Fascinating Kent in England
By Ram Singh
Kent has the most attractions out of all the counties in Britain in any season or for anybody.
Kent has enchanting gardens, mysterious castles, fascinating museums, animal parks, steam trains, outdoor activities, historic houses and great maritime heritage.
If you want adventure, grab a lantern and get ready, as there are miles of mystery and history here beneath your feet.
Explore the passage ways of Chislehurst. These caves were made for the people’s protection during World War II. The Caves Church, Druid Altar, Haunted Pool and more for the guided tour that takes 45min approx.
Danson house is a building that was constructed for the Mayor of London, now it has been restored for the nation, and is open to the public for the first time in over 30 years. It is one of Robert Taylor’s finest villas and was built in 1760 – advance booking is recommended here.
The Guildhall Museum is a treasure trove of Britain’s Medway colourful history. It is Kent’s most visited museum with the ornate 17th century Guildhall Chamber, the Hulks Experience and Dickens’s Discovery Room. Many authentic objects and also use of modern technology enliven one’s visit.
In nearby Chatham the Brooks Pumping Station provides an interesting insight into 20th century technology.
Rochester Castle is another well preserved and elegant example of Norman architecture in England. With great views across the river Medway, that can be seen from its great keep, which Is the tallest in England. You can take a computer simulated virtual reality tour, situated in the Visitor Information Centre.
Restoration House and Garden is an ancient city mansion, though privately owned, it has some beautiful interiors. It includes early paintwork ‘run-up’ for the visit of Charles II on the eve of restoration. Dicken’s created Miss Havisham here and there is a rare and fine collection of English furniture and Pictures to be seen here.
The Historic Dockyard at Chatham is a naval heritage place. It has an 18th century style dockyard adventure, a Second World War Destroyer – The HMS Cavalier, Submarine Ocelot, Victorian Sloop Gannet and an RNLI lifeboat here. You also have a Road to Trafalgar Exhibition and the Museum of the Royal Dockyard.
Another unique part of Britain’s maritime heritage is Paddle Steamer ‘Kingswear Castle’ which offers morning, afternoon, evening and full day cruises from Chatham & Rochester. You can watch the paddle in the water or relax and enjoy a drink and let the beautiful scenery pass by.
In the picturesque valley of the River Medway there is the attractive turreted Upnor Castle built in 1559 on the orders of Queen Elizabeth I to defend her country from invaders. The story of the Dutch raid is told by audio visual method in graphic detail. It is open daily from April to October.
The prize winning Royal Engineers Museum covers the work of Britain’s engineers in both War & Peace, from 1066 to the present time. Here you can see photographs of the military divers, engineering tanks and vehicles, 26 Victorian Crosses, gallantry awards of the Falkland war, regalia of 4 Field Marshals, relics of Gordon and Kitchener, a Harrier jump jet, early torpedo and Wellington’s map of the battle of Waterloo.
Belmont is an 18th century house which is set in exclusive views of the rolling Kent Countryside. It contains fine paintings, furniture and Indian Silverware and one of the most extensive collections of clocks and watches in the country.
Take a guided tour of Shepherd Neame Brewery in Kent. It was the first brewery in Britain. It has a newly refurbished Visitor Centre and have a look at the old mash tuns, taste the natural mineral water from its well, try the malted barley and you’ll certainly smell the locally grown Kentish hops. Here you can also see the old and bygone era’s delivery vehicles and step into the cooper’s workshop. There are also the great & tasty Kentish ales and special lagers and this shop.
Enchanting Mount Ephraim Gardens has terraces of beautiful smelling roses leading straight to a small lake in the woodlands. These are home to lots of varieties of vegetation like spring bulbs, trees and shrubs including rhododendrons, topiary and also a Japanese rock garden, new exciting grass maze, gardens and a tea room. Better check its opening and closing time before visiting here.
Kent’s Wild Woodland Discovery Park helps you come very close to nature. It reveals the wildlife of many British animals like badgers, otters, beavers, wolves and 50 other species in their natural environments. Have fun in the woods and let your kids play free in the Treetops adventure playland. It is open all year round from 10am.
