UKseries Home       Blog Home       UK Hotels       UK B&Bs       UK Self-Catering       UK Camping       UK Tourist Attractions

Monthly Archives: April 2011

Secret message from a London Underground sign?

0
Posted by trev on April 19, 2011 – 9:30 am
Filed under Transport

The Going Underground’s Blog has some funny photos of those “Next train in 5 minutes” type signs perhaps getting a little board adding in a quirky element.

One of the best ones is this picture which perhaps proves that even the London Underground staff need a little divine intervention to help parts of the London Tube network to work.

There’s even more pictures of faulty or bored matrix London Underground signs on the blog, which might be especially appreciated by anyone who was delayed coming in on the Jubilee line this morning. Another good one is the sign that tried to emulate The Matrix with limited success.

More London Links:
Tourist attractions around London
London hotel accommodation

Around London Olympic stadium looking blooming marvellous

0
Posted by trev on April 18, 2011 – 3:40 pm
Filed under Events

It’s not just the main London Olympic Stadium that has been worked on madly for the past few months – the grounds around the park are all coming into bloom as well.

This photo from the London Olympic Blog shows how the blossom is blooming around the stadium and Olympic Park with the fully completed stadium in the background.

 

Along with the groundwork looking good, other events taking place in the Olympic world include the awarding of the contract to record all 205 national anthems required for the games. The London Philharmonic Orchestra will be the ones playing all the anthems which isn’t really too surprising. A more stressful job is making sure the right anthem is played at the right time.

Links in London:
Family attractions in London
Hotels in London

Jim Henson’s Muppet guide to London

0
Posted by trev on April 18, 2011 – 2:17 pm
Filed under Miscellaneous

Jim Henson and his famous Muppet creations such as Kermit the Frog might be thought to be American, but actually many of the Jim Henson creations were made right here in London.

Jim Henson started out with his Creature Shop in 1977, from a small office at 1b Downshire Hill, Camden, NW3 which was still in use until 1990. From there and his second slightly larger base also on Oval Road, Camden, he produced the puppets for some of his most famous works including Animal Farm, 101 Dalmatians and The Muppet Christmas Carol (short video coming soon).

The Creature Shop finally closed its London doors in 2005, but not before Jim and co had used London for some really brilliant Muppet-led creations, including of course The Muppet Christmas Carol, which at least in my opinion is better than all the more acclaimed versions.

For those who never got to see the Muppets at their best, here are a couple of clips.

Kermit the Frog on the London Fog:

Muppet Christmas Carol with Michael Caine:

London Links:
A guide to Jim Henson’s Camden
Things to see in London
Hotels in London

Glastonbury final tickets sell out in just 45 minutes

0
Posted by trev on April 18, 2011 – 12:06 pm
Filed under Events

Cancelled and refunded tickets went on sale for this year’s Glastonbury on Sunday, but all the final tickets sold out on the Seetickets web site in just 45 minutes proving that despite the mud and high ticket prices, the event is as popular as ever.

Looking through the list of acts to perform at this year’s festival it’s perhaps not surprising that people are desperate to get tickets, despite the last minute Glastonbury tickets costing a whopping £195 + P&P.

On the Pyramid Stage, the headline acts will include U2, Coldplay, and Beyonce with other acts due to play the main stage including Primal Scream, Morrissey, BB King, Paul Simon and even Don McLean of American Pie fame.

Outside of the bands, there’ll also be a number of non-music events including the Hiroshima Peace Flame which has been burning since 1946.

The Glastonbury 2012 has already been cancelled as there will be a distinct lack of portable toilets with the Olympics going on, so the next chance to see this kindof festival will when it hopefully returns again in 2013.

If you have your tickets, we hope you have fun…and it doesn’t get too muddy (even if that’s half the fun) and if not then the BBC will still be broadcasting from the festival even if it isn’t quite the same as being there.

More links around Glastonbury:
Visitor attractions in Glastonbury
Hotels in Glastonbury

Secret London – The hidden pieces of old London Bridge

0
Posted by trev on April 18, 2011 – 11:30 am
Filed under Miscellaneous

As the popular nursery rhyme tell us, London Bridge indeed fell down, but did you know you can still find pieces of the bridge scattered all over London?

The original London Bridge which the rhyme talks about was most likely a wooden structure and collapsed under the weight of the houses which were built upon it, but this was later rebuilt from the remains and new stone structures with extensive work between the 1700s and 1800s.

Even this London Bridge eventually secumed to time, although mostly for other reasons, and was demolished by the Victorians. However, parts of the bridge dating from the 1700s onwards can still be found scattered around the capital.

The Great Wen London Blog documents the pieces of London Bridge, including several of the covered domes which once sat at the end of the piers and can now be found in Victoria Park, Tower Hamlets, and Guy’s Hospital offering shelter for visitors.

One of the most spectacular pieces was the coat of arms which was added to the tollgate in 1728, but removed when the gatehouse was demolished in 1760. Somehow this survived and ended up above the King’s Arms on Newcomen Street in Borough where it can be seen today.

Other parts which were rescued from the bridge have since disappeared, but it’s pretty likely that many of the older buildings around the site will contain quite a few stones from the bridge, even if we may never know all of their locations.

