Dear Octopus Review, the National Theatre
Judith Schrut reviews the National Theatre’s Dear Octopus, Dodie Smith’s acclaimed but rarely performed 1938 play. Does the name Dodie Smith (1896-1990) ring any literary bells for you? If no…
Travel Topics
Judith Schrut reviews the National Theatre’s Dear Octopus, Dodie Smith’s acclaimed but rarely performed 1938 play. Does the name Dodie Smith (1896-1990) ring any literary bells for you? If no…
Rutland is a wonderful place to relax, or explore the countryside, as Mark Bibby Jackson discovers on his stay at The Barnsdale Hotel. Rutland is one of the UK’s best…
On a cultural trip to London, Mark Bibby Jackson stays at the nhow London while catching Othello at the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse and Entangled Pasts at the Royal Academy. Having…
On a cultural trip to London, Mark Bibby Jackson stays at the nhow London while catching Othello at the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse and Entangled Pasts at the Royal Academy. Having…
Mark Bibby Jackson reviews the restaurant at Sloane Place Chelsea investigating both main and Veganuary menus. January is traditionally a time for people to turn over new leaves. Whether it…
What better city in the UK to hold a Wellbeing festival than Bath, the nation’s most famous spa town. Rebalance Bath – Festival of Wellbeing is from 30 January to…
A modern five-story building will adjoin a beautiful Georgian former schoolhouse in Alnwick to create Northumberland’s newest luxury getaway in summer 2024…
On his first visit to Tynemouth and Newcastle upon Tyne, Mark Bibby Jackson receives a hospitable welcome at the Tynemouth Castle Inn. The recently refurbished, Tynemouth Castle Inn is a…
Mark Bibby Jackson reviews the Art Yard Bar & Kitchen, Bankside Hotel, Autograph Collection, and discovers a comforting and refreshing experience. There was a time you would never consider eating…
Mark Bibby Jackson reviews The Motive and the Cue at the Noel Coward Theatre. Motive and the Cue is a play about contrast. Jack Thorne’s play directed by Sam Mendes…
Bristol Light Festival, the award-winning winter festival will return in January 2025 with a stunning interactive and captivating light installation trail that will set the western British city alight. The…
Roger Hermiston and Eileen Wise stay at The Kensington hotel in London and take in the Chanel Exhibition at the V&A. The Irish are surely the perfectly-equipped hoteliers. The national…
Neil Hennessy-Vass discovers the cultural attractions in Durham, a county that has a wonderful cultural past, present and future. The LNER train took me from Kings Cross in London to…
Mark Bibby Jackson checks into The Grand Brighton and really does have a grand time in the Palace by the Sea. The Grand Brighton hotel has always been a place…
Mark Bibby Jackson reviews Connor Burns at the Soho Theatre London, part of the Scottish comedian’s Vertigo tour. It is not often that I come home from a comedy gig…
Hull’s historic Spurn Lightship has returned to the city’s waterfront following a 14-month restoration in the latest stage of a multi-million-pound…
Mark Bibby Jackson does some guided walking in the Yorkshire Dales with HF Holidays to Gordale Scar and Bolton Abbey. I’ve never been a great fan of footwear. Barefooted is…
Maria Boyle takes her family to Le Petit Chef London to enjoy a meal with the world’s smallest chef which was of the highest standard. As a mum-of-three daughters aged…
Gabrielle Chanel. Fashion Manifesto is the Victoria & Albert Museum’s latest blockbuster exhibition. Judith Schrut has been to view. It’s fitting that the V&A, the world’s greatest museum of art…
Mark Bibby Jackson tastes the new menu at Kanishka Mayfair to discover a refreshing take on the capital’s Indian restaurant cuisine. When I heard that Kanishka restaurant had launched a…
In the Offing, a new exhibition by Turner-prize winning artist Mark Leckey, will be on show at the Turner Contemporary, Margate Kent from 7 October to 14 January. The exhibition…
London Blackjack Variant Is Top Charted at UK Online Casinos Blackjack is one of the oldest tables to be played at casinos. Scholars have argued about the game’s origins, but…
“London is the world’s greatest playground for the curious wanderer,” so starts Jack Chesher in his book London: A Guide for Curious Wanderers. By the end of reading his wonderfully…
Roger Hermiston and Eileen Wise stay at the Rudding Park Hotel and Spa on their visit to Harrogate for the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival. Charles Dickens thought it…
The UK has so much to offer with its rich history, galleries, theatres and concert halls, its commercial and scientific enterprise and its varied and undeniably scenic countryside.
UK National Parks
There are 15 National Parks in the UK, ranging from coastal areas to mountainous regions in England, Wales and Scotland. There are currently none in Northern Ireland. Unlike National Parks in other countries, in the UK parts of the designated, protected areas can be owned by private landlords. Such areas as the Lake District, Yorkshire Moors, Pembrokeshire Coastal Path, Snowdonia and the Cairngorms draw hikers and naturalists to them like a magnet.
UK Weather
The British never tire of the weather as a talking point. Broadly speaking it is a temperate climate, although winters are becoming wetter and summers warmer, probably from climate change. Warmer in the South, wetter in the West and colder in Scotland and Northern Ireland, the UK climate can be subject to diurnal change on a sudden basis, although, with the advent of satellites, the weather forecasts are more accurate. It is wise to take a waterproof with you on an extended trip.
Northern Ireland
Since the Good Friday Agreement brought greater stability to this previously troubled land, visitors are on an increase. The Titanic Museum displaying memorabilia regarding that renowned disaster and Ulster Museum looking at 3,000 years of Irish culture and history, are well worth a visit. Outside of Belfast, the Mountains of Mourne in County Down and the Giant Causeway, 60 miles outside Belfast, are not to be missed.