Month: April 2015

Sunparks: a family escape on the Flanders coast

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In the Day-Glo Kid’s World soft play area, there’s a Flemish version of Black Lace’s Superman bouncing off the speakers on a Sunday morning.

The parents watching their somersaulting offspring are, I can’t help but notice, failing to keep up with the actions.

The previous evening I’d watched a man, the wrong side of 50 and dressed as a pirate, leading the kids through a rousing repertoire of Europop nursery rhymes. He topped the bravura performance with a balloon-modelling masterclass.

I never imagined myself here when – before fatherhood – I was trekking to Machu Picchu at dawn, or diving in the Red Sea. But, right now, a summer escape to family holiday resort Sunparks, located just outside De Haan on the Flanders coast, made perfect sense.

Why? My two daughters, Maya (eight) and Olivia (four) [pictured above] had smiles smeared across the faces for the whole weekend.

Sunparks is Flanders’ take on Center Parcs and, for Brits within easy access of Channel ports, offers a good-value alternative to the former’s newly opened Woburn Forest site.

The self-contained village, based around a central plaza, is geared towards primary-school-age children with a slew of playgrounds and activities, such as mini golf and bowling.

Our accommodation, a comfy if simple four-bed chalet with its own kitchen and private patio, looked a little tired but smarter lakeside chalets are also available at a premium.

Some families hire bikes on site and head off to explore the sandy beaches around the nearby resort town of Belle Époque De Han, others drive out to attractions along the 42-mile shoreline, such as the Explorado family science museum in Ostend, or Blankenberge’s Sea Life aquarium.

If you’re feeling really adventurous, you could be shopping in Bruges in under an hour.

But my girls were happy to stay on site, running the gauntlet of the wave machine and the waterslides in the Aquafun swimming centre each afternoon.

Each evening, rather than self catering, we bought tickets for the buffet and refueled on salads, steaks and apple pie, plus a selection of kids’ meals. A selection of local wheat beers kept dad in holiday mode.

Back at Kid’s World, Olivia had mobilised the toddlers to topple a Berlin Wall of play blocks, my tearaway toddler leading the French, Flemish and Dutch under-fives to forge a playgroup United Nations around soft-play furnishings.

While Euroscepticism rages in Brussels, the Superman-jiving toddlers of seaside Sunparks were finding a new family Entente Cordiale.

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Flipside Chester: Talking interview skills with Elvis

 

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Yes, that is Elvis I’m stood next to.

Not the rhinestone jumpsuit one of His Latest Flame fame, of course, but one of the presenters on Flipside, the Chester-based community radio project formerly known as Lache FM.

Flipside is back on air this weekend with a restricted service licence and I was in the studio with Elvis today to talk about my forthcoming round of media writing workshops.

We talked tips on great interview technique, getting into print and when to do a Paxman.

Check out the interview below.

 

More from Flipside.

 

Story of the week: A glimpse of life on millionaires’ row in Llandudno, North Wales

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The car turns down a narrow, private road.

We drive on, skirting the lower slopes of the Great Orme Nature Reserve to the right and catching occasional glimpses of the sea to the left.

The road narrows but the local mountain goats make way, ushering us towards a large private property set back from the road. As we approach, the hefty electronic gate swings gently back and we descend a steep drive to get our first real view of the house.

Then it strikes me. Should the villain from a James Bond film ever be looking for a stately seaside escape in North Wales, this place is ideal.

I’ve come to Plas Eithin, a spacious, four-bedroom bungalow in Llandudno’s West Shore district, not for a private audience with Blofeld, but for a look around a property on the most expensive road in Wales.

Llandudno’s Llys Helyg Drive recently beat Cardiff’s Cefn Coed Road to the top spot in a survey compiled by the property website mouseprice.com.

With individual properties, large plots, sea frontage and panoramic views across to the Snowdonia National Park, the average house price is £830,200. Plas Eithin is expected to sell for around £750,000.

“The location would even surpass than the French Riviera if only the weather was better,” smiles Bryan Davies, MD of local agents Bryan Davies & Associates, as he shows me round.

“Llys Helyg Drive has one of the most outstanding coastal locations in Wales.”

Elegant resort 

The Victorian seaside resort of Llandudno is an attractive town with a fantastic natural location and a sweeping promenade fringed by elegant, period architecture.

It’s a busy resort in summer but still retains a dignified air, thanks primarily to the efforts of freeholders Mostyn Estates, who ensure the resort’s Victorian features are carefully maintained.

The American-born travel writer Bill Bryson enjoyed his visit so much, he was moved to describe Llandudno as his “favourite seaside resort”.

