Places to visit in Ireland and the UK
"And did those feet in ancient time
walk upon England's mountains green?"
William Blake - Jerusalem
It's the land of cricket, rolling green hills, awesome mountains, rivers and coastlines, drab urban landscapes and nature reserve alike. Scotland has the majestic scenery of the Highlands and Borders, Wales again has mountain and moor. Ireland is steeped in history and in tradition. Battles have been won and lost, and the countryside tells of a volcanic birth, Ice Ages and gentle rains. Towns, cities and their sundry buildings all bespeak thousands of years of occupation, with edifices raised by Man to his own glory. There are museums, follies and stately homes, castles and prisons. All have their stories to tell, so let's hear them all.
This quest seeks to honour these lands and their wonders, both natural and artificial. There are so many glorious places to visit, and many are the nooks and crannies as yet unexplored by many of our noders.
Your Task
...should you choose to accept it, is not an impossible one. You have heard of the Houses of Parliament, and can read about them here - the history and the grandeur of the buildings. You can pay a virtual visit to The Peak District thanks to one noder, the Giant's Causeway and Edinburgh Castle are also here for you to visit. (What we're not after is pubs and restaurants, unless they have some historic or other special significance.)
Visitors to our blessed shores from many lands, have added their two-penn'orth. Wells Cathedral presents two perspectives of that great edifice - one from a local, other other from a North American visitor. You don't have to have visited to node though, but you can certainly add to the richness of the database, by writing about things that interest you.
Perhaps there is a stately home around the corner. Perhaps a place of natural beauty on your doorstep, a bit of history represented by a monument or museum. If you know it, node it. If not, but it's somewhere you have always wanted to visit, do some research. Whichever you do, share with us, write for us.
The Rules
The Quest begins on 12th February 1430 server time, and closes at one minute past midnight (server time) on 9th April 2004 (Easter weekend - traditionally the start of the UK "holiday season"). Entries should be posted within that timeframe.
Who qualifies? Everyone. You. britnoders and nódóirí are of course invited, but anyone may join in.
I would be grateful if you would hardlink back to this node, and advise one of the organisers (currently wertperch and heyoka).
Anything else I should know?
Yes, it's simple. Standards within E2 are well-known.
Firstly, it has to be your own work. By all means quote, but cite your sources. Cut-and-paste is never tolerated, but you knew that anyway. Write from the heart, paint your own pictures. We want to be reading your words, not someone else's.
Secondly, your writeup should explore your subject - delve into the history, tell us who lived there, tell us how it came about (whether it "grew" there or someone built it), research it. There's a balance - five thousand words of tremendous detail probably won't get read, three lines won't tell the whole tale.
Thirdly, paint a picture. Pure facts are all very well, but when you put something of yourself into it - tell us why it fascinates you, when you visited (or why you'd like to!). Tell us or your impressions, put something subjective there, from your heart.
Fourthly (this is going on a bit, isn't it?) make it look good - good formatting means that it is easier to read.
Finally, it has to be relevant - something which other people would be interested in paying a visit to. It can be a natural feature, a town, city or area. It might be a museum, a local attraction or event, or a local tradition.
Update: It might also be an idea to tell us how to get there. Thanks to whoever pointed this out to me.
If you're in doubt, ask wertperch or heyoka before starting out. It should go without saying that it has to be bounded by the geographical area of England, (the whole of) Ireland/Eire, Scotland, Wales and their respective islands.
The Rewards
As with any Quest, there will be rewards. Your writeup will appear here for all to see. Free Nodevertising! XP will be granted too - between 10 and 30 for each qualifying writeup. A small, select group will vote periodically on outstanding works, and they will be highlighted in this node.
You also have the satisfaction of knowing that you are sharing your experience and knowledge with others. And there can be no greater reward than that. Unless it is treading the hills and vales of this sainted land.
The Monarchs of the Glen - best of the bunch so far, in date order
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Stonesfield - by Imprecation
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Runnymede - by gbulmer
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The Deep - by BuffcorePhil
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Chepstow Castle - by bobbb21
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The Bath Skyline Walk - by Wntrmute
The Tourist Trail to date
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Scotland's Secret Bunker - by pottedstu
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Southend Pier - by Wntrmute
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Jedburgh - by Berek
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West Bretton - by Lazarus
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Montacute House - by SgtP
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Crinan Canal - by Heisenberg
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Dunadd - by Heisenberg
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Yorkshire Wolds Way - by BuffcorePhil
Week Two - Three
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Sandham Chapel - by gbulmer
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Kilmartin House - by Heisenberg
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Findhorn - by Princess Therion
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Humber Bridge - by BuffcorePhil
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Torquay - by Sir Norris
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Brixham - by Sir Norris
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Horniman museum - by sloebertje
Week Four - Five
- Culross - by gbulmer
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Paignton - by Sir Norris
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Dwarfie Stane - by ncc05
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Berkeley Castle - by Andrew Aguecheek
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Somerset - by SgtP
Week Six
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Ha'penny Bridge - by Cool Beans
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A82 - by Damodred
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Belfast - by Berek
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Wookey Hole - by Andrew Aguecheek
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North Berwick - by Berek
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Isle of Wight - by Bluedragon
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St. Michan's - by Cool Beans
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Quest Closed
See also:
Everything Quests: The E2 Tourist Guide
Things to see, do and experience in London
National Parks of Great Britain
A Tourist Guide to Scotland
A Tourist Guide to the English Midlands
A Tourist Guide to Northeast England
A Tourist Guide to Wales
A Tourist Guide to Southwest England
A Tourist Guide to East Anglia* - heyoka
A Tourist Guide to London*
A Tourist Guide to Ireland*
A Tourist Guide to Northwest England*
A Tourist Guide to SouthEast England*
For simplicity, I have broken England up as follows: anything from Yorkshire northward, west of the Pennines has been classed as The Northwest, and east of the Pennines, the Northeast, the industrial counties south of Yorkshire are The Midlands. The area east of The Wash, and north of Colchester is East Anglia, pretty much everything south of Bristol and west of Hampshire is The Southwest, and the rest is The Southeast, with the exception of London, which is big enough and ugly enough to look after itself.
No apologies are made for this rough hacking of the country into abitrary sections, although if you believe that something has been applied to the wrong area, please let me know.
*These will be created as permanent placeholders, collections of places of interest, with some general background of the region. Local volunteers will be asked to create them. Titles are suggestions only.