The quirky Gloucestershire cheese-rolling event which has grown from a few hundred followers to an estimated 15,000 attendees last year has had to be cancelled due to safety concerns. In recent times the event – which dates back hundreds of years and involves groups of people chasing a 7lb Double Gloucester cheese down a hill – has attracted publicity on both a national and international level. It is hoped that numbers can be reduced somehow and that the event will resume in May 2011.
Illuminating Hadrian’s Wall
Filed under Attractions, Events
If you’re not doing anything tomorrow, how about heading to Hadrian’s Wall? In the evening Illuminating Hadrian’s Wall will create a spectacular line of light stretching the whole length of the wall, to mark the eve of British Tourism Week. The wall will be lit at Segedunum Roman Fort at Wallsend in the North East and from there will make its way westwards towards Cumbria, where a ‘Welcoming the Light’ event will take place. This year also marks the 1600th anniversary of the end of the Roman empire in Britain.
A new, high-speed rail network for Britain
Filed under Transport
The government has set out its plans for a new, high-speed rail network for Britain. It’s claimed that the new 250mph rail link will slash journey times between cities. It will cost an estimated £30 billion and create 10,000 jobs. Travel from London to Birmingham will be cut from 1 hour 24 minutes to just 49 minutes and, north of Birmingham, the network will fork towards Manchester and Liverpool and on to Scotland, and to Sheffield, Leeds and Newcastle-upon-Tyne. London to Glasgow or Edinburgh would take just three and a half hours, an hour faster than it currently takes.
The most musical city in the UK? Have a guess…
Filed under Miscellaneous
Apparently, it’s Bristol. Research by the PRS (Performing Right Society) found that the city that produced such bands as Massive Attack and Portishead had the highest number of professional and amateur musicians once population size was taken into account. Cardiff, Wakefield, Glasgow and Cheltenham made up the rest of the top 5. London, which produces the most, didn’t feature in the top 20 because of its high population. Here’s the top 20 according to PRS:
1. Bristol
2. Cardiff
3. Wakefield
4. Glasgow
5. Cheltenham
6. Edinburgh
7. Manchester
8. Paisley
9. Doncaster
10. Londonderry
11. Halifax
12. Sunderland
13. Swindon
14. Blackpool
15. Wigan
16. Brighton
17. Leicester
18. Liverpool
19. Wolverhampton
20. Stoke
More cheese, Gromit?
Filed under Attractions
The Wensleydale Creamery, in Hawes in the Yorkshire Dales, has secured planning permission to build a substantial extension to its visitor centre which already attracts more than 200,000 people a year. Work on the £750,000 expansion is due to commence later this month. Part of the expansion plans include a doubling in size of the cheese shop.
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Sleuths! English Riviera Festival of Crime and Thriller Writing
Filed under Attractions, Eating & Drinking, Events, Miscellaneous
The scene is set for a delightfully devious celebration of crime and thriller writing on the English Riviera, as some of the country’s most scheming criminal minds descend on South Devon’s beautiful bay.
Over four days (20th – 24th April 2010) the Sleuths! English Riviera Festival of Crime and Thriller Writing will host talks from eminent authors, murder mystery plays and crime writing workshops, in the birthplace of the greatest selling crime writer of all time, Dame Agatha Christie.
Among highlights will be an exclusive afternoon audience with prolific whodunit author Simon Brett at the Palace Theatre on Tuesday 20th April. Simon’s detective novels include the Charles Paris, Mrs Pargeter and Fethering series. He’ll be joined by special guest Diane Janes, an author of both fiction and investigative non-fiction specialising in crime.
Following their sell-out event during the annual Agatha Christie festival, the Paignton and Dartmouth Steam Railway will again be hosting a murder mystery in Great Western tradition on Tuesday night. Guests on the train will be able to enjoy a mystery with actors from the Candlelight Theatre Company and delicious cuisine courtesy of the chefs at Hennessy Restaurant in Torquay.
On the afternoon of Wednesday (21st April) the historic Spanish Barn at Torre Abbey will be the crime scene for Mayhem in the Middle Ages, with Michael Jecks and Bernard Knight, founding members of the Medieval Murderers crime writing group.
96% of UK streets now on Google Street View
Filed under Attractions, Miscellaneous
Google Street View now has a 96% coverage of streets in the UK. Privacy concerns aside, this is great news for anyone wanting to get an insight into certain parts of the UK before they visit. You can explore such places as Gold Hill in Shaftesbury (from the base of the hill, at least), well known from its appearance in Hovis adverts, and of course more well known landmarks such as Stonehenge in Wiltshire. This comes on the back of various National Trust properties having been added to the service last January.
Easter fun in the National Forest
Filed under Attractions, Events
A whole host of Easter events are taking place across The National Forest.
In the Easter holidays there will be two Wildlife Watch drop-in sessions for families at Rosliston Forestry Centre. Between 2-4pm on Tuesday 6th April 2010 “Fantastic Frogs” is an opportunity to learn about the life cycle of a frog and make a mobile to take home. The following Tuesday 13th April 2010 there will be fun pond dipping to discover what lies beneath the surface of the flight pond. All equipment is provided. Wildlife Watch sessions also take place at the centre every Tuesday afternoon in half term and summer holidays.
