Richard Bates 
World is My Mirror 

Originally a county town in Middlesex, Ealing became known as the ‘Queen of the Suburbs’ at the beginning of the last century. Famous for the Ealing Studios, the oldest film studios in the world, in …

Beneath the surface of the country’s second largest city lies a little-known world that encompasses the history of Birmingham. In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, Birmingham profited from its …

Plymouth has a long and varied history with strong connections to England’s most famous mariners including Sir Francis Drake, Sir Walter Raleigh and Sir John Hawkins. In 1588 Drake famously continued …

Although Royal Leamington Spa has its origins several hundred years ago, then known as Leamington Priors, the town only came to prominence in the past 200 years. With the Revolutionary and Napoleonic …

The spa town of Bath has drawn visitors since the Roman’s built baths and a temple at the site of hot springs in the Avon valley. Bath Abbey was founded in the seventh century but it was in the …

Lacock is an historic village in Wiltshire largely owned by the National Trust. The perfectly preserved village is popular with visitors and it and the nearby Lacock Abbey have also been used for …

This illustrated history portrays one of England’s finest counties. It provides a nostalgic look at Worcestershire’s past and highlights the special character of some of its most important historic …

The Lake District is by far the UK’s most popular national park. Every year some 15 million people come here to explore the region’s fells and countryside and it’s not hard to see why. Ever since the …