Tag: heritage

Is Bangor, North Wales, really the worts seaside resort in Great Britain?

Photos 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 story:

For a vision of Bangor’s Victorian heyday, take a stroll down Bangor’s Garth Pier.

Designed as a promenading pier in 1896, the 1,500ft structure offers glimmering views across the Menai Straits to Beaumaris and to Telford’s historic Menai Suspension Bridge.

The Grade II-listed pier was named National Piers Society’s Pier of the Year in 2022, its 125th anniversary, and has survived trials from being threatened with demolition to terrible damage by the SS Christina cargo ship, which broke its moorings in 1914.

Read the full story via Telegraph Travel: Is Bangor really the worst seaside town in Britain?

Liked this? Try also: How to spend a weekend in Southport, Merseyside.

How to spend a weekend in the Cheshire town of Macclesfield, home of Joy Division

To 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 has become a pilgrimage for music fans and the mural of Joy Division singer Ian Curtis, painted by the Manchester-based artist Akse [pictured above], has firmly put Macclesfield on the tourism map.

Curtis lived in the town and died by suicide at his home on Barton Street in 1980. Local independent tourist guide, Trevor Stokes (email [email protected], or call 07446 771752) runs a tour of associated sites.

Throughout the two-hour tour (by donation), Trevor interweaves the narrative about Curtis’ life with his own family story, both growing up on local estates in the Seventies.

The most moving stop is Curtis’ simple grave beside Macclesfield Crematorium, one of the locations featured in Anton Corbijn’s 2007 film Control.

The tour ends at Proper Sound, a record store and cafe with a collection of Joy Division memorabilia.

Read the full story via the iNewspaper: Macclesfield: the market town with a community pub and musical pedigree

Liked this? Try also: Jodrell Bank: travel content for the Boundless magazine centenary issue

The best places to celebrate Cheshire Day across my home region

To mark Cheshire Day, I was commissioned by Marketing Cheshire to write a guest blog post for their public-facing website for visitors.

The blog includes references to some of the attractions across the region from Chester via Crewe to Macclesfield with its former Art Deco cinema turned food court [pictured above].

Here’s a taster of the text:

March 30 marks the date the county was given its own Charter of Liberties by King Edward I in 1300 — in effect its very own Magna Carta.

Wiley Cheshire had managed to agree its own, separate charter to the 1215 document, designed to prevent the king from exploiting his power, thanks to Ranulf le Meschin, the hard-bargaining, third Earl of Chester.

And, while the exact date is subject to some debate, it reflects the long history of Cheshire as a place of national status.

Read the full post via the Marketing Cheshire blog

I’m available for content writing and gust blog posts.

Dark Chester runs special spooky tours for Chester Heritage Festival

 

Image: Stuart Robinson Photography [www.stuartrobinson.photography] 

Dark Chester ran some special walking tours as part of the Chester Heritage Festival this month.

Each time, we finished the regular tour by doing something we’ve ever done before: going into a Chester building to hear a spooky story first hand.

First up was a visit to the restaurant Carbonara on Bridge Street Row.

Here, the owner, Sam, shared with us his experience of discovering the haunting of the wood-panelled upper room when he first moved into the building.

The second of the special tours took us to Huxley’s, the cafe-bar beside Chester’s famous Eastgate Clock.

Neil, the owner, talked about the history of the building and his family connection to the Freemen of Chester, who had earlier that day joined the city’s Midsummer Watch Parade.

Look out for more Dark Chester special tours coming this autumn as thoughts turn to Halloween.

More from the Chester Heritage Festival in the Our Heritage section.

Liked this? Then read Dark Chester collaborates with My Haunted Hotel.