Can this really be the best hotel in the whole of the United Kingdom? Does charm, character, history, a beautiful location count for nothing? As for value, while the hotel’s standards, including cleanliness, are high, and hotels in London are more expensive than ever, there are other similar properties in the area that come at...
Tag: Standard
Post
Post
Hot tubs and axe-throwing: How British holiday lets are raising their game to survive
“All the activities make for a wonderful Herefordian experience. We can book different workshops for everybody – all ages, on and offsite,” she says. Price wars Owners and agents are also embracing creative discounting to get more guests through their doors. It means there are bargains to be had – especially in regions where demand...
Post
Cornwall vs Devon – which is better for a holiday?
Devon Devon is almost twice the size of Cornwall, so there’s more countryside to explore – and huge diversity too. In Dartmoor national park, the largest area of open country in the south of England, you’ll find wild moorland, waterfalls and the temperate rainforest of Wistman Woods. In the north, ancient hedgerows line the lanes...
Post
Teenage cancer patients will die because of trial age limits, charity warns
Teenage cancer patients will die because of trial age limits which prevent them from testing new drugs, a charity has warned. A new report published by the Teenage Cancer Trust has found that young people aged 13–24 are missing out on the chance to take part in clinical trials, leaving them unable to get innovative...
Post
The England and Scotland border ‘badlands’ where tragic history and epic scenery converge
In the 18th century the closest Scottish customs house was in Dunbar 20 miles north. I naively conjure up scenes of savvy smugglers sneaking around the tight wynds of Eyemouth’s old town while Keystone Cops excisemen give comical chase. The reality was darker, as Janes reveals: “They would have used force if they had to....
Post
Asylum seekers pouring into Ireland from UK, says minister
Infrastructure on the border between the Republic and Northern Ireland has gradually been dismantled since the Good Friday Agreement more than 25 years ago. During the Brexit negotiations, Dublin insisted that the border on the island of Ireland be kept “invisible”, without infrastructure such as checkpoints. It argued this would protect the peace process and...
Post
The Midlands town likened to Switzerland
I was struggling to see it. Maybe if I squinted? There was certainly an arresting glory about Thorpe Cloud that belied the knoll’s modest 287m (942ft). But did it, and the surrounding landscape, really look like Switzerland? “Maybe to someone who’s only seen photos…?” offered walking guide Austin Knott. “It does look like a beheaded...
Post
Spain ‘playing Russian roulette with people’s lives’ by refusing to ban painkiller
Spain has been accused of “playing Russian roulette” with expats’ lives by continuing to prescribe a painkiller alleged to be behind the deaths of at least 37 British and Irish expats. A campaign to have metamizole, sold under the brand name Nolotil, banned as it is in Britain, the US and Australia has prompted the...
Post
The perfect UK holiday for every month of the year
This venerable event is one of the UK’s most extensive hike-fests, and the 2024 programme includes dawn chorus strolls, walks and riverboat trips, as well as haiku-writing hikes, and ambles on Orford Ness (lovely for walking in early spring, too, and this month worth pairing with nearby Halesworth’s theatrical INK Festival, finishes 14 April; inkfestival.org). ...
Post
Grand National punters lose millions after last year’s winner unseats jockey
Punters lost millions at the Grand National as the defending champion unseated its jockey at the first fence. Changes to the Aintree track brought the opening obstacle forward by 60 yards to improve safety measures failed to prevent jockey Derek Fox, 31, from falling from Corach Rambler, within seconds of the grueling steeplechase’s start. The...
Post
A theme park could transform Bedford – here’s what the town can learn from Orlando
A thrilling addition to Universal Bedford or pie-in-the-sky thinking? Of course, Bedford would argue that it needs no such star-spangled leg-up. At least, not in terms of history. It was, after all, there on the map long before 1843. Its name is thought to be a combination of the Saxon chief Beda, and a point...
Post
London Lions create basketball history with EuroCup victory
London Lions 81 Besiktas 70 (London win 149-145 on aggregate) London Lions women’s team etched their names into the history books after becoming the first British basketball team – male or female – to win a European title. On a memorable night for basketball in this country, the Lions staged a stunning fightback to defeat...