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London Olympics. Wallet-busting prices of hottest 2012 tickets revealed

Posted in England facts, London Olympics 2010, london tours, sightseeing tours, UK Tourism updates on October 16, 2010| 1 Comment »

Tickets to watch the 2012 Olympic Games will be among the most expensive in British sporting history, it’s been revealed.

Sports fans will pay as much as £2,012 for the best seats at the opening ceremony, while the same seats at the closing ceremony will cost £1,500.

The most expensive sport will be the athletics, to be held at the new 80,000-seat Olympic Stadium.

A coveted ticket to the men’s 100m final will cost as much as £725 – the equivalent of £76 a second based on Usain Bolt’s world record.

Beach volleyball, gymnastics, diving and swimming will also be among the most expensive finals to watch, at £450 for the best seats, with the basketball finals close behind at £425.
The prices – which exclude corporate tickets – easily exceed those charged for the finals of the FA Cup, Wimbledon tennis and Premier League football matches.

LONDON 2012 TICKETS – THE FACTS

WHAT CAN I WATCH?
There are 26 Olympic sports but 39 disciplines in total. There will be 302 medal events and 649 sessions of sport to watch.

HOW MANY TICKETS WILL BE SOLD?
A higher-than-expected 8.8million.

HOW MUCH WILL THEY COST?
The price will vary according to the event. Each event will have different ticket prices, ranging from £20 to £725.

Organisers say 90 per cent will cost £100 or less, two-thirds will be £50 or less and 30 per cent £20 or less.

There will also be 11 free ticket sessions for sports such as triathlon, the marathon, race walking, road cycling and sailing.

ARE THERE SPECIAL OFFERS?
Yes, for around 220 sessions and 1.3 million tickets.
Children 16 and under on July 27 2012 will pay their age.

Those 60 and older on the same date will play a flat £16.

This offer will not include tickets for any final but will cover every sport.

Wheelchair prices include a companion seat.

Children will also be able to go along thanks to a ticket share scheme. 50,000 tickets have gone to the London Mayor, 50,000 to the Government and 25,000 to sporting bodies.

The Mayor’s tickets will go to children in London, the Government’s to secondary schools around the UK.

WHEN DO TICKETS GO ON SALE?
March 2011.

WHERE DO I FIND OUT MORE?
Register online at http://www.tickets.london2012.com

However, games organiser Locog insisted taxpayers had not been priced out of the event they had funded and said 90 per cent of tickets would cost £100 or less.

A third of tickets will cost £20 or under, with Olympic chiefs unable to keep their promise that they would sell half of tickets at this price.

Some 1.3million tickets will be reserved at special prices for children and people over 60.

Under the ‘pay your age’ scheme, 10-year-olds will pay £10, 11-year-olds £11 and so on.

Those over 60 will pay a flat £16.

Event bosses face pressure to make £400million from ticket sales, while ensuring that the 26 sports remain affordable and that the stadiums are full – avoiding a repeat of the near-empty stadiums at some of the Commonwealth Games events in India this month.

London 2012 chairman Sebastian Coe described it as ‘the daddy of all ticket strategies’, adding: ‘We have three clear principles for our ticketing strategy: tickets need to be affordable and accessible to as many people as possible, tickets are an important revenue stream for us to fund the Games, and our ticketing plans have the clear aim of filling our venues to the rafters.’

Events such as the marathon, cycling road race and time trial and triathlon will be free because they are on public roads, although grandstands at the finish area will be ticketed.

The cheapest events include the shooting finals with a top price of £40, sailing at £55 and the modern pentathlon at £75.

There are 8.8million tickets available, with 6.6million of these available to the public from March 2011.

The rest will go to broadcasters, sponsors and the 204 overseas Olympic committees.

Some 1.7million people have registered on the london2012.com website, which will guide them in applying for tickets for the 26 sports, split into 649 sessions.

The Government wants each school in Britain to receive six free tickets, but London Mayor Boris Johnson is trying to find sponsorship for a further 75,000 to be given to London pupils so one in eight can attend the Games.

Lord Coe said: ‘We made a promise to inspire young people to choose sport and our ticket prices will get as many young people as possible to the Games.’

Olympics Minister Hugh Robertson added: ‘I am confident we will have packed stadiums and venues.’

Make your tour plans well in advance.  Escape the city for a day and join a private guided sightseeing tour.  Contact us in advance for any travel arrangements you may need. 

