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Category Archives: Miscellaneous

So where is the best seaside town in the UK?

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Posted by admin on November 19, 2011 – 11:40 am
Filed under Miscellaneous

If the British Travel Awards are to be believed, the best seaside town in the UK is St. Ives in Cornwall, with Whitby in North Yorkshire and Bournemouth in Dorset picking up 2nd and 3rd places respectively.  But those of us familiar with the UK coastline know that there are many more gems dotted along its 7,723 miles and, worthy winners though those three are, it’s all a question of taste.

Some will prefer the brashness of Blackpool, others the bustle of Brighton. Every seaside town has its own unique charm and we’d like to hear what your favourite is and why!  Post a comment and let us know…

Grandparents are more likely than ever to shun the traditional family Christmas and go on holiday instead

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Posted by admin on November 17, 2011 – 11:59 am
Filed under Accommodation, Miscellaneous

Over-55 empty-nesters are apparently clamouring for festive breaks in UK hotels. So say Shearings Holidays, at least. They (the grandparents, not Shearings!) want the freedom to enjoy Christmas in their own way and be pampered, rather than pressured.  Many decide on a particular hotel and go back year after year.

Shearings say the trend has grown rapidly over the past five years.  Many of their customers are now making a festive UK hotel break an annual holiday tradition. The company’s booking data shows that some customers have been away every Christmas for the last 12 years, many to the exact same location, showing that tradition is still important.

What are you going to be doing this Christmas?  Staying at home or going the route of an increasing number of grandparents?

What really happened at Stonehenge

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Posted by admin on November 11, 2011 – 12:52 pm
Filed under Attractions, Miscellaneous

The origins of the prehistoric Stonehenge stone circle have been widely debated and documented.  Now, as a little bit of Friday fun for you, we present a modern day ‘Angry Birds’ theory (see picture) of ‘what really happened at Stonehenge’ that’s started to do the rounds on various social media sites.  If you have a smartphone, you probably already know what Angry Birds is all about.  Afterall, over 12,000,000 copies of the game have been purchased from Apple’s App Store. If instead you’re not following any of this, click here and it might become a little clearer.

Useful links:
Hotels near Stonehenge
B&Bs near Stonehenge
Self-catering near Stonehenge
Tourist attractions near Stonehenge

Where was rock climbing invented – Scotland or the Lake District?

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Posted by trev on November 9, 2011 – 12:20 pm
Filed under Miscellaneous

For many years, the sport of rock climbing had been assumed to have been invented in the English Lake District but now a BBC 2 film now claims that the sport might actually have originated in Scotland.

The Scots have certainly invented quite a number of useful ideas over the years from the light bulb, Tarmac and Penicillin to slightly more debateable levels of usefulness such as golf. There are even some claims that that bastion of English sport – football – was invented in Scotland!

Lake District claim: Returning to the matter in hand – the original claim for the first recreational rock climb was an ascent of Napes Needle on Great Gable in the English Lake District in 1886. It rather begers belief that anyone in their right mind would attempt this today, never mind with the primitive equipment available back then, but that is a documented fact.

Scotland Claim: The Scottish claim is that infact the first recreational climb was actually by 3 men from Lewis who climbed Great Stac of Handa, Sutherland, in 1876 – 10 years before anyone thought about Napes Needle, which rather ironically sounds the more Scottish of the two.

To prove the case, three modern day climbers have recreated the climb using authentic equipment from the time to successfully show that the original men’s claim was indeed possible.

TV programme: Viewers in Scotland will be able to judge for themselves as The First Great Climb airs at 19:00 on 22nd November on BBC Two Scotland. Whether this will be available on BBC iPlayer we’re not too sure, but hopefully the BBC will give the English a chance to check for themselves.

Location: For those unsure of UK geography, can we just point out that contrary to what many have told this author of Cumbrian origins – Cumbria and the Lake District are not in Scotland or Wales, although Cumbria does border with Scotland.

More Scottish Resources:
Lots of things to see and do in the Highlands of Scotland
Hotel accommodation in the Highlands of Scotland
Self-catering in the Scottish Highlands

New lifesaver role for iconic BT red telephone boxes

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Posted by trev on November 9, 2011 – 10:20 am
Filed under Miscellaneous

The iconic red phone box was once seen as a lifesaving tool before the decline in use caused by mobile phones. However, BT are hoping communities and charities will soon get together to once more bring the box back as a lifesaving device, albeit with a slight twist.

When the phone boxes began to decline in use, BT introduced their Adopt a Kiosk scheme where local communities could buy the red phone box for £1 and turn it into anything from an information centre to an art gallery.

Around the country however, people have been finding a new use as locations to install defibrillator units, to increase the chances of survival for those suffering a heart attack. In England, there are now 4 such boxes, but the first has just opened in Scotland thanks to a local Girl Guide Heather Munro and the Community Heartbeat Trust who together organised for the village of Glendaruel in Argyll to adopt its own phone box.

