England Off the Beaten Path Tips by KennetRose

Go and have a look at Stonehenge if you must, but don't waste your money going into the site. You can't even touch the stones any more!

Go to Avebury instead. It's just a little way to the north, and for those with eyes to see it's much more impressive. With its huge ditches and banks, it all but encloses an entire village, and you can wander round to your heart's content.

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England is full of the remains of bygone people. The best place to find them is in the sparsely populated areas - this is the Iron Age village of Grimspound, on Dartmoor. That's not because these people wanted to live in the wild and remote places - why would anybody want to try to scratch a living on the poor soil of upland Dartmoor when the lush fertile soils of lowland Devon are so close by? It's because the population in these ancient periods was much higher than previously thought, and the remains are found where nobody any longer needs to plough the land.

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York is wonderful but overrun at all times of the year. Go and take a look at Lincoln, shamefully neglected and beautifully situated high on a ridge overlooking the flatlands. Lincoln is a busy, industrial city but the real pearl is the old part around the cathedral and castle. It's a steep walk from the railway station though, and taking a car up there isn't recommended.

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A characteristic of southern England is downland, wide rolling spaces where you can walk for hours without seeing anything but sheep! These sheep are sheltering from a blisteringly hot day at Golden Cap, near Charmouth on the Dorset coast, an area with many other charms and delights.

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Even in touristy areas around the coast, there are hidden treasures worth looking out for to escape the crowds. This is Hope Cove, between Kingsbridge and Salcombe in the South Hams area of South Devon. One of my favourite hidey-holes!

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Shropshire, on the Welsh borders west of Birmingham, is a district of delights seldom visited by travellers. The English and Welsh battled over it for centuries and the hills are dotted with ruined fortifications like Clun castle here, as well as sleepy little towns often with excellent pubs.

As Houseman put it:

Clunbury, Clungunford, Clunton and Clun
Are the quietest places under the sun

(The pub in Clun is called The Sun)

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