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 Sunday, 06 July 2008 |
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Britain Calling - June 2006 |
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Written by Visit Britain
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Friday, 30 June 2006 |
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Britain Calling - June 2006
Latest travel and holiday news from the UK
Discovering clues to Agatha Christie
Fans of Agatha Christie who visit the English Riviera this summer can
discover a host of places and activities associated with the famous
crime writer in and around her home town of Torquay.
Visitors can choose to follow a mile-long trail on foot, three trails
by car or go to Torquay Museum for lots of clues on the author's life
and characters. The town's Tourist Information Centre includes a
self-contained shop, The Agatha Christie Riviera Collection, where fans
can pick up a free copy of the Agatha Christie Mile leaflet, buy a copy
of the Exploring Agatha Christie Country car trails booklet, purchase a
biography or any one of her vast output of crime novels, plays, poems
and other works.
Web: www.englishriviera.co.uk
Ghost hunting at Alton Towers
Ghost hunt specialist Fright Nights has been granted exclusive access
to Alton Towers, thought to be one of the most haunted buildings in
Staffordshire. Now for the first time the public can accompany Fright
Nights and enter the mansion by night to investigate the ghosts that
are believed to haunt the ruins. The events, which run every weekend,
range from ghost tours and suppers to overnight ghost hunts. Each event
includes a special tour of the building detailing real-life experiences
and historical information researched by experts. Ghost hunting and
psychic equipment will be used to detect ghosts, and experienced
investigators and mediums will be on hand to help the public discover
the world of the paranormal.
Look at Life in Newcastle
A new permanent exhibition exploring human life has opened at the
Centre for Life in Newcastle. Our World demonstrates how humans are one
of the most 5 versatile species on earth and examines what we need to
survive, as well as exploring the ways in which humans cope with
extreme habitats and climates. From building igloos in the Arctic,
riding a rickshaw in New Delhi and searching for grubs in the desert,
Our World allows visitors to experience some of the most diverse and
challenging places on Earth. The exhibition features interactive
displays and imaginative exhibits using authentic artefacts to explain
life in contrasting environments including the Arctic, the desert and
the city. Hands-on activities include the chance to dress up in Arctic
clothing; hunt for water in the desert and explore the sounds - and
smells - from cities around the world. Our World is the first phase of
a £4.5 million refurbishment at the Centre for Life, which opened in
2000.
Web: www.life.org.uk
 The Wag and Bone Show at Windsor
The Wag and Bone Show, which takes place at Windsor Great Park on
Saturday 5 August, features a host of events and activities to delight
any dog lover. New this year are the Essex Dog Display team, Have-a-Go
agility displays and the Tellington Touch massage/behaviour technique.
Back by popular demand are the attempt on the Guinness World Record for
the most dogs sitting; the Winalot Games Zone; camping with your dog;
and Pup Idol - when talented pets show off their skills in two-minute
auditions.
Web: www.wagandboneshow.co.uk
Canal cruising with the Brontės
Visitors to the Brontė Parsonage Museum in Haworth, West Yorkshire, can
now take advantage of the county's scenic waterways by taking a
one-hour boat canal trip with an all-inclusive ticket costing £12.
Brontė Boats launched its new 53-passenger canal cruiser, Verdopolis,
to cater for the increasing number of visitors to the area. The ticket
price includes return canal cruise and entry to the Brontė Parsonage
Museum. Passengers also have the option to book private parties for
their guests with a choice of a Roast Beef or Chicken carvery, Thai,
Chinese, Indian, French, Greek, Mexican or buffet food. Speciality
evening cruises include a Medieval Night, Paella Night, Orient Express
Night and Decadent Pudding night.