It might seem an odd place to put a defibrillator, but the area is popular with walkers and there were several heart attacks last year in the village involving tourists, so having a defibrillator close by might prove the key ingredient.

More related resources:
BT Adopt a Kiosk Scheme

Tourist attractions across the Highlands of Scotland
Scottish Highland hotels
Self-catering accommodation in Highlands of Scotland

Swindon finds quirky way to brighten up buildings

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Posted by trev on November 8, 2011 – 7:20 pm
Filed under Miscellaneous

Old rather dull or even eyesore buildings are a problem in most city centres, but Swindon have come up with a rather quirky way to brighten up one of their most boring buildings.

The changes to Alexander House, a rather bland white angular office-block style building in the centre of town, involve painting roundabout symbols on the building and even bolting two replica Mini cars to the outside. Officials from the council have recommended the idea be given planning permission later this month, as the design incorporates connections with Swindon.

Symbols: The BMW Mini’s represent the BMW body pressings plant which resides in Swindon and the roundabout symbol is presumably paying homage to the Magic Roundabout – the famous intersection in the city combining five mini-roundabouts around a larger outer roundabout.

Flying pigs: Plans for solar powered rotating pigs were dropped after they proved to be too expensive, which we can only guess was a less than obvious connection to the Saxon meaning of Swindon “pig hill” or “pigs on a hill”. Perhaps someone can enlighten us?

As long as planning permission is forthcoming, the project will hopefully brighten up the building next year and will be paid for by the building’s owners.

More links in Swindon:
Tourist attractions in Swindon
Hotel accommodation in Swindon

6 year old ‘Jack Draws Anything’ finishes 500 drawing marathon

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Posted by trev on November 8, 2011 – 1:26 pm
Filed under Miscellaneous

This is a little departure from the usual stories on this blog, but with the weather getting chillier it was perfect timing for a heart warming story from Scotland.

If like me you’ve not come across Jack Draws Anything, it was the idea of a 6 year old Jack Henderson who lives near Edinburgh and who’s brother Noah spends a lot of time in the Sick Kids Hospital in Edinburgh.

Jack wanted to raise money for the Sick Kids Friends Foundation, originally with a target of raising £100 by creating 500 drawings of pretty much anything people asked for, in exchange for a donation. Having spent the last 231 days creating the drawings, Jack has so far raised a total of £31,000 for the foundation, with donations still coming in!

The project gained celebrity support from the likes of David Tennant (former Dr. Who) and the Eurythmics Dave Stewart, The Wiggles and Queen’s Brian May. The drawings have even been published into a new book by Hodders Childrens Books simply titled Jack Draws Anything (see right of web site for links).

Now Jack has drawn everything or at least all 500 pictures he planned to draw plus an extra 31 for good measure, and according to his web site he is taking a well earned rest just like his favourite animal, the Hedgehog.

Stats:

Drawing for 231 days.
Total of 536 pictures.
Used 314 pens, 162 crayons and 96 pencils.
Plus 2144 sheets of paper.
There’s also the 222 cups of juice, 133 biscuits and 103 apples to keep the pencils whirring.

Put another way – Jack has so far spent 10th of his life drawing!

For more details on sponsoring Jack’s cause, see the Jack Draws Anything web site on the right hand side.

A to Z of the UK: your favourite place in the UK beginning with the letter Z?

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Posted by admin on November 6, 2011 – 9:35 am
Filed under Miscellaneous

Our A to Z of the UK is an opportunity for us all to share our knowledge of the UK and hopefully discover one or two gems along the way.  Today – the final day of our A to Z – we’d like to hear what your favourite place in the UK is, that begins with the letter ‘Z’.  It can be a city, a town or a tiny village.  Or it can be something more specific such as a particular tourist attraction.  Whatever or wherever it is, please post a comment and tell us what makes it special…

A to Z of the UK: your favourite place in the UK beginning with the letter Y?

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Posted by admin on November 5, 2011 – 9:35 am
Filed under Miscellaneous

Our A to Z of the UK is an opportunity for us all to share our knowledge of the UK and hopefully discover one or two gems along the way.  Today we’d like to hear what your favourite place in the UK is, that begins with the letter ‘Y’.  It can be a city, a town or a tiny village.  Or it can be something more specific such as a particular tourist attraction.  Whatever or wherever it is, please post a comment and tell us what makes it special…

A to Z of the UK: your favourite place in the UK beginning with the letter X?

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Posted by admin on November 4, 2011 – 9:33 am
Filed under Miscellaneous

Our A to Z of the UK is an opportunity for us all to share our knowledge of the UK and hopefully discover one or two gems along the way.  Today we’d like to hear what your favourite place in the UK is, that begins with the letter ‘X’… it’s a tricky one, we know!!  It can be a city, a town or a tiny village (if you know of any).  Or it can be something more specific such as a particular tourist attraction.  Whatever or wherever it is, please post a comment and tell us what makes it special…