norfolk’s best kept secret
Eat Sip Stay
Bed & Breakfast Dinners Weddings Parties and House-parties
26 Station Road, Holt, NR25 6BS
Cley Windmill, Cley-next-the-Sea, Holt, Norfolk NR25 7RP. 01263 713390
Telephone: 01263 740209 Email: info@cleywindmill.co.uk www.lawnshotelholt.co.uk
www.cleywindmill.co.uk info@lawnshotelholt.co.uk
NORFOLK COAST
HOLKHAM
Aptly for our “Britain on
Screen” special issue, the
beach at Holkham was a
setting for the popular period
drama, Shakespeare in Love.
Gwyneth Paltrow’s Viola can
be seen walking across the
wide-open sands as the Bard
pens an ode to her in the
1998 film’s closing scenes.
That vast, unspoilt stretch is part of the wider, EXPLORE
25,000-acre Holkham Estate, which also includes 22 tenanted farms and more
than 700 hectares of woodland. At the heart of all this is Holkham Hall, the
home of the eighth Earl of Leicester and his family for more than 250 years.
Look out in particular for the vaulting, Italian-style domed ceiling of the Marble Hall
(made, in fact, largely from alabaster) and the world-class artworks in the saloon.
www.holkham.co.uk
BLAKENEY
We have this coastal village to thank
for a compelling wartime story,
which involves a group of German
paratroopers attempting to kidnap
Prime Minister Winston Churchill
during a visit to Norfolk. Thankfully,
this is only the fictional plot to Jack
Higgins’ 1975 novel The Eagle Has
Landed, which was conceived while
the author was staying at Blakeney
Hotel and would be turned into a
popular film starring Michael Caine.
The family-run, 17th-century hotel
remains a wonderful fixture of the
quayside today, looking out across
the estuary and saltmarshes towards
Blakeney Point. Licensed ferries
at Morston Quay will take you out
to this National Nature Reserve to
watch migrating birds, while taking
in England’s largest colony of seals in
the harbour itself.
Back on dry land, the English
Heritage-maintained Blakeney
Guildhall used to house the local
guild of fish merchants during Tudor
times and harks back to the village’s
HOWARD TAYLOR/IVAN VDOVIN/ALAMY
heyday as a larger trading port. From

here, be sure to walk the coastal
path around to the Cley Windmill,
something of a Norfolk icon and
home to both a rustic restaurant and
³
nine-room bed-and-breakfast.
www.visitnorthnorfolk.com
FELBRIGG HALL
A short drive from the bright seaside
attractions of Cromer lies one of the
county’s most unassuming country
houses. Felbrigg is a Jacobean gem with
a southern range added in the 1620s and
520 acres of woodland. As you explore
CHRIS LACEY/NATIONAL TRUST IMAGES/ROD EDWARDS/VISITBRITAIN

the property itself, keep an eye out for
the repeating lion-and-padlock motif.
This emblem of the Windham family,
the hall’s owners for almost 400 years,
can be found carved into woodwork,
fireplaces and more. Highlights include
the atmospheric library, with its gothic
shelving and many leather-bound
books, and the drawing room – an
opulent parlour decked out with red silk
wallpapers and gilt-framed Old Masters.
www.nationaltrust.org.uk/felbrigg-hall-
gardens-and-estate
VISIT
HAPPISBURGH
Britain’s only independently-operated lighthouse
sits at the easterly end of the Norfolk Coast AONB,
warding ships away from running aground on
Haisborough Sands. Built in 1790 and originally
NORTH NORFOLK RAILWAY one of a pair, it is pleasingly similar to a child’s
Visitors aren’t short of excellent heritage steam railways in Norfolk, but the drawing – those thick red bands and the jaunty,
5.2-mile from Sheringham to Holt is perhaps the most picturesque. It is nicknamed hat-like roof lending it a caricatured charm.
the ‘Poppy Line’ in tribute to the red flowers that flood the surrounding fields in In reality, the maintenance and preservation
early summer, though it could easily have been named after the primroses, bluebells required from the volunteer-run Happisburgh
and heather that also abound at different times of the year. The line was built in Lighthouse Trust is a serious business, so be sure
1887 and connects with the mainline rail network at the delightfully vintage-styled to support their work when attending one of the
³
Sheringham station with its tin advertisements and green-and-cream colour scheme. occasional open days throughout the summer.
www.nnrailway.co.uk www.happisburgh.org/lighthouse
A superb selection of special self-catering holiday properties in North Norfolk, ranging