Web: www.bronte.info
KING GEORGE'S PALACE REOPENS AT KEW
London's ‘hidden' royal palace, located in the Royal Botanic Gardens at
Kew, has reopened following a ten-year, £6.6 million conservation
project. Kew Palace was the favourite home of King George III, who
famously went ‘mad' with a debilitating illness called porphyria, and
his wife Queen Charlotte and their family. The palace has been returned
to this Georgian period, redecorated and furnished as the royal family
would have known it. There are some interesting artefacts, including a
wax life-mask of the king and the royal children's dolls' house -
Charlotte had 15 children. There are sound effects and moving visuals
in some rooms, as if the royal family are there, but always out of
sight. The king's ‘madness' and the various treatments used for it -
including purgatives and leeches - are explained. Visitors see the
chair in which the queen died in 1818 while upstairs are several rooms
that have been untouched for two centuries and never seen by the public
before. Kew Palace's modest layout and appearance is a stark contrast
to typical expectations of royal palaces but provides a fascinating
insight to a much loved domestic royal residence.
Website: www.hrp.org.uk
NEW LOOK FOR GLASGOW MUSEUM INCLUDES MACKINTOSH
The most visited museum outside London will reopen on July 11 following
a three-year, £28 million refurbishment. Kelvingrove Art Gallery and
Museum in Glasgow, Scotland is one of the city's most lavish Victorian
buildings, opened in 1901 and the renovation has enhanced its grandeur
- including its magnificent Main Hall, used for civic banquets --
whilst adding a new lower-ground floor and 22 thematic galleries
displaying its vast collection. Many of the galleries have a Scottish
theme, including Scottish Identity in Art; Looking at Design and
Mackintosh and the Glasgow Style. There is 50 per cent more space to
display its 8,000 objects; highlights include Salvador Dali's Christ of
St John of The Cross; Rembrandt's Man in Armour; as well as
masterpieces by Van Gogh, Whistler, Monet and Botticelli and 15th
century Milanese armour.
The link with the city's favourite son, art nouveau artist, designer
and architect Charles Rennie Mackintosh, is strong. Among the exhibits
in a Mackintosh and the Glasgow Style gallery is part of his tea-room
at Ingram Street, items of furniture, art nouveau ephemera and
artefacts from other Glaswegian artists of the period. It forms part of
a summer-long Glasgow Mackintosh Festival, with most events and
exhibitions, which are city-wide, taking place in September. The museum
and gallery, in Argyle Street, opens daily and admission is free.
Websites:www.glasgowmuseums.com;
NEW DINING PLACE AT WELSH CATHEDRAL
St. David's Cathedral, the spiritual home of Wales, boasts a stylish
new eating place (from May 1) in the form of the Refectory St. Davids
in a cleverly converted medieval hall. Breathing new life into a partly
ruined section of cathedral, it is the brain-child of restaurateur Bill
Sewell, who owns two other cafes in churches, Café @ All Saints in
Hereford and The Place Below in London. Refectory St. Davids serves
locally-sourced ingredients in a menu of homemade food, with dishes
changing with the season. Among them are Pembrokeshire lamb with roast
aubergine, haricot beans and flatbread; Solva crab and rare roast Welsh
beef; plus homemade cakes. Prices range from £1.50 for a pot of tea to
sandwiches around £4 and main meals from £6-£8. St. Davids is a small
cathedral city, a popular place of pilgrimage since the Middle Ages and
close to the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park with its spectacular
coast path. Website: www.stdavidscathedral.org.uk
WORTHING VOTED ‘PIER OF THE YEAR'
The seaside pier in the West Sussex seaside town of Worthing has been
declared Pier of the Year 2006 by Britain's National Piers Society.
Jutting into the English Channel, Worthing Pier opened in 1862 and
entertainments included a pier orchestra, roller-skating and blindfold
boxing. A violent storm cut the attraction in two in 1913 and a fire
caused serious damage in 1933, though in both cases the pier was
restored to its former glory. Amenities today include a theatre, café,
amusement arcade and a nightclub. Piers are a traditional part of the
British seaside, a chance to stroll over the sea and enjoy amusements
without getting your feet wet. Admission is usually free of charge.
Runner-up this year was Saltburn on the Yorkshire coast, Britain's most
northerly pier, and third was Southend, the world's longest.
