British holiday information

Guinot wingwalkers

If air shows are your thing, how about a trip to London City Airport on 4 July 2009?

This year marks the airport’s 13th annual Fun Day and Air Show and is themed on the airport’s close association with the London 2012 Olympics – Royal Docks is just two miles from the site of the 2012 Olympics!

On offer this year are a wealth of sporting activities including Taekwondo, rowing, basketball and football – the sports theme celebrates the Olympics and Paralympics coming to London. Also available are an inflatable area, gyroscopes, soft play area, bungee trampoline and a climbing wall, and a 50 metre sports track, plus lots more.

On an aircraft theme, there are also cockpit tours of an Avro RJ100 or RJ85 and the not-to-be-missed airshow featuring an array of aircraft and fantastic stunts. Amongst the display will be the World War 2 fighter, Hurricane XII Z5140, a rare two-seater Spitfire ML407, Aerobatic Helicopter Display and the Guinot Wings Walkers – the World’s only formation wingwalking team

The London City Airport Fun Day starts at 2.30pm and runs until 6.30pm. Admission is free.

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It’s just a week until the start of the great British tradition of Wimbledon.

This year’s tournament begins on Monday 22 June with the Ladies’ singles final being held on Saturday 4 July and the Men’s on Sunday 5 July 2009.

The qualifying rounds begin today, Monday 15 June ending on Thursday prior to the draw taking place on Friday 19.

Traditionally these two weeks are associated with bad weather, however, Wimbledon is well prepared to cope with rain this year thanks to its new retractable roof on the Centre Court which will enable play to continue in the event of rain.

Tickets for Wimbledon

Tickets for the last four days of the tournament are all presold, however, there are around 500 tickets available for sale daily at the turnstiles for the Centre, No. 1 and No. 2 courts, and also about 6000 Ground Admission tickets available daily for access to the grounds and unreserved seating and standing on courts 3 to 19 – Ground Admission ticket numbers vary and are subject to the number of matches taking place and the weather.

For more information on how to obtain tickets on the day check out the Wimbledon website.

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Clitheroe Castle, the only remaining castle in Lancashire with a royalist garrison during the Civil War and possibly the second smallest keep in England, has reopened after a £3.5 million state-of-the-art refurbishment.

The refurbishment features a glass atrium linking the museum and North West Sound Archives on two levels, a café, interactive display facilities, previously unseen exhibits, and an education suite, as well as several exhibitions depicting the history of Ribble Valley.

The castle, which was built in 1186 by Robert de Lacy, stands in 18 acres of gardens and is open from 11am to 5pm daily throughout the summer – admission £3.50 for adults, children under 16 go free.

An official opening by the Duke of Gloucester is planned for 23 June 2009.

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The Isle of Wight Festival is due to get underway next Friday, 12 June 2009.

This annual music festival was originally set up in 1968 and ran until 1970 when concerns over its safety led to it being banned.

In 2002 the festival was revived and is now held annually. This year the festival takes place between 12 – 14 June at Seaclose Park, Newport. Tickets for the three-day event can be bought online – for more details click here.

For full details of this year’s line-up of acts check out the official website.

For more information on getting to the Isle of Wight check out a previous post.

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There’s has been great emphasis on holidaying in the UK this year, however, one tourist board is taking it a step further.

Visit Devon has launched a local marketing campaign to urge people living in Devon and the South West of England to take a holiday at home, in Devon.

Working in conjunction with Devon County Council, Visit Devon has produced what is believed to be the first advertising campaign to focus on such a local market. Pitched as: ‘Devon – world-class holidays also available to locals’, the campaign includes a TV commercial to be shown throughout June which features a light-hearted take on airport delays and highlights the attractions on residents’ doorsteps.

See the TV advertisement below

A great favourite of mine, Devon is an excellent choice for a holiday featuring attractions for all the family, and along with its two national parks, Dartmoor and Exmoor, the county also boasts four UNESCO sites: North Devon Biosphere, Jurassic Coast, Tamar Valley and the English Riviera Global Geopark and 300 miles of cliffs and beaches.

Well worth visiting are the beautiful village of Clovelly – a very steep walk down the cobbled street to a tiny harbour; Kent’s Cavern, one of the oldest known caves inhabited by man; the beautiful old village of Cockington and its thatched cottages; and, one for the kids, Crealy adventure park.

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TT practice 31 Mark Miller

It’s that time of year when the Isle of Man starts rocking to the roar of motorbikes, and 37.73 miles of public roads become a racetrack.

The world-famous TT races start on Saturday 6 June, although practice week began last Friday 29 May on the Billown circuit and Saturday 30 May on the TT course.

Races take place on 6, 8, 10 & 12 June plus 5 races will take place on Saturday 13 June on the Billown circuit.

Making an appearance on the TT course this year is Valentino Rossi, eight times MotGP world champion, and Giacomo Agostini, winner of 10 TT races between 1966 and 1972. Pitched as the ‘Lap of the Gods’ both riders will make a lap of the TT course prior to the Dainese Superbike TT race on Saturday 6 June - postponed until Monday 8 June due to the weather.

