Where
to go and what to see in the UK,
from Britain Express, your UK travel and heritage guide
from Britain Express, your UK travel and heritage guide
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Where
to go and what to see in the UK,
from Britain Express, your UK travel and heritage guide |
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Welcome to
Britain Update,
Saltram House Plymouth, Devon, England Saltram is located just three miles from the city of Plymouth, yet its location in 500 acres of parkland on the banks of the River Plym gives it a decided countryside air. There was a Tudor mansion on this spot, but the present exquisite mansion is almost entirely a product of the Georgian period. The house was begun in 1743 by Sir John and Lady Catherine Parker. Their son, also named John, brought in Robert Adam in 1768, and Adam is responsible for the staterooms and the salon. Saltram represents one of the finest surviving works by the influential Adam, and some of his architectural drawings can be seen at the house. There is extensive ornate plasterwork throughout the house, and a startling amount of original hand-painted Chinese wallpaper has survived. The house maintains excellent collections of furniture, fine art, and china, as well as a number of portraits by Angelica Kauffman and Joshua Reynolds, a friend of the Parker family which owned the house. Less ostentatious but equally as impressive is the Great Kitchen, with its original 18th century tools and furnishings. GARDENS In the grounds is the Chapel Art Gallery, a restored 19th century chapel that now hosts regular art exhibitions during the summer months. Saltram was Norland Park in the film adaptation of Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility. LOCATION ENTRY:
Fee charged.
National Trust members free.
Grimes Graves near Thetford, Norfolk, England Grimes Graves is one of the most fascinating Neolithic sites in Britain. Despite its name, it is not a grave, or burial place, but a flint mine worked between about 2200 and 2500 BC. Located in open heath country near Thetford Forest, Grimes Graves consists of over 350 hollows in the ground marking the location of the former mine shafts. Some of the shafts are sunk as deep as 30 feet below the surface - a remarkable accomplishment when you consider that the Neolithic miners used antlers for picks and animal shoulder-blades for shovels. On one of the antler picks found at Grimes Graves archaeologists found a miner's fingerprint - still intact after 4000 years! The miners sunk their shafts to find seams of flint for making axes which were highly prized tools, and were traded up and down the length of the British Isles. When they had reached the flint seams the miners dug horizontal galleries to follow the flint deposits. As each shaft was worked out, the rubbish from the next shaft was dumped into it. The miners must have descended the shafts by means of ladders or steps cut into the sides. Light for the miners was provided by lamps they made by scooping a hollow into a lump of chalk and filling the hollow with animal fat or oil. You can still see soot stains left on the roofs of the galleries by the burning oil from lamps. Strangely, no remains of food or pottery vessels has been found in the mines, leading to the conclusion that the miners must have climbed up out of the mines to take their meal breaks in the fresh air! The most memorable discovery at Grimes Graves is what appears to be a fertility shrine set up in an abandoned shaft. The shaft is quite short - we can assume that the miners failed to hit the seam of flint they were after and gave up on further digging. But before they quit the gallery they carved out a ledge, or altar, upon which was found a goddess figurine of chalk, either very obese or pregnant. Beside the female figure was a phallus of chalk. Surrounding both was a pile of antler picks. The accepted reading of this shrine is that the miners, disappointed at their failure to find the flint they needed, made a religious offering to the goddess to ensure the continued "fertility" of the mine. As is usual in historical investigation, there is a second interpretation which considers the shrine to be a much later addition. One pit is open to the public, and you can descend a 30ft deep shaft and view 7 radiating galleries. In the summer you can also witness demonstrations of flint knapping (forming tools by carefully chipping away at a piece of flint). Other Neolithic flint mines can be visited at Cissbury, Blackpatch, and Harrow Hill, all in Sussex, and Great Langdale in Cumbria. LOCATION7 miles N Thetford, off A134. Grimes Graves is under the care of English Heritage. Phone +44 01842 810656 The Exhibition Building Lynford Norfolk IP26 5DE Opening Times: 1 Apr - 30 Sep 2003 10am - 6pm 1 - 31 Oct 2003 10am - 5pm 1 Nov 2003 - 31 Mar 2004 10am - 4pm Wed - Sun 24 - 26 Dec 2003 & 1 Jan 2004 Closed Closed 1 - 2pm through the year. Travel
Resources:
Historic
Architecture Sudeley
Castle Costume Exhibition Contact No: +44 (0) 1242 602308. Opening Times: Castle, Church & Coffee Shop open daily 29th March - 2nd Nov, 11am-5pm. Gardens, Emma Dent Exhibition, Gift Shop, Plant Centre & Adventure Playground open daily 1st March -2nd Nov 10.30am-5.30pm Website: http://www.sudeleycastle.co.uk 25
Years of Rochester Dickens Festival Visitors will see folk from classic stories such as “Oliver Twist”, “David Copperfield” and “Pickwick Papers” come to life. The Charles Dickens Centre – which features the great man’s writing chalet – explains how he lived here in his childhood and returned for the last 13 years of his life. Many local buildings feature in his writings, and on the Kent marshes to the north is the church that inspired the opening scene in “Great Expectations”. St. James’s Church at Cooling has 13 infants’ gravestones known as Pip’s graves. For further details contact Medway tourist information, tel. 01634 843666. Website: http://www.medway.gov.uk/tourism National
Trust Easter Trails Mother's
Day Meals at National Trust Properties River
Thames Cycle Tours An extended 10-day tour to the Cotswold Hills and Stratford-upon-Avon is also available at £1,450 per person ( £1,160 in April). Tel: 01296 631671, fax 01296 631703). Website: http://www.cyclingtoursuk.com Llangollen
canal cruises Highlights of the cruises include the world famous 1000 foot long Pontycysyllte Aqueduct at Trevor, the stone arched Chirk Aqueduct, the Shropshire Lake District around Ellesmere and three spooky tunnels. Two of cruises also feature the walled city of Chester; the others a side trip down the recently restored Montgomery Canal, a SSSI (Site of Special Scientific Interest) due to its rare plant life. Boats carry up to 8 passengers, on fully catered 7 night cruises. The two Spring Llangollen Cruises start: Friday 9th May in Nantwich, Friday 16th May in Llangollen,; the two Autumn breaks on Friday 10th October Nantwich and Friday 17th October Llangollen. The cruises cost from £72 per person per day, full board. Contact Margaret Hamilton on 0207 272 0033 or visit http://www.hindandhart.co.uk/
That's all for now. Until next issue, let me remind you that laughter is contagious. Now, more than ever, we need YOU to be a carrier. David Ross,
Publisher, Britain Express |
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