When you've seen London's standard tourist sights, try these for a change...
Isidore
These are personal favourites to which I direct friends who are spending a week or ten days in London - they're either in the city, or within a three-hour driving radius if you rent a car for a few days!
Jul 1, 2006
based on 7 votes
A selection of unusual sights and outings within a day's travel radius of London and of equal interest for young and old
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Explore locations featured in this Traveler List:
London
- Category: Perfect week or more
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Traveler type: Culture, Sightseeing, Repeat visitors
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Appeals to: Couples/romantics, Singles, Families with teenagers, Seniors, Tourists
- Seasons: Winter, Spring, Summer, Fall
- Tags: Navy, New Forest, Motorcycle, Soane, Hogarth, G.F. Watts, Locomotive, Heroism
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| A 10,000 ton light cruiser of the "Improved Towns" Class, the Belfast is, to Britain's shame, the only large warship from either World War that has been preserved as a memorial. This magnificent vessel saw service in the Artic convoys to reinforce Russia, participated in the destruction of the Sharnhorst in the 1943 Battle of the North Cape and undertook shore bombardments at D-Day and in the Korean conflict. She lies in the Thames opposite the Tower of London and a visit will take at least a whole morning or a whole afternoon. Perfection of design shows in almost every feature of the ship, down to the smallest and most precise mechanisms, and one gains an impression of the high degree of professionalism and teamwork required to make the whole function as an integrated, living organism. Perhaps one's greatest admiration goes to the crews in the magazines and shell rooms in the bowels of the ship, deep beneath the turrets, shut off from a view of the world outside and surrounded by complex carousel-type loading equipment and enough high explosive to blow them to atoms should an enemy shell find its mark. If you want to get an inkling of how Britannia ruled the waves for so long, don't miss HMS Belfast. |
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2. Sammy Miller Motorcycle Museum - biggest in Britain, if not in Europe
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| This splendid museum is situated just outside the beautiful and historic town of Christchurch, on Britain's south coast, on the edge of the New Forest. The website mentioned above gives details on location and content. The museum houses some 300 fully restored motorcycles, going back over a century, but to call it a museum is somewhat of a misnomer, as the visitor is allowed very close access - on the obvious proviso that one doesn't touch or meddle - and in many ways it feels more like a living workshop than a museum. Most of the motrocycles are in working order and the staff could not be more friendly or helpful. There are large numbers of rare and unusual motorcycles as well as examples of much-loved classics. If you are a motor-cycle fanatic you may need more than one day, but even if you are not you'll need at least half a day. The immedaite surroundnigs - a converted farm courtyard, which has a small cafe and craft shop attached, plus donkey and alpaca paddocks - are no less attractive. The drive from Central London will take 2-3 hours, depending on traffic, and a visit can be combined with exporation of the New Forest, with its beautiful views and wild ponies. The founder, Sammy Miller, deserves a medal for preservng so much of our shared industrial heritage in this way. |
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3. Step back two centuries when you cross the threshold!
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| The architect Sir John Soane, who died in 1837, left his house at No. 13 Lincoln's Inn Fields, London as a museum. A great collector - the range and variety of the objects on display is mind-boggling - Soane had already turned the house into something of a museum when he was appointed Professor of Architecture at the Royal Academy in 1806, when he started to arrange his books, casts of classical statues and fragments and his models so that his students could have easy access to them. The collection contains far more than architecturally-related items however - see the website above to get a feel for the vast range- and the most impressive pieces are perhaps Hogarth's two series of paintings, "A Rake's Progress" and "An Election". These are not hung - you extract them yourself from their storage cabinets - it's a relief that they are so well protected! In some ways however the most attractive aspect of the museum is the house itself - it is furnished wholly with period items and you feel that were Soane to return today he would feel at home immedaitely. The overall impression is of stepping right back in time once you cross the threshold. If you are in London do not miss this museum. It's wonderful - and yet so few people seem to know about it. |
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4. A Sistine Chapel in Miniature - Sandham Memorial Chapel, Burghclere, Hampshire
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From the outside this humble redbrick building in a small rural village looks insignificant, but when you open the door you step into a work of art as glorious as the Sistine Chapel itself. The artist, Stanley Spenser, who had served as a medical orderly in hospitals in Britain and in Salonika in the Great War, decorated it during the 1920s as a memorial for the dead of the conflict. The walls are covered with visionary paintings in which the grim realities of battlefield, hospital and burial ground merge into a vision of celestial beauty and divine mercy and reconciliation. The centrepiece is a vision of the Resurrection of the Dead, in which the graves of Salonika give up their dead - even a skeletal horse is struggling back to life - to find their way to the person of Christ n the distance. William Blake could not have conceived of anything more majestic and profound. The effect is overwhelming and it is hard to hold back tears. The memory will stay with you forever.
