The U.K.! your opinion

@Bellbird - I've been there twice, but only the south area. All I saw of London was Heathrow airport. I stayed with a friend in Hastings for 2 weeks, and her brother loaned me his motorcycle (she had her own) so she could take me sight-seeing from Dover to Southampton. We went to a city called Battle, site of the battle of 1066, saw a lighthouse or two, a couple castles, some really cool pubs, a place called Rye, purportedly the oldest city in England, the white cliffs of Dover and a bunch of other cool stuff.

It was awesome!
 

Murrmurr said:
@Bellbird - I've been there twice, but only the south area. All I saw of London was Heathrow airport. I stayed with a friend in Hastings for 2 weeks, and her brother loaned me his motorcycle (she had her own) so she could take me sight-seeing from Dover to Southampton. We went to a city called Battle, site of the battle of 1066, saw a lighthouse or two, a couple castles, some really cool pubs, a place called Rye, purportedly the oldest city in England, the white cliffs of Dover and a bunch of other cool stuff.

It was awesome!
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Battle is a small town 30 miles SE of London..further away from London than me and on the opposite side ... :) ..and Rye is even smaller..altho' the latter is a tourist town.. it's population is less than 10,000
 
hollydolly said:
Battle is a small town 30 miles SE of London..further away from London than me and on the opposite side ... :) ..and Rye is even smaller..altho' the latter is a tourist town.. it's population is less than 10,000
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Battle is cute as hell. If it's not actually southern, that's because I didn't have a good sense of direction while I was there. We got there on motorcycles, and it didn't take long (from Hastings)....but then, I'm from California, where a 500-mile drive isn't all that long.
 

Murrmurr said:
Battle is cute as hell. If it's not actually southern, that's because I didn't have a good sense of direction while I was there. We got there on motorcycles, and it didn't take long (from Hastings)....but then, I'm from California, where a 500-mile drive isn't all that long.
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lol...it's only 6 miles from Hastings to Battle ..Hastings being the coastal town
 
hollydolly said:
lol...it's only 6 miles from Hastings to Battle ..Hastings being the coastal town
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Yeah, I was sure I remembered that Battle is coastal. I thought you were saying I was mistaken.

Another place I liked was Eastbourn. I think that's where we went out on a pier to eat. But there's a pier in Hastings we went to also. Last time I went was about 10yrs ago, and it's all kind of hazy now. 🤪
 
Murrmurr said:
Yeah, I was sure I remembered that Battle is coastal. I thought you were saying I was mistaken.

Another place I liked was Eastbourn. I think that's where we went out on a pier to eat. But there's a pier in Hastings we went to also. Last time I went was about 10yrs ago, and it's all kind of hazy now. 🤪
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yes there's a pier at Hastings.. sadly hastings and it's neighbour St leonards on sea are fairly run down and a haven in parts for drug users

Eastbourne is nicknamed Gods' waiting room... but it does have beautiful coastal views
 
hollydolly said:
yes there's a pier at Hastings.. sadly hastings and it's neighbour St leonards on sea are fairly run down and a haven in parts for drug users

Eastbourne is nicknamed Gods' waiting room... but it does have beautiful coastal views
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Yeah, I still hear from Ruby now and then, my friend there who still lives in Hastings, and she told me it's gotten bad. Such a shame.

I have some great memories from my time there...the ones I can remember :p . I even considered retiring there, but I'd miss my family too much. I'd have probly spent all my savings flying them out there and flying me and Ruby to see them several times a year. That would've been pretty cool, but I had other plans for my savings.
 
We've gone to the U.K. a few times in the past, and I have a high regard for that country. Always enjoyed each visit. My husband had studied at Oxford, and that visit was quite nice. Inspired by the visits there, I've written two books that took place in England (historical). We had even toyed with the idea of moving there, but after checking out the prices, etc. found that we could not afford it. I love listening to the British accents, though.
 
palides2021 said:
We've gone to the U.K. a few times in the past, and I have a high regard for that country. Always enjoyed each visit. My husband had studied at Oxford, and that visit was quite nice. Inspired by the visits there, I've written two books that took place in England (historical). We had even toyed with the idea of moving there, but after checking out the prices, etc. found that we could not afford it. I love listening to the British accents, though.
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While I was there visiting a friend, she took me to a pub to meet her friends and they all gathered around me at once, asking a multitude of questions. My friend told her friends to back off and give me room to breathe, and one of them said something like "we just love to hear him talk" and another one said "Americans are so cute." 🤨

