GREAT BRITAIN

One  of  Britain's  most  important  contributions  to  world  culture  is  its  rich literary  heritage:  many  towns  and  cities  have  been  celebrated  and immortalized  in  the  great  works  of  English  literature. Surely  every  Englishman  has  a  rich  inheritance  when  one  contemplates  all  the  legacies, treasures,  and  proud  traditions  that have been passed down from  generation  to  generation.

We depart this afternoon from Dallas to London on our British Airways jet. BON VOYAGE!

Upon arrival this morning at London’s Gatwick Airport, our Tour Manager will meet and assist us as we transfer to our private motor coach. We leave London and drive first to visit Stonehenge and its mysterious Druid Circle. This is a world-famous prehistoric monument on the edge of the Salisbury Plain and is an important symbol of mystery in Thomas Hardy’s novel Tess of the D’Ubervilles. We will also stop in Chawton for a lecture tour at the home of Jane Austen.

We then arrive in Winchester, with a lecture tour of Winchester Cathedral and it library, which houses the Winchester Bible, written in 1150. The Cathedral is also the burial spot of Jane Austen. We also visit the Great Hall of a former Norman Castle where Sir Walter Raleigh was condemned to death and where there is a statue of Queen Victoria, as well as a representation of King Arthur’s Round Table. At one time, Winchester was the residence of such important writers as Jane Austen, John Keats, Matthew Arnold, and Arnold Toynbee. Next, we check in at our hotel in Winchester.

Leaving Winchester, our motor coach journey takes us first to the county of Wiltshire to visit picturesque Salisbury, with its magnificent Cathedral, which inspired authors such as Charles Dickens, Anthony Trollope, Thomas Hardy, and William Golding. We continue to Thomas Hardy’s Wessex, with a lecture tour of Dorchester and Thomas Hardy’s Memorial Room, as well as Max Gate, a home Hardy built. Later, we depart for Exeter, with a brief tour of Ottery St. Mary, Coleridge’s boyhood town and the church of St. Mary of Ottery, where the poet’s father was vicar. Then we check in at our hotel in Exeter.

Today we will be taken on a full-day sightseeing excursion to Plymouth and Tintagel. Before we drive to Plymouth, we visit Exeter Cathedral and get a view of the Exeter Book of the Anglo-Saxon

Poems and Roman mosaics that were built from 1280 to 1370. We then drive through the wild and haunting Dartmoor National Park, the setting for Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Hounds of the Baskervilles, and then on to historic Plymouth. We do a lecture tour of this ancient port where Sir Francis Drake, Sir Walter Raleigh, the Pilgrim fathers’ Captain James Cook, and Charles Darwin all set sail on pioneering voyages.

We continue on to Tintagel, the legendary birthplace of King Arthur, for a lecture tour of the ruins of the 12th century castle known as Tintagel Castle. After our full day tour, we return to our hotel in Exeter.

This morning we depart Exeter for Glastonbury, where it is said King Arthur and Lady Guinevere are buried. A short drive takes us to the Georgian city of Bath, which is situated beside River Avon. Since Roman times, the city of Bath has been known for its mineral waters. Bath was a fashionable spa in the 18th century, and it continues to retain this atmosphere. We will visit the Roman Baths, which were built in the year 50, as well as the Pump Room, and we will discuss the impact of the Roman occupation of England from 43 to 410. During our tour of Bath, we will see the well-preserved 18th century streets that were the settings of scenes from writers such as Jane Austen and Tobias Smollet.

We leave Bath and travel to the beautiful Wye Valley for a lecture tour of 12th century Tintern Abbey, which was made famous by William Wordsworth’s famous poem by the same name.

We then proceed to Swansea, Wales, where the Welsh poet Dylan Thomas spent his childhood. Upon arrival in Swansea, we check in at our hotel.

We leave Swansea for lecture tour/videos of Dylan Thomas’s boathouse, where he did much of his writing, and then make a stop at Brown’s Hotel and Pub, where the poet went to drink. We drive on to Hay-on-Wye, a small country town that has over 25 second-hand book stores and hosts a Festival of Literature each summer with discussion and book signings from popular writers. In the afternoon, we continue through the beautiful English landscapes of the Cotswolds and soon reach Stratford-Upon-Avon, where we will check in at our hotel. Set by the banks of the winding River Avon in the green heart of Warwickshire, Stratford retains the character and atmosphere of the Elizabethan market town that Shakespeare knew some four centuries ago.

This morning,  we will do a lecture tour of  Stratford,  with visits to  Mary Arden’s  house,  a picture stop at Anne Hathaway’s  Cottage,  and Holy Trinity Church,  where Shakespeare is buried. We will also visit the birthplace of William Shakespeare. The house in Henley Street where Shakespeare was born and spent his early years is a half-timbered building, dating from the early 16th century and furnished in period style. Especially interesting are the famous signatures, including Sir Walter Scott, Thomas Carlyle, and Isaac Watts, whose names are inscribed on the window of the birth room.

Tonight we attend a theater performance of Julius Caesar at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre.

