Trooping to Buckingham Palace to witness the Changing of the Guard, reflecting on the literary richness of Poets’ Corner in Westminster Abbey, gazing at the historic Houses of Parliament, seeing marvelous theater–they’re certainly musts for any visitor to London. But they are only a smattering of the so-called musts.
If you travel outside London–often tough for someone in love with the city–visits to Oxford, Windsor or Stratford-Upon-Avon are satisfying, but still on the major tourist routes.
The problem with Britain is that the country is so incredibly rich in history, sights and tradition, it’s nigh impossible for many to grasp the depth of this little island.
“It sometime occurs to me that the British have more heritage than is good for them,” notes author Bill Bryson, an Iowan who recently returned to the U.S. after living in England for 20 years.
“In a country where there is so astonishingly much of everything, it is easy to look on it as a kind of inexhaustible resource. Consider the numbers: 445,000 ancient or historic buildings, 12,000 medieval churches, 1.5 million acres of common land, 120,000 miles of footpaths and public rights of way, 600,000 known sites of archeological interest. In my Yorkshire village alone there are almost certainly more genuine 17th Century buildings than in the whole of North America, and that’s just one obscure hamlet with a population comfortably under 100.”
Bryson, who sounds more like a Brit than a native of Des Moines, obviously loves Britain. But he’s not blinded by its flaws. In “Notes From a Small Island: An Affectionate Portrait of Britain” (William Morrow; $25), published last month, Bryson writes about many of his everyday encounters. To round out his observations for the book, he traveled the country by public transport.
Bryson, a former newspaperman with five books and numerous magazine pieces to his credit, had 20 years to collect his thoughts. He and his English wife have four children who reinforce his accent. During a recent phone interview before he set out to hike the Appalachian Trail from Georgia to Maine for another book, he offered words of wisdom to travelers who only have days or a couple of weeks to see England.
“I wouldn’t dissuade people from doing the obvious things like going to see the Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace or the Tower of London, that kind of thing,” said Bryson. “If you’re only going to go once in your life, it’s understandable that you would want to do that. But what I would advise would be to take at least a morning or afternoon and go for a long, totally random walk in London. One of the glories of London is that it’s such a great city to walk in.”
London, he noted, is peppered with houses and buildings sporting blue plaques that tell you what great person lived there. “On any walk you just stumble on wonderful little leafy squares or you come across a house where Alexander Fleming, who discovered penicillin, lived, or a house where novelist Jane Austen lived. Wherever you go, you’ll come across something that is quite impressive that you wouldn’t have normally seen.”
For visitors who don’t want to fight the crowds at the British Museum or the Victoria and Albert Museum, said Bryson, “there are others like the Courtauld Institute, which has a fabulous collection of Impressionist paintings, or the Museum of London, which doesn’t get as many overseas visitors as it ought to. It gives you a complete history of the City of London.”
Among Bryson’s choice places outside London that capture a special spirit:
– The Cotswolds, a range of limestone hills in southwest England. “There are some quintessentially English villages, in particular Chipping Campden. It’s exactly the kind of place that Miss Marpole would be walking up the sidewalk.”
– The Yorkshire Dales in the north. “Most people who have watched `All Creatures Great and Small’ will recognize the beautiful, but rugged and barren, landscape. Yorkshire is a contrast between the lush valley floors that are the typical Arcadian rural English landscape and very bleak, treeless Wuthering Heights-like hills up above. You’re constantly going between these two zones.”
– Wales. “I would say anywhere except South Wales, which is quite industrial and full of old, declining mining villages. But central and northern Wales have some sensationally beautiful countryside. All too often, people don’t bother to penetrate that far.”
I asked Bryson about the Lake District, an amazingly rugged area in northwest England–Wordsworth Country. “The Lake District is a perfect example of the sort of place where you need to make an effort to get away from the crowds,” Bryson said. “In the main towns (Ambleside, Bowness, Hawkshead and Keswick), it’s hard to find a place to park. The sidewalks are overflowing with tourists.
“All the shops seem totally devoted to selling crappy souvenirs, tea towels and endless Beatrix Potter paraphernalia. But if you just go a half-mile up into the hill or find a nice quiet back road, you suddenly realize this is one of the most sensationally beautiful corners of the whole planet.”
Bryson writes much about the idiosyncratic Brits, shy, but willing to open up.
“I think the best way to meet the Brits is to be a typical, gregarious, friendly American because the British almost never speak to you first,” Bryson opined. “It’s not part of their character. People often interpret this as aloofness. In fact, it’s kind of an institutionalized shyness. They respect each other’s privacy. But my experience is that once you start talking to them, they will be very charming and helpful.
“Like most people, there’s nothing they like better than giving advice and telling you about places to go. If you go into a country pub and just say, `Excuse me, can you tell me the best way to get to Truro or Oxford (or wherever),’ you’ll soon have the whole pub offering advice.”
And if you get lost, well, you’ll probably encounter a charming corner of England that you otherwise would have missed.