from romantic hideaways to luxurious barn conversions with coastal views
www.blakeneycottagecompany.co.uk - bookings@blakeneycottagecompany.co.uk
01263 741777
NORFOLK COAST
DON’T
HINDRINGHAM HALL MISS
Though parts of this moated hall date back more than 900 years,
the current façade was built by a courtier to Henry Fitzroy, Henry
VIII’s illegitimate son, in 1538. The irony is that it was constructed
using stone from the local monasteries that were being dissolved by
that same monarch.
Today the hall is owned by Charles and Lynda Tucker, who
moved here 25 years ago. Both conduct guided history tours that
can be pre-booked online, while Lynda also tends the garden, which
includes a small copse, daffodil beds and an organic kitchen garden.
Three top-end holiday cottages are available to rent within the
wider three-acre grounds.
www.hindringhamhall.org
HUNSTANTON
We have the fantastically named Henry Styleman Le Strange of
Hunstanton Hall to thank for the initial development of this seaside
town. An artist, wannabe politician and all-round polymath,
Styleman Le Strange issued a prospectus in 1845 detailing his
plans to develop this coastal corner of his estate into a resort.
By the late 19th century, a new rail line, hotels and a pier all
served to encourage a steady stream of visitors including the Prince
of Wales and celebrated author PG Wodehouse. One of the star
attractions of Hunstanton was here all along however – the
distinctive rust-coloured cliffs that date back to the Cretaceous era.
www.visitwestnorfolk.com
WELLS-NEXT-THE-SEA
Renamed in 1956 to avoid confusion with the Somerset
cathedral city, this small seaside town is blessed with
quirky Georgian architecture and old enough to feature
in the 11th-century Domesday Book.
Heading out to sea from the harbour is a narrow
East Fleet channel known as the Run, which is ideal for
swimming and also frequented by a herd of friendly seals.
To the west is a stretch of golden sand beach that leads to
Holkham and comes lined with colourful beach huts set
ROD EDWARDS/VISITBRITAIN
against a backdrop of 100-year-old pine trees.

Make a day of it by dining on fresh catches at Wells
Crab House and staying over at the four-star Globe Inn,
which overlooks quaint green, The Buttlands. ■
www.wells-guide.co.uk
Take time to relax and discover the

splendid scenery of the countryside and
coast of the UK and Ireland with all its
vibrant beauty… before returning to enjoy
the peace and tranquillity of a restful stay
in a nearby B&B or Cottage.
The Bed & Breakfast Nationwide brochure,
The Little Green Book, and websites are comprehensive guides to
Fairytale hotel
more than 400 inspected, high quality B&Bs and a selection of self-
catering accommodation. They include B&Bs that welcome dogs and
in Anglesey
some with facilities for the less mobile. Secluded, peaceful, and full of a unique fairytale charm. With 30 bedrooms, an
Book direct to obtain your best price. award-winning gourmet restaurant, and exclusive use wedding packages, Château
Explore somewhere new by staying in one of our B&Bs Rhianfa is the perfect location for a romantic getaway.
FOR A BROCHURE (+p&p) quote ref: DB1902 Beaumaris Rd, Menai Bridge,
E: office@bbnationwide.co.uk T: 01255 672377 Isle of Anglesey, Wales, LL59 5NS
W: www.bedandbreakfastnationwide.com/bb-brochure www.chateaurhianfa.com
www.holidaycottagesnationwide.co.uk 01248 880 090
hello@chateaurhianfa.com
GREAT ESCAPES
1 2
Screen 1 The Crown Inn

Buckinghamshire
2 Royal Lancaster
London
breaks The sleepy market town of Amersham is