Tourist Guide
HisTOURies UK – The Best Tours of Britain

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First time visitor to London? Make sure you see the best of London with our three-day itinerary

Posted in History, london tours, sightseeing, UK Tourism updates on October 15, 2010| Leave a Comment »

First Time Visitors Itinerary

First time visitor to London? Make sure you see the best of London with our three-day itinerary.

See the London Eye, the Tower of London, Tower Bridge, Shakespeare’s Globe, the British Museum and lots more. You’re sure to want to return again and again!

Day One

Morning

Board a 30-minute flight on the London Eye and admire London from a height of 135 metres in one of 32 capsules.

Original London Sightseeing Tour and Big Bus Company run hop-on, hop-off open-top bus tours of the city centre passing all the major landmarks, and lasting approximately two hours. Catch either tour outside County Hall by Westminster Bridge and see what the city has to offer.  These could be booked at http://www.BestValueTours.co.uk

Lunch

Alight from the bus at Tower Bridge and take the stairs down to Shad Thames and Butler’s Wharf. The riverside Butler’s Wharf Chop House offers excellent value set menus during the week.

Afternoon

See London’s most notorious prison and the Crown Jewels at the Tower of London. A Yeoman Warder gives a tour of the Tower every half an hour.

Walk back to Tower Bridge and visit the Tower Bridge Exhibition. You’ll see some of the most spectacular views up and down the River Thames and learn about the history of one of London’s most famous landmarks.

Evening

Experience London theatre, from musicals such as Billy Elliot and Mamma Mia, to opera and ballet at the Royal Opera House and modern dance at Sadler’s Wells. There really is something for everyone.

After the show enjoy a post-theatre meal at Joe Allen, a favourite with actors and people that work in London’s theatre industry.

Day Two

Morning

Wander around Covent Garden, Neal Street and Seven Dials for a bit of shopping. Watch the street entertainers and explore the covered market. If the weather is good, you can sit outside and people-watch in the piazza.

Lunch

Board the Bateaux London lunch river cruise, and enjoy a three-course meal as you cruise along the River Thames.

Afternoon

Head to Shakespeare’s Globe, where a tour offers a fascinating insight into Shakespearean London and today’s working theatre.

Next door is Tate Modern, where you can browse the permanent collection or view one of the world-class exhibitions. Don’t miss coffee in Café 7, Tate Modern’s seventh floor café looking out over the Millennium Bridge and St Paul’s Cathedral.

Evening

Try Britain’s favourite dish for dinner – a curry in Brick Lane. A market by day, Brick Lane is lined with curry houses and trendy bars. Preem and Bengal Village offer good, value for money meals. Have a few drinks after your meal in the Vibe Bar, the Big Chill Bar or 93 Feet East, which has a great line-up of live music and DJs.

Day Three

Morning

Head to the British Museum, London’s single most visited museum, featuring exhibits such as the 2,000 year old Lindow Man, Egyptian pharaohs and treasures from all over the world.

Afternoon

Take the Tube to Camden Town and explore Camden Lock Market, where you’ll find clothing, jewellery, arts and crafts and some of London’s more interesting characters. The market is a great place for lunch, with stalls and shops cooking food from all over the world.

Walk from Camden to Primrose Hill, for one of the best views of London. This is a great spot for a picnic or a few pints in one of the nearby pubs.

Evening

You can’t come to London without visiting a traditional London pub. Many of London’s pubs offer delicious food, with menus ranging from typical British cuisine such as fish and chips to Thai. The Fire Station in Waterloo and The Anchor & Hope on The Cut (also Waterloo) both offer a traditional pub environment plus a fantastic menu.

Enjoy London!

Tourist Guide
HisTOURies UK – Bespoke Guided Tours from London

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Salisbury Cathedral Spire Daredevil.

Posted in Salisbury Cathedral, sightseeing tours, UK Tourism updates, wessex, Wiltshire on October 14, 2010| Leave a Comment »

Daredevil happenings at cathedral…
SHOPPERS in Salisbury may have spotted some strange shenanigans going on at Salisbury Cathedral on Thursday.

Blue Peter presenter Helen Skelton was joined by a steeplejack and an abseiling camerman to change the four red light bulbs on the spire.

The group climbed up inside the spire to the weather door, which is 12 metres below the summit and is the point at which they had to continue the climb to the top on the outside.

