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Showing posts with the label guided

Saxon Shore Forts

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Saxon Shore Forts If you’ve ever toured around the coast of England, you may well have discovered one or two, strange Roman oddities, called Saxon Shore Forts. Indeed, you may even have come across one or two along the coast of Northern Europe. Portchester Fortress During the middle of the 3rd century, Rome deemed it necessary to set up a separate strategic command, in order to control and protect trade through the English Channel. As the Empire proceeded to collapse, the shore forts created along England’s coasts were separated and out under its own command known as, ‘The Count of the Saxon Shore’. Just the name, should give you a clue as to why these formidable fortresses were built. Being coastal, they were essentially military ports AND garrisons. However, as we have very few mentions of these places from Roman sources, their use is somewhat clouded. Were they fortresses which protected against Saxon incursion or were they built on territories already settled by t

Observing

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Observing . Walking around Carnac yesterday, filming some video for my ‘stones’ tour, we came across some beautiful places. In amongst the grasses, and the stones, was a tree trunk... just an ordinary tree trunk.. I’ve walked past It before and ignored it, but my wife, Toni, yelled out and asked me to stop walking as she took this gorgeous photo...   I’ll never walk past that tree again. She captured the moment and I was able to understand my surroundings a little more thanks to her photo. Travel is a career for me, and sometimes I feel like I’m becoming jaded or tired of it. The constant packing and unpacking, always having to look ahead and motivate others to enjoy and understand what it is they are looking at, can be exhausting. Yes, there is always the reward of seeing their eyes light up ( I’m an ‘eyes’ person), as they realise or learn something new...  but sometimes, I just want to be in the moment myself.  The second photo, was one such moment. I had been busy, filming

Walking Amongst The Stones

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Walking Amongst The Standing Stones Of Brittany in Western France Sorry for not blogging anything yesterday, but I was on a mission to create a short video.... nearly an hour long,... a video tour of the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Carnac, in Western France. I set out early, as it’s an hours drive from here, and beating the traffic, I arrived at the exhibition centre in Carnac at about 9.00am. Not knowing anything about virtual tours or videoing for Facebook and YouTube, I had to learn on the spot.  Trust me when I say that it was a big learning curve. As I loved to do, I extolled the virtues of standing stones, gave some background and history about them and began piecing together what little we know about them. The first video, there will be three, will air on Saturday morning and will be available through my Facebook feeds, so tune in to watch. However, I must first of all put out my disclaimers....   the audio isn’t good.... it’s OK,.. just not studio quality.

Touring The South West of England

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Touring The South West of England In March 2021, I shall be leading my own tour through this beautiful region of England. With the use of small minibuses, I’m going to take an intrepid band of travelers into some of the remotest parts of England. I was born in the north west corner of Devonshire and later into my youth moved to Bath and Bristol. My family come from Plymouth in Southern Devon, and Barnstaple to the north. I have friends in Cornwall, Dorset and Hampshire.....    and love this area ! I start my tours in Clifton in Bristol, the largest city in the area. It has great transportation links to London and also an airport that receives flights from the US. I’ve chosen Bristol as a starting point because of transportation but also because, historically, it’s always been tied to the America’s through trade and fishing. We know the John Cabot was fishing in the waters of North America, and trading with Native American communities at the same time as Columbus was ‘discov

English Landscape Gardens

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English Landscape Gardens. Because I’ve created a new Cotswolds small group tour, that will include a couple of very special gardens, I thought that I should write a little piece on England’s gardens....landscape gardens in particular. Over the years, I’ve been fortunate enough to visit some great gardens scattered all over  the British Isles, and I have to say that the Brits are justifiably proud of this aspect of their culture. The predecessors of the landscape garden in England were the great parks created by people such as Sir John Vanbrugh (1664–1726) and Nicholas Hawksmoor at Castle Howard (1699–1712), Blenheim Palace (1705–1722), and the Claremont Landscape Garden at Claremont House (1715–1727). These parks featured vast lawns, woods, and pieces of architecture, such as the classical mausoleum designed by Hawksmoor at Castle Howard. At the center of the composition was the house, behind which were formal and symmetrical gardens in the style of the garden Ã  la f

The Horses of Britain

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The Horses of Britain - Are they wild ? As a young man, I lived near to both Dartmoor and Exmoor. These are two National Parks that sit nicely in the SW peninsula of England. At weekends, I would often head out to one of the moors with friends, to go and try to find the ‘wild’ horses...    It was never a difficult task. Because they have no natural predators they roam freely and are found in ever increasing numbers, all over the moors. Growing up in the British Isles, I was fully aware of the fact that there were other horses, roaming freely all over our islands. In the Shetlands, you will find short stocky horses, wandering amidst the heather. In North Wales, you’ll find the gorgeous Carneddau horses, and only about 240 of them left in existence. In the South of England, you’ll find horses grazing in moorland areas, contentedly. It really is a wonderful thing to see. Imagine driving through the gorgeous moorland areas of Britain, and as you turn a bend in the road, ther

