The Original Salvager

The Original Salvager - best of British - Mar 2015

 

In 1925, Clough Williams-Ellis spent less than £5,000 buying a parcel of land, which he described as, “a neglected wilderness.” Today, on its 90th anniversary, we call it Portmeirion. 

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Pages of Influence

Ninety years ago Clough Williams-Ellis acquired the site that became Portmeirion. Simon Whaley discovers how Country Life came to influence the way it looks today.

The Toll House and Bridge House at Portmeirion Village, near Por

If it wasn’t for COUNTRY LIFE magazine Portmeirion would look a little different today. Ninety years ago, Bertram Clough Williams-Ellis invested less than £5,000 acquiring the land where he would build Portmeirion, but in 1925 it was known as Aber Iâ. He wanted a more romantic name and decided that he could draw upon it’s coastal location, which had the air of a port about it, and use the Welsh name of the county in which is was located (Merioneth): hence Portmeirion. His architectural concept of creating a coastal village had begun, a concept that would take 51 years to evolve. Although he made plans for his village, which appeared in The Architects Journal in 1926, it’s construction was an evolutionary process, for his plans did not include the finds he would make amongst COUNTRY LIFE’s pages in the years ahead.

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Atomic Ice

Atomic Ice?
Atomic Ice?

Slow Journey County: Cumbria

Slow Journey Destination: Claife Heights

Slow Journey Distance Travelled: 0 Steps.

My immediate thought was of radioactivity. It was a series of unmistakable clicks. But where from? Standing on Claife Heights, overlooking Beatrix Potter’s favourite tarn (Moss Eccles), I was puzzled by this noise. The air was still, the tarn’s waters reflective, and a cold wintry sun sat low on the horizon, as if still trying to warm itself up, let alone anything else.

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Bishop’s Wood

Bishop's Wood - published in the July 2014 issue of Country Walking
Bishop’s Wood – published in the July 2014 issue of Country Walking

The July 2014 issue of Country Walking magazine carries my 8.5-mile route around the Shropshire/South Staffordshire border, offering walkers the opportunity to visit White Ladies Priory, Boscobel house and the famous oak tree!

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Clee St Margaret

Clee St Margaret - Country Walking - June 2014

The June 2014 issue of Country Walking carries my 7.25-mile route around Clee St Margaret, giving you the opportunity to visit the church at Clee St Margaret, St Milburgha’s Well, and Heath Chapel – it’s a right religious wander, you could say!

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Plodding Around Pontesbury

Pontesbury - COuntry Walking - May 2014
Pontesbury – COuntry Walking – May 2014

Take a wander around Earl’s Hill, Shropshire Wildlife Trust’s first nature reserve and explore the hill known as the Sleeping Dragon!

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The Stiperstones

Stiperstones was published in BBC Countryfile
Stiperstones was published in BBC Countryfile

Experience the drama of this wild and atmospheric Welsh Border landscape that attracts the Devil, Wild Edric’s ghost and lightning!

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Alcock Tarn

Alcock tarn was published in Lakeland Walker
Alcock tarn was published in Lakeland Walker

Simon Whaley investigates Wainwright’s ‘dreary’ tarn.

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Explore Turner’s World

Explore Turner's World - published in BBC Countryfile magazine
Explore Turner’s World – published in BBC Countryfile magazine

Step back in time to roam beautiful ruins immortalised two centuries ago by the great Romantic painter JMW Turner.

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A Treasure Hunt in Tenby

A Treasure Hunt in Tenby was published in The People's Friend
A Treasure Hunt in Tenby was published in The People’s Friend

Simon Whaley goes looking for a hidden gem in this Welsh fishing town …

 

“Sorry, all boat trips to Caldey Island are cancelled today,”  the operator apologises from his wooden hut in Tenby Harbour. “The sea is too rough to land,” he explained. “You could try again tomorrow.”

We’d planned to take the little boat on the three-mile trip across the sea from Tenby to Caldey Island, anchored in the Bristol Channel, to visit the Cistercian monastery based there. Downhearted, we wondered what to do instead.

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