U.K. Attractions - October Edition
Posted September 22nd, 2010
UNITED KINGDOM
Cumbria
10 rooms at £10 per night
To celebrate its 10th anniversary, Temple Sowerby House Hotel near Ullswater is offering 10 rooms at £10 per night for the first 10 bookings made in October 2010, a saving of £115 per night.
The offer is based on two people sharing a double room for a one-night stay, Monday to Thursday, and includes a full Temple Sowerby breakfast. To qualify for the offer, guests must book a three-course dinner in the hotel’s award-winning two AA Rosette restaurant. To take advantage of this £10 break, call 01768 361578 and quote ‘Anniversary Rate’.
If you miss out on the 10-room offer, Temple Sowerby House Hotel is also offering a 10% discount on a short break. Guests must book during October to qualify and can take the break between October 2010 and 31 March 2011, excluding New Year & Valentine’s Day. The hotel is closed at Christmas.
The short break, which is subject to availability, is for a minimum two-night stay and includes room, full breakfast and dinner chosen from the AA two rosette dinner menu. Visit www.templesowerby.com.
North-East England
Bede’s World, Jarrow
Learn more about the Gun Powder Plot on 2 November when Bede’s World, Jarrow celebrates the 5th November with bonfires and fireworks. Marvel at the fire-eaters, experience the power of gunpowder. Pre-booking is essential for this event. www.bedesworld.co.uk
Darlington Fireworks Spectacular
The Darlington fireworks and music spectacular takes place on 6 November 6pm-9.30pm starting with the lighting of the giant bonfire alongside music from a local radio roadshow. The spectacular firework display is complemented by a simultaneous music and laser show.www.visitdarlington.com
St Margaret’s Church, Crossgate, Durham - A Medieval Mass
A rare event aiming to evoke the liturgy language, music, architecture and atmosphere of 12th century Durham takes place at St Margaret’s church, Crossgate on 4 November. Come and step back in time and experience the sights, sounds and smells of the Mass as it might have been celebrated 800 years ago. www.stjam.f9.co.uk
Newcastle Gateshead - Ouseburn Open Studios
The studios in the Ouseburn Valley are home to a wide range of craftsmen including artists, jewellery and furniture makers, graphic designers and printmakers. The Ouseburn Open Studios weekend 27-28 November offers the rare opportunity to chat to studio holders about their work and learn what goes on behind their studio doors. It’s also a great chance to talk about commissions. There is always a wide variety of work on sale. www.ouseburnopenstudios.org
Shropshire
Ironbridge Gorge Museums - Telford
The Ironbridge Gorge Museums will be running the following three events at the end of October:
1. Autonomous Artefacts at the Enginuity design & technology centre 23 – 31 October.
2. Creepy Crawly Workshops at Coalport China Museum – 25 – 29 October
3. Ghostly Gaslight Halloween evening - 30 October.
For details visit www.ironbridge.org.uk
Staffordshire
Stoke on Trent - Trentham Estate and Gardens
The famous gardens at Staffordshire’s Trentham Estate and Gardens, has been awarded the “2010 European Award for Garden Restoration” by the European Garden Heritage Network.
Already widely recognised nationwide as one of the finest gardens in the British Isles, Trentham’s dramatic transformation has been brought about by Chelsea gold-medal winners Tom Stuart-Smith and Piet Oudolf along with Trentham Gardens’ Manager Michael Walker who have reinvented the derelict 30-acre historic gardens centred on a vast Victorian Italianate parterre. The revitalisation of the Italianate grandeur with a stylish modern interpretation has created one of the largest examples of contemporary naturalistic perennial planting in Europe.
The Estate and Gardens was once one of the Dukes of Sutherland’s estates, who transformed it from a medieval monastery to grand country estate over decades of ownership from 1540 to 1979. Famous names associated with it include landscaper Lancelot ‘Capability’ Brown and architect Sir Charles Barry.
Located at the edge of Stoke-on-Trent, Trentham boasts a long and colourful history. Once a pleasure ground of royals and nobles: Edward, Prince of Wales visited in 1897, Benjamin Disraeli called it 'Brentham' in his novel Lothair, and the Shah of Persia was one of the countless guests to stay in the Hall. The Hall was demolished in 1911 and the Estate transformed by the Sutherlands into a leisure park. The Estate fell into serious decline through out the 1970’ and 80’s before being purchased by property and regeneration specialists St Modwen. The 725-acre Estate has undergone a massive regeneration programme the last six years.
Trentham Estate offers one of the UK’s most diverse days out with a range of leisure activities for all ages. It includes the award-winning and lovingly restored Trentham Gardens featuring the UK’s first ‘barefoot’ walk, a great children’s adventure play area and maze and a beautiful walk around the mile long lake; the Trentham Garden Centre and Shopping Village, an eclectic mix of shops and eateries; Trentham Monkey Forest – home to 140 endangered Barbary Macaques; Aerial Extreme, an exhilarating treetop high rope adventure course, and a 119 bedroom Premier Inn. Visit www.trentham.co.uk
West Sussex
Autumn Colour at Wakehurst Place
Special Autumn Colour Weekends are being organised at the Kew’s country 500-acre Wakehurst Place estate near Haywards Heath to enable people to make the most of nature's dazzling display, with guided walks, minibus tours, and an information stall.
Highlights around the estate include red-leafed maples, amber sweetgums, and the golden yellows of Wakehurst's national collection of birches. And as well as the sights of autumn, there are also the smells - Cercidiphyllum japonicum, known as the Candy Floss tree, is a big hit with visitors because of its distinctive smell of burnt sugar.
The programme of events for Autumn Colour Weekends will include guided walks and minibus tours, on some dates, to enable less mobile visitor enjoy the colours around Wakehurst's gardens and woodlands:
16 and 17 October - Guided walks at 11.30am and 2pm; 23 October - Guided walks at 11:30am and 2:00pm; 24 October - Minibus tours from 10:00am to 3:30pm;
30 October - Guided walks at 11.30am and 2pm; 31 October - Minibus tours from 10:00am to 3:30pm; 6 and 7 November - Guided walks at 11:30 and 2:00pm.
Admission charges to Wakehurst Place apply but walks and mini-bus tours are free to garden visitors, no pre-booking required. Visit www.kew.org.
Fishing Havens
Well-stocked fishing lakes are a focal point at several of Haven Holidays 35 UK holiday parks.
Burnham on Sea, an award winning holiday park on the Somerset coast holds regular Saturday angling competitions where catches of fish of around 8-12lb are the norm. However, the specimen carp lake regularly yields substantial fish weighing up to 32lb. The lakes have well managed swims and are stocked with roach, tench, bream and perch – there’s even a bivvy hut for night fishing or bird-watching.
The Orchards, near St Osyth in Essex is a haven for anglers with two lakes and specimen carp weighing up to 35lb. Or head north to Thorpe Park Holiday Village near Cleethorpes or Primrose Valley on the North Yorkshire coast where well-stocked lakes provide challenging coarse fishing.
Many of the parks are ideally situated for sea-fishing with direct access to miles of unspoilt beaches and deep-sea fishing trips available locally. Facilities vary from park to park so visit www.haven.com.