Today’s picture of the day is of Queen Street Mill in Burnley, Lancashire. This mill gives its visitors an insight into how a steam-powered weaving mill would have operated in the 1800s. As Europe’s last commercial steam-powered textile mill, Queen Street Mill serves as an excellent reference point to a time gone by.
Monthly Archives: April 2009
Picture of the day: Queen Street Mill, Burnley
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Filed under Attractions
Slow down!
Filed under Events
With traffic congestions and a sea of pedestrians always in a hurry, London could do with a break and this is what the Go Slow movement is for. It is a ten day festival offering residents of London an opportunity to relax and take it easy. The campaign aims to show people ‘how to live life in real time’ with strolls across the Thames, meditation classes ad workshops on time keeping. If the campaign is successful the organisers hope to take it to other British cities. The event begins on the 24th April 2009 and organisers will randomly hand out ’speeding tickets’ to pedestrians who are thought to walking too quickly. Tessa What has organised the event and says ‘People associated slowing down with having to go outside the city and they think you can only have a feeling of calm in rural life. We’re out to show you can achieve that in the city.”
Win a stay in the UK courtesy of Macdonald Hotels
Filed under Accommodation
If you haven’t already entered, please don’t leave it too late! Thanks to Macdonald Hotels, we’re giving away a free stay at the Macdonald Botley Park Hotel, Golf & Country Club in this month’s UKhotel.com competition. It only takes a couple of minutes to enter and the closing date is at the end of the month. (A new competition will be announced at the same page next month.)
Heathrow airport installs ‘power poles’
Filed under Transport
Heathrow airport has installed ‘power poles’ which enables passengers to charge gadgets such as mobile phones when the battery runs out. The service is free of charge and the airport has invested £300,000 on installing 47 power poles in terminals 1 and 3 and hopes to install more soon in terminal 4. Each pole is capable of charging eight gadgets at a time. A representative from BAA comments ‘The simplest of ideas are often the best ideas and we are confident that the power poles will provide an effective cost-free solution to a genuine problem, which will ultimately make our passenger’s airport experience more enjoyable.”
Baarmy billboards for thetrainline.com
Filed under Transport
A flock of fame-hungry sheep in the South East is to become the latest in low-technology advertising. The Texel-cross sheep have been ‘recruited’ by thetrainline.com to promote the fact that rail passengers can now save on average 43% by booking their tickets on the website. (This is the average saving when buying in advance at thetrainline.com versus buying at the station on the day of travel.) These prototype ‘billboards’ will be trialled just past Dorking Station and are visible from onboard trains on the Gatwick Airport to Reading line.
A new, associated advertising campaign for thetrainline.com was launched yesterday; it was shot in Wellington Station, New Zealand, and features 40 sheep who spent a month being trained by the sheep handler from the film ‘Babe’. The sheep were taught, among other things, how to “baa” on demand, step out of taxis and read newspapers. No computer generated imagery was used to manipulate their actions – just their favourite treat of digestive biscuits!
RSBP guided walks in Ullswater country
Filed under Events, Miscellaneous, Transport
Ullswater Steamers are laying on two special RSPB-sponsored cruises, on 9th May and 20th June 2009, combining a cruise with an RSPB guided choice of walk.
Passengers will also be able to talk to RSPB experts on board the boats, who will explain about local projects, as well as the work being carried out through the Haweswater Eagle and Whinlatter Osprey projects.
Each day begins with a two-hour sail from Glenridding to Pooley Bridge, departing at 10am. On arrival, passengers can choose to head off on either an RSPB guided Woodland Wander (a moderate 1.5-mile walk, with a height climb of 350 feet), or join RSPB rangers for a River Ramble (a gentler one-mile option along the River Eamont’s bank).
Following both walks, passengers will sail back to Glenridding, perhaps participating in a bit of bird bingo en route. Tickets cost £12 for an adult and £6 for a child. RSPB members receive a reduction and under 5s are free. Passengers need a packed lunch and should wear sensible clothing and footwear.
Women swapping nights of passion for healthy holidays
Filed under Accommodation, Miscellaneous
Women are swapping nights of passion and splurges on fashion for healthy holidays in the country. After years of yo-yo dieting and failed gym memberships, ladies are apparently turning to fitness resorts to lose weight and take control of their wellbeing.
That’s according to FitFarms, the five-star UK fitness retreats that specialise in women-only weight-loss camps. FitFarms run week-long residential retreats in the Peak District and Exmoor, where female-only guests focus on getting fit, fighting fat and having fun.
As well as being put through their paces with entertaining exercises, guests receive education and advice alongside wellbeing treats like massage and Tai Chi. A one-week retreat at FitFarms costs £995 for a single room, with everything included.
Covent Garden Food Market
Filed under Attractions
Covent Garden has announced the return of its food market where visitors can experience delicious cuisine on the Piazza and buy wonderful fresh produce to take home. The market will take place every Thursday from 16th April until 24th September 2009. Whilst you sample the gourmet food you can enjoy live street entertainment during lunchtime and whilst dining alfresco in the evening. Ros Barclay of Covent Garden says ‘We are delighted with the wide selection of quality food and entertainment on offer. From Spore Boys’ mushroom sandwiches to Forman and Son’s smoked fish, you are guaranteed to experience something unique at Covent Garden.”
May Day breaks that won’t break the bank
Filed under Accommodation
Whether as a result of economic doom and gloom or an attempt to make their carbon footprints smaller, more people are booking British breaks this year. And Haven Holidays reported an increase of more than 30,000 guests over the Easter Bank Holiday break compared to last year.
With 35 family holiday parks they offer a wide choice of UK destinations and currently still have availability for the May Day Bank Holiday, with prices from as little as £149 for a three night break for a family of up to six people. Prices include a whole range of sports and activities, use of first class facilities and a full programme of daytime and evening entertainment.
See www.haven.com/may for further details.
See the Red Arrows fly over the Lake District… in style!
Filed under Eating & Drinking, Events
Fancy a truly British day out in the Lake District, enjoying pristine views and mouthwatering, locally-produced fare with the added excitement of the RAF performing death-defying feats overhead, minus the crowds and all that standing around? Then why not book a ringside seat on the terrace at Linthwaite House during the annual Windermere Airshow on Sunday 26th July 2009 and do exactly that?
Ideally situated for catching all the action, with stunning views stretching out over Lake Windermere and the neighbouring fells, Linthwaite House is offering keen aviation enthusiasts, and gourmets alike, the opportunity to savour this impressive air display.
With last year’s show including displays from a Hawk, Spitfire, Hurricane, Dakota, Jet Provost and exciting stunts from a Chinook helicopter, the acrobatic highlights for 2009 will include the return of the amazingly agile Red Arrows performing their exhilarating formations to a glorious Lake District backdrop.
With prime seats on the outdoor terrace offering unadulterated views of the Lakes, surrounding skies and jaw-dropping aircraft manoeuvres, Linthwaite House’s ‘Red Arrows Return Lunch’ has been patriotically designed by their chef, Richard Kearsley, to complement this remarkable display with a long leisurely lunch of the very best of British and locally sourced fare.
Welcomed by a chilled glass of Pimms, guests will then take their very comfortable seats on the terrace. Tucking into the likes of red mullet and mackerel escabeche, superbly cooked chump of new season Lancashire lamb with tasty tapenade jus and deliciously light vanilla crème fraiche mousse, balsamic strawberries and strawberry sorbet, as magnificent men in their flying machines soar above. The 3 course lunch, including welcome drink, costs £28.95 per person.
