Discover Britain

As a Londoner, I often make the mistake of overlooking the fantastic places to visit on my doorstep, so this issue our South East England travel special (p13) has fired me up for more weekends away. First up, Annabelle Thorpe takes us on a tour of th

With a new series of Bridgerton here, fans of the show may wish to visit the family home of one of its most glamorous characters, fresh from the successful spinoff that tells the love story of her and her husband: Queen Charlotte. Kew Palace, London’

There’s something rather wonderful about finding a hidden corner of Britain, right on your doorstep. Scattered across the border between East Sussex and Kent, just an hour from where I live, lies the High Weald Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AON

Hever Castle is a 14th-century romantic hideaway set in glorious Kent countryside, spanning over 600 years of rich history. Though it has been home to 12 different families, the magnificent castle is best known as the childhood home of Anne Boleyn, H

Nestled at the foot of the South Downs National Park, which boasts the highest chalk cliffs in the country, the south coast resort of Eastbourne is a quintessential seaside town less than 60 miles from London. With a daily average of 11.7 hours of su

‘There’ll be bluebirds over the White Cliffs of Dover’ is a wartime lyric that virtually every Briton over a certain age can recite. A symbol of home for many during the First and Second World Wars, which also played a vital role in Britain’s defence

Hampton Court Palace is one of Britain’s must-see sights. Home to Henry VIII’s Tudor court – after he ousted Cardinal Wolsey and moved in himself in 1529 – it’s positively brimming with history. The building, which retains much of its original Tudor

England’s South East has long been a place of refuge for those seeking to escape the bustle of life in London, with many esteemed Englishmen and women having a ‘place in the country’ in proximity to the capital in which to weekend when the working we

Basketmaking is one of humanity’s oldest crafts, dating back at least 12,000 years. Now a surge of interest in eco-friendly traditional craftwork is sparking a resurgence of interest across Britain in the beguiling variety of these beautiful practica

Friday 2 June. D minus 3. Just 48 hours to go before the launch of the proposed liberation of France, now scheduled for Monday 5 June. The United Kingdom is in a state of virtual lockdown. But where is the Prime Minister? He is not to be found in 10

Growing up in Gloucestershire, my childhood was pretty normal, with the exception of one thing. My dad’s hyperactive passion for creating events and making an opera festival meant that this art form became a backdrop to family life. My dad had the bi

My new book, 1000 Tudor People is a condensed collection of biographies of all kinds of people in the Tudor world, from royalty, nobles and courtiers, to artists, writers, scientists, rebels, pirates and witches. It’s a reference book of Tudor societ

Britain has one of the greenest capital cities in the world (and officially the greenest in Europe), with over 3,000 parks and gardens spread throughout Greater London. Its largest is Richmond, one of the capital’s eight Royal Parks, located on the c

Solutions in next issue 1 Fishing port and holiday resort on the Atlantic coast of Cornwall (9) 9 The herb valerian, formerly supposed to have many medicinal properties (7) 10 Hampshire home of Jane Austen (7)11 The great quadrangle of Christ Church