In Quex Museum, House and Gardens you will find the finest Regency-period world class collections of the Powell-Cotton family. Great dioramas of African wildlife, displays of weaponry, costumes, archeology and Far Eastern artefacts. Beautiful gardens with a plant stall, restaurant and gift shop. It is open from mid March to 31st October.
Howletts & Port Lympne Wild Animal Parks are sort of jungles of Britain. In Howletts which is situated in 90 acres and is the largest collection of western lowland Gorillas in captivity in the world and it houses the largest herd of African Elephants in Britain. Go through this jungle in the lion-tailed macaque enclosure. Port Lympne is set in 600 acres of which has the largest herd of black rhinos outside Africa plus Indian elephants, Siberian and Indian tigers, barbary lions and the world’s largest gorillarium ‘The Palace Of The Apes’. It’s open every day except Christmas from 10am to 6pm.
About the Author: Ram Singh providing Gatwick Airport Transfers Services in the UK since 1988 – invites you to visit Kent, UK. London Airport Shuttles Services
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Manchester United England
By Payton Brooks
When in England, you’re likely to discover that Manchester United is to soccer – football to most of the world outside of the United States – what the New York Yankees or Boston Red Sox are to baseball in the United States: Manchester United is England’s most popular team and the team to beat. A part of soccer’s Premier League, Manchester United is far more than just a team when you’re talking with British football fans; they are the team that is out there are playing as hard as possible.
In recent years, it seems as though many fans of football in England have suffered some disappointment and wounded pride when it comes to the way British teams have played on the international circuit; Manchester United has been the one ray of light. For many, when it comes to World Cup Soccer and other major international competitions, many see Manchester United as the most likely to prevail (some backers as supporting Manchester United as likely to win the 2009 Champions League final in Rome).
Manchester United Fans, of course, have divided loyalties even amongst themselves – and in many cases, this comes down to the players on the team who they favor. For some, Cristiano Ronaldo is the best of the team. Others will tell you that, when it comes to First Team players, there is no one more vital to Manchester United’s centre-forward Dimitar Berbatov who is not only quite talented within the game but who also has a knack for entertaining the fans in the crowd. Still others line their allegiance behind England’s own Wayne Rooney who some believe is Manchester United’s best player.
Regardless of which Manchester United player the fans of England turn out to see, there is a simple reality: the fans turn out. Not only do they arrive at the stadiums to see Manchester United play, but also they are members of online message boards, they write blogs and they also support Manchester United players when they are looking into players as they are choosing members of their fantasy league teams.
Manchester United fans do more than just participate by watching their team play and by discussing their successes and failures. For them, admiring club trophies, learning more about the history of Manchester United and set out to collect autographs and other souvenirs that showcase their commitment to their team. They also read Inside United – a magazine that is focused on providing in depth information about the Manchester United team – and enroll kids who are interested in learning more about soccer in Manchester United soccer schools.
A loyal following in England and elsewhere has led to Manchester United having a drive for success on the field. Fans this year will find themselves rewarded by the opportunity to see Manchester United participate in the Carling Cup against Middlesbrough. While Manchester United may not always be the best team in soccer, the reality is that, to their loyal fans, there will always be a sense that Manchester United is soccer in England.
About the Author: Payton Brooks is a senior sports writer at Sportsviews. Read and rate more free articles like this one, create your own sports bets, and challenge others at Sportsviews, the biggest sports social network.
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Medicine in Elizabethan England
By Phil Forp
During the reign of Henry VIII (1485-1509) in England, the royal confiscation of monastic land s and church properties put a huge crutch on the entire charitable system. Between 1536 and 1544, one would have to search far and wide for medical help, and there was absolutely no help for indigent people in the city of London. In 1569, royal hospitals were finally restored, including Christ’s Hospital for Children, St. Mary’s of Bethlem for mental cases, and general hospitals such as St. Bartholomew’s and St. Thomas’. However, hospitals were not the only options for a sick individual. Queen Elizabeth I’s reign (1558-1603) brought the restoration of general charity, and there were many types of professionals and individuals to turn to for seeking medicals attention. As a result of this broad spectrum of medical choices, a mixture of the theory of Humors, the Doctrine of Signatures, astrology, tradition, chemical science, and magic became the basis for popular medicine in Elizabethan England.
