September 18, 2009
UNESCO world heritage sites
Did you know that UNESCO has seen fit to recognise 28 UNESCO World Heritage Sites here in the UK? Me neither and now I have looked into it, it’s a motley collection. I wouldn’t travel far to see some of them.
Edinburgh’s is near the top of the list – but to my mind it’s just a grim northern city. The Old Town oozes history and a stroll along its cobbled streets and dark alleyways is a walk through time. The New Town is equally evocative with its graceful crescents, squares and terraces – but most people go for the festival.
Canterbury Cathedral reeks of history – but is it any better than mighty cathedrals that are two a penny in France? I’m not sure that Beckett is all he was cracked up to be either.
Just 20 minutes from central London, Maritime Greenwich is awash with eye-popping architecture surrounded by the green expanse of Greenwich Park. Not to mention a meridian. But it’s not exatly fascinating. Even the Cutty Sark is a rebuild.
In a land of castles, Harlech, Conwy, Caernarfon and Beaumaris stand out for their sheer scale and sophistication. Well preserved, atmospheric and enormous they represent the pinnacle of medieval military architecture. The fortresses were built by Edward I of England as an ‘Iron Ring’ to pacify the Welsh and they remain a haunting presence.
Britain’s newest World Heritage Site is the longest and highest aqueduct in Britain. Towering 126ft above the River Dee it’s a 200-year-old engineering marvel and is considered Thomas Telford’s masterpiece. Pontcysyllte looks fantastic from a distance but walking or traveling by canal boat over the top is truly exhilarating.
The ruins of Fountains Abbey are Britain’s largest monastic ruin and one of the most enchanting spots in the country. Founded in 1132 the abbey thrived until Henry VIII’s Dissolution of the Monasteries. It now stands ruined and uninhabited save for a large colony of bats. It is though, just a ruin.
Westminster Abbey is popular tourist haut in London – but I have never been. Graves and memorials of the great and the good sprout from every wall, jostling for position in this living show of British history. Charles Darwin, Geoffrey Chaucer, Lewis Carroll, Charles Dickens, Isaac Newton… the list goes on
Kew Gardens is more my cup of tea. Now the world really would be worse off without it. Wander through 300 acres of enchanting gardens, pause under shady, ancient trees and lose yourself in a jungle of green in the Palm House
Last and certainly least - UNESCO believes Liverpool is actually a ’supreme example’ of a British port at the time of Britain’s greatest global influence. See the towering Liver Building, the Albert Dock and take a ferry across the Mersey. Maybe the loveable mop tops are a bit of culture – but the slave trade is surely what put Liverpool on the map.
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