Our digs this week were in Broadstone, Dorset, a short ride from Poole. We took the bus into Poole to do a little sightseeing (Bethany) and pub crawling (Bruce). From the bus station you have to walk through the shopping mall to get down to the high street and the seaside, decorated for Christmas. The temperatures were frigid, so I was happy that the Poole Museum wasn't a very long walk. It's housed in a building with a very modern facade, but parts of it date to the 15th or

The closest town to our digs in North Devon was Barnstaple, so we hopped on the bus for a look around. As Bruce headed out to find old pubs, my first stop was the Barnstaple Museum. The ground floor is devoted to the life of the town over the years, from the prehistoric animals which roamed the area to the town's industries and the North Devon Yeomanry's participation in the wars. It was the sort of thing one often finds in small town museums. I was surprised to learn, howev

We were staying in North Devon for the first time, so Bruce booked a special experience for me at the Exmoor Zoo. Let me backtrack a bit here. I have strong feelings about wildlife and support a number of wildlife charities. Visiting Kenya two years ago and seeing elephants, giraffes, lions, etc. in the wild was thrilling and reinforced my feelings that animals deserve to remain in their native habitats. Now, I realize the idea behind zoos is to expose people to wildlife, th

When I was much younger and working on the Ocean Princess cruise ship, the cruise staff would accompany the guests on the shore excursions. Sometimes we went on exciting journeys, down an Amazon tributary, say, or into the hills of Norway for a train journey around the fjords. Most of the time, though, we escorted the city tour which had acquired the nickname "The ABC tour". The ABC stood for Another Bloody Cathedral. Now that I'm about the same age as the passengers we car

We drove out into the countryside again for visits to two National Trust properties. The first was Hanbury Hall, a stately William and Mary-style country house. The Vernon family, one of the most prominent families in Worcestershire, started construction on the house in 1701. It was built on the site of a 17th century dwelling and the rear wall is thought to be from the earlier house. As each generation of Vernons took ownership of the house, it was redesigned and redecora

That's what they say in New York. It's pretty accurate in Worcestershire, too, because a short drive into the Cotswolds takes you to the pretty village of Broadway. With a bustling high street, it's a wonderful place to spend the day. We parked the car and walked to the Broadway museum, which is dedicated to preserving and celebrating its history and cultural significance. There are a number of story boards that tell of the importance of Broadway as a station for the coache

In many of the churches and cathedrals I've visited, there's a small discoloration on one of the walls, sometimes with just a hint of a discernable shape. The churches in question proudly point out that these are remnants of murals from before the time of the Puritans. During the Civil War, most ecclesiastical murals were viewed as idolatrous and sacrilegious and were either chipped off the walls or painted over with white paint. Over the years, many have been discovered,

One chilly, overcast day we hopped on the bus to Tewkesbury for a visit to Tewkesbury Abbey. Much to our surprise, we were there on the last day of a special exhibit, "Museum of the Moon." A giant replica of the moon was suspended from the ceiling of the abbey. It's an art installation by Luke Jerram who wanted to "transform the Abbey into a space of wonder, reflection and imagination. Measuring seven meters in diameter and featuring detailed NASA imagery,

We were staying in a little town outside of Evesham, Worcestershire, which is a great jumping off place for lots of sightseeing. Today we took the train into Worcester for a look around. We stopped at the Worcester Guild Hall to kill a little time before the guided walking tour of the city. It's striking on the outside with its statues of King Charles I and King Charles II. There has been a guildhall on this site since 1227, when a large timber building was erected on the si

This is just a little collection of things I've seen as I wandered about town. Liberty, aka Liberty's or Liberty's of London, is a high-end department store started in 1875 by Arthur Lasenby Liberty. It's housed in a huge mock-Tudor building on Great Marlborough Street. It is remarkable, inside and out, with prices that would make your eyes water. There are many wonderful muses in London. This is Hyde Park Gardens Muse. These little houses were once stables for the grand hous