The town traditionally appealed to young families and retired day-trippers but has made great strides in recent years to broaden its appeal with the opening of the Venue Cymru arts centre, a major new retail park, Parc Llandudno, and a slew of smart new places to eat and stay.

The Welsh Assembly is planning to open new offices at Llandudno Junction next year with around 300 staff relocating from Cardiff, while the extension to Oriel Mostyn Gallery, North Wales’ leading contemporary art gallery, opens later this year.

Bryan Davies identifies interest in three key types of property, reflecting the changing demographics of the town.

Three or four-bedroom family properties come with a price tag around £200,000, three-bedroom retirement bungalows are £180,000 and holiday-home apartments start from £150,00 with two bedrooms.

Llandudno offers good transport links via the A55 and M56 motorway, and regular train services connecting to London in three hours on the West Coast main line. Families are well served by two well-regarded private schools in the area, Rydal Penrhos at Colwyn Bay and St David’s College, Llandudno.

“We find people with children moving here and working in Chester or Manchester. We also have a lot of clients with connections to the area who are coming back from the Southeast, first as a holiday home but with a view to eventually retire here,” says Davies.

Transport connections 

“We chose Llandudno for the location, the way it is managed as a unspoilt British seaside resort and for the ease of public transport connections,” says Roger Pomlett, a semi-retired company secretary, who now divides his time between a two-bedroom apartment in Llandudno and the family home in Nantwich.

“Llandudno has a good mix of generations these days as the traditional trade in pensioners and coach parties is, quite literally, dying off,” he explains, as we walk through the marble hallway at Bodlondeb Castle, leather sofas framing the elaborate staircase, which leads to his second-floor apartment.

Lancashire-based Beck Homes converted this erstwhile hotel into 15 homes, nine luxury apartments and six cottages. Pomlett was one of the first to move in, buying the apartment for £380,000. An additional charge of £2,000 per annum is levied for a comprehensive maintenance package.

“This is a million miles from your average holiday flat,” says Pomlett as we sink into twin leather chairs in the lounge, a view of the West Shore and Snowdon range from the large bay window.

“Each property has an individual feel, plus the building has secure parking, which is at a premium in Llandudno,” he adds, before showing me his favorite feature, an en-suite bathroom hidden behind a secret door in the master bedroom’s build-in wardrobe.

“Our investment decision was based on our belief that Llandudno will always be a great place to live,” he says.

Boutique hotel 

Sam Nayar, the owner of Escape boutique B&B, is keen to see the resort build on work over the last few years to develop more high-end dining and accommodation options.

He moved the family from Congleton, Cheshire, five years ago, picking up a large but neglected property for £300,000. After a further £200,00 investment, he opened Escape as a nine-room guesthouse with a keen eye for design.

“Moving here was a purely lifestyle-driven choice for us. We liked the architecture and the unspoilt feel but, most of all, it felt like a great place to bring up children,” says Nayar, handling calls from a Terence Conran chair in the contemporary residents lounge.

“Unlike many seaside towns Llandudno is a year-round town with its cultural scene, its retail offer and a steady stream of business tourism with conferences at the Venue Cymru,” adds Nayar, who is now looking for another property in the area, especially as prices have fallen around five per cent since the 2007 peak.

Back at Plas Eithin, we’ve completed the viewing and I join Bryan in the garden to savior the view across to Anglesey and the fairytale turrets of Unesco-listed Conwy Castle. He looks along the headland to a neighbouring property that recently sold for over £1m.

“You can’t put a figure on what sea view adds to a property,” he smiles.

I may not have come face to face with a Bond villain on this trip, but a visit to a hidden gem in North Wales is still enough to leave me feeling both shaken and stirred.

What did you think of this story? Post your comments below.

This article was first published in the Weekend FT in 2009.

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Story of the week: On the waterfront in Liverpool

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The wind of change is blowing in off the River Mersey.

The afternoon of my visit may be darker than the trademark Scouse sense of humour, but the shifting-cityscape view from One Park West, the city’s new £60m, 17-storey residential development, testifies to Liverpool status as Britain’s renaissance city.

The northwest English city went about a major self-reinvention in the run up to its role as the 2008 European Capital of Culture.

More than 15m people attended a cultural event or attraction during the cultural jamboree and the value of tourism to Liverpool’s economy rose by 25 per cent. But can Liverpool sustain the growth?

Property developer Grosvenor, the company behind the £1bn Liverpool ONE shopping complex that adjoins One Park West, thinks so. Sales at One Park West topped £25m in the first year and Liverpool ONE now attracts 22m visitors per month.

“Confidence. That’s the difference,” says Grosvenor Projects Director Guy Butler.

