British holiday information

Here’s a novel way to spend Father’s Day if your dad is into trains.

The London Transport Museum is operating a 1938 Tube train along the western end of the Piccadilly line this Sunday, 19 June 2011.

The tube will leave Northfields traveling to High Street Kensington via Earl’s Court making an unusual cross over from the Piccadilly to the District line and then travelling to Acton where it will switch back onto the Piccadilly line.

The journey, which will last around two hours, will also take in the five terminals at Heathrow Airport.

More information:

Tickets: adults £25, Children £15 – children under 16 must be accompanied by an adult.

Contact the London Transport Museum on 020 7565 7298.

With the London 2012 Olympic Games little more than a year away, many overseas visitors are now aware of whether their applications for tickets have been successful. Those fortunate enough to receive tickets will now be switching their focus to travel and hunting down flights to the UK, in particular flights to one of London’s airports.

There are five main London airports and visitors flying to London should be aware that although these have London in their title, they are not all based in central London. Distances vary and visitors should be aware of the distances from central London.

The five main London Airports are listed below by the number of passengers handled:

London Heathrow Airport
The UK’s busiest airport is located around 15 miles west of central London and has easy access into London via the M4 and M25 motorways or by rail using the Heathrow Express which connects the airport to Paddington Station. Heathrow Express trains operate every 15 minutes with a journey time of 15 minutes, alternatively, a stopping service operates to Paddington and takes around 26 minutes.

London Gatwick Airport
Gatwick is the UK’s second busiest airport, and is situated around 30 miles south of central London. Located just off the M23 motorway, the airport has excellent road and rail connections. London Victoria Station can be reached via the Gatwick Express, which operates every 15 minutes with a journey time of 30 minutes, alternatively, a stopping service also operates to Victoria.

London Stansted Airport
Stansted Airport is located around 40 miles from central London, just off the M11 motorway. Central London can be reached via the Stansted Express service, which operates every 15 minutes and takes 45 minutes to reach London Liverpool Street Station.

London Luton Airport
Luton Airport is situated 32 miles north of Central London and is accessible via the main M1 and M25 motorways or via a train link from Luton Airport Parkway Station. Trains from Luton to St. Pancras international station take around 25 minutes.

London City Airport
As the name suggests, London City Airport is situated in London, six miles from the city centre and only two miles from the site of the 2012 London Olympics. London City Airport offers transport connections via the Docklands Light Railway, which connects East London to the London Underground.

Damon Hill’s 1996 World Championship-winning Williams-Renault FW18 is set to appear at Brands Hatch this bank holiday weekend (28-30 May) among a host of other legendary Formula One cars.

Damon Hill’s time at Williams will be forever associated with his rivalry with German Michael Schumacher and a range of cars celebrating his Benetton team from that period will also be on track. The 1992 and 1993 Benetton cars that were designed by Ross Brawn, now of Mercedes F1, helped develop Schumacher into a Grand Prix winner and eventual World Champion.

Former World Champion Nelson Piquet’s 1990’s car is another of those taking part in the demonstrations. Finally the era of Turbo cars in 1985 will also be represented, and fresh from running Ayrton Senna in his first year of Formula One, the Toleman team’s profile was sufficiently raised to enable them to attract sponsorship from Benetton.

In addition to these wonderful cars, the Masters Festival also features racing from Formula 1 machinery from the ’60s to the ’80s, courtesy of the Grand Prix Masters series, plus World Sportscar Masters, as raced at Le Mans, and many other historic championships.

More information:

Tickets for the Masters Historic Festival, are available from £17 for adults with free admission for children aged 12 and under. For more information call 0843 453 9000 or visit www.brandshatch.co.uk

Brands Hatch has been unveiled at the venue for the London 2012 Paralympic Road Cycling events.

The Kent circuit will play host to 32 road cycling events for men and women with a range of disabilities including visual impairments, cerebral palsy and amputations competing on bicycles, tricycles, tandems and hand cycles.

