Going to the UK!

[wildoates]

If any of our brethren from the UK have a hankering for something that they can't get there, I'll be happy to bring it over with me if it gets shipped to my house by July 1. Once there, I can post it domestic, or if you happen to live in a town I plan on visiting anyway, I can drop it by. Just let me know!

My daughter lives in Hull, but I know I'll be visiting Rye and environs, York, Manchester, Birmingham, Stonehenge, and up Edinburgh way at least. I won't be able to bring loads of mead with me (and it's all spoken for, all what? Four liters that I'm allowed to bring in?! ), but I'd be delighted to meetup and taste yours. I'll be there from July 2nd to the 18th, then up to Oslo for a few days to see the fam there, then back to England for another week, departing the 31st.

[fatbloke]

Excellent! Now where do I start my shopping list ? ;-P

Rye is very eastern East Sussex, I'm at the eastern end of West Sussex (about 50 miles/hour or so drive).

Seriously, have a think about what you like to look at etc. At Rye, you'll be about 10 miles or so from the site of Britains last invasion i.e.1066 and the battle of Hastings. Battle town is quite nice and the Abbey is worth a look....... yet the whole area has some good visiting places, so you may have to make some choices......

The other places you mention are pretty good too.......

[TheAlchemist]

Aaack!

You've got me feeling all nostalgic for my bohemian travel days!

When I visited Stonehenge she was fenced off and looked like an unhappily caged animal. I hope you get to take off your shoes and wander barefoot through her...

[wildoates]

Oh, I've been poring over the lonely planet guide for weeks now.

Both Hastings and Battle are on the list, and we might even hop on the ferry in Dover to flit over to France and points east from there. It looks like you can drive that last northeastern bit of France, through Belgium, and into the Netherlands in a couple of hours, so I can say I've been there.

Manchester and Birmingham wouldn't be on the list normally, but I'm flying into Manchester, and my daughter's boyfriend's parents live in Birmingham. We can use it as a free place to stay for day trips in that part of England.

[fatbloke]

Originally Posted by wildoates

Oh, I've been poring over the lonely planet guide for weeks now.

Both Hastings and Battle are on the list, and we might even hop on the ferry in Dover to flit over to France and points east from there. It looks like you can drive that last northeastern bit of France, through Belgium, and into the Netherlands in a couple of hours, so I can say I've been there.

Manchester and Birmingham wouldn't be on the list normally, but I'm flying into Manchester, and my daughter's boyfriend's parents live in Birmingham. We can use it as a free place to stay for day trips in that part of England.

Well, from a "been there, done that" angle, I'd way forget Dover unless you need white cliffs (you can those driving back to Eastbourne, from Rye, as its next to the infamous Beachy Head, but they run from Brighton right the way to Dover, with a few.breaks). No, it'd suggest that you went to Folkstone, and did the "Chunnel". It still comes out at Calais. The only downside, would be that the ferry back from the Hook, to Harwich, is about 8 or so hours.

Birmingham a.k.a. Brum, has a very industrial history, but you don't have to go far outside it (especially SW) and it gets pretty. SW of Brum, is Worcestershire, home of the sauce and the top part of "Cider country).

Manchester can be quite wet, because of.the geographical location, it also has a very industrial past, but its also the home of.more recent "Britpop", and is supposed to be a very lively night out.......

Oh, and if you got across Birmingham into the "Black country" you might need a translator, as the accent is quite strong (as is parts of Liverpool, South Yorkshire, some parts round Newcastle, and if you get up into Scotland, its a whole new ball game). Actually the variations in accent are one of.the things that always amazes me. For a relatively small country, the accents change so quickly.

If you want to do a more cultured thing, I'd suggest you check out "the National Trust". As its them that manage the vast majority of historical buildings, houses etc. I'd have thought their website would have much more than lonely planet.

[TheAlchemist]

Originally Posted by fatbloke

Well, from a "been there, done that" angle, I'd way forget Dover unless you need white cliffs...

Noooooo.... Don't skip Dover...I can still remember my first pre-dawn glimpses of those cliffs, on the ferry from Calais... Stunning.

[fatbloke]

Originally Posted by TheAlchemist

Noooooo.... Don't skip Dover...I can still remember my first pre-dawn glimpses of those cliffs, on the ferry from Calais... Stunning.

Ok, so that suggests a plan of one way to France, a drive around (out the chunnel, and hang a left, the Belgium border is about 50 klicks, maybe event lunch in Antwerp, or Bruges - very picturesque) and ferry back for the White cliffs thing.

Either way, I'm just thinking of a few possible options "down here".

