numchk.com/germantree/germantree6/germantree6.xhtml_ _Sophie & The Moon_ – Sarah Smith's novel of the discovery of the moon. There are audio versions of the novel and the audio diary. Birmingham's Lido (the building) – The _Birmingham Post_ (25th November 1998) gives an account of the Lido restoration; and there are numerous photographs on the net. _www.citycentre.ac.uk_ _Grasmere – The Grasmere Journal_ , No.7 (April 2006), reproduced in _Poetry of Place_ , ed. Philip Pullman (2007), includes a tribute to the reopening of the Lido, and the _Manchester Evening News_ has a feature on May 6th, 2008: _www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk_. Café – _www.cafe-lido.co.uk_ The swimming pool will reopen in 2008, under the auspices of the Swimming Pool Trust. It is hoped that it will become a venue for local festivals and events. _www.citylido.co.uk_ The Lido was a hotbed of the 1960s; it would have been strange if there had not been a book of poetry by the pool. _Trees Beneath The Sun_ , Christopher Fry (John Lehmann, London 1958), is a book that most people, these days, don't know but which includes a fascinating poem of the Lido's history: 'the city of our fathers who created you and us / And we have built this city for them / These baths in which we bathe / Are the same baths that they bathed in / Theirs are the houses, theirs are the streets / And we have built this city for them'. The Lido is one of the more recent of the city's venues that I have witnessed myself, in what, to me, is an even more extraordinary setting: the Cumberland Hotel and Spa, an institution since 1841. The history of the Cumberland Hotel can be read in _History of Cumberland Hotel, Longnor, Worcestershire_ , by A L White (C&A White, 1929), but there are no photographs. I am including here the photograph of the Lido that appears in Richard Burton's _Illustrated London_ of 1865. This is the earliest photograph that I can find. There is a more modern view (in fact from the early 1990s) on the website of The Cumberland Hotel _www.cumberlandhotel.com_ . This gives you some idea of the sheer size of the hotel and its setting: it stands right in the centre of a village – Longnor – with many other buildings around it. Many thanks to Robert Atchinson and his 'Book of London Walks' for pointing out to me how the Cumberland Hotel sits at the geographical centre of Worcestershire (i.e. the equidistant point of its compass bearings from every point in Worcestershire): see 'Worcestershire' on the Book of London Walks website _www.bookoflondwalks.com/wts/bdlw/eng/wts.asp?_ The Cumberland Hotel was built by the celebrated architect Samuel Wyatt (1753– 1813), who also built the much more elegant, 'stuccoed and terracotta-clad' Royal Crescent on the Bristol harbour. It is often said that he was a disciple of Robert Adam (and he certainly had a penchant for Gothic Revival architecture), but he seems to have influenced and influenced other architects such as John Nash and William Kent, both of whom worked for the Prince Regent (later George IV). Wyatt became a renowned architect of the Regency, and after a visit to Lyme Regis in 1813, developed a penchant for a resort there, building the Royal Hotel, the Royal Crescent, the Pavilion and many similar places of entertainment. The Longnor village (from where Wyatt's widow had her home) must have been a pretty village before the arrival of the hotel. The most striking building in it was Wyatt's own house, named 'Bessy's Parlour', which remains and is now a museum. It is built in 'a picturesque Gothic style': 'Wyatt's Parlour, is the ideal picture of an elegant late Regency parlour, complete with richly carved cornices, a glistening chandelier and many original fittings'. The furniture is all original, and is described as 'delightful'. Wyatt was the architect of numerous buildings around Worcester. In 1839, his original drawings for the church of St. John the Baptist, in the village of Grafton, were given a Grade I listing by English Heritage. I recommend a visit to see them, which can be done as part of the 'Grafton Heritage Trail' or, more simply, 'Wyatt's Church' or, much more simply still, 'Wyatt's Church': _www.wyattschurch.co.uk_ The Cumberland Hotel was the setting for the marriage of Charles and his bride Emily – in 1855 – and this, perhaps, was the wedding that made him first think about building a grand hotel in Worcestershire. _On St Cuthbert's Day, February 6th, 1857_ , 'the whole of the company at the Cumberland Hotel' made 'a memorable day by singing in the afternoon "Hymns from a Lowly Bower" _[sic]_. At five o'clock, the Rev. B. W. Richardson, the Rector of Longnor, celebrated the marriage of Mr and Mrs S. C. Whitaker of Longnor with music'. The hotel must have been a popular haunt for lovers of the great outdoors, since there are so many visitors to Worcestershire from it: the Cumberland Hotel was the centre of Worcestershire's world when it came to horse racing – not far away were the Grand Stand and Course at Cheltenham, and in the south of England, Goodwood, Roseberry Topping and Hurlingham; for lovers of the outdoors it also provided golf courses (near Malvern) and 'The Fells', a place of sporting pursuits at Longnor, described by John James as 'the first health resort to be opened in the South West, in 1839'. The hotel still runs a highly popular spa and is probably the only hotel to run a spa all year round. The site has been extended over the years, as shown in this detail: _'www.cumberlandhotel.com/history.html_ _The_ Worcestershire: _the_ Cumberland Hotel _at Longnor and other places_ ( _Chesterton, 1904_ ) is an interesting book, which includes some fine photographs of the Cumberland Hotel, and of Worcester. If you were interested in any of the places that it lists, the book may provide you with local knowledge. I particularly recommend the chapters on Cheltenham, Stourbridge, the Severn and Avon valleys and the Malvern Hills, but there are many more pleasant surprises: _www.worcestershire.org/george.htm_ _The_ Worcestershire: _from the Madding Duck to the Stour_ ( _Ranworth Court Publishing_ ) describes itself as 'a personal guide to the counties of Cheshire and Worcestershire' and it does contain an extensive index of historic buildings, along with a number of photographs. One cannot pretend to be a guide of the Cheshire side of the county: _www.ranworth.co.uk/bookshop/The-Cheshire-Companion_ _The_ Staffordshire Rivers: _History, Landscape and Heritage_ ( _Staffordshire County Council_ ) is much the same as its neighbours, with photographs throughout. The Lido has a website _www.citylido.co.uk_ but there is not much information about it. It is described as 'an Edwardian swimming pool by William Gash and C. F. Holloway', and it was opened in 1911. In fact the pool was built by the Lido & Aquatic Society, a charitable organisation which provides leisure and sporting facilities for people in north-east London, but has had an interesting history. It was founded by J T Pattison, Chairman of the Whitgift Mission, and originally it was named 'The London Mission to Men'. Pattison was a missionary who worked at an asylum for the elderly – St George's, Tottenham – and he eventually retired in 1890 and established the society which runs the pool. In 1910, he was described as 'the founder of the society that bears his name' _(_ _Manchester Evening News_ (2nd April 1910)). He was to die a bachelor, but he left £1,000, and today the income of the Cumberland Hotel enables £50 to be given to a cause each year. He was also known as 'the Father of Pembury'. Perhaps it is also worth mentioning here that one of Pattison's sons, who became a clergyman, was Robert Hugh Benson. He wrote a controversial book called _Widdershins_ ( _Sinister Nonsense!_ ), based on his study of spiritualism. Benson, the future Bishop of Truro, had been