British holiday information

If old planes are your thing, then get yourself along to Robin Hood Airport this Easter weekend.

The last flying Vulcan, XH558 has arrived at the airport and will be on display from the viewing gallery at Robin Hood Airport Doncaster Sheffield every day between the 22nd April (Good Friday) and the 2nd May (11am – 4pm).

Mike Morton, Doncaster Sheffield Airport director said: “We were delighted to hear that the Vulcan XH558 was returning home after all these years to spend the summer in Doncaster. Since her arrival the sun hasn’t stopped shining!

“This forthcoming Bank Holiday period is an incredible opportunity, giving both enthusiasts and local residents alike the chance to view the last flying Vulcan in all her stunning glory. It will be a magical spectacle.”

From the viewing gallery, visitors will be able to see the Vulcan XH558 parked up outside, take photographs, try the flight simulator and visit the shop for lots of Vulcan memorabilia. Volunteers will be on hand to answer questions about the stunning craft.

Entry to view the plane is free, but you will need to pay for parking. However, if you make a purchase from Wetherspoons – in the main terminal building – you will be offered a discounted parking ticket, costing £3 (saving you up to £7).

In order to get to the viewing gallery just enter the main terminal building and follow the signs.

British driver Jack Harvey (Carlin) at Lodge Corner (photo by Jakob Ebrey)

Oulton Park is gearing up to host its first major event of the 2011 season over Easter weekend (23/25 April), when it welcomes a double headline meeting from the British F3 and GT Championships.

British F3 and GT brings an exciting mix of multi-million pound sportscars and future Grand Prix stars to Cheshire for practice and qualifying on Easter Saturday, followed by more than seven hours of racing on Easter Monday.

Supercar Exotica
The 2011 Avon Tyres British GT Championship grid features a mouth-watering array of cars, including the championship debut of the Mercedes SLS ‘gullwing’, Ferrari 458 and Lotus Evora, going up against iconic sportscars such as Audi R8s, Porsche 911s and Aston Martin DBR9s.

Oulton Park will host two hour-long British GT endurance races, both of which will feature added drama in the pit lane courtesy of compulsory pit stops and driver swaps.

F1 stars of the future
There will also be three races from the Cooper Tires British F3 Championship – the series that launched the careers of F1 stars such as Jenson Button and Ayrton Senna.

2011 is British F3’s diamond anniversary, and seven British drivers will be lining up within the strong international field aiming to clinch the championship’s sixtieth drivers’ title: Northern Ireland’s Will Buller and Exeter’s Harry Tincknell (Fortec Motorsport), Riki Christodoulou from Sutton Coldfield (Hitech Racing), Welshman Hywel Lloyd (Sino Vision Racing), London’s Menasheh Idafar (T-Sport), Ipswich’s Rupert Svendsen-Cook and Lincoln’s Jack Harvey (Carlin).

Easter entertainment
As well as five headline races, Oulton Park will host support action from the Volkswagen Racing Cup, Ginetta Challenge and British Formula Ford Championship. There will also be a full programme of Easter entertainment away from the track, including a fun fair, free children’s face painting and an Easter egg hunt.

Spectators will be able to meet the F3 and GT drivers in a free of charge autograph session and pit walk on Easter Monday.

Tickets for the British F3 and GT Championships at Oulton Park on 23/25 April are available in advance from £17 for adults, with free entry for children aged 12 and under. For more information call 0843 453 9000 or visit www.oultonpark.co.uk.

A new service between Cardiff and the Isle of Man has been announced for this year’s TT races.

The flights will operate through practice week and race week, from 27 May to 12 June.

Chairman of Manx2.com, Noel Hayes said: “We had many enquiries about a direct flight from Cardiff to the Isle of Man, so have added this route for the TT festival. With this year marking 100 years of the Mountain Course, we’re giving more fans the opportunity to come and experience this great event.”

More information:

Three return journeys will operate during the TT fortnight with fares starting at £59.95 including taxes and charges.

Following the successful renegotiation of the Isle of Man’s reciprocal health agreement with the UK last September, an agreement between Jersey and the UK has finally been reached to restore their reciprocal health agreement.

The new Jersey UK agreement came into force on Friday, 1 April 2011, and now permits UK residents to be treated free of charge should they fall ill while visiting Jersey and vise versa for Jersey residents visiting the UK.

While visitors from both countries will be entitled to free NHS cover, the agreement does not cover repatriation costs.

It has been two years since the former reciprocal health agreement ended on 1 April 2009.

Travelodge has today knocked the Hilton hotel group off the top spot as London’s biggest hotel chain.

With the opening of its 99-room Ealing Travelodge today, the chain now has 40 hotels with 5,714 rooms across the capital, and is the fastest growing hotel chain in the UK.

After also announcing today that it has exchanged contracts on eight new hotels in London the chain is moving closer to its target of having at least 50 hotels and nearly 7,000 rooms in London by the start of the 2012 Olympic Games.

Guy Parsons, Travelodge Chief Executive, said: “Nothing better demonstrates the evolution of Travelodge from our road side origins than becoming the biggest hotel brand in London.

“Whilst others scaled back their development in the capital during the recession we maintained our commitment to growth. This ensured we secured sites in locations such as Bank, Twickenham and Vauxhall that are the envy of the hotel industry.

“To be the biggest at the start of the Olympic Games also sends a strong message that everyone is welcome in London. The 5* and boutique hotels have a role to play but a strong budget hotel market ensures we can welcome the world with high quality low priced accommodation.”

Travelodge, which currently has 466 hotels and 32,477 rooms across the UK, Ireland and Spain, aims to have 1,100 hotels with more than 100,000 rooms in Europe by 2025.

