Welcome to British Isles Friday! British Isles Friday is a weekly event for sharing all things British and Irish — reviews, photos, opinions, trip reports, guides, links, resources, personal stories, interviews, and research posts. Join us each Friday to link your British and Irish themed content and to see what others have to share. The link list is at the bottom of this post. Pour a cup of tea or lift a pint and join our link party!

Last week, I shared my memories about the fifth of November and got some input from my brother and a cousin about where those memories might come from — Dad? Grandpa? Tina shared a creepy thriller, appropriate for this time of year, The Devil’s Work. Becky reviewed two books — a classic by Anthony Trollope, Castle Richmond, and a children’s book, Baby Goes to Market. Sim shared a photo and thoughts on a pink house in London.

I’m participating in NaNoWriMo this year. National Novel Writing Month is November when thousands of people around the world attempt to write a 50,000 word novel in 30 days. I’ve done it several times. It’s always a lot of fun. Each time I do it, I write a better story. Maybe this will be the year that I get one good enough to edit into something readable.

My characters are American and British. I cast some of my favorite actors to play them. Check them out on the Facebook album I made.

My main character will visit England for much of the novel. Here are some of the places we’ll be visiting.

Kew. Abigail will recover from jet lag following the itinerary that I created a couple of years ago.

Wiltshire. Abigail and her new friends will visit the Crofton Pumping Station during their September steam gala weekend. That was our biggest adventure when we were in England in 2014.

On the top floor at the Crofton Pumping Station. This is the beam of the 1812 Boulton and Watts engine.

Cambridge. Abigail’s great-aunt went to Newnham College shortly after World War II. As I mentioned a couple of weeks ago, I’m working on a possible itinerary for a few days in Cambridge during our next trip. The current status of that project is that I’m completely overwhelmed. It seems that every single college in Cambridge has a gate, a bridge, or a tree that is of historic or architectural interest. I’m overwhelmed by the options.

I don’t know if we’ll find it cost-effective to stay at the Varsity Hotel, but that’s where Abigail will stay so that I can give her a relaxed moment in the jacuzzi overlooking the River Cam (check out photo 4 on their spa page).

Birmingham. Abigail will stay in the Rotunda.

We stayed at the Rotunda — the cylindrical building in this view from the Birmingham Public Library

The view from our hotel room in The Rotunda in Birmingham

While in Birmingham, Abigail will visit Soho House, home of Matthew Boulton the partner of James Watt who developed steam engines in the 18th century. That’s a site that we missed — next time! She’ll also have a reason to visit the library, a site that I very much enjoyed:

Makes a big statement in the landscape!

London. Most of Abigail’s time will be spent in London, but I’m hoping to make that part less touristy and more about what it’s like to be a young professional working in London for a couple of months. Still, there’s no reason we can’t take some time to walk along the Thames.

A “dolphin lamp” and the London Eye