STREETWISE® Great Britain Map

Revised 2006

Great Britain is the land of language: evocative, lyrical, precise, and above all, valued. Whether spoken or on paper, the 1 million words in the English language are exercised like thoroughbreds. Listen to the language while traveling through the country and you’ll encounter a prodigious range of accents: from the brogue of Scotland, to the sing song rhythms of Wales and the crispy Received Pronunciation, better known as BBC English.

The culture of literature is especially strong. Any visit to Great Britain can be planned along the lines of what you like to read. Follow a trail of authors as you make your way from one end of the British Isles to the other.
Start in the South East of England in the county of Kent. The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer are the accounts of adventure, romance, lust and greed told by a group of pilgrims on their way to the shrine of Thomas Beckett at Canterbury Cathedral. Composed in poetry and verse between 1387 and 1400, these stories of human nature are still relevant. Today, pilgrims continue to make their way to the cathedral seeking the site where Becket, the Archbishop, was murdered and to see the religious stories told in the medieval stained glass, still intact and incredible.

Moving along towards the west, you find the Salisbury Plain where, conveniently, Salisbury Cathedral is located, along with Stonehenge, the infamous ring of rocks. Stonehenge is, well, a ring of rocks, yes, but these are mega ton monoliths that were transported from Wales to their present location on large wooden rollers. This was probably a religious site and is definitely one of the oldest tourist sites in the world, attracting visitors since pre-history. This is also the area where Agatha Christi based her Miss Marple mysteries. Over 2 billion of her books have sold making her the number two best selling author after William Shakespeare, (the number three author is coming up).

Further west is Cornwall, the gnarly foot of England dipping into the Atlantic. Daphne du Maurier’s novel Rebecca took place on the craggy cliffs overlooking the rough sea. Cornwall is famous for pirates and shipwrecks, and also the sub-tropical palm trees and vast colonies of migrating birds on the Isles of Scilly, England’s most southwesterly point. The warm winds of the Gulf Stream are responsible for this wink of nature. Also located in Cornwall are the biodomes and gardens of the Eden Project. This environmental experiment and educational center was built in an old clay mining pit and is now one of Britain’s most popular tourist attractions.

Follow the coastline north past Cardiff to the Gower Peninsula, home to the 20th century Welch poet Dylan Thomas. A tortured drunken genius, much of Dylan’s inspiration comes from the time he spent in Carmarthen and Mumbles. The Dylan Thomas Center in Swansea holds a festival each year in October and November celebrating the genius of this son of Wales.

Back across the border are the Midlands of England. Filled with tiny villages, market towns and winding roads, the Cotswolds, located in West Midlands, are everything you imagine the thatched cottage English countryside to be. Also located in the Midlands is Stratford-upon-Avon, epicenter of all things Shakespearean. William Shakespeare was born here, lived here, worked here and died here. His birthplace, home, wife’s cottage and mothers home are among the Elizabethan properties you may tour. The Royal Shakespeare Company presents his plays in repertory in three theaters. One of the theatres, The Swan, is a re-creation of an Elizabethan theatre typical of where the work of the Bard was originally performed.

Jane Austin lived in Yorkshire and chose Derbyshire as the setting of one of her finest novels, Pride and Prejudice. The hero, Mr. Darcy, lives in a grand estate called Pemberley, based upon Chatsworth House, ancestral home of the Duke and Duchess of Devonshire, and current home of the Dowager Duchess after the passing of her husband, the 11th Duke. Set in a 1,000 acre park, Chatsworth House is an enormously impressive country house of over 175 rooms, requiring an army for upkeep. Visit the state rooms at your leisure, making sure to see the 19th century Library and 17th century Chapel. If you happen to miss the Painted Hall, you can rent the movie Pride and Prejudice with Keira Knightley, filmed on location at Chatsworth.

The Lake District is a magnet for walkers with fells (treeless mountain landscapes) and dales (valleys) undulating between sparkling lakes. Beatrix Potter created / encountered Peter Rabbit at her home here and the Romantic poet William Wordsworth penned his Poems, In Two Volumes at Dove Cottage in Grasmere, near Ambleside. This is actually the wettest part of England and is largely populated by sheep – wet sheep at that.

Enter Southwest Scotland and you enter Robert Burns’s territory. The author of Auld Lang Syne is Scotland’s favorite son. Every January 25th, the poet’s birthday, Robbie Burns Day is celebrated with song, dance and the cutting of the haggis, a dish that is better tasted before you know the ingredients. Further North is the land of another Scottish champion, Rob Roy. Sir Walter Scott retold the tale of this Robin Hood like hero who lived and fought in the Trossachs and the Highlands. Looking out across the expanse of softly rounded mountains, formed by retreating glaciers, you can understand Rob Roy’s fervor in defending his domain.

Edinburgh is where one of the most successful literary characters ever invented took form: Harry Potter. His creator (and third most successful author of all time), J. K. Rowling, has become the first billionaire to have made her fortune as a writer. Edinburgh became famous simply for being her home and the city where she composed Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone while nursing a cup of coffee at Nicholson’s Café (no longer there). Harry Potter fans may seek out the tiny streets of York that served as the inspiration for Daigon Alley, or visit Alnwick Castle in Northumberland, the architectural actor playing the part of Hogwarts.

Our STREETWISE^® Great Britain Map gives you all the information you need to plan your literary exploration. Easy to read and easy to use, this map of England, Scotland, and Wales includes a mileage chart for thirty cities. An inset map of the area surrounding London shows major highways, the M25 and the five major airports serving London, making it easy to get in and out of the city. Motorways, divided highways, primary, secondary and minor roads are clearly depicted and the map is fully indexed with cities, towns and villages. Scenic routes, points of interest and ferry routes are also indicated on the map.

STREETWISE^® Great Britain Map Scales
Main Great Britain Map 1:2,000,000
London Area Map 1:970,000
Distance Chart N/A