Paull's Inside Track |
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Think Britain, Think Paull Your Personal Travel Advisor
Issue 316 | 19th February 2020
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Welcome |
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As you know, I’m always on the look out for (and finding) new ideas for customised UK travel and last week’s Britain Insider column highlights a travel less, see more itinerary that uses Old Father Thames as its inspiration. The river rises in the Cotswolds and flows through Oxford, Henley and Windsor before reaching London.
Elsewhere, there’s more on the 2020 Year of the Bookworm, a useful update on Highclere Castle, a spectacular Wedding Cake at Waddesdon Manor, a Foodie Heaven in North Devon and an Artists Village near the cathedral city of Guildford.
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Old Father Thames |
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Last week’s Britain Insider column suggests an interesting itinerary that follows the River Thames from its source and into London. LHR to Oxford takes an hour and with a side trip into the Cotswolds, the route then meanders through stately homes, private gardens and riverside pubs to Henley and Windsor. Take a look and let’s talk. |
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Downton Abbey |
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Much to the surprise of many travel planners, Highclere Castle’s summer public opening season runs from Sunday 12th July through to Tuesday 8th September. They are closed on Friday’s and Saturdays. Let’s talk about a customised above and below stairs tour for a couple of fans cruising or flying in/out of the UK this summer.
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Year of the Bookworm |
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Here’s something for your Reading Circle and other literary contacts. Offer them the chance to spend 2 days near Royal Windsor at the Henley On Thames Literary Festival (28th September-6th October) before 3 or 4 more in the Cotswolds at the Cheltenham Literary Festival (2nd-11th October), which is home to the world’s greatest writers and thinkers. |
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Now, That’s A Wedding Cake! |
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This 12m high ceramic sculptural pavilion in the form of a wedding cake is a major new Rothschild Foundation commission from celebrated Portuguese artist Joana Vasconcelos. Part sculpture, part architectural garden folly, it celebrates festivity and marriage, inspired by the exuberant Baroque buildings and decorative ceramic traditions of Lisbon, where Vasconcelos lives and works.
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Foodie Heaven In North Devon |
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Talk about food in England’s West Country and people think of Cornwall. Wrong! Northern Devon has more Michelin stars, world Foodie champions (chocolate, ice cream, marmalade, oils) as well as an amazing network of Farmer’s Markets and Food Festivals. They celebrate food for is sustainability, locality and quality, from seaweed and fish to meats and vegetables. |
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An Artist’s Village |
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The Watts Gallery is a wonderful Arts & Crafts gem, between London and Southampton. The former home of the great Victorian artist G F Watts, he was the first British painter to have a solo exhibition at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1884. Known as England’s Michelangelo, he influenced Rossetti, Picasso and former President Obama.
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