New Site is Live

501 Places is moving onwards and upwards. I have now set up a new site at http://www.501places.com and copied everything from here to the new site. The new platform will give me more ability to customise the site, and the address is a bit better as well (I think). If you visit here regularly, please adjust your bookmark to the new address and you won't miss a thing.

No more new posts will appear on this site.

I hope you like the new site (feedback always welcome) and I look forward to seeing your comments on 501Places.com

Thanks and best regards

Andy

England beyond London 3 - Great cities and wide open spaces

We have previously featured the wild north of Cumbria and Northumberland, and last week described the beauty of Durham and North Yorkshire. In this final post we will travel between Leeds and Liverpool, and also venture into the Peak District for some more breathtaking scenery. Join me for another peek at some of England's greatest hidden secrets.

1. Leeds. Considered the north's financial services capital, Leeds has grown in economic importance over the last two decades. But the charms of the city date back beyond that time. I lived in the city for a couple of years and made the most of some fantastic restaurants. For some of the best Japanese meals in the country, you'll be hard pushed to do better than Little Tokyo. Wonderful service, and don't miss the Japanese profiteroles! (deep fried ice cream covered in syrup).

The city is full of impressive remants of the industrial revolution, none more so that the central Corn Exchange. Now a hang-out for the teenagers, the interior is well restored to match its appearance as the main trading floor of its day. Also impressive is the central market and the buildings along the Headrow - all clues to the wealthy past of this city.

2. Manchester. I studied here for two years on an international MBA course, and a large number of the students who had travelled from across the world to come here had only heard of Manchester for one reason. But as the football of the city is not to my taste, I won't linger on that subject (of course, bias aside, a trip to Old Trafford and soaking up the atmosphere of a 75,000 crowd will be a memorable experience). Like Leeds, Manchester was a central transport and business hub during the industrial revolution, and many of its most impressive buildings originate from that time.

Just walking through the centre, you will see wonderful intricate details on so many buildings. If you get the chance, visit the central library. This giant dome in St Peter's Square has one of the most striking reading rooms. The Great Hall, a giant round room, has the most impressive collonade and acoustics that will astound. Just emit a small cough, and you can hear it echo around the room as if you had a microphone (maybe not so good in a library, on reflection). Chinatown is worth exploring, particularly around lunchtime of course. It is England's biggest Chinese district outside of London.

Manchester is also home to some of the UK's best museums. At the Lowry art gallery you can see some of the best of British modern art (or if you are a philistine like me, scratch your head and frequently say "is this really art?"). Next to this is the Imperial War Museum, where some excellent exhibits give an insight into life in wartime Britain.

3. Liverpool and Merseyside. If Manchester is all about football, Liverpool is undoubtedly known first and foremost for the Beatles. And they make the most of this famous boy band, with Beatles heritage tours, museums, a themed hotel and of course a Magical Mystery Tour bus that takes you around the sights that link to the story of the Beatles. Once considered a derelict and even dangerous city, Liverpool is now modern, full of new buildings and even was awarded the accolade of European Capital of Culture recently. The waterfront area is very well geared to the increasing tourist trade.

North of the city is one of my favourite spots. Leaving the city behind the coastline becomes sandy, and by the time you reach Formby there are extensive dunes and huge expanses of sand (particularly if the tide is out). Not the place to go for a swim unless you are very brave (or foolish) the coastline offers wonderful walks and the freshest of fresh air. If you park at Formby Point, you will also have a good chance of seeing red squirrels. This is one of the only places left in England where these squirrels have survived the invasion of their North American cousins.

4. The Peak District. This area, a designated National Park, is a hiker's paradise. Rolling hills and pretty valleys, small villages and towns evenly scattered to stop from breaks and treats, and plenty of industrial heritage thrown in for good measure. You can base yourself in Castleton, probably the most tourist friendly town in the area, where as well as eating and drinking in the town itself you can visit four nearby caverns - one involves an underground boat ride. You can also climb up the valley to Peveril Castle - if you have seen the film The Princess Bride, you will immediately recognise you are walking through one of the main filming locations. 

