Is Bangor, North Wales, really the worts seaside resort in Great Britain?
August 5, 2024Photos via Paul Cooper Photography To Bangor, Wales, last week for a feature for Telegraph Travel. The North Walian resort was voted the worst in Britain by readers of Which magazine but is it really so bad — or is the tag a complete misnomer? Here’s a sample from my… Read more
How to spend a Great British seaside weekend in Southport, Merseyside
July 7, 2024To Southport, the Paris of Merseyside for my contribution from the Northwest to a summer series from Telegraph Travel about British seaside towns. Here’s my take on Southport, including a visit to Southport Market [pictured above]. Southport feels like a resort waiting for something — and preferably not another Poundland.… Read more
How to follow the official Harry Styles tour of Holmes Chapel, Cheshire
June 9, 2024To Holmes Chapel, east Cheshire for an unlikely musical pilgrimage in an equally unlikely location. I joined a sneak preview of the new Harry Styles Harry’s Home Village Tour [pictured above], which launched this weekend. Read a sample from my article here: When we finally arrived at the Twemlow Viaduct,… Read more
How to spend a weekend in the Cheshire town of Macclesfield, home of Joy Division
May 24, 2024To east Cheshire for a travel guide to Macclesfield, the market town with a musical heritage. My favourite part of my journey was a tour of sites associated with the singer and lyricist, Ian Curtis, of the band Joy Division. Read this extract as a taster of the feature: Macclesfield… Read more
How to spend a weekend in North Shropshire’s Oswestry and Ironbridge
May 11, 2024I spent a couple of days recently in the North Shropshire region, visiting the town of Oswestry with its deli-cafe Niche [pictured above] and the nearby World Heritage Site at Ironbridge. The story appeared in this weekend’s iNewspaper travel section. Read an extract here: This border market town is a… Read more
How to mark the bicentenary of the death of Lord Byron in Nottinghamshire
April 28, 2024My Lord Byron feature appeared in print in the Daily Mail travel section last week. The story was based around a visit to Newstead Abbey in Nottinghamshire [pictured above]. The original copy was edited for space, so here’s my first draft of the article below. He was notorious for drinking… Read more
A weekend away at a stately pile fit for a Prime Minister in North Wales
February 7, 2024He was a four-time British prime minister and dominant figure of the Victorian era. Clashing regularly in Parliament with his arch-rival Disraeli, he was described by Queen Victoria as a “half-mad firebrand”. But a weekend visit to his ancestral estate in North Wales reveals his lesser-known passions for literature and… Read more
Why a Peak District village is the UK’s best place for the real Christmas spirit
December 29, 2023A festive, pre-Christmas break in the heart of the Peak District National Park. I was on assignment for Telegraph Travel to find the real spirit of Christmas away from the tacky gifts and gimmicky light shows. Here’s a taster of the text: Castleton’s tight-knit community grew from the building of… Read more
How to spent a winter-warmer weekend in Wrexham, North Wales
December 29, 2023A winter weekend in Wrexham. I was on assignment for the iNewspaper travel section as part of its Winter Weekend series. The North Wales city is an unlikely hot ticket for a UK city break in 2024 — and not just for football fans. Here’s a taster of the text:… Read more