Norfolk’s unusual landscape is one of the most remarkable in Britain. No mountains and valleys here - it’s wide and open as a result of the ice age Glaciers that covered Britain (as well as over a third of the world) for over 80,000 years until the great meltdown about 10,000years ago. I wonder what caused global warming at that time. Hairy Mammoth flatulence maybe?
Add comment January 17th, 2008
As both my daughters now live in London I find myself visiting frequently, generally using the underground to get around. On my last visit however, my eldest who has only just moved there, persuaded me to buy tickets for one of the hop on hop off CitySightseeing buses (that we actually sell here at myguideBritain).
1 comment January 16th, 2008
Yesterday was a historic day for Cunard as The QE2, Queen Mary2 and the new Queen Victoria sailed up the Hudson into New York to a firework welcome (see video). Now we’re not a cruise website by any stretch of the imagination, and I’ve never sailed on any of these ships, but it strikes me that this is a mighty fine way of starting one’s vacation in Britain (or perhaps finishing off).
2 comments January 15th, 2008
“Why should you never swerve your car to hit a Scouser on a bike…?” I was about to start this Blog with
a joke about Liverpool as on Friday night the city celebrated the opening ceremony of its year as European Capital of Culture 2008. This nomination and accolade has been for me both a surprise and a delight. As many of you will know, if you have spoken with me or read our team profiles on the website, I studied and lived for 3 years of my life in Liverpool and therefore, for me, this magnificent city will always hold many special memories (and a few hazy ones). However, Liverpool does seem to take a good verbal bashing from the peoples of most other areas of Britain. So why has Liverpool been given such a prestigeous title? What is the culture of Liverpool? And what on earth is a Scouser?
5 comments January 14th, 2008
This is by way of a warning when driving on British Roads. We have speed cameras everywhere. I think we’ve got as many speed cameras as rabbits - they seem to be proliferating at the same rate anyway. A debatable number of these yellow boxes are there in the name of road safety. The vast majority however are cash generators for our esteemed government. You have been warned. Even Britain’s top traffic cop, Meredith Hughes fell foul of the cameras recently and was fined and disqualified from driving for 6 weeks for driving at 90mph in a 60 mph area. I shouldn’t gloat as I’m nearly in the same position as Mr. Hughes, being only a couple of minor speeding offences away from a statutory driving ban. I’m not alone however as it’s calculated that there are over 1 million motorists in the same predicament. If you think that the fact that you’re not British and that you’re driving a rental car will protect you …think again.
1 comment January 9th, 2008
Christmas has just been and gone, and I had a great time.
Christmas is a very important time of year in the UK, as it is when families all come together, have a roast turkey dinner and exchanges presents.
My family and I have had an adventure this year getting all the Christmas lights, decorations and most importantly the Christmas Tree from out of the attic and putting them on display. There are a wide variety of trees that you can choose from in Britain, white trees, black trees etc. This year we decided to go with the traditional pine green tree, themed with golden tinsel and beads, glittering baubles and reindeer and taking centre piece is the shining star at the top. It looks beautiful, and my 9-month old son cannot take his eyes off it.
Add comment January 2nd, 2008
As a lot of you know, we recently arrived back from one of our Trips around the UK. We got to see many different places, attractions and were shown around a lot of the hotels that we recommend to you! On our last night our hotel was kept a secret. (I have got to admit I was getting a little worried on the Wednesday as we were told nothing was yet booked for the following evening!) However, by Thursday Morning Darryl could no longer keep the secret quiet. We were given a very nice surprise; our last night stay was to be in the Historic Ruthin Castle in North Wales.
Add comment December 21st, 2007
I heard an interesting thing on the radio this morning. It was the Prince of Wales speaking Welsh. Now my first language is Welsh and it’s the language spoken by about half a million of us in Wales, but it was still a surprise to hear Charles speaking it. He was obviously reading it from a script but nonetheless his pronunciation was passable. Apparently, he’s purchased the Llwynywermwd estate located in Myddfai in Camarthenshire and in the short clip I heard, he talked of his love of the area and how much he’s looking forward to coming there to stay. As it happens Myddfai has a prominent place in Welsh folk lore, being associated with the tales of the “Physicians of Myddfai” (”Meddygon Myddfai” in Welsh) and “The Lady of Llyn y Fan Fach” ( Morwyn Llyn y Fan Fach) dating back to the 13th century that are worth recounting.
Add comment December 14th, 2007
Just an update on my previous Blog to say that the Sustrans Connect2 Project won the £50 million funding. Thanks to any that voted for this project. You’ll be happy to know that I’ll be able to cycle to the paper shop in the near future as work on the various projects start in January 2008.
Add comment December 14th, 2007
