2020 was the first time the Blackpool Illuminations were extended beyond their usual two month duration, which meant this free awesome spectacle carried on lighting up the Lancashire coast into early January, bringing a bit of extra Christmas cheer to the festive period. The decision was made this year (2022) to extend the illuminations for the third consecutive year to…
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One thing I think we all did in 2020 is to get outside more and explore the area near to where we live. For me, this area is Warrington in Cheshire, situated half way between the big northern cities of Manchester and Liverpool. Surrounding Warrington are some lovely landscapes and excellent opportunities to explore the great outdoors. One of those…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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Well, the last couple of months have not been a barrel of laughs that’s for sure and not just because of Covid-19. In my last post I discussed how I was coping with the Coronavirus lockdown situation and what I was doing to stay positive. Unfortunately less than a week after I published it, Mr TJG and I…
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Surely one of the most magical things in the world is waking up to a scene you look at every day and seeing it covered in a blanket of pristine white snow. This comes from a place where snow is not a regular occurrence. Normally I’m in the camp where the thought process goes: “it’s beautiful as long…
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Although I have my favourite places to walk amongst fallen leaves, I always like to visit somewhere new during autumn. It’s the season when our landscape turns all shades of orange, red and gold and I just love it! I’ve previously visited England’s Herefordshire woodlands during autumn, in particular Queenswood Country Park and Arboretum which…
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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…
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It’s no secret to anyone who knows me or follows me on social media that autumn is my favourite time of year! Mainly because of how beautiful our earth looks cloaked in its fiery autumnal coloured coat, from bright yellows and shimmering gold, through orangery ochre’s to brilliant scarlet and rusty russet. Nothing beats sunny autumn days crunching…
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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…
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A New Year heralds a new start – we make New Year resolutions and often we find ourselves setting those same goals as last year… to lose weight, to get fit, to stop smoking, to fulfil dreams…. If you’ve had a bad year, we hope and pray that things will be different, things will be better…
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