Sherwood Forest, Nottinghamshire

Spending peaceful evenings gazing up at the stars I came to understand the appeal of Sherwood Forest to Robin Hood and his band of Merry Men. After a hard day robbing from the rich to give to the poor the outlaw would rest under the branches of the Major Oak (or inside the tree if…

Cotswold Water Park

There can be few more appropriately named streets than the two we came across on a weekend away – Happy Land and Bow Wow. The former, in the Wiltshire village of Ashton Keynes, overlooks a playground where our two children spent a (for want of a better word) happy half hour. The latter is a…

Croyde Bay, Devon

The thought of taking the family on a winter break in a caravan had always left me cold. I had visions of us all cuddling together in one bed to keep warm while the caravan wobbled in the wind like a bowl full of jelly. But mobile homes have come a long way in recent…

Brittany, France

You just can’t beat palming your kids off on another family while on a camping holiday! Our two children were quick to make new friends and every day after tea they would go to neighbouring caravans to play.Which meant Mum and Dad could relax in the setting sun, glass of wine in hand, gathering our…

South Devon

A little piece of south Devon is leading the fight back against the modern day scourge of computer games, phones and Netflix. Self-catering destination Beyond Escapes is harking back to a simpler time when the biggest thrill a child could have was building a den in the great outdoors. Den-making kits, including ropes, groundsheet, camouflage…

Alton Towers, Staffordshire

It’s always a bit of a balancing act for parents of young children in early autumn. You want them to join in the Halloween fun but you don’t want them so scared that they climb into your bed complaining of nightmares. Scarefest at Staffordshire theme park Alton Towers has always been the go-to attraction for…

Pembrokeshire, Wales

Moving the mosquito net to one side, we rolled out of the four-poster bed in our safari tent, excited about the animal adventures that lay ahead. Later, just a ten-minute drive away, we got up close to some of the area’s magnificent wildlife – giraffes, lions, rhinos, zebras and those lovable meerkats. But rather than…

Filey, Yorkshire

Do you remember the awful weather that swept the country at Easter time? Well, we were among those poor unfortunates who had booked a family ‘staycation’ during the school holidays. But as I drove past snow-covered fields and through flooded roads there was no fear that the weather would stop us having an action-packed break.…

Bodmin, Cornwall

”Look, Daddy,” said my three-year-old son during our visit to Bodmin Jail, ”that man is ironing that lady’s hair.” He was starring at life-size models recreating the moment a certain James Holman killed his wife by striking her a blow with a smoothing iron. Holman was hanged for the crime at the jail in 1854. ”He’s straightening…

Ribby Hall, near Blackpool, Lancashire

Eyebrows were raised when American superstar Britney Spears revealed she was to perform in Blackpool later this year. It’s certainly hard to imagine the (hit me) Baby One More Time  singer staying in one of the popular seaside resort’s countless B&Bs. ​But just out of town is the North-west’s only five-star holiday village which I’m…