Monarch’s Way lists

George Inns and the like

  1. Pub at Abbot’s Leigh called the George
  2. We stayed at George Hotel in Castle Cary
  3. We stayed at George Hotel, Crewkerne
  4. Charmouth has a George Inn
  5. Charles paused at the George Inn Bridport
  6. Charles stopped at the George Inn Broad Windsor, aka The Castle Inn
  7. Charles paused at the George Inn, Mere
  8. There was a George Inn in Hambledon, the landlord was once Richard Nyren. It is now residential accomodation.
  9. Charles paused at the George and Dragon, Houghton
  10. At Wanford, there is a George Hotel, possibly visited by Wilmot while he waited for Charles
  11. Charles stopped at the Old George Inn, Brighton, on the final night. It is not certain where this was.

Literary connections

  1. Tong has the supposed grave of Little Nell, from The Old Curiosity Shop.
  2. It has been suggested that the memorial verses on a tomb inside Tong Church were written by William Shakespeare.
  3. Bromsgrove is the birthplace of AE Housman, author of A Shropshire Lad.
  4. An Elizabethan / Jacobean playwright was born at Stratford-upon-Avon.
  5. Bristol is the birthplace of Robert Southey, Poet Laureate.
  6. Lyme Regis, near Charmouth is the setting for The French Lieutenant’s Woman by John Fowles.
  7. Lyme Regis is also the setting for important scenes from Patience by Jane Austen.
  8. TS Elliot’s ashes are interred at East Coker, a place which gives its name to one of his Four Quartets.
  9. John Nyren of Hambledon wrote (or perhaps just provided material for) The Young Cricketer’s Tutor, possibly the most important cricket book ever.
  10. Brighton Rock by Graham Greene is set among the Brighton underworld and is one of the great Twentieth Century novels

Areas of Natural Beauty etc on the route

  1. Ironbridge Gorge World Heritage Site
  2. Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site
  3. The Cotswolds Area of Natural Beauty
  4. The Mendips Area of Natural Beauty
  5. Dorset Area of Natural Beauty
  6. Cranborne Chase Area of Natural Beauty
  7. South Downs National Park

Note – The Monarch’s Way books suggest that the route goes through six AONBs. As far as I can see, that is not correct, it only touches four, but it does come close to two others (Blackdown Hills and East Devon).

Some waterways on the route

  1. River Severn (Worcester, again near Madeley)
  2. Droitwich Canal
  3. Stourbridge Canal
  4. Staffs & Worcs Canal
  5. Shropshire Union Canal
  6. Wyrley and Essington Canal (Curly Wyrley)
  7. Walsall canal
  8. Birmingham Main Line canal
  9. Netherton Tunnel branch canal
  10. Dudley number 2 canal (part-derelict)
  11. Worcester Birmingham canal
  12. Warwickshire Avon
  13. River Windrush
  14. River Coln
  15. River Churn
  16. Thames & Severn canal (derelict)
  17. Bristol Avon
  18. River Cale
  19. Salisbury Avon
  20. River Bourne
  21. River Test
  22. River Adur (Bramber, again Shoreham)

Some places to visits and things to do near the route

  1. The Commardery at Worcester
  2. Harvington Hall (Historic House)
  3. Boscobel House (NT)
  4. Ironbridge Gorge and museums
  5. All Nation’s Inn, Madeley – one of just four home-brew houses which survived into the 1970s
  6. Moseley Old Hall (NT)
  7. Old Swan Inn, Netherton – aka Ma Pardoe’s – another of the four home-brew houses which survived into the 1970s
  8. Black Country Museum
  9. Hidcote Manor (NT)
  10. Chedworth Roman Villa (NT)
  11. Westonbirt Arboretum
  12. Bristol Floating Harbour ferry trip
  13. Search for Norton Court ruins
  14. Trent Manor (not open to the public, view from outside)
  15. Bishop’s Palace Garden, Wells (Historic Houses)
  16. Cadbury Castle
  17. TS Elliot memorial (East Coker)
  18. Montacute House (NT)
  19. Heale Gardens (Historic Houses)
  20. Mottisfont Abbey (NT)
  21. Broadhalfpenny Down Cricket Field, near Hambledon
  22. Search for King’s Rest Cottage, Hambledon
  23. Arundel Castle (Historic Houses)
  24. Brighton Pavilion

Bold means connected to the escape

Other routes walked by our group

  1. Diamond Way
  2. Cotswold Way
  3. Three Choirs Way
  4. Clarendon Way
  5. Gloucestershire Way
  6. Mortimer Way
  7. Donnington Way
  8. West Mendip Way
  9. St Kenelm’s Trail