A lifestyle blog
We love exploring, either close to home on an afternoon out, slightly further afield on a weekend away, or to a far flung destination picked because it happened to be on page 83 of the travel guide and we were asked to pick a number between 1 and 230.
My dad once drove from London to Sydney. Obviously he didn’t just wake up one morning and decide he wanted to see the Opera House up close, it took months if not a year of planning. He did it with friends and in his 1950s Jaguar XK140. The drive took three months and, not content with putting his feet up and saying he had done that, he then set
Winchester was the first and former capital city of England so when it comes to history Winchester is full of it. More than though it is also full of fabulous things to do over a weekend (though we are lucky enough to live less than an hour away so often pop down for the day) so here my top things to do if you ever fancy a weekend in Winchester
The Holiday Inn Winchester recently underwent a £2.5 million Pound refurbishment and Mr B and I were invited to stay in one of the 131 bedrooms this week to see for ourselves how fabulous they are. We received a complimentary stay with dinner, bed and breakfast in exchange for our honest review. Where to start though? The hotel sits just five minutes outside Winchester with easy access to major roads
Netley Abbey sits in the village named after it just outside Southampton in Southern England. In fact Netley Abbey is is the most complete surviving abbey built by the Cistercian monks in southern England and is now looked after by English Heritage. It is free to visit and is open year round (do check the website as times change). In fact it is so in tact it is hard to
Titchfield Abbey sits just outside Fareham in Hampshire and was once a medieval Abbey before then becoming a Country House. It is looked after English Heritage and is free to visit, though there is a small fee for the car park (although we had lunch in the pub opposite and they were happy for us to leave our car there whilst we wandered across the road). There is no gift
Come on an autumn adventure at National Trust places in and around Hampshire. It’s a treat for the senses, introducing children to the tangy smells of rich earth, fallen leaves and apples ready to harvest. Sounds change in autumn too, with the rustle and swish of crunchy foliage, and the plop of falling conkers in our woodlands. From an eco time travelling sound adventure at Mottisfont, to harvest fun and
You might think for such a small island it wouldnt be very easy to write a top five places to eat in Guernsey post but you couldn’t be more wrong. You might also be surprised to hear that there is a distinct lack of fast food places too. No McDonalds, Pizza Express or Dominos. Not a whiff of KFC or Burger King. They don’t want the rubbish that fast food
Blink and you will miss the turning into the lane that leads you to The Little Chapel, Guernsey. And you can’t see it from the road so you need to trust the signpost. Follow the lane down to the gift shop and you will find ample parking, and a good opportunity to buy some local souvenirs and grab a cup of tea. There is no entry fee for The Little
I will be honest, we only found Fishers Farm Park because I googled “days out near Midhurst”, where my parents live. We were looking for something to do with my parents, and with Lily and this sounded perfect but we knew nothing about it, and they hadn’t heard of it either. Part of me actually wants to keep it a secret because it really is the perfect family day out,
Trying to work out where to go for a summer break this year is trickier than booking your usual summer holiday. You dont have to just worry about flight times or whether to do self catering or all inclusive, you have to take into account travel restrictions in this country, and your destination country. For foreign travel advice keep an eye on the government website but that done, where to?!
It is easy to think “how hard can it be?” or “it’s fine, the owners will tell us what to do” when booking narrow boat holidays but for beginners there are some things you should seriously consider before heading out on the water for the first time. We did our first trip last weekend, alongside my parents who have been doing it for years, and it really brought it home
You might think with a name like the Moonraker this hotel would be some dodgy James Bond, space themed hotel designed to attract American tourists, nothing could be further from the truth. Moonraker is actually a colloquial term for people from Wiltshire (or a slang term hurled at supporters of Swindon Town Football Club) stemming from the 1700s. Legend has it that French Brandy and Dutch Gin were smuggled up