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Borough food market is not a London secret, in fact its one of busiest attractions in South London and one of London’s most famous markets. This however doesn’t make it any less appealing. I visit Borough for breakfast or lunch and snack on my buys while exploring the Southbank. It’s the perfect start to a day out in the city and launches new visitors headfirst into the reality of London. It is full to bursting with people and offers huge choice and variety (it’s also a little dear on the pocket).
www.boroughmarket.org.uk/
8 Southwark Street, London SE1 1TL
+44(0)20 7407 1002
Closest tubes: London Bridge and Borough Closest station: London Bridge
Opening hours: Thurs, Fri and Sat 8-4 (but the earlier you get there the better your chances)
Google map: bit.ly/nj08Mm
* Sophie is our Been there local for London. You can view her profile here: www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/articles/london-local-sophie-mitchell-intro.jsp and follow her tips here: www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/travellers/SophieMItchell
The walk John Keats took when he was inspired to write his ode "To Autumn".
What better time than now to follow the route Keats took one autumn Sunday in 1819? You start out in the High Street where he lodged and end up at the Hospital of St. Cross which still doles out alms to the needy. It not only takes in many of Winchester's places of interest: the Cathedral (burial place of Jane Austen), Wolvesey Palace, Winchester College - but also passes along the beautiful banks of the River Itchen, which Keats described as "most beautifully clear". He also described the air as "worth sixpence a pint" - not sure how that rates after inflation!
www.visitwinchester.co.uk/site/keats-walk-introduction
Google map: bit.ly/nkMdDA
The Bone Caves in Sutherland, Scotland.
Between Ullapool and Lochinver, just before arriving art Loch Assynt, is a signposted car park and walk to the Bone Caves, so called because the remains of now extinct bear, lynx wolf and arctic fox have been found there. A wonderful walk on a good path then a final scramble takes you back 7,000 years to one of the earliest signs of habitation in Scotland. In this primeval landscape it is easy to sit there and imagine how it must have been to live there. This is limestone country and on the way there you pass by springs welling up from under the ground and entrances to the passages they have carved through the rock. Here is the longest underground cave system in Scotland and over two kilometres have been explored so far but they are for experienced cavers only so stick to the ones above ground.
www.walkhighlands.co.uk/ullapool/bonecaves.shtml
Google map: bit.ly/qh0oEY
Start at the Linen Hall Library to travel in time from the Enlightenment’s United Irishmen to today’s award winning poet Sinead Morrissey; travel in place from Louis McNeice’s drawing room on the Malone Road to C S Lewis’s East Belfast (wardrobe optional) via Van the Man’s Cyprus Avenue. Poets and writers abound, stories still being told and written.
Enjoy 'pure bracing ventilation' on a windswept walk to Top Withens, thought to be the real Wuthering Heights. Choose a weekday and enjoy the 'atmospheric tumult' and watch the lapwings wheeling above you without the distraction of crowds. Or wander higher still to Withens Heights, surely the place uppermost in Emily Bronte's mind when she wrote her novel?
www.haworth-village.org.uk/brontes/places/top_withens.asp
Google map: bit.ly/or3Rm4
Visit grave of Alexander Rollo at Tynemouth Priory Graveyard, Tyneside. The headstone says he carried the lantern at the funeral of Sir John Moore at Corunna in 1809, as immortalised in Charles Wolfe's poem.
Not a drum was heard, nor a funeral note,
As his corse to the rampart we hurried;
Not a soldier discharged his farewell shot
O'er the grave where our hero we buried.
We buried him darkly at dead of night,
The sods with our bayonets turning;
By the struggling moonbeam's misty light
And the lanthorn dimly burning.
www.english-heritage.org.uk/daysout/properties/tynemouth-priory-and-castle/
Pier Road, North Tyneside NE30 4
+44(0)191 257 1090
Google map: bit.ly/pwkCQ8
Dunbeath Heritage Centre sits just off the A9, from Inverness to Wick and on the top edge of the UK. Here you can learn the history of Neil M Gunn (1891-1973), and immerse yourself in his books. Read the heartbreaking account of Scottish fishing folk devastated by the Highland Clearances in The Silver Darlings (1941). Or, while staying in Dunbeath, read Gunn’s Highland River (1937), climbing from childhood to manhood as he wanders further up Dunbeath River to its source, and then follow the path of the atmospheric novel at your leisure. This is not a well-trodden tourist track, with plenty of ancient sites, ensuring your time spent in Gunn’s company becomes a gentle and spiritual experience. Gunn's story can be found in the centre.
