This year’s Michelin Guide is bigger and better than ever.  This trusted guide has been around for over a hundred years, with the first guide having been published in 1900 by Andre Michelin himself. The Michelin Guide has been used by millions in many countries around the world as a invaluable guide for traveling. This year’s guide is no exception, in being invaluable.

The Guide this year includes more than 3600 restaurant and hotel reviews. It also includes maps and awards for best hotels and eateries. The maps are very nicely laid out for easy use.  There is also two unique sections in this year’s guide, beer and whiskey.  Michelin has also included a guide on how to dial internationally. The guide also includes prices ranges for eateries and amenities for accommodations.

I particularly enjoyed the first sections of the 2012 Michelin Guide. These first few sections include; a beer and whiskey guide, a section entitled particularly pleasant Hotels & guesthouses and there is even a section on tires. This years guide is usual solid guide that we have all come to know and love. However this year’s Great Britain and Ireland guide has included many more eateries and lodgings.

The guide follows it’s normal standard layout which is comforting and makes things easy to find.The Guide starts with England and winds it way through Great Britain. They cover eateries and and lodging. The book also has fantastic maps. They’ve also included a dedicated section to London.

Overall, this trusty Guide is once again just as trustworthy. It has been spruced up a bit and added many more entries. This is a must have if you are traveling to the UK and Ireland. This Michelin Guide has come to be known as the gold standard for travel guides and this year’s volume does not disappoint.

Brit Book Review: Michelin’s Great Britain & Ireland 2012 Guide is a post from: Anglotopia.net

The Wheat has been separated from the Chaff! The last sixteen have emerged to take their Quarter Final spots but who were the Wheat and who were the Chaff?

The last week of the pool round had some scintillating match ups with Scotland needing to get at least one victory from two very tough encounters against Argentina and England. New Zealand had to face their World Cup boogey team France to win their Pool and Ireland just had the thorny little task of beating Italy to advance.

The week got underway with Australia facing a weakened United States in Wellington. The US coach Eddie Sullivan chose a second string US side to face Australia due to the Eagles hectic schedule. Eagles had little chance of turning over one of the competitions early favourites, and with the Wallabies running in 11 tries to one, the chances of an upset lasted only until the two teams walked on to the field.

Aussies, Rob Horne and Rocky Elsom scored for the Wallabies, before they were surprised by a JJ Gagiano’s try for the US. The two times World Champions Australia, then put the Americans to the sword, as Kurtley Beale and Anthony Faingaa ensured Australia earned a bonus point by half-time. The Aussies stepped up a gear in the second half, running in seven unanswered tries, including a six-minute hat-trick from Adam Ashley-Cooper, to secure all five points from the match with a 67-5 victory.

England took a more assured step towards the Quarter Finals as they trounced Romania 67-3 with returning from injury winger Mark Cueto scoring a hat-trick along with Chris Ashton. Jonny Wilkinson seemed to be returning to better form as he converted three tries with his trusty boot along with a penalty conversion before being replaced by Toby Flood who also had a superb outing with his boot. The Six Nations champions seemed to be on better form after a couple of error strewn games earlier in the tournament but they would need to in much better form to face Scotland in a crunch final match in the Pool stage for both sides.

Hosts New Zealand went head to head with France to see who would be the winners of Pool A. Les Bleus had famously knocked out the All Blacks from the 1999 and 2007 World Cups, but with rumors of France possibly throwing the game, so they would have an easier run in, in the knock out stages the tie was highly charged. The Hosts weathered the early pressure from Les Bleus but were never truly troubled by their old nemesis, as they ended up clear winners 37-17 at full time.

Ireland kept their chance of winning Pool C with a emphatic victory over Russia as they easily earned their bonus point to go with the four for winning the tie 62-12. The Irish scored nine tries with Ronan O’Gara scoring an impressive six conversions and a penalty kick. The victory left them in control of the Pool and an important test against Italy to see who would be the winner of the group between them and Australia.

Minutes after Ireland had all but secured their place in the Quarter Finals their Celtic cousins Scotland had a tough task of their own to secure a place in the last sixteen of the tournament. The Scots had to face an ever improving Argentina side. The Southern Hemisphere nation have steadily improved over the years and will finally get its inclusion in the Tri-Nations in 2012, as they become the Four Nations, with a possible Pacific Islands team to make a fifth nation in the future.

Argentina had run England very close in their opening game and would look to make Scotland’s road to the Quarter Finals as difficult as possible, as they did with a dour 13-12 victory over the Scots. Both teams made life difficult for themselves with a number of errors that gifted their opponent’s chances to put themselves on the board but points seemed hard to find for the two nations, as Scotland’s Chris Patterson and Felipe Contepomi of Argentina, who had given the Pumas the lead despite Scotland’s early pressure missed a number of penalty opportunities.

Scotland survived an early scare as Martin Rodriguez sliced wide a simple drop-goal attempt in front of the posts during the first spell of Argentine pressure. Rodriguez missed another stellar chance from a drop goal attempt just after Contepomi put the Pumas on the score board. Scotland did pull level with the Pumas before the half as the Argentine forwards collapsed the scrum to give Patterson another chance in front of the posts, and this time he did not fail to hit the target.

After the restart Ruaridh Jackson then gave the Scots the lead with a Penalty conversion of his own after another collapsed scrum. The Argentinians pulled level as Contepomi made amends for a failed penalty conversion as the Scots collapsed a scrum of their own. Scotland applied the pressure and went close as scrum half Rory Lawson was held up on the line by some stalwart Argentine defending. A minute later, a beautifully controlled drop-goal from Jackson restored the Scots’ three-point lead.

Dan Parks replaced Jackson with 10 minutes remaining and, after a monster kick deep into Argentine territory, slotted over a drop-goal that appeared to put Scotland in the driving seat. However, Argentina swept up the field and Lucas Gonzalez Amorosino jagged inside Paterson on the touchline and squirmed inside two more tackles before getting over the try line for an superb try that was converted by Contepomi.

In the dying minutes of the tie, Parks came close to steeling it for the Scots as he sliced wide with a drop goal attempt after being forced on to his weaker left foot by an offside-looking Contepomi, but there was to be no whistle other than the final one from the referee.

Wales not to be out done by Ashton, Cueto and Ashley-Cooper got a hat-trick scorer of their own in Scott Williams in their easy 81-7 victory over Namibia. The Welsh running up an impressive 12 tries to give them the full five points form the match and leave them needing a victory over Fiji to claim their Quarter Final spot.

In other matches Japan and Canada had the first tie of the tournament as they drew 23-23 in Napier. Italy kept on target for a place in the Quarter Finals as they beat the USA 27-10. Georgia beat Romania 25-9 to give the Romanians the ignominy of the Pool B wooden Spoon. The South Africans took a lazy ride through the Samoans as they ran out 13-5 winners to claim top spot in Pool D.

With only two days of Pool action left there were two crunch mates still to play out of the six remaining games on the last Pool weekend. Scotland had a myriad of permutations if they were to win a place in the quarter finals but ultimately they had to hope that they could beat England and prevent England from getting a bonus point to stand any chance. Whilst Ireland had to beat Italy to claim their place in the Quarter Finals as well, but after their historic victory over Australia earlier in the tournament is was Ireland’s to lose.

Despite the hype of an Italy upset before the kick off the Irish easily saw off the Italian threat with a stunning 36-6 victory to win all their pool matches and head the Pool C table over heavily favoured Australia. Scotland on the other hand were not so lucky.

Needing to beat England and prevent their old rivals from claiming a bonus point they failed dismally as the English stumbled to yet another World Cup victory 16-12. The game was over shadowed by the wet and blustery conditions that made handling a major issue for both sides in Auckland. Scotland will count themselves unlucky that they couldn’t put the game to bed as the English gave way numerous penalties in scoring positions for the Scots and failed to put away scoring opportunities of their own.

