Innholdsfortegnelse for Nov/Dec 2023 i Britain

The days are getting colder, but this issue comes with a dose of good cheer to warm your autumn and winter. With the new season of All Creatures Great and Small approaching – the ultimate winter comfort-watch – I visited the beautiful Yorkshire Dales to see the locations of the hit show for myself, and found a timeless landscape of rolling hills, stone-built villages and curly-horned sheep (p14). In our history piece (p24) we discover how our resourceful forebears not only survived but thrived through some of the harshest cold spells ever recorded. From Christmas feasts to frost fairs on the iced-over Thames, the colder months were not short of joy and merriment. What better accompaniment to winter activities than a steaming mug of hot chocolate? We unwrap the curious…

Sri John Soane’s Museum Situated in the heart of Holborn, the extraordinary former house of the architect Sir John Soane (1753-1837) is a must for fans of Georgian architecture. Soane, Professor of Architecture at the Royal Academy, was one of the foremost architects of the era. King George III himself funded a trip for Soane to visit ancient Roman ruins across Europe, which influenced him to experiment with Classical architectural forms. Preserved in its entirety from the time of his death (following Soane’s own request that his house be kept open for the education of future generations), this museum is host to an eclectic treasure trove of sculptures, paintings, furniture, antiquities collected on his travels, and much more. Book the guided Highlights Tour, which takes in the museum and Soane’s…

December 2023 marks the 70th birthday of the UK’s longest-running female comic character. But she’s not the feminine princess people might expect, or a stooge to the male protagonists, but a feisty, rebellious minx – Minnie the Minx, who runs riot in one of Britain’s favourite comics, the Beano. It’s not surprising that ‘the MissChief’ has her origins in Dundee, where the comic has been published since 1938. This Scottish city, once known as ‘She Town’, has always been a bastion of strong women. The origins of this curious nickname can be traced back to the 19th century, when Dundee’s burgeoning jute industry created a workforce of female breadwinners in the mills, while the men (often referred to as ‘Kettle Boilers’) remained at home raising the children. Dundee’s coastal location,…

DAY 1 DOCKSIDE DELIGHTS Liverpool boasts one of the world’s most famous waterfronts, so what better place to begin a visit to this maritime mercantile metropolis? The Royal Albert Dock (left) is not only Britain’s largest group of Grade I listed buildings, but its 19th-century warehouses are also home to some of the city’s top attractions. While Tate Liverpool is closed for renovations until 2025, the Merseyside Maritime Museum, International Slavery Museum and the Beatles Story remain must-see destinations. On the neighbouring Pier Head, the Museum of Liverpool offers visitors a chance to learn about the diverse history of the city, from the Mesolithic era to those musical moptops and beyond. And talking of the Fab Four, don’t miss a photo op with sculptor Andy Edwards’ The Beatles statue (left).…

STAR LETTER NOT SO NEWFOUNDLAND I have enjoyed your magazine for several years. city guide essential sights Beautiful photography and interesting stories. I feel many Canadians might debate something stated in your article about Bristol in your September 2023 issue. It states “A whalebone brought back by John Cabot, who in 1497 sailed from Bristol under royal commission of King Henry VII and discovered Newfoundland”. The Vikings and Newfoundlanders would certainly debate this. There is a Viking settlement site in Newfoundland that predates Cabot by approximately 500 years. It is on the northern tip of Newfoundland Island called L’anse aux Meadows. Of course prior to Bristol is marking its 650th anniversary of becoming a city and a county this year. There’s no better time to visit this historic that the…

Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory is the stuff of children’s fantasies, with its edible flowers and eatable pillows, its sugar-powered elevator and enticing chocolate river. No real-world chocolate works could ever match the magic of the one that bursts out of the pages of Roald Dahl’s beloved book about Charlie Bucket and the eccentric chocolatier, starring in his own spin-off film this Christmas. But if any can lay claim to be the inspiration for Dahl’s extraordinary creation, it has to be Cadbury’s. It was Britain’s most famous chocolate firm that once gave Dahl the chance to experience something of the thrill that his schoolboy Charlie feels on seeing the incredible experiments going on behind closed doors in Wonka’s Oompa-Loompa-powered empire. As pupils at Repton school in Derbyshire in the 1930s, Roald…

For the average homeowner, maintenance can be a simple matter of calling in a local tradesperson or making a trip to a hardware store. For the one Brit in five whose property dates from before 1919, especially if it is listed, the situation is more complicated, while, for the custodians of Britain’s built heritage, the challenges can seem insurmountable. Charged with the conservation of tens of thousands of significant buildings, from cottages to stately homes, castles and churches – of roofs, walls, floors, stairs, windows, fireplaces, tapestries, clocks, antiques, paintings, pulpits and altar screens beyond number – bodies such as English Heritage and the National Trust may struggle to find specialists to take on the work. In May 2023, the Heritage Crafts Association published an updated Red List of endangered…

BRITAIN: What is the first thing you do in the morning? Alex & Oli: Waking up in a 600-year-old house and in a 300-year-old bed is an incredible feeling. You can’t help but realise how lucky you are to be here. Each day is different but one constant is the crowds of tourists that gather outside in the morning – The Crooked House is, after all, one of Britain’s most photographed homes. And we love it. We pop out and say hello, uncover Henry (our classic MG) and The Crooked House is ready for their photos and the day ahead! B: Can you describe a typical day? A&O: We’re very hands-on here and do everything ourselves – from the initial painting and decorating when we moved in, through to creating ‘Crooked’ art…

STATELY HOMES Stitched in time After 24 years, the National Trust’s longest-running conservation project to restore a set of 13 Renaissance tapestries – the largest surviving set in Britain – is now complete. The Gideon Tapestries, which total over 70 metres in length and are nearly six metres high, were woven in 1578 and tell the story of Gideon, from the Old Testament Book of Judges. In 1592 they were purchased by Bess of Hardwick, a close friend of Elizabeth I and one of the richest women of her time, and they remained on display in the Long Gallery of Bess’s Derbyshire home, Hardwick Hall, until 1999, when they were taken down for conservation. The National Trust’s Senior National Curator Emma Slocombe said, “When she planned her decorative schemes, [Bess]…

Agatha Christie loved Devonshire. Her first home was Ashfield – an ordinary enough villa, she called it, on the edge of Torquay – and it remained with her always, though she finally moved out of it in 1938. Even towards the end of her life, she dreamt of Ashfield, “the old familiar setting where one’s life first functioned”. As Agatha’s grandson Mathew Prichard explains, “Devon was the place where, with the encouragement of her mother, she learned to write. It was also where the idea of the detective story first emerged. The Mysterious Affair at Styles, Hercule Poirot’s debut, was born at Ashfield, and finished off in a hotel on Dartmoor. So, Poirot too started his life in Devon.” Agatha had connections with Devon all her life, spending summers at…

The first-time visitor to Trafalgar Square can be overwhelmed by all there is to see. The centrepiece, Nelson’s Column, a soaring Corinthian column of granite, is crowned with a bronze capital and a 17ft statue of Admiral Lord Nelson. Around the base are the four famous bronze lions couchant, designed by Sir Edwin Landseer. Fountains play in lobed quatrefoil basins. A cloaked George IV sits like a Roman Emperor astride his horse. The National Gallery, with its grand Corinthian portico and stone cupolaed dome, commands the north side of the square, while around it the London traffic constantly churns – so it is little wonder if wide-eyed tourists and Londoners in a hurry fail to notice an anomalous little structure in the square’s south-east corner. Circular, and ringed with slit…