About the Cathedral:

The Cathedral Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Salisbury

Salisbury is unique amongst medieval English cathedrals, built within one century with no substantial later additions. The building itself is remarkable, a testimony to the faith and practical skills of those who erected it.

But it is much more than an historical monument. It is the Cathedral Church of the Salisbury diocese and so the Mother Church of several hundred parishes in Wiltshire and Dorset. It is a centre of pilgrimage for hundreds of thousands of visitors every year. Every day, week in week out, for century after century, God is worshipped here. Above all it is a place of prayer.
Salisbury and Stonehenge Tour Guide
HisTOURies UK – The Best Tours in History

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Wet and foggy yes, but Britain’s grey skies don’t put tourists off

Posted in England facts, sightseeing tours, UK Tourism updates on October 8, 2010| 1 Comment »

Let’s be clear, we’re not trying to pull the wool over anyone’s eyes…our often inclement weather is no secret.

Still, it’s reassuring to know that foreign visitors who set foot on our green and pleasant lands don’t love Britain any less because of the rubbish weather.

Routemaster bus crossing Westminster Bridge in central London, during heavy fog‘Could you tell me the way to Big Ben? Behind the blanket of fog you say? Thanks…’ 1000 tourists questioned said they wouldn’t be dissuaded from visiting Britain because of the weather.

New research from VisitBritain has found that tourists – from more than 30 countries worldwide – wouldn’t be put off visiting our shores by the prospect of grey skies.

1,000 potential travellers were asked how much they agreed with the line: ‘I would not want to visit Britain because of the weather there’.

On a scale from 1 to 7, where the latter was ‘strongly agree’, the average score came out at 2.76 – a clear vote of confidence that poor weather rarely dissuades tourists from actually visiting.

It seems foreign travellers are under no illusions that they’ll be met with sunshine though, with around half of those questioned agreeing that ‘wet and foggy’ was an accurate general description of British weather.

 VisitBritain chief executive Sandie Dawe said: ‘This survey shows that Britain’s weather is not as bad as folklore would have us believe.

‘Visitors do not come with a belief that should a few drops of rain fall then their trip will be ruined.’

A brush with an umbrella doesn’t detract from the appeal of the country’s museums, castles and ancient attractions, continues Dawes.

‘Our research also tells us that visitors from overseas come here to experience our world-class heritage and culture, be this Tate Liverpool, Edinburgh Castle, the British Museum or Stonehenge.’

 It never rains on my tours – and thats a promise!  I have 1000’s of satisfied customers who have toured with me who will vouch for me.

Stonehenge Tour Guide
HisTOURies UK – The best ‘sunny’ tours in Britain

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Visiting Wiltshire ? Visit Wardour Castle

Posted in british history, History, Salisbury Cathedral, sightseeing tours, UK Tourism updates, wessex, Wiltshire, world heritage on October 5, 2010| 1 Comment »

Set in the peaceful Wiltshire countryside beside a lake, Old Wardour Castle, near Tisbury was once one of the most daring and innovative homes in Britain. It was built in the 14th century as a lightly fortified luxury residence for comfortable living and lavish A knight holding a sword in the air with St George's Cross flag in the backgroundentertainment. Today the castle ruin provides a relaxed, romantic day out for couples, families and budding historians alike.

An audio tour, included in the ticket price, tells of Old Wardour’s eventful past and the fighting it saw during the Civil War. The badly damaged castle became a fashionable romantic ruin, and in the 18th century was incorporated into the landscaped grounds of the New Wardour House (not managed by English Heritage, no public access to New Wardour House or grounds).  Today, visitors can still climb the turrets and even imagine themselves as extras in the Hollywood blockbuster movie, Robin Hood Prince of Thieves, part of which was filmed here.

SPOOKY TOURS @ Wardour Castle – Hallowen 2010

  • Date: Sat 30 & Sun 31 Oct 2010
  • Property:
    Old Wardour Castle

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  • Children’s Event :

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  • Time: Tours at 5pm (children’s tour), 6.15pm, 7.30pm and 8.30pm

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  • Booking :

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  • Suitable for: Everyone

Experience the eerie night-time surroundings of this haunted heritage site. Travel back to a time when gruesome goings-on were commonplace. We dare those of you who think you are brave enough to join our seriously scary and sometimes light-hearted homage to the past residents of Old Wardour, who refuse to leave. For younger visitors and the faint-hearted a much less terrifying alternative will take place earlier in the day.