The Scots had the advantage at the half with a 9-3 lead but whatever England coach Martin Johnson put in his player’s tea certainly did the trick as England came out a new team. Despite some ranging runs from the English backs, the Scottish defence held out and after another error from the English the Scots extended their lead from the boot of Patterson. The tie was in Scotland’s hand but the every present drop goal threat of Wilkinson bore fruit as on 63 minutes the English pulled three points closer. The Scottish line out failed near the Scottish touchline as Wilkinson again gave the English a lifeline from his boot to put the English within three points. However, with England trailing 9-12 and the game entering its painful finale for Scotland, English replacement Toby Flood threw a devious miss-pass to Ashton on the right wing who dived over to end Scotland’s hopes, with Flood adding the extras from the touchline.

The rest of the weekends fixtures were games to make up the number as the Pools had all but ended as expected, Australia routed the Russians 68-22, Argentina rested a few first team players as they ran out 25-7 winners over Georgia. The Welsh continued their fine form as they demolished Fiji 66-0 in Hamilton and New Zealand took a leisurely stroll to beat Canada comfortably 79-15.

In contrast to the majority of tier one nation’s relatively easy passage to the Quarter Finals, the French failed to qualify in style, as they suffered an ignominious 19-14 loss to Tonga. The loss meant that Les Bleus limped into the Quarter Finals, with Marc Lievremont’s side in disarray after a fine start to the Pool stage of the completion.

So the cream of world rugby has risen to the top and the only shock is the omission of Scotland from the Quarter Finals but for Argentina it is a well-deserved spot in the last 16 after some combative and spirited rugby. The Quarter Finals have separated the Northern Hemisphere sides from the Southern, meaning that it will be a North versus South World Cup Final.

The 2003 winners England have looked less then sterling in their Pool play and can count themselves lucky to have squeaked through, after some awful displays. France has also looked like a disjointed team bereft of originality and clearly not at the races in their last two outings. Ireland and Wales both look like they can beat anyone on their day, unfortunately one of them will miss out on a Semi Final spot.

Reigning champions South Africa have a formidable test against Australia but New Zealand will be quite happy that they be playing Argentina in the Quarter Final and hoping that their possible Semi Final opponents have a very tough match. However, the teams got to the Quarter Finals it is now that the real World Cup starts in earnest.

Pool A
1. New Zealand
2. France
Pool B
1. England
2. Argentina
Pool C
1. Ireland
2. Australia
Pool D
1. South Africa
2. Wales

Quarter Finals

Ireland Vs Wales
England Vs France
South Africa Vs Australia
New Zealand Vs Argentina

IRB Rugby World Cup – New Zealand 2011 – Final Pool Week Round Up. is a post from: Anglotopia.net

Australia collapse another scrum to nullify a dominant Ireland

The 2011 Rugby World Cup got its first upset of the tournament as the Irish turned over Australia in a thriller at Eden Park, Auckland. The United States recorded their first win as they beat Russia, and reigning champions South Africa and host’s New Zealand sustain their dominance in their pools.

The United States had come off the back of a fine performance in their defeat to Ireland to face a Russia side that has one eye on improving their performance as Rugby Sevens is to be included in the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics. The USSR had regularly beaten the likes of Italy in the 1970’s but with the decline of the Soviet Union their players had spread to the four corners of the broken up Soviet Union.

The Eagles outperformed the Bears on their World Cup debut, under horrendous conditions with the wind and rain lashing the Stadium Taranaki in New Plymouth. Russia got off to a fantastic start, as Yury Kushnarev kicked Russia’s first World Cup points from a penalty after only three minutes. Ultimately though, despite the early lead the debutants ended up losing 13-6 to the stronger American side. Russia’s coach, ex-Sale head coach Kingsley Jones would have been pleased with the stalwart defensive play of his charges who despite an overwhelming size difference in the pack managed to hold the Americans to one try in the first half, and prevented them scoring any in the second half.

For Russia their second match of the week was against a slightly stronger side than the US, in the shape of Italy. The Italians needed to rack up some points if they wanted to challenge Ireland and Australia for one of the two quarter final berths from Pool C. Unfortunately for Russia that is exactly what they did. As the ran out clear winners with a 53-17 victory to claim all five points up for grabs and claim their first victory of the tournament and leave Russia squarely at the foot of Pool C.

The Pool was thrown wide open for Italy as Ireland pulled off a fantastic mauling of the Tri-Nations Champions Australia at Eden Park, Auckland. The Aussies had gone into the match up as clear favourites but the Irish who have stuttered in the last couple of years produced some of the form that gave them the Six Nations, Grand Slam in 2009 to record an historic victory by 15-6. The Wallabies were without their playmaking flanker David Peacock and influential hooker Steven Moore, but the front five of Ireland would have made it difficult for any team out there, with their total dominance.

The other home nations came through relatively unscathed from their ties but England coach Martin Johnson will not be pleased with the manner of his team’s victory over Georgia. England stuttered through their match, winning 41-10, scoring six tries to gain the extra point but it was only the fitness levels of the English that told at the end to allow them the dominant victory, as they only led 17-10 at the half. Johnson will be hoping that his charges concentrate more on their team performance then their late night partying after a number of them were caught drinking late into the night at a local night club.

The Welsh are sitting in third place in Pool D, after a narrow 17-10 victory over second placed Samoa. In previous World Cup’s the Welsh have struggled to defeat the Samoans but with only Fiji and Namibia to play the Welsh will be feeling confident of moving onto the quarter final stages for the first time since 2003. However, they will be mindful that it was a 38-34 loss to Fiji that stopped them qualifying for the quarter finals in the last World Cup.

Scotland did not play this week but there has been some grumbling in the Scottish camp that their most difficult games come in the span of five days against Argentina and England. However, with nine points in the bag and joint top of Pool B with England, a berth in the quarter finals is theirs to lose.

In other matches the hosts New Zealand gave Japan a 83-7 thumping as they continued their dominancy in Pool A. New Zealand’s main rivals for winners of Pool A, are the French who gave Canada a thumping of their own as they ran out 46-19 winners. The two giants of pool face off next week as the All Blacks and Le Bleus attempt to top the pool, but speculation is rife that the French who have knocked out the All Blacks in recent World Cups are going to play a second string starting XV, in an attempt not win, with the hope of an easier route to the final.

Reigning champions South Africa trounced poor neighbours Namibia 87-0 in Pool D, to all but guarantee their place in the last eight of the tournament but with only second placed Samoa to play it is their berth in the quarters to lose.

In the battle for the wooden spoon in Pool A, Japan were on the end of another loss as Tonga beat the Cherry Blossoms 31-18 and in Pool B, Argentina beat the pool’s whipping boys Romania 43-8 to leave themselves still in the hunt for a quarter final spot at the expense of either England or Scotland.

The second week of ties has shown that the established nations will beat the tier 2, nations, in the Rugby World 99 times out of a 100. This has led to a call in some quarters for the exclusion of the emerging nations from the actual finals. However, this would be wrong. For many players from the lesser rugby playing nations it is a chance to play in some of the finest rugby stadia in the world, in front of thousands of fans. It is a chance to pit their wits, energy and skills against the world’s finest rugby playing athletes. It is a chance at glory, a chance to cause an upset and maybe a chance to be seen by a scout from one of the world’s professional clubs and turn professional.

For the established nations these games are vital, they give the teams a chance to come together as a squad for over two months, a chance to iron out kinks in their games, a chance hone their skills so that when they (barring a humiliating defeat) reach the quarter finals they should be firing on all cylinders. The coaches should know who their ideal first XV is. They should know what tactics they should be employing as they take on their top flight opponents and whether they actually have a cat in hells chance of winning the tournament.

Rugby World Cup – New Zealand 2011 – Week Two Round Up is a post from: Anglotopia.net

South Africa's Captain John Smit Raises Aloft the 2007 William Webb Ellis Trophy

The 2011 Rugby World Cup is only a week old! Everyone has played at least one game but which of the coaches will be the happy hooker and who will feel they are in the sin bin?

The tournament got off to a cracking start with a stunning opening ceremony in Auckland with a choir of 400 singing the Rugby World Cup anthem, World in Union. Martin Sneddon, CEO for Tournament Organiser Rugby New Zealand 2011, said of World in Union, “the performance sums up the cosmopolitan character of our young nation with singers of Maori, Pakeha, Samoan, Fijian, Cook Island, Niuean, Tongan, Tokelauan, Australian, Chinese, Korean, English, Irish, Danish, American, Canadian, Dutch, South African and Indian descent”, and he wasn’t wrong. The massed voices of multi-cultural New Zealand did their nation proud but it was up to the 30 players on the field to make the rugby world proud.