popular with commuters, as it is both
located at the end of London’s Metropolitan
Swiss architect Richard Seifert originally
designed this as an office for the Rank
Organisation – one of Britain’s largest film
Roll out the red carpet at five
tube line and yet also in the foothills of the companies at the time. However, such was
hotels used as movie sets Chiltern Hills, an officially designated ‘Area the demand for rooms in Swinging Sixties
of Natural Beauty’. London that it opened as a hotel in 1967.
The High Street boasts not one but two The Royal Lancaster quickly became a hip
hotels featured in the 1994 romcom Four hangout. The staff wore miniskirts, Cary
Weddings and a Funeral.
Funeral When Charles and Grant married the hotel’s PR agent, and The
Carrie escape to ‘The Lucky Boatman’, the Beatles held an after-party here following
half-timbered Tudor exterior seen on screen the 1968 premiere of the Yellow Submarine
is actually The Kings Arms, a pub-turned- film. More significantly, Michael Caine
hotel once frequented by Oliver Cromwell. could be seen striding through the foyer in
The action then cuts to this four-star The Italian Job, on his way to room 1720.
coaching inn for drinks by the inglenook An £80 million refit for its 50th anniversary
fire. The pair retire to room 101, now one of has returned a little mid-century glamour to
the hotel’s courtyard suites given a tasteful the 411 rooms, many with widescreen
makeover by designer Ilse Crawford. views across Hyde Park opposite.
www.thecrownamersham.com www.royallancaster.com
GREAT ESCAPES
3 The Headland
Cornwall
4 Stoke Park
Buckinghamshire
5 Luton Hoo
Bedfordshire
The 1990 film of Roald Dahl’s classic The legendary Pinewood Studios is four The great British architect Robert Adam
children’s book The Witches was set at this miles from this Edwardian country club so it began work on Luton Hoo in 1767, before it
Newquay institution, causing much has been a regular fixture on the silver was rebuilt following a fire in the mid-19th
excitement among the hotel’s staff as star screen. The third James Bond film, 1964’s century. That combination of neoclassical
Anjelica Huston received regular calls and Goldfinger, was one of the first to be filmed grandeur and Victorian charm has made it a
flower bouquets from her then-boyfriend here, as Sean Connery’s 007 takes to the popular backdrop for filmmakers. Visit the
Jack Nicholson. 27-hole golf course. A later Bond film, Adam’s Brasserie to view a gallery of stills
While the listed, 1900 hotel is grand Tomorrow Never Dies, also filmed scenes from movies made on site. These include
enough to also count Kings George VI and in the ballroom, while Daniel Craig came to Vanity Fair, Four Weddings and a Funeral
Edward VII among its previous guests, it is a grisly end on the front steps in his and Eyes Wide Shut, the final film by
the location of The Headland that stands pre-Bond thriller, Layer Cake. legendary director Stanley Kubrick, who
ADRIAN DOWNING/KENSA PHOTOGRAPHY
out. As the name would suggest, it is Far more in keeping with the current apparently chose the hotel after camera
perched on its own private peninsula that clientele are the scenes from Bridget Jones’s testing several other sites.
faces out into the Atlantic. Diary when Hugh Grant whisks Renee The hotel’s Mansion State Suites are
Just a few minutes’ walk away is the Zellweger away for a romantic getaway. similarly fit for a movie star, while the
half-mile-long Fistral Beach, one of Follow in their footsteps by strolling beside 1,000-acre, Capability Brown-designed
England’s finest, blessed with soft white the lake and retiring to the four-poster bed grounds also contain a luxury spa and
sands and waves rising up to 12 feet high. in the Pennsylvania Suite. golf course. ■
www.headlandhotel.co.uk www.stokepark.com www.lutonhoo.co.uk
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Albro House Hotel

155 Sussex Gardens, Hyde Park, London W2 2RY
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E-mail: albrohotellondon@gmail.com Website: www.albrohotel.co.uk
Located near Hyde Park, public transport and convenient for sightseeing and shopping.
Comfortable, cosy, newly re-furbished ensuite rooms, with Freeview TV, tea/coffee
welcome tray, phone, radio, hairdryer. Friendly efficient service. Quiet, relaxed atmosphere.
Some parking. Families and small groups welcome. Tours booked. Free daytime luggage
storage. Free WiFi. Discounts for booking direct with hotel
Rates per person including cooked Low High
English breakfast & all taxes Season Season
Single rooms from £46 to £58 £58 to £84
Twin / double rooms from £34 to £48 £50 to £70
Family (3 or 4) per person from £32 to £40 £38 to £48
A GOOD VALUE HOTEL IN CENTRAL LONDON
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CROSSWORD
Crossword no 208 BOOK REVIEWS

Brush up on British history with these new hardbacks
Queen Victoria by Lucy Worsley

BBC presenter and chief curator of Historic Royal
Palaces Lucy Worsley brings her insightful
commentary and mischievous wit to one of
Britain’s most talked-about figures. Her aim is to
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matriarch. Worsley succeeds in humanising her
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Portillo’s Hidden History of Britain by

Michael Portillo
While most crumbling buildings are demolished,
a few are left abandoned and intriguing. The
former Conservative MP plays detective here,
visiting derelict hospitals, long-closed cinemas
and even an entire deserted village in Wiltshire
to ask why they were forgotten and what they
reveal about British history. (Michael O’Mara, £20)
Rival Queens – The Betrayal of Mary, Queen of

