Sommaire pour February/March 2018 de Discover Britain

THE PINEAPPLE Dunmore, Falkirk You can just imagine the face of the 18th-century architect, when John Murray, 4th Earl of Dunmore, asked him to build an enormous stone pineapple on top of his summerhouse. Given that Lord Dunmore was fond of a joke, the architect may have taken some persuasion that this was a legitimate plan. While the architect’s identity remains a mystery – there are no records to show who he was – the craftsman was clearly highly skilled as the 37-foot pineapple still stands strong more than 250 years later. The Pineapple is perhaps the Landmark Trust’s most famous lodging and it is often also dubbed Scotland’s most bizarre building, attracting visitors to the surrounding gardens. If you’re booking a stay, however, you can expect a comfortable holiday…

 I grew up in Airdrie, an old market town. My parents were royalists and we used to go up to Balmoral in the summer to watch the Royal Family. I struggled with bullying and dyslexia as a child, but for me the escape was catching a glimpse of the Queen. “Etiquette is important. We Brits like to have our tea and put on a parade… People who come here expect that” My parents moved to Kingussie. It’s 10 minutes from Aviemore, a beautiful little town. I got a job at the Highland Folk Museum in Newtonmore. I learned all sorts of crafts: stonemasonry, wood turning… When I worked for Prince Charles, he loved that I’d done this. I first saw Woburn Abbey on TV. I wrote a letter asking for…

With its medieval castle and cathedral at the heart of a kink in the River Wear, many of Durham’s streets are lined with buildings dating back to the Georgian era. A visiting Sir Walter Scott was moved to write: “Grey towers of Durham, yet well I love thy mixed and massive piles, half Church of God, half castle ’gainst the Scot”, a line that has been inscribed on the Prebends Bridge. The city’s story begins with St Cuthbert, a Christian pilgrim who spread the gospel across the northeast of England. After his death, he appeared in a vision to the monk Eadmer and instructed that his coffin should be taken to Dun Holm. No one knew of such a place until the monks overheard a milkmaid mention it. The spelling…

EXPLORE BERKSHIRE This region holds the prestigious title of the Royal County of Berkshire, thanks to the presence of Her Majesty The Queen’s home of Windsor Castle – the location for Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s forthcoming wedding on 26 May. The location was apparently chosen for the convenience of the Prince’s 96-year-old grandfather, the Duke of Edinburgh. This modest home county has plenty of other royal connections, too. Anglo-Saxon king Alfred the Great hailed from Wantage, while Catherine Middleton, the current Duchess of Cambridge, grew up in the leafy village of Chapel Row. Berkshire is dotted with similarly quaint enclaves, enlivened by excellent, historic gastropubs, such as The Pot Kiln in Frilsham and The Swan in Pangbourne. The county town of Reading is by far the largest settlement and…

Going the extra 1.609km This is to compliment your team on the excellence that is Discover Britain. I was introduced to the magazine several years ago and have been a subscriber ever since. I regret that you only provide six publications a year, as 12 would be desired. I have one request for your consideration. While respecting that officially the UK is metric, as a North American, I do not always find comfort in relating to a metric presentation. My respectful request is that consideration be given to providing your measurements in both imperial and metric. While perhaps one may view this as a minor matter, it would assist in a broader understanding of both systems. John WB Coulter, Toronto, Canada Serenity now My wife and I are long-time Discover…

Three hundred years after his birth, furniture maker Thomas Chippendale remains a household name, synonymous with quality and craftsmanship. Anyone can appreciate the impeccable detail of the Diana and Minerva commode on show at Harewood House. This satinwood marquetry secretaire, inlaid with designs made from various exotic woods and drawers that whisper shut, was designed to convey the status of its owner and is often declared Chippendale’s most famous piece. While his exquisite furniture remains renowned around the world with original pieces fetching millions at auction, Chippendale was a Renaissance man, offering his clients a full interiors package, from opulent suites to furnishings below stairs. His 1754 aspirational yet practical book of designs, The Gentleman and Cabinet-Maker’s Director, reflected and illustrated the fashions of the era, and was acquired by…

