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Author Archives: Paul

Gardens, Georgians and gourmet food

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Posted by Paul on June 9, 2011 – 3:47 pm
Filed under Accommodation, Attractions

Northumberland is now a place of pilgrimage for gardeners. Not just a pretty coast, with the creation of The Alnwick Garden by the Duchess of Northumberland and the development of the multi award winning Howick Hall Gardens, the county now ranks as a must-visit venue for the seriously green-fingered. Thanks to Eshott Hall, one of its finest Georgian houses, that visit can become a stay, with some exciting bonuses.

Eshott Hall is an elegant boutique hotel and is offering a very special break for garden lovers.  Guests can enjoy a two night luxury stay in this magnificent Georgian House,   see two of the region’s foremost gardens and take home their very own Eshott memento, a Sapling tree from the Hall’s gardens.

Priced at £240 per person sharing a room, The Eshott Hall gardening break includes accommodation, a traditional Northumberland breakfast each morning and dinner in the AA Rosette restaurant, which is supplied with produce from the Hall’s kitchen garden. Also included are entrance tickets with guide books to The Alnwick Garden and Howick Hall Gardens, tours of the gardens at the hotel’s sister properties Guyzance Hall and Doxford Hall (home to the largest Yew Tree maze in the UK)  and afternoon tea at Doxford Hall.

The Eshott Hall gardening package is available until October 2011 and is based on two sharing.

Useful links:
Hotels in Northumberland
Tourist attractions in Northumberland

First glimpse inside Glasgow’s world-class Riverside Museum

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Posted by Paul on June 8, 2011 – 5:40 pm
Filed under Attractions

It stands as a shining beacon of architectural and engineering innovation on the banks of the River Clyde. The Riverside Museum is Glasgow’s newest visitor attraction, home to the transport, engineering and shipbuilding legacy that made Glasgow great.

The Riverside Museum is an architectural masterpiece, designed by Zaha Hadid, arguably the world’s most in-demand architect. The £74 million museum is Hadid’s first major public commission to open in the UK. It houses more than 3,000 exhibits, in over 150 interactive displays telling the stories of the people who made the term ‘Clyde Built’ one which travelled the world and spoke volumes about unbeatable quality.

From massive steam locomotives, to the recreation of a city street during the 1900s, the cathedral-like structure provides a stunning backdrop to showcase the innovation and ambition of what was the ‘Second City of the Empire’.

Opening on Tuesday 21st June 2011, The Riverside Museum has been funded by Glasgow City Council, the Heritage Lottery Fund and the Riverside Museum Appeal. Like all of Glasgow’s 10 civic museums, entry is free.  Here we give you an insight into what you can expect.

Useful links:
Glasgow hotels
Glasgow B&Bs
Glasgow self-catering
Glasgow attractions

It’s British Yorkshire Pudding Day!

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Posted by Paul on February 6, 2011 – 8:33 am
Filed under Eating & Drinking, Events

Yep… you heard that right.  Today is British Yorkshire Pudding Day.  The third one, to be precise.  The idea was conceived by Florence Sandeman, Publisher of recipes4us.co.uk who declared that the first Sunday of February should be marked as British Yorkshire Pudding Day.  The tourist board and others have since latched on to the idea and it would seem that, now in its 4th year, British Yorkshire Pudding Day is here to stay.

Please tell us… what are your top tips for making the perfect Yorkshire pudding?

Paul Johnson is a Director at Kendal Holiday Cottages Ltd. which offers luxury self-catering accommodation between the Lake District and the Yorkshire Dales

Flybe to launch new jet aircraft on Guernsey route

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Posted by Paul on December 31, 2010 – 3:50 pm
Filed under Transport

As of Spring 2011 travellers to Guernsey will be able to enjoy an upgraded service thanks to Flybe’s first new Embraer-175 jet aircraft. The decision marks the return of a jet service on the London Gatwick-Guernsey route. Flybe plans to offer up to eight flights a day from the island.

The Embraer 175 jet that will be used in the Guernsey service will be the first of 35 new aircrafts that Flybe has ordered from Embraer. It will offer comfortable 2×2 seating and a minimum of 30” legroom and is in line with Flybe’s strategy of investing in lower emission new technology aircraft.

The Queen joins Facebook!

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Posted by Paul on November 9, 2010 – 8:50 am
Filed under Miscellaneous

The Queen joined Facebook at precisely 8am this morning. Although you can’t request to be a friend as with other Facebook profiles, you can click on ‘like’ to become a fan of the page.  And, quite incredibly, within the first hour, the page has already attracted 146,262 “likes” or fans at the time of publication.  The page includes information and photographs of the Royal family, along with details of recent events.  It also links to the British Monarchy Twitter feed with a more modest following of 74,081 followers at the time of writing.

