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…
As we emerge from lock-down and pubs, restaurants and tourist attractions start opening up once again, not to mention in demand hairdressers, I’m sure like me you’re itching to get out and about a bit more. As foreign holidays are still largely off the cards for the time being, the Great British staycation is expecting…
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…
A new year and lots of new things to look forward to… But it’s also that time of year when you look back over the previous year and take stock: what happened – the good and the bad. There’s plenty of 2019 that I’m glad to see the back of including lots of ill health. However…
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…
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…
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…
Autumn is definitely here to stay – the fleeces, scarves and boots are out and the heating is set to come on for when we wake up (yes, I’ve finally done that for the first time since April!) But while I’m planning autumnal walks amongst crisp fallen leaves while collecting conkers, I’m taking a look…