Catholic and Loving it!

Not so long ago a comment was left on this very blog by Kathleen Lundquist, a lady who is involved the production of music which, frankly, is not my cup of tea. You can hear samples of her folk and pop music on her website. She is clearly very talented but it's just not my thing.

I'm not the sort to refuse help to someone just because she has the kind of drippy voice my wife likes so when Kathleen asked for tips/advice when visiting England I decided to come up with a list of handy tips.

Rent a Car

There used to be something in England called 'British Rail' and they used to run the trains badly, so to improve things they divided the rail network in to parts which are now all ran badly by different rail companies. This is called progress and it is a good thing because it means the trains are painted in different colours in different parts of the country, However, the rail companies do not manage the tracks. The tracks themselves are looked after by Railtrack which is now called Network Rail. In the great tradition of British Railways they look after them badly.

I recommend hiring a car for two reasons. Firstly, to avoid the trains which are universally rubbish with the exception of the North Yorkshire Moors Railway and any other steam powered entheusiast ran services. But also, because in a car you can do things you simply can't do by train. One advantage is that you can leave when you like (hardcore people can get up early and visit an extra castle, lazy people can sleep in and not worry about missing the train). The main advantage of going by car is this: You can see more stuff. If you are going from Hull to Durham you can pull in to Richmond and see the castle. There is no train station in Richmond. By train you miss the castle.

Devils Advocate: If you go any distance by car in England you travel on motorways that al look the same, if you travel by train you go right through the middle of towns and cities that all look different. If you go from Hull to Durham you probably get to see York, Darlington and Durham. Only briefly of course though you could hop out of the train and catch the next one if the timetable permits.

I suppose it depends what you're in to. If you like cities then trains can be okay (be warned though, all the dirty old run down factories are next to the tracks and bits of England look pretty grim by train) if you like countryside and castles car might be better (be warned though the motorways skip the cities and you miss out on those).

Brown Signs

If you are in a car, you will see signs like this:

Brown signs are signs for attractions and often have words of just pictures. If you are feeling adventurous you can just follow them but they are also handy for instance if you know you are going to a castle you might see a brown sign with a castle on it.

Ordnance Survey

Ordnance basically means stuff you fire at people in a war. Firing stuff can be tricky because hills and churches with spires can get in the way. In England the government wanted to be able to fire things at people wherever they were so they did an Ordnance Survey which is a good thing because it means we have really good maps. I have no idea if that story is true. Whatever the truth, Ordnance Survey maps are brilliant. They come in two flavours, 'Landranger' is for driving about the place and is 1:50,000 scale and has everything you need over a huge area (let's say you won't be walking across it). The other flavour is 'Explorer' which is 1:25,000 scale and still good for driving.

Ordnance Survey maps tell you everything there is to know about a piece of countryside. You can check them out for free online at multimap.co.uk which is great but there's no substitute for the real thing folded out on a table in front of you to explore. Take for instance this map of Richmond:

You can see there is a castle, a priory and an abbey. There's a waterfall, steep roads (the > symbol points downhill) and some kind of tower (Twr). Note Wks does not mean walks but works (as in industrial works). It's all happening in Richmond. You'll want to find out more of course before you drive all the way there but that's only 1:50,000. The 1:25,000 probably shows even more. Ordnance Survey maps have taken me on loads of adventures like the time we dragged Cathsoc to see the 10 commandments stone:

It was great. You just don't find things like that in the tourist information office. It makes me want to go and see what 'Lovers Leap' is all about (a waterfall perhaps?). The 'hut circle' is probably not very exciting (but you never know).

Beware: Ordnance Survey maps are great for getting an idea of an area and driving around (especially countryside areas) but they have a problem: no street names. If you are visiting something in a city (York Minster, Durham Cathedral, etc) you will need a city map with street names. When you get lost you can pull the car over, read the street sign and look it up on the map.

Tourist Information

If you are visiting a city, by car or by train, make your first stop the Tourist Information centre. They are brilliantly helpful (the one in Hull is anyway) and will provide you with maps and advice. Just wander in off the street and say what sort of stuff you are in too and they will help you out. Sometimes they run guided tours. What is extra good about them is you can visit their website, look up the tourist information office you need and then just phone them and ask. They have opening times, ticket prices, everything.

To find tourist information just follow the signs, usually an italic i symbol in white on blue or blue on white or sometimes white on black.

Summary

So, that's James' tips for visiting England. Get OS maps and glance around for cool stuff, get in the car and go. A really good idea is to phone ahead to tourist information to see if things are open. In fact, if you phone now and ask really nicely they might post leaflets and stuff over to you in the states. Be flexible, follow whims, enjoy yourself.