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Calling all chocoholics, don’t be a Wonka, follow us to England, a land of pure imagination.

The most anticipated film this Christmas sees Timothée Chalamet reprise Gene Wilder and Johnny Depp’s Willy Wonka.

And the good news for Anglophiles is that Wonka was shot around England.

And you won’t need a golden ticket to get to follow in Willy’s footsteps to the locations in the movie.

Wonka magic

As if by magic Warner Bros Studios London in Leavesden was transformed from Harry Potter’s world into Wonkaland.

Where you can transport yourself to Scrubitt & Bleacher’s enterprise, the cathedral vault and Wonka’s chocolate shop.

The beauty of Roald Dahl’s world is, of course, that it is universal.

But he was informed by his English surroundings (yes, we know he was Welsh born)!

The Golden Ticket

And Wonka celebrates iconic English destinations.

The action begins in picturesque Lyme Regis in Dorset on the south coast.

Where Willy’s cargo ship docks in the town’s harbour

While Oxford makes a cameo with the Bridge of Sighs as a backdrop.

Or our old stomping ground in neighbouring Royal Berkshire.

And Mapledurham with its scenes of Willy and his mum and the willow tree and Thames canals.

Go west and you’ll hit historic and literary favourite Bath.

Where the Bath Colonnade is prominent.

St Albans in leafy Hertfordshire, north of London.

Where Verulamium Park doubles as the zoo where Willy and his sidekick Noodle visit.

Chocs away

London, of course, is the jewel in any English odyssey.

And St Paul’s is as iconic a building as any in the English capital (you’ll have to watch to see the reference).

All in the green and pleasant land is a perfect filling for Wonka’s world.

Ah yes. England, a land of pure imagination.

It felt like I should have been letting all this seep into me in my reviving bath… European Spa Towns springing forward.

And indeed I’m remembered for attending our last European Thermal Cafe seminar from my tub.

Our friends from the European Thermal Towns’ visit to Chez Murty corresponded with its Heritage Day.

In truth they were in Wiesbaden but you get the picture.

It is indeed timely with the world coming together soon for COP 26 in my home town of Glasgow.

Water is, of course, the source of life, but it’s worth repeating that spas were the first tourist resorts.

Our hosts mapped out their First XI who have World Heritage Status as the Great Spa Towns of Europe.

Of course we all know that they just trip off the tongue.

The First XI

But here’s a reminder..

1. Baden bei Wien (Austria)
2. Spa (Belgium)
3. Františkovy Lázne (Czechia)
4. Karlovy Vary (Czechia)
5. Mariánské Lázne (Czechia)
6. Vichy (France)
7. Bad Ems (Germany)
8. Baden-Baden (Germany)
9. Bad Kissingen (Germany)
10. Montecatini Terme (Italy)
11. City of Bath (United Kingdom)

And while it’s the Czech Spa Triangle I know best they all have their merits.

Belgium’s other watering hole

My kind of watering hole: With Simon in Belgium

Now I’d be more used to the Belgian bars and the kinds of beer experience which remind you of the paucity of good ales back here in Scotland.

Now as water is core to beer it’s worth flagging up Belgium’s spa sector, and particularly the town which gives the whole business its name.

Spa‘s springs we are told date back to the 14th century and you’ll get some good exercise in walking from the town to the forest to get your water.

For a town of just 10,000 Spa does punch above its weight with its grand prix and it’s status in beauty pageants, Concours de Beauté, as the first in the world back in 1888.

Beethoven on a roll

And the Great and Good of European society would flock to spa towns.

With our old friend Ludwig Van Beethoven a frequent visitor to Baden bei Wien in Austria.

We tracked him down at the hotel named in his honour, Beethoven Spa in Teplice in the Czech Republic on our Hops and Health tour. Complete with his hearing horns in a glass cabinet.

That ain’t half Bad

The Germans are the only other country which has three spa towns on the list.

And yes, that ain’t half bad… but in truth, bad is just another example of the Germans having a word which means something completely different from ours.

Bads are baths and Kaiser Wilhelm I loved them (no, not the Bad Wilhelm of First World War Fame).

It was in Bad Ems where the Kaiser mixed with the Great Unwashed, before they were cleansed, and there’s a statue of him in Bad Ems in his civvies.

All of which we’re told just emphasises that in spa towns everybody mingled freely, away from the social dividing lines elsewhere.

V for Vichy

Now the wars do get in the way and alas we do associate Vichy in France with the Second World War.

But get close and personal and you will see that it is one of our glorious Spa Towns with a drinking hall and a Celestins Spring.

Que Sera la spa

Yes, another tortured pun brings us to Italy’s offering, but one with a funicular railway which is always a selling point with your favourite blogger.

We’re told too that Mussolini was here in Montecatini Terme... and I guess he got all the funiculars to run on time.

We’re told there is a strenuous walk up to the springs but we’ll leave it to you to decide if you want to trek to the Alto, high part of the town.

Why not do both?

Bath, English for Bath

And yes, we’ve kept the best for last, Bath.

The English city with the Roman roots is twice blessed with a UNESCO stamp for both the city and also as a Spa Town.

A great lead with European Spa Towns springing forward.