Anyone who has watched the TV programme Saving Lives at Sea will have heard the phrase "We are an island nation" (and probably be quite fed up with it!). It's true of course, Great Britain is an island, and perhaps there's something in our blood that draws us to the coast.
Five new hotels that have recently caught our eye and been added to Little Hotels. Choose England, Wales, Scotland or Italy. Portmeirion is possibly the most famous village in Wales. You may know it as the Italianate village created by by architect Sir Clough Williams-Ellis. Or you may know it as the location for the 1960s cult TV series The Prisoner starring Patrick McGoohan.
With it's sparse population and extensive mountains, lochs and islands, it comes as a slight surprise that there are only two national parks in Scotland. However perhaps it's those very factors that mean that the wilds of Scotland don't really need the protection of national park status.
A recent trip across the centre of England gave us an interesting comparison of two regions of the country, one very well-known and one less so. As we travelled through the Cotswolds we saw pretty towns and villages built of honey-coloured stone and tree-covered hills. In Cambridgeshire, sandwiched between the Midlands and East Anglia, we saw more pretty towns and villages built of honey-coloured stone.
The Welsh national parks – Snowdonia, Pembrokeshire Coast and Brecon Beacons – cover an impressive 20% of Wales. They are perfect for active holidays, walking, cycling, mountain-biking, horse-riding, wild-swimming, but also ideal if you simply want to drive around on quiet country roads and soak up the outstanding views.
When we think of theatre, we think first-and-foremost of the "West End". Much further west than the traditional West End, is the most westerly theatre in England: the Minack Theatre. Indeed, you really can't get any further west without getting your feet wet! Created in the 1930s, the Minack Theatre is an open-air venue set in a spectacular cliffside location just along the coast from Land's End.
Big cities can feature some pretty impressive landmarks, but for the most spellbinding beauty we must turn to the small towns and villages that abound throughout the world. Here is our pick of some of the most delightful locations that should be on everyone's bucket list. The great English designer William Morris once declared Bibury to be the most beautiful village in England.
In 2021, it may not be quite so clearcut when a motorcyclist says he will be racing on "the island". There is a plan being developed for motorcycle races on the Isle of Wight, that will be called the Diamond Races. If all goes well, the races will be held on a 12 mile course using a part of the fast, flowing Military Road on the south coast with a return leg through narrow country roads just inland.
I feel like I've set myself an impossible task here as there are hundreds, possibly thousands, of British landmarks that shouldn't be missed. Here are a selected few: Hadrian's Wall, Land's End, St Michael's Mount, Mount Snowdon, the white cliffs of Dover, the Jurassic coast, Stonehenge and Avebury.
'Riviera' seems to convey so much more sophistication and glamour than just 'the seaside'. But where does the word come from? Surprisingly perhaps, it's not French. The origin of the word is in fact Italian, so it would seem that the original riviera was the Italian Riviera.
