England—closed for the winter

Press, 13 January 1987, Page 12

England—closed for the winter

By

DERRICK MANSBRIDGE,

, who recently flew to

London as a guest of British Airways and the British Tourist Authority.

Anyone travelling out of season in England should take nothing for granted; all places do not cater for all tourists all of the time. For instance, you might never give a thought to checking if the Tower of London is open. Mistake; it’s closed on Sundays in the winter — except for heavily armed soldiers inside guarding the family jewels and beefeaters outside trying, not always successfully, to be polite to irate customers. Don’t go to Arundel Castle from , November 1 until Easter unless you only want to look at the outside walls ! or the village. Nor go to see the Roman villa at Bognor between the same dates — even if the local village constable directs you to the site and does not tell i

you, or does not know, that it, too, is closed. Same trouble at Shaftesbury. Abbey; there is a notice on the closed and locked gate to. that effect. And if you want pictorial postcards of Chichester, in’ Sussex; in : November, don’t bother to ask;' "Sorry, sir, we have put them all away to make room for the Christmas cards.” And seasonal greeting to you, ma’am. Footnote: The next visitor who tells you that he came to New Zealand on a Sunday and found it closed, tell him,you know of someone who went to England in November and found too much of it closed for the winter. Derrick Mansbridge is features editor of “The Press.”