Course Location
Your course, including lessons and accommodation, is located at our home in Colchester, an historic town in East Anglia,close to London. It is an ideal spot from which to explore the capital and the rich and varied region of East Anglia.
Our home is a large Victorian house, 10 minutes’ walk from the town centre (However buses do run regularly from directly outside our house) Although over 100 years old, our house has all modern amenities as well as traditional features. Student accommodation within our home is in a recently converted loft space which has been built and furnished to a very high standard in a contemporary style. We have a pleasant, secluded garden which students are welcome to use.
Colchester is Britain’s oldest recorded town. It was the Romans’ first capital in England and the Roman Wall encircling the town, still survives. Set in a large and beautiful park in the town centre, is the impressive Norman Castle, built in the 11th, century on the site of the Roman Temple. In the museum in the Castle, you can see many interesting artefacts from Colchester’s long history. During the Middle Ages, Colchester was a prosperous market town and there are many streets and buildings from this period, including the attractive Dutch Quarter which was home to the immigrant Flemish Weavers. There are also elegant town houses from the 17th and 18th centuries and Victorian civic architecture, seen for example in the magnificent Town Hall, which dominates Colchester’s High Street. If you are interested in history there is much to discover in Colchester and during the summer months there are regular guided tours around the main sites of interest, and a tourist bus which gives you an excellent tour around the whole town.
Colchester also has many modern amenities and has an extensive shopping area, much of which is for pedestrians only. Most major national shops are found here as well as some smaller, privately owned shops which offer specialised goods. Colchester has many restaurants offering all types of menus, at a range of prices.
If you are interested in the arts, you might like to visit the Mercury Theatre and there is the First Site Art Gallery near the Castle. An impressive new arts centre is being constructed at the moment and is due to open in 2008. It will be the venue for a wide range of cultural projects.
If health and fitness appeal to you, Colchester has a large Sports Centre, with gyms and swimming pools and the opportunity to play a variety of sports.
Information on how to reach Colchester is given on our Contact page.
It is very easy to reach London from Colchester. It is only 50 minutes by train and once at Liverpool Street Station in the capital, the underground network can take you quickly to all the major sights. Westminster, the Houses of Parliament, Trafalgar Square, St. Paul’s Cathedral, The Tower of London are all easily reached. As one of the world’s great cities, London has an enormous amount to offer. As well as the traditional sights, there are the shops and markets, the art galleries and museums, the theatres and cinemas and guided tours by bus or on the river. We would be happy to help you plan any trip to London, so that you are able to explore confidently and visit places of particular interest to you.
As well as London, the historic cities of Norwich and Cambridge are within easy reach. Cambridge has been a great centre of learning for centuries and its colleges, which make up the University, are among the finest Medieval and Renaissance buildings anywhere in the world. Norwich is an historic market town with many interesting areas. It is just an hour on the train.
In the Colchester area there are many delightful places to visit, including the village of Dedham and the Stour Valley, where one of Britain’s greatest painters, John Constable, lived and worked. The famous Suffolk villages, such as Clare and Cavendish, Lavenham and Long Melford, are not far away and are greatly admired for their peaceful atmosphere and beautiful architecture, including their famous Medieval churches.
There are several important nature reserves in the area, where you can watch birds and other wildlife and enjoy walking in some of the most beautiful countryside in England. Colchester is near the sea and the East Anglian coatal region is one of the finest in the UK. The charming and unspoilt resorts of Aldeburgh and Southwold are definitely worth a visit, with their picturesque Victorian architecture, wide beaches and interesting local shops. Near Aldeburgh is the world famous Snape Maltings Concert Hall, in its exquisite setting. Concerts of the highest quality take place here throughout the year. If you enjoy the water, closer to home, just outside Colchester is the little port of Wivenhoe, where you can relax on the quayside, watching the boats and enjoying a drink in one of the traditional pubs by the water. The popular holiday resort of Frinton is only half an hour by train from Colchester and here you can enjoy clean and uncrowded beaches and safe bathing.
Most of the places you might want to visit are easily reached by public transport and we can help you to organize these trips. However, some students may wish to hire a car in order to reach some of the more out of the way places.