The Quest for England
A more personal set of videos exploring England, it’s towns, villages and countryside.
Julia and I are on a mission to seek out the Preston Twins, the oldest elms trees in Great Britain. They were planted/seeded around 1613, just over 400 years ago, and thanks to recent careful management have been looked after to avoid the terrible Elm Disease that is killing off mature elms in this country. […]
The lovely Julia and me head off to explore another park. This time it is Beach House Park in Worthing, in West Sussex, close to the seafront. The park is home to Flat Green Bowling with four bowling greens. The park was purchased from the Beach House Estate in 1922 and opened to the public […]
Julia and I are out for a stroll around the wooded area at Hooksway in West Sussex, a few miles north of Chichester and close to Chilgrove. We start at The Royal Oak pub and take a short circular walk alongside beautiful autumn woodland through the East Dean Estate. En-route, we discover a delightful fairy […]
I am with Tom Brown, the head gardener of West Dean Gardens in West Sussex. Tom takes me to have a look at the lesser part of the fabulous gardens there, the Arboretum. It is autumn and the magnificent trees are changing colours. Join us as we stroll up the chalky slopes of the Southdowns […]
This is part two of my look at Abingdon Abbey in Abingdon-on-Thames. Today Tim Miller, the curator of the abbey takes me around the extant buildings that survived the Dissolution of the Monasteries. He explains what they were used for and how they are utilised today. Abingdon Abbey dates back to Saxon times but have […]
I am furthering my exploration of Abingdon-on-Thames and today I am joined by American curator, Tim Miller, to look at the rise and fall of the once magnificent abbey that stood in Abingdon. The Saxons were responsible for their being a religious house here in the first place, but when the Danes came they burnt […]