In total, 225 athletes from around 40 nations will participate in the road cycling events, which will consist of mass start road races ranging from 30km to 120km and individual and team time trials ranging from 20km to 35km.

The choice of Brands Hatch was unveiled at a joint media press conference on Friday 20 May, which was attended by LOCOG chairman Lord Sebastian Coe.

The Road Cycling event at Brands Hatch will be ticketed in large part, although part of the route will be free – providing a fantastic way for local residents to watch high profile action.

Tickets will go on sale at a cost of £10. There will also be Special Price tickets available (£5 for 16 and under and 60 and over) as well as Group Organiser tickets.

The Paralympics takes place from 5 – 8 September 2012.

photo: Seb Coe is joined by Jonathan Palmer, members of the local council, children from Valence School and Paralympian Rachel Morris on the start/finish straight at Brands Hatch

With the threat of the ash cloud dominating the headlines at the moment casting doubts over air travel, it’s worth considering holidays that don’t involve flying such as cruises.

Often when we think of cruising we think of foreign cruises, however, it is possible to take a cruise around the British Isles taking in stops in England, Scotland, the Scottish isles and Ireland.

There are many cruise ship companies that can cater to your cruising needs. One of the popular cruise companies is the Fred Olsen Cruise Lines.

Founded in 1848 by the Olsen Brothers in Norway, the company offers quality cruises on a variety of ships to different destinations around the world and around Britain. Fred Olsen offers a selection of cabins or suites with or without balconies or verandahs dependent on your budget.

The Black Watch cruise ship, a Fred Olsen cruise ship weighing in at an estimate of 28,492 tons, offers cruises around the British Isles.

The Black Watch has many areas that let you unwind and enjoy your holiday. It has restaurants and cafes offering sumptuous meals and specialties and bars including the Marquee Pool Bar and Pipers Bar. There are various recreational areas such as a card room and outdoor pools and entertainment areas such as the Neptune lounge, casino, children’s play area, dance floor, and Marina Theatre to name a few.

You can also relax and unwind in their Jacuzzi, Marquee Pool & Jacuzzi, Sauna, Spa and Whirlpool. If you can’t bear the thought of being isolated from the internet for too long and need to check your emails or even Facebook, don’t worry at there’s also an Internet Access Lounge offering unlimited access to the internet.

A Jaguar E-Type crests the hill at Druids bend during the 2010 Masters Historic Festival

The 50th anniversary of the Jaguar E-Type is to be celebrated at the Brands Hatch Masters Festival this coming May Bank Holiday, 28 – 30 May.

The event, a major fixture in the historic racing calendar, will take place on the full Grand Prix circuit on the Sunday and Monday.

Included in the E-Type entries for the Gentlemen Drivers race are former British Touring Car driver John Clark, GT Champion Nathan Kinch and historic racing stalwarts Martin Stretton and Gary Pearson, who will be racing one car with his brother John, plus another in the same event. Also present will be fellow historic racer Chris Scragg, owner of the 18th Century Spa Hotel in Royal Tunbridge Wells.

Once described by Enzo Ferrari as the “world’s most beautiful car”, the E-type will start alongside newly-prepared cars as well as long-established racers for the two-hour endurance race.

Also present amongst the E-Types are classic Cobras, Bizzarinis, Austin Healeys, TVRs and Lotuses, including a 1964 Elan once raced by Grand Prix driver and team owner Jackie Oliver.

The Masters Festival also features a varied schedule of races featuring some of the most evocative cars from the post-war era, which includes Formula One, Sportscars and Touring cars as well as an Interseries Revival race – where the cars from the world’s best racing series would feature on the same grid.

Tickets and more information:

Tickets for the Masters Historic Festival at Brands Hatch cost from £17 for adults are now on sale. Entry for children aged 12 and under is free. For more information call 0843 453 9000 or visit www.brandshatch.co.uk

If vintage aircraft holds a fascination for you, why not consider booking a flight on a vintage 1930s aircraft this May bank holiday?

