Packed with 196-pages of the best attractions, days out, places to stay and food and drink destinations, the 2015 BRITAIN Guide is your definitive companion to getting the best out of your holiday. From forgotten medieval villages, to country houses within easy access of London and shopping areas for picking up quintessential gifts, you won’t want to leave home without it.
EDITOR'S LETTER
Britain
YOUR LETTERS • Write to us with your thoughts on the magazine and memories of Britain
STAR LETTER
The BULLETIN • A ballet bonanza, Wordsworth's big anniversary and a display of medieval muses
READING CORNER • Take inspiration for your British adventures from these great reads
1066 COUNTRY • England ’s sunny south coast has a rich heritage, harbouring ancient castles and evocative landscapes that tell the story of the Battle of Hastings and beyond
THE PLANNER
A TALE of ONE CITY • 150 years since the novelist’s death, we explore Charles Dickens’s London: inspiration for his greatest works and site of his own rags-to-riches story
CHURCHILL at HOME • On the 75th anniversary of VE Day, we explore two distinctly different houses associated with Britain’s great wartime leader
BOOK AHEAD
FIELD DAY • The meeting of two rival kings at the Field of Cloth of Gold took place five hundred years ago. We look back at this defining moment in Henry VIII’s reign
The real ALICE • The curious tale of the girl who inspired one of the world’s most famous children’s books
BOOK AHEAD
Secrets of Bletchley Park • Bletchley veteran Pat Davies looks back at her time working for Station X, the hidden home of the Second World War codebreakers
THE PLANNER
THE LADY WITH THE LAMP • We shine a light on the exceptional life of Florence Nightingale, pioneer of modern nursing and saviour of countless lives
DID YOU KNOW?
HARROGATE • The original British spa town still knows how best to reinvigorate burnt-out Brits
THE PLANNER
HIDDEN WALES • With its wild cliffs, pretty coves and puffins galore, St Brides Bay holds the best of Pembrokeshire
THE PLANNER
TOP 10 MANCHESTER • One of the country’s most vibrant and exciting cities, this northern powerhouse is bursting with attractions both historic and modern
THE PLANNER
Edinburgh’s Thistle Chapel • This soaring royal chapel is considered one of the architectural jewels of Scotland