Photography road trip in the UK, 2016?

Hey all,

I'm from Seattle and have only been to Europe once. That was Paris for 10 days. I spent the whole time walking in the city (or taking the subway - tube -) to places I wanted to see. It was good but would have been better if I was with a couple of Parisians who knew the ropes.

Now I am considering a trip to the UK for a couple of weeks. My few British friends aren't photographers or worse... have moved away. I'd like to do the road trip anyway. I know I'll get beaten up by a local in a pub somewhere in the country if I go by myself. I have a habit of saying the wrong thing just because well... I'm American.

Last night, I had a shower revelation. Somewhere between soaping the armpit and the belly button, I thought: "What if a British APUGGer had such a trip planned and was thinking of scratching it because he had no annoyng American cousin to keep out of trouble for a fortnight". Well, if that's you, then I can help you bring your road trip plans back to life.

Let me know if you are planning a photo holiday and want some company. Of course, I'm responsible for my own lodging and food... although I'm buying the beer in each pub. I'm easy to get along with and I carry only 35mm equipment on trips like this.

It's a long shot, I know.

Just don't remind them that they drive on the wrong side of the road as opposed to driving on the "right" side as the rest of the world does!

Drew B. said:

Just don't remind them that they drive on the wrong side of the road as opposed to driving on the "right" side as the rest of the world does!

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... that's directly from the book titled "Things you don't say to an Englishman in a pub - if you don't want to be fed to the werewolves, somewhere on the moors"

If you do not take the trip this year, you will be at least a year older when you do.

SP, great idea, good luck. Definitely do it regardless. Maybe a few UK APUGers in different regions can show you around their area, instead of accompanying you on a whole trip. When I did my US road trip, I had internet forum friends show me around Memphis and SanFran, their home towns.

Sirius Glass said:

If you do not take the trip this year, you will be at least a year older when you do.

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LOL. I do indeed need the reminder. It ain't enough that I see my gray hair in the mirror every morning when I comb the diminishing crop. sob.

frank said:

SP, great idea, good luck. Definitely do it regardless. Maybe a few UK APUGers in different regions can show you around their area, instead of accompanying you on a whole trip. When I did my US road trip, I had internet forum friends show me around Memphis and SanFran, their home towns.

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^^^^

What he said.

Being a Brit I would suggest you are going to need to be a bit picky about which bits of the UK you specifically want to see otherwise you are gonna spend all two weeks in a car driving and not out walking in the countryside seeing the attractions.
On the other hand some people like visiting towns. And then again you may be thinking of visiting England,Scotland and Wales which frankly is not practical thing to attempt in two weeks otherwise again you're driving thw whole time.
So would you be happy just visiting a more localised area of UK or are there specific places you want to see or avoid such as London?

You're going to need to a bit more specific to see who's in the areas you want to visit I think.

RobC said:

Being a Brit I would suggest you are going to need to be a bit picky about which bits of the UK you specifically want to see otherwise you are gonna spend all two weeks in a car driving and not out walking in the countryside seeing the attractions.
On the other hand some people like visiting towns. And then again you may be thinking of visiting England,Scotland and Wales which frankly is not practical thing to attempt in two weeks otherwise again you're driving thw whole time.
So would you be happy just visiting a more localised area of UK or are there specific places you want to see or avoid such as London?

You're going to need to a bit more specific to see who's in the areas you want to visit I think.

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Good observations!
London (for sure), Kent, Cornwall, Wales, Dover... mostly the south. I love the cities but also the countryside.... maybe the cities more.
Certainly, I'd prefer to tour with someone who likes to stretch his legs. Walking through a town or the hills are both ideal activities.

As far as towns go, I enjoyed visiting Brighton. It was back in 2009.

Stonehenge is quite awesome.

Consider a week or less in London and then going to some of the following: Salisbury [cathedral, Stonehedge], Conwy Wales, Cotswold, Winchester [cathedral] or Cantabury by train.

