North Yorkshire is well endowed with magnificent remains of medieval monasteries. I’ve visited and written about many of them, including Fountains Abbey, Reivaulx Abbey and Whitby Abbey. However there are two abbeys that I had driven passed many times, but never stopped to explore: Jervaulx Abbey and Bolton Abbey. Maybe as a member of English […]
There are thirteen National Trust properties in Norfolk including five spectacular coastal sites. However my favourite properties are the estates at Blickling and Felbrigg, situated fourteen and twenty-one miles respectively north of Norwich. Both Blickling Estate and Felbrigg Hall, Gardens and Estate – to give them their full National Trust titles – are well endowed […]
The Halls at Hardwick on the eastern fringes of Derbyshire are lasting memorials to two formidable ladies, Bess of Hardwick (1527-1608) and Evelyn Cavendish (1870-1960). Bess, or to give her her full title, Elizabeth Cavendish (later Talbot), Countess of Shrewsbury, managed, with the help of four marriages, to become the second most powerful woman in […]
Written by Caroline Smith (A Runner-up entry in the Heritage Writing Competition.) The Isle of Man is the ultimate heritage island. Within just 220 square miles it boasts two Gothic castles, an abbey and a plethora of museums. Together, these tell the story of this remarkable island and one of the best ways to see […]
Visiting a National Trust property on a showery day can make sense, in that you can look around the house (or shop and tea room) when it is raining, and tour the gardens and parkland between the showers. Well that was our idea when we visited Hanbury Hall in Worcestershire on a wet weekday in […]
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National Trust Worcestershire: Croome Court and Park
As you arrive at Croome, a National Trust property 10 miles south of Worcester, you are greeted with a sign stating: Expect the Unexpected. Intriguing, but indeed it proved to be quite true when my wife and I visited Croome Court and Park on a cold but sunny weekday in January. The first unexpected was maybe […]