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Things to do in England when you're Ed[ward]


Procopius

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Was that the worst riff off a of a great title to an okay movie ever? Yes. But in any case, I'm planning on attending Telford 2019 (hopefully with a few other, more likable members of Britmodeller's American contingent), thanks in no small part to the good offices of the wonderful @CedB, who is as handsome as he is kind and generous. Planning is still in the early stages, but I'm hoping to roam far and wide across that green and pleasant land (and if anyone knows of anyplace looking for an experienced social media manager -- I am willing and eager to relocate). Ced has put together a list of places that might be good to see, and I have a few I want to see (the Runnymede Memorial, the IBCC, Yeovilton, HMS Queen Elizabeth if she's in port), but what do you recommend? 

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The Historic Dockyard in Portsmouth - both the Victory and Mary Rose are well worth a visit, and I also enjoyed the M33 monitor there. 

 

For cuwcha (culture), one of the big castles such as Warwick or Windsor, one of the cathedrals - Salisbury is neat and relatively close to Stonehenge and Middle Wallop.

 

Aviation museums - Cosford is just down the road form Telford, but also check out Duxford, Old Warden and the DeHavilland Aircraft Museum. 

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1 hour ago, Rob G said:

And surely you'd have to go and have a look at that most English of locations, those white cliffs at Dover...

Except to see them properly,  and with meaning, you need to see them from about 5-10miles out from the ferry!

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2 hours ago, malpaso said:

Except to see them properly,  and with meaning, you need to see them from about 5-10miles out from the ferry!

The first time I ever laid eyes on them was in 2015, during a Spitfire overflight on 15 September, not coincidentally the first time I'd ever seen a Spitfire in flight, and it felt pretty meaningful to me.

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 I meant the full meaning for the native leaving or returning home with some period of physical or mental duress on the continent either in prospect or thankfully over!  So probably not on a day trip to Calais then...

Of course the view from a Spitfire ride nowadays would work, given the sacrifice to fund it!

Edited by malpaso
It was unforgivably rude. I feel a bit of a cad, what?
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:blush:  Thanks Edward - I'll follow along and add things to the shared list!

 

6 hours ago, Procopius said:

I'm planning on attending Telford 2019 (hopefully with a few other, more likable members of Britmodeller's American contingent)

Fixed that for you, you likeable you :) 

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Southwick House has the D-Day map room, that could be combined with a trip to Portsmouth Dockyard. Continuing the theme, Churchill and Eisenhower are said to have drunk in the Haunch of Venison in Salisbury, the Boscombe Down Aviation Collection is just outside Salisbury at Old Sarum next to a Battle of Britain airfield. The Museum of Army Flying is a little further out of Salisbury and should be reopening in time for your visit. If you do end up visiting the Old Sarum airfield let me know and I might be able to arrange a small extra for you.

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6 hours ago, Rob G said:

And surely you'd have to go and have a look at that most English of locations, those white cliffs at Dover...

..when it comes to cliffs, Dover's are pretty small beer compared to Beachy Head.Seven Sisters - the highest sea cliff feature in Europe.. and one of the most 'notorious' spots in the world for ending it all..

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If you're in Kent, I recommend Dover Castle and Western Heights (you can walk from there to the BoB memorial in Capel and see lots of fortifications - some of which you can explore, if you can climb a fence) and the BoB Museum at Hawkinge.

 

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..and we're only a short distance from Headcorn airfield, home to 'Aero-Legends' - ' the premier provider of vintage flight experiences..in genuine uncontrolled Battle of Britain airspace..'. There are Spitfires over-head all day every day throughout the summer..

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7 hours ago, Rob G said:

And surely you'd have to go and have a look at that most English of locations, those white cliffs at Dover...

If you're going to Dover you can't not go to the castle: the underground works are a morning or afternoon by themselves.  Deal and Walker castles are 10 miles up the coast, and slightly further north is the Hornby Visitor Centre at Margate.  Going slightly South from Dover is the Samphire Ho nature reserve, built in spoil excavated from Maggie and Mitterand's Hole (the Channel Tunnel).

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39 minutes ago, FalkeEins said:

..when it comes to cliffs, Dover's are pretty small beer compared to Beachy Head.

 

All of that's as may be, but they didn't write songs and poems about Beachy Head, did they?

 

;)

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10 minutes ago, Rob G said:

 

All of that's as may be, but they didn't write songs and poems about Beachy Head, did they?

 

;)

‘Beachy Head’ by Veronica Falls (2011). There’s a video on YouTube- not linked it as I can’t listen to it first to check content but it doesn’t look particularly cheerful!

 

As for British things going out for a country pub lunch has got to be something to do.

