Travel Junkie Girl’s Summer 2018 Travels in Review

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…

Discovering Worcester on the Worcester Stands Tall Sculpture Trail

As the Worcester Stands Tall giraffe sculpture trail enters its final weekend of a 10 week run in the UK city of Worcester, I look back on how exciting my trip exploring the trail and the area was. Without a doubt, the greatest joy about these kinds of sculpture trails for me is how they introduce you to a city…

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…

Penshaw Monument: The Greek Temple of North East England

It’s taken me 7 years of regularly visiting the North East of England to finally visit Penshaw Monument. It’s situated high on a hill overlooking the city of Sunderland in the county of Tyne & Wear. From my usual base in Hartlepool where I have family, I regularly explore County Durham. I’ve seen Penshaw Monument from…

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…

A Fun-Filled Day Out at the Cheshire Steam Fair

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…

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…

Architecture in Preston: A Tour of the City Centre

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…

A Winter’s Walk at Pennington Flash, Greater Manchester

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…

How Life Has Changed With A Dog By My Side

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…

Walking Amongst the Iron Men at Crosby Beach, Merseyside

In 2005, the small coastal town of Crosby on Merseyside was placed well and truly on the map due to a very particular group of residents… 100 of them to be exact. When I first heard of the art project ‘Another Place’ that would see 100 life-size iron men positioned on Crosby Beach so it looked like they…

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…