Scots by Kate Williams
Did Elizabeth I consider her rival regnant a threat
because of the outside influence of a sexist
society? Was Mary, Queen of Scots not the tragic
heroine of popular lore, but in fact a questing
Across for Children (6) reformer of the British monarchy? These questions
9 Name of three kings of Scotland (9) 3 Former seat of the Nevill family in and more are tackled in a history book that reads
10 County town of County Tyrone (5) County Durham (4,6) like a page-turning thriller. (Hutchinson, £25)
11 Yorkshire seaside resort between 4 ——— Ironside, king who succeeded
Scarborough and Bridlington (5) Ethelred the Unready (6)
12 Villain in Dickens’s David 5 Celtic religion (8)
Copperfield (5,4) 6 Christopher Robin’s bear (4)
13 An enclosed garden of fruit trees (7) 7 Railway terminus at the southern end
14 German motto of the Prince of of Windermere (8)
Wales, which translates as “I serve” (3,4) 8 Weather-beaten village high in the
17 Cornish market town with an fells between Kendal and Penrith (4)
annual Furry Dance (7) 13 Ancient writing system used by
20 A tall, yellow-flowered woolly plant, the Celts (5)
sometimes known as Aaron’s rod (7) 15 Alternative name for Lindisfarne,
21 Spa town in Worcestershire (7) off the coast of Northumberland (4,6)
22 Slang term for Great Britain, used 16 ——— Astor, viscountess who lived
by British troops serving abroad (7) at Cliveden in Buckinghamshire (5)
24 Port on the Isle of Lewis, in the 18 ——— Cove, tourist location on the
Outer Hebrides (9) Jurassic Coast in Dorset (8)
26 Popular seaside resort on the Firth 19 Historic town in Cheshire, once the
of Clyde (5) centre of flourishing saltworks (8)
28 ——— Towers, a popular theme 22 ——— Abbey, English Heritage
park in Derbyshire (5) property near Frant, East Sussex (6) Solutions to crossword 207
Across: 1 9 Skara Brae, 10 Frome, 11 Emily, 12
29 Flexible armour of metal rings (5,4) 23 Book describing plant properties (6) Muncaster, 13 Furness, 14 Lambeth, 17 Gibbons, 20
24 Playwright who lived at Ayot St Skiddaw, 21 Nostell, 22 The Oaks, 24 Blackpool, 26
Down Lawrence in Hertfordshire (4) Hythe, 28 Skell, 29 Britannia
1 Fine leather used by bookbinders (4) 25 Female members of a religious Down: 1 Isle, 2 Rapier, 3 Marylebone, 4 Grimes, 5
2 Hilaire ———, Anglo-French writer order (4) Reynolds, 6 Offa, 7 Southend, 8 Beer, 13 Fagin, 15
Maidenhead, 16 Hawes, 18 Boscawen, 19 Salcombe,
whose works include Cautionary Tales 27 Fine soft lustrous fabric (4) 22 Tallis, 23 Antony, 24 Bush, 25 Keld, 27 Eyam
ONLY IN BRITAIN
This image: Cheese-

rollers in Brockworth
Below: 22-time winner
Chris Anderson
Cheese Rolling
This wild Spring Bank Holiday tradition could only exist in our cheddar-hungry nation
B
ritain is a nation of cheese lovers. The average Brit are simply content to make it to the bottom with all limbs intact.
consumes almost 14lbs of the stuff each year and there is The wheel gets a one-second head start and can hit speeds of up to
barely a corner of the country that doesn’t produce its own 70 mph, so injuries are common as cheese rollers tumble down the
speciality. Cheddar, Caerphilly, Red Leicester, Shropshire bumpy, 1:2 gradient hill. The official competition was even
Blue – more than 3 billion litres of milk go into the creation of more cancelled in 2010 following health and safety concerns. Eager
than 700 varieties every year. participants have maintained the annual tradition unofficially ever
And our cheeses are growing in since as thousands watch from the sidelines.
popularity worldwide too. Annual exports The origins of the race are rather sketchy.
rose 13.5% in 2018 to more than 15,000 The first recorded mention came in 1826
tonnes. Last February, British cheeses though many believe it is a pagan folk
received top billing for the first time at tradition dating back to the 15th century.
AARON CHOWN/PA ARCHIVE/PA IMAGES/DIANAJARVISPHOTOGRAPHY.CO.UK/ALAMY
France’s leading cheese and dairy fair, It is thought the cheese was initially either
Le Salon du Fromage et des Produits an offering to guarantee a rich harvest or a
Laitiers in Paris. It is little wonder then that substitute for a wheel of burning brushwood
such a cheddar-mad nation would go to to mark the coming of a new spring.
great lengths to get hold of a good cheese. The event’s popularity has spread in
However, even the most committed recent years, with races won by cheese
turophile – or cheese lover – might draw rollers visiting from as far afield as Nepal,
the line when it comes to taking part in the Australia and the USA. Four or five rolls
annual Cooper’s Hill Cheese-Rolling. This take place on each bank holiday, including a
wonderfully eccentric event takes place ladies-only race. The undisputed champion
every Spring Bank Holiday (the next is of recent times is Chris Anderson, a local
27 May 2019) in the Gloucestershire village infantry soldier, who has emerged
of Brockworth and sees dozens of eager victorious in 22 cheese rolls to date. He tore
participants hurl themselves down a hill a calf muscle in his final race of 2018, yet
in pursuit of an 8lb wheel of cheese. survived to claim a record 22nd wheel of
While the real aim is grabbing hold of the Double Gloucester. The ultimate irony, of
runaway dairy product, most cheese rollers course, is that Chris only eats cheddar. ■

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