Innholdsfortegnelse for March/April 2018 i Britain

This issue is very much one of anniversaries. On the Yorkshire coast they’re celebrating 250 since a local man set off on the first of his ambitious voyages of discovery. Read about James Cook’s adventures, plus the towns and villages of his youth in Captain Cook Country (p14). Another man worth celebrating this year is Humphry Repton: the man tasked with transforming the grounds of many of our splendid stately homes in the 18th century. In English Country Gardens (p29), we visit some of the most stunning examples of his work, 200 years after his death. Our history piece, The Rise & Fall of Raleigh (p67), charts the meteoric rise in fortune and subsequent fall from grace of one of Elizabethan England’s most divisive characters, 400 years after he was…

ROYAL FAMILY The wedding of the year If there’s one date that should be marked indelibly in your diary this year, it’s Saturday 19 May. In what promises to be the royal wedding of the year, Prince Harry is to marry Meghan Markle at St George’s Chapel in the grounds of Windsor Castle, Berkshire, the weekend home of Harry’s grandparents, HM The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh. The chapel seats 800 guests, making it a more intimate venue than London’s Westminster Abbey, where the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge married in April 2011, but it is equally rich in history and just as iconic. Details for the ceremony and reception are under wraps, but the wedding will almost certainly be televised, in case an invitation doesn’t reach you in…

GETTING THERE There are train stations at Bridlington, Filey, Scarborough and Whitby. For a treat, enjoy a trip along the Whitby coastline aboard the ‘Bark Endeavour Whitby’, a scaled replica of Cook’s original ship.www.trainline.com; www.endeavourwhitby.com WHERE TO EAT The Magpie Café overlooking the harbour at Whitby is famed for its seafood dishes, from Whitby crab bisque to Whitby kipper with brown bread, and seafood chowders.www.magpiecafe.co.uk WHERE TO STAY Overlooking Robin Hood’s Bay, Raven Hall Country House Hotel, Ravenscar, was once home to King George III’s physician – the ‘mad’ king allegedly stayed here during treatment. Dine in the Panorama Restaurant with sumptuous views and stay in a bedroom or suite in the hotel, or a lodge in the grounds. www.ravenhall.co.uk CAPTAIN COOK Discover more Yorkshire places associated with Captain Cook…

In 1671, a slippery rogue by the name of ‘Colonel’ Thomas Blood attempted one of the cheekiest heists in history at the Tower of London. Posing as a clergyman, the smooth-talking scoundrel tricked the elderly Keeper of the Crown Jewels, Talbot Edwards, into letting him and two accomplices handle the precious hoard, before attacking Edwards and making off with the Orb, Imperial State Crown and Sovereign’s Sceptre. Fortunately, the jewels were rescued and Blood was even pardoned, possibly saved by the fact that, among his many sly activities, he spied for Charles II’s government. It was a narrow squeak and the Crown Jewels were never again put on open display, but you can still bask in their beauty in the Jewel House at the Tower, where these days they are…

Emmeline was arrested on numerous occasions and went on hunger strike, resulting in the indignity of violent force-feeding Given Manchester’s reputation as a hotbed of social and political revolution, it’s somewhat surprising that the Northern Powerhouse has only one statue of a woman to its name. Queen Victoria is currently the only female to cast her stern gaze over commuters, shoppers and visitors in Piccadilly Gardens, right at the heart of the city. However, thanks to a host of anniversaries highlighting the achievements of one of the city’s most famous daughters, the stony-faced monarch will soon have some overdue competition. This year marks the 90th anniversary of the death of Manchester-born campaigner Emmeline Pankhurst, who led the fight to win the right for women to vote. It’s also 100 years…

MEMORIES OF SUSSEX My love of Pooh Bear began in high school – my boyfriend (now my husband of 43 years) even called me ‘Pooh’ when we were dating. When we married, my husband was in the Air Force and we were fortunate enough to spend two years living in England, which is when I became an Anglophile and fell in love with all things British. When we were visiting in September 1999, we went to visit the Ashdown Forest area and played Poohsticks on Poohsticks Bridge, visited the house Christopher Robin lived in and shopped in the Pooh Corner gift shop. Thank you for the memories in your January issue (Volume 85, Issue 6) and for feeding my Anglophile habit on a regular basis. Jan Reinhart, Clio, MI, USA…

