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tingling mixture of pride and joy and that’s
even before you have raised your eyes to
marvel at the shimmering colours of the
ceilings and the 14
th
century octagonal
lantern tower.
The vast mediaeval Lady Chapel is the
biggest in England; it’s filled with eerily
empty niches that once held statues of
saints and martyrs. They were hacked out
unceremoniously by iconoclasts during the
English Civil War. After all, here lived
Oliver Cromwell. There is an excellent
cathedral shop and Refectory where you can
buy tea before leaving for home at 4.45pm.
the Cambridgeshire Fens.
Once wild and wet, the Fens, formed by
nature and shaped by people over 6000
years, were home to all sorts of wildlife
including beavers. During an entertaining
drive to Ely we hear about the ancient art of
fen skating and the two churches of bickering
Swaffham Prior. We hear how geese were
walked to London for the Michaelmas fairs
and the slippery fen eels that were once so
bountiful were speared for the table.
Beneath huge skies the cathedral at Ely, built
on an island in the flat landscape of the
marshes, rises up like
a great ship. We arrive
in time for lunch in one
of the smallest of the
English cathedral cities.
Enjoy a guided tour
of one of of England’s
most beautiful sacred
spaces with our top-
notch guide. To stand
inside the Galilee porch
of Ely Cathedral and
gaze along the nave fills
the soul with a spine
Meet the guide in
Newmarket at 10.30am
to buy morning coffee
or come at 9.30am to
watch the racehorses
being exercised on the
town gallops. If not
we’ll still take you by
coach up the sweeping
hill of the gallops and
show you how the
‘Sport of Kings’ forms
the lifeblood of this
Suffolk town before
heading out to discover
Ely & The Fens
Visit Newmarket, the capital
of horseracing in England,
enjoy a coach tour across the
Cambridgeshire Fens and a
guided tour of Ely Cathedral,
possibly the most beautiful of
all the English cathedrals.
Unusually, coach parking
is free in Ely. The tour is
available Monday to Saturday
all year.
Adults: £18.50
Seniors: £17.95
Coach Mileage: 20
The Old Kent
Coast
Broadstairs and Deal are
survivors of a bygone age,
each giving the visitor a sense
of what the English seaside
at its best is all about. The
Secret Gardens of Sandwich
are a great find: one of Monty
Don’s top ten gardens where
the owners have spent a small
fortune restoring the Gertrude
Jekyll gardens that surround
their idyllic Edwin Lutyens
house.
This tour is available daily
throughout the year.
Adults & Seniors: £16.50
Coach Mileage: 25
We’ll arrange for our
guide to hop on your
coach en route to the
Kent coast aiming to
arrive on the cliffs
above Broadstairs to
buy morning coffee at
10.30/45am.
Broadstairs was a
favourite summer resort
of Charles Dickens
who described it as a
place left high and dry
by the tide of years.
Douglas Fairbanks Junior
and Mary Pickford
honeymooned here and
Edward Heath sang in the
church choir. The town
still maintains its air of gentility. Enjoy some
fresh seafood and visit a classic Broadstairs
Italian ice cream parlour or bring a packed
lunch and a small towel for a picnic and a
paddle.
Our afternoon begins with a sightseeing
drive via Ramsgate (which could do with
a little loving) to the mediaeval town of
Sandwich (which is much loved). At just
over three acres and divided into a series of
“rooms” the Secret Gardens of Sandwich
We’ll continue just a little further along the
coast to Deal for tea. For many people Deal
is the prettiest seaside town in Kent; its
attractive mix of unspoilt seafront, delightful
conservation area and small fishing fleet
certainly make it one of the gems of the East
Kent coast. And while the pier isn’t a pretty
thing it does make for a nice stroll to see the
fishermen and take a photograph of the view
back to the pretty houses that line the beach.
Our day finishes here at 4.45pm.
make for a very
satisfying hour of
browsing. The names
Edwin Lutyens and
Gertrude Jekyll are
synonymous with the
creation of the English
County Garden style
which represented a
movement away from
the highly formal
Victorian garden towards
a greater freedom in
planting and a wider
variety of plants
with brick paths and
herbaceous borders
planted with lilies,
lupins and lavenders.
City & Village Tours: 0845 812 5000