Ashridge, the National Trust estate on the Hertfordshire and Buckinghamshire border, is one of the top places in the UK to see bluebells, according to surveys. In 2016 it decided to charge visitors to see the bluebells at some of the best locations on the 5000 acre estate. Is putting a price on our ‘national… Continue reading
Tolkien’s forgotten years in Leeds
Tolkien, the feature film, opens in May, 2019. It follows the author of The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings, two of the greatest fantasy stories in the English language, from his schooldays in Birmingham, through his days as a student at Exeter College, Oxford, to the First World War, when he served as a… Continue reading →
How Tolkien’s Hobbit went there and back again
Updated, Feb 2019. Was the language and invention of The Hobbit inspired by JRR Tolkien’s time at the University of Leeds? ” Bilbo found it… in Gollum’s cave.” Friday, December 12, 2014, marked the end of a very long journey. It was the day the third part of the (some would say cynically elongated… Continue reading →
Take the Conan Doyle tour to find the real Sherlock Holmes
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes was first published in The Strand Magazine in 1891, but the publication of twelve short stories, in 1892, brought the detective and Dr Watson to the masses. In a VisitEngland survey, 43% of respondents said they were interested in visiting locations associated with the writer. And, as VisitEngland points out, it all… Continue reading →
King Arthur? His last battle was probably quite near you
Ah, King Arthur. I’m sure he was here. Somewhere. I’m standing high above Southern England on the west end of the Marlborough Downs at dusk searching for a Dark Ages super hero. Everyday life continues far below me, in the evening deluge of traffic up and down the M4. In the distance a late… Continue reading →
How two men from a small town in Poland devised cornerstones of international law
Book review. East West Street, by Philippe Sands This is the best book I read in 2018. You might initially mistake it for a wartime thriller, with a Shakespearean twist. A mysterious woman from Norfolk travelled to Vienna in the summer of 1939 to pick up a one year old child and deposit her in… Continue reading →