The hosts did not disappoint their fans with a dominant display to open the festival of rugby, beating Tonga 41-10. The All Blacks led by 29-3 at half time with a pair of tries each for Israel Dagg, and Richard Kahui with Tongan, Kurt Morath scoring a penalty to put some points on the board for the visitors. The All Blacks failed to capitalise on fine first half performance but after 19 minutes of the second half gone they managed to break the resolute Tongans with another try, this time from Jerome Kaino after a neat chip from Kahui set him free to power over the line. The Tongans did not take this lying down and took the fight to the All Blacks, gaining some great possession. With New Zealand born Taumalolo burrowing his way over the try line from short range for a well-deserved try, which was converted by Morath.

Despite the five points for the host nation in the opening tie of the competition. New Zealand coach Graham Henry will be happy to have got the opening game under his belt but will be mindful of his team letting the game slip in the second period.

In some of the other opening round match ups, England and Argentina fought out a close match with England ruing five penalty misses from kicking stalwart Jonny Wilkinson. The English looked to be heading for a shock opening defeat at the hands of the Pumas as they were tailing 9-3, with 13 minutes left on the clock. However, a late try from scrum half ,Ben Youngs spared the 2003 champions blushes to leave England second in Group B behind old rivals Scotland.

On paper you would think that Scotland would have an easier task as they took on Romania, but with the Scots ability to snatch defeat out of the jaws of victory the game did not seem to be going to plan for their coach Andy Robinson, as his side let a 21-11 lead slip. After victory in all but two of their last twelve encounters it seemed like it was going to be another loss for Scotland as Romania lead 24-21 with only 12 minutes remaining. Unfortunately, for Romania the Scottish kicking metronome Chris Paterson had not left his kicking boots in the dressing room as he leveled the tie before Simon Danielli went over late to take the match away from the Romanians.

Scotland put in a less than impressive display in the second of their first week matches as they struggled to stamp their authority on Georgia, as they won by the tight margin of 15 points to six. Andy Robinson’s side were defensively very strong but had no attacking dynamism which was hampered even more by the difficult wet conditions. Dan Park who was in for Chris Paterson for kicking duties managed to convert only four of his seven penalty attempts and produced all of the Scottish points from his boot. Despite Scotland’s difficulties they still sit on top of Pool ‘B’ with nine points, five ahead of England.

In Ireland’s opening tie the defensively frail United States, showed that they had heeded the warnings of their weak defence and produced one of the best defensive displays so far, holding the 2009 Six Nations Champions Ireland to three points in the first half, and could feel unlucky to have not gone into the dressing room on level terms. However, for the Eagles the Irish were just too strong in the second half running out as 22-10 victors with both side failing to gain the extra point.

The last of the home Nations, Wales can feel slightly unlucky to have lost their opening tie to reigning Webb Ellis trophy holders South Africa, after James Hooks controversial penalty kick was judged to have gone wide despite appearances, to leave the Welsh on the end of a scintillating 17-16 defeat. When questioned about the disputed penalty decision, Tournament organisers said: “Correct protocol was followed. The IRB will not be making further comment.”

In other ties, Australia won 32-6 to run out as clear winners against Italy in a one sided contest that gave them maximum points, and in first place above Ireland in Pool C. France made heavy weather in their opening game against Japan but still ran out clear winners, 47-21. The Frenched claimed the extra point to leave them in second place in Pool A behind New Zealand. Fiji were the first of the second level teams to record a victory as they beat Namibia 49-25. Unfortunately, for Namibia they also lost their second match of the week to Samoa as they the Pacific Islanders won 49-12. It leaves the Africans with no chance of qualifying for the next stage of the Cup.

Canada recorded an impressive victory over Tonga to resign them to a second consecutive defeat in a week as the Canucks ran out winners in a tightly fought contest that ended 25-20. For the Canadians it was the third time that they have defeated Tonga in World Cup competitions and means that Toga have no chance of progressing to the second stage of the Tournament.

With the second set of ties now underway and the Pools starting to take shape it is clear that the usual suspects of England, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand and France will be in the mix for the knockout stage. However, the only team to stamp their authority so far on the tournament seems to be Australia and their coach Robbie Deans will be very pleased with their performance. Scotland’s Andy Robinson will be happy to have nine points after two games but won’t be happy with the less then dominant performances from his side, and South Africa’s Peter De Villiers will be unhappy at the way Wales took his reigning champions so close. However, with four more games left for most teams it’s still all to play for.

About the Rugby World Cup

The IRB (International Rugby Board) Rugby World Cup 2011, is one of the preminent sporting events in the world’s sporting calendar and is held every four year. It is the globe’s third most watched sporting event after the Olympics, and the FIFA World Cup. This year’s tournament is being hosted by rugby power house nation New Zealand. The New Zealand, ‘All Blacks’ will be joined by 19 of the World’s finest rugby playing nations. Each country will compete in four ‘Pools’ in their quest to hoist the William Webb Ellis Trophy, at Eden Park, Auckland, on Sunday October 23rd after seven weeks of intense competition.

Each of the four pools consist of five teams, with the top two teams qualifying for the quarter-finals, where it becomes an elimination competition. The pool stage is a round-robin competition of ten games, with each team playing one match against each of the other teams in their group. The teams are awarded four points for a win, two points for a draw and none for a defeat. If a team scores four or more tries in one match, or if a team loses by seven points or less they will score a bonus point.

Sport: Rugby World Cup 2011 New Zealand – 1st Week in Review is a post from: Anglotopia.net

Judi Shekoni rose to fame with her portrayal of Precious in the UK’s number one soap ‘Eastenders’. An abundance of exciting roles followed including; King of Queens, NCIS, All of Us, Damages, Brothers and Sisters, Garfield 2 to name but a few. Now Judi has a role she can really sink her teeth into and has just finished filming her role of Zafrina, leader of the Amazon coven in Twilight’s Breaking Dawn, as a Twilight fan herself she loved bringing the character of Zafrina to life.

Recently the news broke that Judi is the most anticipated new Vampire from a poll by Team Twilight one of the largest Twilight Fan organisations. With all this anticipation, Judi wanted to share something she supports and introduce you to the UK’s Bite The Ballot Campaign. With the huge number of young people who do not vote in the UK, 60% in fact!

Judi wanted to get behind the Bite the Ballot Campaign to encourage young people to learn about politics, share their own voice and use their vote. Politics effects what we do every single day so making your own choices and knowing what your options are is essential, even from the very first vote! This campaign was founded by fellow actor Michael Sani and breaks the barriers to let you know that politics can be simple, personal and fun. It also follows in the footsteps of the American campaign ‘Rock The Vote’ which saw a huge increase in young people voting for the first time.

As well as Judi ITN’s Alistair Stewart, Actress Rosie Fellner, Eastenders star Tanya Franks, British Director Adrian Vitoria, Actor Shaun Parkes, Nick Clegg and Simon Hughes also support this campaign. Judi would love you to support this campaign too, by following them on Twitter joining the Facebook and/or donating on their website  Bite The Ballot – Be The Difference!

You can also follow Judi on Twitter or Facebook

British Twilight and Eastenders Star Judi Shekoni Bites The Ballot is a post from: Anglotopia.net

Here are some amazing pictures of Britain from space – taken from the International Space Station.

Original source.