One of the most socially acceptable and encouraged forms of charity was medical charity. It was believed that sick people obviously needed help to have a positive recovery. Another motive for giving medical help was to help the poor make a safe return from sickness back to work, and thus removing the need to further provide monetary help. The city of Norwich often paid large amounts for physicians to treat the poor. It was also often that the city would hire one poor person to nurse and keep another poor, sick person, to kill two birds with one stone. An interesting fact is that it was common for a small sum to be paid initially to a bonesetter, but the bulk of the fee would only be paid when the patient was able to walk again. Thus, it is apparent that the practitioner took full responsibility for the patient during the recovery period. The city of Norwich also paid for shelter during the recovery period for patient. Norwich is the prime example of the great involvement and motivation for treating the poor and the sick in Elizabethan England.
When a merchant in Elizabethan London gets a fever, he first will ask the physician to diagnose him. Then, he will ask his wife if she knows of a certain herb that will lower his fever. If she has nothing in her stillroom, then she contacts an apothecary. The apothecary will then prepare the medicine prescribed by the physician. If finding little relief, the merchant will then go to the local “cunning” woman down the street, who will give him a charm sprinkled with bergamot oil, advise him to eat cool and dry foods, and maybe advise him to consider attaching a leach or two to his skin to relieve his blood Humor, This is an example of the common diagnosis and treatment of a patient.
It is apparent that medicine was distributed by an array of different people. The doctor a patient could see depended on the patient’s class and whether he or she had the money to pay the fee. These professional physicians, who would have received an education at one of the Universities or Colleges for Physicians, were usually only afforded by the very wealthy. Surgeons had a similar reputation to the barbers, whom they associated with and belonged to in the Company of Barber-Surgeons. Barbers were only allowed to pull teeth or let blood by cutting or use of leaches. Usually, patients first visited the apothecary, who was the Elizabethan equivalent for today’s pharmacist. They carried herbs, oils, chemicals, cosmetics, perfumes, and drugs. The Church could be considered a participating medical practitioner for providing attention and comfort to the sick and poor. Poor patients, however, usually first contacted the local “wise woman” or “cunning woman.” Usually, this woman had a good reputation for traditional remedies and treatments. Bonesetters set bones for broken limbs and ribs. Midwives took care of the childbirth department of medicine. There were also herb-gatherers-and-compounders, hernia specialists, cataract couchers, dentists, and many other types other types of specialist. Lastly, there were ordinary Elizabethan housewives, who were expected to have some knowledge of simple herbal and traditional remedies to produce homemade medicines and potions. En masse, a patient who had many options, and picked and chose from different services from many individuals and types of providers.
Medicine in Elizabethan England was ridiculously basic for an era with terrible illnesses, such as the Bubonic plague and typhoid, and an enormous lack of sanitation in large cities with open sewers filled with garbage, infestation of rats, lice, and fleas, and no running water. The cause of illness was almost entirely unknown, and the beliefs were mostly based on teachings by ancient Greeks and astrology. The ignorance is also apparent in the common clothing of physicians, which were often seen as very strange. The clothing consisted of a large, full, dark cloak, boots, gloves, a hat, and a mask shaped like a bird’s beak, which held bergamot oil. They also wore amulets of dried blood and ground-up toads at the waist for preventative purposes. It was also a custom to douse oneself with vinegar and to chew angelica before approaching the patient. These precautionary steps may seem very ridiculous and random. However, the popular belief about medicine formed from six different theories, which happened to make sense at the time.
