Just returned from a 3 week stay in England, our first time back in about twenty years. I have siblings living in the East Midlands but due to room stayed with a cousin in the Leicestershire countryside, on the outskirts of Quorn. Minor observations, not a trip report.
The tops. The endless English countryside in general, in particular the Peak District, Charnwood and the parts of Rutland we visited. Makes you wonder where all the 55 million plus people live. Horse riders a plenty, mossy stone walls, roofs and trees, neat hedgerows, handsome houses, abundant walking trails through meadows or wooded paths. Leicester stone takes on a lovely reddish hue after a rainfall. On New Year's Day, when roads were empty, we left very early for a long drive to visit an old family friend who lives in the Surrey Hills south of London - well worth a return trip to this very scenic area.
Food. We ate out far more times than we do in a whole year back at home. Mainly pub food, which is generally more varied and of a higher standard than the food we get in bars or faux British pubs here in Canada. Dined once in a Michelin restaurant (Hambleton), which I fortunately did not have to pay for. Best meal of the trip was a pub meal of roasted pork belly and a kind-of Boulangère style potatoes. Really enjoyed the many good and different styles of real ale.
Supermarket brand and prepared food is very good, Marks and Spencer in particular. Unless blatantly obvious, I don't really pay attention to food prices when I'm on holiday.
Three bad meals, two of which were 10 oz ribeye steaks. Only one restaurant (Italian in Lincoln) automatically added a ten percent service charge to the bill. Don't know why, the food was crap. Apart from that, and contrary to what I read on this and other forums, locals generally do not tip, or they just round off in small amounts. And further on the topic of tipping......
Villages and Towns. Ashbourne, Bakewell, Southwell and Matlock were the popular villages or small towns we visited, all attractive in their own way. I liked many of the other, smaller villages close to where we stayed, most of which have footpaths leading out into the countryside. On the bigger side, Nottingham and Leicester were as unattractive as I remembered, Loughborough appeared grubbier (I lived in England a number of years, on and off, during the Seventies and early Eighties). Our day out in Lincoln, by train, was more enjoyable (nice upper town, cathedral and castle).
Sites. Lincoln sites above. Richard III centre in Leicester. Revisits to Chatsworth House, Southwell Minster and Mount Saint Bernard Abbey. The latter's grounds and gift shop were open, the church closed to the public because of Benedict's passing. Years ago we heard the boys of Saint Bernard chanting, a much finer sound than that produced by the more celebrated chanting at Sant' Antimo in Tuscany. Saint Bernard also brews a malty Trappist ale, available here in Ontario at times.
Apart from a decent snack at a Soho Coffee shop, and train tickets purchased online, I used cash for everything.
Harry is not well-liked. Suprisingly (to some) Boris is still well-liked by quite a few.