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Follow the Brown Signs Blog - May, 2012
Brown Sign Torch Relay Day 1: Wheal Martyn China Clay Museum
May 19, 2012
On day 1 of the Brown Sign Torch Relay I'm not embarrassed to admit I'm pretty bloody excited, and I know you are secretly too. So, I had a quick squiz at the map of where the Olympic torch is today and saw that it was near Bugle (great name) at around 3pm in Cornwall. I did a bit of research to see what was around the area and happened upon The Wheal Martyn China Clay Museum, interesting name and not the Eden Project (which is where everyone in the...Read more >>
Not Britain’s biggest fan does her own torch relay
Recently I entered Visit Britain's "Fan in a Van" competition, where entrants were asked to tell the judges why they should be the person to follow the Olympic flame around Britain in a campervan on a 70 day adventure, blogging and tweeting about all the cool places they pass on the way. In a bid to win I cajoled my boyfriend into embarking on a 24 hour 600 mile round trip to go on a steam train up Snowdon, Wales (lots of sheep; picture of said sheep and boyfriend attached)...Read more >>
Moat Vale – Camping the way it should be
Today I'm sharing a rather gorgeous shiny new pin on the Follow The Brown Signs map, it's a little (or "wee" as they appropriately describe themselves) campsite near Carlisle, Moat Vale Caravan and Camping Site (look at that home page, I mean how can you not be immediately won over by those happy jumping sheep on there for heaven's sake?!). It takes a maximum 5 units and sits on a smallholding tucked away in the wooded landscape of the Netherby Estate. These guys have a relaxed and cuddly attitude to their...Read more >>
Living on the (fen) edge
May 16, 2012
Today's brown sign of the day comes in the form of the imaginatively and very specifically named Burwell Museum of Fen Edge Village Life, who submitted themselves to the website yesterday. As well as having a windmill dating back to 1820 (don't get me started on how much I love windmills) this museum also has a collection of buildings and barns (some saved from demolition by being totally dismantled and rebuilt on site) which house collections on wide ranging subjects relating to village life on the edge of the Cambridgeshire fens. The...Read more >>
Today’s newly pinned brown sign
May 14, 2012
The Rockingham Arms filled out my little form today on the "get me involved" page of the website, which means they'll now appear on the Follow The Brown Signs map and show up when people need inspiration for things to do in North Yorkshire. It's a big project to get all the brown signed attractions of the UK mapped, but more and more we're getting there (you can add one too you know, every little helps...)
On my form I have deliberately not asked nominators to write the usual piece of marketing...Read more >>
As seen from above… The Battle of Britain Memorial in Kent
April 18, 2012
I was just adding The Battle of Britain Memorial in Capel-le-Ferne, Kent under the "Air Museum" page on the website and wanted to check the Google maps marker was in the right place. I changed the view to satellite and saw this! Clearly had the right location then! How cool is that?!
View Larger Map...Read more >>
Watermill symbols on brown signs always point somewhere brilliant. Fact.
April 17, 2012
On Thursday last week I had the pleasure of driving my parents down to the docks at Southampton to embark on their yearly cruise. It was a great excuse to go brown signing with The Mose on the way home, so we did what we do best on these trips and kept our eyes peeled for brown signs, giving big whoops of joy when we saw one. We were deciding on a choice when we spotted the brown sign for Eling Tide Mill in Totton. It has a watermill symbol on...Read more >>
100 lonely men looking out to sea
April 11, 2012
I've always been interested in the intriguing figures that stand on Crosby beach just north of Liverpool, so when my boyfriend's mum told me she'd been to see them recently I thought I'd share them on the blog. They make up the art project by Anthony Gormley (the artist behind The Angel of the North) called Another Place. There are 100 iron statues cast from the artist's own body dotted over 2 miles of the beach standing at varying distances out to sea and depending on the tide they stand...Read more >>
Random Brown Sign of the Day
April 4, 2012
This photo might look like you've been shot straight onto a highway in a land down under but actually this unique brown sign with a kangaroo on it is near Thirsk, North Yorkshire and points to Monk Park Farm. This little farm park is built on land that monks used to farm and live on, hence it's name. The attraction evolved when the current owners of the farm used to let children from the local caravan parks come to help feed the animals and generally help out and get their...Read more >>
Britain’s oldest brewer and appreciating the beginnings of things
March 30, 2012
I'm researching Kent's agricultural history at the moment and you won't be surprised to hear that hop growing has featured strongly in my reading. Kent used to be literally covered in hop gardens and orchards, which is where the nickname "The garden of England" derives. In their heyday hops were a profitable crop for farmers because the beer they were used to make proved a cleaner and less harmful substitute for water when large scale water filtration systems didn't exist, thus weak beer was the staple drink for most people...Read more >>