Bath, Somerset
Amy Williams Triumphant in Vancouver
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GETTY IMAGES
WITH DAREDEVIL SKILL and almost nonchalant demeanor, Bath’s 27-year-old Amy Williams took the gold medal in skeleton at the Vancouver Olympics. On her way to the podium, she twice broke the speed record on the world’s fastest ice track. Williams became the first British athlete to win an individual gold in the Winter Olympics since figure skater Robin Cousins captured gold in Lake Placid in 1980, and the first British woman to take a gold medal in 58 years. The former sprinter achieved speeds of 90 mph just inches off the ice, and covered the 1,450 meter course in an average of 54 seconds over her four runs.
Stoke Golding, Leicestershire
Battered Boar of Bosworth
“IT TOOK US five years to locate it, but there it is, the Battle of Bosworth,” announced Glenn Hoard, the battlefield archaeologist who led the search. The crucial evidence is the find on the field of a small silver-gilt badge of a snarling boar, the personal emblem of King Richard III, which would have been given to one of his personal retinue of knights prior to the battle. Lying roughly a mile southwest of the present Bosworth visitor’s center, the newly confirmed battle site straddling Fen Lane will be connected by footpaths to the interpretive center and parking area.
And Just in Passing
Ludlow Still Cooking Culinary honors keep pouring in to the Shropshire market town of Ludlow (see “Culinary Ludlow,” March, p. 30). The influential Harden’s Guide has named Michelin-starred Mr. Underhill’s the best restaurant in Britain on the strength of reviews received from 8,000 foodies across the island.
West Highland Line Tops Again
For a second year, the West Highland Line has been voted the world’s best train journey. Readers of travel magazine Wanderlust rated the line No. 1 for its breathtaking scenery, as the 164-mile journey from Glasgow to Mallaig weaves by the bonnie banks of Loch Lomond, over the famous Glenfinnan viaduct and past the silver sands of Morar.
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GETTY IMAGES
Love that Haggis!
The United States has recently lifted a 21-year old ban on the importation of proper Scottish haggis. Since the BSE crisis back in the 80s, the “chieftain o’ the pudding-race” had been forbidden on American shores. Though haggis has been bootlegged and smuggled, many people have never tasted the real thing. Bottoms up!
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COURTESY OF GLENN HOARD
And Just in Passing
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DAVID CHESKIN/PA ARCHIVE/PA IMAGES
Paddington Recruited
The bear “from darkest Peru” may be the most famous marmalade lover in the world. Alas, marmalade sales have been consistently shrinking in Britain— where they consume more of the bitter orange spread than anywhere else on the globe. Producers fear that young people are growing up without a taste for the breakfast delicacy. So, Robertson’s Golden Shred marmalade is enlisting Paddington’s help, signing the popular bear for a new marketing campaign. Michael Bond created the character after noticing a teddy bear in a shop near Paddington Station on Christmas Eve in 1956.
Britain’s Most Popular Walk
Everyone knows our green and pleasant land is a walker’s paradise. Now, the National Trust has revealed that the most popular of the 130 walks downloadable on its website is the six-mile Bath Skyline walk that perambulates the painfully picturesque city of Bath. Spectacular views of Bath, woodlands, meadows and grazing sheep abound. The attraction, of course, may not be simply the walk itself, but the historic city of Bath that draws the crowds. You’ve got to work off that Sally Lunn bun somehow.
St. Pancras, London
World’s Largest Book Anchors Exhibition
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COURTESY OF THE BRITISH LIBRARY
AN ATLAS made for King Charles II upon his restoration to the throne is to go on public display for the first time at the British Library. The 6-foot atlas, created by a Dutch merchant to curry favor with the king, is indeed the largest book in the world—requiring six people to lift it. The unique volume of 39 maps of the continents, Britain and other major European countries will be one of the centerpieces in the exhibition called Magnificent Maps: Power, Propaganda and Art at the British Library from April 30 to September 19.
Bourneville, Birmingham
“Keep Cadbury British”
THE “Keep Cadbury British” campaign was set in motion after Kraft’s original bid for Britain’s most famous chocolate company in September. Workers and consumers alike feared changes that the U.S. owned company might make to the very British institution. Alas, shareholders voted overwhelmingly in late winter to accept Kraft’s counter offer. The American food conglomerate promised, along with its £11.5 billion, that jobs would be secure. After the takeover, however, Kraft announced it would be closing the Somerset factory at Keynsham in 2011. Now all of Britain is holds its breath; will Kraft’s changes affect the smooth, creamy taste of Britain’s beloved chocolate?
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COURTESY OF CADBURY
High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire
Search for the “Tall and Talented”
BRITISH Basketball and UK Sport have been advertising for tall British athletes (males over 6 foot 3 inches and females over 5 foot 11 inches) to be trained as Olympic basketball athletes for the 2016 games in Rio de Janeiro. “We are looking for raw sporting talent,” a spokesman claims, “with the capacity to develop under elite level coaches in a world class training environment.”
