Innholdsfortegnelse for December 2016 - January 2017 i Discover Britain

The Execution of Lady Jane Grey, a well-known picture in London’s National Gallery, shows a blindfolded girl dressed in white fumbling for the block. The Lieutenant of the Tower of London guides her while the executioner waits, two ladies in attendance fall away weeping. Painted by the French Romantic artist Paul Delaroche nearly 280 years after the actual beheading of Lady Jane in 1554, the dramatic work encapsulates the conventional image of the Nine Day Queen as an innocent 16-year-old sacrificed on the altar of adult ambitions; her reign, one of the shortest in history, is now an almost forgotten interlude between the rule of King Edward VI and Queen Mary I. But was Jane the mere pawn of others, or is there more to her story? Born in October…

Visit Hawarden Old Castle is well worth a visit, standing in the grounds of the Gladstones’ family home, (New) Hawarden Castle, which are open during the Good Life Experience (www.thegoodlifeexperience.co.uk). The walled city of Chester (www.visitchester.com), just a short drive away, is one of the quaintest in Britain. Eat and drink Surrounded by fertile farming country, Hawarden is a foodie haven. Rated one of the best 50 gastropubs in the UK, the Glynne Arms has been completely refurbished by the Gladstones. (Look out for the little nook that was once the village post office and the crossed axes over the fireplace, where the head of a heifer that injured Gladstone used to sit before it was stolen by a high-spirited drinker.) The café at Hawarden Estate Farm Shop (www.hawardenestate.co.uk) also…

SWEET SIXTEEN Did you know that near Exmouth, in Devon, you’ll find a unique treasure trove of a house with not four but 16 sides? Inspired by their travels, and in particular by the 6th-century Byzantine basilica of San Vitale at Ravenna, cousins Jane and Mary Parminter decided to create a retreat, A la Ronde, in 1796 to house their souvenirs. The result is a place described by architectural writer Lucinda Lambton as having “a magical strangeness that one might dream of only as a child”. Highlights include the house’s famous Shell Gallery, with 25,000 intricately arranged seashells, the eight-doored Octagon room and the spectacular feather frieze. www.nationaltrust.org.uk ART HOUSE Art and antiques lovers flock to Blenheim Palace, home to a sumptuous art collection, all through the year, but did…

1 Lucknam Park Wiltshire Driving up Lucknam Park’s tree-lined avenue to the Palladian mansion set like a jewel at the end one’s shoulders palpably drop. Sitting in 500 acres of tranquil Wiltshire countryside, the central part of the house was built by James Wallis, a wealthy cloth merchant from Bristol, in the late 17th century, with the pillared portico and bowed wings added later. Today, Lucknam Park’s diverse range of activities spans everything from fine dining in the Michelin-starred Park restaurant to equestrian training or the sheer indulgence of its outstanding spa. If you have the energy afterwards, Stonehenge or Bath await on the doorstep, but as an Arcadian setting for simply unwinding and getting away from it all, Lucknam remains ideal. www.lucknampark.co.uk 2 Dormy House Worcestershire Original flagstone floors…

CITY OF CULTURE This January will see Hull in north England transform itself into the prestigious City of Culture 2017, an award given every four years to demonstrate the transformational power of culture. The £32m programme – which includes the refurbishment of arts venues and artistic collaborations with national organisations, such as the RSC and the Tate – will take over streets and venues to challenge people’s perceptions of the city. Taking in theatre, dance, music, film and art, the year-long celebration kicks off with an outdoor extravaganza of light projections and performances in the city centre to tell the story of Hull, from 1 to 7 January. Also in the works is an Opera North sound installation on the Humber Bridge, a circus in a cemetery and celebrations of…

In the heart of London’s Knightsbridge and within walking distance of the V&A and the museums of South Kensington, the five-star Franklin Hotel reopened last year after a major renovation. Located in three elegant Victorian terrace buildings, which back onto the manicured peace of Egerton Gardens, the hotel’s opulent interiors – best encapsulated as English country house meets Italian Palazzo – are the work of celebrated designer Anouska Hempel. Discover Britain has teamed up with the Franklin, the perfect base for exploring the treasures of “Albertopolis”, to offer a two-night stay at the hotel including breakfast (but not dinner) to one lucky winner and his or her guest, as well as a pair of tickets to a glittering West End show. With gilded or etched wall mirrors, gorgeous Italian grey…

