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Monthly Archives: August 2010

A Country Home in Central London – Kenwood House

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Posted by trev on August 19, 2010 – 12:50 pm
Filed under Attractions

The idea that you might find a large country home with extensive gardens as seen on so many BBC period drama’s within the bounds of London might seem rather a fantasy, but visitors to Kenwood House on the edge of Hampstead Heath can indeed find this idylic tranquillity.

The 18th century mansion that is Kenwood House sits in one corner of the heath and attracts around a million visitors a year to the gardens, and 100,000 visitors into the house itself.

Kenwood House and gardens have been remodelled many times by the various owners, until it was finally donated into public ownership by Lord Iveagh, a member of the Guiness brewing family, in 1929. Today the upkeep is managed by English Heritage.

The house and gardens have been used in a number of films, and those familiar with the film will no doubt recognise the backdrop from the garden scenes in Notting Hill.

If you want a relaxing location while in London, but don’t want to venture too far, why not try Kenwood House and enjoy the swans sailing around the lake and wander by the Henry Moore sculptures.

English Heritage page about Kenwood House.

Other links:
Hotels around Hampstead
Tourist attractions in Hampstead

London’s new bike share scheme proving popular

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Posted by trev on August 19, 2010 – 12:39 pm
Filed under Transport

London has joined in a new concept of bike sharing as part of the drive to cut down on short journeys being made by car.

The scheme currently known as Barclays Cycle Hire* allows people in Central London to hire bikes from automated docking points, ride them to their destination and drop the bike off at a nearby docking point, only being charged for the time the bike is being used. Journeys under 30 minutes are free of charge.

At launch on the 30 July 2010, the scheme had 315 bicycle docking stations and 5,000 bicycles available with a total of 400 docking stations and 6,000 bicycles being available by the end of summer 2010.

The scheme currently covers 17 square miles with the City of London and parts of 8 London Boroughs and is proving quite popular with a reported 100,000 bikes being used during the first 2 weeks.

Fees are split into access fees which are a daily charge (around £1 a day), and usage fees for the hiring of the bikes. Although probably a lot cheaper than car rental or similar, the fees do rise rather steeply with 1 hour being £1; 1 1/2 hours £4; 3 hours £15 and 24 hours a whooping  £50. Possibly not surprising to find that the official web site suggests the bikes are best for short journeys.

The concept of this isn’t new with Paris and Montreal’s both having similar schemes. The London scheme is based on the Montreal Bixi scheme.

* The name comes from the £25m sponsorship of the scheme by the UK bank although the reported cost over the next 6 years is estimated to be around £150m.

Useful links:
Hotels in Central London

Techniquest – Where science comes alive!

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Posted by trev on August 19, 2010 – 12:12 pm
Filed under Attractions, Events

Techniquest is a science and discovery centre based in Cardiff, South Wales, with a mission to bring science to all ages.

The purpose built centre operates exhibitions, shows and programmes with lots of hands on things to do for kids and adults, proving that science doesn’t have to involve boring text books and lab coats…!

In an effort to expand the appeal of Techniquest, the charity behind it has also opened Techniquest Glyndŵr in Wrexham (North Wales) and is looking for 5 other venues for new centres.

Example events:

The planetarium is currently running the Eyes in the Sky exhibition exploring how our perception of space has changed over the centuries from Galileo’s first observations in 1610 to the present day, and find out how The Hubble Space Telescope has changed our understanding of the universe. Runs until 5th September.

The science theatre has “The Generation Game”  which is using pop bottles, balloons, dominoes, water and even the energy from your breakfast can we generate enough electricity to run the show.

Future events include “See, touch, discover!” – puzzles and activities that will keep the whole family entertained include: Fire a rocket; Test your reaction times; Race an electric car; Launch a hot air balloon and watch a bubble race.

At Techniquest Glyndŵr, they are currently running an exhibition exploring how fairgrounds work including how roller-coasters work and what happens to your body when you ride the more extreme rides. This runs until 1st September 2010.

For full details of what’s on, see the Techniquest web site (Cardiff) or Techniquest Glyndŵr (Wrexham).

Other links:
Hotels in Cardiff
Visitor attractions around Cardiff

Hotels in Wrexham
Things to do in Wrexham

The real ale ramble around Llanwrtyd Wells

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Posted by trev on August 19, 2010 – 11:38 am
Filed under Events

In a way, this could be classed as an alternative to the traditional pub crawl except the entrants have to walk either 10, 15 or 25 miles, picking up the real ales at checkpoints en-route.

Considering this is held in November (10th November for the 2010 event), the ale might be said to ward off the cold, but whatever the reason it seems to be a popular event. The courses all start from the site of the Mid Wales Beer Festival in Llanwrtyd Wells and wander off into the mid-Wales countryside.