Burghclere is less than two hours from Central London, a little north of Basingstoke, and a visit here - for which a car is essential - could also be combined with a visit to the nearby city of Winchester. Once England's capital, Winchester is a beautiful town, the most notable attraction of which is its cathedral where, among much else, the grave of Jane Austen can be found set among the flagstones of the floor. |
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5. Fort Nelson - A Victorian Fortress that's now a Museum
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| Situated on the high Downs above Portsmouth, Fort Nelson is one of a chain of forts built in the 1860s to protect the landward approaches to this naval-base city against any landing by Napoleon IIIâs French Army. A vast structure - and a pristine one, since it was never attacked - the fort is situated on Portdsown Hill, from which there are stunning views of Portsmouth and the Solent to the south and the Meon Valley to the north. If you do visit, it is worthwhile bringing binoculars. Much of the fort is underground - gigantic galleries and tunnels, sleeping accommodation, cooking facilities and the main magazine, with ingenious provisions against accidental explosion. The fort was large enough to need its own miniature railway for shifting heavy load about. The casemates in which the fort's guns were located are largely empty but a few vintage pieces are kept in working order and are displayed on occasion by suitably uniformed and equipped re-enactors - check the website for details of regular displays and events. Located above ground, on the old parade ground houses part of the Royal Armouries collection, with artillery pieces on display from both world wars, and from the more recent conflict in Iraq. You will need at least half a day for the visit but as Portsmouth is less than two hours from Central London by car or train, a visit here can be combined with one to Portsmouth, where Nelson's flagship HMS Victory and the gigantic Victorian ironclad HMS Warrior can also be visited. Check the URL given above for details of how to get there - you won't regret it. |
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6. A Wonderful Art Gallery in an Delightful Setting
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| George Fredrick Watts was probably the most important artist of the Victorian period and many of his paintings have grandeur and a feel for the ethereal that matches those of Turner. The Watts Gallery, located in the small village of Compton, just off the A3, south of Guildford, Surrey, contains much of his best work - sculptures as well as paintings. As you arrive you may well feel that you have taken a wrong turning, for the exterior - more like a country residence - is like no other gallery you have visited, but when you enter you find yourself surrounded by works of such vision, colour and energy that you feel invigorated for days to come. Close by the gallery - indeed on the approach road to it from the A3 - you will encounter the Watts Cemetery Chapel, created by Watt's widow, Mary, a building which fuses several architectural styles in a way that is wholly unique, and yet which works perfectly. I have seen nothing else like it anywhere. Compton is just an hour from Central London, down the A3 highway, and so is easily accessible. You can find directions from the URL above. |
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7. Postman's Park - another amazing G.F. Watts creation
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| This small park is located King Edward Street and Angel Street, just north of St Paul's Cathedral, must rate as one of the most unusual - and most moving - memorials in the world. The painter G.F. Watts had the idea in the late nineteenth century of creating an open gallery in which small glazed tiles would record deeds of heroism by ordinary people which would otherwise have been forgotten. The acts of courage detailed here are both inspiring and heartbreaking - recording how ordinary men and women, and sometimes children, gave their lives trying to save others from death by fire or drowning or other accidents. One example is "Sarah Smith, pantomime artiste. At Prince's Theatre died of terrible injuries received when attempting in her inflammable dress to extinguish the flames which had enveloped her companion. January 24 1863" and another is "George Lee, fireman. At a fire in Clerkenwell carried an unconscious girl to the escape, falling six times and died of his injuries. July 26 1876." These are typical of many others - people who thought of themselves as "ordinary" but rose to the highest levels of heroism when the necessity arose. Without Watts' inspired memorial their names would be forgotten - and we would be the poorer. |
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8. The Watercress Line - step back to the 1930s
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| Youâve probably seen this railway line in action before, as it features in many British-made TV productions set in the 1920s to 1950s period. It runs only ten miles between the tows of Alton and Alresford, but it crosses beautiful countryside and the station at Alresford - itself a beautiful little "almost too picturesque to be true" town - is restored to what it would have looked like in the 1930s. Throughout the summer train services, some of them drawn by steam locomotives run on the line and, by prior booking, you can take a course in locomotive-driving yourself. Am authentic and luxurious 1930s dining car is also available - you'll feel like Hercule Poirot on the Orient Express - but you'll need to book ahead as it is very popular. The whole venture is run by volunteers, who are one and all enthusiastic, friendly and welcoming. If you drive down from central London (see the website with the URL as above) you could make ties the centrepiece of a delightful day. The best route back by car is northwards from Alresford, through beautiful countryside and the picturesque "Candovers" villages to Odiham, and from there on to the M3, which will bring you back to London. |
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Compliment Isidore
