As there are many new readers to this week’s Inside Track, please take a moment to check out my website at www.customgb.co.uk , a fascinating showcase for many new ways of looking at your old friend Britain.  Regular supporters are encouraged to follow suit because a closer look could well encourage you to develop more travel less, see more tours customised to meet your client’s interests, time frame and budget.

I’m using the 20^th anniversary of the TV series Midsomer Murders to highlight the more broadly-based Detectives Tour featuring Father Brown, Inspector Morse, Sherlock Holmes etc and alerting you to the dinosaurs and award-winning gardens on England’s Jurassic Coast, better known as the county of Dorset.

Elsewhere, there’s news of the opening of a gardening legend at Waddesdon Manor, the beautiful pottery at Moorcroft in the World Capital of Ceramics aka Stoke on Trent and the exquisite ecclesiastical vestments in York Minster.

Finally, a recent reader request reminded me to mention the C S Lewis tour on my website.

Midsomer Murders

The UK’s longest-running contemporary detective drama returned to our TV screens last Sunday as Midsomer Murders celebrates its 20th anniversary year.  No doubt it will be heading your way before too long.  Let’s use it to create an On Location tour that includes DCI John Barnaby, Father Brown (Cotswolds), Inspectors Morse and Lewis (both in Oxford), Grantchester (Cambridge) and Sherlock Holmes in London.

The Jurassic Coast

Frequently, my Britain Insider columns spotlight corners of England that will appeal to your anglophile customers.  The county of Dorset lies a few miles west of Southampton and it’s where you’ll discover dinosaurs, teddy bears, giants of English literature and award-winning gardens your green fingered clients will have read about but not been offered as a UK tour.  Use this Read More link.

A Gardening Legend

The walled garden at Eythrope is opening to show a glimpse into a garden that has, until now, been kept intensely private.  It is a rare example of a large scale, four acre working private garden that is legendary in the garden world both for its gardening excellence, and as a haven for traditional techniques that might otherwise be lost.

Art Pottery at Moorcroft

Moorcroft have been creating its beautiful art pottery in Stoke-on-Trent for more than 120 years. Still fiercely independent, Moorcroft continues to create art pottery, using their renowned heritage craft techniques and acclaimed line up of designers, at the highest level in the Applied Arts. The Moorcroft Heritage Visitor Centre brings together Moorcroft’s heritage, factory tour, museum, and shopping for an unforgettable experience.

Discovering C S Lewis

This 6-night programme visits places C S Lewis, the great theologian and author of the Narnia books, would have known well during his working life in the university cities of Oxford and Cambridge. For a closer look at his earlier years in Northern Ireland, I can add a 2 -night pre tour that follows a trail around Belfast and County Down.

A Broderer's Tour

English Cathedrals are home to some magnificent collections of ecclesiastical vestments, with York Minster being a fine example. For small groups of 10, I can arrange a tour with some of their in-house, volunteer embroiderers and textile conservators looking at the history and contemporary textiles of the Minster, including some of their current vestments followed by the short service of Choral Evensong.