“Liverpool has a can-do attitude and its people are proud of their city once more. Grosvenor has five more projects on the table over the next five years. We will be investing a further £100m in the city.”

Changing landscape 

The cityscape is certainly changing fast.

As I take a stroll along the Unesco World Heritage-listed waterfront, cranes are hovering over residential development Mann Island, due for summer completion through Countryside/Neptune, and the £72m Museum of Liverpool [pictured above], a major new cultural attraction due to open Spring 2011.

Langtree Developments are working on the regeneration of the former Liverpool Garden Festival Site, while Peel Holdings has tabled proposals for Liverpool Waters, the regeneration of 150 acres of currently redundant waterfront.

“The market was already accelerating before we won the Capital of Culture bid and we got ahead of ourselves as a city,” says Alan Bevan, Partner with estate agents City Residential.

“Today, however, the market has fallen has back from the off-plan peaks of 2007 and city-centre living is far more affordable.”

City Residential figures show the average sale price in the city centre has fallen 8.46 per cent over the last 12 months with the average city-centre and docklands prices now £134,263 and £142,525 respectively, both around nine per cent down year on year.

“While the leafy suburbs of Woolton and Allerton were popular with buyers before, the combination of increased affordability and a greatly improved infrastructure are now firmly driving sales in the city centre,” he adds.

Georgian quarter

The range of properties is broad from young-professional apartments to grand Georgian homes, albeit at far more affordable prices than London or Bath.

Popular central regions include South Ferry Quay, a dockside address where City Residential are marketing two-bed apartments with parking for £130,000, and the area around Duke Street with two-beds for £120,000.

The city’s well-preserved Georgian quarter, located between the city’s iconic twin cathedrals, boasts streets of neat, feature properties. Grade II-listed properties abound and stately five-bedroom homes attract a price tag around £500,000.

On the doorstep is the Art Deco-styled Liverpool Philharmonic Hall, home to the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, while St George’s Hall, a fine example of neo-classical architecture, hosts major cultural events a short distance from train hub, Lime Street Station.

Different values

Jacquie Rogers relocated from Brighton to Liverpool in May 2006 to head up the eight-person launch team for £164m Arena and Convention Centre (ACC) on Liverpool’s waterfront.

ACC Liverpool has since contributed £200m to the visitor economy of the city, hosting major events such as the BBC Sports Personality of the Year and the MTV Europe Music Awards in 2008; it has won the contract to bring next year’s Labour Party Conference to the city.

“Capital of Culture has brought a very European feel to Liverpool with its cafe culture,” says Rogers, who sold a three-bed, 1930’s semi on the outskirts of Brighton for £280,000. She bought a three-bedroom Victorian property with a large garden and views across the Dee Estuary on Merseyside for £320,000.

“When I first moved north, Liverpool had a negative perception but I could see the huge levels of investment pouring into the city. I realised it would be a very different city within a few years.”

Since relocating, Rogers has noticed how the market moves more slowly and properties hold their price longer compared to the south. “You do get more for your money but it’s not the case you will go from a semi to a stately home,” she says. “The quality of life is far better, however,” she says.

“I like the way people in Liverpool use their leisure time and income to enjoy life, not spent it in a frenzy of trying to achieve,” she adds.

Sunset views

Back at One Park West, Guy Butler is showing me round some of the show apartments. Buyers have an option to buy an upgrade package on top of the sale price, whereby the property is designed, fitted and furnished by an interior designer.

We peruse space-saving ideas in a yellow-Tartan studio flat with a pull-down bed (just sold for £120,000), while a three-bedroom corner suite in turquoise and chrome, featuring floor-to ceiling windows and a white grand piano John Lennon would doubtless approve of, is being marketed for £415,000 through King Sturge. Other One Park West features include a 24-hour gym, concierge service and a private roof terrace.

Around 50 of the original 326 apartments are still for sale with prices starting from £90,000 for a studio to £165,000 for a two bed.

“Clients range from young entrepreneurs seeking a city bolthole to well-heeled parents providing student digs with a view while their offspring study at one of the city’s universities,” explains Guy.

One postgraduate enjoying the view from his non-traditional student digs is 22-year-old Henry Brown, the son of a commodities broker from Hong Kong, who is studying Physics at Liverpool University.

While other students are shivering by one-bar electric fires in bedsits, Jones moved into a £350,000, three-bedroom apartment at One Park West in June 2009.

“I spent three months looking around but this pace stood out,” he says. “It makes financial sense. I think this place will not just hold its value, it will increase over the next ten years given the investment in the city.”

“Nothing beats coming home, opening the blinds and watching the sunset over the city with a few drinks.”

What did you think of this story? Post your comments below.

This article was first published in the Weekend FT in 2010.

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