Off the Beaten Path Travel in England
Dartmouth is royal-naval Devon for a lot of people — Britannia College on the hill, paddle steamer on the postcard, cream tea above the Boat Float. I start where the river still works as a street: Lower Street and the Lower Ferry, the last tug-and-float crossing left in England, sliding past the cobbles at Bayard's … Read more
Most first visits to Nottingham start with the same short list: Castle Rock, Ye Olde Trip to Jerusalem, a Robin Hood silhouette, Old Market Square under the Council House dome. Fine for an hour. What gets skipped is the short walk east of Hockley, where the Lace Market’s warehouse cliff gives way to a grid … Read more
Most people treat Southampton as a cruise corridor: station, shopping mall, gangway. Fair enough if your bag is already tagged for the ship. What gets skipped sits a ten-minute walk south of the Bargate — a pinch of lane called Winkle Street, a French church with a pilgrim’s name, and a corner gate that once … Read more
Most people meet Ambleside as a kit-shop stop between Windermere and Grasmere. The A591 dumps you into Market Place, someone photographs Bridge House, and the day becomes outdoor brands, a cream tea, and a steamer ticket from Waterhead. Fair enough. What gets skipped is the beck that still cuts the town in half. Stock Ghyll … Read more
Preston gets filed under county town on the way to Blackpool or the Lakes. Station, shopping street, maybe the Harris if the rain holds, then out. Fair enough if the high street is the whole trip. What holds me is south of the core, where the land drops into a Victorian park bowl above the … Read more
Milton Keynes gets sold as roundabouts, retail decks, and a grid someone drew on a board in the 1960s. Fair if you only need the station, the Centre:MK car parks, and a quick run to Bletchley. I keep coming back to the embankment that runs east out of the city core through Campbell Park, where … Read more