Indice dei contenuti per Mar/Apr 2025 in Britain

If, like me, the arrival of spring has you dreaming of trips for the year ahead, you’ll find this issue packed with inspiration. In Jane Austen’s 250th anniversary year, we visit the places that the novelist knew and loved on a genteel tour of the south of England (p14) – afternoon tea included, naturally. Alternatively, if you’re yearning for big skies and rugged mountains, you can hit the Highlands on the spectacular North Coast 500 road-trip route (p64). Elsewhere this issue, we chat to national treasure Sir David Attenborough (p33), who reveals that for all his epic journeying, he is most at home in England’s windswept beaches and local pubs. Speaking of the latter, have you ever wondered how British pubs get their curious names, from the Lamb & Flag…

He’s one of the most travelled people alive; an explorer of wildlife and wilderness, and someone who, in over 70 years of broadcasting, has transformed the way we view, understand and care for the world around us. From the Grand Canyon to the Galapagos Islands, Sir David Attenborough stands as the perfect tour guide for the planet’s very furthest environmental extremities. Yet, when asked to name his favourite place he responds – as any right-thinking man would – “Richmond, Surrey!” He adds, “Richmond is a beautiful pocket of London – it’s not quite in the city… it’s right on the cusp. And it is wonderful. I’ve been to the Great Barrier Reef many times, the wilds of the Amazon; I’ve ventured to both the Arctic and Antarctica, yet there’s something…

Back in 1908, the Lord Chamberlain published a must-have sartorial guide for anyone hoping to get anywhere near His Majesty King Edward VII. Dress Worn at Court listed, to the last ribbon, button and epaulette, the exact costuming requirements for the budding courtier, whether a page, constable, diplomat or debutante. “Everyone had to dress according to regulations,” says Matthew Storey, curator of Dress Codes, a new exhibition at Kensington Palace. “But”, he adds, “we all dress according to rules set by the society we live in”. Using conventions set by royalty as an example, the exhibition throws a mirror to ourselves, asking why we dress the way we do. As Curator of the 10,000-object Royal Ceremonial Dress collection, Matthew is also keen to find new stories within the clothes he…

One March day in 1667, a 17-year-old actress took to the London stage as the heroine Florimell in John Dryden’s new tragicomedy, Secret Love. It was a ‘breeches role’, in which for plot purposes she appeared disguised as a man in trousers, allowing audiences to gawp at her shapely legs. The description of Florimell’s “Ovall face, clear skin, hazle eyes, thick brown Eye-browes, and Hair” is a true-life portrait of the actress, who stole the show and moved diarist Samuel Pepys to rave that he had never seen “so great performance of a comical part”. The actress was Nell Gwyn, called by Pepys “pretty, witty Nell” and known to history as the most popular of Charles II’s numerous mistresses. As England threw off the restraining puritanical shackles of the Interregnum…

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“If there is a more beautiful town in the whole of England I have yet to see it,” wrote the historian W.G. Hoskins of Stamford. Writers through the ages have waxed lyrical about the Lincolnshire town’s charms, and for location scouts on the hunt for the quintessential English market town for a costume drama, it’s the first port of call. Within moments of arriving, you’ll see why: ‘England’s finest stone town’, as it’s often called, is a captivating pocket of cobbled medieval streets and elegant Georgian townhouses that invites aimless wandering (with frequent stops for all the photo opportunities). Stamford’s history dates back more than 1,000 years, but the core of town is unmistakeably Georgian (hence its starring role in period dramas from Middlemarch to Pride and Prejudice). The town…

When did you discover a love of walking? When I was ten my mother decided we would spend the summer holidays walking the 480 kilometres from John o’ Groats to Glasgow. It felt so natural and thrilling, walking every day, being immersed in nature. Now 40 year later, I still feel that walking opens the heart and mind. Walking through different weathers you get moments of beauty or revelation, and photography is how I express the connection I feel to the landscape. You’ve visited more than 70 countries. Is Britain still special? I think so! Maybe it’s the varied geology affecting land use and, in turn, the types of people who settle in one region, but, in my experience, there are more stories and concentrated history here than anywhere else.…

“For the true taste of the West Country, nothing beats cider” Some people may tell you that beer is the ultimate English alcoholic drink. Don’t believe a word of it. Hopped beer is an import – an upstart – from as recently as 1400. There is an argument for good old-fashioned unhopped ‘ale’ as the quintessential English beverage, but for the true taste of the West Country – and historically, further north to Herefordshire and beyond, including Yorkshire – nothing beats cider. Apples have grown in the British Isles for thousands of years. Even the mythical Avalon, which some claim as Glastonbury, Somerset, is sometimes called ‘the Isle of Apples’. Cider was the backbone of the rural economy, the ultimate draw for a workforce. A labourer might receive four to…

HERITAGE A Chelsea welcome The Royal Hospital Chelsea has a long and fascinating history, home to the retired army veterans known as the Chelsea Pensioners since 1692. The Royal Hospital is now entering a new era: for the first time, this historic building has been opened to the public, with guided tours and a brand-new museum in the Soane Stable Yard. The free, interactive museum has displays on the fascinating history of the Royal Hospital and the lives of Chelsea Pensioners through the centuries. The best part? Visitors have the opportunity to meet the Pensioners themselves, who conduct special tours of their historic home, clad in their distinctive red coats. chelsea-pensioners.co.uk PLACES TO STAY Heritage holidays This year marks 60 years since the foundation of the Landmark Trust, a conservation…

What would you call your pub if you become the new landlord? Pub names are largely Victorian in origin, although some trace their roots back further through the centuries. Traditionally, landlords could be quite conservative, with a tendency to look back rather than forwards. They often liked to be seen as royalists or to show respect to their local landowner by adopting the symbolism of their family crest. One example is The White Boar, the personal sign of Richard III until he lost his crown, and his life, to rival Henry Tudor at the Battle of Bosworth in 1485, thus ending the Wars of the Roses. After this event, publicans changed the name and sign of their pub to any colour except white – a fickle bunch! Landladies have tended…