Bit of Britain out at sea

Britain left its mark everywhere, it seems. We gave a whole railway network to India, built colonial mansions across the Americas and laid out cricket pitches in Africa. And to the Spanish island of Menorca – a place now rarely remembered for once being British – we brought the sash window.

There are plenty of other clues to the long British occupation – on the north shore of glittering Mahon harbour, for example, stands an elegant maroon and cream Georgian house where Horatio Nelson reputedly enjoyed a romantic tryst with Emma Hamilton in 1799. And across the harbour, the village of Es Castell still has English street names left from the days when it was known as Georgetown and flew the Union Jack as boldly as if it stood on the Solent.

But wandering around the older streets in the island's pleasant capital, Mahon, you can't help but notice the sash frames, which seem to be everywhere and contrast starkly with the traditional Mediterranean casement windows of more modern buildings.

They are a direct link with what locals still refer to as the "British Century". We first took the island in 1708, then lost it

a couple of times to the French and Spanish before finally handing it back to Spain in 1802.

Most of the scraps took place in and around Mahon harbour, a deep inlet reaching more than three miles inland. It's one of the largest natural harbours in the world and also one of the most beautiful. And although Menorca is just as much in the business of suntans as the other Balearics, the old British military and naval installations, and the plethora of other throwbacks from Blighty that seem to greet visitors around every corner, give the place a fascinating dimension. Must-sees are the old army hospital on Kings Island, now being restored by local volunteers, and the sprawling well-preserved ruins of Fort Sant Felip, a once-impregnable harbour defence held by the British for decades. Much of it was built underground, and in summer it is literally the coolest place to be on the island.

You could spend a couple of weeks on Menorca without ever venturing beyond the region of Mahon harbour and find so much to photograph that you'll run out of space on the digital camera.

But staying put would mean missing the island's numerous curiosities. So pack a couple of spare memory cards and – for starters – head westwards to one of the most dramatic sights in the Balearics.

The huge sandstone quarries at Lithica are a sort man-made Grand Canyon. They were first worked more than 2,000 years ago, but it's the quarrymen of the 20th century who left the biggest mark. Or rather, marks.

There are thousands and thousands of them, millimetre-perfect horizontal and vertical lines cut into the smooth honey-coloured rock by circular saws. It looks like a grid for the biggest crossword puzzle on earth.

Standing at the bottom of the abyss is neck-challenging and thrilling. The flutter of pigeon wings echoes as though they are inside your head. A shout seems to hang in the air forever. And the determination of trees to take root in the tiniest crevice of these bare walls is remarkable. If you're lucky, your visit will coincide with a concert right on a small stage on the floor of the deepest chasm. But at any time it's simply one of the most memorable places you'll ever see.

Nearby is another oddity, the western Mediterranean's version of Egyptian pyramids. The Naveta des Tudons is a burial chamber built by Bronze Age farmers 3,000 years ago, and while guidebooks describe it as the oldest roofed building in Spain it looks more like an upturned boat. The ancient ruin – for centuries used as a cattle shed but restored in the 1970s – is in a delightful spot surrounded by myrtle and wild olive trees. Look upwards and you may see a few vultures, their wings motionless as they glide around on thermals. "Like ironing-boards in the sky," someone said.

A few kilometres away is Menorca's second city, Ciutadella, justly famous for its well-preserved medieval core and elegant square, sometimes the scene of jousting contests.

There can't be anywhere else in the Balearics as fascinating to wander, with almost every street showing the imprint of Carthaginians, Moors, Turks and – of course – British conquerors.

On the north coast is the white-washed fishing village of Fornells, which some regard as the best-kept secret in the Mediterranean. It has two paces of life: slow and slower. Its palm-fringed harbour is a delight from whichever angle it is viewed. Fornells stands on yet another of Menorca's long inlets and is much-loved by yacht crews, none more than the master of the Fortuna, King Juan Carlos I of Spain.

Every summer he and his family sail across from the Marivent Palace in Majorca, and come ashore to eat at an unassuming little harbourside restorante called Es Pla. The King always orders the same dish, the house speciality of caldereta de langosta made with spiny lobster. Be warned, however, that this costs e75 a serving. But generally you can eat very well here for much less.

Fornells has been a home to fishermen for more than 400 years, and if you cross to Menorca's south coast and come upon a delightful cove with another white-washed village called Binibeca Vell, you might well think that it too is centuries old. After all, Vell is the Catalan word

for old.

But the dazzling maze of alleyways looks too perfect, and the patios awash with colourful geraniums too manicured. In fact, Binibeca Vell was built in 1972 as an expensive attempt at recreating a traditional Menorcan fishing port. It was controversial at the time, but today it

sort of works.

Time has made it only a little less pristine. Imagine that Robin Hood's Bay was a creation of the 1970s and still looks like the day it was built.

Further along the coast is another treat for the camera. That seam of honey-coloured stone quarried back at Lithica reaches an abrupt terminus at Cova d'en Xoroi, where a series of natural caves have eroded high up in the precipice.

Unless you're a vertigo sufferer you can climb down long flights of steps to the incredible bars and nightclubs that have been built inside the caves.

Like Fort Sant Felip back at Mahon harbour, it is a great place to stay cool at the height of summer.

How to get there and where to stay

Jet2.com provides a three-times weekly direct service from Leeds Bradford Airport to Mahon, Menorca, from May. Flights start from 29.99 one way, including all taxes. For bookings visit www.jet2.com

Roger Ratcliffe stayed at the Son Granot Hotel, Caarretera de Sant Felip, close to Menorca's main town of Mahon. Visit www.songranot.com

For details of visits to Kings Island visit www.islahospitalmenorca.org

Restaurante Es Pla is easily located beside the harbour at the small town of Fornells.