CUMBRIA
Lanercost Priory
There is so much history wrapped up in these humble ruins,
now in the care of English Heritage. You can immerse yourself in tales of
Border Rievers, Robert the Bruce, William Wallace and many more, and find that
you spend rather more time here than you might imagine on first impressions.
Lanercost Priory was founded by Robert de Vaux between 1165
and 1174, the most likely date being 1169, to house Augustinian Canons.
The proximity to Scotland inevitably had an effect on the
fortunes of the priory, and it was a target of Scots attacks in retaliation to
English raids. This became acute after the outbreak of the War of Independence.
In 1296 the Scottish army encamped at Lanercost after burning Hexham priory and
Lambley nunnery. The Scots were interrupted before the damage could become
great, and they retreated through Nicolforest, having burnt some houses of the
monastery but not the church. Similar depredations under Wallace continued the
next year and led to calls for reprisals from the English.
Edward I made several visits to the priory in the latter
part of his reign. In the autumn of 1280 he visited in the company of Queen Eleanor
on his way to Newcastle.
SPEYSIDE
British Wildlife Watching Club
Finding a capercaillie, or for that matter any of the
wildlife species that inhabit the Speyside forests and moors, is never easy at
the best of times. But doing so can be made more likely by visiting the British Wildlife Watching Club, a splendid and
dynamic set-up established in 2008, and operated by and from the Grant Arms Hotel in
Grantown-on-Spey. It really is a unique and beneficial enterprise that provides
guests and other visitors to the hotel with information on what has been seen
recently, and where visitors might go to watch for wildlife.
The club, which enjoys rather splendid rooms in the hotel,
including a natural history library and 100-seat lecture room, exists for
anyone interested in wildlife, from those who come armed with a telescope and a
list of 'Must see' species, to those who simply wish to enjoy a good walk with
the chance of seeing wildlife along the way. Each morning guests at the hotel
are issued with a newssheet of sightings and events for the day, while guests
will find the Club's monthly newspaper 'The Watcher' in their bedroom,
alongside wildlife magazines and a copy of the BWWC Map, which lists 50
different wildlife watching sites in the Cairngorms and North-East Scotland
area. And each morning, someone is available for an hour or so to discuss plans
for the day, and make suggestions, as well as doling out the sort of local
knowledge so essential to successful wildlife watching expeditions. In the
evening, there's a debriefing to discuss the day's events.
If only more hotels were so enterprising. Yes, of course, it
encourages people to stay at the hotel, a rather impressive 50-bedroom
Victorian conversion along the main street in Grantown. But that is a pleasure
in itself—Queen Victoria and Prince Albert stayed here in 1860—backed up by a
versatile restaurant that lets everyone round off the day in a relaxed way.
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