September 4th, 2010 by Kate
Alycia reading Shakespeares' Sonnets
Well we had our Barford village show and it was brilliant! The weather was not too hot to begin with. On Sunday morning we had a terrific rain storm but the sun showed its’ face in time for the cultural event in our back garden, High Street Matinee. The village was alive with people strolling around the various events, admiring the Scarecrows and stopping for chats. What’s more, I won second prize for my apples in the fruit and veg show! I am having it framed.
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September 1st, 2010 by Kate
Many Scottish Highland Games are held throughout the Summer, not just in Scotland but all over the World where descendants of Scots have landed. Perhaps the most famous and prestigous is the Braemar Gathering, held traditionally on the 1st Saturday in September. This is the Queen’s local games as it is close to her holiday home at Balmoral and the monarch has long been the Chieftain of the Gathering.
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August 30th, 2010 by Kate
Held each August Bank Holiday since 1966, the Notting Hill Carnival is the largest festival celebration of its kind in Europe. Every year the streets of West London come alive, with the sounds and smells of Europe’s biggest street festival. Twenty miles of vibrant colourful costumes surround over 40 static sound systems, hundreds of Caribbean food stalls, over 40,000 volunteers and over 1million Notting Hill carnival revellers.
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August 27th, 2010 by Kate
I have written a number of blogs about festivals and shows across the UK, but none are as important as our Village Show! We have had Scarecrow weekends, flower festivals, art exhibitions, music events, dramatic endeavours….but never before have we put it together to make show involving the whole village! I am just hoping that my veggies get enough rain (but not too much) to fatten them up for the prize vegetable competition!
Read all about it on our community website
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August 22nd, 2010 by Kate
The Whitby Regatta is probably the oldest sea Regatta in England. It started in a very small way with the fishermen competing against each other in their fishing smacks and salmon cobbles. Then came the yachts. It was recorded in 1847 “The Whitby Challenge Cup”, promoted by the Royal Yorkshire Yacht Club, was won by the Schooner “Whiled”, and a prize of 50 guineas was presented to the captain or owner. Between that date and up to the nineteen thirties, yacht racing formed the greater part of the Regatta.
Unfortunately these expensive yachts became more and more scarce and the regatta became a rowing Regatta as it is now. However, there is far more to it than just rowing races! It is now a full festival of flypasts, carnivals, fireworks and more.
With thanks to Whitby Regatta.
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August 19th, 2010 by Kate
The Dorset seaside resort of Bournemouth is often gently ridiculed as the place where people go to retire and die! However, it is also the unlikely venue of the Bournemouth Air festival which runs for 4 days in August. What’s more, it is completely free!
Check out the Bournemouth Air Festival for the daily programmes.
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August 13th, 2010 by Kate
David Cameron has said Britain must focus more on its heritage to make the most of tourism to the country.
Labour concentrated on ‘Cool Brittannia’ and the attraction of Britain as a young culture but our real attraction lies in the wealth of our heritage.
Bravo! It is so easy living here to forget our long and rich history. It wasn’t until we started this business in 2006 that we really came to appreciate just how much there is enjoy in Britain. The Anglophiles out there across the World have taught us a lot about what makes Britain attractive as a tourist destination.
Listen to the PM’s speech
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August 10th, 2010 by Kate
Incredibly while the housing market is in the doldrums the market for small, wooden huts that line the beachfronts of some of the UK’s oldest holiday resorts is bouyant! Beach huts in Scarborough are fetching £35,000, the same price as some one-bedroom flats in the town, and you can’t even sleep in them!
Scarborough claims to be the town that gave us the bathing hut. In the 18th Century, it was a mobile hut hauled down the beach to protect nervous bathers while they “took the waters” to improve their health. As the Brits abandoned these shores for cheap sun and sand holidays on the beaches of Europe they became run down and dilapitated, but a recent revival has seen them spruced and once again brightening the seaside scene.
Read the full BBC article
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August 3rd, 2010 by Kate
The flamboyount and charismatic Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, has launched London’s long-awaited mass cycle hire scheme. You can now hop on a bike, cycle across the heart of Londodn and hop off again, leaving the bike at special docking stations.
Check out Bike Fees for costs and how it works
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August 1st, 2010 by Kate
Ever heard of Geocache? I hadn’t until a customer mentioned he wanted to do this around Cornwall. So I looked it up. It’s a new digital-age sort of treasure hunt. A geocacher can place a geocache in the world, pinpoint its location using GPS technology and then share the geocache’s existence and location online. Anyone with a GPS device can then try to locate the geocache.
See the Geocache website for more details.
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