The Tudor Kitchen: What the Tudors Ate & Drank by Terry Breverton (Amberley Publishing, £9.99) Read about authentic 15th-century dishes, from wild boar and peacock to plain old macaroni cheese. Lady Fanshawe's Receipt Book by Lucy Moore (Atlantic Books, £20) The life of a Royalist diplomat during the English Civil War, told through her recipes and remedies. Wallis in Love: The untold true passion of the Duchess of Windsor by Andrew Morton (Michael O’Mara, £20) A compelling portrait of the American socialite drawing on her private diaries. A Lab of One’s Own by Patricia Fara (OUP, £18.99) Discover the lives of female doctors and scientists during the First World War, including Ray Strachey, Virginia Woolf's sister-in-law Designing English: Early Literature on the Page by Daniel Wakelin (Bodleian Library, £30) A…

Forget the Scandinavian trend of hygge; this year is all about còsagach – a Gaelic word meaning to feel cosy and sheltered. Having realised that the things that is does well (whisky, lambs wool blankets, cashmere and Fair Isle knits) lend themselves to this idea of snuggling up somewhere homely and inviting, Scotland is hoping to show the world that nowhere does home comforts as well as here. If you want to sample the famous warm Scottish welcome, then the Torridon Hotel and Inn in Wester Ross is a good starting point. On arrival at the hotel, which is set within hundreds of acres of its own grounds on the edge of Loch Torridon in the west Highlands, a roaring fire greets you and stag heads peer down protectively. Staff…

Afternoon tea is one of those peculiar traditions for which us Brits are known the world over. Custom dictates that it includes finger sandwiches (with staple fillings such as cucumber, coronation chicken, and smoked salmon and cream cheese), scones, cakes and – of course – a pot of our national drink: tea. Originating in the Victorian era as a way of filling the long wait between lunch and dinner (supposedly by Anna Maria Russell, the 7th Duchess of Bedford and a close friend of Queen Victoria), afternoon tea has been a British institution ever since. As author Henry James once said: “There are few hours in life more agreeable than the hour dedicated to the ceremony known as afternoon tea.” However, over the years the custom has shifted from being…

The Titanic cast off for her maiden voyage from Southampton at noon, 10 April 1912. As the tugs guided it seawards, sightseers waved the monolithic and already-famed vessel off, an ocean of handkerchiefs fluttering in admiring jubilation. On board and bound for New York was a cross section of society, representing some 33 nations. They were the working class families, many of whom were would-be émigrés hoping to start new lives in the States; they were the stewards, epitomised by survivor Violet Jessop who had cut her teeth on the superliner Olympia before spending that fateful night helping women and children into lifeboats. And, famously, they were some of the wealthiest and most glamorous people in theworld. Among the feted great and good were: the millionaire John Jacob Astor IV…

The young Humphry Repton was better known among friends for his failed business ventures, his inability to settle in a career and his financial struggles than for any extraordinary design talents or aptitude for gardening. However, it was thanks to a short period as the private secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland that Repton developed a passion for horticulture that he later turned into a successful career – reshaping the gardens of some of our nation’s most magnificent stately homes. Born in 1752, Repton spent his early life in Bury St Edmunds. The family moved to Norwich in 1762, where Repton decided to become a merchant trader. He travelled to the Netherlands to learn the language, spending time with a wealthy Dutch family who encouraged his interests in gardening,…

By his own admission, Sir Walter Raleigh (also spelled ‘Ralegh’) was “a man full of all vanity” who had lived a sinful life. He was a soldier, sea captain and courtier – all, in his opinion, “...places of wickedness and vice”. It’s the kind of florid confession that might have been expected from a poet as he faced his executioner. Only this poet was also an explorer, a courtier and a man of the sea. Sir Walter Raleigh was born around 1552 in Hayes Barton, a thatched farmhouse in East Budleigh, Devon. Adventure was in his DNA. Sir Humphrey Gilbert who, in 1583, claimed St John’s, Newfoundland for Queen Elizabeth was Raleigh’s half-brother. His cousin was the great privateer Sir Richard Grenville. Details of Raleigh’s early life are sparse, but…

Set close to the dramatic Malvern Hills and astride the River Severn, Worcester has been attracting visitors for centuries. With a history that predates the Romans, its blend of Tudor and Georgian architecture make its oldest streets an enchanting place to wander, stop for afternoon tea or browse the independent stores. Worcester is known as the ‘Faithful City’, although this has little to do with its impressive centrepiece, the stately cathedral, but rather its role in the English Civil War during which it remained staunchly faithful to the Crown. Yet, for many, the biggest draw of the city is Worcester Cathedral, believed by some to be the most beautiful cathedral in England. Founded in the 7th century, Worcester Cathedral has many stories to tell. The structure that stands today dates…