Website: www.piers.co.uk
PUB GUIDE TO SPECIAL PLACES
The latest edition of a popular guide to the pubs of England and Wales
-- Alastair Sawday's "Special Places: Pubs and Inns" - features one
hundred new entries and a total of 620 that "stand out from the crowd".
Some of these are quirky and little-known while others are passionate
about beer (real ale), wine or champion local, seasonal and organic
food. The 450-page guide (Alastair Sawday Publishing, £13.99 from
British bookshops) features a description and practical details for all
entries, plus there are colourful maps and, towards the back of the
book, interesting ‘best for...' listings such as the pubs that are deemed
by the editors to be ‘best for real ale/ organic produce/ cheese/
views/ waterside settings/ gardens and so on. Among the recommendations
are The Pot Kiln at Frilsham, Berkshire which not only serves good food
but also brews its own beer and the 13th century Tinners Arms with its
log fires and flagstone floors at Zennor, Cornwall. D.H. Lawrence wrote
Women in Love in the hamlet.
CELEBRATING ENGLAND'S HERB GARDENS
Some of England's historic herb gardens are offering visitors the
chance to discover the culinary and medicinal benefits of herbs. A new
event at Hestercombe Gardens in Somerset will bring together an array
of herb specialists within this 18th century landscape garden designed
by Sir Edwin Luytens and planted by Gertrude Jekyll. Herbs at
Hestercombe (Sept. 9-10) will offer visitors a chance to sample and buy
products as well as talks and demonstrations from experts.
Website: www.hestercombegardens.com.
Gardener's tours and courses at some of von Essen's country house
hotels are celebrating their own herb gardens where chefs help
themselves daily for their restaurant's menus. At Congham Hall in
Norfolk, Green Finger Training Courses give an insight into the 700
herbs planted in the garden (Sept. 6, £30) and at The Greenway near
Cheltenham a Floral Demonstration and Garden tour allows guests to
taste the produce during a two course lunch (July 19, Aug. 23, £23.50).
Website: www.vonessenhotels.com.
BANK OF ENGLAND MUSEUM RE-OPENS
After a four month closure the Bank of England Museum has reopened with
a special free exhibition and a programme of events. "Pounds, Pence and
Money Boxes" (May 18-Nov. 1) explores the history and concept of money
within the historic and impressive surroundings of the UK's central
bank. On display will be one of the earliest coins in existence, Roman
gold bars and some unusual artefacts which have passed for currency
around the world including feather money from the Solomon Islands and
bricks of tea from China. There is also be a collection of 500 money
boxes and special events and activities for children. Other events at
the museum include a chance for visitors to have a 30 minute guided
tour behind the scenes of the Bank of England as part of the City of
London Festival (July 8) and Open House Weekend (Sept. 16-17).
Website: www.bankofengland.co.uk/education/museum.
COWES WEEK MARKS 180TH BIRTHDAY
The world's oldest and largest sailing regatta celebrates 180 years
this year with 1,000 boats and 8,500 sailors taking to the seas around
the Isle of Wight, off England's South Coast, in an exciting programme
of racing. Skandia Cowes Week (July 29-Aug. 5) is one of the highlights
of the English summer season and presents eight days of activities both
on and off the water including:
· The first Ladies Day at Cowes with champagne tasting and tug of war competitions.
· Hour long spectator boat trips with live commentary, enabling visitors to get a close up view of the racing (£10).
· ‘Try Sailing' -- a free one hour sailing lesson.
As well as world class racing, there is a variety of shoreside
entertainment with music and parties all week. Cowes will also be host
to 70 top international powerboats in the Cowes Powerboat Festival
(Aug. 25-27). The three day event includes the Powerboat P1 World
Championship with boats racing at speeds up to 100mph close to the
shore.
Website: www.islandbreaks.co.uk.