Classic Flight is returning to Blackpool Airport on Saturday 28 and Sunday 29 May, offering pleasure flights on a De Havilland Dragon Rapide.

Flights cost from £75 per person and will depart for the Westair hangar at Blackpool Airport.

For more information and to book visit www.classicflight.com or call 02476 882616

The famous Isle of Man TT races get underway at the end of this month.

TT fortnight, which consists of the practice week and a week’s racing, runs from 28 May until 12 June.

This year will mark the 100th anniversary of the Mountain Circuit and will also see Yamaha celebrate 50 years of TT racing. A ‘Milestones of the Mountain Course’ parade lap will take place on Friday 10 June, senior race day, to celebrate the 100th anniversary plus a parade lap of Yamaha bikes will also take place on Friday featuring riders such as Giacomo Agostini, Phil Read and Kenny Roberts.

The TT is an amazing experience not only for hardened motor racing fans but also those with just a passing interest in motorbikes and speed.

Unfortunately, Ian Hutchinson, who last year completed a clean sweep of wins – five wins in five starts – will be missing this year, however, the races promise to be huge spectacle with regular TT competitors, such as John McGuinness, Ryan Farquhar, Keith Amor, Michael Dunlop, Bruce Ansty, Cameron Donald, Guy Martin and home-grown riders Dan Kneen and Conor Cummins all making the starting line up.

In addition to the racing, there’s plenty of evening entertainment lined up plus various motorcycle meetings, the Ramsey Sprint, two Red Arrows displays and much more.

For more information on the TT races check out www.iomtt.com

To get to the Isle of Man:

Ferries operate with the Steam Packet company – Steam Packet company: www.steam-packet.com.

Flights operate from various UK airports, including Gatwick, Liverpool, Leeds, Belfast, Anglesey and Cardiff – for a full list of airports and airlines see a previous post: how to travel to the Isle of Man.

Local airline, Manx2.com has announced an increase in its schedule of flights between Leeds and the Isle of Man throughout the TT fortnight. It will also operate special TT flights from Cardiff Airport between 27 May and 12 June 2011.

With all the hype surrounding London 2012 Olympic tickets, cloud-based email security and compliance solutions company, Proofpoint, is warning of potential email ticketing scams.

The company is warning customers not to get too carried away and to be alert of phishing email scams.

Below is an official quote from Proofpoint offering advice for anybody purchasing tickets over the next week:

“As excitement builds for the London 2012 Olympic Games, people should remain wary of bogus or unauthorised ticket websites claiming to be associated with the 2012 Games. It is likely that phishing attempts will be on the rise as scammers look to capitalise as ticket applicants are notified, and money is debited from applicants’ accounts.

Phishing attacks have become increasingly sophisticated and can easily be mistaken for legitimate correspondence. To stay safe online and avoid becoming the victim of a phish attack people should follow three simple steps:

1. Be aware: be suspicious of any email requests for personal IDs, financial information or user names and passwords. The 2012 Games Organisers will never request this information via email.
2. Don’t click: if an email seems suspicious, don’t click the links in the email and never open file attachments from anything but 100 percent trusted sources. Links embedded in emails may take you to fraudulent sites that look similar to the legitimate site.
3. Don’t fill out email forms: Never fill out forms within an email, especially those asking for personal information. Instead, visit the actual 2012 Games website by typing the address direct into your browser to ensure that the page you are using is secure before entering sensitive information. “

The deadline for registering to enter the ballot to obtain tickets for next year’s London Olympics is tonight – 23:59.

The six-week registration process began on 15 March for tickets to the Game’s 650 sessions covering 26 sports over 17 days.

Popular events, such as the men’s 100m final, have a limit of four tickets per person.

Ticket prices and the schedule are available here: www.tickets.london2012.com/olyschedule_p1.html

For UK applications visit www.london2012.com/visiting/tickets/

If you’re concerned about getting tickets for the Paralympic games, don’t worry, application for tickets opens on 9 September 2011.