DURHAM CATHEDRAL, COUNTY DURHAM

County Durham is a county in north-east England. Its county town is Durham. It is a county of contrasts: the remote and sparsely populated dales and moors of the Pennines characterise the interior, while nearer the coast the county is highly urbanised, and was once dominated by the coal mining industry.

The form of the county name is unique in England. Many counties are named after their principal town, and the expected form here would be Durhamshire. The reason it is called County Durham instead is that the Bishops of Durham historically exercised power in regions outside the county as well, so the inner part was named County Durham as opposed to the rest of the estate of Durham. The form County X is standard for Irish counties, with no such significance or relationship.

THE RING OF KERRY, IRELAND

The Ring of Kerry is a tourist trail in County Kerry, south-western Ireland. The route covers the 170 km circular road, starting from Killarney, the Iveragh peninsula and passing through Kenmare, Sneem, Waterville, Cahersiveen and Killorglin. The most popular points include Muckross House, Staigue stone fort and Derrynane House. Just south of Killarney, don't miss Ross Castle, Lough Leane, and Ladies View (a panoramic viewpoint).
It passes through some of the most beautiful scenic areas of the country. The trail crosses a wide variety of terrain but, due to onging land access issues, avoids climbing the highest peaks of the mountains. The Kerry Way roughly follows the scenic driving route of the Ring of Kerry.

LONDON, SNOW

When men were all asleep the snow came flying,
In large white flakes falling on the city brown,
Stealthily and perpetually settling and loosely lying,
Hushing the latest traffic of the drowsy town;
Deadening, muffling, stifling its murmurs failing;
Lazily and incessantly floating down and down:
Silently sifting and veiling road, roof and railing;
Hiding difference, making unevenness even,
Into angles and crevices softly drifting and sailing.
ROBERT BRIDGES

CERNE GIANT, DORSET

The Cerne Giant is a rampant, naked 60 metre male carved into the chalk hillside near Cerne Abbas, an old village about 8 miles [13kms] north of Dorchester, in Dorset. The picture shows as much of the giant as you will currently see unless you rent air transport; the carving becomes a lot more indistinct from close up. For scale you can see a couple of hikers at the top of the hill on the left.
There are three main theories as to when and why the giant was produced.

1) He was cut out 4,000 years ago in honour of a Celtic fertility god, Cernunnos. Above his head is a maypole mound that was central to pagan May Day festivities until 1635, when the church decided that the wild, all-night, get naked scenes that were enjoyed by locals in the adjacent woods should be discouraged.
Legend said that barren couples who wish for children should copulate on the giant genitalia.

2) He was carved 1,500 years ago in honour of the Roman god Hercules.

3) He appeared a mere 350 years ago and is a caricature of Oliver Cromwell [1599-1658].

The reason that the giant's origin is unclear is first because the only elements remaining in the area are grass and chalk which have been around for months or millenia, so carbon dating is not an option and second because the earliest written record of the giant that survives was in the 18th century.