English Buildings

  Changing roles To the traveller along the Lower Icknield Way, north of Tring, the village of Marsworth seems unimpressive, somewhere to pa...

Second among equals The Vines* is in many ways similar to Liverpool’s magnificent Philharmonic Dining Rooms – it was built for the same brew...

Listed When visiting a city I don’t know very well, I make lists of major buildings that I want to see, but once I arrive I’m constantly on ...

  The pub on the corner Corner sites are favourites for any business that relies on walk-in trade – shops of course, but also pubs. I passed...

Steaks and ale How good to find, in central Manchester’s Cross Street, a building that looks small but punches above its weight. It’s Mr Tho...

The ‘Theophrastus effect’ It happens every now and then: you’re walking round a town or district that’s unfamiliar to you, and you notice so...

  Grapes and glazing I read online that in Britain the rate of pub closures continues to be high: on average one pub is closing every day. A...

  In(n) admiration At first glance the main Wooler seemed, how shall I put it, a somewhat plain vanilla place, but refreshment drew us here ...

Local heroes I have strolled around Hastings on numerous occasions, on my own and with local friends, but in a town of any size there are al...

When wood works This building stands out on Northwich’s main shopping street like no other. It’s very large and exhibits the timber-framed s...

In black and white There are countless timber-framed black and white buildings in Cheshire, some of them late-medieval, some much later. Thi...

Still going on Writing about Hadleigh’s Coffee Tavern in my previous post brought to mind the host of buildings that owe their existence to ...

Turning a corner, 1 This is one of my favourite buildings that I saw on a stroll around Birmingham’s jewellery quarter a while back. It’s no...

  Brush up your Shakes Some time ago I remember wondering why a shop in Parsons Street in Banbury had a bust of Shakespeare above the window...

Endangered species The White Bear in Shipston-on-Stour is one of those old inns with large bay windows and an elliptical arch to one side, l...

The old ways Finding myself in the Worcestershire village of Bretforton at a few minutes past 12 noon, I decided to take a quick look in the...

The way to do it The Punch Bowl in Chesterfield is a pub, like the White Horse, Chichester in my last post, that uses coloured glass in its...

  Don’t look up! I’m always telling people to look up in towns – look at old facades above shopfronts, look at windows, look at old signs, l...

Hunting the Hart During our recent stop in Buckingham, the town’s White Hart Hotel was looking particularly attractive with its hanging bask...

Stone and angels As a follow-up to the jeweller’s shop window in my previous post, here’s another rich bit of symbolic decoration, spotted i...