Wardour Castle is close to Salisbury, Stonehenge and Bath and could easily be combined into a day tour
Wiltshire Tour Guide
HisTOURies UK – The Best Tours in Wessex

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Bath Christmas Market 25 November – 12 December 2010

Posted in Christmas Tours, sightseeing tours, Stonehenge private tours, UK Tourism updates, world heritage on September 30, 2010| 2 Comments »

With the market as the highlight, the UNESCO World Heritage city of Bath is fast becoming known as ‘the Christmas City’.

Each year, the beautiful area between the stunning Bath Abbey and the internationally renowned visitor attraction, the Roman Baths, is transformed into a Christmas shopper’s haven – the Bath Christmas Market.  Theyare delighted to announce that the Bath Christmas Market will run for an additional 7 days this year – a total of 18 days!  Dates for the Bath Christmas Market 2010 are 25th November – 12th December 2010. 

In the heart of Bath’s main shopping district, 123 traditional wooden chalets adorn the streets; each one offering unique, handmade and unusual gifts, decorations and food items – everything you will need for the perfect Christmas celebration. 

The sound of carols echoing around the Abbey creates an extra special atmosphere at the Bath Christmas Market.  This is complimented by a full programme of entertainment at the event – carol singers, children’s entertainers and musicians that add to the festive ambience. 

View of Main Square  View of chalets and Bath Abbey

View of chalets and Bath Abbey  View of chalets and shoppers 

View of Main Square and Roman Baths   View of Main Square and Bath Abbey

View of Main Square and Roman Baths  View of Main Square and Bath Abbey

 Its a great time of year to explore Bath, join a coach tour from London or organise a private guided tour (from London, Salisbury or Bath)

If you can stay a night or two.  Click here for discount Hotels in Bath

Bath Toursit Guide
HisTOURies UK – The Best Tours in History

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London’s Preparations for the Olympics

Posted in british history, England facts, London Olympics 2010, sightseeing tours, UK Tourism updates on September 22, 2010| Leave a Comment »

Not since 1996, when England hosted the European Championships, has the country held a major sporting event. In 2012 that is set to change as London becomes the venue for the Olympic Games.

Having hosted the Summer Olympics twice previously – in 1908 and 1948 – the English capital certainly has history with the event, but even still there are surprises abound with improvements needed to stadiums, transport and accommodation.

With around seven million permanent residents, it’s hard to imagine how the city’s infrastructure will cope with the extra influx of athletes and sports fans that will be descending on the city from the end of July – traditionally a busy tourist season in any year.

The International Olympic Committee has been thinking about this since 2005 – when the games were awarded to London – so big changes are expected in the city. The world famous underground has seen changes, with an expansion made to the East London Line and upgrades have been made to the North London Line and the Docklands Light Railway as well.

On top of this a brand new rail service has been created – named in Olympic fashion as the Javelin – which features bullet trains that will speedily take passengers across the city.

There are expected to be around eight million tickets for the Olympics available, with half of them priced under £20 to ensure bustling crowds at all events. This means all visitors – from those in top range hotels to those in budget hotels in London – will be able to snap up tickets for at least part of the extravaganza.

Sensibly, accommodation for the Olympians will be spread across the city to ensure all competitors are housed close to where they need to be to compete, rather than in an all encompassing Olympic Village as per tradition, but a tradition that has become outdated as the games have grown and the events no longer all take place in one place.

The events will be taking place in a mixture of old venues that the city is known for – such as Wembley, Lord’s and the O2 Arena – as well as specially constructed arenas. As well as new sporting venues, the city will see other new buildings going up. The Shard, for example, is due to be finished in May 2012 and standing at 1017 feet it is sure to be a major sight on the London skyline.

Paul Buchanan writes for a digital marketing agency. This article has been commissioned by a client of said agency. This article is not designed to promote, but should be considered professional content.

Hotels in London Must Shape Up for 2012 Olympics

Not since 1996, when England hosted the European Championships, has the country held a major sporting event. In 2012 that is set to change as London becomes the venue for the Olympic Games.

Having hosted the Summer Olympics twice previously – in 1908 and 1948 – the English capital certainly has history with the event, but even still there are surprises abound with improvements needed to stadiums, transport and accommodation.

With around seven million permanent residents, it’s hard to imagine how the city’s infrastructure will cope with the extra influx of athletes and sports fans that will be descending on the city from the end of July – traditionally a busy tourist season in any year.

