I approached the Horse & Groom at Bourton on the Hill in the Cotswolds, on a dimming autumnal evening, with “child in the toy shop” level of anticipation. It had just been voted Pub of the Year in The Good Pub Guide 2016. The guide extolled it as “Handsome, Georgian, honey-coloured stone inn”. It’s one… Continue reading
Browsing Category Travel Features
Spice Island Zanzibar traps tourism’s wind of change
You don’t go on safari on the island of Zanzibar. But there is Capt. Morgan. Is it his real name? He is coy on the subject. But any confusion with the famous pirate of the Caribbean ends with his scrupulously honest assessment of our chances of seeing wildlife when we are out on his dhow…. Continue reading →
Basel, ancient and modern Swiss city on the Rhine
Basel, where Liverpool played Sevilla in the Europa League final on May 18th, is entry-level Switzerland, very close to the border with Germany and France. It straddles the River Rhine, at the top of the country. It’s within a comfortable train journey from the UK – about six hours from London Its heart is small, picturesque… Continue reading →
Shakespeare: his Way with the countryside, from Stratford to London
William Shakespeare, the bard of Avon, was born in the Warwickshire market town of Stratford in 1564, and died there 400 years ago, in 1616. Shakespeare’s Way, 235 km or 146 miles long, inaugurated in 2006, runs from his birthplace in Stratford-upon-Avon in Warwickshire to Shakespeare’s Globe (close to where the original Globe Theatre stood), alongside… Continue reading →
Touring Northern Ireland in a motorhome
Tourist boards will have us believe the places they promote are blessed with unending sunshine. Think, when did you last see an umbrella in a travel brochure? I’m sure Ireland wouldn’t stoop to such meteorological subterfuge. What’s the point pretending they bask under skies of cerulean perfection, when we know the rain they had this morning… Continue reading →
How people of Jericho built Britain’s daftest, most heroic railway
The ITV “Yorkshire Western” Jericho celebrates the men and women who built the Ribblehead Viaduct, centrepiece of the wild, fabulous and slightly mad railway, running over the top of England in the 1870s. The viaduct, that heroic vindication of their labours, still stands, part of a living, working Settle-Carlisle Railway, one of the great scenic… Continue reading →