If walking isn’t your thing, you could try the Real Ale Wobble – Cycling between the checkpoints, and yes there’s the same real ales available at each!

Useful extras around Llanwrtyd Wells:
Hotels in Llanwrtyd Wells
Self-catering cottages in Llanwrtyd Wells
B&B’s in Llanwrtyd Wells

Dinner by Heston Blumenthal to open at Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park, London in December 2010

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Posted by admin on August 19, 2010 – 11:08 am
Filed under Eating & Drinking

Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group and The Fat Duck Group have joined forces to  create Dinner by Heston Blumenthal, Chef Heston Blumenthal’s first London restaurant which will open at the award-winning Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park on 1st December, 2010.

Blumenthal, of the three Michelin starred The Fat Duck in Bray, Berkshire and The Hinds Head pub of the same village, has won international acclaim for his unique and multi-sensory approach to cooking. This first restaurant to open outside of the village of Bray will feature the chef’s inimitable style of culinary alchemy with a menu heavily influenced by his ongoing research and discovery of historic British gastronomy.

Focusing on the revival and modernization of traditional British recipes, the menu at this highly anticipated new restaurant will feature simple contemporary dishes inspired by Britain’s historic gastronomic past and recipes dating as far back as the 16th century, such as Scallops with Cucumber Ketchup and Peas, Bergamot cured Mackerel Salad and Slow Cooked Short Rib of Beef.

Mandarin Oriental and Heston Blumenthal are working together with the internationally renowned designer, Adam Tihany, to create the restaurant interior. Inspired by historical British style references and Blumenthal’s novel approach to cuisine, Tihany plans to highlight traditional materials such as wood, leather and iron, found in the historical roots of British style, using them in contemporary ways to reinforce Heston’s revival and modernization of traditional British recipes.

With uninterrupted views over Hyde Park, the restaurant will also feature floor to ceiling glass walls providing a glimpse into the open kitchen and an unusual contemporary stainless steel pulley system, which has been modelled on a 16th century design for the Royal British Court’s kitchens. A selection of 16th century British recipes taken from antique cookbooks will be on display in the bar area, and a private dining room will be available for up to 12 guests as well as a chef’s table for six located within the kitchen. During the summer months, a terrace overlooking Hyde Park will provide guests with one of London’s finest al fresco dining locations.

Seating 140 guests, Dinner by Heston Blumenthal will serve lunch and dinner and from March 2011, afternoon tea. The kitchen will be headed by Ashley  Palmer-Watts, group executive chef of the Fat Duck, who has worked with  Blumenthal for ten years.

The etymology of the word ‘dinner’ gave rise to the name of the restaurant. In Britain, ‘dinner’ still means the main formal meal of the day, and it is usually served either in the middle of the day, or in the evening, depending on where you are in the British Isles. Originating from the 13th Century French word disner (pronounced dee-nay), dinner was in fact originally eaten at breakfast time. The rise of social and economic  changes, including technical innovations such as gaslight and electricity, allowed for the timing of this main meal of the day to be eaten later in the day.

Dinner by Heston Blumenthal will be open from 12 noon to 2.30pm and from  6.30pm to 10.30pm.

Three course set lunch from £25
Three course a la carte dinner from £55

Reservations can be made from mid October.

Battle of Britain Flypast – Fri 20th August

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Posted by trev on August 19, 2010 – 10:50 am
Filed under Events

As part of the 70th anniversary Battle of Britain commemorations, a Spitfire (ID: P7350) is planned to make a tour of all the RAF stations involved in the Battle of Britain during WWII.

The Spitfire P7350 is the oldest airworthy Spitfire and the only Spitfire still flying to have actually fought in the Battle of Britain. It will be joined by Hurricane LF363, the last Hurricane to enter service with the RAF, and Spitfire AB910 which fly 143 missions during WWII.

Subject to weather conditions, the trio will fly past the RAF Museum in North London at RAF Hendon around 4:03pm on Friday 19th August 2010.

The RAF Museum also includes a static display detailing the events of the Battle of Britain, which Churchill famously referred to in his speech “Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few”.

More details are available on the RAF Museum web site.

Extra links:
Battle of Britain Speech (Wikipedia)
Edgeware Hotels (near the museum)

he field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so fe

Brass rubbing at Chichester Cathedral

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Posted by admin on August 19, 2010 – 9:49 am
Filed under Attractions, Events

Kids can try their hand at brass rubbing at Chichester Cathedral on 25th August 2010. Priced between £1 and £3 depending on the size of the brass rubbing, the drop-in activity morning can be combined with a free guided tour around the Cathedral, a walk in the landscaped Bishop’s Palace Gardens and even a special children’s trail.