Amazing Pictures of Britain taken from the ISS in Space is a post from: Anglotopia.net

It’s surprisingly easy to have an affordable holiday in Britain. From cheap hotels to inexpensive (or free) museums, there’s a lot to see and do that won’t cost you a fortune. But don’t be fooled into thinking you’re stuck with the usual castles and classic artworks. Britain is home to some of the quirkiest exhibitions you’ll ever see! From dentures to dog collars, check out some of the most unique museum collections in the U.K.:

Hunterian Museum, London

Inspired by the work of 16th-Century surgeon John Hunter, this collection offers a glimpse into the unsettling reality of medicine through the ages. Its glass cabinets contain some fascinating exhibits, such as original surgical equipment and medicinal relics from previous centuries. Peer into specimen jars containing actual preserved human remains, including Winston Churchill’s dentures and the brain of computer pioneer Charles Babbage.

http://www.rcseng.ac.uk/museums

British Lawnmower Museum, Southport

Whether you’re a lawn perfectionist or simply want to experience something a little different, the British Lawnmower Museum in Southport is the place to go. Set up by former racing champion (and lawnmower enthusiast) Brian Radam, the museum houses a surprising number of exhibits, from Victorian-era garden machinery to lawnmowers of the rich and famous. You can even see Brian May’s and Prince Charles’ lawnmowers (although one suspects the royals don’t do their own mowing).

http://www.lawnmowerworld.co.uk/

Dog Collar Museum, Leeds

The late John Hunt was a respected medievalist, but also an avid collector. After his death, Mrs Gertrude Hunt put his impressive collection of dog collars on public display. Initially a collection of about 100 items, this has been expanded to what is now the rather curious Dog Collar Museum, housed within the grounds of Leeds Castle. See a huge range of doggie accessories which spans decades; some exhibits dating back as late as five centuries ago.

http://www.leeds-castle.com/

The Cartoon Museum, London

Home to over 1,500 cartoons and drawings, there’s also a library with thousands of comics and books to browse. This animated gem is located right in the heart of the business district, hidden amongst the bustle of London hotels and offices. It’s worth seeking out though; from much-loved cartoon characters to political caricatures and animated satire, this is as much a U.K. history lesson as it is a taste of nostalgia.

http://www.cartoonmuseum.org/

The Gnome Museum, Devon

Just a stone’s throw from the Devon/Cornwall border lies the magical world of garden gnomes, The Gnome Reserve. This museum and garden focuses on the ecological and entertaining, and is home to more than a thousand garden gnomes and woodland characters. The ponds, woodland gardens and flower displays are worth visiting for their loveliness alone, but the gnomes are what bring the visitors here every year. The reserve is recommended for “adults whose sophistication has robbed them of a freshness of vision.” In other words, borrow the free gnome hats and fishing rods, and join in the fun!

http://www.gnomereserve.co.uk/index.htm

Exhibit… Eh? More of Britain’s Weirdest Museums is a post from: Anglotopia.net

Record-Breaking Britain: Experience Something Special

The U.K. is home to some of the world’s record-breaking wonders, although chances are, not everyone is aware of them. Forget researching cheap holiday deals to far flung destinations; Britain has some world wonders of its own. From Europe’s longest roller coaster ride to the narrowest hotel in the world, you can marvel at some of the U.K.’s record-book curiosities:

Europe’s Longest Roller Coaster – North Yorkshire, England

Paris may have Disneyland, but the longest roller coaster in Europe belongs to a little amusement park in North Yorkshire, England. Lightwater Valley theme park hosts a number of exhilarating rides, but its biggest claim to fame is “The Ultimate,” a 7,450 ft-long roller coaster ride. Until 2000, this was the longest roller coaster in the world. Although it was pipped to the post by a Japanese ride created in 2000, it’s still the second longest in the world. One thing’s for sure, you’ll certainly be getting more ride for your money.

For more information see: http://www.lightwatervalley.co.uk/

World’s Oldest Railway – County Durham, England

Rail enthusiasts can revel in steam train adventures with the world’s oldest railway in County Durham. The Tanfield Railway dates back to 1725, when it was used to transport coal. Nowadays the steam train runs passenger services every Sunday and all bank holidays, traveling a very scenic six-mile round trip from Tanfield to Sunniside in Gateshead. For a world-record double whammy, it’s worth noting that the route also passes by Causey Arch, the oldest surviving railway bridge in existence.

For more information see: http://www.tanfieldrailway.co.uk/

World’s Narrowest Hotel – Moffat, Scotland

The Star Hotel in Moffat, Scotland, is only 20 feet wide and 162ft long, yet manages to fit its nine comfortable guestrooms over three levels. Taking its official place in the Guinness Book of Records as the narrowest hotel in the world, the Star Hotel proves that good things do indeed come in small packages. With a tranquil location on the very scenic Southern Upland Way, the hotel also serves up traditional Scottish fare, such as proper haggis and decent meat pies. The perfect spot for wee Scottish holidays.

For more information see: http://www.famousstarhotel.co.uk/

Britain’s Smallest Pub – Suffolk, England

The Nutshell in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, is the smallest pub in Britain. While other tiny establishments may attempt to lay claim to the title, most of them seat the majority of their clientele outdoors. Not so the Nutshell, which contains its seating area completely within its 15 x 7ft interior – enough for about 10 patrons at once. The Nutshell has been a beer house since 1873, and continues its good work into the present day. Keep those elbows in!

For more information see: http://www.thenutshellpub.co.uk/

Record-Breaking Britain: Experience Something Special is a post from: Anglotopia.net

Devon, located in southwest England, is the ideal holiday destination for anyone who wants to escape from hectic city life and experience English country living for a couple of weeks. That doesn’t mean there aren’t any busy cities in Devon, though – both Plymouth and Exeter, the two main cities in Devon, are well equipped for people who prefer living within the hustle and bustle. Devon is best known for its incredible countryside and its stunning coastline, where you’ll find lots of Torquay hotels.

© Copyright Derek Harper and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.

If you want to explore the Devonshire countryside, you should head to Dartmoor National Park, which is one of the finest walking territories in the U.K. Dartmoor covers 954 square kilometres, and is mostly made up of moorland. There are numerous walks available on Dartmoor that take in the various tors (rocky hills), rivers, and historical features in the national park. You should never venture out in especially wet weather, though, as bogs can form on the moors and can be very dangerous. If you’re unsure about walking on Dartmoor, there are walking and driving tours available from a number of different companies.

Copyright timbr00

Those of you holidaying with children should spend a day at Exmoor Zoo in Exmoor National Park. The zoo houses over 200 species — including mammals, birds and reptiles — from all over the world. You’ll find cheetahs, wolves, monkeys, otters, and penguins at Exmoor Zoo, as well as loads of other animals. If you want to learn more about the animals you can sit in on one of the talks, and you can see them being fed during their allocated feeding times. You can visit on almost any day of the year, although the zoo is closed on some national holidays. Admission is very reasonably priced.

Another family attraction in Devon is the Woodlands Theme Park in Dartmouth, with rides suitable for both adults and children, so the whole family can have a great day out. They’ve got everything from extreme water rides to indoor play centres with activities for kids as young as 4 years old. You can also go and say hello to the animals that live at Woodlands on an 8-acre patch of farmland. Among the animals, you can get up close to are rabbits, guinea pigs, ferrets, and chipmunks. While you’re there you should check out one of the amazing falconry displays at the Woodlands Falconry Centre, where you can discover more about hawks, owls, and kestrels, and see them performing difficult tricks and flying manoeuvres.

© Copyright C P Smith and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons License.

You can feel like king of the world when you visit Babbacombe Model Village. Each of the 400 models in the village is handmade and hand-painted and includes houses, well known historic attractions, railways, cars, shops and more. You’ll be astounded by the miniature gardens that have won a number of prestigious awards and feature intricate details down to the last leaf. If you want to experience some of the U.K.’s best attractions and sights, Babbacombe Model Village is definitely for you.

Dorset’s  coastline is known as the Jurassic Coast due to its age and is a World Heritage Site. You can uncover over 180 million years of history in the geological formations on the Jurassic Coast. Many of these formations are now popular tourist attractions, such as the iconic Durdle Door, a spectacular naturally formed archway, and Lulworth Cove, a popular beach that has been eroded into a beautiful coastal inlet.

© Copyright Gwyn Jones and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons License.

There are a number of coastal walks that you can go on to explore the Jurassic Coast, and there are more than enough Plymouth B&Bs and other places to stay to keep you going if you plan on taking one of the long distance paths.

