Tag: UK holidays

How to spend a Great British seaside weekend in Southport, Merseyside

To 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.

“But exploring the backstreets offers its reward.

Personally, I could happily spend an afternoon mooching around the Victorian arcades with the twin-level Wayfarers Arcade, built in 1898, a study in wrought iron and glass.

Cambridge Arcade has been restored to its 1850s glory with a glass canopy now shielding local businesses, such as Mersey micropub, the Tap and Bottle.

A craft ale bar and bottle shop, the sign outside proclaims it ‘good enough for John Cooper Clarke and the guy from Countryfile (not John Craven)’.”

Read the full story via Telegraph Travel: Southport feels like a resort waiting for something to happen.

Liked this? Try also: I joined the offical Harry Styles walking tour of his home village.

 

A slow-travel journey along the North Wales Way reveals hidden gems

 

 

A summer assignment for Wanderlust Magazine took me on a slow-travel odyssey along the North Wales Way.

It’s one of three new routes devised by Visit Wales to look afresh at regions most people think they already know.

In terms of North Wales, visitors often drive from the North Wales border outside Chester to the tip of Anglesey in a day. But they’re missing out.

Here’s a flavour of my feature:

Unesco-listed castles and picture-postcard villages; stone-skimming beaches and ancient Celtic sites; plus, some of the best in local produce from independent food champions proud of their region’s natural bounty. It’s time to look afresh at North Wales.

The journey took in the new interpretation at Caernarfon Castle [pictured above], Plas Newydd on Anglesey and Beddglert before heading onto Conwy and Llandudno.

My trip ended with a preview of Skyflier, the much-anticipated new attraction in Rhyl from the Zip World group.

Over coffee pre departure. founder Sean Taylor enthused:

“Rhyl is a sleeping giant. It was the bucket-and-spade seaside town of my childhood but could become North Wales’ answer to New Zealand’s South Island.”

Read the full feature, Waking a Sleeping Giant, in the new issue of Wanderlust Magazine here.

How to explore the traditional seaside town of Criccieth in Wales

A trip to Criccieth, the old-school seaside town in North Wales, earlier in the summer.

The assignment for the i Newspaper formed part of a summer series about classic British resorts.

The story was published last weekend and outlines ideas for a weekend away by the seaside, including a visit to Criccieth’s historic castle [pictured above] and dining at Dylan’s restaurant.

Plus, I popped into nearby Portmeirion, the fairytale village that will celebrate its centenary in 2026.

Read the full story via the i Newspaper Criccieth: the North Wales seaside town with a craggy castle

Why the Chester Mystery Plays should be on your cultural radar this summer

Players, makers and stitchers of the 2023 Chester Mystery Plays Company (image: Chester Mystery Plays).

The Chester Mystery Plays return to Chester Cathedral this summer, the season coinciding with the Chester Heritage Festival.

The production comprises a huge cast of professional and non-professional performers (pictured above), many volunteering for roles on stage, in the choir, or behind the scenes.

I wrote a preview of the production, based around an interview with the actor Nick Fry, who shares the role of God with a female actor this summer.

The 24 plays, based on Bible stories, form an overarching narrative from The Creation to The Last Judgement, and are performed on a five-year cycle in Chester.

They originated in the city in 1300s, with small-scale church productions and a script in Latin. By the 1400s, the plays had been adopted by the Crafts Guilds, bodies of local tradesmen like a modern-day trade union, to be staged and performed in Middle English.

The plays formed part of the three-day Feast of Corpus Christi Fair with the players performing on pageant carts and the audience standing at fixed points around the city, such as The Cross and Abbey Gateway — locations still there today.

The Plays became associated with bawdy crowd behaviour and were banned after the Reformation, with last performance in Chester in 1578; making Chester home to the longest-running cycle in medieval times.

But the plays returned to the city as part of the 1951 Festival of Britain, and have been performed at Chester Cathedral since 2013.

Nick Fry, says:

“The Chester Mystery Plays reflect the history of both the cathedral and the city. And it’s a living history. The plays are steeped in history, yet remain of the community and for the community.”

Read the full article via The Church Times, The play that unites the city of Chester.

More info and booking: Chester Mystery Plays.