Tag Archives: England

London Views: The River Thames, Hampton Court

The River Thames, known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At 215 miles, it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the River Severn.

Date filmed: Sunday – July 11, 2021

Filming location: River Thames – Eastbound – Hampton Court to Richmond, London

English Country Homes: Avon Court, Alveston

Everything about Avon Court has a opulent yet whimsical air about it — from the large wrought iron entrance gates, to the mature Willow tree in the garden that leads down to a mooring on a private stretch of river.

Annunciata Elwes, July 12, 2021

Avon Court’s glorious setting on a bend of the Avon — with private frontage, a mooring beside a lovely willow and dipping opportunities through the bull rushes on hot days — is hard to beat.

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The Cotswolds: A History Of Eastleach Turville & Eastleach Martin (Video)

Eastleach is a civil parish in the county of Gloucestershire, England. It was created in 1935 when the separate parishes of Eastleach Turville and Eastleach Martin were combined as the civil parish of Eastleach. The two villages of the parish—Eastleach Turville and Eastleach Martin—are separated only by the narrow River Leach, which is spanned by the stone road bridge and a stone slab clapper footbridge. Together the villages of Eastleach have over 60 listed houses and farm structures.

Aerial Views: Blackpool – Northwest England (4K)

Blackpool is a seaside resort on the Irish Sea coast of England. It’s known for Blackpool Pleasure Beach, an old-school amusement park with vintage wooden roller coasters. Built in 1894, the landmark Blackpool Tower houses a circus, a glass viewing platform and the Tower Ballroom, where dancers twirl to the music of a Wurlitzer organ. Blackpool Illuminations is an annual light show along the Promenade. 

Walking Tour: Piccadilly In London, England (4K)

Piccadilly is a road in the City of Westminster, London, to the south of Mayfair, between Hyde Park Corner in the west and Piccadilly Circus in the east. It is part of the A4 road that connects central London to Hammersmith, Earl’s Court, Heathrow Airport and the M4 motorway westward. 

Country Estates: Elton Hall In Peterborough, UK

Elton Hall, near Peterborough, is a house of many faces. It is formal and Classical on the approach, yet reveals on inspection a complex architectural history stretching back to the Middle Ages. All this with gardens that extend and frame it with a kind of painterly stillness. Inside, the house has one of the best private art collections in the East of England.

John Goodall June 27, 2021

As it survives today, the house bears the stamp of important changes undertaken from 1857 by Granville Proby, the 3rd Earl of Carysfort, which is remarkable, given that he was 74 when he inherited the estate in 1855. He had grown up on the family’s Glenart estates in Co Wicklow, Ireland, fought at the Battles of the Nile and Trafalgar asa naval officer and later rose to the rank of Admiral. What inspired him to undertake this work is not now clear, but it may have been the poor condition of the building.

The architect he chose was Henry Ashton, a pupil of Smirke who served as an assistant to Sir Jeffry Wyatville from 1828 during the latter’s transformation of Windsor Castle (and who edited Wyatville’s posthumously published Illustrations Of Windsor Castle, 1841). It must have been through Windsor that Ashton caught the eye of the anglophile Willem II (Prince of Orange until 1840), who commissioned him, in 1838, to design a summer palace at the Hague. Nothing came of the project.

Read and see more at Country Life

Views: British Steam Yacht Gondola In Lake District

Set sail over Coniston Water with the National Trust in this behind-the-scenes video of Steam Yacht Gondola, one of the only steam-running gondolas remaining in the Lake District. In this video, find out about the work that goes into every voyage, and hear the stories of the gondola from the boat’s Manager, Julian. He’ll show you how he stokes the fire and what he and the team do to prepare the gondola before setting out for a journey. You’ll also hear about the traditional methods that are still used to this day to dock the boat. The history of Steam Yacht Gondola reaches as far back as the Victorian period, and to step aboard is to step back in time. Sir James Ramsden, Director of the Furness Railway Company, saw an opportunity to bring a pleasure cruise to Coniston Water after being inspired by a trip to Venice in 1850. Out of his vision, Steam Yacht Gondola was borne.

English Country Estates: Yarner House – Dartmoor

Yarner House and the adjoining Yarner Wood, a 365-acre block of ancient woodland managed by Natural England as part of the East Dartmoor National Nature Reserve, were both once part of the manor of Bovey Tracey granted by William the Conqueror to Geoffrey de Mowbray, Bishop of Coutances.

Penny Churchill June 22, 2021

On de Mowbray’s death in 1093, his nephew, Robert Mowbray, Earl of Northumberland, inherited, but later defied the king, which led to the seizure of his estates in 1095.

Over time, ownership of the Bovey Tracey estates reverted to the Crown as favourites came and went, until, in the 16th century, a succession of costly wars left Tudor monarchs strapped for cash.

Elizabeth I began to sell off Crown properties and, in 1578, the Yarner estate was bought by Gregory Sprint, a canny lawyer with good Court connections, who swiftly resold it at a profit.

Read more at Country Life Magazine

Cotswolds Walks: Shipton -Under-Wychwood (Video)

Shipton-under-Wychwood is an English village and civil parish in the Evenlode valley about 4 miles north of Burford, Oxfordshire. The village is one of three named after the ancient forest of Wychwood.