The ancient Greek, Galen, formed the first theory. He believed that the body consists of our bodily fluids called “Humors”: blood, phlegm, yellow bile, and black bile. Each humor possessed certain characteristics. Blood is hot and wet, Phlegm is cold and wet, Yellow Bile is hot and dry, and Black Bile is cold and dry. A natural balance of these fluids will keep the body in a healthy state. Any imbalance will result in illness. For example, a cold is the result of too much hot and dry phlegm in the body. This can be counteracted by drying and heating, or staying in bed and eating hot soup. For another example, a fever is the result of an excess of blood in the body. A treatment for the fever would be to remove excess blood with leaches, or eat cool and dry foods, like crackers. The characteristics of the four Humors were also considered for treating mental illnesses, as blood is sanguine, phlegm is phlegmatic, yellow bile is choleric, and black bile is melancholic.
The second theory is the Doctrine of Signatures. This theory comes from the Bible, stating that God gave Man lower creatures for Man to use for his benefit. Man uses many creatures for sustenance, and many creatures for labor. Other non-edible creatures on Earth should be used as ingredients in medicines. For example, Lungwort is good for the lungs, and Eyebright will clear the eyesight.
The third theory, astrology, has been signs and planet orbits of a patient’s birthday to determine the severity and duration of an illness. The fourth theory is the traditional approach to medicine. This theory states that illness is a foreign presence in the body; the expropriation of the forging presence is the key to treatment. For example, an exorcism is necessary for mental illness, a King’s touch is a cure for scrofula, tuberculosis in the neck, and toads are a cure for warts.
The fifth theory uses chemical science, in which newly discovered pure substances and non-organic materials were pressed into medical service, such as tobacco and mercury. The sixth theory deals with magic. In days, the dividing line between magic and legitimate medical practice was extremely blurred. Magic seemed perfectly logical and even scientific to an Elizabethan.
The most common cleansing agent used was vinegar, which was applied to most wounds to prevent from infection. The only cure for toothache was having the tooth pulled, which did not include the use of any anesthetics. Bubonic Plague was treated by applying warm butter, onion, and garlic to the bubo. Other various remedies for the plague were tried, including tobacco, arsenic, lily root, and dried toad. Head pains were treated with sweet-smelling herbs such as sage, bay leaf, rose, and lavender. Stomach pains were treated with wormwood, mint, and balm. Lung problems were treated with licorice and comfrey. These are all specific examples of treatments for common complication in the Elizabethan era.
An important benefit of all Elizabethan medicine is the confirmation of the placebo effect. The belief in one’s treatment excites the patient’s optimism and hopes, which is often the most important part of the recovery process. This is probably the most prevalent, underlying secret to Elizabethan medicine, whether the medical practitioners and patients knew it or not. The great variety of specialists, learned physicians, and magicians and all their ideas and beliefs, including the bodily Humors, the Doctrine of Signatures, astrology, tradition, chemical science, and magic, is important reason why everybody did not die in unsanitary, Bubonic Plagued, rat-infested, and garbage-filled Elizabethan England.
Work Citied
Bynum, W F., and Roy Porter. Companion Encyclopedia of the History of Medicine. London: Routledge,1993.
Holmes, Martin, Elizabethan London. London: Praeger, 1969.
Kiple, Kenneth F. The Cambridge World History of Human Disease. New York City: Cambridge UP, 1993
McGrew, Robert E., comp. Encyclopedia of Medical History. McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1985.
Pritchard, R E. Shakespeare’s England: Life in Elizabethan & Jacobean Times.
About the Author: Phil Forp is a contributing editor at History Research Papers
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Autumnal Delight In New England
By Fiona Napier
Holidays in New England rural America encapsulate scenes of clapboard houses, white wooden churches, maple syrup and wholesome goodness.
A region of beauty New England is distinctly American in its rich history, culture and natural charm. The four distinct seasons offer visitors something to do throughout the year. During the summer months the sun is usually out and there are a range of activities from sailing, swimming, surfing or fishing to enjoy. Beaches line the coast from Connecticut through to Maine or you may want to rent a log cabin or go camping on a summers evening. Autumn or Fall is legendary in New England and is the best time to take a leisurely drive through the mountains or go hiking or biking to appreciate the gold and red fall foliage. Winter is made fun by the snow and crisp sunny days, the perfect setting for a romantic break or for skiing and snowboarding in the mountains. When the first blooms come out in Spring you may want to explore the mountains and countryside or visit the museums and shops on offer.
