Matthew Ryder's User Profile - Atlas Obscura
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Somerset, England

Willow Man

The metal frame is all that's left of a wicker sculpture which once towered over the M5 motorway.
Oxford, England

Oxford Museum of the History of Science

An extraordinary collection of scientific instruments - and Einstein's chalkboard - inside the world's oldest purpose built museum building.
Oxford, England

Oxford Museum of Natural History

Home to the most complete dodo remains known - one head, and one foot.
Oxford, England

Pitt Rivers Museum

Ancient Egyptian wigs, South American feather headdresses, a bounty of anthropological artifacts in Oxford.
Bristol, England

'Well Hung Lover'

Banksy's image of a naked man dangling from the window of a sex health clinic.
Bristol, England

The Nails

17th-century merchants in Bristol nailed their deals by placing money on these pedestals.
Bristol, England

Cheese Lane Shot Tower

A 142-foot-tall Q-tip on Bristol's skyline.
Swindon, England

Swindon Magic Roundabout

This hilarious English intersection is an automotive whirlpool.
Tintern, Wales

Tintern Abbey

This well-preserved Cistercian Abbey in a romantic pastoral setting has inspired artists like the poet Wordsworth.
Moreton-in-Marsh, England

Four Shire Stone

The centuries-old obelisk may have inspired J. R. R. Tolkien.
Bourton-on-the-Water, England

Bourton-on-the-Water Model Village

A miniature village mimics the surrounding buildings so well it includes itself.
Coleford, England

Puzzlewood

The mysterious, fantastical woodland inspiration for "The Lord of the Rings."
Gloucestershire, England

Purton Hulks

Abandoned boats decaying in the largest ship graveyard in mainland Britain.
Gloucestershire, England

Severn Bore

This stretch of the River Severn where large waves flow against the current is the birthplace of river surfing.
Cheltenham, England

The Doughnut

Britain's answer to the NSA is based out of this deliciously-named circular headquarters.
Gloucestershire, England

Cooper's Hill Cheese-Rolling

Every year locals tumble 650 feet down to the bottom of the hill chasing a Double Gloucester cheese.