Useful links:
Buckingham Palace
Windsor Castle
Holyrood Palace
Balmoral
Kensington Palace

Grasmere exhibition: Picturesque Tourism in the Lake District

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Posted by Paul on October 27, 2010 – 12:04 pm
Filed under Attractions, Events

Visitors to a Dove Cottage and Wordsworth Museum exhibition, in Grasmere in the Lake District, can marvel at the resilience of their parasol-touting, well-to-do travelling predecessors, who would endure lengthy journeys, with boulders strewn in their path and the ever-present possibility of an overturned carriage, just to reach their destination!

The Savage Grandeur and Noblest Thoughts exhibition highlights the phenomenon of Picturesque Tourism, which gripped Britain once the Napoleonic Wars had cut off polite society from the ‘Grand Tour’ on the Continent.

It fuses together art and literature from the period 1750-1820 and includes works by artists, writers, satirists, poets and guidebook writers who fed a demand for visual and literary representations and descriptions of the area. These creative brains recognised and developed a market for what might now be regarded as the full colour, prestige coffee table book, a souvenir painting, or the equivalent of a BBC Countryfile feature.

Wordsworth’s own tourism publication ‘Guide to the Lakes’ has been the impetus behind the exhibition, as it celebrates its 200th anniversary of publication this year.

Etchings, engravings, paintings, print and prose are all on show, with examples of how artists slightly skewed the representation of the area, to sell their works more easily, satisfy the desires of patrons, create satirical commentary on the early Lakes visitors and convey the essence of the newly ‘in vogue’ area.

Picturesque Tourism was the catalyst for changes in artistic techniques and the medium used in the production of works of art. The exhibition highlights the growth in the popularity of engravings, aquatint, mezzotint, bodycolour and watercolours – the latter having formerly been viewed as a medium suitable only for genteel ladies!

It includes Constable’s Hellvellyn – his only print of the Lake District – and also features works from a variety of artists including Laporte, Chubbard, Sunderland, Nicholson, Farington, Walmsley and Gainsborough. All are from the Wordsworth Museum’s own collection. Interestingly, it boasts watercolours by Girtin, who died in his mid 20s, and of whom Turner remarked: “If Girtin had lived, I should have starved”.

Visitors can view works picturing scenes from locations around the Lake District and use these as a launch pad from which to explore the featured places and beauty spots themselves. Locations represented include Windermere, Ullswater, Townend, Rydal Falls, Bowness and Furness Abbey, all just a short drive from Grasmere.

Those wishing to experience this unique insight into Picturesque Tourism can visit the Savage Grandeur and Noblest Thoughts exhibition (to June 12, 2011) seven days a week, between 9.30 and 17.30 in summer and to 16.30 in winter, with last admission at 17.00 or 16.00 respectively. Admission costs £7.50 for an adult, £4.50 for a child and £17.20 for one or two adults and up to three children and covers both Dove Cottage and Wordsworth Museum & Art Gallery entrance. More details are at www.wordsworth.org.uk

Paul Johnson is a Director at Kendal Holiday Cottages Ltd. which offers luxury self-catering accommodation between the Lake District and the Yorkshire Dales

Useful links:
Hotels in the Lake District
B&Bs in the Lake District
Campsites in the Lake District
Holiday cottages in the Lake District
Tourist attractions in the Lake District

Haweswater Hotel wins award for best location

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Posted by Paul on October 4, 2010 – 12:16 pm
Filed under Accommodation, Eating & Drinking

It’s been open for less than a year since its £750,000 makeover but the Haweswater Hotel is already proving to be a winner having picked up a prestigious award for ‘Best location’.

The award which comes from LateRooms.com and The Sun newspaper is one of a collection of accolades given out as part of the ‘Best Kept Secret’ awards. The awards have been established to honour the UK’s best hotels, and those who work in them, from all around the UK, from rural guesthouses to city centre boutique hotels.

The Haweswater Hotel is an art-deco property, dating back to the 1930s. It enjoys a beautiful setting on the shores of the Haweswater Reservoir and is overlooked by some of the Lake District’s best known fells including High Street, which also forms part of Wainwright’s Coast to Coast walking route.

The property features 21 contemporary bedrooms which effortlessly blend with the art-deco furnishings around the communal areas. The on-site Le Mardale Restaurant offers a fine dining experience combined with an impressive wine list of specially selected wines ranging from everyday drinking through to vintage bottles.

Room rates start from £75 per night including breakfast.