New England is made up of six states. Connecticut was home to the famous author Mark Twain in Hartford and is an easy day hop from New York. Filled with pretty villages, antique shops and art museums Connecticut might be small but it certainly delivers on quality.
From the beaches of Cape Cod the bay state of Massachusetts stretches through its capital Boston past the Connecticut River to the Berkshire Hills. The Cultural Revolution kindled here, started by writers such as Thoreau and Emerson and visitors can see where it all began for themselves at Plymouth Rock.
Vermont the Green Mountain State, named so after its hilly spine (verts monts in French) has many small towns which busy themselves with the traditional production of dairy farming and maple syrup. It is a ‘traditional America’.
The Granite state of New Hampshire is dominated by mountains and lakes and a picturesque coast including the impressive Mount Washington. The White Mountains are great for skiing and snowboarding in winter or alternatively for hiking in the summer and autumn months.
To get away from the holiday crowds head to Maine. As big as all other five states put together it has unspoiled landscapes and the longest coastline with lighthouses. Whale watching is popular in this region.
37 miles wide and 48 miles deep Rhode Island is the USA’s smallest state. However it still manages to boast 400 miles of coastline which is great for sailing. Providence and Newport, two of New England’s historic cities also offer plenty to do.
As visitors from all over the world have discovered, a holiday in New England offers every pleasure you could desire.
About the Author: For more information on holidays in New England please visit http://www.vacationsgroup.co.uk
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Explore Boston New England
By Fiona Napier
The city of Boston is frequently referred to as the gateway to New England. It is the capital of Massachusetts, and the largest city in New England. There is plenty to do for young and old alike in Boston, making it a great destination for a holiday to New England.
Boston lies on a peninsula, with the Massachusetts Bay on one side and the Back Bay on the other. It became one of the wealthiest cities in North America during the 18th and 19th centuries, which led to a great many cultural buildings being built during this era.
The Public Garden is the oldest botanical garden in the USA, with its flower gardens, trees, grassy lawns and lakes. The most famous part of The Public Garden’s is of course the Swan Boats, to take you on a graceful ride around the lakes.
Faneuil Hall Marketplace was built in 1742, and now houses over one hundred shops and restaurants. Great for shopping or for sampling the local cuisine, Faneuil Hall Marketplace is a “must see” in Boston. The restaurants feature many local favourites such as clam chowder, and Boston baked beans!
The Museum of Fine Arts is Boston’s oldest and most respected art institution. It is home to a lot of early American art, as well as Egyptian and Impressionist collections. There is also a fine collection of French art.
Many of the famous historic buildings make up the Freedom Trail, which is marked out with red lines or bricks. These are buildings that played some significance in the American Revolution. The trail includes Paul Revere’s house (home to the night time messenger that warned Samuel Adams and John Hancock of the British Army’s planned movements), Faneuil Hall (a meeting point for revolutionaries), Granary Burial Ground (where Samuel Adams, John Hancock and Paul Revere are buried), Bunker Hills, the site of Benjamin Franklin’s birth, and the Old State House (where the Declaration of Independence was first read).
Not on the trail for obvious reasons is the USS Constitution. This ship is 200 years old and is the oldest commissioned warship in the US Navy. Still afloat the ironclad/ironside ship gives some of the most spectacular views of the city of Boston.
One of the most visited attractions in Boston is the New England Aquarium. With a massive 200,000 gallon tank, with giant turtles swimming in it, it is a fantastic sight to behold.
Home to the universities of Harvard and MIT, the city has a vibrant atmosphere in the evenings. There are plenty of restaurants and venues with live music to entertain you after a day of sightseeing or retail therapy!
Steeped in history, great for shopping and abundant with evening entertainment, Boston makes a great destination for your New England holiday.
About the Author: For more information about New England holidays, please see http://www.vacationsgroup.co.uk
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