For those not familiar with it, Chasewater is a reservoir in Staffordshire dating back to 1797, in the Cannock Chase area, and, as well as being home to water skiing and all sorts of aquatic activities, is also the location of the Chasewater Railway, a two mile heritage railway service, formerly used to transport coal.…
I wrote last year about the 2013 Heart of the Forest Festival in the village of Measham, Leicestershire, right in the middle of the National Forest, hence the name, that included motorbike stunts, wild west shows, and all sorts of exciting things. Today saw the Heart of the Forest Festival 2014, and as normal, I…
When you ask most people to tell you about Burnley, Lancashire, they might mention the town’s industrial past, its football team, or some of its many famous residents. What they are less likely to mention is the impressive green spaces and architecture of the town. Among these are Towneley Park and Towneley Hall, an impressive…
We found ourselves in North Yorkshire this weekend visiting some friends, and took the opportunity to return to Skipton, and to visit Skipton Castle. It was a relatively easy choice as, as well as being an interesting historical site which is easy to get to and has plenty to see, is suitable for both a…
I took a trip recently to the UK’s largest permanent Scalextric set, the Phoenix Scalextric Track near Studley in Warwickshire. For those not familiar with Scalextric, it is a remote control car racing system that is an institution in the UK. It first appeared at the Harrogate Toy Fair in 1957, and since then, has been…
It’s the 1st March, and whilst those in Wales will be celebrating St David’s Day, Londoners will have something else to be happy about today. London’s first “cat cafe”, Lady Dinah’s, opens today. The café will include eleven cats who will be “working” there, who you might meet if you pay them a visit. The…
You may be aware that I do like a pun or two, and it seems that I am not alone in that. The Local Data Company have recently ran a competition to find the country’s best pun in a shop name. I thought that the Belfast restaurant Thai Tanic might make an appearance, but it…
Today is Remembrance Sunday, when we remember those who paid the ultimate price for their country and the defence of others. The obvious place of remembrance in the UK is the cenotaph in London, where the national act of remembrance occurs, just as local cenotaphs up and down the country witness similar commemorations today. Another…
I recently posted some photos from Classics on the Common, the annual classic car show in the Hertfordshire town of Harpenden. I was fortunate enough last weekend, over the bank holiday, to visit the Blenheim Palace Festival of Transport, which included a classic car show, with of course, the backdrop of the stunning palace and…
Among the many excellent sites managed by English Heritage is the ruins of Kirby Muxloe Castle, or Kirby Castle for short, in Leicestershire, not far from Leicester itself. It is an interesting site in the small town of Kirby Muxloe, in a residential area of the town. The castle is actually a fortified manor house,…
The village of Harmondsworth is overshadowed now by its near neighbour, Heathrow Airport, but there are still interesting places there to visit. You may be most familiar with the place as the name on Penguin books for many years, which carried the information that they were printed in Harmondsworth, Middlesex, or the historic buildings of…
I have mentioned various events at Moira Furness, including some 1940s entertainment, and the Moira Canal Festival there, complete with Morris Dancing. When I went to have a look around on Sunday, 11th August, I found that it was presenting yet another interesting historical event, this time a 1910s event. There were various items on…