The International Olympic Committee has been thinking about this since 2005 – when the games were awarded to London – so big changes are expected in the city. The world famous underground has seen changes, with an expansion made to the East London Line and upgrades have been made to the North London Line and the Docklands Light Railway as well.

On top of this a brand new rail service has been created – named in Olympic fashion as the Javelin – which features bullet trains that will speedily take passengers across the city.

There are expected to be around eight million tickets for the Olympics available, with half of them priced under £20 to ensure bustling crowds at all events. This means all visitors – from those in top range hotels to those in budget hotels in London – will be able to snap up tickets for at least part of the extravaganza.

Sensibly, accommodation for the Olympians will be spread across the city to ensure all competitors are housed close to where they need to be to compete, rather than in an all encompassing Olympic Village as per tradition, but a tradition that has become outdated as the games have grown and the events no longer all take place in one place.

The events will be taking place in a mixture of old venues that the city is known for – such as Wembley, Lord’s and the O2 Arena – as well as specially constructed arenas. As well as new sporting venues, the city will see other new buildings going up. The Shard, for example, is due to be finished in May 2012 and standing at 1017 feet it is sure to be a major sight on the London skyline.

London is the most expensive place to stay in Europe, according to a recent survey, and that news has emerged at the same time as tourism minister Margaret Hodge has warned that hotels in the capital must shape up in order to be ready for the 2012 Olympics.

 The average cost of staying in a London hotel has leapt by a staggering 12% since April, and now averages £119 per night across the capital. Although not as expensive as New York or the world’s most expensive place for a one-night stay, Moscow, the rates are remarkably high considering that two-thirds of all London hotels are unrated. The figures show that even relatively meagre two-star accommodation in London averages £88 per night and guests have to typically stump up £109 to stay in three-star rated hotels.

 Tourism minister Hodge is worried that the combination of highly priced accommodation and the large percentage of non-rated hotels will damage the reputation of the city, and is keen for the hotel industry to get itself in order. She said: “If the tourist industry is to reap the potential £2.1 billion from the 2012 Olympic Games, then 85% of London’s hotels must be accredited before then.”

 Hodge is concerned that many people attending the 2012 Olympics will be coming to London for the first time and therefore wants their experience of the city to be a positive one. She added:

 “Hosting the 2012 Olympics is a huge opportunity for London and the UK tourism industry. In five years London will welcome millions of first-time visitors and we will want them to come back time and again – hopefully bringing their family and friends. It’s all about creating a lasting and positive legacy for the capital.”

But, the government doesn’t expect the capital’s hotels to do it all by themselves. A recently unveiled multi-agency strategy entitled: “Winning – A Tourism Strategy for 2012 and Beyond” has been drawn up by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport aided by Visit Britain, Visit London, and an assortment of Regional Development Agencies, aiming to give positive advice and limited financial assistance to the hotel industry throughout London and the UK.

Now that the gauntlet has been thrown down for hotels in London to make significant improvements, it is important that they respond positively if they are to fulfil the government’s aim of making the 2012 Olympic Games the start of a lasting legacy
If you are planning a trip to the UK in 2012 you may save some time and money visiting these web sites:
http://www.Welcome2London.org.uk
http://www.BestValueTours.co.uk
http://www.HisTOURies.co.uk
http://www.LondonTown.com

British Tourist Guide
HisTOURies UK – The Best Tours in British History

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Today in History. 100 Day’s left in the year.

Posted in british history, England facts, History, UK Tourism updates on September 16, 2010| Leave a Comment »

Today is Wednesday, September 16th, the 265th day of 2010. There are 100 days left in the year.

Highlights in history on this date:

1499 – Turks ravage Vicenza in Italy.

1550 – Holy Roman Empire fleet captures vessel Port of Africa at Mehedia in Tunis, naval headquarters of Turkish corsair Dragut.

1609 – The king of Spain orders the deportation of the baptized former Muslims known as Moriscos.

1711 – Rio de Janeiro is captured by the French.

1792 – French Republic is proclaimed and revolutionary calendar goes into effect.

1862 – U.S. President Abraham Lincoln issues the Emancipation Proclamation, declaring all slaves in the Confederate States free as of Jan. 1, 1863.

1914 – A German submarine sinks three British cruisers in one hour off the Dutch coast; the German cruiser Emden shells Madras in India.

1927 – Slavery is abolished in Sierra Leone in Africa.

