Located near Dorchester is Athelhampton House and Gardens. The house is one of England’s finest Tudor Manor Houses, with the Great Hall, built in 1485, an excellent example of early Tudor architecture. The house contains a collection of English furniture from the Jacobean to Victorian times. Upstairs, the west wing houses a gallery of artwork by the Russian artist… More Athelhampton House and Gardens
A short walk from Kew Bridge station brought us to the former Kew Bridge Waterworks that now houses the London Museum of Water & Steam. The Kew Bridge Works started supplying water to London in 1838, when the Grand Junction Water Works Company moved its operations to Kew Bridge from Chelsea. The beam… More London Museum of Water & Steam
A train ride to Kew Bridge, followed by a short walk and we arrived at The Musical Museum. I was surprised to find it located in a modern building as I thought it was housed in a church hall. It turns out the museum used to be housed in the former St George’s Church. Frank Holland, who founded the museum,… More The Musical Museum
Our trip on the Swanage Railway took us along its scenic route and included taking in views of Corfe Castle. Corfe Castle is a ruined castle in the Purbeck Hills. Over 1,000 years old, it has been a Saxon stronghold, a Norman fortress, a treasury, a military garrison, a royal palace and a family home. The keep… More Swanage Railway and Corfe Castle
The UNESCO Creative Cities Network (UCCN) is a project launched in 2004 by UNESCO to promote cooperation among cities which recognized creativity as a major factor in their urban development. The cities approved have all met the required criteria set by UNESCO covering: Quality, quantity and diversity of publishing in the city Quality and quantity of educational programmes focusing on… More UNESCO Creative Cities Network
D.H. Lawrence is celebrated at the D.H. Lawrence Birthplace Museum in Eastwood Located in the house where he was born in 1885, the exhibition has been laid out in the style of a late 19th-century working class miner’s house. The museum extends to the house next door which houses a short film, a small exhibition of his memorabilia and the… More Visiting the birthplace of D.H. Lawrence.
Our coach rumbled along the long driveway, past the remains of a 12th century Augustinian priory, coming to a halt in front of a large impressive house. Stepping off our transportation, we were greeted and led inside to a stone staircase. In days gone by we would have climbed the stairs outside the building, but they… More A Special Guided Tour Of Newstead Abbey
This blog is taken from a newsletter I wrote in 2015 telling the story of how I came to be standing on the balcony of the Mansion House with the Lord Mayor of London as he took the salute at the Remembrance Day parade. ….And that is how I ended up on the balcony of… More Remembering Leonard Thirkettle
A group of us visited the Tank Museum, Bovington, which has over 300 vehicles including the world’s first tank and the infamous Tiger 131. The tank was a British invention that changed warfare for ever when it was introduced in the First World War. Rudyard Kipling visited Bovington in 1923 and, after viewing the damaged tanks that… More The Tank Museum, Bovington
Due for release in the UK on 10th August, Sgt. Stubby: An American Hero is a 2018 computer-animated adventure film about the real-life Sergeant Stubby, a stray Boston Terrier who becomes a hero during World War I. Although the film credits state that the characters in the film are fictitious, the film follows the actual actions of the dog and includes real people involved… More Sgt. Stubby: An American Hero