Escape the Big Smoke!

By Kevin Jones

England is as compact a country as you're ever likely to find and, if you're based in London, you will find a host of day-trip destinations on offer.

The beauty of this is that they give you a good excuse to get out of London, to see a bit of the real England, while still giving you time to get back to the big city to enjoy the nightlife.

Windsor

Windsor lies just 35 kilometres to the west of central London, on the River Thames, and is easily reached by car, bus or train.

Apart from being a charming small town itself, it is home to Windsor Castle - the Queen's favourite residence - which provides the main focus for the tourist trade.

Windsor Castle is the largest inhabited castle in the world. It can be seen rising above the Thames for miles around, and has been in use continously since the time of William the Conqueror.

When the Queen is in residence, the royal standard flies above the castle, and the State Apartments are closed to the public. Normally though, much of the castle is open to the public.

In 1993, a section of the castle not normally open to the public caught fire and burned (see picture), causing much damage. The castle is now being restored, and visitors are now charged to enter the castle grounds to raise funds for the restoration.

A beautiful tree-lined avenue leads from the castle south into Windsor Great Park. If you're tempted to walk to the statue of the horse on the hill, be warned - the statue is larger than you think, and the walk is several miles long!

That gives the English weather ample opportunity to turn bandit on you, so remember an umbrella!

Links

Royal Windsor Castle
Great-Britain.org
Windsor Fire
VictorianStation.com - Windsor

Hastings

Famous for being the site of the last great land battle lost by England on English soil (not counting World Cup soccer and Test cricket failures!), Hastings lies 75 kilometres south-east of Central London and is easily reached by road and rail.

William the Conqueror of France defeated King Harold in 1066. This was the last time the English suffered the ignominy of invasion (ignoring the time American GIs flooded the area in World War II, winning the hearts of all the local girls with their candy, nylons and jazz records).

Hastings is also a classic English seaside town, with a wide, sweeping bay; a pier and lots of food and drink to be had in the plethora of cafes and pubs.

Not surprisingly, the immediate area around Hastings has become known as 1066 Country and the area where the big barney between Bill and 'Arry took place is actually called Battle.

With this sort of imagination, it's a wonder the locals didn't call Hastings "beach" or "cliffs".

Links

Hastings.gov.uk
Hastings Pier
Battletown
Seetb.org

Canterbury

Canterbury - famous for tales, cathedrals and intrigue - lies about 75 kilometres east of Central London and just a bit south (otherwise it would be in mouth of the Thames). Canterbury is one of those places that things just seem to always happen in, for both good and bad.

Early visitors (for the bad) were Julius Caesar and Claudius, almost 2000 years ago. Archbishop Thomas Becket came a cropper there in the 12th Century, becoming a martyr in the process, when he was knocked off by all the King's men (which was for the bad) but Chaucer was writing about it by the 14th Century, which was for the good, and the bawdy Canterbury Tales went on to become a classic of English literature.

Being the centre of a Middle Ages religious maelstrom, people just kept on coming to grief.

Thomas More, once chancellor and trusted advisor of royalty, was separated from his head by King Henry VIII and never actually got reunited with it. It can still be found in Canterbury, at St Dunstan's Church to be precise.

One Hitler, A. tried to bomb Canterbury off the map during World War II, but only half-succeeded, thankfully missing the Cathedral and other historical sites.

You should rush to see Canterbury before another calamity befalls it.

Links

UK Guide - Canterbury
Canterbury
Canterbury Buildings
Thycotic - Canterbury

Brighton

Brighton gets a rough press from many Australians who go along there in the summer thinking surf's up and that it's time to strip off and catch a few rays on a pristine sandy beach.

Brighton may be the closest south-coast beach from Central London (70 kilometres south) but you'll struggle to find much sand - Bondi Beach it ain't.

What you will find though is a classic English seaside town with more than a little class.

And lots of pebbles.

Apart from the fact that your personal Brighton Beach Memoir might be one of painfully walking across the stony beach to the icy waters of the English Channel, Brighton is a rich and sophisticated town much frequented to this day by London's silvertails. It looks great too.

Brighton is a big gay centre, self-proclaimed as Britain's gay capital, in fact, if that is your cup of lapsang soochong.

Brighton has a rich theatrical history and is one of England's major cultural centres. It is also renowned for its conventions and exhibitions, with its grand hotels often playing host to political conferences of all persuasions.

Links

Brighton
Brighton Argus

Oxford and Cambridge

These are actually two separate day trips, but when people talk about "Oxbridge", they ignore the fact that they are two totally separate towns in totally different directions from each other.

The two towns represent the cream of English education, privilege and, it has to be said, power.

Although they are individual towns in many respects, their similarities are marked.

Oxford lies around 70 kilometres to the west and slightly to the north of Central London, whereas Cambridge lies on the River Cam, about the same distance roughly north of the Central Smoke.

England's most ancient and revered educational institutions can be found in the two towns and the architecture in both places is stunning.

Check them out and lose yourself in an Evelyn Waugh novel.

Links

Oxfordshire
Oxford Info
Oxford City
Cambridge
Worldwidecity Cambridge

Stonehenge

Now, if you're impressed by the antiquity of Oxford and Cambridge, that's peanuts compared with Stonehenge, which is the weird and wonderful circle of mystical stones from pre-history that few people can plausibly explain away.

Stonehenge is a bit of trek from Central London, in that it is situated about 120 kilometres west, just north of the small town of Amesbury in Salisbury Plain.

When you get there, you'll perhaps be surprised by how small Stonehenge is, and you are sure to be disappointed by the number of other tourists, but it is still worth a look.

Was Stonehenge a prehistoric temple made for worship of ancient earth deities? It has been called an astronomical observatory for marking significant events on the prehistoric calendar.

Others claim that it was a sacred site for the burial of high-ranking citizens from societies of long ago.

One thing is for sure, it a spooky place and no one really knows how the prehistoric builders actually did it without heavy lifting gear!

Links

Stonehenge