Issue 217, our ‘Little Britain’ issue, is on sale now

We explore all things bite-sized and British in the new issue, and then plunge into the monstrous depths of Loch Ness

When editor Steve Pill first read Bill Bryson’s Notes from a Small Island some 25 years ago, it had a profound effect on the way he thought about Britain. Written by the American author as he made a lap of honour before returning home, his outsider perspective reminds us what a rich wealth of heritage is packed into such a tiny archipelago. At the heart of this issue, then, is a similar celebration of the simple pleasures that can be found in the smallest of places.

We have features on Britain’s tiniest city, St Davids in south Wales, and England’s most compact county, Rutland, as well as a round-up of our nation’s smallest attractions, among them the littlest house at just 72 inches wide and the tiniest pub, which serves only six or so customers at a time (all standing of course). Some small digressions to make you smile and fit into your travel plans when the time comes.

Also inside the issue:

• A regional guide to Loch Ness and the idyllic villages that line its shores
• How the wealthy Rothschilds hosted their famously lavish and exclusive parties at Waddesdon Manor
• What George IV, the much-maligned Hanover monarch, was really like
• We celebrate the National Trust’s 125th anniversary with a look at the life of its co-founder, Octavia Hill
• The story of iconic Londoner, Ada Lovelace’s life’s work
• Discover George Orwell’s writer’s retreat on Jura in Scotland, where he penned a most unlikely masterpiece, Nineteen Eighty-Four
• Three short walks around London, taking in literary history on the Heath in Hampstead; wealthy and grand Belgravia and Buckingham Palace; and its legal heart at Lincoln’s Inn Fields
• Everything you need to know about our enduring love affair with red telephone boxes

Pick up the latest issue from our online store today to read all these stories and more.