County Durham sits quietly in England’s northeast, somewhere close to the wilds of Northumberland and the bustle of Tyne and Wear. It is a county …
County Durham is where England mixes grandeur with grit
Heritage
Glasgow from shipbuilding grit to cultural grit
Glasgow doesn’t always get the press it deserves. Edinburgh has the skyline and the castle and the festival that turns the city into a human …
Surrey is where England politely mixes countryside with commuter comfort
Just south of London, Surrey offers a version of England where the countryside feels particularly well looked after. The hedgerows are neatly trimmed, the villages …
Lincolnshire, Big Skies, Bigger Surprises
If you head out into the east of England and keep going, eventually the hills run out, the roads get long and straight, and you …
JMW Turner, the man who painted with light
JMW Turner didn’t just paint landscapes, he lit them on fire. Not literally, of course, though he was fond of a dramatic blaze or two. …
Warwick Castle, A Thousand Years of Power and Pageantry
Warwick Castle is one of the finest and most complete medieval castles in England. Set on a bend in the River Avon, this towering fortress …
Why Hull deserves a second look
Hull is the sort of place that gets described with a smirk or a shrug. People think they know it, or think they don’t want …
William Wilberforce, The Relentless Reformer
William Wilberforce was the unlikely powerhouse behind one of Britain’s greatest moral victories – the abolition of the transatlantic slave trade. A politician, philanthropist and …
Somerset is where England feels slightly older and slightly odder
In the west of England, where the hills begin to rumple up and the apple trees grow with suspicious enthusiasm, you find Somerset. It is …
Derbyshire is where England gets pleasantly hilly
Right in the middle of England, Derbyshire rises gently into the sort of landscape that makes you want to take long walks and then immediately …