1940 – The Vichy French governor-general concludes an agreement that makes Indochina the largest Japanese military staging ground in southeast Asia.

1949 – The Soviet Union explodes its first atomic bomb.

1955 – Hurricane Janet, the most violent Caribbean hurricane of the season, causes almost 600 deaths around the islands.

1960 – A U.S. Marine Corps DC-6 plane en route from Japan to the Philippines crashes in the ocean 290 kilometers (180 miles) south of Okinawa. All 29 passengers are killed.

1965 – A cease-fire is declared in the war between India and Pakistan, but both sides subsequently violate it.

1970 – Arab chiefs of state send envoys to meet with King Hussein and Yasser Arafat to persuade them to find a way to contain the fighting between the Jordanian Army and Palestinian guerrillas.

1974 – Official death toll in hurricane that swept Honduras is put at 5,000.

1975 – Sara Jane Moore fails in an attempt to shoot U.S. President Gerald Ford outside a San Francisco hotel.

1980 – Iraqi tanks enter Iran, marking the beginning of the Iran-Iraq War as a full-scale conflict.

1986 – Two hijackers seize Soviet airliner at Ural Mountains airport and kill two passengers before security agents recapture plane and shoot the hijackers.

1988 – The government of Canada apologizes for the World War II internment of Japanese-Canadians and promises compensation.

1989 – F. W. De Klerk takes over as president of South Africa.

1990 – Jordan’s King Hussein appeals to United States in televised message to withdraw its troops from Saudi Arabia to avert “death, destruction and misery.”

1992 – Azerbaijani-armed forces mount an offensive against the disputed enclave Nagorno-Karabakh.

1993 – Abkhazian rebels in Georgia shoot down second passenger plane in two days, killing 80.

1994 – NATO aircraft strike at Serbian targets near Sarajevo after U.N. troops patrolling the city came under machine-gun and rocket fire.

1995 – America’s Time Warner Inc. and Turner Broadcasting System Inc. announce a merger with Time Warner purchasing TBS in a deal valued at $7.5 billion, creating the world’s largest media company.

1996 – Typhoon Violet veers into the North Pacific after killing seven and setting off landslides that paralyzed transportation in Japan.

1997 – U.S. President Bill Clinton, speaking at the United Nations, announces he will submit to the Senate a treaty banning all nuclear explosions.

1998 – Troops from South Africa and Botswana cross into Lesotho and storm the royal palace, touching off a gunbattle with protesters.

1999 – Dutch journalist Sander Thoenes is killed and two others assaulted in separate attacks in East Timor blamed on anti-independence militiamen.

2001 – Pope John Paul II visits Kazakhstan and Armenia and cautions against allowing Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the United States to create divisions between Muslims and Christians.

2004 – The U.S. military drops an espionage charge against a Muslim interpreter accused of spying at the camp for terror detainees at the U.S. military base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. It is the third Guantanamo spy case of the year to fall apart.

2005 – Bosnia’s top international official orders the Bosnian Serb Finance Minister to identify the origins of illegal payments made to the Serb Democratic Party after the party’s bank accounts were frozen because of fraud.

2006 – Pope Benedict XVI invites Muslim envoys to meet with him at his summer residence for what the Holy See says is urgently needed dialogue following a crisis ignited by his remarks on Islam and violence.

2007 – Monks leading swelling demonstrations against Myanmar’s military regime march past barricades to the home of Nobel Peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, increasing pressure on the junta.

2008 _ The first excavation of Stonehenge in more than 40 years has uncovered evidence that the stone circle drew ailing pilgrims from around Europe for what they believed to be its healing properties, archaeologists say.

2009 – Al-Qaida releases a new 106-minute long video predicting President Barack Obama’s downfall at the hands of the Muslim world to mark the 8th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks against the U.S.

Today’s Birthdays:

Michael Faraday, British physicist (1791-1862); Caroline Astor, U.S. aristocrat of New York high society (1830-1908); Erich von Stroheim, German director and actor (1885-1957); Louis Botha, South African soldier-statesman (1862-1919); John Houseman, U.S. stage/radio actor (1902-1988); Fay Weldon, British writer (1931–); Joan Jett, U.S. rock singer (1960–).

Most importantly
100 Shopping days to Christmas!

British Tour Guide
HisTOURies UK Tours – The Best Tours in History

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Pope’s UK visit September 2010 – Souvenir time!

