Tag: travel writing

Dark Chester highlights dark tourism trend in Cheshire Life magazine feature

Dark Chester was featured in the April issue of Cheshire Life magazine [pictured above].

I wrote a feature about  the rise of dark tourism in Chester and how my tour taps into this trend to explore the darker side of our history.

Here’s an extract:

Dark Chester is a storytelling walking tour of the city, which traces a journey through all periods of Chester history from the Romans to The Beatles.

It highlights some of our lesser-known stories, such as tales of Viking Chester and the Anglo-Saxon fortification of Chester as a burh, a defended settlement.

It also spotlights some of the lesser-known figures from our history, such as Aethelflaed, the daughter of Alfred the Great, and St Werburgh, whose relics were said to be paraded around the city walls during raids by the Welsh.

The focus is dark history. By exploring the dark side, the tour reflects the growing interest in dark tourism, or visits to places associated with dark tales.

As Dr Philip Stone of the Institute for Dark Tourism Research, explains in his book, 111 Dark Places in England that You Shouldn’t Miss:

“Dark tourism allows us to sightsee in the mansions of the dead, while having deference to those deceased.”

Read more at Cheshire Life magazine.

Liked this? Then read Take a walk on the dark side for the BGTG blog.

Sign up for my new online travel writing course with City Academy

Have you always wanted to break into travel writing? Or want to expand your freelance portfolio post lockdown?

I am leading a new online travel writing course in collaboration with City Academy.

The course runs for six weeks online from May 25 and is scheduled for a Tuesday evening.

Here’s what to expect:

  • Learn to generate the kind of ideas editors want
  • Identify appropriate story angles
  • Learn how to pitch commissioning editors with your ideas
  • Plan, structure and write a draft story
  • Explore networking opportunities with the travel industry and build profile
  • Establish a community of editors and start earning money

Sign up here. And read more about my teaching here.

Plus find details of other writing courses from City Academy here.

Why my postcard from Llandudno has a taste of seaside nostalgia

It was a weekend of seaside nostalgia.

We took a trip to Llandudno last weekend to write a postcard from the North Walian resort for Telegraph Travel.

But it was also something of a personal journey.

I used to go to Llandudno on family holidays as a child — that’s me aged around five with my mum on the prom at the North Shore [pictured above].

This time I was back with my own two daughters for a UK seaside break after our original holiday plans were cancelled under lockdown.

But how would an old-school seaside resort shape up for two Tick Tock teens?

Here’s a taster of my story:

The collapse of air bridges has led to the North Wales coast enjoying a post-lockdown bonanza.

We find Landudno’s pebbly North Beach busy with rockpool paddlers, despite some rather menacing clouds over the Great Orme, and the cafés along Mostyn Street bustling with al-fresco diners seeking Cymru-sur-mer vibes.

“People are hungry for good food they don’t have to prepare and clean up afterwards,” says Michael Waddy, Executive Chef at the Empire Hotel.

Read the full story here.

How to get into travel writing — via Zoom

The landscape looks pretty different since my last post.

Global events have overtaken normal life and we’re all now staying home to protest out precious NHS.

It’s easy to hide under the duvet at times like these but, as a long-standing freelancer, I know it means I need to change, adapt and evolve my working life.

I had a writing workshop lined up in Chester later this month, offering my insider tips from the coalface of freelance travel writing.

Obviously we couldn’t now meet physically. But one of the delegates inspired me with her positivity to not cancel the event. Instead we did it by Zoom.

I prepared a short PowerPoint and did two Zoom sessions with some homework set between the two online tutorials.

It’s a very different way of teaching for me from my usual workshops and university lectures but it proved yet again that adaptability is a cornerstone of freelance life.

I’m available for travel writing workshops and tutorials — both online and, eventually, in person.

Contact me if you would like to take part in a future workshop.