You can also start in Bakewell, home of the famous tart and also a pretty market town from which you can explore the Dales in every direction. We stopped here recently and visited the famous Bakewell Tart Shop, leaving around 30 minutes later feeling full to bursting.

As an added bonus if coming here from the south, don't miss the chance to pass through Chesterfield and see one of the most unusual sights. The twisted spire of the town's church was no doubt a great source of anger and embarrassment when it started to deform, but is now the landmark of the town and is worth passing through for this sight alone.

5. Chester. Almost in Wales, this Roman city is well worth a visit on a trip north. It boasts a very well preserved City Wall, and you can walk along large parts of it, giving a good view over the Roman Amphitheatre and the city streets. There are always Roman re-enactments taking place, and it is a normal sight to see a centurion leading a group of children on a march through the city. Don't miss the town cryer, who gives the day's news to the citizens of the city at 12noon (and gets paid a lot less for doing it than his  BBC counterparts).

The river is a nice place to stroll and enjoy the large houses of the rich and famous of Cheshire, but the boat trip along the river is not worth the time or money (unless you like that sort of thing).


One thing not to miss in Chester; in the wall of the East Gate of the city, there is a small kiosk selling snacks and drinks. They also knock out deep fried Mars Bars - something everyone should experience once (I've had several actually; they are nicer than they sound).

I hope you've enjoyed this short tour of the north of England. If I can convince one person to extend their trip to England beyond London and the south east, it will be worthwhile. Did I mention the friendly people up north? You will just have to experience that for yourself.

Travel Broadens the Mind? I beg to differ

I will never forget standing at the ruins at Pachacamac in Peru, admiring the vast site and trying to imagine how the place would have looked before the Spanish conquest. Standing next to us were a British couple who had travelled to the site on the same bus and we had already gathered were well travelled. The woman looked at the ruined site, from which much of the stone had been plundered in the 16th century, and said to her husband without a shred of irony: "At least when the British arrived in their colonies they respected the local cultures and looked after the history". We were speechless.

Travel exposes us to many unfamiliar sensations. New sights, sounds, smells and tastes are all around us when we visit a new part of the world. We hear stories and see rituals from different cultures and face opinions and beliefs that might be contrary to our own. We take part in activities that might be normal in our host country but that we would never consider at home.

So what do we take home that we can use in everyday lives, that we can say has broadened our minds? If we have an open, inquisitive mind, we might challenge some of own assumptions about our view of history, or of international politics. We mind gain greater tolerance for a religion that we were exposed to on our travels. We might even expand our cooking repetoire or our music collection.

There are many ways in which our lives can be enriched by experiences from another country. But we have to have the right frame of mind to start with. Take the lady I described in the first paragraph. I fear she will fit anything she visits in the world into her model of a high class, benevolent and intellectually superior British civilisation. I would not be so arrogant to presume I haven't had moments of prejudice at some moments on our travels, and uttered words I later wish I hadn't. But I do believe, as do most who want to experience the beauty and diversity of our planet and the people who call it home, that the differences we encounter along the way do make travelling very addictive.

But why do we need to travel? Can we not experience those differences in beliefs, in culture, in personal values, without jetting off to the other side of the world? They can be found in our own country. Sometimes in our own state or city. I have met people who appeared as wise and curious as any seasoned traveller, yet they had never left their immediate surroundings. So can our minds be broadened without travel? Absolutely. For me, expanding our view of the world, and of ourselves, is a by-product of travel, but it not a reason in itself to create a giant carbon footprint.

I travel because I love the excitement of arriving somewhere new; of hearing a new language and trying to make sense of it; of trying different foods; of muddling my way through an alien transport system; of chance encounters with people where we don't share a common language yet can communicate; of seeing the sights that have enthralled me since I saw them in atlases and children's encyclopedias. But to broaden my mind? Well I want to do in any case, whether at home or far away.