You know the scene, it’s Friday afternoon and friends at work start asking what you’ve got planned for the weekend. ‘’I’m off to Basingstoke,’’ I excitedly revealed. Eyebrows were raised. Basingstoke? Really? Why? Was I visiting relatives? Did I have a wedding to attend? Had I simply lost my marbles? The north Hampshire town, I…
We’d stayed in an apartment with a lovely sea view and we’d stayed in an apartment with a cosy log fire. But until recently, my wife and I had never stayed in an apartment built on the orders of the Pope on the very spot where a bona fide miracle had taken place. The apartment,…
With just months until my 40th birthday, I was on the look-out for a good midlife crisis to strike fear into my wife. Should I buy a sports car? No, I haven’t the money. Should I take up an extreme sport? No, I haven’t the bottle. Should I have an affair with a much younger…
Ascending the Langdale Pikes in the Lake District we suddenly realised that we’d have to ford a stream if we were to reach the top. The family walking ahead of us, including a girl of about seven, managed to negotiate the fast-flowing waters, so it couldn’t be that difficult, we thought. But when we reached…
Beep, beep. ”Who’s that beeping?’’ asked my mum as dawn broke on the first morning of our boating break. Beeep, beeep. ‘’There they go again,’’ said the 70-year-old, who was putting on her face in her tiny bedroom, curtains drawn. Beeeep, beeeep. ”I don’t know who they’re beeping at,’’ my mum shouted to my wife,…
It was like watching a scene from one of those wonderful David Attenborough wildlife documentaries. The 20-strong group of common seals were resting on a mud flat in the middle of Loch Fleet, a tidal basin in north-east Scotland. Suddenly, they all took the plunge, swimming with the tide as it began to ebb towards…
The sun was beating down on the wide stretch of pristine, white sands. The still, turquoise waters looked so inviting that I just couldn’t resist the urge to strip off and take the plunge. Then reality struck. This may have been a kind of paradise – but it certainly wasn’t a tropical one. This wasn’t…
The sign warned that we climbed the wobbly wooden staircase to the top of the medieval tower at our own risk. But the hint of danger only served to fire our imagination and with every step we were entering deeper into the realms of King Arthur and Robin Hood. After safely negotiating the staircase, we…
You know you’re staying somewhere classy when even rock gods are turned away for having the wrong attire. Led Zeppelin star Robert Plant suffered this indignity at the hands of Joan Reen, general manager and erstwhile owner of Ynyshir Hall in west Wales. Joan recalled the story to my wife and I during a wonderful…
There was a time when people starved to death in the dungeons of medieval castles. But there’s no fear of that ever happening again at Dalhousie Castle, a magnificent 13th century fortress near Edinburgh. In 1972, the castle was converted into a romantic hotel and its stone, barrell-vaulted dungeon is now a restaurant with two…
Holidaying Hack 