Your favourite places in England.

Oh Andy, this is a hard one.

This plant was definitely creeping and not upright. If I can describe the scent, it was more a sharp, astringent smell.

I think I will open a new thread as I hate to take over the topic of Favourite Pictures.

OK, it's under England & Travel   Off Topic titled Sue's mystery plant

It is now 12 months since I was in the UK for the first time. After spending 9 weeks driving hither and thither what favourites spring to mind?.....London, what can one say? Perhaps the smaller houses rather than the palaces: Handel House Museum, Dr. Johnson's house, Keats House all gave a sense of everyday life albeit of extraordinary people.

Rievaulx Abbey in Yorkshire: late in the afternoon with nobody else about: very tranquil and peaceful.

Whitby: a wonderful place to spend a day. The Abbey; and especially for an Aussie, the Captain Cook connections; and fish and chips for lunch at the Magpie Cafe.

Chepstow Castle in Wales: stunning stone walls in a stunning location clinging to the banks of the River Wye.

 The Lakes: Windemere, Ullswater (Aira force: can anyone enlighten me about the "money tree"?) and especially Coniston Water for an Arthur Ransome fan way back when ("better drowned than duffers, if not duffers won't drown").

Castle Rising in Norfolk: on a cold, wet day in March. The geyness of the day added to the overall experience at this incredibly atmospheric and majestic keep.

 I could go on and on.I have become besotted by ruined castles and ruined abbeys .It is all truly wonderful.

Granted that I've never been anywhere northern than the Midlands (yet), my favourite places are London, Torquay and The Cotswolds. 

I can only answer to that with a tourist's eyes though; blank boards with no memories of the past and with a vision on the present only, and that makes any selection particularly hard whenever it comes to such a large amount of beauties. 

But locals (and ex-locals) can rely on the power of memories too, and whose colours, sounds and scents are able to trigger links and associations for them that  see beyond the mere, actual look or state of a place. 

I know how that feels like and maybe for that , I'm a bit jealous too :).

Ciao,

MG