Sommaire pour April/May 2026 de Discover Britain

There are many reasons to celebrate Suffolk, with its big skies, expansive coastline, pretty towns and picturesque landscapes featuring highly on the list. But while key hotspots such as Southwold, Aldeburgh, Woodbridge and Constable Country attract a steady stream of visitors, there are plenty of attractions in areas that still feel pristine and gloriously untouched – areas of the sort you just won’t find anywhere else. Suffolk always draws me back – for me, it’s my home. I was born in Felixstowe, and my family dot the coastline at Felixstowe, Bawdsey and Southwold. There are many things I love about Suffolk – its enchanting countryside and coastline are wild and unassuming and the local produce is second-to-none. It’s a fantastic place to be whatever the time of year; from long…

It’s easy to see how ceramicist, artist and jewellery maker Loïs Gunn has been inspired by Woodbridge. This historic port town, set on the banks of the River Deben and home to one of the oldest working tidemills, is pretty as a picture. It’s also brimming with history, from the Georgian and Tudor buildings lining the streets to the Anglo-Saxon burial site of Sutton Hoo just across the river. For Loïs, a self-confessed beach lover, Suffolk’s beautiful coastline has also helped to make her feel firmly at home. While Loïs grew up further along the English coast in Margate, Kent, she and her family moved to Woodbridge just over a year ago, when her husband accepted a job at a local school. Thankfully, the move has been a relatively seamless…

I am a 46-year-old Welshman from Abergavenny and have worked for 27 years in the hotel industry. I love my job – it doesn’t feel like work and every day is different. I grew up in a pub for 10 years as a teenager before moving to London. After my GCSEs, I got a job at a hotel in Euston. I started working in food and beverage and silver service. I spent two months working on reception, and I then joined the concierge department 26 years ago. I took pouring pints to the next level of opening doors. I later worked at the Chesterfield Hotel and when the doorman broke his leg, I covered the door for two weeks, while the owners, Stanley and Beatrice Tollman, visited from South Africa.…

Think of inland cruises and images of the Norwegian fjords or Portugal’s Douro quite probably spring to mind. Yet it’s possible to enjoy a few days on the water here in Britain, travelling through beautiful countryside and exploring historical locations by boat. And with itineraries and meals all taken care of, you can just sit back and relax. English Holiday Cruises (EHC) is among the companies offering holidays on the water, specifically in and around the UK’s longest river, the Severn. It offers a six-night Severn Vale Discovery tour, a five-night English Gardens cruise and an English Vineyards and Wine Tasting voyage, plus a newly reinstated two-night Canal Getaway Cruise, which I am joining, which fits into a long weekend for those with limited time. Booking couldn’t be easier –…

ANNIVERSARY If you go into the woods… To mark the centenary of the publication of AA Milne’s first Winnie the Pooh book (written for his son, Christopher, right) the beloved bear’s stomping ground of Ashdown Forest, in East Sussex, is getting a magical makeover this year. The Big One Hundred project will see the forest, which inspired Hundred Acre Wood, get a new inhabitant: a huge puppet that will be the centrepiece to lots of free cultural performances. There will also be five new walking trails themed around some of the forest’s native species that will highlight the scientific significance of the forest’s rare heathland. Angie Bual, creative director and joint CEO of Trigger, the artists behind the project, said: “To celebrate this site of imagination, we are weaving a…

Holkham Hall, Norfolk On an ambitious journey to become England’s most sustainable rural estate, Holkham Hall, the grand home of the Coke family since the early 17th century, is so much more than a stately home: it’s a sum of all its parts. Visitors can take a tour of the Palladian-style house, marvel at the 50ft dome in the Marble Hall (sadly its walls are made of alabaster, despite the name), see Old Masters hanging on the walls and peer into bedchambers where royalty once slept. However, a day trip here is not complete without exploring the estate’s beautiful gardens or its nature reserve and beach – home to diverse and important habitats. And after all that, you’ll surely want to sink into the sumptuous comfort of one of 20…

Art appreciation club It was a very pleasant surprise to see a story on Joseph Wright (Issue 249, Winter 25/26) as I didn’t know anything about his background, but knew, for some reason, I recognised the name. When I turned to the second page of your article, there it was – a painting I have admired for years and have seen a few times at the Yale Center for British Art, The Blacksmith’s Shop. Wright’s lighting draws you right into what the subjects are doing. Thank you so much for his story, it now makes this connection so much more interesting and appreciated. From a sincere art enthusiast, who someday hopes to get across the pond to see more. Catherine Hines, Chicopee, Massachusetts Water-way to go My wife comes from…

Queen Victoria and Prince Albert had nine children – four boys and five girls – born between 1840 and 1857, and the couple were keen to present themselves as a model, loving family to their subjects. Though that image may not have always been mirrored behind closed doors, Victoria and Albert are certainly seen as the founders of a dynasty that stretched across Europe, with their children marrying into the royal families of Russia, Germany and Scandinavia. Here we take a closer look at what happened to each of their offspring. 1 Victoria, Princess Royal (Vicky): 1840-1901 Victoria Adelaide Mary Louise, the Princess Royal, spent her childhood at Windsor and Buckingham Palace and was well-educated and multilingual. In 1858, aged 17, she married the Prussian Crown Prince, Frederick William, becoming…

WHAT? Wuthering Heights WHO? Margot Robbie, Jacob Elordi, Alison Oliver, Owen Cooper, Martin Clunes WHY? Based on the 1847 Gothic novel by Emily Brontë, director Emerald Fennell’s maximalist take on one of the best-loved stories of all time tells the tragic tale of the intense, destructive love between Catherine and the orphan Heathcliff, all set on the swirling Yorkshire moors WHERE TO WATCH Wuthering Heights was released in cinemas worldwide on Friday 13 February 2026 Wuthering Heights, the only novel written by the middle Brontë sister, Emily, was published to much criticism in November 1847 under the male pseudonym Ellis Bell. Brontë hid her true identity at the time because the novel examined ‘unfeminine’ subject matter for the prudish Victorian reader. Covering themes of destructive love, mental and physical…

Crossword no 251 Solutions in next issue Across Down Teatime QUIZ Test your knowledge of Britain – answers below! 1. Where does a Scotsman wear a sgian-dubh? On a belt In a sheath Tucked in a sock 2. How many detective stories did Agatha Christie write? 66 1 14 3. How many sons did Queen Victoria have? 4 3 2 4. In which county was John Constable born? Norfolk Cambridgeshire Suffolk 5. How long is the Gloucester and Sharpness Canal? 16.5 miles 18.5 miles 15.5 miles 6. In which Suffolk town is The Nutshell, Britain’s smallest pub? Southwold Bury St Edmunds Thorpeness 7. What was Henry VIII’s older brother called? Edward Arthur Peter Solutions to crossword 250 Across: 1 Trafalgar 6 Blood 9 Taunton 10 Swithin (or Swithun) 11 Elder…