UnB&Believable facts and figures

Britain’s 25,000 B&Bs are today (March 24) celebrating the renaissance of their £2 billion ‘’cottage industry’’. It’s the inaugural National B&B Day and the small, independent accommodation providers are uniting to mark their vital role in the UK’s cultural life, ahead of what could be a bumper summer. The concept of a reliable, comfortable place…

Llyn Peninsula, north Wales

Sitting outside the Ty Coch Inn, drink in hand, we could see why it was voted the third best beach bar in the world in a recent survey. The taste of our specially brewed 6.5% Ty Coch cider was enhanced by the views across to the Yr Eifl mountain range and Snowdonia beyond, as the…

Northumberland

It was like a scene from the classic but gory animated film Watership Down… A large family of rabbits were happily hopping about and munching the grass around our holiday home when suddenly a cat appeared. The rabbits scattered into the bushes but one baby bunny was too slow and was last seen flailing in…

Newquay, Cornwall

It might sound like the sort of place a stag party ends up at, but there’s nothing seedy about Newquay’s Lusty Glaze. In fact, as beaches go, it’s one of the classiest; where the ‘fashionable’ might go to top up their tans while sipping on a Mai Tai. And, I’m sad to report, nobody’s eyes…

Perranporth, Cornwall

The thousands of families who holiday each year at Cornwall’s Perran Sands resort probably don’t realise their caravans stand next to one of Britain’s earliest places of Christian worship. Back in the sixth century, so the story goes, tribal kings in Ireland grew afraid of the power and influence of a holy man named Piran (or Perran), who…

St Ives, Cornwall (review published 2016)

World record holder Jonathan Edwards could have almost hopped, skipped and jumped from our holiday home to the beach. I reckon Usain Bolt could have sprinted to the golden sands in about four seconds, the 90 degree left turn slowing him down somewhat. And it would have taken the sprinter only slightly longer to have…

Bournemouth, Dorset (review published 2016)

New Year, in the eyes of many, is a time to dig out the tracksuit and work off those Christmas calories. But this Scrooge-like tradition is not one I adhere to. I much prefer to keep the festive chocs coming and the booze flowing for as long as possible. Which is why the offer of…

Robin Hood’s Bay, Yorkshire (review published 2016)

We didn’t get off to the best of starts, me and Robin Hood’s Bay. Within minutes of setting foot in the Yorkshire fishing village I’d taken a direct hit from a seagull’s messy missile. I tried to laugh the incident off but as I removed my poo-soaked sunglasses I could tell that my four-year-old daughter…

Snowdonia (review published 2015)

It was full steam ahead on a journey back in time during our long weekend in Snowdonia. The Caffery clan spent both the Saturday and the Sunday enjoying the Welsh national park’s magnificent scenery from the gleaming carriages of two great little railways. First up was the The Welsh Highland Railway, a 25-mile track between…