Unseen Britain

This is a collection of essays and stories based on visits to parts of Britain that are off of the tourist trails both for British holiday makers and for those from overseas.  It is a collection of essays that I hope will show that there is another Britain going on behind and almost out of sight from most of us as we hurry about our busy lives.

Stevenage in Hertfordshire

I had to travel to Stevenage in early 2015 where I made some rough notes about what I saw during my three hours there on a very cold day. It is only now that I have been able to revisit these notes some twelve months later and put together this essay about what I saw and felt that day. I have been fortunate enough to have travelled to a few off the beaten track for tourists and hope this will be the first of many such essays.

Somewhere in the suburbs of Coventry

When you have been travelling and working with the same people away from home for a few days you begin to crave some space to yourself but not...
Cherry

Unseen Britain - Whitechapel, Wolf Mankowitz, George Bernard Shaw

We surfaced from Whitechapel underground station blinking in the bright spring sunshine that was reflecting off of the white walls of The Royal...

Melanie's in Tewkesbury

We had just driven for over two hours on a cold morning into Tewkesbury. We checked in at the hotel, The Tudor Hotel, where we were too late for...

The Tudor House Hotel in Tewkesbury

Tudor House Hotel 51 High Street Tewkesbury GL20 5BH Date of visit: Night of 28 th and 29 th April 2016 INTRODUCTION I used to work in the...

The Obscura Cafe Bournemouth & a kiosk in the park

We had arranged to meet friends at The Obscura for a late morning coffee and loading of carbos prior to going to The Gin Festival in The Pavillion...

Horizon by Tim Harrison

This is an installation in the gardens of the Russell-Cotes Museum in Bournemouth created by the artist Tim Harrison. “An experience of landscape for...

Tewkesbury - Speedboats and abject poverty

The first part of my walk around Tewkesbury started from the car park at the rear of the Tudor House Hotel and down to a narrow road named Back of...

Honeybees at an oceanography centre

Yesterday, 21 st May 2016, we made a visit to the National Oceanography Centre (NOC) in Southampton where there was an open day for members of the...

A Winter Beach Walk in Swanage

Strong winds always make me restless and fuel a visceral desire to go and feel them blasting around me. Combine that with being close to the ocean...

Isaac watts and a Hot Summer's afternoon in Southampton

Away from the main streets of brash consumerism and commercialism of Southampton City there are strongly woven webs of parks and green spaces that...

Unseen Britain - John Maine's 'Passage'

This installation by John Maine (RA) is located at the western end of Watts park approximately one hundred metres from the statue of Isaac Watts...
Cherry

Architectural Folly prevents Navigation Folly

A couple of years ago I was on a yachting experience out of Lymington across to the Isle of Wight. On the return sector I took the helm under power...

One of the oldest professions in the world - for want of a shoe a horse was lost......

Well, probably not one of the oldest professions in the world as The Worshipful Company of Farriers based in London only dates back to 1356 when it...

The Passford House Hotel - Leave Left Retrieve Right

The Passford House Hotel for eating at is one of those rare gems of hospitality that is worth mining for in the lanes and byways of The New Forest...

Unseen Britain - Kings Cross to York

THANK YOU FOR YOUR SEAT MR DILLON GILBERT The automatic ticket machine in the small lobby just started to print out my tickets to get to Scarborough...

Unseen Britain - Alma Square in Scarborough

I discovered Alma Square on a very hot August afternoon after I had tried to find the motivation to have a drink in the Lord Roseberry. Alma Square...

Unseen Britain - Grand Hotel in Scarborough

Anyone living in Jersey should be aware that they could soon be experiencing, if they haven’t already, some earth tremors. No, they will not be the...

Unseen Britain - The Smugglers Apprentice, Scarborough

The ‘Smugglers Apprentice’ was installed in Merchants Row in Scarborough in September 2012 and is the work of the artist, Ray Lonsdale. The...

Unseen Britain - Northallerton to York

The big racing festivals held at courses like Ascot, Aintree and Epsom always attract big crowds and amongst the crowds there will always be ‘...

Unseen Britain - Where to stay and eat in Scarborough

Travelodge, St Nicholas Cliff, Scarborough We handed in the keys to Room 306 at the Grand Hotel in Scarborough, declared ourselves as refugees and...

Unseen Britain - Bettys Tea Rooms North Allerton

The first time my wife returned from a visit to Northallerton she waxed more than lyrical about ‘ Bettys Tea Rooms ’ and brought back some of their...

Unseen Britain - The Golden Lion Hotel Northallerton, Yorkshire

The Golden Lion Hotel in the High Street of Northallerton is an old coaching inn and still has the archway at its front that is tall enough to allow...

Unseen Britain - Not Much to do in Northallerton

After checking in at The Golden Lion Hotel in the High Street I began my exploration of Northallerton just as the rain began to fall. Having failed...

Unseen Britain - Scarborough from Smugglers Apprentice to North Sands and back

Scarborough has two beaches which are ‘spread out along either side of its headland, which is thrust out like a clenched hand into the sea with its...

Unseen Britain - The Bull Hotel, Downton, Wiltshire

VENUE:The Bull Hotel Downton Salisbury Date of Visit: 3 rd September 2016 Time: 1730 Reason: Evening meal on way to Salisbury Covers: 3 HISTORY The...

Unseen Britain - Clouds Hill

Clouds Hill as it is known today was built in 1808 surrounded by the woodlands near Bovingdon Camp as a forester’s cottage. If it wasn’t for one...

Unseen Britain - A Brief Encounter in Tewkesbury Library

Too often in life we lock ourselves away in self-imposed bubbles that contain our worlds with all of their worries and cares. These worries and cares...

Unseen Britain - Well Alley in Tewkwsbury

Well Alley is just one of the several alleys that nowadays form shortcuts to and from the main streets of Tewkesbury in Gloucestershire and I...

Checking In

This is the first in a series of short pieces that I have been thinking about doing about various walks I have taken in London and around different...

I Didn't Need a Pencil - Welbeck Street and Oxford Circus

Virginia Woolf went ‘street haunting’ in London on the pretext of leaving her home in Tavistock Square to venture out to buy a pencil. ‘ No one has...
1 likes

Breakfast in the West End

Once we had checked in the previous evening we had, as a described in my piece ‘Checking In’, become ‘anonymous’ in this West End hotel built to hold...
1 likes

Tavistock - the grey squirrel who might have literary connections

I walked around the square twice trying to find a blue plaque on a wall that marked where Leonard and Virginia Woolf once lived for fifteen years. At...

Britain's Gas Supplies and Energy Security

I first wrote this piece in September 2017 which was self published on another site. The reason for resurrecting it is that on the BBC News website...

The Best Chocolate Dessert Ever

After our last experience of lunching out on a Bank Holiday we did have some trepidation about booking for the three course Easter Sunday Lunch at...

Street Life - Union Square Aberdeen

There but for the grace of etc...........................I am not wearing their shoes In the shadows of the dignified monument to the fallen of...

Time to Reflect Over The Cruets

It was one of those seemingly elongated evenings in late autumn when the sun was reluctant to sink below the horizon on its never- ending travels...

Hockey's Farm, North Gorley, Hampshire

What A Shame Hockey’s Farm is in an idyllic location in terms of its rural ambience and attractiveness. It is not so good for access unless you are...

The Northern Scot 17th August 2018

This isn’t so much about a particular place that is off the beaten track, rarely visited and even more rarely ever visited. No, it is about a few of...

The Flat Earth in Inverness

In Greig Street, less than a stone’s throw from the River Ness, in Inverness is a double fronted shop. The front is painted black and along the tops...