One of the great joys of driving around the English countryside in April/May is seeing the beauty of Spring, with it’s new colours of the woodlands and hedges with primroses and bluebells everywhere and the trees coming to life after months of laying dormant
Corfe Castle is a fortification standing above the village of the same name in the English county of Dorset. Built by William the Conqueror, the castle dates back to the 11th century and commands a gap in the Purbeck Hills on the route between Wareham and Swanage. The first phase was one of the earliest castles in England to be built using stone when the majority were built with earth and timber. Corfe Castle underwent major structural changes in the 12th and 13th centuries.
In 1572, Corfe Castle left the Crown’s control when Elizabeth I sold it to Sir Christopher Hatton. After two sieges in the English Civil War, Corfe Castle was demolished on Parliament’s orders. Owned by the National Trust, the castle is open to the public and in 2010 received around 190,000 visitors. It is protected as a Grade I listed building and a Scheduled Ancient Monument. (Taken from wikipedia)
Southern England is full of thatch cottages and when it’s a pub it adds to the charm and the atmosphere. These places are often hundreds of years old.
This pub featured here is near Poole in Dorset and is one of the best of it’s kind. The interior public area is one long room with a fire at either end little nooks to make it cosy for small groups 4-6 open areas for larger groups, low ceilings beams everywhere, post as old as the hills and a bar. the place is full of character and is a must visit for those travelling in this county.
Without doubt Dorest is one of Englands most charming counties. The countryside is second to none and the villages are not to be missed.
The Circus is an example of Georgian architecture in the city of Bath, Somerset, England, begun in 1754 and completed in 1768. The name comes from the Latin ‘circus’, which means a ring, oval or circle. It has been designated as a Grade I listed building.[1]
Divided into three segments of equal length, the Circus is a circular space surrounded by large townhouses. Each of the curved segments faces one of the three entrances, ensuring that whichever way a visitor enters there is a classical facade straight ahead.
The Circus, originally called King’s Circus, was designed by the architect John Wood, the Elder, although he never lived to see his plans put into effect as he died less than three months after the first stone was laid. It was left to his son, John Wood, the Younger to complete the scheme to his father’s design. The initial leases for the south west segment were granted in 1755-67, those for the south east segment in 1762-6, and those for the north segment in 1764–6.
The Abbey Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, Bath, commonly known as Bath Abbey, is an Anglican parish church and a former Benedictine monastery in Bath, Somerset, England. Founded in the 7th century, Bath Abbey was reorganised in the 10th century and rebuilt in the 12th and 16th centuries; major restoration work was carried out by Sir George Gilbert Scott in the 1860s. It is one of the largest examples of Perpendicular Gothic architecture in the West Country.
The church is cruciform in plan, and is able to seat 1200. An active place of worship, with hundreds of congregation members and hundreds of thousands of visitors each year, it is used for religious services, secular civic ceremonies, concerts and lectures. The choir performs in the abbey and elsewhere. There is a heritage museum in the vaults. (Information from Wikapedia)
Plymouth Barbican
