Journeys through the British Isles – The Features

Episode 1: In the Footsteps of Jane Austen

Jane Austen. Every year, thousands of people follow in her footsteps and set out to discover the people and places that inspired England’s literary legend. Jane spend most of her life in the South of the country. In this feature we explored the beautiful scenery, with its romantic stately homes, historic cities and castles that provided the backdrop for many of her stories.

Trip Tips: Visit the Jane Austen County website and Jane Austen Centre website for information; The cities of Bath and Winchester are good bases for exploration; We stayed at the delightful Charlton House and Lainston House hotels; A Britrail Pass combined with car rentals is an economical way to explore; For more information go to the Visit Britain website.

Note: Jane Austen illustrations in our feature were from Hugh Thomson’s Illustrations of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice – published by the Jane Austen Memorial Trust (and Jarrold Publishing) in 1999 and available at the Jane Austen House Museum gift shop.

Episode 2: “Castles of Kent” England

The art of warfare and the history of castle building is revealed in this episode. Owing to its proximity to the English Channel and the European continent, the county of Kent in southeastern England had to defend itself through the ages from Roman, Norman and French invasion. There are castles galore in the region and many have evolved into heritage properties set in beautiful grounds. The Great British Heritage Pass (www.HeritagePassBritain.com) is only available to non-UK residents and allows unlimited admission to nearly 500 historic houses, castles and gardens in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. A Britrail pass (www.britrail.com) also provides huge savings with good train service throughout the south east and some excellent centres from which to base your travels such as Canterbury and Dover. For more information: www.visitkent.co.uk; www.visitbritain.com; and www.southeastengland.uk.com;

Episode 3: In the footsteps of Charles Dickens

In 2012 we celebrate the 200^thanniversary of the birth of Charles Dickens, born just as England was coming to the end of the Napoleonic wars; a time when the country was bursting with energy and enthusiasm for the future — and the beginning of terrible poverty. This episode highlights Dickens’ time in Broadstairs www.visitbroadstairs.co.uk and Rochester www.cometorochester.co.uk In Broadstairs you can stay at The Royal Albion hotel where he wrote some of his books http://www.albionbroadstairs.co.uk For more information on the great author his life and plans for his bi-centenial you can visit the Dickens Society www.dickensfellowship.org and the Charles Dickens Museum in Camden Town, London www.dickensmuseum.com and Dickens World www.dickensworld.co.uk in Chatham, Kent.