The Roman And Georgian City Of Bath

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The Roman and Georgian City of Bath Why is Bath such a popular destination for tourists today ? What is so intriguing about this small city that sits amongst 7 hills in the heart of Somerset, in England.? As a boy, I grew up in and around Bath. It was a dirty city. It’s buildings were caked in coal tar and the 1960s style shopping centre was terribly ugly and rundown...even by the 1970s! However, I enjoyed Bath because as a rugby player, I was recruited into the ranks of the most powerful rugby club in the world at the time, Bath Rugby Football Club... a huge honour for a young 16 year old. And as a teen I was able to enjoy the wonders of Baths nightlife. It’s subterranean pubs and clubs were a huge draw to the youth of the area as it still is today. In the 1980s a programme of architectural ‘cleansing’ was put into place, and plans to tear down the 1960s shopping centre and to start cleaning every stone surface in the city, were put into place. Slowly the city, began to at

My North Wales- Snowdonia Tour

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My North Wales- Snowdonia Tour Wales is a land that continually surprises me. I’ve been heading up there with my small group tours for several years, and I always eagerly anticipate it. The land and seascape is rugged, it’s unforgiving, and yet it’s welcoming. I have developed a 10 day tour that is based in one boutique style hotel in a splendid Victorian seaside town called Llandudno. It’s a perfect base for striking out into the mountains or reaching into the heart of Anglesey. The whole tour came about after a discussion on a hilltop with local legend, tv personality, author and farmer, Gareth Wyn Jones ( he’s also a friend of mine).i wanted to do a regular bus tour of Wales, but also spend time with him and his family, absorbing his culture, lifestyle and Welshness. He wanted to show off his farm, his knowledge and his generosity to more curious people. The discussion turned into a lengthy Welsh whiskey ‘session’, and the tour idea had taken route. Welsh history,

Enjoying A Few Days in Plymouth

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Plymouth Is not the first place you’d think of visiting, if you travel to Britain. It’s a large city that was devastated during the Second World War because of its status as a significant naval seaport. Much of the city that was rebuilt after the war was quite shoddy and unattractive. However...  and I emphasise that word.. HOWEVER, the oldest part of the city survived the blitz and retains a wonderfully atmospheric charm about itself.  The seafront or Hoe, as it’s known, radiates Victorian wealth and power. Tall Victorian hotels and apartments, line the park area that slopes down to the cliffs that overhang the sea. Built into the cliffs are a number of cafes and restaurants that lure you down to enjoy the views at all times of day and night. You may even see a Royal Navy vessel cruising by as it conducts the ‘Defense of the realm’. There are numerous monuments surrounding the park, commemorating the fallen through centuries of warfare, and a mighty fortress called th

Creating Tours On A Woodland Walk

Creativity is a strange thing.  Office work can sometimes be tedious, particularly for an active tour guide. You know how it is... sometimes you’ve gotta get up and leave the office behind in order to make a little space in your mind for creativity to creep back in. I need creativity when I’m dreaming of a new tour itinerary. This may sound mundane to you, but to me a new itinerary is a new Christmas present that an intrepid traveller can unwrap. It’s a dream being fulfilled or an experience that will be gained and remembered for life....it’s a very special thing. I’m a tour guide with a passion for giving these things to people, but I need to create them first. The process starts with a simple question....    ‘where do I want to go next’ ? The next question is, ‘how do I want to do it’? And the final question is, ‘how long will I need to explore this place’ ? With those things resolved, I then need to imagine what I’ll do from the moment I meet my small group of tour members,

Afootinfrance - 2014 Personal Guide and Escorted Tour Season in France

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Afootinfrance - 2014 Personal Guide and Escorted Tour Season in France ! Afootinfrance - 2014 Personal Guide and Escorted Tour Season in France We are offering these destinations for our personal and escorted guided tours during the 2013 travel and tour season in France. Your travel party (family friends etc) have a choice of the following destinations in France.  Prices quoted are in US dollars and are for 1 person per day. They include pick up from your hotel, personal English speaking escort and chauffeur, who will also be your tour guide, liquid refreshments all day, fuel, tolls, insurance, and taxes. On these destinations within France we can provide a fully chaffeured and escorted tour package, that can be for a single day or for a week. Plan your itinerary and contact us for your travel needs, whilst in France. Our personal tour guides will do the rest. Brittany and Normandy - With the aid of your own personal tour guide, Vis