It's like when we hear US visitors say that they've been to London, Stratford and Edinburgh, so they've "done" the UK. Disappointing, yet farcical. Not even scratching the surface.

Yet I fully understand having to keep to a tight itinerary. You can't see everything. Hence trying to understand WO's preferences, to throw a few more ideas out.......

[TheAlchemist]

Originally Posted by fatbloke

one way to France, a drive around (out the chunnel, and hang a left, the Belgium border is about 50 klicks, maybe event lunch in Antwerp, or Bruges - very picturesque) and ferry back for the White cliffs thing.
....

Yeeeeesssss
Bruges!
One of my favourite places on earth. Very charming. You used to could get real bobbin lace made by real human hands. My one piece of it has turned out to be a treasured investment.

[skunkboy]

Originally Posted by fatbloke

It's like when we hear US visitors say that they've been to London, Stratford and Edinburgh, so they've "done" the UK. Disappointing, yet farcical. Not even scratching the surface..

I'd avoid all that and try to visit mead and cider sites, well, and maybe distilleries - after a day on Islay I probably wouldn't remember anything ...

[Rebmac]

Hi

I live in Brighton UK on the South Coast and not too far from Rye.

If you are interested in the UK brewing/mead/wine scene two particular recommendations are Chapel Down at Tenterden, because it's near to Rye (they do their own acclaimed wines and beers and have a lovely shop on site selling a massive range of bottled British alcoholic stuff - down the road is a fantastic olde worlde National Trust timber framed cottage if you are into that sort of thing). There's also the brilliant Middle Farm near Lewes in Sussex which has the national cider and perry collection as well as a more or less comprehensive collection of commercially available British Meads.
http://www.chapeldown.com/
http://www.middlefarm.com/cider-and-perry.html

I am very interested in tasting the Pirtle Winery's award winning Effevescent Mead, but I expect this would be difficult to bring over as big heavy bottle that might pop en route? I'm trying to create a sparkling mead at the moment and would love to taste a commercial version. I don't think you can get it here at all.

Hope you have a fab time in the UK - bring all-weather gear - it's sunshine one day torrential rain the next at the moment!

[fatbloke]

Originally Posted by Rebmac

Hi

I live in Brighton UK on the South Coast and not too far from Rye.

If you are interested in the UK brewing/mead/wine scene two particular recommendations are Chapel Down at Tenterden, because it's near to Rye (they do their own acclaimed wines and beers and have a lovely shop on site selling a massive range of bottled British alcoholic stuff - down the road is a fantastic olde worlde National Trust timber framed cottage if you are into that sort of thing). There's also the brilliant Middle Farm near Lewes in Sussex which has the national cider and perry collection as well as a more or less comprehensive collection of commercially available British Meads.
http://www.chapeldown.com/
http://www.middlefarm.com/cider-and-perry.html

I am very interested in tasting the Pirtle Winery's award winning Effevescent Mead, but I expect this would be difficult to bring over as big heavy bottle that might pop en route? I'm trying to create a sparkling mead at the moment and would love to taste a commercial version. I don't think you can get it here at all.

Hope you have a fab time in the UK - bring all-weather gear - it's sunshine one day torrential rain the next at the moment!

Well, if she really wanted to, our part of the south is littered with wine places. I couldn't remember the name of Chapledown, but Bolney, Ridgeview and Nytimber are all reachable from Rye. Hell, even Lurgashall, as they make mead as well as wine (I've tasted their dessert one, don't know if they do a medium or dry......)

Ha! the suggestion for "foulies" is a good one though ;-D

[wildoates]

We (okay I) want to see as many historic/pre-historic sites as we can, considering how young my part of the country is. As much as I'd love to see some of the sights in London, this close to the olympics makes it a no-go for me. Some other time.

What we will likely do is take a few day trips out of Hull, take a couple of longer multi-day trips (Scotland and the Continent), and a few day trips out of Birmingham, trying to cut down on lodging costs (the kids are broke and more than broke, Mom's picking up the tab for the whole trip). We're not interested in night life or shopping, we are interested in history, castles, ruins, archeology, brewing, and distilling and anywhere Mary, Queen of Scots stayed (We're in a re-enactment guild, I can do research and deduct the trip from my taxes*. Heh heh heh).

*I wish

[TheAlchemist]

Visit the island of Iona if you can. Dreamy

[fatbloke]

Originally Posted by TheAlchemist

Visit the island of Iona if you can. Dreamy

The Highlands is doable, but the islands are a bit harder work to access. Yes, with some time put aside for just that, it shouldn't be too much of a problem, but you'd need to co-ordinate some flights, ferries etc.