If you’d rather get your feet wet, there are loads of beaches that are perfect for watersports. Surfing is a hugely popular sport along the Jurassic Coast, and there are lots beaches that you can use. Croyde Bay, in Croyde village, is a well loved surfing area that hosts the annual Goldcoast Oceanfest, a surfing and music festival. You can go surfing at any time of year here thanks to the number of low tide waves that hit the beach. Other surfing spots include Woolacombe Bay, Saunton Sands and Westward Ho!, a village near Bideford.

© Copyright Chris Allen and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons License.

Before you leave Devon, you should visit Otterton Mill in Otterton. This great attraction has something for everyone and is perfect for those wanting to experience delicious Devonshire cuisine at its best. The mill dates back to the early 1800s and was used to grind flour, which it still does to this day. When you visit, you can see the mill in action and learn how the water wheels work on one of the special mill tours. Afterward, you can stop off at the bakery to sample some of the foods made on the premises – delicious homemade bread fresh from the oven, mouth-watering cakes, scones and other sweet treats.

For a full meal, you can dine at the Mill Cafe–Restaurant where every meal is made on-site with fresh produce sourced from local farmers. If you’d rather something a little lighter, you should give into one of their award-winning cream teas – sumptuous fresh scones, made with flour from the mill, topped with clotted cream and a healthy dollop of jam, coupled with a traditional cup of English tea.

Devon and Dorset – Cliffs, Cream Teas and Cheetahs is a post from: Anglotopia.net

Red panda, Copyright Chester Zoo

If you’re planning on visiting the North West of England, one of the best areas is Chester in Cheshire. This amazing city is packed full of things to do, whether you’re holidaying with the whole family — kids included — or you’re making a romantic break of it with your significant other. Luckily, there are lots of Chester Hotels near all the attractions, so you won’t need to travel far.

Chester itself is an incredibly historical area, and a simple walk down one of its many winding streets will show you a number of buildings that date back to the medieval period. There are also lots of shopping opportunities in this city, as well as more than enough restaurants and cafes for you to relax in during your holiday.

Chester is probably most famous for Chester Zoo. The zoo, located in Upton-by-Chester close to the M53, makes for an amazing day out for the whole family. It’s best visited during summer, although you can still have a great time in the colder months as well. Ticket prices are seasonal, so you’ll need to check how much you’ll be paying before you leave, and you can choose either a donation ticket or a normal ticket.

Chester Zoo Chimp, copyright Chester Zoo

There are over 7,000 animals housed at Chester Zoo. Many of them in danger of extinction in the outside world, so you can see some incredibly rare animals on your day out. The zoo is split up into different sections and you’ll need to devote an entire day to it if you want to make your way around every exhibit. New exhibits are constantly being added, but the most popular include the Elephants of the Asian Forest, the Realm of the Red Ape and the Spirit of the Jaguar. You should make sure you check out some of the animal talks that are hosted throughout the day while you’re there as well – you can learn a lot about all of the animals in the zoo.

Shark at Chester Blue Planet Aquarium, Copyright Dullhunk, Flickr

Another interesting animal attraction in Chester is the Blue Planet Aquarium. The aquarium is in Ellesmere Port in Cheshire and is actually only a few miles from Chester Zoo. There are hundreds of different fishy exhibits with everything from frogs to otters on display. There are also exhibits that represent different areas of the world, such as the Amazon, the Coral Bay, the Mangrove Swamps and more. If you’re feeling brave enough you can journey through the Aquatunnel, which is one of the longest underwater tunnels in the whole world – it’s 70m long! The tunnel is surrounded by the aquariums’ sharks, including tiger sharks, leopard sharks and bamboo sharks.

Cholmondeley Castle, copyright Tom Pennington

If you fancy staying outside of the main city while you’re visiting the area, you can find lots of different North West Accommodation. Cholmondeley, which is just 30 minutes from Chester city, is home to Cholmondeley Castle, which is a romantic 19th century estate complete with castle and gardens. Unfortunately, the castle isn’t currently open to the public. The grounds, however, are open seasonally from spring to autumn.

You can go for a leisurely stroll through the Rose Garden and watch the giant carp swimming in the Temple Water Garden. There are lots of nature trails and woodland walks located throughout the castle grounds. You should keep your eyes peeled throughout your walk to try and see if you can spot any of the local wildlife. Afterward you can grab a light bite to eat at the Tea Room or buy some local produce from the award-winning Farm Shop.

Fun Things to do in Chester, UK – Exploring the City of Chester England is a post from: Anglotopia.net

Blue Reef Aquarium Southsea, Stephen Fulljames

If you’re planning on visiting Portsmouth with children, you needn’t worry about being stuck for family-friendly activities. There are lots of things to do in Portsmouth with kids, and plenty of family -riendly accommodations. Whatever your children’s interests are, you should always be able to find something to keep them amused. The great thing about this city is that most of the attractions are suitable for adults, too, so both you and your children can have a great day out. The Blue Reef Aquarium is a great day out for tourists of all ages!

Portsmouth is famous for having the world’s oldest dry dock that’s still in use today, and for having some of the most famous historical ships on display there. One of the first places you visit should definitely be Portsmouth’s Historic Dockyard, where you can climb aboard the dry-docked HMS Victory and the HMS Warrior. The dockyard is located on Main Road on the waterfront and is within walking distance of the Portsmouth Harbour Train Station.

You’ll need to spend an entire day at the Historic Dockyard if you want to take in everything. As well as the two prestigious ships on display, there is also the Mary Rose Museum and the National Museum of the Royal Navy that you can visit, all located in the same area. When you buy your tickets, which you can do either online or at the dockyard, you’ll be entitled to entry into all of the exhibits. If you get peckish during your stay, there are coffee shops and cafes near Portsmouth Dockyard and toilets are conveniently placed around the dockyard.

HMS Victory, Copyright Martin Bodman

Both the HMS Victory and HMS Warrior have intricate histories dating back to Britain’s time as a royal empire. The two ships have been restored to perfection, and there are some parts of them that are original. Both ships are decked out with appropriate maritime items, and a lot of them were actually salvaged from the original vessels. To get a better understanding of the ships, you should opt into a guided tour, where your tour guide will answer any questions you might have and also point out the most interesting displays.

Another great family activity is a guided bus tour around Portsmouth with the company Local Haunts, whose main aim is to inform people of Portsmouth’s historic past. You’ll learn all about how Portsmouth used to be, from its maritime history to Portsmouth’s place in World War II. They also operate guided walks around the city centre and spooky ghost bus tours, which older children will love. Whichever tour you choose, you’ll get a chance to see some of the best landmarks in Portsmouth and learn a little bit more about this action-packed city.

You can also take in Gunwharf Quays, packed with restaurants, shops and fun – including discounted designer stores and popular chain stores such as Claire’s Accessories. The Spinnaker Tower dominates the Portsmouth skyline and is well worth a visit, with 350 degree views stretching for 23 miles (on a clear day). Deck 1 is clear glass, so you can experience the feeling of “walking on air.” Deck 2 includes a multimedia museum exhibit detailing the history of the harbour, and Deck 3 is open to the elements, so you experience that “crow’s nest” feeling, as though you were atop a ship, sailing the Solent. You can buy family tickets and get cheap deals at particular times.

There are loads of other things to do in Portsmouth and Southsea from visiting the parks in the area with a delicious picnic to going to one of the many play centres and letting your kids run wild while you relax for an hour or two. Whatever you choose to do, you’re guaranteed a memorable holiday when you visit Portsmouth.

Spinnaker Tower, By The_Lazy_Photographer Josh Harris

Days Out: Family Fun in Portsmouth England – HMS Victory And More! is a post from: Anglotopia.net

Pembrokeshire Coast Path

Editor’s Note: The following is a guest post from Ronald Turnbull author of  ’Granite and Grit’ recently reviewed by us here and of many books on UK hillwalking as well as one on the John Muir Trail, California

Walking in UK takes many different forms so the following are not in rank order. They are in rough order of seriousness, least demanding first. NB in UK we don’t walk long distances under trees. Boring! The Appalachian Trail is just one more incomprehensible-to-us US activity.