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GETTY IMAGES
Chicago Bulls’ star Luol Deng, perhaps Britain’s most outstanding basketball player, is supporting the program to train a seriously competitive British team for international competition. More than 1,000 athletes are being tested in a six-month selection process. UK Sport has concluded that it’s too late for London 2012.
St. John’s Wood, London
Saving Abbey Road
THE WORLD’S most famous recording studio, Abbey Road in North London, has been granted Grade II listed status following a public outcry over its possible sale. Recording giant EMI had voiced its intent to sell the storied venue in a bid to raise cash. The studio’s listed status assures that no structural changes can be made to the 1830s villa.
In addition to being the site of almost all the Beatles recordings, Abbey Road has been the scene of recordings by Pink Floyd and Michael Jackson among many others. In 1931 Sir Edward Elgar conducted the London Symphony Orchestra at the studio, recording Elgar’s own iconic anthem “Land of Hope and Glory.”
Lauding the decision to protect the building with listed status, English Heritage chief exec Simon Thursley called Abbey Road “a modern-day monument to the history of recorded sound and music.”
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GETTY IMAGES
And Just in Passing
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MARTIN BRIGDALE/PHOTOLIBRARY
Pie Eating in the Sky
The humble pie has scored a stunning return, with consumers ditching more contemporary fast food in favor of steak-and-kidney, chicken-and-mushroom and old fashioned pork pies. Recessionshocked British consumers seem to be returning to traditional comfort foods as pie eating in Britain is at a 30-year high.
And Just in Passing
FOR THE RECORD
Kelvingrove Museum Scotland’s Hottest Visit
Glasgow’s Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum welcomed 1,368,096 visitors last year, making it the most visited attraction in Scotland. In second place, and the most popular paid attraction, was Edinburgh Castle with 1,196,481 admissions.
The National Gallery complex in Edinburgh finished third with almost 900,000 visitors.
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COURTESY OF KELVINGROVE MUSEUM
Edinburgh
Cold Britain Spurs Alpine Revival
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HARALD LANG/PHOTOLIBRARY
YES, Britain suffered through its coldest January in more than 20 years—and the ninth coldest in a century. That followed an extra cold and snowy December. Conservationists are looking on an unexpected brighter side. The extreme weather and blanket of snow across the Scottish mountains has been a boon to Scotland’s ice age flora, and some of its rarest plants—Arctic alpines. Experts at the National Trust for Scotland are delighted to see conditions which will help such flowers as Drooping Saxifrage, Snow Pearlwort and Alpine Gentian flourish in the Highlands.
Whitehall, London
New Falklands Dispute Over Oil
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AP PHOTO
ONCE again, Argentina has launched a row with the UK over the Falkland Islands. This latest challenge to British sovereignty over its South Atlantic outpost comes as the oil industry begins active drilling in Falkland territorial waters. A summit of Latin American nations has reaffirmed their support for Argentina’s claim to sovereignty over the islands. With the involvement of the UN, diplomatic tensions are expected to continue for some time. Memories of the 1982 Falkland’s War and Britain’s impassioned defense of the islands and their British citizens remain vivid on both sides.
Antarctica
100-Year Old Whisky from the Ice
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ASSOCIATED PRESS
DISCOVERED three years ago, three cases of Scotch whisky and two cases of brandy have been recovered from polar ice. The not-quite-frozen spirits were hastily buried beneath the Antarctic hut of explorer Ernest Shackleton during his failed 1908 expedition to the South Pole. The find is being called “a gift from the heavens” for whisky lovers.
Whitehall, London
MPs Charged Over Expenses Abuse
THREE LABOUR MPS and a Tory peer face criminal charges in the ongoing Parliamentary abuse scandal. The four are accused of false accounting under the Theft Act of 1968 and could serve seven years in prison if convicted. Labour MPs Elliot Morley, Jim Devine and David Chaytor are attempting to cite Parliamentary privilege in their defense under the 1689 Bill of Rights, claiming that they are above the law and cannot be prosecuted in the courts. All have been banned by the party from standing in the election. Lord Hanningfield, a former Tory shadow minister, insists that his own expense claims were made in good faith.
R.I.P.
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AFP/GETTY IMAGES
Demure English actress Jean Simmons died at the age of 80 recently, after a film career of more than 60 years. Once among Hollywood’s most popular leading ladies, Simmons began with an Oscar nomination as Ophelia opposite Laurence Olivier’s Hamlet in 1948. Among her memorable starring roles were those in Spartacus, The Robe, Elmer Gantry, Guys and Dolls and The Happy Ending. Simmons also won an Emmy for her role in The Thorn Birds.
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RUI VEIERA/PA ARCHIVE/PA IMAGES
The champion hunt jockey turned best-selling author has died at age 89. Both readers and horse racing figures mourned the passing of Francis, whose horse-world thrillers were loved across the world. After retiring from a career as a professional jockey in 1957, Francis went on to write 42 novels in all, topping bestseller lists for four decades, winning numerous writing awards and achieving worldwide sales of more than 75 million books.
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