This year also sees the world’s first zero carbon, zero emissions grand prix race race - the TTXGP. The Green TT race will take place on the morning of Senior Race day - Friday 12 June 2009.

There’s far more going on on the island during TT race week than just motor racing. In addition to the day-time races there’s a full entertainment package on offer too including two displays by the Red Arrows RAF display team on 9 June – one of the first chances to view the team’s new routine; TT and motorsport photography exhibitions; wing walker display; fireworks; Stockcar racing; and amongst all the musical offerings, rock legends Whitesnake are appearing live on 9 June.

The Isle of Man TT is an experience not to be missed.

Don’t forget, if you can’t make it over for the whole week’s racing, day trips to the TT are being offered by the Isle of Man Steam Packet company.

For more information on travelling to the Isle of Man check out a previous post.

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The Isle of Wight is situated just off the south coast of England, south of Portsmouth in the English Channel. Portsmouth and Southsea are easily reachable via train from London – approximately 1hr 30minutes from London Waterloo Station or 2 hours from London Victoria Station.

In order to get to the Isle of Wight you need to board a ferry or hovercraft for the short journey across the Solent to the island.

There are in the region of 350 sailings to the Isle of Wight daily.

Companies offering sailings to the Isle of Wight:

Hovertravel
Hovertravel provides a fast hovercraft service between

• Southsea and Ryde – journey time just under 10 minutes.

Red Funnel
Red Funnel is the original Isle of Wight ferry operator established almost 150 years ago.

The company provides ferries between

• Southampton and West Cowes for foot passengers only – journey times 23 minutes. Warning: there are no toilets on board!
• Southampton and East Cowes this service is available for vehicles and passengers – journey time 5 minutes.

Wightlink
Wightlink offers ferry services between:

• Portsmouth and Fishbourne – for cars and passengers – journey time approximately 40 minutes.
• Portsmouth to Ryde ferry – passengers only – 18 minutes (FastCat catamarans)
• Lymington to Yarmouth ferry – car and passenger ferry – 30 minute journey time

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• How to travel to the Isle of Man

The Isle of Man is situated half way between England and Scotland in the middle of the Irish Sea and if the island is your chosen holiday destination this year, or you are visiting for the TT, Manx Grand Prix or for any other reason, how should you get there?

You have two options, you can choose to sail to the Isle of Man or fly with one of several airlines serving the island.

Sailing to the Isle of Man
Regular ferries are available to Douglas in the Isle of Man from the English ports of Heysham and Liverpool and from Dublin in the Republic of Ireland and Belfast in Northern Ireland. All ferries are operated by the Isle of Man Steam Packet Company.

The Steam Packet also operates day trips to the Isle of Man during the TT races and several day trips from selected ports during the summer months.

Flights to the Isle of Man
The Isle of Man’s airport is known as Ronaldsway and is located in the south of the Island near Castletown. Flights to and from the island are operated from the following airports:

England
Birmingham - flights operated by Eastern Airways and Flybe
Blackpool - flights operated by Manx2.com and Loganair
East Midlands - flights operated by Manx2.com
Gloucester - flights operated by Manx2.com
Leeds Bradford - flights operated by Manx2.com
Liverpool - flights operated by Flybe
London City – flights operated by VLM and Aer Arann
London Gatwick - flights operated by Flybe
Luton - flights operated by Flybe
Manchester - flights operated by Flybe
Newcastle - flights operated by Eastern Airways
Newquay - flights operated by Flybe
Southampton - flights operated Flybe

Scotland
Aberdeen – flights operated by Eastern Airways via Newcastle
Edinburgh – flights operated by Loganair
Glasgow – flights operated by Loganair

Ireland
Belfast City – flights operated by Manx2.com and Loganair
Belfast International - flights operated by Manx2.com
Dublin – flights are operated by Aer Arann

Channel Islands
Jersey – flights are operated by Blue Islands, Flybe (via Luton) and Manx2.com (via Gloucester)
Guernsey – flights are operated by Blue Islands via Jersey

Other airports:
Geneva – flights operated by Flybe are due to commence in December 2009

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There’s great news if you are driving in England this bank holiday weekend as the Highways Agency has announced it is removing roadworks from the motorways and major A roads in England where it is safe to do so.

Although roadworks are set to be completed at twenty-six sites by Friday, roadworks or lane restrictions will be removed from another 65 locations between 06:00 Friday 22 May 2009 and 00:01 on Tuesday 26 May 2009.

Unfortunately, now for the bad news: roadworks at some 28 other sites will remain.

For more information check out the Highways Agency website.

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I’ve been contacted by Christian Roudaut, a French television reporter, preparing a TV package for the Franco-German channel Arte on “staycation” in Britain.

He is looking for a British family who would normally go on holiday abroad and who has decided to stay in Britain this summer (weakness of the pound, credit crunch, no airport stress, good weather forecast etc).

The family must be happy to be filmed, preferably in South-East England. His deadline is on the 2nd of June 2009.

If you would like to be involved please contact :

Christian Roudaut - email: roudaut@btinternet.com or mobile: 07810031154.

Many thanks and good luck.

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