United Kingdom
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A day at the seaside in Blackpool
It’s been a number of years since we last visited Blackpool, one of England’s premier seaside resorts, so we thought we’d return and see if it had changed. Blackpool is located in the north west of England on Lancashire’s Fylde coast. We travelled by train, arriving into Blackpool North station shortly before lunch. When purchasing…
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The Blackpool Illuminations
The Blackpool Illuminations is an annual lights festival which was founded in 1879. It started life with garlands of 10,000 coloured light bulbs strung along the seafront and was such a huge success that it continued as an annual event extending the tourist season by an extra two months. The Illuminations or ‘The Lights’ as…
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St. Annes-on-Sea & Poulton-le-Fylde
After a good night’s sleep we enjoyed the Ibis buffet breakfast which was included in our room rate. The breakfast room features a seaside theme with imitation sticks of Blackpool rock adorning it’s walls. The restaurant overlooks the sea so we were able to watch the trams pass along the promenade whilst we were sipping…
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A weekend in Birmingham
Meeting my son for a weekend away in the U.K. has usually resulted in trips to London or Edinburgh so for a change we decided to explore Britain’s second city, Birmingham. Strangely, Birmingham isn’t a city I am familiar with, in fact I’ve only ever visited three times and then only to attend courses and…
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Exploring Birmingham
After a leisurely breakfast we were ready for a morning of sightseeing in Birmingham’s city centre. Our first stop was to the Great Western Arcade, an elegant Victorian shopping arcade built in 1876 over the Great Western Railway line. The arcade has two entrances, one on Temple Row and the other on Colmore Row, the…
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The Black Country Living Museum
The weather forecast seemed reasonable so we decided to spend the day at the Black Country Living Museum in Dudley, West Midlands, ten miles west of Birmingham. Although the museum’s postal address is Dudley, the nearest railway station is Tipton. We bought return rail tickets costing approximately £5 each for the 20 minute journey from…
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The Birmingham Back to Backs
After checking out of our hotel and leaving our luggage to collect later, we set ourselves up for the day with cooked breakfasts in a nearby pub and then made our way to Hurst Street where we had booked a tour of the Birmingham Back to Backs terraced houses which are now operated as a museum…
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Lovely Lyme Regis
It was a sunny day, so we prepared a picnic and drove along the south coast to Lyme Regis which is located on the West Dorset/ East Devon border. Being a popular seaside town finding a parking place wasn’t easy. Just outside town there were signposts for Park and Ride but ignoring these, we pressed…
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A walk along the Rochdale Canal in Central Manchester
One sunny afternoon in Manchester, instead of shopping we decided to take a 7 km canal side walk through the heart of the city. The Rochdale canal runs from the Bridgewater canal at the Castlefield basin across the Pennines to join the Calder and Hebble Navigation at Sowerby Bridge in West Yorkshire, a distance of…
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London City Break
I never tire of a few days in London so recently I managed to fit in a short break to the capital. Travelling by train took just under three hours from my home in the north of England enabling me to arrive into the city around lunchtime. My first stop was at Piccadilly, a short…
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Exploring London’s East End
Buffet style breakfast is included in the room rate at Ibis Styles hotels and there was a good selection of both hot and cold dishes to set us up for the day in its brightly coloured restaurant. Setting off, I walked the short distance to Prince Regent DLR station and made my way via Canning…
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Exploring Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park
After eating breakfast in our hotel the Ibis Styles located in the Docklands we took the DLR the short distance to Stratford to visit Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park which was the venue for the Summer 2012 Olympic Games. On leaving the station we took the escalator up to ‘The Street’ which is an outdoor part…
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A day in Winchester
Having read that Winchester was taking part in the National Heritage Open Days with over 70 events taking place over four days, we decided to spend a day in this Hampshire city to view a selection of its historic sights. Approaching the city from the M3 motorway, we followed signs to the St. Catherine’s Park…
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Kingston Lacy Guide: What to See and Do at Dorset’s Historic Mansion
Kingston Lacy is an elegant country mansion set in attractive formal gardens and extensive parkland. The former home of the Bankes family, Sir John bought the estate in the 1630’s, Sir Ralph then built the house in the 1660’s and it was then updated and transformed by William in the 1830’s until 1981 when Ralph…
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How to Spend a Day in Bournemouth – The Perfect Seaside Itinerary
What better way to spend a hot, sunny day than at the seaside. Bournemouth is one of England’s premier seaside resorts being located on Dorset’s south coast. Leaving our car on the East Cliff we walked down the steep incline towards the pier. Overlooking the English Channel we stepped into the gardens of the Russell Cotes…
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Visiting Ripley Castle and Village: Travel Guide for a Perfect Day Out
My friend suggested a drive out into the Yorkshire countryside and a visit to Ripley Castle. Ripley is situated 3 miles north of Harrogate. It is also the preferred starting point of a 53 mile circular walking trail known as ‘The Nidderdale Way’ which passes through some delightful Yorkshire beauty spots including Brimham Rocks. We…
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How to spend a day in Sheffield
It’s been at least 15 years since I last visited Sheffield so it was time to return to see how the city centre has changed. We travelled by train arriving into Sheffield station late morning. The concourse seemed bright and airy leading out onto Sheaf Square, a pedestrianised plaza featuring a cascading water wall and…
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RHS Harlow Carr Garden in Harrogate – What to See and Do
The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) Harlow Carr Garden is one of four public gardens run by the RHS and is located one and a half miles from the centre of Harrogate, North Yorkshire. We arrived by car, with ample free parking available. On a previous visit we walked from the town centre which is a lovely…
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Goddards York – the home of chocolate
Located by the side of York racecourse stands a home with a chocolate heritage. The house is the former home of Noel Goddard Terry, the grandson of Sir Joseph Terry the founder of the famous chocolate factory Terry’s of York. How many of you have had the pleasure of tapping open a Terry’s Chocolate Orange,…
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Discover Cambridge and its Colleges
An opportunity to visit Cambridge as my husband had a business meeting there recently. I’ve only been to this university city a couple of times and its many years since my last visit. We parked our car at Homerton College where the meeting was taking place so I started my tour of the Colleges here.…
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Poundbury: A New Town with a Difference — Exploring Prince Charles’s Vision for Sustainable Living
As we were visiting the Dorset stretch of the Jurasssic Coast, we decided to take a short detour to Poundbury to see what it looks like for ourselves. Poundbury is a thriving new urban development on the outskirts of Dorchester, West Dorset. The town was commissioned by Prince Charles, the Prince of Wales who outlined…
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Discovering Waterside Leeds: Explore the City’s Revitalised Waterfront
I’d heard that there was more to Leeds than city centre shopping so one sunny morning I took the train there to have a look around. Leeds is located in West Yorkshire and is only a two and a quarter hour rail journey from London King’s Cross station. Instead of leaving Leeds Railway Station from…
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Exploring the V&A: What to See at London’s Victoria and Albert Museum
The start of another long weekend in London. Arriving in the capital around lunchtime, I decided to take the Underground to South Kensington so that I could visit the Victoria & Albert Museum which is on Cromwell Road. The Victoria & Albert (V & A) is the world’s leading museum of art and design housing many of…
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Exploring London’s Hidden Gems: The Faraday Museum & The Wallace Collection at Hertford House
A much brighter morning and gladly somewhat milder than yesterday. After taking a train to Victoria from Clapham Junction, the country’s busiest railway station we rode the Underground one stop to Green Park as we wished to visit the Royal Institution on Albemarle Street, just off Piccadilly. In the basement of the Royal Institution you…
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