Indholdsfortegnelse for July/Aug 2024 i Britain

Welcome to our summer issue! Travel with us to sunny Cornwall, where the wild west coast swirls with legends of giants and mermaids (p14). We also explore Ashdown Forest, the real-life ‘Hundred Aker Wood’ that was home to Winnie-the-Pooh and friends, and reveal how you can find the locations from the much-loved stories (p58). Sound the trumpet! This issue is also our Royal Special. We visit seaside spots favoured by our kings and queens, from Victoria’s Osborne on the Isle of Wight, which she described as “cheerful and un-palace-like”, to Elizabeth II’s beloved Scottish isles (p31). And as a new exhibition opens at the King’s Gallery at Buckingham Palace, we tell the stories behind some of the most famous royal photos ever taken (p39). Fancy treating yourself to a palatial…

The sun was so bright, the sky & the sea like a Turquoise, the air so balmy,” Queen Victoria wrote giddily in her diary on the first day of a holiday on the Isle of Wight in 1845, having stopped only for a quick spot of lunch on arrival before racing down to the beach to feel the sand beneath her feet and sift for shells with her daughter Vicky. She may have been the monarch, but she was as enchanted by the seaside as any of her subjects. Britain’s splendid array of coastal resorts had been charming its royals for over half a century by the time she gazed out at the Solent that day. Scarborough in North Yorkshire is thought to have popularised the ‘sea cure’ – bracing…

Stepping off Oxford’s famous High Street into a narrow thoroughfare named St Mary’s Passage brings the unsuspecting tourist face to face with a lion, or rather a lion’s head carved into a wooden doorway. Two golden fauns, clutching pan pipes, peer down from either side of the lintel, while further down the passage stands a Victorian lamppost. The conjunction of lion, faun and lamppost – all covered in a blanket of snow – is often claimed to be the inspiration for the first of the Narnia stories: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. But while it is tempting to imagine that these architectural features are the origin of Aslan the lion, Mr Tumnus the faun and the lamppost that Lucy first encounters when she emerges from the wardrobe into…

BRITAIN: What’s the first thing you do in the morning at Calancombe? Lance: I start my day with a walk around the vineyards with our vineyard manager to discuss the progress of the vines – at this time of year we’re watching for the impact of the weather on the buds and the early development of the vines. B: Can you describe a typical day? LW: The vineyard activity varies depending on the time of the year. At the moment we have finished pruning the vines from last year’s growth and we have had bud bursts already this year, so the vines are looking lovely with the leaves coming out. I also spend time with our winemaker down in the winery. We’re getting ready to bottle last year’s vintage. The…

STAR LETTER BRAVE FEATS & CORNISH EATS Two things in particular caught my eye in the latest issue of your excellent magazine [Vol 92 Issue 3]. The first was the feature on the meticulous planning that ensured the success of the D-Day landings. Much has been written about the courage of the armed forces involved, but I’d like to give a mention to my late mother-in-law, ‘Peggy’ Newberry-Cobbett née Hill. As a member of Queen Alexandra’s Royal Army Nursing Corps, she crossed the Channel not far behind the troops and told me that the young women were ordered to hold their tin hats across their stomachs, which must have been considered more vulnerable than their heads when they were under fire. The second thing was the recipe for Cornish pasties,…

A French visitor to England in 1578 waxed lyrical that “rumour of the greatness, prosperity, singularities and splendours of London fly and run to the ends of the whole world”. Less enthusiastic observers grumbled about traffic congestion, the stench of the River Thames, and in the case of one voluble Venetian merchant, the “healthy but sickening” taste of beer, although he did praise London oysters. During the reign of Queen Elizabeth I (1558–1603) England’s capital was a melting pot that stirred diverse emotions. Nobles vied to be close to the royal court, and the ambitious made their way in government or through careers in the law courts. Merchants accrued fortunes in the burgeoning economic boom that busied the Port of London, while escapees from religious and political persecution on the…

In March 2024 a storm blew up in a teacup when it emerged that the Princess of Wales had edited a Mother’s Day photograph of herself and her children. The Princess was obliged to apologise for tweaking the happy snap, but the outrage and intrigue around the picture seems absurd when you reflect that British royals have always controlled and curated their image. The medium has changed since the days when Henry VIII summoned Hans Holbein to court to paint him in all his swaggering magnificence. Since Queen Victoria and Prince Albert became the first royals to pose for the camera, the rapport between monarchy and the public has deepened. But, just as in Tudor times, royal portraiture plays a role in managing perceptions. Now, a new exhibition at the…

Royal seal of approval The Goring in Belgravia is the only hotel to be granted a Royal Warrant: an honour that recognises its long association with the royal family. The hotel is so close to Buckingham Palace that it has served almost as palace overflow over the years. Built in 1910 and still owned by the same family, The Goring hosted royal guests during the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, and in later years the Queen held her staff Christmas parties here. All 69 rooms were booked for the family and friends of the then Kate Middleton the night before her wedding to Prince William; Kate herself was treated to the top-floor Royal Suite, which has walls covered in the same silk that adorns the Throne Room at the Palace…

When in Bath, do as Jane Austen did. There are few tourist crazes that genuinely last for centuries, but from the moment Solange Lyon opened her bakery, the little fancy-breads sold under her anglicised name were all the rage. Today, you can find ‘Bath buns’ all over the city – but they’re not Sally Lunns. Sweet and sugar-crusted, invented in London for the Great Exhibition in 1851, they are very nice – I’ve eaten my fair share of them – but they are nothing like Solange Lyon’s ‘Bath bunns’. Head to the Sally Lunn Eating House in North Parade Passage for the full experience. I have never been to Bath and not visited Sally Lunns, but the most memorable time was when a group of us arrived in full Georgian…

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DAY 1 SEE THE SAINTS Durham Cathedral (left) is the city’s crowning glory and an iconic landmark on the city’s skyline. It was built in 1093 to house the shrine of St Cuthbert, the patron saint of Northumbria, who lived as a hermit on the Holy Island of Lindisfarne, and that of the Venerable Bede, an 8th-century English monk and historian. You can see St Cuthbert’s cross and coffin up close in the Durham Cathedral Museum. The Romanesque-style cathedral is the largest example of Norman architecture in all of England. If you can, take a trip up the 325 spiral steps to the cathedral’s central tower where you’ll be rewarded with breathtaking views of the city. Eagle-eyed fans may also recognise the cathedral’s secluded cloisters from scenes of Hogwarts in…