MARRIOTT ANNOUNCES REBIRTH OF GRAND LONDON HOTEL
One of London's most famous landmarks is to return to its original use
as a luxury hotel. The Victorian Gothic style St. Pancras Chambers,
better known as the frontage of St. Pancras Station at King's Cross --
built by Sir George Gilbert Scott in 1873 as the Midland Grand Hotel --
will reopen in January 2009 as the five-star Renaissance St. Pancras
Hotel - London. The elaborate building, with its spires, Gothic arches
and decorative stone and brickwork, is one of the capital's most
admired structures. Following a long period as offices and after lying
empty since 1988 (apart from occasional use as a film and TV location),
the planned £100 million hotel is the result of a management contract
between the Manhattan Loft Corporation and Marriott International. The
245-room hotel will be part of Marriott's flagship Renaissance brand.
St. Pancras International, behind the hotel, will be the new Eurostar
terminal for trains from Paris and Brussels from autumn 2007 and, when
the hotel opens some 15 months later, it will include two restaurants
and bars, a health and leisure centre, ballroom, meeting rooms and a
swimming pool. Several of the bedrooms and the main restaurant will be
returned to their original Victorian style (though with the addition of
bathrooms - the Midland Grand had very few) and the building exterior
will be unaltered. Many of the original features, including a
remarkable cantilevered staircase, wrought ironwork, stained glass and
Minton tiling will be restored. Work starts this summer.
LONDON CLIMAX TO TOUR OF BRITAIN RACE
One of the most exciting cycle races ever to cross Britain takes place
this summer as 96 of the world's elite cyclists battle it out on the
2006 Tour of Britain. The blue riband event consists of six stages,
starting in Glasgow, Scotland on August 29 and taking in gruelling,
scenic routes in England's Northwest, Yorkshire and West Midlands
before a new fifth stage in the South East ending in the historic Kent
city of Canterbury. The sixth and final stage (September 3) sees the
riders racing across London from Greenwich to a grand finish on The
Mall, where there is a 20-lap circuit in front of Buckingham Palace.
This leg will include much of the capital's Tour de France route
(summer 2007) including St. Paul's Cathedral, Hyde Park Corner, Marble
Arch and four Royal Parks. A great free spectacle, thousands of
spectators are expected to line the route.
Website: www.tourofbritain.co.uk
IN BRIEF...
Loo of the Year: The search is on for Britain's toilet of the year with
the annual competition to find the best places ‘to go' - and the
attendants who run them. It is being organised by the British Toilet
Association in association with a washroom supplier and the country's
national tourism bodies. Closing date for the "Loo of the Year Awards
2006" is July 31 and the results will be announced at the end of
November. Website: www.loo.co.uk
Liverpool rock venue: A Liverpool rock music venue famous for
showcasing new bands has found a new home after a two-year search. The
Picket has opened (May 27) in a £1.5 million venue in Jamaica Street,
as the focal point of the Independent District, a new cultural quarter.
An earlier Save the Picket campaign was supported by stars including
Sir Paul McCartney, Pete Townsend and Elvis Costello.
Website: www.loveliverpool.com
Hudson's 2006 guide: The latest edition of a comprehensive guide to
Britain's heritage attractions has been published. The 608-page
Hudson's Historic Houses, Gardens Castles and Heritage Sites open to
the public (Globe Pequot Press, price £12.95 from British bookshops)
contains all the practical details you could possibly require and
detailed maps. This year's book has more editorial features than
before: subjects include historic houses as film locations and the City
of London's gardens.
Website: www.hudsonsguide.co.uk
Hull marks slavery anniversary: The city of Hull will lead the UK
commemoration marking the bicentenary of the abolition of slavery in
2007. The city's Member of Parliament, William Wilberforce, led the
campaign to end the slave trade, which reached a climax in 1807. His
birthplace, Wilberforce House, reopens next year after a £3.75-million
refurbishment as the focal point of the city's commemorations.
Website: www.eastyorkshire.com
ENDS.
For further information on touring in Britain, visit the website www.visitbritain.com or phone 1300 858589
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Last Updated ( Tuesday, 18 July 2006 )
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