 

Trevor 

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8 hours ago, Paul Bradley said:

The Historic Dockyard in Portsmouth - both the Victory and Mary Rose are well worth a visit, and I also enjoyed the M33 monitor there. 

 

For cuwcha (culture), one of the big castles such as Warwick or Windsor, one of the cathedrals - Salisbury is neat and relatively close to Stonehenge and Middle Wallop.

 

Aviation museums - Cosford is just down the road form Telford, but also check out Duxford, Old Warden and the DeHavilland Aircraft Museum. 

Warwick?

 

Hmmm, last time I was their it seemed a bit theme parky.

 

Blenheim, or Chatsworth, perhaps on the culture side.

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10 hours ago, Procopius said:

Runnymede Memorial, the IBCC, Yeovilton, HMS Queen Elizabeth

If the above is your starting  list, then I would support IWM Duxford as mentioned above),, and assuming you have a car the Cambridge American Cemetery and Memorial at Maddingley is very close. I could suggest a long list of other sites in East Anglia - but one word of warning, many tourist attraction in the UK close from October - March. This is especially true regarding many of the smaller aviation museums.

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1 hour ago, Whofan said:

Warwick?

 

Hmmm, last time I was their it seemed a bit theme parky.

 

Blenheim, or Chatsworth, perhaps on the culture side.

Blenheim, Yes. Chatsworth, no. Far better at Longleat, you see much more of the house. If you are in N Yorkshire, then Eden Camp, and YAM.

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42 minutes ago, bentwaters81tfw said:

Blenheim, Yes. Chatsworth, no. Far better at Longleat, you see much more of the house. If you are in N Yorkshire, then Eden Camp, and YAM.

That's good to know for our own future visiting culture plans!

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If you want to venture into Wales, either Caernarfon or Conway castles are great. 

 

The Newark and York air museums are quite good with York having the only complete (albeit with parts from from two aircraft) Halifax, plus one hut that has every kind of gun turret mounted on a British aircraft as York was the home of the Air Gunners School. 

 

If you go to Duxford, there's a pub in nearby Cambridge called "the Eagle". Been there forever. The back room, which is the original part of the pub, is where a lot of the flyers from the surrounding air bases in East Anglia hung out. It's got all sorts of aviation memorabilia on the walls and the best part is that the flyers would write their names/units on the ceiling with their lighters. It's been varnished over to "preserve" it and the varnish has darkened, but it is still very readable. There's even a map of the ceiling telling you what's where. As I recall it's a free house, which means it's not tied to any one brewery, so you can get an assortment of good real ales. It's kind of hidden away on a side street, so look it up on the interweb for directions. Oddly in today's world, they do not have their own web site, you have to go on other sites that refer to it.  

 

And no one has mentioned the RAF Museum in Hendon, just on the north side of London and accessible by tube. There's been much griping about it's re-do for the 100th anniversary of the RAF, some merited some a bit over the top, but it's still a top notch collection of aircraft that you can easily see while based in London. 

 

And another no one has mentioned is the Tank Museum in Bovington not far from Southhampton, which has it's own nice little air museum named Solent Sky. The Tank Museum has one of if not the largest collection of armoured vehicles in the world. When last there they were just driving the Tiger I back into place, so we got to hear an actual Tiger tank. And that Solent Sky museum has the only surviving Saunders-roe SR-2 jet powered fighter seaplane as well as a Saunders-Roe Southhampton, the civilianized version of the Sunderland, that you can walk through. Also, as you enter, there is a very large collection of old FROG kits to view. Fun and interesting. A small, but nice museum.  

 

I've been going to SMW for over 15 years and travel around each time we go over and we still have "stuff" to see. Great country, nice people, good beer. 

Edited by gamevender
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6 hours ago, Avereda said:

If you do end up visiting the Old Sarum airfield let me know and I might be able to arrange a small extra for you.

Already on the list John and thanks!

Worth a diversion as we go from Bath to the East, waving at Stonehenge on the way…

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Most of the things I would have mentioned have already been suggested by others. I would add that the Historic Dockyard in Portsmouth is good even if you aren't into boats ships, although you need more than one day to do it justice.

 

I would recommend a visit to a medieval cathedral if you have time. I love them even though I'm an atheist. My favourites are Ely (not far from Duxford); Salisbury (unless you've peed off any Russians lately); York Minster and Wells (not far from Ced in Bath). Lichfield and Lincoln cathedrals are good, but they are a bit off the beaten track. Personally I'm not a fan of Durham (overrated in my opinion); St. Paul's and Canterbury are usually too crowded, or any of the modern ones like Coventry.

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