A post-lockdown visit to the National Memorial Arboretum, Staffordshire
March 30, 2021Here’s a new concept: the post-lockdown day out. With restrictions easing, but overnights stays still off limits until April 12, I made a day trip to the National Memorial Arboretum (NMA), the year-round centre for remembrance in Staffordshire. As an outdoor attraction, the Arboretum has managed to remain open throughout lockdowns and,… Read more
How to celebrate St Patrick’s Day by climbing Ireland’s holiest mountain
March 17, 2021Today marks St Patrick’s Day. Normally I’d be raising a glass of the black stuff to celebrate. But, like everything else, it looks be a bit different this year with Visit Ireland live streaming the craic via YouTube. But, pre Covid, I had celebrated the big day in the west… Read more
A pilgrimage in the footsteps of the ancient saints for St Davids Day
March 1, 2021Today is St David’s Day, so Dydd Gŵyl Dewi Hapus! I made a pre-lockdown pilgrimage to Bardsey Island [pictured] in North Wales to follow in the footsteps of the ancient saints. Here’s an extract from my latest travel-writing feature, published today. When Pope Callixtus II decreed three pilgrimages to Bardsey… Read more
Travel Trends: The rise of the high-tech tourist guide marks a new frontier
February 15, 2021February 21 marks International Tourist Guide Day, celebrating tourist guides as cultural ambassadors for their home regions. But guides — and that’s me pictured above, leading a ghost tour of Chester — haven’t had much to celebrate of late. As tourism fell victim to the pandemic, many guides found their… Read more
How to celebrate Darwin Day in Shrewsbury
February 11, 2021He is one of our brightest scientific minds. His hometown of Shrewsbury marks his birthday on February 12 each year by hosting an international festival of natural sciences. And his 1859 book, On the Origin of Species, forms the basis of our understanding of evolution. But the naturalist Charles Darwin… Read more
How to celebrate St Dwynwen’s Day in Anglesey, North Wales
January 25, 2021Today marks St Dwynwen’s Day, the Welsh equivalent of Valentine’s Day. The love action is focused on Llanddwyn Island [pictured above], a remote headland off the tip of Anglesey, where Dwynwen founded her spiritual Shangri-La in the 5th century. It’s a place to celebrate new-found love and soothe the soul… Read more
How to take a walk in the footsteps of the Northern Saints
January 14, 2021* This post was written pre lockdown * One name keeps coming up in County Durham: Cuthbert. “St Cuthbert is woven into the landscape of the Northeast. There were times when the pilgrims couldn’t get to his shrine as it was so crowded.” Charlie Allen, Canon Chancellor of Durham Cathedral, is… Read more
Why a virtual tour of Manchester is the best way to celebrate Corrie at 60
December 9, 2020A British institution reaches the age to collect its bus pass today. It’s not a person but a TV series, one that has reflected the changing fortunes of Manchester from gritty, post-industrial monochrome to modern cultural colossus. It has celebrated ordinary lives lived large, survived countless traumas and even launched… Read more
The North Wales town expecting an unexpected I’m A Celebrity tourism boom
November 17, 2020Never mind Jordan North’s happy place. The only place to be right now is a small market in North Wales with a Grade I-listed castle. The reason? Gwrych Castle on the edge of Abergele is hosting the ITV series I’m A Celebrity following a Covid-enforced relocation from the Australian jungle.… Read more