CHARACTERISED by glamour and an interest in speed, the interwar period witnessed a surge in travel and tourism. Commercial flights were a new concept (Imperial Airways offered routes from Croydon to the Continent), private motorcars boomed on British roads from 187,000 in 1920 to some 1.5 million by the outbreak of the Second World War and fast, smart passenger ships, such as Aquitania, Normandie (the world's most perfect ship') and Queen Mary, established the ocean liner as the ultimate embodiment of a luxurious way of life, determined by affluence and opulence.
Despite the 1920s marking the dawn of the 'golden age of travel', the most lucrative period for the ocean liner was the Edwardian era, the 'Gilded Age' that witnessed majestic liners Olympic, Titanic and Aquitania embark on their maiden voyages, carrying first-, second-and third-class passengers. COUNTRY LIFE would later note that these ships were 'the purest opulence [that] had been set afloat. The ships were heavily Edwardian, they were the Charlottenburg Palace, the Gothic Chatsworth; they were all the Ritz hotels of the western world amazingly established on the sea' (When luxury went to sea', December 26, 1968). A Cunard captain said RMS Aquitania was 'a fairy tale come true. It is the fairy tale of the city that floats in the mid-Atlantic'.
Bu hikaye Country Life UK dergisinin September 25, 2024 sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Giriş Yap
Bu hikaye Country Life UK dergisinin September 25, 2024 sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Giriş Yap
Paint the town red
Catriona Gray meets the young stars lighting up the London art scene, from auctioneers to artists and curators to historians
Last orders
As the country-house market winds down for Christmas, two historic properties—one of which was home to the singer Kate Bush-may catch the eye of London buyers looking to move to the country next year
Piste de résistance
Scotland's last ski-maker blends high-tech materials with Caledonian timber to create 'truly Scottish', one-off pieces of art that can cope with any type of terrain
The world turned upside down
THE day after my grandfather’s funeral, my grandmother sold the herd of cows.
For idyllic lunches
A HIGHLANDS picnic cottage frequented by Queen Victoria when staying at Balmoral has been saved from Scotland’s Buildings at Risk Register.
A Christmas less ordinary
AT the risk of ‘indecency and tumultuous conduct’—the reasons given in 1813 for shutting down the Christmas market outside Canterbury Cathedral—the precincts of the Kent landmark abound with produce, merriment and song once more this year, for the first time in more than two centuries.
The great astral sneeze
Aurora Borealis, linked to celestial reindeer, firefoxes and assassinations, is one of Nature's most mesmerising, if fickle displays and has made headlines this year. Harry Pearson finds out why
'What a good boy am I'
We think of them as the stuff of childhood, but nursery rhymes such as Little Jack Horner tell tales of decidedly adult carryings-on, discovers Ian Morton
Forever a chorister
The music-and way of living-of the cabaret performer Kit Hesketh-Harvey was rooted in his upbringing as a cathedral chorister, as his sister, Sarah Sands, discovered after his death
Best of British
In this collection of short (5,000-6,000-word) pen portraits, writes the author, 'I wanted to present a number of \"Great British Commanders\" as individuals; not because I am a devotee of the \"great man, or woman, school of history\", but simply because the task is interesting.' It is, and so are Michael Clarke's choices.