Today we leave Stratford and drive to Kenilworth Castle, a castle visited by Queen Elizabeth in 1575 at the invitation of The Earl of Leicester, and a castle depicted in Sir Walter Scott’s novel Kenilworth. We continue for a lecture tour of Warwick Castle, England’s finest medieval castle, which contains a dungeon of torture instruments, Madame Tussaud’s wax figures, and the Great Hall (filled with arms and armor). Next, we drive on to Coventry Cathedral, a medieval cathedral that was bombed by the Germans in 1940, leaving only the steeple, and later rebuilt as a modern cathedral. If  time permits, we will tour the Wedgwood factory. In the afternoon, we proceed to Liverpool, which was visited by writers such as Tom Paine, Charles Dickens, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Mark Twain, Herman Melville, but was made famous as the hometown of The Beatles. We will spend overnight in Liverpool.

This morning our local guide will take us on a Beatles tour,  which concludes with a stop at Britannia Pavillion for an exhibition of the history of the Beatles’  rise to fame,  from the first record through Beatle-mania,  to their last live appearance together and their eventual break-up. We then leave Liverpool and visit the 14th century Sizergh Castle, a medieval fortress that was remodeled in Elizabethan days and again in the 18th century. We continue to the Lake District, stopping at Ullswater Lake, where William Wordsworth and his sister Dorothy saw “the host of golden daffodils,” immortalized in his famous poem. Upon arrival in Keswick, we will transfer to our hotel.

Today we will be taken on a full-day sightseeing excursion through the breathtaking Lake  District  of  England,  an area where majestic mountain scenery,  flawless  lakes studded with islands, and lush green valleys give way to gentle pastoral farmland sprinkled with handsome farmhouses and tiny hamlets—a region of fells and dales and heathery slopes dotted with sheep. In one of his many sonnets commemorating the beauty of the Lake District, Wordsworth wrote, "All things that love the sun are out of doors.”

We first travel to visit Dove Cottage, which Wordsworth shared with Samuel Coleridge, Robert Southey, and Thomas de Quincey. We then visit Rydal Mount, where William Wordsworth lived for 37 years, and Hawkshead Grammar School, where he attended school. At the conclusion of our  tour, we  return  to  our  hotel  in  Keswick, where we can take advantage of some time free to explore this lovely  town  on  our  own.

This morning we leave the Lake District and drive through the beautiful West Country, visiting the Bronte Parsonage and Museum at Haworth, where the Bronte sisters grew up and where they wrote their novels. In the afternoon, we continue our journey to Eastwood, Nottingham, and the birthplace of novelist D.H. Lawrence. Here we enjoy a lecture tour of the Victorian Eastwood Exhibition, which is located in a former mine owner’s office and is where Lawrence used to collect his father’s wages when he was a boy. We will also participate in a lecture tour of Lawrence’s birthplace and museum, after which we will move on to Oxford for an overnight stay.

This morning we will be taken on a sightseeing tour of Oxford, the oldest university of English- speaking people, founded by Henry II in 1167, and attended by writers Percy Blysshe Shelley, Algernon Swinburne, Mathew Arnold, and T.S. Eliot. We will take a lecture tour to University College to see the Shelley Memorial. In the afternoon, we leave Oxford and drive to Windsor Castle, where we will view St. George’s Chapel, the tombs of George V and Queen Mary, George VI’s Memorial Chapel and burial place, and the Albert Memorial Chapel. We will then take a brief tour of Windsor Great Park, where Shelley wandered and wrote under the trees. Next, we will continue our journey to London, and upon arrival, we will visit Westminster Abbey, where much of the nation’s history is enshrined in the tombs and memorials of the many illustrious figures of the past, including more than 70 writers who are buried in the Poet’s Corner.

Our full-day sightseeing tour will show us the highlights of this sovereign city.

London is like a collection of villages, each with its own charm and character, and we will discover them all as we see Trafalgar Square, Piccadilly Circus, Parliament, Kensington Palace, and the Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace. We will also visit Westminster Abbey and the Globe Theatre.

This afternoon will be spent at leisure. Perhaps you might visit the incomparable British Museum;  the Tate Gallery, which specializes in British paintings, or the wonderful National Portrait Gallery. Be tempted by a stop at Madame Tussaud's  famous waxworks,  ride atop a double-decker bus, people-watch,  and  stroll through one of  London's  great parks— Regent's, St. James',  Green, or Hyde Park; or visit The  Tower of London,  Kensington  Palace, or  Churchill’s  War  Cabinet  Rooms.

This evening we will enjoy a theatre performance of Stones in his Pockets at the Duke of York Theatre.

The  entire  day  is  free  to  explore  this  exciting  city  on  our  own.

Vitality, history and friendliness—these are just three words we could use in describing London,  Britain's  exciting capital city. For shoppers, the excitement of spending money in London is something that one cannot resist. Shopping is centered in two compact areas: one takes in Bond, Oxford, Regent, and Carnaby Streets. The other is focused in Knightsbridge. Knightsbridge is the home of the legendary department store, Harrod’s. This exclusive department store can supply an almost limitless range of goods and has several restaurants.

This  morning  we reluctantly bid farewell to  London  as our motor coach transports us to  Gatwick  Airport  where we board  our  British  Airways  jet  for  the  flight  home.

We  arrive  in  Dallas  this  afternoon,  full  of  memories  of  our  British  Literature tour.

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