News From Britain

Introducing a new feature to the site - News From Britain - in which we will keep you informed of some of the latest goings on in that part of the world.

News will be about travel, of course, but also we will be bringing you other snippets of info such as: new store openings, changes to bus and rail info, and details of other important locations that you may wish to include on your "must visit" list.

WHAT’S NEW THIS WEEK IN BRITAIN

PLANS SET FOR DIANA GARDEN MEMORIAL
Britain's newest attraction, scheduled to open in 2003, will be the world's largest public rose garden. The Royal National Rose Garden will contain, as one of its three sections, the first public memorial to Diana, Princess of Wales. The $30-million project is being created in St Albans, just north of London, under the direction of the Royal National Rose Society (RNRS). Construction will begin later this year. Two other sections of the new garden will be designed to honor Queen Elizabeth II and the Queen Mother. The Royal National Rose Garden will be in excess of 50 acres and is being designed by the eminent British garden designer Professor David Stevens. A "royal roses collection" of 11 new rose varieties has been launched to celebrate the creation of the new garden. Additionally, a rose has been created dedicated to motherhood, to acknowledge that the three Royals honored by the garden are all mothers. It is called the "mummy rose." All of the new royal collection roses are being sold throughout Britain to help fund the rose garden project.

MOUNTAINEERING MUSEUM OPENS THIS MONTH
Rheged, Europe's largest grass-covered building located in the English Lake District near Penrith, is the site of Britain's new National Mountaineering Museum opening this month. A founding leader behind the new attraction is Chris Bonington, a British mountaineer who is Director of the Mountain Heritage Trust. The new museum, located 276 miles from London, includes a permanent exhibition of Britain's mountaineering history. Included is the 19th-century conquest of the Matterhorn in Switzerland, and the 1953 conquest of Mount Everest in the Himalayas. On display for the first time is the collection of George Band, who was the youngest member of the 1953 Everest team headed by Sir Edmund Hillary. Other features within the Rheged museum include shops selling crafts and foods from the Lake District; art exhibitions; restaurants and a cinema showing a travelogue with spectacular bird's eye photography of the Lake District. Open daily, the museum will have entry fees of about $6.75 per adult, $4.50 per child and $5.70 per senior. More information on the museum is available by phone at 011-44 176 886 8000.

LONDON EVENTS RECALL AGATHA CHRISTIE
Two separate events in London, starting this November, will honor the life and work of famed mystery writer Agatha Christie, who died in 1976. The first will be a fourth-month exhibition in the British Museum describing the writer's longtime avocation as an amateur archeologist in the Middle East. The second will be a year-long celebration of the 50th anniversary of the opening of Christie's play "The Mousetrap," which is the world's longest-running stage production. The British Museum exhibition, titled "Mystery in Mesopotamia," will run from November 8th through March 24th 2002. It will include artifacts from the Middle Eastern archeological digs on which Christie worked, explain how she met her husband at one of the sites and found material for several mystery books in which she incorporated Middle Eastern settings. The Mousetrap, playing at the St. Martin's Theatre, will have an anniversary year of performances from Nov. 25, 2001 until a gala performance on Nov. 25, 2002. The play, opened in 1952, has been performed continuously through the administrations of 10 Prime Ministers and 11 U.S. Presidents. It also opened in the same year as the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, who also celebrates a 50th anniversary in 2002.

AGATHA CHRISTIE EXHIBIT IS OPEN IN DEVON
A new exhibition has been created to honor mystery writer Agatha Christie in her birthplace town of Torquay in Devon, a seaside resort 199 miles southwest of London. The Torquay Museum has undergone a $1.25 million renovation including its new Christie displays commemorating the 25th anniversary of the writer's death in 1976. Additionally, a major Agatha Christie center is planned to open in Torbay, the town adjacent to Torquay, by early 2003. With the full approval of the Christie Estate, it is expected to include an exhibition of her life and works and the whole field of murder, mystery and suspense writing. The current Torquay exhibition includes costumes from the "Poirot" and "Miss Marple" TV series, along with her books and theatre programmes from around the world. The town's tourist information centre can provide a walking tour of the "Agatha Christie Mile" linking the places where she gained the inspiration for her crime detective characters. The Torquay Museum is open daily (closed Sundays in winter), with admission of £3, or about $4.50.

MORE CHANCES TO SEE ROYAL SHAKESPEARE COMPANY
The Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) is in the midst of a major reorganization that will result in more classical performances in more places around London and the British regions. Productions will also feature more marquee stars in lead roles. Under previous RSC structural procedure, plays began their productions and performances at the company's home base in Shakespeare's city of Stratford-Upon-Avon, and had their sole regional performances in Newcastle prior to transferring to the RSC's London home at the Barbican Center on the south bank of the River Thames. The reorganization, due to take effect next May, will result in more performances at other sites, including theaters in London's West End and smaller productions at other venues throughout Britain. Star actors have also committed to return in starring roles made possible by shorter contracts and the ability to appear in one, rather than multiple RSC productions, at a given time. Former RSC members Kenneth Branagh and Ralph Fiennes are among performers expected to take the spotlight. One of four new productions in 2002 will be a new staging of Lewis Carroll's Another RSC plan is for a new acting academy in Stratford to help train the company's next generation of performers.

