dwhitten

My husband and I will be attending a 2-day conference in Oxford at the beginning of October and plan to rent a car afterward to make a loop exploring the north of England, up to Glasgow and Edinburgh, then back down to York before returning home, probably via Gatwick. Is this reasonable within 2 weeks?

Our preference is for welcoming B&B's, and good, but reasonably priced restaurants, but we would not mind one evening's extravagance for something truly special.

Any lodging/eating recommendations and/or suggestions for our itinerary?

Anyone know anything about the Great Wheel or Iron Bridge (engineer husband - need I say more)?

Steve_James

DW - Some links on Ironbridge:

http://www.ironbridge.org.uk/

http://www.ironbridgeguide.info/

http://whc.unesco.org/pg.cfm?cid=31&id_site=371

Hope this helps ...

Steve

sheila

That is reasonable.

once you've soted your route, perhaps I can help with restaurants?

By the Great Wheel, do you mean the Falkirk Wheel?

if so

http://www.thefalkirkwheel.co.uk/

sprin2

Since you are making a theme of engineering marvels, you might enjoy the Pontcysyllte Aquaduct in Northeast Wales. It is worth a view and not too far from Ironbridge.

RosemaryM

Hi,
If you mean the Falkirk Wheel Boat Lift, my family has just returned from Scotland where we took a narrowboat for a week on the Union Canal just so we could go over the Wheel. It is a fantastic engineering achievement and replaces eleven sets of locks. It takes fifteen minutes to raise your boat (or lower it) and is no more scary than the London Eye.
I was more worried when we went over the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct some years ago but that is wonderful Victorian engineering. And you can spend a couple of days at Ironbridge, there is so much to see and do.
You will just have to work out your route to take in as much as you want.
There is so much out there.
Rosemary

almcd

If I were you, I would give Glasgow a miss and spend more time in the North of England. You could easily spend a week in York and surrounds. Visit Castle Howard and Eden Camp when you are there. Whatever you do, don't omit Durham Cathedral. There are many interesting places in the English north east which many people miss, because they have their sights set on Edinburgh.There are loads of B.and B's available and,at that time of year, you will have no problem finding one.

bigtyke

a great B&B is Ashcroft in Haltwhistle near Hadrian's Wall

flanneruk

The first two-thirds of the loop you're proposing is going through just about the densest concentration of great industrial archaeology sites anywhere in the world.

Once you've got north of Stratford (though don't miss the parish church at Warwick), you'll be in the birthplace of industrialisation almost all the time till you get south of Sheffield on the way back. And an astonishing amount of the sites and other remains are stunningly beautiful, Ironbridge and Pontcysyllte being typical. You really need a decent guide to them all: get W Minchinton's "A guide to industrial archaology sites in Great Britain" (probably second hand on the web). And if you get a few minutes off your conference, browse the extraordinary Oxbow bookshop near the station for the most amazing range of books on Britain's physical heritage. Far, far wider and quirkier than Blackwell's.

Visit the Birmingham Museum for a great deal of stuff about how industry got invented, and while in Birmingham visit Soho House and learn about Matthew Boulton and the Lunar Society. Next, retrace the original Wedgwood pottery at Burslem, Etruria and at the Stoke museum.

You have to spend serious time in Liverpool, which has the largest nummber of buildings statutorily protected anywhere in Britain outside London. Although it's been turned into a rather boring shopping mall, the Albert Dock is awash with magnificent late Georgian and early Victorian architecture, and some of the late Victorian experiments in metal-framed buildings round Water Street (Oriel Chambers for example) are just glorious.

Don't even think of missing Glasgow whose Victorian buildings in the centre almost rival Liverpool's. And even though it's got fewer decent museums, the Burrell Collection is simply fab.

Maria_H

While visiting ironbridge, don't miss the Blists Hill open air museum, which is a re-created Victorian town, complete with shops, houses and even a working iron foundry.

http://www.ironbridge.org.uk/v_blists.asp

When we last went (admitedly a few years back now) you could get a "passport" ticket that included several nearby museums, including the Coalport china museum.

The museum of science and industry (along with the air and space museum) in Manchester is also fascinating for anyone interested in the industrial past.

http://www.msim.org.uk/

GreenDragon

On the non-engineering side, Whitby and the Yorkshire Dales are nice for scenery and peace. There is a ruined abbey at Whitby on the coast that might interest your husband -- it's a port town with great fish-n-chips

MissPrism

If you're going to be in Liverpool, your husband might be interested in a piece of Victorian engineering, the Anderton Boat Lift
http://www.andertonboatlift.co.uk/

dwhitten

Wow - thanks for all the wonderful ideas on engineering sights - although, I have to admit that I am becoming fearful this theme will completely overtake our trip's itinerary!

There are some things that we now agree are MUSTS and seem to fall in a loop: Ironbridge, Hadrian's Wall, Glasgow (for the Mackintosh heritage, primarily), Edinburgh, Durham, York. The reference to the Potcysllte aquaduct makes me wonder if a side excursion to northern Wales would be worthwhile - any suggestions? Or would we be better off spending some time in the Lake District?

While we are in the Oxford area, Blenheim Palace sounds like a MUST, but what about Warwick Castle? I am a little put off by some descriptions that make it sound like a Disney attraction!

Also, I believe there is a train ride that we could take from Settle to Carlisle, over the Yorkshire Dales and a spectacular bridge: has anyone done that?

Many thanks for your help - please keep the recommendations coming! (How about a convenient and reasonably priced B&B in Edinburgh?)

Maria_H

Are you sure you don't want 4 weeks

A side trip to north Wales would certainly be possible. As well as calling at Llangollen for the aquaduct, there are endless possibilities. The Victorian tramway at Landudno (funicular railway) takes you to the top of the Great Orme, where as well as beautiful views and walks you can visit a 4000 year old copper mine.

http://www.greatormetramway.com/

There are castles at Conwy, Caernarvon, Powis and Penrhyn, to name but a few and the beautiful gardens at Bodnant. You could also ascend Snowdon, the highest mountain in Wales, on the little cog railway.

Wherever you go in the UK, the local National Trust and English Heritage sites are always worth checking out:

http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/main/
http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/

Morgana

Hello
The railway journey you are referring to is indeed the Settle-Carlisle railway. They have a good website so you can find out more -
www.settle-carlisle.co.uk
The bridge you refer to is the Ribblehead Viaduct with its 24 arches.
M

caroline_edinburgh

If you have time to fit in Sheffield, it has some good industrial archaelogy museums - http://www.simt.co.uk/. If you like (easy) walking there is a Round Walk you can take which links some of thdese sites while walking almost entirely through the city's parks. If you go to Kelham Island Industrial Museum, don't miss the Fat Cat pub next door - brewery tap for the Ke;am Island brewery, amazing range of real ales & ciders plus continental lagers, and incredibly cheap and hearty lunches !

For a contrast after Sheffield you could drive out of the city into the Peak District - the moors actually start within the city boundaries.