Dover? Never thought of Dover as a holdiay destination. It does have a castle I think but its really known as being a ferry port for getting to France and the vast majority of people just pass through on their way to the continent.
If you want to see white cliffs then I suggest Sussex and take in the 7 Sisters cliffs between Brighton and Eastbourne west of Kent but not that far. Really nice 20 mile walk but you need transport at other end to get back. Take in Beachy Head on the way, a real suicide hotspot.
I would suggest basing yourself in the Cotswolds (Englands largest AONB) which is half way(ish) between London and west country proper. From there you have towns like Bath (world heritage city) with its Georgian Architecture and Pulteney Bridge, very pleasant place, Oxford with its University, Cheltenham (Regency Architecture), Gloucester, really nice cathedral with highly photogenic cloisters and with its old docks at head of River Severn(see the Severn Bore).
And right on edge of Cotswolds you have Lacock Abbey, home of Fox Talbot and Nearby Castle Combe voted Englands prettiest village at one time I think. Numerous very pleasant Towns and Villages in the Cotswolds including Stow on The Wold, Chipping Campden, Bourton on the water and not very far away Stratford on Avon the home of Shakespeare (never been there). Plenty of easy walking in the Cotswolds and plenty country houses and gardens to visit. Abundant pretty villages with mediaval stone houses, country pubs, bistro pubs and a lot of local country events happening.
Maybe a visit to Cirencester park to watch polo being played by the other half and if you're lucky(sic) there might even be a royal or two in the team. You can stamp down divots between chukkas.
From Costwolds its only a short hop into Southern Wales and the Brecon Beacons for some big hill walking and sheep.
Also from Cotswolds its only a short hop down into Wiltshire to take in Stonehenge(highly overated 10 minute attraction unless you go on mid summers day for sunrise) or much better, Avebury Stone Circle combined with Silbury Hill and West Kennet Long Barrow and on to Marlborough for tea in Polly's afterwards. A tad further South is Salisbury with its cathedral and tallest spire in the England. Very pleasant provincial town.
Again from Cotswolds heading west into Devon and Cornwall is easy. Visit Clovelly on North devon Coast, then across Dartmoor and Chagford, Bovery Tracey. Endless easy walking, small stone circles, beautiful little river valleys. Highly photogenic granite Tors. Then head south to Dartmouth and Salcombe on south Coast, both very pretty. Nice Hotel in dartmouth called The Royal Castle. The Mayflower stopped in at Dartmouth on its way to US. Take a walk at Torcross training site for Normandy landings. You may even find an old Sherman tank. Then walk around Start Point. Avoid Torquay and Paignton. And if you really feel the urge, further West into Cornwall. Sod all in Cornwall except cliffs and beaches which is busy in summer and wet the rest of the year. Very pretty but good weather is a must have down there. Most expensive indian restauarant I ever went to in Truro. Oh, and a few old tin mines for some industrial heritage architecture sitting on cliff tops.

That little lot should keep you busy for a couple of weeks. All you gotta do is find someone who hasn't already done it all or wants to do it again.

http://www.landscapesforlife.org.uk/visit-aonbs.html
http://www.cotswoldsaonb.org.uk/
http://www.dartmoor.gov.uk/
http://www.northdevon-aonb.org.uk/
http://www.southdevonaonb.org.uk/

As for London, if big sprawling citiies are your thing then I'd devote a whole two weeks to it in another trip. You can't DO England in two weeks.

And beware of the natives, they may be hostile. Shin kicking in Gloucestershire is a popular old passtime.

Sirius glass made some good suggestions above. It rather depends on what sort of stuff you like though, and what the weather will be like when you turn up. If you go to Salisbury / Stonehenge add in Bath.

If you can book far enough ahead, consider a flight to Scotland, the flights can be fairly cheap sometimes. Since you are coming that far you might want to consider a weekend in another Euro city (Prague, Amsterdam, Madrid?). That might entice a few more British photographers than a British road trip.

frank said:

As far as towns go, I enjoyed visiting Brighton. It was back in 2009.

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Gay capital of the South. Has a pier and the Royal Pavillion, The Lanes known for antique shops but otherwise a fairly average seaside town with a lot of foreign students. Easy access to/from London by train. Very popular with luvvies from the acting profession. Nice sussex countryside around it.

Kevin Caulfield said:

Stonehenge is quite awesome.

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RobC suggests it's worth ten minutes. I suggest at least one full day.

Kevin Caulfield said:

RobC suggests it's worth ten minutes. I suggest at least one full day.

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Familiarity breeds contempt. I've driven past it literally dozens of times. There is a public bridleway you can turn into and stop for free and see it from a distance. English heritage are trying to monetize it and stop people from being able to see it without paying. But there really is very little to see.
many years ago you could walk right in and upto and in amongst the stones. Not anymore, not only do they make you pay a lot more but they make you keep your distance.
So they built a new visitor center which I haven't been into and you'll spend more time in there than actually looking at the stones. And of course they will try and part you with more money in there.
Avebury on the other is a stone circle which goes right the way round a whole village with a huge ditch and ramparts on the outside of it. You can walk in and around the stones the whole way round the village and costs precisely nothing except for the car park if you can't find a space on the road.
Stone Henge is great on midsummers morning but otherwise is no way a full days visit. There simply isn't anything except what you've already seen in photos to see. Interesting sure but highly overated as a visitor attraction.
Avebury also has a manor house and museum you can visit(there is a charge) in the center of the village. And a PUB but the main attraction is free.

Come down to the Isle of Wight and visit Dimbola Lodge, the former home of Victorian photographer Julia Margaret Cameron which is now a photographic gallery and museum.

I will even buy you a British cup of tea in their café!

It's good that, unlike most Americans, your visit is not going to be entirely London... or Londonengland as most Americans call it!