CLASSIC FILM SET BECOMES VISITOR CENTER
A train station in northwest England used as the movie set for the classic 1945 British film "Brief Encounter" is being re-opened and developed into a visitor center. The station is in Carnforth, near the coast of Morecambe Bay in Lancashire, just north of Lancaster. It will re-open next spring with new shops, the recreation of the original movie set and a transportation center. The film, which was nominated for several Academy Awards, was directed by David Lean, written by Noel Coward from his own play by another name, and featured star-making performances by the British actors Trevor Howard and Celia Johnson. The story tells of a man and woman, each married to another, who meet in the train station by chance and, finding strong mutual attraction, continue meeting at the same time during their weekly visits to the city. A key focus of the new center is the train station's tearoom where the couple met for refreshments and conversation. The train station has been inactive for 20 years and is being revived in a cooperation by local rail and cinema enthusiasts in the Lancashire area. A 1974 remake of Brief Encounter as a television film starring Richard Burton and Sophia Loren totally failed for lack of several key original ingredients, including Coward's script, Lean's direction and the Carnforth station's realistic setting.

14TH BUDE JAZZ FEST SET FOR LATE AUGUST
The 14th annual Jazz Festival in Bude, a seaside resort on the coast of North Cornwall in southwest England is scheduled to take place from August 25th to September 1st. It will feature over 100 jazz bands performing in 220 musical events. Headliners at the Bude Festival are scheduled to include the British clarinetist Acker Bilk and his Paramount Jazz Band, the Pasadena Roof Orchestra, American saxophonist Spike Robinson, the Cornwall Youth Orchestra, the American vocalists Marilyn Middleton Pollock and Jayne Sylvester and the New Orleans Jazz Stompers, a Swedish band. Tickets will range from about $11 for a singly evening-only entry to about $18 for a single full-day entry to $90 for a full week pass to all events. Tickets can be booked online at www.budejazzfestival.co.uk or on the phone at 011-44-1288 356 360.

DURHAM PREPARES MAJOR CULTURAL CENTER
The city of Durham, in the county of the same name near the northeast British coast, is preparing to open in September a new $41-million culture and leisure center called Millennium City. The complex will feature a 550-seat concert hall and conference center, an IMAX movie theater, a public square, craft workshops and a new tourist information center. There will also be a visitor attraction in the center on the history of Durham. A second phase of the new complex will be a 213-room hotel, being constructed on the opposite bank of the River Wear and to be connected to the center via a river footbridge. Durham is 260 miles north of London and is famed for its Norman Cathedral and a historic castle that was home to the Prince Bishops who once ruled the county. Both are listed as UNESCO World Heritage sites. More information on the attractions, both new and old, are available by phone from the Durham tourist information office at 011-44-191 384 3720.

INDUSTRIAL MUSEUM OPENED IN IRONBRIDGE
Ironbridge, a former industrial complex near Telford, 150 miles northwest of London, is the home of a new museum recalling the early days of the 19th-century Industrial Revolution. The attraction was created to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the 1851 Great Exhibition, held at London's Crystal Palace to showcase Victorian era manufacturing products. Ironbridge is said to be the home of the first iron smelting foundry, created by Abraham Darby, whose revolutionary smelting process is detailed in the museum. The presentation, in nine indoor and outdoor buildings whose central point is the world's first iron bridge, also includes a recreation of London's Great Exhibition. There are examples of the decorative statuettes, fireplaces and ornamental garden furniture that were the Victorian byproducts of the era's iron smelting. More information on the attraction is found on the Internet at www.ironbridge.org.uk, or by telephone at 011-44-1952 432 166.

HISTORIC CHURCH TO BECOME MUSIC CENTER
The 18th-century St. Luke's Church, located on London's Old Street in Islington, is being restored to become the home of the London Symphony Orchestra's education center, called Discovery. Designed by the baroque architect Nicholas Hawksmoor, the church was declared structurally unsafe in 1959. Once restored for its scheduled December 2002 reopening, the music center will house facilities for web-casting and video conferencing, a recording studio and a café. The London Symphony plans to extend the work it does in musical education in schools from London to around the world. A premier musical performance in the new center will be a new work by the Scottish composer James MacMilla

Previous Recent News

London buzzes with new store openings:
The London Tourist Board has sent word of several openings of new branches of popular retail stores in the city:

Espirit opened a $6-million store on Regent Street in May, the chain's largest in Europe. It offers menswear, sportswear, shoes and accessories.

Swarovkski Crystal has opened a new store at 137 Regent St. and

Hackett, a men's clothier, has opened nearby at 143 Regent St.

