The Platinum Line

Category: Great Britain

  • An introduction to the history of Gloucester

    The city of Gloucester has a fascinating history dating back to Roman times.

  • Visiting Salisbury cathedral and medieval town centre

    Visiting Salisbury cathedral and medieval town centre

    Salisbury is a small city in Wiltshire just eight miles from Stone Henge. The gothic cathedral boasts the highest spire in the U.K. and the best preserved copy of Magna Carta.

  • Walking from Chew Magna to Pensford via Stanton Drew

    This week we followed the river Chew from the Chew Valley reservoir to Pensford stopping to visit the stone circle at Stanton Drew.

  • Oxford for the day

    Oxford for the day

    On Saturday our walking group ventured further afield to Oxford. Oxford University is famous as one of the oldest and most prestigious universities in Europe and scholars have been coming here to study since the 12th century. The town however is Saxon in origin and by 1066 it is estimated that it had a population…

  • Marlborough aWiltshire town through history

    Marlborough aWiltshire town through history

    I belong to a history walking group and on Saturday we were told to meet at St. Peter’s Church in Marlborough. Marlborough is a small market town in Wiltshire about halfway between Bristol and London. Most English People recognise the name because Kate Middleton, the Duchess of Cambridge and her sister Pippa attended Marlborough College…

  • Tewkesbury a historic Cotswold town

    Tewkesbury a historic Cotswold town

    This week we headed up the M5 to Tewkesbury a small Gloucestershire town close to the River Severn on the western edge of the Cotswolds.  The town was the site of a decisive battle in the wars of the Roses. It has a magnificent Norman abbey and a remarkably well-preserved old town full of black…

  • An afternoon in Monmouth

    We went further up the Wye valley for our Sunday walk to Monmouth a small market town that lies at the confluence of the rivers Monnow and Wye.  The settlement was first mentioned on a Roman map as Blestium, a place on the road from Caerleon to Gloucester. It is close to Offa’s Dyke the…