Fans of Masterpiece will be thrilled by the news in this week’s top story, with many of them equally intrigued by the prospect of virtually attending the world’s longest-running literature festival WHICH KICKS OFF TODAY in the Cotswolds spa town of Cheltenham.
Pitch these ideas to your anglophile customers who will love them, and let’s explore how we can turn fiction into profitable reality.
All Creatures Great and SmallIf you’ve seen the movies/TV series All Creatures Great And Small (image credit Channel 5) or read James Herriot’s novels, your anglophile clients will be really pleased to know that as co-production with PBS, the Channel 5 remake of his much-loved ‘All Creatures Great and Small’ will be launched on Masterpiece early next year. Let’s talk about an ‘On Location’ tour which visits locations used in the original movie/TV series and the places used in the version you’re about to see. |
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Be Amazed by Stunning Fountains AbbeyAdd an extra day and offer a visit to the majestic ruins at Fountain’s Abbey, a World Heritage Site hidden in a secluded valley and built by Cistercian monks in 1132. Make sure you also see the Georgian landscape of mirror-like ponds, canals, follies and rushing cascades at the Studley Royal Water Garden. Just minutes away, you’ll also find Ripon Cathedral, which has a history that stretches back almost 14 centuries as a place of worship and pilgrimage. |
Discover Dracula at Whitby AbbeyAlternatively, set aside a day for a nostalgic, steam-hauled 24-mile train ride through the North York Moors National Park to the coastal town of Whitby on the North Yorkshire Moors Railway. In addition to sampling Fish ‘n’ Chips in an award-winning Chippy, you’ll then follow in the footsteps of artists, writers and religious leaders as you explore the magnificent 1500 year old gothic ruins of Whitby Abbey and learn about its close association with Bram Stoker, author of Dracula. |
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Take an A B C Literary Tour of the CotswoldsA stands for Jane Austen in Bath, B for the Bard in Stratford upon Avon and C for Cheltenham in the Cotswolds, where between Friday 2nd and Sunday 11th October, they will be live-streaming The Times and Sunday Times Cheltenham Literature Festival As you will have clients with an interest in events of this international stature, turn it to your advantage by inviting them to join you at some of the events being staged over the 10 day period. |
Experience Tudor England At the Shakespeare HousesStratford upon Avon is less than an hour to the north east of Cheltenham and a side trip should include a visit to Shakespeare’s Birthplace, where you follow his childhood and early married years through the very rooms he lived in. The living history experience at Mary Arden’s Tudor Farm gives you the opportunity to talk to the Tudors, see displays of falconry and goose-herding, craft demonstrations and horse-grooming, and the opportunity to try Tudor food at Shakespeare’s mother’s farm. |
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Follow in Jane Austen’s Footsteps in BathWhen Jane Austen made Bath her home between 1801-1806, the city was a thriving spa resort, popular with fashionable society. Just over 1-hour to the south of Cheltenham, discover more about her life and times with a side trip to the elegant, yet vibrant, city which provided inspiration for two of her six published novels, Northanger Abbey and Persuasion. Make sure you include No. 1 Royal Crescent which has been decorated and furnished as it might have been between 1776-1796. |
Discover the Chained Library and Mappa Mundi in Hereford CathedralJust on one hour to the west, I can thoroughly recommend a side trip to the England/Wales border city of Hereford for a special tour of its cathedral. Built on a place of worship used since Saxon times, the tour includes a viewing of the medieval Mappa Mundi (photo credit Ash Mills) which shows how scholars interpreted the world over 700 years ago. You will also see the Chained Library, home to 229 illuminated manuscripts and over 1200 early printed books. |
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Paull Tickner, owner of U.K-based Custom GB, is known for his expertise in creating and operating imaginative, value-added tours of Great Britain and Ireland. Visit his website at www.customgb.co.uk or email him at ptickner@customgb.co.uk.
