Custom British Tours
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Personally chauffeured, fully accompanied tours to the true home of history in a secure, comfortable vehicle suited to the size of your party.
Here is a typical itinerary of a Mixed Heritage Tour based on Home of the Pilgrims and Methodism and the Wesleys ;
Day 1. I will meet you at Manchester Airport in North of England. We will drive over the Pennine Hills, backbone of England, to Bawtry, a 12th century Market Town on the route of the Great North Road from London to Scotland.
Stay at the Crown Hotel, a recently fully refurbished 18th Century Coaching House in the market square.
Depending on flight times either relax in the town square and eat at the hotel or one of the many small restaurants or enjoy a ride out into the local countryside with the possibility of an evening meal at a local pub.
Day 2. After an inclusive Full English Breakfast we will start the day's drive around the countryside which has changed little since the 16th Century. We start with a short drive to Babworth a village on the old Great North Road to London which can still be seen as a track – the same width today as decreed by King John, with its trees lying back to deter highwaymen. On the bend near Babworth stood the Rushey Inn, whose 15th century core still standsin Rushey Cottages. In 1503 Margaret Tudor, then only 14, stopped here on her way to marry King James IV of Scotland.
The origins of religious separatism and the pilgrim's beliefs are closely connected with the rectory and church of Babworth. Richard Clyfton was parson here from 1586 until 1605 and two of his friends were William Brewster and William Bradford. Clyfton was eventually accused before the Chancery Court of being a non-conformist because of his unorthodox views and he was deprived of his living at Babworth. The church contains many interesting items recalling the Pilgrim Fathers.
We will follow the route of the Great North Road to Scrooby. Look out for Ye Olde Belle at Barnby Moor, a famous old posting house. Queen Victoria and her mother once stayed here. William Brewster was brought up in the village of Scrooby. On the death of his father he inherited the appointment of bailiff to the Archbishop of York’s estates and lived in the Manor House. When Richard Clyfton was deprived of his living in 1606, Brewster’s home became the meeting place for those who desired to worship according to the dictates of their own conscience. Brewster had long been attracted by separatism and was fined for non-attendance at St. Wilfrid’s Church. The church lies in the centre of the village.
Today, the Manor House is privately owned but we can view it across the meadow. The site was formerly occupied by the medieval manor house or palace of the Archbishops of York.
On then to Austerfield where William Bradford, who became Governor Bradford of the Plymouth Colony “ the first American citizen of the english race who bore rule by the free choice of his brethren.” grew up. Spend time at the Norman St. Helen's Church, where parish register bears the record of Bradford’s baptism on 19th March 1589.
During the course of the day, if the weather allows, we could have a picnic lunch in nearby 3800 acre Clumber Park with its idyllic lakeside walks, the longest avenue of lime trees in Europe and Clumber Chapel - a Gothic cathedral in miniature.
We will drive to the small market town of Epworth where we can view the birthplace of John and Charles Wesley, founders of the Methodist Church and wander around the village with it's small shops, old buildings, two beautiful churches and yes, the mandatory ghost!
If we don't eat at Epworth we will have our evening meal at either The White Horse Inn at Misson, a small pub with a history going back 900 years to when it was erected to accomodate those building the village church or The Hare and Tortoise, a larger old coaching Inn boasting a Licence to serve liquors since 1760!
You will then spend another night at The Crown Hotel
Day 3. Today we start to drive the route of the would be pilgrims took in their first failed attempt to leave for a better life. First we cross over into Lincolnshire and visit Gainsborough Old Hall, an immaculately preserved timber framed Manor House, built around 1460. The magnificent Great Hall where Richard III and Henry VIII once dined and the Medieval kitchens remain virtually unchanged since their visits. Authentic replicas help to recreate an historic atmosphere. In this old hall the Separatist Church was founded in 1602 and many of the Mayflower Pilgrims worshipped here secretly before their eventual escape to America. Sit under the hand-hewn rafters,were they would listen to a Separatist preacher, John Smyth, who, like Richard Clyfton before him, argued that congregations should be allowed to pick and ordain their own clergy and worship should not be confined only to prescribed forms sanctioned by the Church of England.A short walk will take us to the John Robinson Memorial Church, a plaque on the church was laid byT Bayard, American Ambassador to Britain in 1896.