Visitors to Rosliston Forestry Centre can embark on an Easter Egg Hunt on Monday 5th April 2010. This kicks off a whole range of holiday fun, including drop-in sessions (2-4pm) to try out the following activities:
• Climbing wall and Bushcraft Day on 7th April 2010
• Laser Combat on 8th April 2010
• Archery on 12th April 2010
Twycross Zoo’s new Visitor Welcome Centre “Himalaya” opens for Easter. This world-class building is a landmark for the East Midlands Region and a visitor attraction in itself. Enjoy a meal in the restaurant with views overlooking the Himalayan landscape themed Snow Leopard enclosure. The new visitor centre will host Himalaya – a Wildlife and Wilderness Watercolour Artist Exhibition from Friday 2nd to Tuesday 6th April 2010. And from Friday 2nd to Monday 5th April 2010 the zoo will have its ‘Going Ape’ exhibition with activities and information on apes. Visitors will also be invited to join in the Easter Bunny Zoo Trail.
Conkers has a fortnight of family fun from Friday 2nd to Sunday 18th April 2010 with Easter Egg orienteering hunts, ranger tours and lots more. Nick Spellman, the animal man, is back as are the dream ponies and circus workshops. For more information visit the website www.visitconkers.com Based upon life in a British woodland and with more than one hundred indoor and outdoor activities themed around Forest life and the environment, families enjoy hours of fun at Conkers.
Easter is a fantastic time to visit Calke Abbey as it is lambing time. Visitors can see the young lambs close up and meet the wardens as they care for the flock. Children will love the Easter Trail, sponsored by Cadbury’s, running from Friday 2nd to Sunday 4th April 2010 (11:30am–3.30pm), which leads to an Easter prize.
Swadlincote Ski and Snowboard Centre has Kids Easter Fun Activity Days from Friday 2nd to Friday 16th April 2010 (11am-5pm). These include skiing or snowboard lessons, tobogganing, Sno-Tubing, lunch, certificate and badge for just £25.50. Pre-booking is essential for these popular sessions.
The centre will also be hosting an Easter Extravaganza from Friday 2nd to Monday 5th April 2010 where visitors can have a half hour ski or snowboard taster lesson for just £5, toboggan for just £1 per ride, Sno-Tubing for £2 per 15 minute session or ski or snowboard open practice just £5 per hour. Other events include a family quiz night on Thursday 15th April 2010 with fantastic ski centre prizes. There will then be a Freestyle Competition on Saturday 24th April 2010 with skiers and boarders welcome and excellent live bands.
Wander lonely as a cloud in the Lake District
Filed under Attractions, Transport
Wander lonely as a cloud in the Lake District this Spring and see the hosts of golden daffodils fluttering and dancing in the breeze, beside the sparkling waves of Ullswater, just as William and Dorothy Wordsworth did on 15th April 1802, before returning to their home at Dove Cottage, Grasmere.
A trip to Ullswater provides the opportunity to see the sight of the daffodils at Glencoyne Bay, now named Wordsworth Point, as well as at other places along the shore, where they can easily be appreciated by those enjoying a scenic and inspirational cruise with ‘Ullswater Steamers’.
Wordsworth’s poem ‘Daffodils’ is thought to pay homage to sprightly daffodils that he and sister Dorothy encountered when walking back to Grasmere from Pooley Bridge, on Ullswater. These carpeted the ground beneath the trees beside the lake, on a stormy day when flora and stormy waters dramatically demonstrated the power of nature.
Dorothy notes in her Grasmere Journal that they encountered ‘a long belt of them along the shore’ and that whilst some lay their heads on mossy stones, others ‘laughed with the wind’. Even now, the sight of bright, yellow daffodils adorning the lake’s shore is one which many Ullswater ‘Steamers’ passengers never forget.
The dramatic scenery, around what is considered England’s most beautiful lake, adds to the experience, as the heritage ‘Steamer’ travels along three distinct stretches of the Z-shaped lake, with the imposing Helvellyn – England’s third highest mountain – at its head.
Passengers can enjoy encountering various types of wildlife and flora, as well as revelling in the reflections on the water and the clean, mountain air. Two of the four vessels in the fleet date from Victorian times, including Lady of the Lake, launched in 1877 and believed to be the oldest working passenger vessel in the world. A 70-minute return trip from either Glenridding at the foot of the lake, or Pooley Bridge at its top, to Howtown costs £9.00 for an adult, £4.50 for a child, or £24.00 for a family. A family ticket covers two adults and up to three children (aged 5-15) or one adult and three children. Under 5s travel free.
A Round The Lake Pass, from Glenridding or Pooley Bridge, costs £12.30 for an adult, £6.15 for a child and £19.95 for a family, for a 140-minute cruise. This fare also qualifies the passenger for a half-price voucher for travel on the Ravenglass and Eskdale Railway – Ullswater ‘Steamers’ sister attraction.
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Makeover for North East England’s biggest food festival
Filed under Eating & Drinking, Events
The Wear Valley Food Festival, North East England’s largest food festival, has been given a makeover for 2010. This year’s festival takes place on 17th April 2010 with the new name, The Bishop Auckland Food Festival in the Durham Dales, and new organisers Durham County Council have assured visitors that they can expect the same combination of artisan made local food and drink, family friendly entertainment and proud North Eastern heritage – all for no cost. The festival is free.
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