March 8, 2010
Tourism bosses in the Lake District are to help prepare the area for the anticipated arrival of people heading off for a stay in a Lake District holiday cottage.
Over the course of next weekend, directors from Cumbria Tourism will tidy up the A591 linking Kendal to Keswick ahead of the launch of British Tourism week on March 15th, the Westmorland Gazette reports.
Five bosses will join highways staff to spruce up the route, which is used by eight million tourists every year.
"It’s about making sure that we’re getting ready for a new tourism season and making sure our product, Cumbria, is in pristine condition," chief executive of Cumbria Tourism Ian Stephens remarked.
The stretch of road was crowned Britain’s Best Drive in a Garmin survey three years ago and Mr Stephens added that he is "looking forward" to helping make the road clean.
It is just one of many routes those heading to Kendal for a Lake District holiday can use, as it is also accessible from the south by the A65 and from the east via the A684, as well as from the M6 motorway.
Posted by Ben Webster
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Posted by cottages4you
March 8, 2010
Budding cyclists looking for a competition to take part in while enjoying a Cotswolds holiday break this Easter might want to look into signing up to the Cotswold Spring Classic cyclosportive.
The event, which is due to take place on Easter Monday (April 5th), is returning for its second year following the success of the inaugural event in 2009 and, according to Road Cycling UK, places are filling up fast.
Participants will be able to choose from two routes – measuring 179km and 106km – with both starting in Cirencester and offering the tough challenge of the "notoriously steep" ascents in the Cotswolds.
The news source reports that many riders who took part last year said that some of the climbs made the race harder than France’s Etape du Tour.
Riders can enter online through the Spring Classic website and if you get there and find you’ve got a puncture – or worse – Performance Cycles will be running a mobile bike shop where you can pick up all the necessary spare parts.
Posted by David Sollberger
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Posted by cottages4you
March 5, 2010
Locally-sourced produce has helped the wife of one Dorset cheesemaker produce some chocolates with a difference.
Tanys Pullin of Ford Farm in Litton Cheney has been using milk sourced from the farm to produce wedding cakes made from cheese that are decorated with chocolate-covered miniature cheeses, the BBC reports.
"We had lots of different flavours of cheese and my husband thought it would be really nice to put chocolate around them," Ms Pullin explained to the news source.
The cakes are supplied exclusively to people in the Dorset area, so hunting some down while enjoying a Dorset holiday may be the only chance you get to try out the unique taste.
"We’re all for sourcing food locally. It’s all about traceability," Ms Pullin remarked, adding that those who are unsure of the chocolate and cheese combination should try drizzling some meted chocolate on top the next time they make cheese on toast.
Ford Farm claims to make more variety of cheeses than any of its competitors, with its range including Dorset Red and Coastal mature cheddar.
Posted by Toby Lawrence
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Posted by cottages4you
March 5, 2010
Cooperation between five different countries is set to help improve the quality of the Lake District.
The UK and Ireland Lakes Network – featuring water management specialists from England, Wales, Scotland, Eire and Northern Ireland – was formed last year and lakes manager in the Lake District John Pinder has said that the partnership will benefit the area.
"By creating this network we can make a real difference," he remarked, adding that the expanses of water are "honey-pots" for visitors, who often book Lake District holiday cottages to come and experience the area’s natural beauty.
Mr Pinder added that it is "more important than ever" to work on protecting lakes in the UK and Ireland, as climate change is expected to bring a number of changes to the environment.
One of the main attractions in the Lake District is Windermere, which, at ten-and-a-half miles in length and 219 ft in depth, is the largest lake in England.
Posted by Matt Smith
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March 4, 2010
Budding historians planning a Dorset holiday might want to look into signing up to a new initiative being offered by the Natural History Museum.
Taking place in Lyme Regis, the Jurassic Coast Studies Centre gives people the chance to learn more about a 95-mile stretch of coastline running through Devon and Dorset that makes up the Jurassic Coast, the Guardian reports.
One couple, Hilary and John Penrose, signed up to the course so that they could improve their work.
They earn their living as an artist and sculptor respectively and Ms Penrose told the news source that it is "great to be learning about such as dynamic landscape".
Professor Andy Fleet, who leads the scheme, said that the aim is to bring the Natural History Museum to "wonderful" places like Dorset.
"The Jurassic Coast is an obvious place for us to come when we’re talking about geology," he added.
Dorset is a key area for research at the moment as, according to the BBC, volunteer divers have recently compiled a series of underwater photographs detailing the marine wildlife living off the county’s coastline.
