Puzzler

The British Heritage
Tips and tidbits for travel and for fun

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LAST ISSUE WE INVITED Puzzler players to ponder: “Known for his pillorying of Victorian England’s industrial society, Charles Dickens set which one of his well-known novels in the grimy mills of a fictionalized Manchester?”
Dickens shortest novel, Hard Times was originally published in 1854. His only novel set completely in the North, the manufacturing and mill city of Manchester becomes Coketown. Appalled by the conditions in which workers toiled, Dickens paints a grim picture of mid-Victorian working class life and the mechanistic impersonalization of the education and social attitudes of the times.

NOW, PONDER THIS PUZZLER: A memorial sculpture stands prominently at a park in a Welsh mining town commemorating a father-son team for their singular contribution to Welsh culture—known to everyone of Welsh birth. Who are these men, and what did they do?

DO JOIN THE REGULAR PUZZLER PLAYERS; email your answer to [email protected]. All entries are indeed acknowledged.

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Keeping in Touch

WE ARE ALWAYS DELIGHTED to hear from British Heritage readers – and occasionally to share your enthusiasms and travel tips with other readers. We always love to hear if you have used British Heritage in planning your own adventures in Britain. Email us at [email protected].

Coming Up in British Heritage

• Behind the Baize Door


• Margate’s Nostalgic Dreamland


• Pub Signs: What’s in a Name?


• Great British Rivers: The Tay


• Take the Ferry: Lifeline of the Islands


• Cowes Week: Ahoy the Isle of Wight!

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Dame Agatha and Sir Basil

Sir Basil was driving home in the old family Rover from the auto shop with crusty Dame Agatha beside him. As he approached a turn near Dartmoor, Sir Basil asked the good lady to roll down the window and tell him whether the turn signal was working properly. With some ill-concealed irritation, Dame Agatha stuck her head out the window and reported. “Yes, it’s working,” she said testily. “No, wait a minute, no it isn’t. Yes, it is. No, it isn’t. Yes it is …”

Highlight Events for Winter Travel

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EDINBURGH’S HOGMANAY

Journey to Scotland by train from London King’s Cross to celebrate New Year’s Eve for three days from December 30 through January 1. The traditional Hogmanay in Scotland’s capital is indeed a three-day street party, and one of the world’s most famous New Years’ celebrations, with torch-lit parades, holiday markets, fireworks in Princes Street Gardens and non-stop music. It’s the Celtic answer to Mardi Gras at www.edinburghshogmanay.com.

Tidbits From the Post

This issue is one of your best. Your sequencing of pieces dealing in various ways with Magna Carta and Runnymede is brilliantly conceived and presented. British Heritage essays, features and photos are always wonderful, but now you’ve given us more pages too! Welcome back to New England!

Prof. Wesley T. Mott Worcester, Mass.

I just wanted to tell you how much I enjoyed the August/September issue, just chock full of history and stories for the armchair traveler like me. I particularly liked the package of stories on Time Stands Still, as well as the story on auto museums. I have a 1939 Chrysler Imperial in my garage and I take “the Empress” out for a drive about once a week. Keep up the great work. I look forward to every issue. I also like the new paper stock and find the new Brit ads quite interesting.
Joe Darby Natchitoches, Louisiana

JORVIK VIKING FESTIVAL

Historic capital of the North, York is a rich tapestry weaving colorful threads through every era of English history since the Romans fortified it as Eboracum. The highlight of the city’s winter, however, focuses on its Viking past—still very visible in the city today. Some 40,000 people from around the world gather in the ancient Viking trading port of Jorvik every February for Europe’s largest Viking festival. Get your inner Norseman on for a nine-day program of Viking-themed events. Visit 10th-century traders at the Merchant Adventurers Hall, chat with expert archeologists or have a go at sword combat. There’s a Best Beard contest, and a Strongest Viking competition, battle reenactments, folk music, lectures and parades as well. Expect a lot of faux angry growls. Check out the full calendar at www.jorvik-viking-festival.co.uk.

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Sites for the Savvy

• www.aldeburgh.co.uk
  Three weeks of music at the Aldeburgh Festival


• www.visitwales.com
  Official tourism website for Wales


• www.rhs.org.uk
  Royal Horticultural Society for gardens not lost


• www.thesealedknot.org.uk
  Fighting the Civil War today


• www.bbc.com/news
  The BBC covers the UK and the world


• www.britishheritage.com
  Online treasures of British Heritage

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