“Legal wigs were made from black horsehair, which needed perfumes and powders” For Heaven’s sake discard the monstrous wig which makes the English judges look like rats peeping through bunches of oakum.” US president Thomas Jefferson was no fan of legal wigs, but in Britain, despite reductions in use over the years, the custom of wig-wearing has endured in criminal courts and for ceremonial purposes. Wig-wearing began in courtrooms during the reign of King Charles II when everyone was donning wigs outside, too. The fashion arrived from France. In his diary, in 1663, Samuel Pepys records its beginnings: “At Mr Jervas’s, my old barber, I did try two or three borders and periwigs, meaning to wear one; and yet I have no stomach for it, but that the pains of…

DOUBLE TROUBLE Shakespeare’s romantic comedies Love’s Labour’s Lost and Much Ado About Nothing, first paired as a double bill at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre in 2014 to critical acclaim, are to make a brief comeback in the West End. With Much Ado masquerading as Love’s Labour’s Won – a title that might refer to a lost work or is possibly an alternate name for the play – an ensemble cast performs both involving productions, which conjure an air of Downton Abbey glamour. Love’s Labour’s Lost brings to life the carefree elegance of a pre-war Edwardian summer, while in Much Ado About Nothing, set after the First World War, life has changed forever. It’s a combination that sheds new light on these ever-popular plays. The double bill runs from early December…

The Tower of London is a living, working royal palace, so we’re part of living history,” explains Yeoman Serjeant Jim Duncan, one of 37 current Yeoman Warders, also known as Beefeaters. “We’re so aware of everyone who came before us. The Tower has always been here – it’s the city’s protector.” In the 15th century, King Henry VII gathered a group of soldiers to become his personal bodyguard, and in 1509 Henry VIII chose 12 of them to protect the Tower. The “Beefeater” designation most likely refers to the guards receiving a larger food ration than other royal servants. Today, Beefeaters must have at least 22 years’ military service, the rank of Warrant Officer, and the Long Service and Good Conduct medal. Jim served in the Queen’s Regiment, everywhere from…

Oh!” Victoria confided to her diary, “to feel I was, and am, loved by such an Angel as Albert was too great a delight to describe! he is perfection … Oh! how I love and adore him I cannot say!” The year was 1839, and – in accordance with queenly protocol – the young monarch had just proposed to her German first cousin, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. His acceptance had been unhesitating. That such desire inflamed their mutual admiration was a boon; after all, Albert’s uncle Leopold of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha and King of the Belgians (also Victoria’s uncle) had set his cap at the British queen for one of his two nephews many years previously, when both were just children. Cool pragmatism it may have been, but…

At Blenheim, I took two very important decisions: to be born, and to marry. I am content with the decision I took on both occasions.” These were the words of Winston Churchill, England’s best-loved prime minister and Blenheim Palace’s most famous resident. He retained a great fondness for Blenheim throughout his life, and it isn’t hard to see why; not only was it conceived on the grandest of scales by its talented architect John Vanbrugh, but it retains an aristocratic panache that makes it a genuine joy to visit. Today, the small town of Woodstock is home to a cornucopia of upmarket antique shops, cosy Cotswold stone pubs and boutique hotels, but it is the enormous edifice of Blenheim that defines the area, in no small part because it is,…

With over 4.5 million objects and seven miles of galleries, the Victoria and Albert Museum is one of the biggest museums of decorative arts in the world. It is also one of the most beautiful. Take the Medieval and Renaissance sculpture gallery, just to start with, on your right as you enter from Cromwell Road – however many times you’ve been to the V&A, it’s hard to resist wandering in to that beautiful light-drenched space and marvelling at the figures beneath the glass roof, each with its own rich story. Like many buildings on the site in South Kensington known as Albertopolis – the Science and Natural History museums, Imperial College, the Royal Colleges of Art and Music, and Royal Albert Hall – the seeds of the V&A were sown…

DO CAMBRIDGESHIRE Dreaming spires, unspoiled countryside and rich history: Cambridgeshire is rightly celebrated by boffins, residents and visitors alike. The East Anglian area was first settled by the English in the 6th century by bands of Angles, and it was later recorded in the Domesday Book as “Grantbridgeshire” – a reference to the river Granta. Cambridgeshire has a proud history of agriculture, with the Domesday Book noting over 90 mills and numerous fisheries, and by the 14th century it also had a flourishing wool industry. Poverty struck following the dual blows of Black Death and the Wars of the Roses, but the area soon recovered. By the 16th century, Stourbridge Fair was one of the largest in Europe, and the races at Newmarket, on the Suffolk/Cambridgeshire border, were similarly admired.…