GOOD NEIGHBOURS If you’ve ever dreamt of being neighbours with Her Majesty The Queen, book a stay in the newly refurbished Rubens at The Palace hotel. This grand Edwardian institution sits across the road from the Royal Mews (home to the 1762 Gold State Coach) and overlooks the gardens of Buckingham Palace. The 163 rooms have been extensively revamped inside. The 18 royal suites are particularly opulent, each themed around a different member of the British monarchy, from Queen Elizabeth II to the late Diana, Princess of Wales. Meanwhile, the hotel’s new brasserie-style restaurant, The English Grill, promises the opportunity to really lord it up, as tail-coated waiters carve roast dinners at the table from silver trolleys or deliver national classics like beef wellington and shepherd’s pie. www.rubenshotel.com M&M’S WORLD…

GEORGIAN Hazlitt’s In Regency Britain – that brief period from 1811 to 1820 when the nation was ruled by the Prince Regent on behalf of his sick father, King George III – William Hazlitt was one of our finest essay writers, commentators and critics, a sort of 19th-century George Orwell. It is fitting then that the author’s former lodgings (and two adjacent Soho townhouses) should now be one of the capital’s most atmospheric period hotels. Rooms are individually decorated and named after local folk from Hazlitt’s day. Of course, Georgians didn’t have bathrooms as we know them today so rather than simply making do, Hazlitt’s is equipped with a decent approximation of what would be fitting for that period: gold taps, ornate tiles and rolltop baths. Just be warned. Spending…

What would your dream holiday to Britain include? A five-star stay in London, tickets to a West End show and a trip to the location of this year’s royal wedding, Windsor Castle (above)? How about a visit to some of our nation’s stunning stately homes, or first-class return tickets to Edinburgh? Well, with our Great British Holiday competition, you can win all of this and more. The holiday of a lifetime Starting with free international flights from your nearest gateway airport (for all overseas entrants), the winner and their guest will be whisked to London to enjoy two nights of luxury hospitality courtesy of Flemings Mayfair – a member of the Small Luxury Hotels of the World, a stroll from Buckingham Palace (above right). You’ll also take afternoon tea in…

Had Thomas Hardy struggled as a novelist, he could have become a tour guide, holding the post for Wessex at the Southwest England Tourist Board. The area features in 13 novels, from Tess of the d’Urbervilles to Jude the Obscure, as well as 47 short stories. And yet you won’t be able to find it on Google Maps. At least not at first. Hardy’s Wessex is a fictional area, covering the English counties of Dorset, Wiltshire, Somerset, Devon, Hampshire, much of Berkshire and some of Oxfordshire. The places in his novels exist, but have slightly different names – the Isle of Wight becomes ‘The Island’; Salisbury Plain becomes ‘The Great Plain’. The term ‘Wessex’ is medieval, referring to an Anglo-Saxon kingdom. It was revived in the 19th century by William…

A beloved beacon on the corner of Waterloo Road and the Cut, The Old Vic, one of Britain’s most revered theatres, stands a stone’s throw from Waterloo Bridge. Its proximity to the landmark is no coincidence. Not long after John Rennie’s bridge was completed in 1817, the new playhouse opened to tempt audiences south of the Thames away from the theatrical establishment north of the river. Back in 1818, the brand new classical theatre would have been surrounded by Ë marshland and mud – and not a little risky to frequent. One can imagine the Georgian theatregoing audience picking its way through the mire; one of the talking points would have been how linkmen were on hand to guide the audience safely over the bridge in this insalubrious part of…

Whether you approach from the rocky beach below or from the genteel sweeping inland driveway, your first glimpse of Culzean Castle, suspended dramatically on the cliffs above the Firth of Clyde, is likely to stay with you for ever. A formidable monument to wealth and status, Culzean (pronounced ‘Culane’) is a treat for the eyes: turrets and battlements are surrounded by the swell of the seas, not to mention 600 acres of verdant forest and secret gardens. Less than an hour from Glasgow, the castle is one of Scotland’s most prized treasures – so special, in fact, that a drawing of it has even found its way onto the nation’s tender: take a close look at a Scottish £5 note. Culzean as it is today serves as a perfect marriage…

“It is only in the past century that the red dragon has become officially recognised as a symbol of Wales” Today the red dragon is an undisputed symbol of Wales, an instantly recognisable icon seen on flags everywhere from ancient castles to modern sports stadiums. However, it is only in the past century that it has become officially recognised and, back in the murky mists of history, this fierce emblem was neither always red nor restricted to one of the home nations. So where exactly did it come from? And why does it matter? No one can say for sure when the dragon became a national symbol, though many historians point to the Roman withdrawal from Britain in the early 5th century AD when local kings were keen to assert…