Things to do outside of London

[Scepticalscribe]

The problem with all that warmth and tired legs isn't the initial quiet pint of IPA etc... it's the four noisy ones that always seem like a great idea after the first one...

This is too true.

Actually, personally, while I enjoy the first beer, I must say that I have always thoroughly savoured and really relished that second quiet, restful, restorative, beer, for you are now relaxed (and gloriously warm, and you are still in a (sufficiently sober) position to appreciate, savour, relish, and be thankful for, those flickering flames, the cosy warmth, the fantastic flagstones, the wonderful wooden beams of the pub).

 

[Apple fanboy]

It's so true - I absolutely love it, and it's the kind of thing I can't really get back home.

Don’t forget to add pork scratchings with that pint. A perfect combination.
Enjoy Oxford. It’s a pretty place.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

Don’t forget to add pork scratchings with that pint. A perfect combination.
Enjoy Oxford. It’s a pretty place.

Crisps (preferably) for me, but pork scratchings are good, too.

 

[Apple fanboy]

Crisps (preferably) for me, but pork scratchings are good, too.

Also good. Now I’m craving either!

 

[Abdichoudxyz]

Just boarded a train to Oxford! Lots of fantastic ideas, and decided to go with the first one in the thread for this trip. Got myself a bit of a nap and am ready to explore. 😀

A shame, because there is so much going on in London, all the time. I thought you wanted to see the countryside a bit?

Coastal side is Brighton, only a short hop South.

Cambridge is also a good day out, then Bath (as mentioned above) is well worth a visit. Lots of good suggestions above and what you don't do this time you can do another.

Brighton was 'over' about 10-15 years ago; it's just a tourist trap now. Loads of overpriced, underwhelming food places, and a pretty generic boring town centre. Couple of ok art galleries and museums, nothing amazing really. Cambridge is quite boring unless you have access to some of the college grounds, which you can only get if you're a student or visiting one. Bath; I'd stay on the train and go to Bristol. Because Bristol is far more interesting as a city. Bath is just another expensive tourist trap with a few interesting but expensive historical bits. For cities with more depth in terms of the formation of modern Britain, then Nottingham, Coventry, Leicester and Birmingham are far more interesting, and not too far from London by train. I seldom bother though. Too much to enjoy here. 😀

 

[dmr727]

A shame, because there is so much going on in London, all the time. I thought you wanted to see the countryside a bit?

I did hope to get a little farther afield on this trip, with Oxford just being one of two stops, but we unfortunately landed an hour and a half late (which was my fault - story for another time!), and after a nap didn't get on the road until after 2pm. I figured I'd be better served by maximizing my remaining daylight in one spot, and I'm happy I did.

 

[Apple fanboy]

I did hope to get a little farther afield on this trip, with Oxford just being one of two stops, but we unfortunately landed an hour and a half late (which was my fault - story for another time!), and after a nap didn't get on the road until after 2pm. I figured I'd be better served by maximizing my remaining daylight in one spot, and I'm happy I did.

Left the handbrake on or got lost? I thought these planes flew themselves?

 

[KaliYoni]

I'm adding a link to the story below, even though OP has already made their visit, for future viewers of this thread:

Round and Round We Go: Circular Strolls Near London

A handy guidebook outlines 27 bucolic walks outside the British capital that begin and end at train stations. We tried some out.

www.nytimes.com

 

[dmr727]

I'm adding a link to the story below, even though OP has already made their visit, for future viewers of this thread:

Round and Round We Go: Circular Strolls Near London

A handy guidebook outlines 27 bucolic walks outside the British capital that begin and end at train stations. We tried some out.

www.nytimes.com

That's fantastic, thank you! I get out to London once a month or so, and I'll be grabbing ideas from this thread each time I go. 🙂

 

[dmr727]

Left the handbrake on or got lost? I thought these planes flew themselves?

Let's just say someone was a klutz and spilled coffee on something that didn't react well to it. There aren't a lot of single points of failure on the aircraft, but I managed to get one of them. 😉

 

[Apple fanboy]

Let's just say someone was a klutz and spilled coffee on something that didn't react well to it. There aren't a lot of single points of failure on the aircraft, but I managed to get one of them. 😉

Sounds expensive! At least you didn’t crash it!

 

[dmr727]

Sounds expensive! At least you didn’t crash it!

Nah nothing dangerous (even had we been in the air), but it meant we couldn't leave until it was fixed. Probably expensive, though - nothing is inexpensive on these things!

 

[Apple fanboy]

Nah nothing dangerous (even had we been in the air), but it meant we couldn't leave until it was fixed. Probably expensive, though - nothing is inexpensive on these things!

The only clumsy pilot story I know is when a certain pilot dropped his DSLR in the cockpit and shattered the canopy. The camera and lens where also toast.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

Let's just say someone was a klutz and spilled coffee on something that didn't react well to it. There aren't a lot of single points of failure on the aircraft, but I managed to get one of them. 😉

Nice to learn (if not entirely reassuring), that pilots are human.

I grew up in a world that assumed that they were all dashing demi-gods.

Nah nothing dangerous (even had we been in the air), but it meant we couldn't leave until it was fixed. Probably expensive, though - nothing is inexpensive on these things!

I can well imagine.

 

[Abdichoudxyz]

That's fantastic, thank you! I get out to London once a month or so, and I'll be grabbing ideas from this thread each time I go. 🙂

What are your areas of interest? I probably know London a bit better than most, so let me know and I'll see if I can help.