Posted in british history, England facts, Funny, History, Salisbury Cathedral, UK Tourism updates on September 4, 2010| 1 Comment »

Pope Benedict will soon be arriving in the UK.  I am surprised at the lack of tacky Papal souvenirs for sale on the streets of Britain. Past Papal visits in other countries have produced such wonders as this Pope Soap on Rope

So in the spirit of his arrival, I offer you simple instructions on how to make your very own Pope Hat. Any newspaper will do, but I prefer to use the News of the World. There’s a link at the top of my blog page that will take you to a pdf version of this. Print it out and freak your friends out at the office, on the street, on the underground. Just a little fun arts and crafts for those with slightly twisted minds.

No offence intended!  I did promise some funny blogs……….

British Tour Guide
HisTOURies UK – The Best Tours in Catholic History

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Pope Benedict XVI’s visit to Britain will be a mix of pomp and protest

Posted in british history, England facts, sightseeing tours, UK Tourism updates on September 4, 2010| Leave a Comment »

When Pope John Paul II arrived in 1982, he famously kissed the ground and declared: “Today, for the first time in history, a Bishop of Rome sets foot on English soil. This fair land, once a distant outpost of the pagan world, has become, through the preaching of the Gospel, a beloved and gifted portion of Christ’s vineyard.”

He went on to preach in Canterbury Cathedral and during the visit became friends with the Archbishop of Canterbury, Robert Runcie. It seemed to set the seal on an end to centuries of anti-Catholicism in Britain, and open the door to a new era in ecumenical endeavour where anything, even reunion, seemed possible.

But that was in a different century, and that Pope and that Archbishop are dead.

This Pope will walk into a storm of protest. Secularists are already planning a series of marches against him wherever he goes. The National Secular Society will launch its Protest the Pope Coalition later this week.

Peter Tatchell, the gay rights campaigner, is among those planning online petitions against the visit.

There will be no visit to Canterbury Cathedral this time, after the Pope announced plans for the Anglican Ordinariate to welcome into the church of Rome disaffected members of the Church of England and other present and former Anglicans.

Even the Queen sent an emissary, Earl Peel, her Lord Chamberlain, to talk to the Archbishop of Westminster, Vincent Nichols, and find out what was intended by the new conversion plans.

The Pope is certain to use his civic address at Westminster Hall, a place revered by Catholics as the place where martyrs for the faith such as St Thomas More and the Jesuit St Edmund Campion were tried and condemned, to issue challenges to the Government on social and moral issues.

The Pope, 83, has a commendable lack of regard for protocol. Maybe he feels time is running out and he cannot hang around on niceties.

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, had merely a few days notice of the Anglican Ordinariate and was visibly discomfited.

But even the Pope’s own Archbishop of Westminster, highly rated in Rome, had almost no notice of the “conversion” plan. Archbishop Nichols was also taken by surprise by the Pope’s confirmation of his visit to Britain in September.

The Queen issued the formal invitation to the Pope only last month after months of negotiations between government departments and the Holy See as to what status the visit should have.

Although the itinerary is still in draft form, the Pope’s visit is scheduled to begin in Scotland.

Pope Benedict XVI will fly straight from Rome to Edinburgh on September 16, where, as a head of state, he will be received by the Queen at Holyrood Palace in the afternoon. He is due to see the monarch there rather than Buckingham Palace because the visit coincides with her annual holiday to Balmoral.

He will also visit Glasgow, before making his way south in what is only the second papal visit to Britain since the Reformation and the first state visit.

The high point will be the beatification of Cardinal Newman, the 19th-century Anglican convert to Catholicism, in Birmingham on September 19.

The Pope has since his youth as a seminarian been an avid student of the writings of Cardinal Newman and in his address to the bishops yesterday he described him as an “outstanding example of faithfulness to revealed truth”.

As well as his address in Westminster Hall there is likely to be an academic address at Oxford University.

Having spoken at the Catholic Chaplaincy at Fisher Hall at Cambridge University in 1988, Pope Benedict XVI has for years nurtured a dream of speaking at Oxford. He raised the possibility of such an occasion with the last Archbishop of Westminster, Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor, in Rome shortly after becoming Pope. Lord Patten of Barnes, Chancellor of Oxford and a leading lay Catholic, has formally invited the Pope to speak there.

The only departure from normal protocol around formal visits by heads of state will be that the Pope, 83, will stay with the Papal Nuncio in Wimbledon rather than in Buckingham Palace.

Perhaps, all things considered, that is for the best.

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