Posted by Ben Webster
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Posted by cottages4you
March 3, 2010
Visitors who fancy picking up a new skill while they are staying in a Lake District holiday cottage this month might want to consider signing up to a dry stone walling course being run by Bassenthwaite Reflections.
The body, which works to preserve and restore the woodland and surrounding environment in the Lakes, is running a two-day event that will see people learning how to repair some of the walls run throughout the area.
Due to take place on March 12th and 13th, the course – which is being paid for with money from the Heritage Lottery Fund – will be led by Forestry Commission ranger Paul Brown, who said that help from volunteers is "invaluable".
"Volunteers have a huge part to play in the future maintenance of a valuable part of the Lake District’s heritage. Walling brings back history, landscape, its culture and conservation," he remarked.
Last month, Bassenthwaite organised a tree-planing session in Masmill Forest at Whinlatter, which saw around 50 people turn up to help with the clearing and restoration of an area measuring 3.5 hectares.
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Posted by cottages4you
March 2, 2010
A new crop circle in the fishing port of Looe is the latest attraction that could encourage people to book Cornwall holidays.
According to the Telegraph, the piece is the work of Caroline Petherick, who has described it as "a gentle pleasure for people to enjoy".
She arranged the 60-foot wide "seven-fold labyrinth" at a cost of £500, moving 14 tonnes of soil and grass over a two-week period in order to complete the design.
It is located on the cliffs above the port and Ms Petherick told the news source that she picked the location due to the quartz and slate stone found in the area, after finding the intersection of two "energy lines" using divining rods.
The "crop circle with a Celtic twist", as Ms Petherick has described it, is located on the South West Coast Path National Trail, which runs for 630 miles between Minehead and Poole Harbour in Dorset.
Posted by Andrew Hill
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Posted by cottages4you
March 2, 2010
People going on a Norfolk holiday could spot a number of exotic birds on their travels.
Norfolk Wildlife Trust (NWT) has revealed that during the second week of February, two flocks of waxwings arrived in the county, which may have been seen by those staying at Norfolk holiday cottages.
This follows on from a sighting in early January of a single waxwing close to Norwich train station.
According to the trust, the exotic-looking birds can be spotted by the small red tips at the end of the feathers on their wings.
While there is an online gallery for people to look at, the organisations wants individuals including those staying at Norfolk holiday cottages to take their own pictures of the creatures.
"They quite often visit gardens – even in the very middle of towns and cities where they are indifferent to people and traffic – and can be observed at close quarters," explained David North, education manager at NWT.
NWT claims to be the oldest wildlife trust in the country, providing the "blue print" for the rest of the UK to follow regarding nature conservation.
Posted by Toby Lawrence
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March 2, 2010
New photographs have helped reveal the marine wildlife people can expect to see if they go diving while enjoying a Dorset holiday.
Volunteer divers have taken a series of underwater snaps capturing the various different species that live below the waves of the county’s coastline, the BBC reports.
The images were produced for the Dorset Seasearch Underwater Photography Competition, which was organised by the Dorset Wildlife Trust, the county’s largest conservation charity with over 25,000 members.
Nick Owen, who regularly takes part in the Seasearch project – which aims to catalogue underwater wildlife with photos and notes – won the competition with his picture of a solitary hydrois – or a polyp on a tall stem.
Kathryn Dawson of the Dorset Wildlife Trust was quoted by the news source as saying that the pictures have helped reveal the “beauty” that can be found just off Dorset’s coast.
“You don’t have to go abroad to see great marine wildlife, it’s right here in Dorset,” she remarked.
Posted by David Sollberger
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Posted by cottages4you
March 1, 2010
Travellers staying in Lake District holiday cottages will benefit from new funding for a regeneration initiative to improve the national park.
The Environmental Land Management Service (Elms) has already provided £2.5 million to farm businesses in the area and will now provide the Lake District National Park Authority with funding throughout the next four years.
Work by Natural England and the National Trust has played a large part in securing the money, which will make "a huge difference to the countryside", according to Elms project co-ordinator, Sam Lumb.
He added: "[The scheme] is currently seeing 42 km of hedgerow planted and restored, along with 12 km of dry stone walling, 2,300 new trees, over 700 traditional gates and 35 farm buildings renovated."
The Lake District National Park is 2,292 sq km in size and is home to the largest natural lake in England – Windermere – which is 10.5 miles in length.
Posted by Toby Lawrence
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