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Source: (consider it)
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Thread: Visiting Britain
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Albertus
Shipmate
# 13356
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Posted
Gosh, I remember the Sportsman when it was as unprepossessing on the inside as it is on the outside. Good location right on the coast by the marshes: if going by train you'll need a cab from either Faversham or Whitstable, (can't rremember which is closer). If you're in that part of the world, don't bother with the Native Oyster Stores in Whitstable- over-hyped and not a place that people go back to.
Mind you, if you are going that way there are some good things about- Whitstable is pleasant enough but over-run by 'Down from London' visitors (I grew up there), Canterbury's not far, and the new Turner Gallery at Margate is down the coast. Also some pleasant towns and villages around Canterbury, the odd bit of 'deep England' in places like the Elham Valley, and small treasures like the (modern) murals in the church at Challock.
Posts: 6498 | From: Y Sowth | Registered: Jan 2008
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Brenda Clough
Shipmate
# 18061
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Posted
Alas, the number of 'while you are there you really ought not to miss' items is infinite. Some day I will make another trip. I drop by about once a decade -- my last trip I scheduled, with amazing talent, for the afternoon of September 11, 2001. As you may imagine, it did not go well.
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Science fiction and fantasy writer with a Patreon page
Posts: 6378 | From: Washington DC | Registered: Mar 2014
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Albertus
Shipmate
# 13356
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Posted
Yes- sorry- going back there for a few days soon and got a bit carried away!
Posts: 6498 | From: Y Sowth | Registered: Jan 2008
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Piglet
Islander
# 11803
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Posted
Canterbury's lovely, but in the summer it sometimes suffers from infestations of snotty French schoolchildren.
![[Help]](graemlins/help.gif)
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I may not be on an island any more, but I'm still an islander.
alto n a soprano who can read music
Posts: 20272 | From: Fredericton, NB, on a rather larger piece of rock | Registered: Sep 2006
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Brenda Clough
Shipmate
# 18061
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Posted
What is it like in January? My church is organizing an Epiphany tour of British churches. I am almost certainly not going (blowing all my money in August) but it is nice to think about it.
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Science fiction and fantasy writer with a Patreon page
Posts: 6378 | From: Washington DC | Registered: Mar 2014
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Jengie jon
Semper Reformanda
# 273
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Posted
I would not recommend it.
In January we have comparatively little daylight and what there is, is either wet grey or thin and cold. Also, January is rather good at attracting the spectacularly awful weather such as weeks of snow or severe flooding. As a result, even in a good year travel around the UK is less reliable than at other times of the year whether by road or train.
If you must then the sensible thing is to stick to a city with a lot of cultural activity e.g. London or Edinburgh.
Jengie
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"To violate a persons ability to distinguish fact from fantasy is the epistemological equivalent of rape." Noretta Koertge
Back to my blog
Posts: 20894 | From: city of steel, butterflies and rainbows | Registered: May 2001
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Ariel
Shipmate
# 58
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Brenda Clough:
What is it like in January? My church is organizing an Epiphany tour of British churches. I am almost certainly not going (blowing all my money in August) but it is nice to think about it.
Likely to be bitterly cold with the wind from the North Sea blowing in on it. That part of the country seems to get longer, colder winters than much of the rest; I remember them as usually stretching out for about six months, with a wind like a knife that effortlessly cut through however many layers you were wearing.
Posts: 25445 | Registered: May 2001
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Brenda Clough
Shipmate
# 18061
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Posted
Boy, I can tell none of you work for the British Tourism people! It does sound appalling.
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Science fiction and fantasy writer with a Patreon page
Posts: 6378 | From: Washington DC | Registered: Mar 2014
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Curiosity killed ...
Ship's Mug
# 11770
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Posted
Really, they aren't kidding. Last winter we had devastating floods, the winter before we had snow from November to March in the south-east. And even London isn't immune from travel disruption and power cuts in those conditions.
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Mugs - Keep the Ship afloat
Posts: 13794 | From: outiside the outer ring road | Registered: Aug 2006
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Ferijen
Shipmate
# 4719
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Jengie Jon:
I would not recommend it.