Originally Posted by wildoates

What we will likely do is take a few day trips out of Hull, take a couple of longer multi-day trips (Scotland and the Continent), and a few day trips out of Birmingham, trying to cut down on lodging costs (the kids are broke and more than broke, Mom's picking up the tab for the whole trip). We're not interested in night life or shopping, we are interested in history, castles, ruins, archeology, brewing, and distilling and anywhere Mary, Queen of Scots stayed (We're in a re-enactment guild, I can do research and deduct the trip from my taxes*. Heh heh heh).

Ok, so here's the first link......

http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/ would be the place to start having a dig around. They're the "quango" that runs/manages/restores all the places the rich parasites donate to the nation, when they can't afford to run them themselves. There are newish places (Ringo Starr's childhood home has just been saved from demolition - I understand that they'll run that), but most of them are of the "big country house" type, and there's quite a lot of them too.

If the France/Belgium trip sounds good to you, then http://www.eurotunnel.com/uk/home/ would be the quickest, of if a ferry trip "floats your boat", then http://www.poferries.com/ is probably the most frequent (some of the other ferry companies also run out of Dover).

Don't discount London, on the basis of the Olympics and how busy it might be, because I'd suggest that the British Museum is worth it's weight in effort and while this one is guaranteed to be busy, the Crown Jewels are something that shouldn't be missed. It would seem that the larger number of the planets most prized stones are there. It's hard to explain, but when looking at something like that, you feel that they must be paste/fake, but when the penny drops that they're real - it leaves you speechless. Plus the pomp and ceremony that goes with the Yeoman Warders are to a man, all ex-military. Honestly, "the Tower" is the mutz nutz.

Plus there's always Hampton Court Palace. Well actually, it would pre-date Mary QoS, because it was Henry VIII's favourite home, but the link is there.

Birmingham is a bit harder to offer links for, because you could try "Birmingham tourism" for a search string, but that's just gonna get you Birmingham city etc. Yet there's the "Black Country" to the west (Dudley being the focal town for that), plus just up the road, you could "do" the Potteries, etc etc.

And here, is the obvious place too start for Hull and East Yorkshire area (probably "teaching granny to suck eggs" to post that link if you've family there......)

For this end of the country, http://www.visitsussex.org/ might be a good start, plus as Rebmac mentioned, Middle Farm for commercially made meads. Plus Brighton has "the Royal Pavilion", which is worth a visit (not for me though, I used to work there about 25 years ago).

That's about all I can suggest to think of at the moment. Scotland has a plethora of stuff too, of course - and you might be able to find a list of places that Mary QoS stopped for a kip.

I don't know if you've any latitude of the dates for your trip, but if there is, leave the possible northern part of the trip as late as possible, because of "this". Now that would be an excellent closing finale for your trip, if you can manage it. All those strange blokes in skirts, carrying their "screaming hand bags"..... brilliant. Definitely worth the effort if you could swing it........

[TheAlchemist]

Callanish
New Grange
Knowth
Dowth
Avebury
Silvery
Isle of Lewis
White Horse Hill and The Giant
Glastonbury Tor and the Arthurian/Avalon sites
Narnia!
Middle Earth!
Cirencester Park
Old Sarum

[TheAlchemist]

Check out
The Spiritual Traveler
Martin Palmer
Nigel Palmer

[TheAlchemist]

Did you see My Dinner With Andre?
A visit to Findhorn!

[wildoates]

So much to see and do, so little time and money.

I suspect that my daughter will be stuck there for a while past her master's due to her boyfriend's fam situation, so I might just have to go back. Hard duty.

The BF's mother lives in Brighton, we might have to hit it on our Rye trip. All those blokes in kilts doing their tattoo will have to be missed on this trip, as I'll be back in sunny California by August, and mourn the loss, as I do dearly love looking at gents in kilts.

Thanks for all the recommendations! Summer school ends on Thursday, and the really serious planning will begin apace on Friday. CAN.NOT.WAIT, TSA notwithstanding.

[Wijnand]

I can definitely recommend Derbyshire/Peak District National Park. When I visited family near Manchester they took me and my wife there, it's absolutely gorgeous! It is actually (somewhat) on the way if you are travelling from Manchester to Birmingham.

Hampton Court is definitely nice to see if you want to see "old stuff" and are travelling to London. When you do end up in London and have some more time, visit the V&A as well, they have an enormous collection.

Brighton is a lovely city. If you like antique jewelry, have a look around the various jewelers over there. The Brighton pier is another nice attraction to visit. And don't forget to stop by the Royal Pavilion.
You can probably see most sights in Brighton in a day, it's a rather small city.

Wherever you end up going, enjoy!

[TheAlchemist]

There are plenty of monastic guest houses that aren't too costly if you're into that sort of thing