www.dunbeath-heritage.org.uk/
The Old School, Dunbeath, Caithness, Scotland, KW6 6D
+44(0)1593 731233
Google map: bit.ly/oYV2QP
With it being Children's Book Week I can only encourage all families to get out and visit some of the amazing places here in the UK that have links to brilliant children's books. In Scotland you could visit the Scottish Storytelling Centre in Edinburgh, JM Barie's birthplace in Kirriemuir. Crossing the border Harry Potter fans should visit Alnwick Castle before hitting Seven Stories in Newcastle, currently the only exhibition space in the UK dedicated to the celebration of British children’s literature. Crossing the Pennines you'll find the World of Beatrix Potter at Bowness-on-Windermere with the National Trust owned former home of Beatrix Potter nearby. Moving further south there are two delights for Dahl lovers - the Roald Dahl Children’s Gallery in Buckinghamshire County Museum, Aylesbury and The Roald Dahl Museum and Story Centre in Great Missenden. London is home to a wealth of children's literature attractions: Discover – The story making centre in Stratford is a good place to start and a visit to the Illustration Cupboard (just of Regent Street), an art gallery representing contemporary book illustrators from around the world is a must. If you're looking for locations which feature in children's literature (although they may not have actual visitor attractions there) the website Storybook England is brilliant (www.storybookengland.com/). Pack a picnic, a good book or two to read together and visit a location from a favourite book of your childhood!
Definitely one of the coolest hotels and bars in the world let alone Edinburgh. Small and intimate, stylish, and with a fantastic restaurant, this is a must for anyone visiting Edinburgh.
www.ricksedinburgh.co.uk
55a Frederick Street, Edinburgh EH2 1LH
+44(0)131 622 7800
Google map: bit.ly/qJVOif
Sometimes a fry up is exactly what the doctor ordered. This is a super little no frills, no fuss, ‘clean as your Grannie’s kitchen,’ café on Leven Street. Large mugs of builder’s tea for less than the cost of your bus ticket. Try a ‘tattie scone’ for the full Scottish breakfast experience.
27 Leven Street, West End , Edinburgh EH3 9LH
Google map: bit.ly/nWMZYO
If a fine and inexpensive cup of coffee is the potion that you require, then head up to Nicholson Street and pull up a pew in this little café, alongside the totem poles and pot plants.
Free wi-fi means you can stay in touch with the outside world as you hibernate in a warm corner.
www.blackmed.co.uk
2 Nicolson Street, Southside, Edinburgh, EH8 9DH
+44(0)131 557 6269
Google map: bit.ly/r6PRM9
* Rachel is our Been there local for Edinburgh. You can view her profile here: www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/articles/edinburgh-local-rachel-brown.jsp and follow her tips here: www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/travellers/RachelBrown
This little gem defies the scourge of the Royal Mile and is actually good. Genuinely friendly staff delight in serving you their latest fresh offerings.
Feel your hangover disappear with their delicious bacon roll, or enjoy a Scottish breakfast of smoked salmon and bagels.
Plenty of suitably de-toxing teas to go around.
Watch the crowds rush by along the Royal Mile from your own spot in the window. You really will wish it was always Sunday.
www.alwayssunday.co.uk
170 High Street, Edinburgh, City of Edinburgh EH1 1QS
+44(0)131 622 0667
Google map: bit.ly/oiHPDJ
* Rachel is our Been there local for Edinburgh. You can view her profile here: www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/articles/edinburgh-local-rachel-brown.jsp and follow her tips here: www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/travellers/RachelBrown
The Tennyson Mile stretches from the delightful unspoilt beach at Freshwater Bay to Farringford, the home of the Victorian poet laureate Alfred, Lord Tennyson.
Fellow poets Robert Browning, Henry Taylor, Edward Lear and the American, Henry Longfellow stayed at the selection of holiday villas nestled beneath the downs. The lovely magnolia by the conservatory at Farringford was presented to Tennyson as a cutting by Longfellow in 1868. Other writers came too, including Darwin, Thackeray and Lewis Carroll.
All these famous people were photographed by the pioneer photographer, Julia Margaret Cameron. Dimbola Lodge, overlooking the bay, has excellent views across the Back of the Wight and is now a museum of photography. The tearoom serves delicious cream teas and excellent lunches that can be enjoyed on the terrace on a warm day.
This Victorian cultural circle was satirised by Virginia Woolf in her play Freshwater. Other 20th-century literary pilgrims include DH Lawrence, TS Eliot, John Betjeman, JB Priestley, WH Auden and Christopher Isherwood. Tennyson’s Gift, the novel by Lynne Truss, is set in Freshwater Bay.
The poets and pines walk (www.histreetrail.com) is a fascinating trail highlighting the trees that inspired Tennyson. It includes the Tennyson Mile but goes inland to Freshwater village passing the large property that the poet provided for his wife’s family. Hawkswood, now Freshwater Court, was built by Tennyson to complete his marriage vow. This stated that his in-laws could come and visit whenever they wished, for as long as they wished. But he did not want them under his feet at Farringford.
farringford.co.uk/
Bedbury Lane, Freshwater Bay, Isle of Wight PO40 9PE
+44(0)1983 752 700
Google map: bit.ly/mTjB2I
No. 12 bus from Newport, Isle of Wight.