Virgin Megastores has opened a new, $750,000 Internet Café at its location on Oxford St. The location has over 100 computer terminals, where headphones allow customers to listen to music while they surf the Internet.

Blacks, an outdoor store "for trekking and travel needs," has opened at 190 Kensington High Street.

Two new major shopping complexes in Canary Wharf are under construction toward a scheduled 2003 completion and opening. This includes the 200,000-square-foot, five-story Canada Square, and the 85,000-square-foot Mall at Heron Quays. There are already 150 shops and restaurants already operating at Canary Wharf.

Harrods annual 50 percent discount sale runs from July 4th to 21st.

Monthly jewelry markets in Birmingham:
Birmingham tourism officials have announced the scheduling of a monthly jewelry and antiques market in the city between June and October. The "Jewelry Quarter Craft and Antiques Sunday Market" will take place, after its June 24th launch, on July 15th, August 12th, September 9th and October 14th. The events, to take place on Birmingham's Regent and Vittoria Streets, will feature high-quality stands selling crafts, jewelry, antiques and souvenirs.

Local leaders expect this to become a further visitor draw in a jewelry quarter already popular with shoppers looking for good value in purchasing gems.

Councilor Andrew Coulson described the Jewelry Quarter as a neighborhood "with a tremendous history and even bigger potential." He said the city is hopeful that visitors will be attracted to the area on market Sundays "to pick up a bargain or two."

Glasgow's Antique Fest In August:
Glasgow's Scottish Exhibition and Conference Center (SECC) will be the site from August 24th to 26th for the second annual "Antiques For Everyone-Glasgow" fair.

Organizers from the NEC Group in Birmingham predict this will be the largest antique fair event ever staged in Scotland. Goods being offered will include 17th to 20th century antiques, artworks, and collector's items. Sale prices are expected to range from about $15 to about $200,000.

Many leading antique dealers from Glasgow and Edinburgh are committed to participating in the program. Last year more than 10,000 visitors from throughout Britain attended the first edition of this annual gathering.

The admission price will be about $7.50 per person, with group discounts available.

Visiting hours for the three days will be from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., except for a late closing hour of 8 p.m. on Friday night.

There will be free theater seminars, in addition to the trade floor, and all items for purchase will be graded for authenticity by a team of antique experts.

More information on this and other British antique events is available on the Web at www.antiquesforeveryone.co.uk

New bus service to Hadrian's Wall:
A new summer bus service is being offered this year to transfer visitors, at low-cost fares, from rail stations between Carlisle and Hexham, to Hadrian's Wall in England's North Country.

The bus route will have the same number, 122, as the year in which the Roman Emperor Hadrian began building the trans-Britain defense structure. The train station pickup points are along the main rail line running between London and Glasgow. The bus service will be daily until the conclusion of the season on September 23.

There are a variety of forts and museums along the Roman wall, which is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site.

More information is on the Web at www.hadrians-wall.org

New museum opening in Scotland:
July 3rd is the opening date for the new Museum of Scottish Country Life, located at Kittochside between Glasgow and East Kilbride. This is a $13-million cultural museum built on 170 acres through a partnership between the National Museums of Scotland and the National Trust for Scotland.

Attractions in the complex will include a Georgian farmhouse and a main exhibition building with collections on the environment, country life, rural technologies and the people. The theme of the museum is how rural life in Scotland has shaped the history of the country. Other components include an education center, film screening room, picture gallery, seminar room, café and museum shop. The historic farm will be set up to demonstrate the actual Scottish farming methods of the 1950s. They will follow the yearly seasonal patterns to demonstrate plowing, seedtime, haymaking and harvesting.

Admission to the museum will range from about $2.25 to $4.50, with educational groups able to visit free of charge.

Proms in the Park go Britain-wide:
Organizers have unveiled plans to take the famous "BBC Last Night of the Proms," staged annually in London's Royal Albert Hall, to outdoor parks in the four corners of Britain.

The date for the concert events is September 15th, with concerts in the park scheduled in London's Hyde Park, as well as in Gateshead (near Newcastle), Liverpool, and at the Eden Project in Cornwall.

Entry to each concert will be about $15, with star headline musicians promised. Operatic tenor Jose Carreras will be leading the musical program at the London Hyde Park event.

More information is available on the Web at www.bbc.co.uk/proms.

Pearl Harbor at the Imperial War Museum:
The Imperial War Museum in central London has added a small display of costumes and props from the recently released Hollywood film, Pearl Harbor.

The exhibit, which opened last week, includes a soldier's uniform worn by leading actor Ben Affleck and a nurse's uniform worn by the British actress Kate Beckinsale. Some of the props on display include flight manuals, ammunition boxes, Japanese parasols, and a fake bomb used in an action sequence. Film footage, storyboards and still photos from the movie are also on display.

The exhibit is being supported by a documentary on the making of the Pearl Harbor movie being televised on the National Geographic Channel on several dates during July.