All travel posts in the north west of England
I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve visited Speke Hall over the last 8 years since it became my most local National Trust property. I’ve seen it in all seasons and all weathers and I still love returning. However, with the current Coronavirus situation I knew this visit would be very different…
Following on from my last post where I visited Sutton Manor Woodlands, I’m visiting neighbouring site Clock Face Country Park which is located on the southern edge of St Helens in Merseyside and has far reaching views across Merseyside, Lancashire and Cheshire. At 57 acres in size, Clock Face is a nice compact country park that is well worth…
The ‘Dream’ sculpture at Sutton Manor woodlands is a 20 metre high sculpture that resembles a girl’s face located on the former site of Sutton Manor Colliery in St Helens, Merseyside. Constructed in 2009, it was designed by world-renowned artist Jaume Plensa and can be seen from miles around. It sits amongst newly established woodlands and…
Christmas time would not be the same without the adorable Raymond Briggs animation The Snowman. It was certainly a Christmas staple for me; as quintessential as the Turkey roast, the giving and receiving of gifts and the drinking of sherry. It tends to be shown on TV on Christmas Eve afternoon and I never once made it through watching without…
Autumn is my favourite season of the year for lots of reasons. The heat of the summer is over and the long cold nights haven’t drawn in yet either. It’s one of the shoulder seasons for travelling which means lower prices and quieter tourist areas (always a bonus!) However, my main reason is the fact the trees turn…
It is hard to comprehend what seeing 100,000 knives in one place would look like and with the best will in the world, I’m not sure anyone could have imagined the Knife Angel would be the result. When I knew the Knife Angel sculpture was going to be in my local city of Liverpool, I knew I had…
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…
This is what happens when you give a team of ice sculptors 4 months and 4000 litres of water to play with…or maybe you can visualise it better in terms of tonnes of ice: over 250 of them! The Manchester Ice Cavern is part of Britain’s very first dedicated Ice Village. It opened in November 2018…
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…
Established over 30 years ago, the Cheshire Steam Fair is one of the biggest steam events in the north west of England. Held on a large site in the village of Daresbury, near Warrington in North Cheshire, the fair pulls an audience from far and wide. Living in Warrington, you see signs go up well in advance, so I finally…
One of my favourite things to do when visiting a city is to wander round looking at all the fantastic architecture. It doesn’t matter which city I go to, there’s always some exciting and unique buildings to discover. The architecture in Preston was no different. I hate to admit I knew very little about Preston prior…
Pennington Flash is a lovely place to walk at any time of year, but here’s how I ended up visiting in winter and why it’s a great time to visit, especially with my pooch Roger. The ‘Beast from the East’ at Pennington Flash Signs of spring are finally here, the temperatures are improving, the…