Useful links:
Hotels in Chichester
B&Bs in Chichester
Self-catering in Chichester

Exploring the Bank of England Museum

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Posted by trev on August 19, 2010 – 9:25 am
Filed under Attractions

On the surface, this might sound like rather a boring old museum, but delve inside and you find the staff have tried to create quite an interactive and interesting look into how the Bank of England has changed the country over the last 300 years.

The Bank of England Museum isn’t just about bank notes, although there are examples of those. It also shows numerous artefacts, cartoons from publications such as Punch and other memorabilia associated with the museum, not all of which you might expect.

For example amongst the gold bars and bank notes are pikes and muskets used to defend the bank during various periods of unrest, a number of Roman mosaics discovered on hidden under the floors and details on a number of it’s more famous customers including Horatio Nelson and George Washington (one of the most famous US Presidents).

There are plenty of kids activities including events throughout the year to keep them entertained.

Plus there’s the “Did you know?” section which gives all sorts of facinating tip bits of information, very handy for pub quiz nights. For example, did you know that the £ symbol evolved from an L as the Latin for “Pound” is Libra (actually that’s also why weights use “lb” for pounds and ounces).

The museum has free admission, making this a great wet weather stop if you’re in London.

There’s more information on the Bank of England museum web site.

In the Night Garden live shows around the UK

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Posted by trev on August 18, 2010 – 8:05 pm
Filed under Attractions, Events

Makka Pakka, Iggle Piggle, Upsy Daisy, The Ninky Nonk and friends are coming to a number of venues around the UK but tickets are selling out fast!

London, Birmingham and Glasgow are due to play host to the live show version of the characters from the hit BBC Cbeebies programme “In the Night Garden”. Ideally suited to young children, the show which played in Liverpool during July and just opened in London is receiving rave reviews.

London – 14th August to 4th September
Glasgow 11th to 26th September
Birmingham – 9th to 24th October

Of course if you have no idea who Makka Pakka is – ask your nearest 3 year old or university student as he’s become rather a cult figure with many.

(Personally I prefer the The Pinky Ponk -Trev: 35, going on 3 ½)

Family friendly hotels around the UK with Premier Inn

Booking details for In the Night Garden

The top 10 most haunted places in Britain – part 2

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Posted by trev on August 18, 2010 – 4:26 pm
Filed under Attractions, Miscellaneous

In part 1 of our most haunted places in Britain series, we saw locations from cemeteries to castles right across the country. Now we conclude with the five remaining candidates for the most ghoul filled locations.

- We start off this time in Essex at Borley Rectory or what remains of it since the actual rectory burned down in 1939. The rectory originally became famous after the ghost hunter Harry Price began investigating some of the more mysterious goings on. Price then wrote a book in which he described Borley Rectory as ‘The Most Haunted House in England’.

It is claimed that the site still sees many ghostly events and the lack of a building has certainly not put off the many ghost hunters who visit the area each year.

- Pendle Hill in Lancashire is most famous for the 1612 Century Witches of Pendle trials in which 10 women said to be witches were executed at Lancaster Castle. It is claimed that the witches still occupy the hill to this day, although they have to share the area with a number of other mysterious characters.

- Culloden Moor is probably one of the most famous of the Scottish battles and was also the scene of the last ever battle on British soil (Clifton in Cumbria being the last on English soil in 1745 – also involving the Jacobite’s).

The Jacobite rebellion was massacred on the moor on the 16 April 1746, as a result of which there are said to be many souls still wandering the moor – one would assume largely from the Jacobite side. Local legend claims that war cries can still be heard across the battle field on every anniversary.

- If you’re looking for the ultimate setting for a ghostly experience then Ancient Ram Inn in Wotten-under-Edge has to be high on the list. The creaky floorboards, bare walls and and dimly lit corridors epitomise most peoples vision of a haunted building. The rumours surrounding the inn will certainly leave the blood running cold with many reports of murders, satanistic rituals and even sacrifices on the site.

- We can’t have a top 10 most haunted without mentioning the world famous Tower of London. The number of royal ghosts alone qualify this building as possibly one of the most haunted anywhere.

Possibly the most famous ghostly sightings are the Princes in the Tower who it has been alleged were murdered by their uncle Richard III, although recent evidence suggests there were other parties involved in this crime. Other famous residents include Anne Boleyn (one of Henry 8th’s more unfortunate wives) and the White Lady.

Hopefully we’ve enlightened you, although as we said in part 1 there are probably 1000’s of locations we could have included just in Britain.

Useful extra links:
Hotels around the UK
Other visitor attractions in the UK