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…
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…
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.…
”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…
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…
Railway enthusiasts or young fans of Thomas The Tank Engine can live the dream at a new holiday home in Worcestershire. Platform Three, in Malvern Link, is part the former station master’s house and our two children loved playing the ‘Fat Controller’ as the trains pulled up right outside. During our weekend stay, they never…
Kew Gardens is so vast that it’s difficult to see everything in one visit. You really need to get there for when the gates open at 10am, but getting to the capital that early is never easy, especially with kids in tow. So why not make a weekend of it by staying nearby on a…
EGGS & soldiers have been a favourite lunch time snack of mine for as long as I can remember, but until recently I had never been tempted to have it for pudding. Curiosity got the better of me when I noticed it on the dessert menu at the Pickled Hen restaurant in London, and two…
YOU don’t need to catch a plane to bask on the golden sands of Tahiti. You can get there by boat – and in less than a day – from the UK. I kid you not. Of course, this isn’t the Tahiti of exotic French Polynesia in the South Pacific that has captured the imagination…
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…