Though Virginia Woolf set her famous novel in the Hebrides it was inspired by childhood holidays at St Ives Bay in Cornwall
Pure white sand, hidden rock pools, a wooden cafe serving hot chocolate, and that view to the lighthouse - a timeless stream of consciousness
West of Redruth and the A£) take the road to Hayle, just before take the coast road to the village of Gwithians, signs to Godrevy and the National Trust a mile before the village.
Google map: bit.ly/o8kOqh
The Minack isn't a conventional theatre, for its location, setting, atmosphere and history make it the most impressive theatre I have seen. With the Atlantic ocean as a backdrop, the Minack was built by a lady named Rowena Cade, who dedicated her life to carving the amphitheatre and stage out of the Cornish cliffs of Porthcurno. The result is an open air theatre with stunning views. If the sun shines, basking sharks and nude snorkellers can be spotted swimming past and summer sunsets distract theatre goers from the plays, which change weekly and are of the highest standard. Even if you are less lucky to visit on a dark damp evening, the roar of the ocean, while you admire this example of architectural perseverance are an experience you won't forget.
www.minack.com/
An amazing open air theatre created by Rowena Cade in the 1930's and carved into the granite cliffs that once was a gorse filled gully. It sweeps down to the Atlantic sea which can thunder into the rocks making performances even more exciting! Take food and drink or buy on site and a waterproof just in case. Cushions are highly recommended and can be hired.
www.minack.com/index.htm
Porthcurno, Penzance, Cornwall, TR19 6JU
+44(0)1736 810181
Google map: bit.ly/oq6mLw
An amazing open air theatre created by Rowena Cade in the 1930's and carved into the granite cliffs that once was a gorse filled gully. It sweeps down to the Atlantic sea which can thunder into the rocks making performances even more exciting! Take food and drink or buy on site and a waterproof just in case. Cushions are highly recommended and can be hired.
www.minack.com/index.htm
Porthcurno, Penzance, Cornwall, TR19 6JU
+44(0)1736 810181
Google map: bit.ly/oq6mLw
The ruin of Top Withens farmhouse is the perfect place to experience the fictional world that the Brontes created in their novels. Purported to be the location that Emily had in mind when she wrote Wuthering Heights, the farmhouse is reached by a well signposted walk across the moors from Howarth. Far removed from the touristy tea shops in the village, the isolation of this windswept ruin gives you a true sense of what it must have been like in the world of Cathy Earnshaw or Jane Eyre. The views are wonderful, but even on a bright summer's day, the loneliness and solitude of this moorland are an almost tangible presence, and you feel that the howling winds and harsh frosts of winter are never far away.
www.haworth-village.org.uk/brontes/places/top_withens.asp
Google map: bit.ly/or3Rm4
Elephant offers authentic Pakistani street food in a modest setting in the uber-cool Brixton Village market. Meat curries, naan breads, daals, salads, rice dishes and divine samosas are served up by owner Imran Bashir using his mum's secret spice concoctions and the price is very reasonable.
55 Granville Arcade, Coldharbour Lane, Brixton Village, London SW9 8PS
+44 7590 389684
www.elephantcafe.co.uk
Google map: bit.ly/mQpVAk
* Lucy is our Been there local for London. You can read her profile here: www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/articles/london-local-lucy-mallows.jsp and follow her tips here: www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/travellers/LucyRM.jsp
The Crooked Well opened recently in Camberwell as the brainchild of some serious foodies who love British cuisine but the inventive and inspired menu also incorporates elements of the Mediterranean and tastes of sunshine. The venue is just beautiful, with gorgeous blue tiles behind the bar, giving the ambience of a Portuguese bar - more Coimbra than Camberwell! - and indeed, there are several bottles of excellent port to accompany the dishes or to sip while the sun goes down.
thecrookedwell.com
16 Grove Lane, Camberwell, London SE5 8SY
+44 207 252 7798
Google map: bit.ly/q4oKka
* Lucy is our Been there local for London. You can read her profile here: www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/articles/london-local-lucy-mallows.jsp and follow her tips here: www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/travellers/LucyRM.jsp
The Minack Theatre is a stunningly beautiful open-air theatre in Porthcurno, Cornwall. On the edge of a rugged cliff above the ocean, the audience are entertained both by the on-stage action and the jaw-dropping view behind it. If you're looking for a unique and spectacular theatre-going experience which creates a thoroughly magical atmosphere, then this is for you!
www.minack.com/index.htm
Porthcurno, Penzance, Cornwall, TR19 6JU
+44(0)1736 810181
Google map: bit.ly/oq6mLw
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