1. Great Gable

Moderate one-day walk from Borrowdale. Just one of 214 hills (we call them mountains) in the extremely beautiful and extremely busy Lake District, northwestern England. Very small (but perfectly formed) hills, a couple of hours worth of walking, are also available here – try Cat Bells, home of Beatrix Potter’s Mrs Tiggywinkle.

2. The West Highland Way

95 miles Glasgow to Fort William through (but not over) the mountains of Scotland, including the 20-mile shoreline of Loch Lomond. An easy, well-marked, busy trail with lots of shops and hostels. Point to point baggage transport service available (as it is on all established UK trails). (In UK, a trail is called a ‘path’, and ‘trail’ means a multi-day hiking route.)

3. Snowdon Horseshoe

Moderate one-day walk from Pen y Pass, Wales, with easy scrambling (Grade 1, which is roughly USA Class 2).

4. Ben Nevis

Ben Nevis by the Carn Mor Dearg Arete, from Fort William, Scotland. Say ‘Carn More Jerrack’. A big hill day, with easy scrambling (Grade 1). Superb views of the northern crags unseen on the usual Tourist Path (which is used for the descent).

5. Wainwright’s Coast to Coast Walk, northern England

From Robin Hood’s Bay (Yorkshire) to St Bees (Cumbria), 190 miles. Unmarked route, over several hills and along beautiful valleys. Plenty of shops and hostels. Busy and popular trail.

6. Pembrokeshire Coast Path, southwest Wales

Beautiful and not busy. Well marked trail, and can be done in day-length sections using convenient buses. Up to 180 miles.

7. Cairngorm Mountains

Two day hike from Aviemore to the Shelter Stone and back, Cairngorm Mountains, north-east Scotland. Big (by Brit standards) remote mountains with climate that can get seriously nasty. The Sheter Stone is a squalid boulder hole, most romantic, at the head of hill-ringed Loch (Lake) Avon (say Arne).

8. Wester Ross, northwest Scotland

More than two dozen splendid mountains, each reachable as a one-day hike from road or accommodation. You’d need a hire car to get from one to the next. The two very finest are Liathach (say Lee-a-gach with a Scots or German CH) and An Teallach (say An Chellach with another Scots CH at the end).

9. The Black Cuillin, Isle of Skye, Scotland

The UK’s most serious hills, with exposed rocky ridges at Grade 1 scrambling to V Diff climbing and beyond (Class 2 to 5.3) on superb rock with stunning sea views – or else low cloud, rain, and biting midges.

10. Coast to Coast across the Scottish Highlands

No single route, you devise your own. Inverie (Knoydart) is one good start point, Dunottar Castle (Stonehaven) one good finish. Around 200 miles, 14 days hiking, with a tent usually required. Unmarked paths and pathless glens (valleys), high mountain ridges. Enrol in the annual TGO Challenge for help with routes and planning.

Check out Ronald’s books on Amazon here.

Guest Post: The Top 10 Best Walks in Britain – Ten Seriously Great Hikes in The UK is a post from: Anglotopia.net

The food of Cornwall is a unique tradition among British cuisine. It is based on the available ingredients in Cornwall in South West England. This area has generally poor soil for agriculture, so many of the dishes are based on dairy ingredients and on the fresh seafood that is available in this region. Still, there is no shortage of celebrity chefs such as Jamie Oliver, Rick Stein and a host of restaurants in the region showcasing Cornwall’s finest cuisine.

Here are seven tasty, popular foods which are traditionally Cornish:

Cornish Pasties or Oggies

(Image: Hot and popular Cornish ‘Oggy’ made from pastry, meat and vegetables. By: Analiem)

This food is synonymous with Cornwall. It consists of a short crust pastry filled with uncooked beef, rutabagas, onions, and potatoes. This pie is then baked to cook the filling ingredients. It is strongly associated with the Cornish miners, who would carry it with them to eat while working. The pasty is known for its ability to keep well.

Cornish Yarg

(Image: Cornish wild garlic Yarg, wrapped in nettle.  By: Ferne)

Yarg is Cornish cheese, which is made from the milk of Friesian cows. Its distinguishing feature is its nettle coating, which was originally meant to protect the cheese from deterioration. The nettle coating causes a harmless, edible gray mould to grow all around the cheese. Many people all over the globe enjoy this unusual cheese because of the unique flavour imparted by both the nettles and the mould. Its texture is described as creamy near the edges where the coating is found, and crumbly near the middle. The cheese’s unusual name, “yarg”, is the backwards spelling of “Gray”, the surname of the people who first came up with the recipe for the cheese.

Clotted Cream

(Image: Cornish Clotted Cream in St Ives, Cornwall. By: Wright)

Clotted cream is also known as Devonshire cream. It is made when milk that is unpasteurised is heated using steam. The cream is then left to cool, which allows for the characteristic clots to form. The end result is a very thick cream with a high fat percentage that is added to tea or spread on scones or bread. It is extremely popular all over England for afternoon tea, and people have described it as tasting like creme fraiche, sweet whipped butter or even a bit nutty.

Cornish Fairings

(Image: Gingery Cornish Fairings, straight from the oven. By: Smileykt)

These are a type of ginger biscuit or ginger cookie that resembles gingerbread. Historically, they were often sold at fairs throughout Cornwall. The newer versions of fairings include flavourings such as almond and saffron. Sometimes they are topped with icing or marzipan.

Stargazy Pie

(Image:  Stargazy Pie made with Monkfish and Langoustine (Scampi). By: FoodStories)

This is a kind of pie in which small fish such as sardines, or in this case, langoustine, are arranged in a pie crust with their heads pointing upward outside of the pie crust so that they appear to be looking up at the sky. The pie also includes onions, mustard, bacon, and eggs.

Hevva Cake

(Image:  Hevva cakes made in Wales (neighbour). Cornish Hevva cake often has a criss-cross pattern. By: Wikipedia)

This cake may also be referred to as “heavy cake” and is strongly associated with the fishing industry of Cornwall. It is made by mixing flour, sugar, lard and butter together, then adding raisins and milk to make dough. It is rolled to a half-inch thickness and a criss-cross pattern is stamped on top to signify the nets that fishermen use.

Saffron Bun

(Image: Tucking into a saffron bun at Padstow, Cornwall. By: 46137)

The Cornish saffron bun is a yeast bun flavoured with saffron. Sycamore leaves are used to bake the buns, which are then covered with confectioner’s sugar. These buns are traditionally eaten on festive occasions like Christmas but they are also enjoyed year round.

This is post was contributed by Anytrip.com, a specialist in travel and experiences, offering cheap hotels in England, Wales and beyond.

Seven Traditional Foods of Cornwall – Cornish Cuisine Guide is a post from: Anglotopia.net

Here’s a great picture that was just released by NASA and the University of Dundee. It’s of the UK covered in Snow.

Gives you an excellent idea of the scale of the snowstorm that’s hit England, Scotland and Wales.

Click image to download a full size.

Image Credit: NEODAAS/University of Dundee

Beautiful Picture of the Island of Great Britain Covered in Snow – December 2010 Snowstorm is a post from: Anglotopia.net

The festive season is drawing near, and many of us will be thinking about the Christmas period, with presents to be bought, trees to decorate and food to prepare.

Each year, towns and cities around the UK play host to their continental neighbours, hosting their very own Christkindelmarkt, which bring with them entertainment for all the family, including fairground rides and live music, as well as market stalls that sell crafts, gifts and a lot of delicious food and drink from all over Europe – including Dutch pancakes, Spanish paella and German bratwurst sausages.

These markets turn city centres into bustling shopping areas that attract thousands of shoppers during the run-up to Christmas, to buy quirky little trinkets and warm up with a cup of hot chocolate or mulled wine (known as Gluhwein) after a hard day’s shopping. Many of the stalls are also open til later in the evening, allowing visitors ample time to enjoy the sights, sounds, smells and flavours of the festive season.

So why not check out your local Christmas market this festive season, maybe even make use of the local hotels and have a festive weekend in the city? Here are just a sample of the markets on offer from around the country:

Lincoln Christmas Market, Lincoln Cathedral

2^nd December to 5^th December 2010 (Thurs: 4pm-9:30pm, Fri-Sat 10am-9:30pm, Sun: 10am-7pm)

Nearest train station: Lincoln Central

One of the oldest and most visited Christmas markets in the UK, the cobbled roads of Lincoln are packed with festive shoppers for a few days at the beginning of December. The majestic cathedral is beautifully illuminated and the castle grounds are filled with the scents of Christmas cheer as thousands of shoppers pass through the gates each year.