Paul Johnson is a Director at Kendal Holiday Cottages Ltd. which offers luxury self-catering accommodation between the Lake District and the Yorkshire Dales

Useful links:
Hotels in the Lake District
B&Bs in the Lake District
Campsites in the Lake District
Holiday cottages in the Lake District
Tourist attractions in the Lake District

Cumbrian winners at Northwest Tourism Awards

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Posted by Paul on September 30, 2010 – 2:38 pm
Filed under Accommodation, Attractions

Cumbria has scooped five of the overall 16 awards, equalling previous best performances in 2008 and 2004, at the Northwest Tourism Awards.

In the South of the county, the 5-star boutique accommodation of Number 43 in Arnside was awarded Bed and Breakfast of the Year, while the tranquil setting of Woodclose Park in Kirkby Lonsdale won the title of Holiday Park of the Year.

In Keswick and West Cumbria, the elegant Overwater Hall in Ireby took the Small Hotel of the Year category whilst the delightful The Cottage in the Wood in Whinlatter Forest claimed the Taste of England’s Northwest award.

The UK’s only specialised Heavy Horse Riding establishment Cumbrian Heavy Horses in the Whicham Valley near Millom was awarded Tourism Experience of the Year.

Winners will have the opportunity to represent the county and the region at the national tourism awards, organised by VisitEngland in 2011.

Paul Johnson is a Director at Kendal Holiday Cottages Ltd. which offers luxury self-catering accommodation between the Lake District and the Yorkshire Dales

Useful links:
Hotels in the Lake District
B&Bs in the Lake District
Campsites in the Lake District
Holiday cottages in the Lake District
Tourist attractions in the Lake District

Five AA rosettes for L’enclume in Cartmel, Cumbria

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Posted by Paul on September 28, 2010 – 4:29 pm
Filed under Eating & Drinking

The L’enclume team have good reason to celebrate this week, having just been awarded their 5th and final AA Rosette, making them just one of a very few restaurants in the UK to hold this coveted award. They have also risen to 4th in the list of best restaurants in the UK as compiled by the UK Good Food Guide and picked up the BMW Square Meal Award for being the Best UK Restaurant outside of London. They join a prestigious list of former winners including Whatley Manor, The Walnut Tree Inn and Restaurant Sat Bains with Rooms.

Paul Johnson is a Director at Kendal Holiday Cottages Ltd. which offers luxury self-catering accommodation between the Lake District and the Yorkshire Dales

Useful links:
Restaurants in the Lake District
Tourist attractions in the Lake District

Thomas heads to Ravenglass!

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Posted by Paul on September 24, 2010 – 12:40 pm
Filed under Attractions, Events

Head to the Ravenglass and Eskdale Railway, in the Lake District, on 2nd and 3rd October 2010, to enjoy Fabulous ‘Days Out With Thomas’ with everyone’s favourite train character, Thomas the Tank Engine from Thomas & Friends™. A great value-for-money package awaits, starting at Ravenglass station, where Trevor the Traction Engine and Bertie the Bus will thrill children as  they discover them in the car park.

At 10am each day, excitement will mount as an opening ceremony features The Fat Controller, Sir Topham Hatt, cutting a red ribbon. This will let Thomas move off his turntable and rush The Fat Controller up the line to check for other trains. Families and other passengers gathered there can then follow his route, by catching the 10.30 train from Ravenglass to Dalegarth, whilst others can catch other trains heading up the line, the last being at 15.50 and the last back leaving at 16.40.

Locomotives pulling passengers will be Rex, Bert, Mike and Jock, all of which figure in books by Reverend W Awdry and his son Christopher, based on Ravenglass & Eskdale Railway’s River Esk, River Irt, River Mite and Northern Rock. During their journey through stunning coastal, fell and valley scenery, children can complete a ’spot the characters’ competition, as images of Edward, James and Gordon can all be seen.

At Dalegarth, a whole day of Thomas fun will spread a little magic. The Fat Controller will encourage children to pass buckets of water to Thomas, to let the thirsty engine have a drink, once the driver puts the water into Thomas’s tank. The Fat Controller will also join the Station Master in providing a 65h Anniversary interactive show in which there is singing, dancing and the important task of feeding Thomas a coal cake!

An ‘Imagination Station’ will feature story reading, colouring, train set and a skittles game, plus face-painting and Thomas tattoo applications. Meanwhile, in a marquee, exciting and comical children’s magician, Stu-di-Doo will create Harold the Helicopter from balloons and mesmerise children with magic tricks.

Tickets for this Day Out With Thomas and all of the activities described cost £12.50 for an adult, £6.25 for children and £33 for a family of two adults and two children. Tickets can be bought on the day, or purchased online.

Paul Johnson is a Director at Kendal Holiday Cottages Ltd. which offers luxury self-catering accommodation between the Lake District and the Yorkshire Dales

Useful links:
Hotels in the Lake District
B&Bs in the Lake District
Campsites in the Lake District
Holiday cottages in the Lake District
Tourist attractions in the Lake District