Steve.

SP: I'd highly recommend you visit Peak district. You'll find plenty of places for landscape photography.

BTI, Brits won't beat you up. I've been living there for more than 12 years. Most people, as expected, are friendly and relaxed. It is the sense of restraint that most brits have that will save you (just kidding)!

Bests,
Ashfaque

If you want a proper "road trip" you need to take the A303 "Highway To The Sun".

You can marvel at the wonders of the Podimore roundabout (and, if you time it right) have plenty of time to enjoy it as you fume gently in one of it's many picturesque traffic jams.

Other highlights might include the opportunity to practice low light or flash photography in the leafy glades just off the road itself, known since time immemorial for the traditional rural pastime known as "dogging". But don't bring your dog!

Or take a side trip North up the A350 at the Warminster turn to experience the beauties of the former cement works at Westbury.

Kevin Caulfield said:

RobC suggests it's worth ten minutes. I suggest at least one full day.

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Well, don't know what's the last time you went there, but 25 years ago it was a nice place to walk around, for an hour or so. Very impressive. But I went back last year and they made some kind of amusement park out of it. Hundreds of buses from all over England and thousands of tourists. I think RobC is taking it a bit too far, but half an hour is more than enough.
If you like stones, go to Avebury. But not all at the same time please.

That is one of the better images of Avebury I have ever seen. You've really captured the rural feel of it. Maybe its just because I can relate to it becasue I know Avebury extremely well having lived very close by for a long time. Been there many times. I remember back when you could climb Silbury Hill but they stopped that now due to erosion. Well not if no one is looking which they aren't most of the time.
Stone Henge was cool back in the days when the free hippie festival was on across the road and on midsummers eve there would would be a massive party of people there, mostly completely off their heads, come to see the druids do their thing and watch the sun come up (clouds permitting). But then the travellers recked it by daubing paint on the stones and English Heritage got their grubby little mits on it and have done far worse trying to monetize it.
If you live in the area you get to know "The Ridgeway" which runs from very close to Avebury east for a very long way. Its a chalk escarpment which has hill forts along its route. I know the one at Barbury Castle and Liddington very well (great for toboggoning in the winter). I worked on a farm up there during school holidays in the summer time. Along the Ridgeway into Berkshire you will find Uffington White Horse which is the most ancient white horse carved into the chalk escarpment. This is quite a special place for an afternoon, especially in good weather. And adjacent to it on the west side is "The Wayland Smithy" which is an ancient long barrow. But I digress into reminiscing about my childhood and teenage years. Many people do the Ridgeway walk over several days taking in all the Hill Forts but they're not really the sort of place to go out of your way to visit on a touring holiday with maybe a few special exceptions. There's too much else to see.

Steve Smith said:

Come down to the Isle of Wight and visit Dimbola Lodge, the former home of Victorian photographer Julia Margaret Cameron which is now a photographic gallery and museum.

I will even buy you a British cup of tea in their café!

It's good that, unlike most Americans, your visit is not going to be entirely London... or Londonengland as most Americans call it!


Steve.

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The tea is very good, as well as the cakes etc

A lot depends on how long you plan to visit the UK, it's such a varied landscape, so you need to plan well.

Ian

Go to Avebury instead! Much less crowded and our National Trust (a non-governmental body) don't charge an arm and a leg to get in. It's a 'henge monument' where Saxons grafted a village onto it. Thus there were village interactions with the monument, most destructive, one interesting; when a medieval Barber-Surgeon got buried under a stone!

Then come up into Yorkshire. No, no NOT ruddy York. I suggest a few days in the Wolds. First look inside Kirkby Grindalythe church, remember your tripod! Then go via Sledmere to see the Wagoner's Memorial a unique cenotaph to the Great War Wolds Wagoners who supplemented the British Army's transport corps in France. Very graphic! And finish off with the local DMV (deserted Medieval Village).
Then toddle up to Hadrian's Wall I suggest the site of the Eastern supply depot where there's a fine reproduction of the tombstone in Hexham Abbey, which forbids photography! Then wander along the central area, stopping off at Carrawburgh (P. CarraBruff) Mithraeum; Temple of Mithras. (I hope you're not a bible-thumper as Mithras predates Christianity which copied several rites from it!). If the weather's clear the central area around Housesteads is very scenic. And top-off at Vindolanda where most of our knowledge about Roman Britain was learned. Excepting the roads. Their lore was discovered in a tiny area called Pontus Fractus (Pontefract) down here in West Yorkshire. Sadly we have little to see. The Legionary quern-stone was 3 feet down at the foot of a trench near Thorpe Audlin!

Ian Grant said:

The tea is very good, as well as the cakes etc

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It's a great place. I did some sound engineering for a music event there on Saturday. It was nice to walk into a building open to the public and see it being warmed by open fires (in fireplaces obviously!).


Steve.