Author Archives: Louise Jayne

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About Louise Jayne

Avid reader who enjoys travelling and taking photos of her adventures.

Sir John Soane’s Museum, London

Posted on January 27, 2026 by Louise Jayne

Sir John Soane’s Museum has been on my want to visit list for a very long time but I’ve always put it off particularly because of their bag policy (more on that in a bit) and not having time in my schedule to fit it in when I might need to queue for a long time (pre-booking is only for large groups or special events). However on this most recent visit I had the entire morning free before I had a matinee to get to and decided that I would finally visit what turned out to be just as intriguing a museum as I had hoped.

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Categories: England, London | Tags: , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

St Alkmund’s Church, Shrewsbury

Posted on January 20, 2026 by Louise Jayne

St. Alkmund’s Church is nestled between the buildings that have sprung up around it. Founded in 912 it stands as the highest part of the town – indeed is reached up some steep steps – and after renovations over the years is now largely of Georgian design. The tower and spire were added around 1475.

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Categories: England, Shrewsbury, Shropshire | Tags: , , , , , | 2 Comments

The Cut: Shropshire Wildlife Trust Garden

Posted on January 13, 2026 by Louise Jayne

After I finished up at Shrewsbury Abbey I spotted a sign across the road for Shropshire Wildlife Trust and decided to take a look. The garden is free to enter and volunteers each have their own part of the garden they look after – no one paid the slightest bit of attention to me as I wandered around.

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Categories: England, Shrewsbury, Shropshire | Tags: , , | 2 Comments

Oldmoor Wood, Nottingham

Posted on January 8, 2026 by Louise Jayne

For Boxing Day my dad and I did a walk around Oldmoor Wood in Strelley, about five miles from Nottingham City Centre. Looked after by the Woodland Trust it was planted in 1792 by a Thomas Webb Edge as part of Strelly Park though it was redeveloped from ancient woodland that already existed there. It is however not officially considered an ancient wood.

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Categories: England, Nottingham, Nottinghamshire | Tags: , , , , | Leave a comment

Shrewsbury Abbey

Posted on January 6, 2026 by Louise Jayne

I’d heard of Shrewsbury Abbey of course which is why it was on my list of things to see in the town but I had completely forgotten that the Cadfael series of books was based there (I’ve seen the TV series with Derek Jacobi but never read any of the books). I mention this to start with because the lovely friendly volunteer who greeted me on entry was surprised that Cadfael wasn’t my main reason for visiting and directed me to a very nice stained glass window dedicated to Cadfael author Ellis Peters (real name Edith Pargeter).

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Categories: England, Shrewsbury, Shropshire | Tags: , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

2025 Round-Up

Posted on January 2, 2026 by Louise Jayne

I don’t often do a round up but I thought for this year I would do some lists of the year, in no particular order.

First off, top 10 destinations I visited last year:

  1. The Roman Baths, Bath
  2. The Brontë Parsonage Museum, Haworth
  3. The Brontë Waterfall and Bridge, Haworth
  4. Yorkshire Wildlife Park
  5. Cliffe Castle Museum and Park, Keighley
  6. Marie Antoinette Exhibition at the V&A, London
  7. Powis Castle and Garden, Welshpool, Wales
  8. Cartier Exhibition at the V&A, London
  9. Sir John Soane’s Museum, London (blog post to come)
  10. Christmas at Chatsworth House, Derbyshire
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Categories: Yearly Round-Up | Tags: | 2 Comments

Christmas Post: Christmas Tree Festival at St. Mary’s Church in the Lace Market, Nottingham

Posted on December 18, 2025 by Louise Jayne

I stumbled across an advert for this Christmas Tree Festival the other week and decided to pay it a visit. I’ve been to St Mary’s a number of times and its a lovely church and always very welcoming. This festival event was in aid of Emmanuel House a local homeless support charity. I’m not sure the event is all that well known – I was the only non staff member there during my visit. There are donation card readers at the entrance so you can donate however much you like via contactless.

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Categories: England, Nottingham, Nottinghamshire | Tags: , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Christmas Post: Christmas at Chatsworth, Derbyshire

Posted on December 16, 2025 by Louise Jayne

Although I’ve been to Chatsworth House once before – a scary amount of years ago – I’ve never been to their Christmas event and my friend suggested that we should do so for our annual Christmas trip. This year’s theme was The Enchanted Garden, focusing on the beauty and magic of the country in winter which included some interesting projections of fairies throughout the house, as well as beautifully decorated rooms and lots of Christmas trees.

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Categories: Derbyshire, England | Tags: , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

The Quarry and the Dingle, Shrewsbury

Posted on December 9, 2025 by Louise Jayne

The Quarry is a 29 acre, Grade II listed park in Shrewsbury that borders the town and the River Severn. I found myself walking around here quite a few times on my visit to the town – on my arrival after checking in to my B&B to stretch my legs and as a convenient place to sit and watch the world go by when I needed a break from walking around.

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Categories: England, Shrewsbury, Shropshire | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Christmas Post: Christmas Tree Festival at Chesterfield Parish Church

Posted on December 2, 2025 by Louise Jayne

I recently decided to take a trip out to Chesterfield in Derbyshire to visit the Christmas Tree Festival at Chesterfield Parish Church, often also known as the Crooked Spire Church, for obvious reasons. I’ve never actually been to the town before even though it’s a direct 35 minute train ride from Nottingham but I’m very glad I made the trip. I’ll get on to the history of the church later, but firstly the Festival. It finished on the 30th of November and was free but there were donation buckets dotted around (I donated some money but also bought a few things in the gift shop).

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Categories: Chesterfield, Derbyshire, England | Tags: , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

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