😂
 
Murrmurr said:
While I was there visiting a friend, she took me to a pub to meet her friends and they all gathered around me at once, asking a multitude of questions. My friend told her friends to back off and give me room to breathe, and one of them said something like "we just love to hear him talk" and another one said "Americans are so cute." 🤨

😂
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we have quite a lot of Americans and Canadians living here...:D
 
Thank you to you all for your replies, it is good to have first hand knowledge. So much to think about and consider.
To walk where my ancestors walked, Cornwall, where many of them lived and worked, what work they could get, one of my great uncles was hanged for stealing a sheep to feed his big family, which was fairly commonplace I have learnt, some were smugglers, another owned a hotel close to the beach, to sit and have a shandy in there would be real special, I have as yet to find as to whether it is still in existence, probably not.
Devon, then Plymouth where my grt/grandfather trained as a gunner in the Royal Navy, St.Peter Port in Guernsey where my grandmother and her extended family lived until she immigrated to New Zealand with one of her sisters, in their late teenage years. Glasgow Scotland, another place where many of them lived, there must still be some kin there I would think, going by some of the history of Scotland my maiden name being Campbell, I wouldn't want to meet up with any MacDonalds. :D Donegal in Ireland, where my paternal grandfather was born.
I love the sound of the British pubs, canal boats, lovely countryside, so many stately homes, castles to visit. Buckingham palace. The history is amazing. I am a 'country' person at heart so not going near the big cities is something I wouldn't miss.
 
horseless carriage said:
There is one thing to remember about a UK visit. Right now we are experiencing the highest eye watering prices at the pump for fossil fuel. For example, diesel is hovering around the two pound per litre mark. A sixty-five litre tank of fuel would set you back: £130:00. or, almost 242NZD.

£2:00 per litre translates into £9:00 per gallon, for those of us with long memories. Fuel is going up daily and it's causing inflation to rise which in turn is increasing costs because our economy relies heavily on fossil fuel.

My apologies if that puts you off travelling, but it is what it is.
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Hey! I believe that it is better that you know about prices before you plan your trip then fly there and get a BIG surprise when you find out how much they want for a short train ride from the airport to the center of London. The UK is definitely not the place for a bargain holiday. If you don't believe me, just Google hotel prices for Penzance or other places in Cornwall in the summer months. You will get a real "education."
 
Better go soon. I regret to inform you that those lovely old British pubs are fast disappearing. They are being replaced by Weatherspoon which is cheaper to eat and cheaper to drink in but they certainly have no atmosphere like those old pubs in Penzance.
Bellbird said:
Thank you to you all for your replies, it is good to have first hand knowledge. So much to think about and consider.
To walk where my ancestors walked, Cornwall, where many of them lived and worked, what work they could get, one of my great uncles was hanged for stealing a sheep to feed his big family, which was fairly commonplace I have learnt, some were smugglers, another owned a hotel close to the beach, to sit and have a shandy in there would be real special, I have as yet to find as to whether it is still in existence, probably not.
Devon, then Plymouth where my grt/grandfather trained as a gunner in the Royal Navy, St.Peter Port in Guernsey where my grandmother and her extended family lived until she immigrated to New Zealand with one of her sisters, in their late teenage years. Glasgow Scotland, another place where many of them lived, there must still be some kin there I would think, going by some of the history of Scotland my maiden name being Campbell, I wouldn't want to meet up with any MacDonalds. :D Donegal in Ireland, where my paternal grandfather was born.
I love the sound of the British pubs, canal boats, lovely countryside, so many stately homes, castles to visit. Buckingham palace. The history is amazing. I am a 'country' person at heart so not going near the big cities is something I wouldn't miss.
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I have been very fortunate to have visited London several times due to my career or during vacation. It was wonderful. We did everything "touristy" from going on the London Eye, to taking a double-decker bus and a Black Cab, to having fish and chips in a pub, dinner in Trader Vic's and buying last-minute tickets for West End shows. I haven't visited the outlying areas but I would love to. I love visiting the UK.
 
It seems to me that when you live in a place, you don't always know much of the surrounding area. As I've been saying, I only visited the Isle of Wight once, although it was close to where I lived.

