In Part 1, we visited the far west end of Cornwall, Land’s End, Penzance, Mousehole, and St. Michael’s Mount. In Part 2 we visited along the north coast of Cornwall, with St. Ives, Newquay, Port Isaac, and a mention of Tintagel. Now, in Part 3, we’ll look at an area called The Lizard, then go along the south coast to Falmouth and Fowey.
The Lizard is a large peninsula on the south coast of …
There is a lovely old poem and riddle that goes like this:
As I was going to St. Ives,
I met a man with seven wives,
Each wife had seven sacks,
Each sack had seven cats,
Each cat had seven kits:
Kits, cats, sacks, and wives,
How many were there going to St. Ives?
In Part 1, we traveled from Land’s End along the southern coast of Cornwall. Now, in Part 2, we will …
Cornwall is the most southern and western county in England, right down at the bottom left of the map of the UK. The county is defined by the River Tamar on the east, the English Channel on the south and the Atlantic Ocean on the north and west. It is a beautiful region with lots of wonderful places to visit.
Probably the most famous location in Cornwall is Land’s End, the very end of the …
Brighton and Hove
At the far western end of Sussex is the seaside resort of Brighton, actually named Brighton and Hove. Brighton has been occupied from the Bronze age, through the Romans and Anglo-Saxon times. Under King George IV, while he was Prince Regent, Brighton developed as a place where people could take advantage of what was thought to be the health aspects of bathing in the sea. With the coming of railroads in 1841, …
Beachy Head and Seven Sisters
East of Hastings, along the coast, is a high chalk cliff known as Beachy Head and immediately to the east of Beachy Head is the Seven Sisters. Beachy Head is the highest chalk cliff in Britain, rising to over 530 feet above sea level. From the peak you have terrific views in both directions along the coast. Beachy Head has been featured in sea shanties about how to navigate the …
Sussex is a county in the south of England, on the English Channel, west of Kent and east of Hampshire. It gets its name from an Old English word, Suth-Seaxe, which meant “South Saxons.” South Saxons were a Germanic tribe that settled in the region from the North German plain in the 5th and 6th centuries. The Kingdom of Sussex was founded by Ælle of Sussex in AD 477, right after the …
On the western side of Kent, close to London, is the town of Westerham, and in Westerham is a country house named Chartwell. Chartwell was built some time in the 14thcentury; the earliest record for it is a sale of the property, then called Well-street, by William-at-Well in 1382. An historical figure who is reputed to have stayed there is Henry VIII, who allegedly visited while courting Anne Boleyn, who lived in …
Dover: the Castle, Cliffs and Tunnels (and the Romans, of course)
The white chalk cliffs of Dover are one of the most iconic features of England. They were referenced by William Shakespeare in King Lear, Act IV, Scene I. Long a navigational feature for the sailor, the cliffs are referenced in the sea shanty “Spanish Ladies.” The cliffs even formed the basis of the most popular WW II tune, “(There’ll Be Bluebirds Over) The …
Day 1 – Canterbury Tales
Kent is the county in the far south east of England. Running from the far south east to London, it borders on the English Channel and the Thames River. To the south it forms the north side of the straights of Dover, with Calais, France, on the south side. Occupied since the Paleolithic era, Kent today is a major area of England, replete with lovely historical sites, towns and cities.…
Day 3—Day three will be a bit of a history day, some relatively modern, some older.
Start by driving from Bath to the Fleet Air Arm Museum in Yeovilton. The Royal Navy has been flying aircraft since 1909. The museum has examples of the various aircraft that have been flown by Royal Navy Aviators during that time. Included in the museum is one of the first prototypes of the Concorde, the only supersonic airliner to …