Tips and tidbits for travel and for fun
Penny Wise
When You Travel Does Matter
If your travel planning includes working to a budget (and whose doesn’t?), keep in mind that when you travel makes a difference at every turn.
It should be general knowledge by now, but airfare between the States and London is higher in the summer than in the winter. Airlines used to have clearly demarked Low, Shoulder and High Seasons; those sharp distinctions have been blurred somewhat as airliners have fine-tuned load management with the shift to internet sales. You have to look more carefully on-line now, but the principal is still true: the least expensive tickets are available when the fewest people want to travel. Off-season, midweek flights are always cheapest.
Timing travel makes a good deal of difference in train fares, as well. Unless you are traveling with a Britrail pass, individual trip tickets vary widely depending on time of day, route and historic demand. Particularly on commuter trains and the London Underground, peak hours (before 9:30 a.m. and 4:30-7 p.m., though this varies) are more expensive than midday or evening—even with your Oyster Card.
Likewise, the cost of accommodation varies with demand. Yes, generally the summer months are most expensive (stretching from April through September many places). Bear in mind, though, the local event calendar. A literary or music festival, sporting fixture or local holiday can greatly increase demand, and room rates, at any time of year.
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The British Heritage
PUZZLER
Last issue we posed this: “As a young man, I was a flamboyant man-about-town in London, and wrote novels. As an old man, I was a favorite of Queen Victoria’s and the toast of Europe at the Congress of Berlin. Who am I?”
Ambitious and personable, Benjamin Disraeli (1804-1881) rose from a youth as London social dilettante and aspiring writer to lead the Conservative Party for three decades in the 19th century. He was twice prime minister, and, yes, Queen Victoria’s favorite.
Now puzzle this:
I am indeed a spectacular ruin, located on the banks of a famous river. Prayers have been said here and poetry inspired by me. J.M.W. Turner painted me more than once. Where am I?
Be a Puzzler player and email your answer to [email protected].
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THE GRANGER COLLECTION, NEW YORK
Hearing From You
We are always pleased to hear from British Heritage readers. If you have a travel tip or a terrific travel experience to share with other readers and Anglophiles, by all means let us know. We would be happy to share readers’ advice, and to pass some of your adventures on to our fellow enthusiasts. Email, by all means, or write to us at:
British Heritage 19300 Promenade Dr. Leesburg, VA 20176
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Sites for the Savvy
- www.pubisthehub.org.uk Prince Charles’ initiative to save the village pub
- www.metoffice.gov.uk Everything you need to know about Britain’s weather
- www.visitBritain.us Visit Britain offers unbelievable scope for travel planning
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www.britainonthecheap.com
Cheap and cheerful guide to British travel deals - www.telegraph.co.uk For news and views from the Daily Telegraph
- www.royal.gov.uk The official website of the British monarchy
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A Room of One’s Own
The Moorland Links Hotel, Yelverton
In nine acres of gorgeous grounds, the Moorland Links Hotel sits right on the edge of Dartmoor National Park, a perfect location to follow Jim Hargan’s gingerly footsteps across the tors and mires. The welcome is consistently friendly at the Moorland Links, the accommodation attractive and reliably comfortable and the food admirable. Lovely public areas, gardens for strolling and breathtaking views out over the Tamar Valley all add to the charm.
Or take a walk before dinner out onto the moors themselves, where wild ponies graze among the gorse. Dartmoor lies in front of you, Ply-mouth is just a short drive away, as is Sir Francis Drake’s Buckland Abbey, and Cornwall lies just behind you to the southwest.
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JIM HARGAN
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The Moorland Links Hotel
Yelverton, Near Plymouth, South Devon PL20 6DA Tel: 01822 852 245
www.moorlandlinkshotel.co.uk
Coming Up in British Heritage
- A pilgrimage to Greenfield Valley
- Derbyshire’s amazing Peak District
- Dusting off the bookshops of London
- A Herefordshire hamper of country goodness
- Those lovely piers of the realm
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DANA HUNTLEY
Author, Author!
You see his byline regularly in British Heritage; now meet Editor Dana Huntley, in his own words
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PATTY KELLY
It was the literature that drew me into a lifetime of pleasurable scholarly and profane appreciation of Great Britain. As a youth, I loved reading Dickens and Tennyson, tales of Robin Hood, King Arthur and the Battle of Britain. And who can spin a yarn like Shakespeare? In college, I added Austen and Hardy, T.S. Eliot, C.S. Lewis and D.H. Lawrence to my pantheon. I went on to graduate work at Fordham and then Drew University, where I finished school by writing a doctoral dissertation on W.H. Auden, yea, now 30 years ago.
Ever since, I’ve been sharing Britain, its literature and its history with people–in the classroom, designing and leading British travel, and by the proverbial “pen” that is nowadays a keyboard. The historic and cultural richness of Britain is the primary source of our own American culture, values and institutions. That’s important.
I’m a great fan of Gilbert & Sullivan, real ale (and, yes, the village pub), faded seaside resort towns, English cheeses, Scottish woolens and the music of Welsh male voice choirs. I also play the piano, avidly follow college basketball, cook up a storm and sing bass in a Presbyterian choir.
It’s hard to believe I have been more than five years now at the editor’s desk of British Heritage–coming south to Virginia after much of a lifetime based in New Hampshire. Don’t think I’d want to go back to those northern New England winters. I much enjoy both the Virginia Piedmont and British Heritage, and somehow never lose my enthusiasm for the next great story or the next British travel adventure.
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