Christmas-themed stalls stand alongside those from local farms, allowing the opportunity to try some great local produce in the run up to Christmas. There are a number of fairground rides to enjoy, along with a festive theatre production from a local group, you may even see the actors in period costume walking round the marketplace as you shop!

Manchester Christmas Market

18^th November to 21^st December

Nearest train station: Manchester Victoria

The city of Manchester is transformed into a winter wonderland during the time of the Christmas Market, with stalls spread out all across the city centre, offering plenty to explore during a shopping trip to the city.

Begin your festive stroll from Albert Square and discover plenty of market stalls en route to the Triangle Shopping Centre at Exchange Square,  where you’ll find the Wheel of Manchester Ferris wheel attraction (prices: £7.50 adult and £5 children) from which you can see some spectacular views of the Manchester area.

Leeds Christmas Market, Millenium Square

12^th November to 19^th December 2010 (10:30am-9pm daily, with some stalls open til 11pm)

Nearest train station: Leeds

Every year, Leeds plays host to one of the largest and most established Christmas markets in the UK. Millenium Square at the heart of the city comes alive with Christmas cheer, with stalls selling everything from hand-crafted Christmas trinkets to delicious continental food, as well as an assortment of fairground rides for the little ones to enjoy.

Birmingham Christmas Market, Victoria Square/New Street

18^th November to 23^rd December 2010 (10am-9pm daily)

Nearest train station: Birmingham New Street

Birmingham plays host to the largest outdoor Christmas market in the UK, and like Manchester, the stalls and events take place at several points around the city, offering visitors the chance to discover the city centre whilst perusing the festive fares.

London Christmas Market, Southbank Centre/London Eye

19^th November to 23^rd December 2010 (Sun-Thurs: 11am-8pm Fri-Sat: 10am-10pm)

Nearest Tube station: Waterloo

Located along the banks of the River Thames, the Cologne Christmas Market transforms this stretch of riverbank into a beautifully lit, delicious smelling walk along the riverside, providing a warming end to your day in the capital – whether you’ve spent it shopping or sightseeing.

Combine a trip to the market with a ride on the London Eye and take in the sight of London from a different perspective, and take in the sight of the landmarks that are illuminated at night – including the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben.

Bath Christmas Market

25^th November to 12^th December 2010 (Mon-Sat: 10am-7pm or 9pm; Sun: 11am-6pm)

Nearest train station: Bath Spa Rail

Bath plays host to a Christmas market each year. Located between the popular tourist traps of Bath Abbey and the world renowned Roman Baths , the market brings a festive flavour to the ancient spa city.

This year’s event has been extended by a full 7 days, so why not make a weekend out of your visit and treat yourself to a pampering at a spa after a hard day’s shopping and exploring the city.

Many of these major market locations are accessible by taking the train to a central station that are a short walk from the festivities. If you’re thinking of driving in for the markets, be aware that traffic usually increases during these peak times, so it’s usually better to make use of public transport when you’re able.

Lincoln runs a Park’N'Ride service from the Lincolnshire Showground on the outskirts of the town (£12 per car – includes parking and bus to the marketplace) and the London market can be reached by hopping on the Tube and taking the Northern Line to Waterloo.

Visit your local Christmas market and warm up after a day’s shopping with some hearty food and mulled wine, also be sure to stock up on stocking fillers and other trinkets to bring a touch of the continent to your Christmas.

A Quick Guide to Christmas Markets in England – English Holiday Markets is a post from: Anglotopia.net

I’ll start this post out with a quick disclaimer – it’s meant all in good humor and may offend some. But if you understand the humor behind our previous post – The Top 15 Ways to Spot an Idiot American – then you’ll love this post.

Every country in the world has a set of stereotypes associated with it that outsiders generally believe on face value. Britain has quite a few – so in order to better Anglo-American relations, here’s a friendly guide for our fellow countrymen on some of the myths about Britain that aren’t true.

They All Speak with a Cockney Accent

Britain is a land of linguistic variation and if you’re only exposure to British English is Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels or Mary Poppins, you’ll be quite surprised when you arrive and encounter and huge array in British accents, especially in London. Britain may be a small country, but their regions have history going back many centuries before we were a glimmer in Columbus’s eye, so their regional accents reflect this. You’d be amazed at how much an accent can shift from village to village!

They All Live in London

Britain is a HUGE place and London is only a small part of it. There are many Brits who’ve never actually been to London at all. And many Brits have a love/hate relationship with their beloved capital. That being said, Britain has many large cities – all as cool, if not cooler, than London. You should check them out.

They’re Sore about the Revolutionary War

It really doesn’t bother them. It may have 225 years ago. But it doesn’t anymore. They’re quite OK with America having gone off and been all American about things. On this similar subject, they are still coping with their loss of empire and still look back on the imperial days with pride – despite the historically recognized atrocities.

They’re Reserved and Unfriendly

Couldn’t be further from the truth. They’re about as reserved and unfriendly as the average stranger in the USA. It’s been our experience that our British friends have been very warm and welcoming to us.

They All Know the Queen

I can assure you they don’t. But it’s not uncommon to meet someone who has met the Queen – she’s known for her yearly large garden parties and being invited is considered a great honor. The Royal Family is as remote as you would expect it to be.

The Food Sucks

This is a long held misconceptions about Britain. The food, in general, does not suck. But then again it all depends on where you eat. You can’t expect much from a takeaway or a small deli – but Britain has most of the fast food places that America has as well as their own chain restaurants that serve decent food. Not to mention many world class chefs that are based in London and throughout the UK.

There’s No Ice Anywhere

On my first trip to England, I was quite surprised to get a drink with no ice in it. Honestly, that was the last time it happened to me. It was 10 years ago. It hasn’t been a problem since. You can expect to get ice in most drinks now.

It Rains All The Time

It rains about as much as it rains anywhere else. However, it COULD rain at any time. I can’t tell you how many times I’d be walking down the street in London, it’d start raining for a few minutes and then the sun would be shining in no time. Britain has a wet, maritime climate, but it doesn’t rain nearly as much as everyone thinks.

They All Have Bad Teeth

This may be the case with older generations in the UK – but generally British people have decent teeth. American style orthodontia is now in style in the UK. But really, what does it matter if they have bad teeth? That doesn’t indicated whether they’re good or bad people. It’s not an indicator of how civilized a person are if they all have straight teeth. Don’t judge someone if they’re teeth aren’t perfect.

They Hate Europe and are Xenophobic

They’re quite fond of Europe, especially Southern France and Spain. However, they have a very, shall we day, antagonistic view of mainland Europe, often rooted in stereotypes and good humor. Look, they’ve had a longer relationship with Europeans than we have – so they’re entitled to feel how they do. But there’s very little hate. Except maybe for the Germans.

They’re Happy to Fight in Our Wars

No, they’re not. In fact their participating in America’s last two pointless wars was VERY unpopular, but they participated anyway. They won’t make that mistake again.

They Love Tony Blair

Their  relationship with Tony Blair can be compared to a relationship with a beautiful woman that has a honeymoon period for a few years, then turns to pot and you eventually have to kick her out, even though she doesn’t want to go. I would not recommend talking about British politics with a Brit unless you are actually British, I can assure you, you really don’t understand it.

They Hate Americans but Love Our Money

Hate is a strong word. They certainly don’t hate us – they just don’t agree with some of the decisions we’ve made as a grown-up nation. However, they do love our money. But their’s is worth more now, so who’s laughing now?

They Hate All Immigrants

No, they hate ILLEGAL immigrants. There’s a huge distinction there. You’d be surprised how open Britain is to integrating foreigners into British society.