Sidenote: The Victorian’s rebuilt London Bridge in the 1890s, but it was again demolished in the 1960s and shipped stone by stone to Lake Havasu City, Arizona, where it stands today amongst an English theme park and has become the 2nd most popular attraction in Arizona after the Grand Canyon. It’s replacement is the bridge we see today which also forms part of the A3.

More London Links:
London visitor attractions
Hotels in London

Video – M1 Motorway could be shut through Easter near London

0
Posted by trev on April 18, 2011 – 10:36 am
Filed under Transport

Anyone planning to drive to London in the next week from the north would be best advised to look at routes including the M40 and A1 and expect significant delays.

Following Friday’s fire under a bridge near junction 2 of the M1, the motorway has remained closed southbound and has very restricted access northbound with lots of delays expected. Initial expectations that the affected bridge would be fixed by the weekend were today amended after extensive damage to the reinforced concrete was discovered.

The M1 is currently shut from J4 to J1 southbound and has 2 lanes open northbound, with the only possibility for southbound traffic being a contraflow using the northbound carriageway, although a decision on this hasn’t yet been taken.

Current estimates for reopening the southbound are anything from the end of this week, even into the following week right between the two sets of bank holidays. Train services around the site of the fire are no longer affected.

Video Updates: The BBC has a video of the state of the underside of the affected M1 bridge which to the untrained eye at least looks pretty serious with the concrete having been completely removed in places.

A video of the original fire from the air can be seen on the BBC M1 closure web page.

More London and M1 Links:
Traffic England web site – South East England
Things to see and do all over Britain
UK hotels
Self-catering in Britain
East Coast Railways

Today in history – Britain’s first National Park opens

0
Posted by trev on April 17, 2011 – 2:55 pm
Filed under Events

On the 17th April 1951, the Peak District became the first National Park to be “opened” in Britain, followed later that year by the Lake District.

The Peak District might these days feel a little over shadowed by the Lake District National Park, but the area is by no means any less worthy of the title.

The national park covers mostly Derbyshire, although it also expands into Cheshire, Greater Manchester, Staffordshire and parts of Yorkshire making it the most extensive park in the country. It also covers the widest types of landscapes from so called Dark Peak which is mostly gritstone to White Peak with limestone.

Because of the vast area covered and the amount which is unpopulated, visitor numbers are hard to quantify but the National Park authority estimate at least 10 million people visit every year.

Click here for a map of the Peak District area.

The big winners at the 2011 Enjoy England Awards for Excellence

0
Posted by admin on April 16, 2011 – 9:27 am
Filed under Accommodation, Attractions

The Enjoy England Awards for Excellence, sponsored by The Caravan Club, are now in their 22nd year and this year there were 54 winners in 17 categories. Among perhaps the more notable categories, the following scooped the top prize:

Large Hotel of the Year:
The Langham Hotel, London

Small Hotel of the Year:
Bay Tree Hotel in Burford, Oxfordshire

Bed & Breakfast of the Year:
No. 43 in Arnside, Cumbria

Best Self-Catering Holiday of the Year:
The Dovecote Barns in Kelfield

Caravan Holiday Park of the Year:
Woodclose Park, Lune Valley

Large Visitor Attraction of the Year:
Chatsworth, Derbyshire

Small Visitor ­Attraction of the Year:
Shepherd Neame Visitor Centre, Faversham, Kent

Best Tourism Experience:
Cumbrian Heavy Horses

Outstanding Contribution to Tourism Award:
The Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC)

Check out the Royal Wedding dance… brilliant!

1
Posted by admin on April 15, 2011 – 11:58 pm
Filed under Events, Miscellaneous

Watch the wedding entrance dance to top all wedding entrance dances. T-Mobile’s Royal Wedding Dance celebrates the marriage of William and Kate with the help of a host of royal look alikes and music from East 17!

Co-op is upgrading the bee-roads of Britain

0
Posted by trev on April 15, 2011 – 4:16 pm
Filed under Events

The Co-operative of high street fame is planning to upgrade the bee-roads of Britain – not for the car but for the humble honey bee.

The problem: This might seem like an odd cause to back considering most people’s encounters with a bee is while enjoying a picnic, but with the the honeybee and to a lesser degree the bumble bee in massive decline over the past 30 years, there is a serious risk to the countryside.

The majority of the wild-flowers and crops in Britain today rely on the honeybee to pollinate them and without the bee there would be no meadows, orchards and much colour in the countryside. Plus the impact on farming could be pretty devastating.

The plan: Initially, the co-operative has pledged £60,000 to create two corridors of wildflowers stretching north to south and east to west across Yorkshire. The land will be seeded with lesser knapweed, field scabious, birdsfoot trefoil and red clover which are particular favourites of the bee.

Public involvement: Creating wild-flower corridors will help a little, but what the bees really need are native flowers in people’s gardens up and down the country, which will in turn give them somewhere to collect nectar and thus fuel the population increase for the British countryside.

As part of this plan, the Sunday Mirror will be giving away packets of wild-flower seeds for gardeners to plan in their gardens, allotments and windowboxes this weekend.

More information at the Plan Bee web site.