There are a number of towns in S.England with names ending in Bourne, which means a stream. One interesting one is Fishbourne where the remains of a large Roman palace dating from 75 AD were discovered. Many intact mosaic floors were uncovered and are now on display.
As for "God's waiting room" - we used to call Worthing, Eastbourne etc... "The Costa del Geriatrica".
 
Thought of another con. They drive on the wrong side of the road!

No real need to rent a car and drive, but if you do I found it easier to do than I feared. Flew into Gatwick once and drove to Oxford. Interesting, driving on heavily trafficked roads was not bad, you could just go with the flow, follow others. Problem came on less well traveled roads, the car kept drifting into the wrong lane.
 
Capt Lightning said:
It seems to me that when you live in a place, you don't always know much of the surrounding area. As I've been saying, I only visited the Isle of Wight once, although it was close to where I lived.

There are a number of towns in S.England with names ending in Bourne, which means a stream. One interesting one is Fishbourne where the remains of a large Roman palace dating from 75 AD were discovered. Many intact mosaic floors were uncovered and are now on display.
As for "God's waiting room" - we used to call Worthing, Eastbourne etc... "The Costa del Geriatrica".
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My in-laws live in Worthing...:LOL:
 
RadishRose said:
My father was there during WW2 . He raved about England; the wonderful people, the beautiful country side, etc. He used to say he wanted to bring my mom and I over someday, but he died quite young.
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well can't argue that we have beautiful countryside.. but the England your father new 80 years ago... is gone... hardly anything even bares resemblance to even when I was young .. 60 years ago... and certainly we've seen the biggest changes in the last 10 years...
 
Murrmurr said:
@Bellbird - I've been there twice, but only the south area. All I saw of London was Heathrow airport. I stayed with a friend in Hastings for 2 weeks, and her brother loaned me his motorcycle (she had her own) so she could take me sight-seeing from Dover to Southampton. We went to a city called Battle, site of the battle of 1066, saw a lighthouse or two, a couple castles, some really cool pubs, a place called Rye, purportedly the oldest city in England, the white cliffs of Dover and a bunch of other cool stuff.

It was awesome!
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Murrmurr, I checked out Rye, wow I would say it must be close to being the oldest city in England, it was very easy to imagine the folk walking those cobbled streets, brilliant.
 
Murrmurr said:
@Bellbird - I've been there twice, but only the south area. All I saw of London was Heathrow airport. I stayed with a friend in Hastings for 2 weeks, and her brother loaned me his motorcycle (she had her own) so she could take me sight-seeing from Dover to Southampton. We went to a city called Battle, site of the battle of 1066, saw a lighthouse or two, a couple castles, some really cool pubs, a place called Rye, purportedly the oldest city in England, the white cliffs of Dover and a bunch of other cool stuff.

It was awesome!
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Murrmurr, I checked out Rye, I would say it must be one of the oldest cities in England, brilliant, very easy to imagine the folk walking those cobbled streets.
 
Bellbird said:
Murrmurr, I checked out Rye, I would say it must be one of the oldest cities in England, brilliant, very easy to imagine the folk walking those cobbled streets.
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no it's not the oldest town, there's many older including my own little market town....

If you want to visit the oldest town then that would be Colchester which is a large town 65 miles from London.. and dates back to .77 AD
 
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Blessed said:
I want to go but not for London. I want to see the country side, small villages, farms. Go to the small seaside towns. Visit gardens and churchs. Stay in a little cottage.
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@Bellbird Hubby and I visited UK in the 1980s. We found it more economical to book hire cars from Australia than signing up when we arrived. We also bought a book of vouchers for country farmhouse bed and breakfast. Hotels were quite expensive compared to our country motels and the farm house accommodation was absolutely charming. They may not be open all year - they tend to shut down in the off seasons. Do your research.
 
hollydolly said:
no it's not the oldest town, there's many older including my own little market town....

If you want to visit the oldest town then that would be Colchester which is a large town 65 miles from London.. and dates back to .77 AD
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I went by what my friend told me. She could've been wrong, of course, but maybe there's a qualifier, like "the oldest continuously incorporated town" or something like that.

(in the US, an incorporated town/city is one that provides its own municipal services, like fire and police, instead of relying on county or neighboring city services)
 
Murrmurr said:
I went by what my friend told me. She could've been wrong, of course, but maybe there's a qualifier, like "the oldest continuously incorporated town" or something like that.

(in the US, an incorporated town/city is one that provides its own municipal services, like fire and police, instead of relying on county or neighboring city services)
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we don't have such a thing...
 

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