The ordinary English town, the High Street, the Market Square, the parish church, and the pub, is the England that the tourists do not visit, and it is the best of England. The tourists come for the London, the Oxford, the Bath, and the Stratford-upon-Avon, and the towns, the Ludlow, the Lewes, the Beverley, the Totnes, the market towns that have existed for a thousand years, the streets that have not been widened, the walks that follow the footpaths of the medieval farmers and the Victorian ramblers, are the England that the English themselves discover on the weekends and the bank holidays. The English town is a pleasure that rewards the slow traveller: the museum that is open from 10am to 4pm, the café that serves the cream tea, and the church that has the Norman arch, the medieval rood screen, and the silence that is the most beautiful sound in England. Here is your guide to the much more of the English towns.

There is Much More to English Towns

• The essential market towns, the best of the English town: Ludlow (Shropshire): the best food town in England, the castle (the 11th-century, the view of the Teme Valley, and the best ruin in the Marches. ~£8), the market (the Monday, the Wednesday, the Friday, and the Saturday, the best market in the West Midlands), and the restaurants (the Michelin-starred Mr Underhill’s, the tasting menu, the river, and the best meal in the Marches. ~£95). The essential Ludlow experience: the walk to the Whitcliffe Common (the view of the town and the castle, the best view in Shropshire, and the essential Ludlow photograph). Lewes (East Sussex): the county town of the Sussex, the castle (the 11th-century, the view of the Downs, and the best castle in the South Downs. ~£9), the brewery (the Harvey’s Brewery, the 1790 brewery, the Best Bitter, and the best beer in Sussex. The tour ~£15, and the essential Lewes experience), and the Bonfire Night (the 5th of November, the most famous bonfire and the fireworks display in England, the Protestant martyrs, the Pope, and the most extraordinary night in the English calendar). Beverley (East Yorkshire): the Minster (the most beautiful church in England that is not a cathedral, the 13th-century Gothic, the stained glass, and the best view in Yorkshire from the tower. Free, and ~£5 for the tower), the market (the Saturday, the largest market in the East Riding, and the best Yorkshire produce), and the Beverley Racecourse (the flat racing, the summer, and the best day out in the East Riding. ~£15). More UK →
• The essential town walk, the footpaths and the commons: The English town is surrounded by the footpaths: the public rights of way (the 140,000 miles of the footpaths in England, the greatest network of walking routes in the world), the commons (the land owned by the town, the grazing, the cricket, and the Sunday walk), and the national trails (the South Downs Way, the Cotswold Way, and the Thames Path, the long-distance trails that connect the towns). The essential English town walk: the walk from the town to the next town (the footpath, the stile, the cow pasture, and the pub at the other end, the most satisfying walk in England). The essential resource: the Ordnance Survey Explorer map (the 1:25,000 scale, the footpaths, the field boundaries, and the essential tool of the English walker. ~£9 per map)
• The essential town day, the market, the church, and the pub: The English town day is the ritual of the market (the Saturday morning, the stalls, the local cheese, the bread, and the vegetables), the church (the cool stone, the stained glass, and the silence, the 10 minutes of the quiet in the nave of the medieval church is the best part of the day), the lunch (the pub, the Ploughman’s, the half-pint of the local bitter, and the fireplace. ~£12 for the Ploughman’s), the walk (the footpath, the field, the stile, and the view of the town from the hill), and the tea (the café on the square, the cream tea, the scone, the jam, the clotted cream, and the debate over the cream-first or the jam-first, the essential English argument. ~£6), is the best day in England