Britain

A new adaptation of Frances Hodgson Burnett’s The Secret Garden is set to hit the silver screen on 17 April. Alongside stars Colin Firth and Julie Walters, various locations in the North York Moors will also be in the spotlight, such as the pretty fi

Part Two In 1620 two ships set sail for the New World. Had providence seen fit for them both to land we might now be celebrating 400 years of a double voyage. As it is, the smaller Speedwell sprang a leak while the Mayflower sailed into history alone

Perched on a hilltop on the Leicestershire border, with impenetrable walls and imposing turreted tower, Belvoir Castle (pronounced ‘Beaver’) ticks all the boxes for a medieval fortress. Except it isn’t really a castle at all. It’s a grand 19th-centur

No visitor to Blenheim Palace in the Oxfordshire Cotswolds can be in any doubt as to the heroic nature of its architecture and, by inference, the heroic stature of the owner for whom it was built: the 1st Duke of Marlborough, allied commander at the

The story of the Eleanor Crosses has to be a contender for the most romantic in British history. A tale of royal love, loss and lifelong devotion, it begins in 1254 with the politically convenient marriage of two teenagers. The groom was a lanky 15-y

The National Trust, English Heritage and the Landmark Trust own hundreds of historic properties across Britain and in quite a few they’ve turned the odd estate cottage, gatehouse or attic apartment into a holiday let. At Sissinghurst, the old Kent ca

It takes less than an hour to reach the Isle of Wight from the English mainland, but as you emerge from the ferry you travel back half a century. Long a favourite holiday destination for Brits, this diamond-shaped island in the Solent – some 23 miles

A lofty lime tree marks the spot where Steventon Rectory once stood – the place where the country’s favourite author, second only to Shakespeare, spent the first 25 years of her life. Jane Austen’s roots run deep in this pretty part of the world, kno

To many British people yet to visit, Newcastle upon Tyne is famous for many things – rowdy football fans, Newcastle Brown Ale and raucous Geordie nights out – other than its heritage. They are therefore surprised when alighting from a train in the No

Sitting on a loop of the River Eden in the picturesque Eden Valley, the quiet market town of Appleby-in-Westmorland feels a long way from the tourist hubs of Ullswater and Ambleside, yet the fell mountains and glacial lakes of England’s much-loved na