My mother loved fine china. She had a small collection of beautiful porcelain teacups and demitasse cups that she treasured. She was also a gifted decorative artist. For those reasons, she would have loved the Museum of Royal Worcester. Founded around 1750, Royal Worcester was, in its heyday, a prestigious brand of fine porcelain and it employed highly skilled artists as decorators. As lifestyles and fashions changed, the products of Royal Worcester followed. Tea was introd

As an American I'm always amazed that I can visit buildings in the UK that were built centuries before my country was founded. Buildings this old are all over the country and many are managed by the National Trust. One such is Greyfriars House and Garden in Worcester. Greyfriars was built around 1490 by a wealthy merchant and was a home to wealthy families until the late 17th century. In 1699 a baker purchased the lease and divided the house into two. It then became a mixture

I had planned on a visit to Sir John Soane's museum and saw that tickets couldn't be purchased in advance but had to be purchased at the museum. There are a number of special tours offered at various times during the day, but they have to booked in the house after you have entered, ie. "please sign up for the tour in the dining room." I arrived shortly after the museum opened but by that time there was already a very long queue and a sign that advised that from the end of th

When in London I find myself going back time and again to the museums and galleries that I love: the Tate, the V&A, the National Gallery; but it's always a delight to visit someplace new. One day I ventured into the heart of Central London to the Courtauld Gallery. It is particularly known for its collection of French Impressionist and Post-Impressionist art, but its Medieval and Early Renaissance gallery is also stunning. Many pieces date to the early 14th century. Virgin an

I would be the first to admit that though I love art and history, I'm an expert on neither. I do, however revel in learning about both. That's what made the Keith Piper installation about the Rex Whistler mural at the Tate Britain, "The Expedition in Search of Rare Meats" so appealing to me. The mural, painted by Whistler in 1927, was commissioned for the dining room at the Tate gallery and depicts, among other things, black slaves on a leash and caricatures of Chinese figure

I immerse myself in history when I'm in the UK, but for two days I turned my back on mankind and looked at animal history. Using the term "history" might be stretching it a bit, but at Wildwood Park in Kent, I got a chance to learn about the historical decline of native species in the British Isles and what's being done to correct it. According to their website, " Wildwood Trust is a pioneering conservation organization dedicated to restoring the balance between people and

In our travels we've visited a number of old churches but this lovely little church in Canterbury is officially the oldest in the English-speaking world, continuously in use since 579AD. The oldest part of St Martin’s church was built during the Roman occupation of Britain. It is uncertain whether the original building was a church, a mausoleum, or something else, but in 579 the building was restored by King Æthelberht, a pagan, for the use of his new wife Bertha, who was a

On a previous visit to England we had visited Whitstable, which we enjoyed in spite of, and because of, its somewhat old fashioned seaside atmosphere. This time we decided to visit Margate. I suppose I expected another sleepy seaside town but that's not what I got. It reminded me more of Blackpool, Lancashire. Now, if you haven't been to Blackpool, I can best describe it as a town disguised as amusement park. Lots of neon, lots of cotton candy (candy floss) lots of bad foo

Just over the border of Cornwall is the 18th century National Trust property, Antony House. It's in the care of the National Trust, but the Carew Pole family still lives there. I can't quite imagine having strangers traipsing in and out of one's house, but I imagine it's a matter of necessity, since running an estate of this size would be prohibitively expensive. Anyway, I'm told they only spend part of the year here. The rest of the year they spend at another of theirs home

Sometimes GPS is a lifesaver. Sometimes it's a frustrating pain in the rear. Our search for Blackdown Rings proved more the latter than the former. We set off down the road knowing the general direction of the place we wanted to visit. The GPS (let's call her Geeps, for short) sent us down this narrow path between two fields, Every time the path curved, Geeps would say, "turn slight right", "turn slight left" as though there were an alternative. It finally said, "Turn le