BEST OF BRITISH
We all knock it from time to time, but when the (fish and) chips are down, Britain still has some great treats to offer.
WORDS BY MARTIN GURDON
PICTURES BY SIMON CHILDS
1. BEST STATELY HOME
For a small island, Britain boasts a lot of very big houses. Godinton House, near Ashford in Kent is perhaps a lesser-known gem. It's not the biggest or grandest, but it dates back to the 14th century and still feels like someone's home. The house is crammed with generations of paintings and furniture, and surrounded by very pretty formal gardens. Godinton has a sense of history, too - and a tea room to contemplate it in. Visits cost £7 for the house and gardens (£4 for a garden visit. Children aren't charged).
Details: 01233 620773
WWW.GODINTON-HOUSE-GARDENS.CO.UK
Alternative: Chartwell
(Winston Churchill's house),
Westerham, Kent, TN16, 1PS.
01732 866368
WWW.NATIONALTRUST.ORG.UK
2. BEST VIEW
Here's a tough one - where do you go for the UK's best view? For one of our own favourites, we nominate Mount Snowdon - which at 3,560 ft towers over Wales's Snowdonia National Park. And its enormous scale makes Snowdon worth looking up to and down from, something that around 500,000 people manage to do annually. You don't have to be a mountaineer to get there either, as there are paths for the fit and intrepid, and Britain's only rack and pinion narrow gauge railway for the rest of us.
Alternative: The Forth Bridge,
Queensferry, Edinburgh, Scotland -
an engineering marvel
3. BEST FAMILY ATTRACTION
When it comes to family-friendly theme parks, Britain has never had it so good, we are surrounded by them; but Staffordshire’s long-established Alton
Towers is surely the doyenne of this lots-of-fun-all-in-one-place genre. Set in 500 acres of lovely parkland, Alton Towers is probably best known for its amazing choice of rides. But the venue also boasts onsite hotels, a water park, a spa, a manor house, extensive gardens - and, of course, the two monumental Victorian towers which gave the place its name. Ticket prices start from £28 for adults (£14 for senior citizens and the disabled) and £21 for children.
ALTON TOWERS, STAFFORDSHIRE,
ST10, 4DB, 08705 204060
WWW.ALTONTOWERS.COM
ALTERNATIVE: DRAYTON MANOR
THEME PARK, NR TAMWORTH, STAFFS.
0844 4721950
WWW.DRAYTONMANOR.CO.UK
4. BEST PIER
For those seeking that deeply English phenomenon – the seaside pier, a trip
to Blackpool is a must. The Lancastrian town boasts three, but the one to see
must be the elegant North Pier. Dating back to 1863, it was a metal latticework extension of the Talbot Road, which boasted Blackpool’s first railway station – and brought the tourists who turned the town into an enduring holiday resort. Today this monument to Victorian engineering elegance has a Grade 2 listing, still offers pleasure boat rides – and fun for everyone who visits it.
ALTERNATIVE: CLEVEDON PIER, NEAR WESTON-SUPER-MARE, SOMERSET