Legendary motorsport stars, Norfolk heroes and historical figures are among the personalities and places to be immortalised by the redeveloped Snetterton circuit, as venue owner MotorSport Vision (MSV) unveils the new corner names for the multi-configuration track.

Following the announcement in Autumn 2010 of a multi-million pound transformation of the Norfolk venue into arguably the UK’s best circuit for both competitors and spectators, MSV invited fans of Snetterton to propose names for the new circuit’s turns.

More than two thousand entries were received featuring hundreds of name suggestions, which MSV collated and considered before the final selection was made by Chief Executive Jonathan Palmer.

Snetterton circuit corner names:

300

1 – Riches
2 – Montreal
3 – Palmer
4 – Agostini
5 – Hamilton
6 – Oggies
7 – Williams
Bentley Straight
8 – Brundle
9 – Nelson
10 – Bomb Hole
11 – Coram
12 – Murrays
Senna Straight

200

1 – Riches
2 – Montreal
3 – Chapman
Bentley Straight
4 – Brundle
5 – Nelson
6 – Bomb Hole
7 – Coram
8 – Murrays
Senna Straight

100

1 – Agostini
2 – Hamilton
3 – Oggies
4 – Firmans
5 – Palmer

Aerial diagrams outlining the corner names for the 300, 200 and 100 circuit configurations can be found here: Snetterton circuit maps with corner names

The public is being invited to vote for their favourite museum for the 2011 Art Fund Prize.

This is the fourth year that the Prize has been sponsored by the Arts Fund – the Arts Fund is administered by The Museum Prize, a charitable company created in 2001 by representatives of National Heritage, the Museums Association, The Art Fund and the Campaign for Museums.

The ten museums that have been long listed for selection are:

1. British Museum, London
   A History of the World
2. Hertford Museum, Hertfordshire
   Hertford Museum’s Development Project
3. Leighton House, London
   Closer To Home: The Restoration and Reopening of Leighton House Museum
4. Mostyn, Llandudno, Wales
   Refurbishment and extension of Mostyn gallery
5. People’s History Museum, Manchester
   The new People’s History Museum 2010
6. Polar Museum, University of Cambridge
   Promoting Britain’s Polar Heritage
7. The new Robert Burns Birthplace Museum, Alloway, Scotland
8. Roman Baths Museum, Bath
   Roman Baths Development
9. V&A, London
   Ceramics Study Galleries
10. Yorkshire Museum, York
    Letting in the Light – Revitalising the Yorkshire Museum for the 21st century

Members of the public are invited to vote online at artfundprize.org.uk for their favourite long-listed museum and tell the judges which one they think should win. Voting closes at 5pm on 3 May.

A short list of four museums will be announced on 19 May with voting reopening at 9am on 20 May.

The Art Fund Prize 2011 winner will be announced on Wednesday 15 June 2011.

A series of superheroes and toys descended on Brands Hatch on Wednesday (16 March) for a race with a difference to raise money for Comic Relief.

Captain America, Buzz Lightyear, Spiderman, Bananaman, Morph, Barbie & Ken, the Honey Monster, a Green Army Man from Toy Story and Katsuma all took part in a race on Razor scooters in an event jointly organised by Brands Hatch and Toyology.

The characters lined up on the grid for a standing start before a drag race to the finish line, with Captain America securing the win ahead of Buzz Lightyear and Bananaman.

The event raised over £2,000 for Comic Relief and organiser Peter Jenkinson from Toyology was delighted with the way the day went: “A huge shout to the riders who braved the chill to get out on the track and help raise money for a worthy cause, especially Barbie and the team at Brands Hatch helping keep the motley crew of kids’ characters in order. We’re already excited about next year’s event.”

To make a donation towards Brands Hatch’s Comic Relief fundraiser, visit justgiving.com/toyology.

Who would have thought that London’s Clapham Common would become a campsite?

Well, amazingly, there’s a lot of speculation suggesting that it could happen – well for the duration of the Royal Wedding, at least.

The proposal is for a Clapham Common campsite which could accommodate up to 10,000 people for three nights – Thursday, April 28 to Sunday, May 1, at a cost of £75 per person for the three nights.

According to the Metro, the camp will have 24-hour security and will offer hot showers, toilet facilities, a dedicated quiet zone, and a family zone.

A ‘glamping’ zone for luxury campers with 18ft high tipis has also been suggested.

It is uncertain whether planning permission for a campsite has been obtained yet.

Applications for tickets for the 2012 London Olympics will be accepted from today, Tuesday 15 March 2011 – 500 days before the games officially start.

UK applicants can apply online at www.london2012.com/visiting/tickets/ – don’t panic if you haven’t worked out when your favourite events are taking place as you have between the 15 March and 26 April 2011 to apply.

This is a registration to apply for tickets and tickets are not awarded on a first-come, first-serve basis – you will be informed if your application for tickets has been successful by 24 June 2011, and payments will be taken between 10 May and 10 June 2011.

Where demand exceeds supply an automated, random selection process will take place to allocate the tickets.

Application for tickets to the Paralympic Games tickets will open on 9 September 2011.

Anyone wishing to buy tickets for next year’s Olympic Games should be aware that tickets can only be purchased from the official website, official travel partner Thomas Cook (www.thomascooklondon2012.com/) and hospitality providers Prestige Ticketing Ltd (prestigeticketing.london2012.com/) and Jet Set Sports (jetsetsports.com/) – do not try to buy tickets from anyone else!

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

The links provided above are for UK residents only – each country has its own official outlets for tickets.