Period Holidays

[biffvernon]

Well it's the season. I've just got back from three nights staying in the bedroom in which Hartley Coleridge died and the sitting room in which Thomas de Quincey wrote Confessions of an English Opium Eater. Where is it?

 

[FamilyWiggs]

Well I think you stayed in Grasmere, possibly in the first house Wordsworth also lived in there?

Edit: Rydal Mount Hotel?

 

[christianb]

It's a little cottage in Rydal, Cumbria, I think.

 

[christianb]

And did you know that De Quincey's old stamping ground was Moss Side in Manchester?

Ironic.

 

[christianb]

Oh, and the house in Highgate where Samuel Taylor Coleridge died is / was recently on the market. And as a massive fan of the drug-addled wordsmith, I wish I had enough money to buy the place. But I don't.

 

[FamilyWiggs]

Nab Cottage.

http://www.nabcottage.com/accommodation

 

[biffvernon]

That's it.

Traditional lakeland farmhouse, ~1700, house one end, farm building other end, but all converted to dwelling in late 19th century and rear extension added. The central chimney has been turned into a skylight (!) and some of the upstairs beams have been made 'neater' by being plastered over and painted black, but much of the house is still original and the built in cupboards from about 1800 or earlier are rather nice.

It is a great place to stay if you're looking for a B&B. Nice people, good food, mostly organic, and sensible prices.

 

[christianb]

Cool. I'll add it to my website at some point!!

 

[JoceAndChris]

That sounds lovely Biff, I'd love to go there.

The Coleridge house in Highgate is gorgeous but the village is a bit spoilt by traffic and trendiness, so very different to how he would have seen it.

I have to confess to be flying off pretty soon to a place of white nights and pink palaces- where am I going?

 

[biffvernon]

You shouldn't be flying off anywhere. Far too destructive. England is quite good enough for a holiday.

 

[FamilyWiggs]

I'm guessing they drink lots of vodka and the city has been through a few name changes?

 

[JoceAndChris]

You guessed right!

And sorry Biff- you're quite right of course, England has many many lovely places and Dorothy Wordsworth never complained about not being able to go to Russia, but because the tempting choice is waved before our eyes it's too hard to resist it.

 

[Penners]

This is a good game. Here's one from me.

We've just spent the day at a large, somewhat forbidding building in Norfolk that required an Act of Parliament to allow it to be built.

Any informed/inspired guesses where?

 

[Moo]

County Hall?

 

[biffvernon]

England has many many lovely places and Dorothy Wordsworth never complained about not being able to go to Russia,

She did go to Paris, by boat and horse, and when her brother went to Italy he walked most of the way.

 

[Feltwell]

We've just spent the day at a large, somewhat forbidding building in Norfolk that required an Act of Parliament to allow it to be built.

Her Majesty's Prison Norwich??? :lol:

 

[HeatherJ]

We've just spent the day at a large, somewhat forbidding building in Norfolk that required an Act of Parliament to allow it to be built.

Her Majesty's Prison Norwich??? :lol:

Gressenhall? (although I like Feltwell's suggestion better :lol: )

 

[Penners]

County Hall?

Ooh - you're going to be in hot water with you-know-who!

Incorrect, I'm afraid.

 

[Penners]

We've just spent the day at a large, somewhat forbidding building in Norfolk that required an Act of Parliament to allow it to be built.

Her Majesty's Prison Norwich??? :lol:

Nice try, Feltwell, but I suspect that - when I'm finally found out - I shall be spending much more than a day there.

Nul points.

 

[Penners]

Gressenhall?

To Heather go the points and the glory.

Gressenhall Workhouse museum. http://www.museums.norfolk.gov.uk/default.asp?Document=200.50.030

In its day, incredibly tough and oppressive in so many ways. But, I suppose, better than the probable alternative of death by starvation.