Tellyspotting travels to Highclere, Bath and a famous staircase on the second day of the Iconic British Classics Tour of England

Having successfully circumnavigated (or rather avoided) the Charlie Gibbs Fracture Zone, Tellyspotting began the day in Windsor on the 2024 KERA/Transcendent Travel Iconic British Classics Tour of England. With a tour of Windsor Castle in the rearview mirror, we boarded the coach with Jim's magnificence at the wheel and drove to Highclere Castle, the stately home of Lord and Lady Grantham in Downton Abbey.

Luckily Mr Carson had left the keys above the door so we were able to take a look behind the scenes at the home of the 8th Earl and Countess of Carnarvon. After a quick bite to eat on the lawn at Highclere we headed to the Roman city of Bath for a stroll around Jane Austen's house. The Roman Baths are considered to be one of the best preserved Roman ruins in the world, where 1,170,000 litres of steaming spring water, at temperatures of up to 46°C, still fill the bathing facility every day. They were built around 70 AD as a large bathing and social complex.

With a bit of rain in the morning and temperatures between 10 and 15 degrees, it's hard to complain when you consider that we had triple-digit temperatures at home a few days ago before we left. From Bath we drove to Boringdon Hall in Plymouth and made a quick stop for a cream tea at Cricket St. Thomas, the home of the Penelope Keith and Peter Bowles comedy. To the Born Manor House.

Boringdon Hall is our home for the next two days, tomorrow we'll head to picturesque Port Isaac, better known as Portwenn, the sleepy Cornish village where Doc Martin lives. The coast is more idyllic than you can imagine, but the thought of seeing the place where Louise Glasson taught at Portwenn Primary School, Miss Tishell's pharmacy, Bert Large's ill-fated restaurant and of course Doc's surgery is the most important thing for most of the trip.

With 10 seasons and 79 episodes Doc Martin was a fixture in the town of Port Isaac during two decades of filming and continues to be a tourist attraction all year round. Tomorrow will not disappoint! Cheers!

PS: Did you recognize the stairs?

In: Locations, Miscellaneous