Table of contents for November/December 2015 in Britain

On 9 September 2015, a remarkable royal milestone was quietly marked in the history books. After 63 years, Her Majesty The Queen became our longest reigning monarch, surpassing the record set by her great-great-grandmother Queen Victoria. Her Majesty quietly acknowledged the occasion, ever-respectful towards her predecessors, but at BRITAIN we decided to mark this significant moment by teaming up with The Royal Mint to bring great prizes to seven lucky readers. First prize is The Longest Reigning Monarch 2015 UK £5 Silver Proof Piedfort Coin, which retails at £160. Just 3,700 of these coins have been produced and both the reverse and obverse feature designs by James Butler MBE RA, one of Britain’s foremost sculptors. The coin’s reverse bears the familiar symbol of royalty, the Coronation Crown; the obverse, unusually,…

Historic York, with its medieval minster, cobbled streets and ancient walls attracts millions of visitors every year, but its surrounding countryside, comprising the North York Moors and the Yorkshire Dales – two of its three Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty – is no less inviting. With Yorkshire Day Tours you can experience both town and country, offering you insight into the real Yorkshire. Tours on board 16-seater Mercedes mini coaches set off from the city centre each day, whizzing you off to scenic locations without the worry of driving. The Yorkshire Dales Tour itinerary covers the best of its namesake national park, which is home to stone-built villages and stunning views. You'll travel through the famous Dales of Wensleydale, Bishopdale, Wharfedale and Nidderdale. You’ll pass through Masham, home of the…

Under a decree issued by King Charles II, six ravens must be held in the Tower of London at all times. According to legend, if the ravens leave, the Tower and the kingdom will fall and therefore, as insurance, the Raven Master keeps chicks on site. However, sometimes the privileged have to give something in return. For instance, every Royal Navy ship that moors alongside Tower Pier must deliver a barrel of rum to the Constable of the Tower of London in a ceremony known as the Constable’s Dues. Of course, royals can always make exceptions: Lord Kingsale is the only person who doesn’t have to take his hat off in front of HM The Queen. His lordship is Premier Baron of Ireland and he owns the privilege (which legend…

Here today, up and off to somewhere else tomorrow! Travel, change, interest, excitement. The whole world before you, and a horizon that’s always changing!” What better words to hasten you to Berkshire than those of Mr Toad? For the county that inspired The Wind in the Willows, Kenneth Grahame’s classic riverbank tale of 1908, offers its own realm of adventure, discovery and contrast, whether approached by water, rail or road. Tranquil riverside, scenic hills, romantic woodland and historic villages characterise this attractive and prosperous county. As you head out west from London, few sights can compare with the majestic outline of Windsor Castle, silhouetted against the sky. From its eastern edge, at the Royal Borough of Windsor, to its most westerly town, Hungerford, is only an hour’s drive, with the…

Nestled in the heart of England, the Cotswolds is a picturesque region of rolling hills, winding rivers and pretty medieval villages that extends across six counties. It’s an area that offers the English idyll, attracting famous guests through the years – several of TS Elliot’s poems were inspired by his visits, Peter Pan author, JM Barrie, would spend his summers in the north Cotswolds and HRH Prince Charles even owns a house here. Indeed, it’s possible to visit the gardens at Highgrove. Wealthy mill owners built most of the houses in these picture-perfect pastoral villages during the Middle Ages when the wool trade boomed. Constructed from honey-coloured limestone, many of these hamlets have protected status, making them a magnet for film and TV crews, who flock here to shoot period…

Today London may be known for its wealth of shops, from luxury department stores to quirky boutiques, but it hasn’t always been quite so well provided for – indeed before Queen Elizabeth I opened the Royal Exchange in 1571 Londoners had to make do with haggling at the city’s crowded rat-infested markets. The Royal Exchange changed all this. The brainchild of Sir Thomas Gresham, a merchant and financier who worked for King Edward VI and his half-sisters Queen Mary I and Queen Elizabeth I, this open-air piazza near Threadneedle Street in the City of London was created to bring London’s financial trading in from the muddied streets, but also, to turn a profit, Gresham introduced retail businesses, which proved a huge success. The Royal Exchange signalled a change in London’s…

It was one of the most culturally barren periods of Britain’s history. The Romans had departed, leaving Britain open to attack from Viking invaders who left few clues about their way of life; invaders whose principal legacy was an intellectual vacuum. And violence. This, then, was the Dark Ages. Yet against all the odds, one of Britain’s greatest literary treasures shines through the depths of this Stygian era. The story of the Lindisfarne Gospels, a great illuminated Latin manuscript, commences shortly after the death of St Cuthbert in AD687. Cuthbert was Bishop of Lindisfarne, (also known as Holy Island), off the coast of Northumbria (modern-day Northumberland). He was fêted for curing the plague, and on his death a cult following developed. Cuthbert had been buried near the altar in Lindisfarne’s…

GETTING THERE There are two railway stations in Windsor: Windsor Riverside, which is less than an hour from London Waterloo, and Windsor and Eton Central, which runs to Slough station, where there are many rail links. Trains leave for Hungerford and Reading regularly from London Paddington. www.nationalrail.co.uk THE THAMES RIVERCRUISE COMPANY, READING Appreciate stunning scenery, watery wildlife and the glamorous Thames riverside properties on board these cruises, which depart from Caversham Bridge, while enjoying a full English tea, live music, fine dining or a 1940s theme on board.www.thamesrivercruise.co.uk RIVER & ROWING MUSEUM, HENLEY Find out how Kenneth Grahame's classic tale came to be written by crossing into Henley-on-Thames, up river, to the Rowing and River Museum, which has a magical Wind in the Willows exhibition. www.rrm.co.uk MONKEY ISLAND HOTEL, BRAY…

Here at BRITAIN magazine the number of heritage buildings still standing proudly across our land never fails to amaze us. Many are ancestral seats that have stayed in the same family for centuries – though some may be showing signs of faded grandeur and the fall in fortunes of their owners – others are ostentatious declarations of wealth, and most have hosted kings and queens, prime ministers, actors, poets – all manner of illustrious guests. Over the next 13 pages we will bring you some of the most fascinating of these buildings, from examples of architectural brilliance surrounded by acres of grounds, to lesser-known places that hide unbelievable stories. So read on, enjoy, and start planning your next trip. With the 300th anniversary of ‘Capability’ Brown’s birth in 2016, it’s…

The rapid descent to war experienced in the hot summer of 1914 alerted scaremongers in Britain to the possibility of immediate aerial bombardment of London and other major industrial cities. The publicity and propaganda surrounding the development of Germany’s fleet of airships had spread far and wide, and the spectre of these great leviathans of the air sowing their seeds of death and destruction in the streets of London suddenly became very real. Two days after Britain declared war on Germany, the editor of The Times newspaper reported that the enemy boasted a force of 11 airships serving with their armed forces but, he claimed reassuringly, only two were capable of reaching Britain. The following day, 7 August, preparations for the air defence of London began when a single, unarmed…