The view from the 69th floor of the Shard in London is stupendous.
With a bit of time, and guidance, I am sure you could pick out, on a clear day, two or three surrounding counties, as well as the whole of the metropolis itself.
But Visit England, in its 2017 Showcase event there, wanted us, the assembled media, to cast our gaze much further, right up to Hadrian’s Wall (where the new England Coastal Path will be linked by the existing long-distance trail), to the extremity of Western Cornwall, where to follow our Poldark obsession, and down to the First of England, as it was for so many people, the White Cliffs in Kent.
There was talk of a Brexit-boost in 2017, as people turn away from foreign trips because of the falling exchange rate. I would argue that shuffling along a security queue at any of the London airports for a 6:40 am budget airline departure is reason enough to look for a staycation.
Breaking off every so often for a view down to Lilliput London, I called in at random stalls.
First, Bath. 2017 is the 250th anniversary of the laying of the first stone in that most elegant of domestic developments, the Crescent. There’s another famous date, the 200th anniversary of Jane Austin’s death. She and her family lived in Bath, although in somewhat straitened circumstances, and she congregated its sumptuous streets with her characters.
And, later in 2017, fast electric trains will start running from Paddington station, the biggest railway speed-up to the city since the days of steam trains.
Next, to the Natural England stand. This government body can be said to have an interest in most of our days-out in the countryside, through its custody of nature reserves and remit to protect England’s flora, fauna and landscapes. I was given a map with the outline of England traced in different colours. This shows the progress of the England Coast Path, a 2007 mile epic which, when it opens in 2020, will be the longest continuous coastal walking trail in the world.
The Leicester and Leicestershire stand finds sport temporarily leading its recognition index around the world. Because of the global coverage of Premiership football, people in China and South America know more about Leicester City than they do Richard III. However the maligned king, now resting in a proper grave in the Cathedral, is sure to resume his place as one of the city’s leading tourist attractions when, though I am no soothsayer, the football team’s fortunes decline.
Liverpool has the most attractive of all anniversaries to celebrate in 2017, and one likely to trigger maximum nostalgia. “50 Summers of Love” will mark the brief and localised ascendancy of the flower over the gun, the pacifying power of rock music and, er, free love. San Francisco can claim authorship, but it was some boys from Liverpool who gave us Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band and All you Need is Love.
The Forest of Dean and Wye Valley Tourism Association is (well, let’s say probably) unique in the UK. This land of woods and rivers and poetic inspiration straddles the border between England and Wales, and it seems a very sensible alliance.
Borderlands, in the countryside, are often indistinct and ephemeral, and you only ever see the national signs on main roads. They’ve gathered up all the attractive sylvan features and added cycleways to balance the fact that you pretty well have to drive there, and thrown in movie filming locations and JK Rowling’s childhood home.
My last call was the Brighton stand.. If you’re not “Mr and Mrs Smith” enjoying an illicit weekend away, or a conference delegate, you may consider sampling this most mature of seaside resorts, the people’s choice for 170 years, as a interesting day trip (from lots of places) destination, for its independent shops in North Laine, one lazy straggle of serendipity retail in unusual, unique and downright wacky independent stores, and its profligate and ornate Royal Pavilion. There are some neat new features, including local gin.
And finally, as an appropriate toast to Visit England’s endeavours, I heard that champagne company Taittinger is setting up vineyards in a former Kent apple orchard, taking advantage of our changing climate, and within five years expects to produce its first bottles of what it must call English sparkling wine. It will be interesting to learn how close it comes to the heavenly creation produced in the Champagne region of France, which alone is allowed to carry the famous name.