Why your Mayflower tour must include Southampton. Southampton, where four hundred years ago, two ships, the Mayflower and the Speedwell, first came together and were fitted out with supplies for the voyage. Where the pilgrims actually boarded the ships for the first time. Where all the planning for the trip to the New World came […]
The School of Artisan Food
Heritage British Cookery at The School of Artisan Food: (invited press review) Driving into the grounds of The School of Artisan Food on the Welbeck Estate in North Nottinghamshire is to take a step back into history in more ways than one. Not only is the School based in the old stables of the Estate […]
Mayflower 400 – Pilgrim Roots in England
Pilgrim Country – exploring the Mayflower Pilgrim Trail: A visit to Pilgrim Country enables those following the Mayflower Pilgrim Trail to get back to the beginning of the story that culminated in the sailing to the New World in 1620. For it is in the towns and villages of Nottinghamshire, Yorkshire and Lincolnshire where the […]
The Mayflower, Plymouth UK – Sailing for the New World
Plymouth – The Departure of the Mayflower, the Demise of The Speedwell: She is open and leakie as a sieve; and thr was a bourde, a man might have puld of with his fingers, 2 foote longe, wher ye water cam in as it at a mole hole. I thinke, as others also, if we […]
The Mayflower Pilgrims in Delfshaven
Delfshaven and the Mayflower Pilgrims departure for the New World: In 1608 a group of religious Separatists who ultimately became known as the Mayflower Pilgrims escaped from England and made their way briefly to Amsterdam before the Mayflower Pilgrims settled for 11 years in Leiden. Here they enjoyed enough freedom to pursue their religious life as […]
The Pilgrims in Leiden – Mayflower400 Story
The Mayflower and Leiden – The History of the Pilgrims in Holland: Walking into the historic centre of Leiden is like stepping back into the 17th century. This classically beautiful Dutch city was a refuge for those now known as the Mayflower Pilgrims, separatists who fled from England in pursuit of religious freedom. For those […]
Eurostar London to Rotterdam Direct
Travelling from London St Pancras to Rotterdam by Eurostar: On a Friday afternoon in September, I watched the southern English countryside flash by in a swirl of green fields and blue sky. Just a few miles into the journey I felt the stress of the working week recede. Only 90 minutes earlier I had closed […]
Mayflower Pilgrims in Lincolnshire – Gainsborough and Boston
Separatists and Secrets – the Mayflower and the roots of American Heritage: 2020 marks the 400th Anniversary of the sailing of the Mayflower with its 102 passengers to a new life in America. We are travelling England exploring the Mayflower heritage in a series of features and this trip takes us to Lincolnshire. The City of […]
Mayflower Heritage in Dartmouth
The Mayflower and Speedwell in Dartmouth Although the annual Thanksgiving Dinner marks the survival of the early European settlers in New England, the less remarked upon, but nonetheless remarkable story, is of the initial obstacles they encountered even before setting sail across the perilous Atlantic Ocean. This is set to change with a series of […]
Five More Places to Make Sure You See in London
Five ‘Shouldn’t Miss’ London Sights you might never have heard of! If you want to know where to go in London, some of the most knowledgeable people are the hotel concierges. Inspired by this Concierge’s Guide to London, I’ve been thinking about my own recommendations – where I take visiting friends and family when they […]