We will move on after lunch to Lincoln, a city full of history, combining a lively waterfront culture with its rich heritage. As we approach the city Lincoln Cathedral dominates the skyline, as it has done for over 1000 years. As a modern aside, the Cathedral recently found fame doubling as Westminster Abbey for the filming of The Da Vinci Code.
The Baptist preacher John Smyth lived here in Lincoln until,dismissed for his beliefs, he moved to Gainsborough where he had such an influence on the Pilgrim Fathers. Close to the Cathedral is Lincoln Castle, which, it is claimed, held some of those arrested in Boston in 1607 prior to their trials.The castle also houses one of only four original copies of the Magna Carta, perhaps the most important document ever written, and which has formed the basis of numerous laws and constitutions including the Constitution of the United States of America.
We will spend the rest of the day here, perhaps taking the opportunity to visit the specialist shops in the Bailgate area of the Cathedral Quarter and stroll down Steep Hill to the more modern down town where we could take a leisurely cruise on the ancient River Witham and hear more of vthe City's history. Stay overnight at Washinborough Hall, a beautiful listed Georgian manor house standing in beautiful gardens and located just two miles from the centre of Lincoln.
Day 4. A long day today. We will continue to follow the route of the fleeing pilgrims, on to Boston where their first attemp to leave England failed when they were betrayed by the Dutch captian they had chartered. We will visit the Guildhall where they were tried and if posible the cells in which they were imprisoned.
And on the way our path will cross with that of others who, 400 years ago, played major roles in the colonisation of America. We'll drive to Willougby on the edge of the Lincolnshire Wolds where in 1579 the man who was to become the President of Virginia started life as the son of a tenant dirt farmer.We will look around St Helena's Church where Smith was baptized and enjoy the stained glass windows depicting his story. Tattershall Castle built in 1430 by Ralph Cromwell, Treasurer to King Henry IV. It is one of the earliest brick buildings in England. Here the young John Smith, back from an initial foray into the world of adventure fighting the Spaniards in Holland, learned to fight as a knight in armour under the patronage of Lord Clinton, The Earl of Lincoln.
We will cross over the County border and enjoy the sloping beaches and the soft undulating West Norfolk countryside, which has remained unchanged over time. Along this coast of The Wash is Heacham, birthplace and family home of John Rolfe who played a major part in ensuring the survival of the Jamestown settlement in Virginia. Rolfe married the legendary Princess “Pocahontas” (Matoaka Rebucka Pocahontas), whose image is featured on the village sign. In the Church of St Mary the Virgin at Heacham we''ll find a memorial to Pocahontas carved by Otillea Wallace, a pupil of Rodin. She is dressed in a stylish Jacobean trilby hat and a great neck ruff, which was the fashion of the period (taken from a real image of her carved when she visited London).
At the end of the day we will drive West, back inland to The Cotswolds and the beautiful village of Broadway. The village dates from early times, it was ceratinly a settlement in the Roman period and it gained it's name "Bradsetena Gamere" (Broad Village) around the 9th Century, the modern spelling Broadway coming into common usage in the 16th Century. We will stay at Windrush House, a small premier guest house with a huge welcome.
Day 5. A restful day today. After a leisurely breakfast you can walk around Broadway Village. We will then drive over to Stratford-on Avon 16 miles away and wander around the home of Shakespeare.
In the evening we will return to Broadway and eat in one of the restaurants, bistros or pubs offering a tantalising array of menus.
If you wished then perhaps a drink in the 500 year old Lygon Arms before returning to Windrush House.
Day 6. To Oxford today, 40 miles away, driving through the stunning Cotwold villages of Chipping Campden and Stow-0n the Wold. Depending on your interest you can wander around the City at your Leisure or we can visit the Oxford Colleges; Lincoln College where John and Charles Wesley founded the Holy Club, see the John Wesley Memorial Room, Christchurch College where John and Charles Wesley were undergraduates and ordained in the Cathedral. We can spend some time at the Wesley Centre, whose library, archives and art collection are open to researchers and are full of material relating to the history and development of Methodism.
We will drive back to Broadway and spend our last evening together there. Perhaps, if you feel up to it we could all eat at The Pudding Club, an award winning restauarant set in a first class hotel which specialises in, yes, traditional english puddings!
Day 6. Today I will drive you back to the airport, or on to another location if your time with me has been part of a longer trip.
You will I hope be leaving with a lot of fond memories and shared experiences, if we made the Pudding Club last night you will certainly be a little heavier!
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