In January we have comparatively little daylight and what there is, is either wet grey or thin and cold.
Whilst no sensible person would choose January as the only month to see the British isles, thin and cold light (thanks Jengie, that is such a great description) if you're lucky to get a cold, dry winter, is truly most beautiful to behold.
(Pity you only get it for about seven hours a day, at best... )
Save your money for a return visit. Ideally, early May, when I think we probably look our best and the weather is most amenable to sightseeing.
Posts: 3259 | From: UK | Registered: Jul 2003
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Dormouse
Glis glis – Ship's rodent
# 5954
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Posted
Should you go to Margate, and should you like Indian food, I can heartily recommend this restaurant "The Ambrette" - the food is wonderful and reasonable for what you get.
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What are you doing for Lent?
40 days, 40 reflections, 40 acts of generosity. Join the #40acts challenge for #Lent and let's start a movement. www.40acts.org.uk
Posts: 3042 | From: 'twixt les Bois Noirs & Les Monts de la Madeleine | Registered: May 2004
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Piglet
Islander
# 11803
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Posted
I reckon some of you are being a bit hard on the South of England in January. I know you've had a couple of rather rougher winters lately, but we used to go there regularly after Christmas when we lived in Belfast, and as long as you were reasonably well wrapped-up it wasn't that bad.
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I may not be on an island any more, but I'm still an islander.
alto n a soprano who can read music
Posts: 20272 | From: Fredericton, NB, on a rather larger piece of rock | Registered: Sep 2006
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Curiosity killed ...
Ship's Mug
# 11770
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Posted
I can show you lots of pictures of different lots of snow in January for quite a few years. Last year was the first without snow (and ice) for a while.
I would mind the snow less if the pavements were swept and we didn't have weeks of walking on compacted ice to go anywhere. Or I hadn't got stranded 7 miles from home as the tube failed one night and we had a two hour wait to taxi-share - excitingly. Or the buses didn't all get cancelled so cycling home in the snow storm and worrying about the other road users.
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Mugs - Keep the Ship afloat
Posts: 13794 | From: outiside the outer ring road | Registered: Aug 2006
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Ariel
Shipmate
# 58
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by piglet:
I reckon some of you are being a bit hard on the South of England in January. I know you've had a couple of rather rougher winters lately, but we used to go there regularly after Christmas when we lived in Belfast, and as long as you were reasonably well wrapped-up it wasn't that bad.
Ah, I remember it from my teenage years. Dirty great snowdrifts rendering some of the roads impassable, and a wind that would give you earache within two minutes of your stepping outside the front door. The chill of winter striking up through the stone floors and the carpet. Condensation freezing the curtains to the window glass overnight. Endless days of damp when you could see your breath in the air (indoors) and it was impossible to dry any laundry indoors or outside. And the fogs! Proper pea-soupers, visibility down to about three yards.
And we were still expected to go to school, despite the packs of starving wolves that banded together around the school gates, howling miserably as we drew lots for which of our number we might throw to them to distract them so the rest of us could get in...
Well, possibly a slight exaggeration in one of those two paras, but the rest is as I remember it.
Posts: 25445 | Registered: May 2001
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Gamaliel
Shipmate
# 812
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Posted
Early May is best. We've had a lovely spring - well at least round here we have.
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Let us with a gladsome mind
Praise the Lord for He is kind.
http://philthebard.blogspot.com
Posts: 15997 | From: Cheshire, UK | Registered: Jul 2001
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Brenda Clough
Shipmate
# 18061
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Posted
Ariel, that sounds heartfelt. I could use that...
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Science fiction and fantasy writer with a Patreon page
Posts: 6378 | From: Washington DC | Registered: Mar 2014
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Welease Woderwick
Sister Incubus Nightmare
# 10424
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Posted
Quick and Ffriendly reminder to everyone [not just Brenda] that posts here are copyrighted just by being posted here and should not be taken and used in other contexts.
Thanks.
WW - AS Host.
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Posts: 48139 | From: 1st on the right, straight on 'til morning | Registered: Sep 2005
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