Real Britain Company News…

This year it is the 100th anniversary of Benjamin Brittens’ birth which is being celebrated in style around Aldeburgh during 2012 and 2013. He loved his home town of Aldeburgh and the surrounding area of Suffolk. He once said ‘I belong at home – there – in Aldeburgh. I have tried to bring music to it in the shape of our local Festival; and all the music I write comes from it.’ Suffolk is a little off the usual tourist route which is all the more reason to include it in your tour of England or Britain as a whole. The regular Aldeburgh Festival, established by Britten in 1948, will run from 7 – 23 June.

Then you may like to know about IDFest which is on from 9 – 13th May. This is a festival for those with a passion for film. You would probably assume it is being held in London but no its actually in Derby, more famous for engineering (Rolls Royce) than the arts!
Derby is an industrial town so not a great deal to write home about, but it sits south of the Peak District National Park, the rose between the industrial towns of Sheffield and Manchester. It was Britain’s first designated national park. In the south of the area there are the gentle rolling hills of the White Peak and the craggy gritstone edges and limestone valleys of the Derbyshire Dales. To the north and west are the wild, heather clad moor lands of the Dark Peak where you’ll find the Derwent Valley’s historic ‘Dam Busters’ dams. This is an area largely overlooked by foreign tourists so buck the trend and include it on your tour of Britain!

If you are looking for something to do right now in the southern Britain then check out the
Christchurch food festival , with demonstrations by the yummy James Martin!
Christchurch is a pleasant holiday town on the south coast just on the edge of the New Forest, a unique expanse of heath and woodland, the largest area of unenclosed land in southern Britain. It was originally commandeered in 1079 as a deer hunting area by the king, William the Conqueror.
Christchurch is just into Dorset, the county of Thomas Hardy, which has rolling hills, villages with ‘chocolate box’ thatched roof cottages and a varied coast including the so called Jurassic coast, Britain’s first natural World Heritage site.
Altogether an interesting and attractive area to include in your tour of England.

The UK has never been a particularly violent place by World standards but the UK Peace Index shows that the murder rate has halved since 2003 and violent crime has reduced by 25%. This trend is seen across all of Western Europe but is greater here in the UK. This great news enhances the attraction for people to visit the UK.
On top of that, the Australian Dollar exchange rate is great at the moment, so come on you Aussies! Now is the time to visit the old home country. There isn’t even those pesky Olympics to put you off now!

The Ludlow English Song Weekend this year runs from 30 May – 2 June. This is the fifth triennial Festival devoted to English songs, old and new. Events take place in the elegant Assembly Rooms and the ancient parish church of this historic market town in the Marches of Shropshire.

Ludlow is a wonderful place to visit at any time and well worth a place on the itinerary of a tour of England. The town and it’s castle are perched on a cliff above the picturesque River Teme: the town breathes history at every turn. The town centre’s ordered elegance is evidence of the 900 year old Norman planned town. The poet John Betjeman once called it “The most perfect town in England”. The gentle and quite empty countryside of Shropshire is off the usual tourist route so is peaceful as well as beautiful!

Vaughan Williams was born on the 12th October, 1872 in the Cotswold village of Down Ampney. He was close friends with Gustav Holst who also hailed from the lovely Cotswold region. He was among the very first to travel into the countryside to collect folk-songs and carols from singers, and of course composed many himself, including the lyrical ‘Come down O love divine’.

For many years Vaughan Williams conducted and led the Leith Hill Music Festival. which still thrives today at Dorking in Surrey, just south of London. An easy trip out if you are staying in the capital. This year it is on 11th -13th April. Vaughan Williams died on the 26th August 1958 and his ashes are interred in Westminster Abbey, near Purcell.

Stratford Upon Avon, in the heart of England, the birthplace of Shakespeare, is frequently on the tour itinerary for people taking a holiday in Britain. A visit to the RSC theatre is often a highlight. This year there is even more reason to visit as there is a glorious celebration of costume displayed throughout the theatre. For the whole of the RSC’s Summer and Winter season in 2013/14, In Stitches takes over the theatres, revealing highlights from the RSC’s costume collection along with new artistic responses, interactive displays and even a chance to try on RSC theatre costume! Do include Stratford on your UK tour and let out the kid in you!

I think I have actually managed to connect the blog to Twitter! I am not a Luddite after all. Now just to think of something interesting to say….

William Morris was not only a famous Victorian designer (his distinctive floral designs are still in fashion) he was also a writer and a campaigner for social equality and the environment. His home Kelmscott Manor on the edge of the beautiful Cotswolds, contains an outstanding collection of the possessions and works of Morris, his family and associates, including Dante Gabriel Rossetti with whom he leased the house in 1871. Kelmscott Manor is a handome 17th century farmhouse built of the local Cotswold stone. William loved the house as a work of true craftsmanship, totally unspoilt and unaltered, and in harmony with the village and the surrounding countryside.

Kelmscott is easy to incorporate into your UK tour as it is close to so many places of interest, being on the edge of the beautiful Cotswold hills and within easy reach of Oxford and Bath.

The Kiplings fell in love at first sight with Batemans in the Sussex Weald, exclaming ‘That’s She! The Only She! Make an honest woman of her – quick!’ and it became their beloved family home and sanctuary. This Jacobean house, built in 1634, had fallen into disrepair and the Kiplings lovingly restored it, whilst preserving the original character. The National Trust now preserves as a memorial to this famous author of The Jungle Book.

East Sussex is easily accessible from London and has many interesting houses, castles, gardens and coastal towns, and of course 1066 and all that! After London it is a great place to start your UK tour.