 

[wonderings]

No expert on the UK, been there a few times and loved it. Oxford is a great place, and amazing to be in pubs that go so far back, ie The Bear Inn which dates back to like the 1200's. As a backpacker back in 2001 I remember the beauty of Oxford but also the westernization of it which I found off putting. Seeing KFC, Pizza Hut, and other American brands was a bit of a turn off for me. Still loved Oxford but stayed away from those areas. So much history. If you like the college towns you are also not that far from Cambridge.

 

[mrsmith1]

Come to Nottingham and see Nottingham Castle and the Robin Hood statue.

 

[dmr727]

What are your areas of interest? I probably know London a bit better than most, so let me know and I'll see if I can help.

I'm a fan of seeing/doing anything that's unique to the region. I live in NYC so I'm no stranger to shows, restaurants, clubs - typical big city 'going out' stuff. So ideally it'd be something I'd only see in London or England - the more unique the better. Also enjoy history, so the RAF Museum is on my list, as are the Churchill War Rooms, and the nerdy part of me would even like to see the Centre for Computing History in Cambridge. 😉

 

[Apple fanboy]

I'm a fan of seeing/doing anything that's unique to the region. I live in NYC so I'm no stranger to shows, restaurants, clubs - typical big city 'going out' stuff. So ideally it'd be something I'd only see in London or England - the more unique the better. Also enjoy history, so the RAF Museum is on my list, as are the Churchill War Rooms, and the nerdy part of me would even like to see the Centre for Computing History in Cambridge. 😉

I’ve been to the one at Cosford. We do work and Sponsor the Red Arrows so get to go to the odd base and show.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

I'm a fan of seeing/doing anything that's unique to the region. I live in NYC so I'm no stranger to shows, restaurants, clubs - typical big city 'going out' stuff. So ideally it'd be something I'd only see in London or England - the more unique the better. Also enjoy history, so the RAF Museum is on my list, as are the Churchill War Rooms, and the nerdy part of me would even like to see the Centre for Computing History in Cambridge. 😉

In that case, The Imperial War Museum might be worth considering as a place to visit.

I remember how absolutely fascinated I was the first time I visited the place.

 

[Apple fanboy]

In that case, The Imperial War Museum might be worth considering as a place to visit.

I remember how I was absolutely fascinated the first time I visited the place.

Oh yes. That’s a must. Many years since I’ve been mind.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

Oh yes. That’s a must. Many years since I’ve been mind.

Likewise, unfortunately.

 

[scubachap]

Sounds like you might enjoy Bletchley Park. I went yonks ago when it was quite amateurish (driven by an interest in U-boats, see my user name 😉) but absolutely fascinating, apparently now much improved... And not too far from London

 

[Scepticalscribe]

Sounds like you might enjoy Bletchley Park. I went yonks ago when it was quite amateurish (driven by an interest in U-boats, see my user name 😉) but absolutely fascinating, apparently now much improved... And not too far from London

Now, that is a must visit, and I have never been.

I must remedy that.

An uncle of mine by marriage worked there (Bletchley Park) during the war (I've checked their available online records, and yes, his name appears).

Actually, he was the second husband of an aunt of mine who had been an officer in the WAAFs, during WW2, and whose first husband, an RAF officer who served as a pilot with Coastal Command, and whom she had married only six months earlier (though they had known one another for a few years, and he had proposed to her when they had first met) was killed (along with his entire crew) in November 1943.

Unfortunately, the second husband - that marriage, to my aunt, was also his second marriage - their marriage lasted only for around seven years until his death from cancer; I was a teenager at the time, - a young child when they married - and have always regretted that I never had the chance (nor the knowledge, nor the confidence, not at the time) to actually talk to him (at length) about his war experiences, although that generation - some of them - maintained the habit of discretion until the end, some of them carrying most of what they knew and had experienced to the grave.

 

[scubachap]

Now, that is a must visit, and I have never been.

I must remedy that.

An uncle of mine by marriage worked there (Bletchley Park) during the war (I've checked their available online records, and yes, his name appears).

Actually, he was the second husband of an aunt of mine who had been an officer in the WAAFs, during WW2, and whose first husband, an RAF officer who served as a pilot with Coastal Command, and whom she had married only six months earlier (though they had known one another for a few years, and he had proposed to her when they had first met) was killed (along with his entire crew) in November 1943.

Unfortunately, the second husband - that marriage, to my aunt, was also his second marriage - their marriage lasted only for around seven years until his death from cancer; I was a teenager at the time, - a young child when they married - and have always regretted that I never had the chance (nor the knowledge, nor the confidence, not at the time) to actually talk to him (at length) about his war experiences, although that generation - some of them - maintained the habit of discretion until the end, some of them carrying most of what they knew and had experienced to the grave.

Wow, what a story. (Terribly sad he should have been lost in 1943, just after the battle of the Atlantic had pretty much been won, Costal Command were unsung heroes in my book.)

Also really eloquently put about about the regrets of not talking properly to that generation.

When I was in my late teens / early twenties I used to know an old boy via a club we were both in who was a bit bad tempered and could be a bit short with people. I sort of got on with him quite well and used to share the odd pint together. As I got to know him better it gradually dawned on me that he'd been a prisoner of the Japanese. Looking back at our pub drinks it was obvious he wanted to talk (he lived on his own) but I was young and stupid (probably still am a bit) and missed the chance.

I think it was the late 90's when I went and you're right it was even then still all bit hush hush, as you say amazing how many of them took their secrets to the grave. Can't imagine people doing that now.

Anyway do go, you'll love it...