this is a page for

Category: Reviews

#massisolationFORMAT Exhibition at Derby Museum & Art Gallery

Anger, despair, lethargy, isolation, love, community, gratitude, indifference, helplessness, hopelessness, resilience, heartbreak, loneliness, creativity, turmoil, fear, anxiety, kindness, hope… If you recognise this tumultuous range of emotions as a summary of the last 18 months, then you are not alone. The Covid-19 pandemic has thrown us all onto an emotional rollercoaster with the ups and downs of wading through…

Potfest in the Park Ceramics Festival at Hutton-in-the-Forest

Set against the beautiful backdrop of Hutton-in-the-Forest on the edge on the Lake District National Park, I finally got to experience the exciting creative event of ‘Potfest in the Park’  back in 2020. This fabulous annual ceramics festival has been going since 2001 and it had been on my radar ever since doing ceramics as part of…

Amy’s Courtyard & Gallery: Macclesfield’s Hidden Gem

It’s not often that I venture into my old home town of Macclesfield since moving away 8 years ago. I mean – my parents live in the area so I’m always back and forth, but I don’t have much call to visit the town centre. Until that is: August 2020 came round, and I found myself in Macclesfield…

Why I Love Staying at Best Western Hotels in the UK

After watching the recent 3-part Channel 4 TV programme: ‘A Very British Hotel Chain’ and I have to say thoroughly enjoying it, I decided to put together my thoughts on Best Western hotels and why I love staying at them so much. I’ve been a Best Western Rewards card holder for the last 5 years and in that…

Top 18 Travel Experiences of 2018

Oh 2019, you came around so quickly… I don’t know where the end of 2018 disappeared to and now its half way through January! It does mean one thing however: it’s time to look back at what I’ve been up to throughout the year. This time last year I wrote about my Top…

Barristers Restaurant at The Courthouse, Knutsford: Reviewed

I recently had the pleasure of dining at Barristers Restaurant at The Courthouse in Knutsford after been invited along to try out the new winter’s menu. Being December, it was a fabulously festive treat without being another Christmas dinner. The food was delicious and the setting luxurious. Disclaimer: I was invited to review the new winter’s menu and…

Following the Hoodwinked Sculpture Trail in Nottingham

Sculpture trail season has started in earnest with birds and animals flooding in to various cities around the UK like Noah’s animals to the ark. July has seen penguins take to the streets of Dundee, giraffes to Worcester, hares to Norwich, bees to Manchester, owls to Bath and Wallace and Gromit characters to Bristol. But if you’re going…

Harris Museum and Art Gallery: Preston, Lancashire

The phrase “You Learn Something New Every Day” springs to mind when I think of my trip to the Harris Museum and Art Gallery in Preston. But actually it was more like ‘many things’! Who knew Preston was the birthplace of the UK’s motorway network? The creator of teetotalism? Home to the tallest church in England that…

On the Let’s Go Quackers Sculpture Trail in Ironbridge, Shropshire

May 2018 has seen an extraordinary group of residents fly in to Ironbridge to take up perch. This World Heritage landscape in Shropshire has become a little more colourful with the arrival of the Let’s Go Quackers sculpture trail – a flock of 10 oversized ducks sporting vibrant and jazzy plumage. Guaranteed to bring a smile to your face, this…

Top 17 Travel Experiences of 2017

Looking back at 2017, I’ve had some amazing experiences and been to some incredible places. My plans may have had to change a bit from my original hopes for the year and from February onwards I had to stay in my home country, but all that has meant is I’ve gotten to discover more great things about the…

Visit The Best Farm Shop in Cheshire: The Hollies

The Hollies… the Hollies…the Hollies! I’d heard of this famed place from the lips of several friends over the years, but not living that close to it although in the same county, I’d never been. Then this year I ended up driving past the original Hollies at Little Budworth twice when I went to explore…

Afternoon Tea at Wynyard Hall, County Durham

One of my first go-to plans for celebrating a birthday is afternoon tea! So when it comes to a joint celebration of my own and my mother-in-law’s (just a couple of weeks apart) it calls for something special. At some point around our birthdays I usually end up in Hartlepool (where my husband’s family lives…