They’re All Manchester United Fans

While Manchester United is one of the most popular football clubs in the world, all Brits don’t have a love for it. However, it is popular but keep in mind, choosing one’s football team loyalties is a major life decision and they don’t take it lightly. You’re not really qualified to even talk about it until you’ve lived there for a few years and have chosen your team. So, put down that cheap Manchester United shirt in the market, you won’t impress anyone by wearing it.

We Saved Their Asses in World War II

We most certainly did not. Britain was bravely fighting off the Nazi’s for 3 years before we got around to joining the fight. They’re quite proud of their wartime history so generally it’s never a good idea to talk about it as if we did them a favor. As Basil Fawtly famously said: “Whatever you do, don’t mention the war.”

Do any of our British readers have any myths they’d like to dispel about their country? Please let us know in the comments!

Top 16 Myths Americans Generally Believe about Britain is a post from: Anglotopia.net

Politics is back for the autumn, and I’m back too, having taken a break since August. I went to Cornwall for a week – more of which later. While I’ve been away there have been two big political stories here: Labour’s leadership, and the government’s cuts. Cuts first.

Everyone knows the UK has a serious budget deficit, and mounting debt, and that serious fiscal discipline is needed to get the country back on a sustainable path. In other words, we need public spending cuts, or tax rises, or both. The coalition government has been building up all summer to an announcement of its specific plans next Wednesday in Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne’s “Comprehensive Spending Review”. But the government has been trying to prepare the country for the scale and nature of the cuts by a series of announcements over the last couple of weeks. Child benefit, Osborne announced at the Conservative conference in Birmingham, will no longer be a universal benefit: households in which someone earns over £44,000 a year will lose it.

Conservative Party | CreativeCommons

Child benefit is currently called universal because literally every household with a child gets it. It amounts to about £1000 a year if you have one child, and £700 for each child you have after that. In effect, it’s a transfer of money from all childless taxpayers, no matter how poor, to parents no matter how rich. The original idea was to ensure all mothers received some direct help to bring up children  – and payment does normally go to the mother – without having to go through a bureaucratic process of form-filling and means-testing. A good system in a relatively poor and equal society without reliable contraception and in which few mothers work, like 1940s Britain. Not necessarily what you’d set up today.

The apparent public hostility to the announcement, though, tells you something about Britain right now. First, that cuts will be much easier to get through if they are visibly and undoubtedly fair: the big problem with the plan is that household in which both parents earn £40,000 will keep child benefit while those in which just one of them earns £44,000 will lose it. An obvious anomaly that the government is already scrambling to compensate for. But second, it shows you that much of middle-class middle England is in reality addicted to public subsidy although it doesn’t need it, in denial about the deficit and debt and will seize on any hint of “unfairness” in order to object to losing a penny. Third, though, it shows you that the British will moan and grumble about these cuts but unless they are really big, really surprising and really savage they will not strike or demonstrate in numbers, and certainly won’t try to bring the country to a halt like the French. I think the government needs to take care with its cuts, and will probably meet with horrified reactions from the English suburbs. I think it’ll get away with them, too, though, unless it’s politically inept.

William Hague, George Osborne and Nick Clegg | Prime Minister's Office | CreativeCommons

How will Labour react? That depends on its new leader – Ed, not David Miliband. I was wrong. I expected David to win, and he was preferred to his rivals by most Labour Party members and MPs. What lost it for him, just, was that more trade unions members (many of them had a vote in the contest) preferred the kid brother whose slightly more leftish stance earned him more union endorsements. It was not the ideal way for Ed to have won – he must now show he is not the unions’ boy – but win he did. David Miliband, an outstanding politician who looked and was ready to be Prime Minister, now appears to be a sort of internal political exile, and may only return to the front line when Ed succeeds – or fails.

Ed Miliband

Ed’s positioning of Labour is only slowly becoming clear. At his conference speech he told the country that war in Iraq was “wrong”, signalling a much less interventionist, much more cautious foreign policy certainly than Tony Blair’s. But in appointing his shadow team he raised eyebrows by appointing the Blairite Alan Johnson as his financial spokesman, noticeably keeping Labour’s power couple Ed Balls and Yvette Cooper well away from economic responsibilities. That shows he means to take a moderate approach to the cuts, resisting the temptation (which Balls gives every impression of wanting to give in to) to fight every cut as though the deficit can be ignored. In truth many serious economists see force in the Balls analysis, according to which the deficit is better turned around slowly and carefully in order to nurse the economy back to solid growth. Miliband, though, must fear the political trap of appearing to reject all retrenchment. It is, after all, politics that matters to his prospects over the next two years more than economics, and he may rightly suspect he will benefit from opposition to the cuts without adopting an apparently radical, vulnerable stance.

Francesca at Padstow, Cornwall

Cornwall was great. I stayed with my girlfriend (my “bird”, she said I should call her) Francesca in the village of St. Cleer, near Liskeard, in a converted Sunday School building that was just right for a couple, with an open-plan kitchen, a wood-burning stove and bath made for two. What we did was read, cook, drink too much scrumpy over Scrabble and visit Polruan and Padstow, Newquay and Polperro. Our rainy day took us to the Eden Project, the much-praised enviro-theme park near St. Austell, a place that was fairly interesting – but that lacked the “wow” factor for us and that, at £17 a head to get in, I’m reluctant to recommend. Much more fun is the monkey sanctuary further east  at St. Martin, near Looe, where you learn a lot about monkeys and get to eat at a brilliant vegetarian cafe.

Back to monkeying around in London now though, for the foreseeable.

A Pint of Bitter: Child benefit cuts and Labour’s new leader is a post from: Anglotopia.net

As any fellow Ricknik would know – Rick Steves spend 4 months of the year traveling in Europe – seeing the site and updating his fantastic guidebooks.

He’s returned from a glorious summer galavanting across Europe and published some observations about England that I thought were worth sharing. He spent quite a bit of time in Britain this past summer.

In Conwy in North Wales, the fisherman’s harbor was fixed up by EU money, but EU regulations require that fish must be transported in refrigerated trucks. Those trucks couldn’t fit through the gate to the new harbor, so they set up shop in the next town. Now Conwy has a fine fisherman’s harbor…with no fishermen.

Windsor, which is just under the landing path of planes coming into London’s Heathrow Airport, is a delightful town at night. It has inexpensive B&Bs (compared to London prices), a wonderful pedestrian zone along the
Thames River and in the shadow of the hulking Windsor Castle, and an enticing array of small restaurants. Windsor gave me a peaceful and charming last night in England before flying out.

I am a sucker for old, historic, black-and-white photos. Many small and charming towns have no museums or organized way to let people know what they were like a century ago. But a few hotel lobbies, pubs, and cafés collect and display old photos, serving as a small history gallery for visitors. While it may sound weird, I find this is a plus when I consider recommending a place.

For silly and personal reasons (which I won’t share), I included Blackpool in Europe’s Top 20 Destinations in the special edition Smithsonian magazine we recently produced with the wonderful people on that staff. Visiting Blackpool last month, I was hoping it would charm me in the gut-bomb, white-trash way only Blackpool can. But the place depressed me. Two men greeted me by showing me their new tattoos that still made their butt cheeks all red. And it went downhill from there.

I desperately needed a couple of good B&Bs to recommend in my Blackpool chapter. I found a great one, but the woman who runs it was furious at me for my industrial espionage methods of research. (I drop in and say I need a room. They show me a couple as if I’m a prospective customer. Then, once I’ve seen how they treat travelers without knowing who I am, I tell them I don’t really need a room and that I’m researching for a guidebook.) She just stopped talking with me, so I couldn’t complete my research interview to get the information on the hotel I needed to write up a new listing. It was strange to be essentially thrown out of a hotel that I’ll still write up and recommend and send lots of business to in the coming year via my guidebook.
Blackpool is a study in people watching. For a long time I observed a woman, in a carnival-like trance, digging dreamily into her piggy bank, dropping in coin after coin in hopes of winning a tiny teddy bear.

The people of Blackpool are so impressed by the goofy tableaux that line their main drag (big, garish, cartoon-like installations that are strewn with little electric lights). I can’t imagine that they were impressive, even back in the 1960s when they were set up. But then I went to the Funny Girls drag show, had a wonderful time, met one of the performers — a gorgeous Filipino named Christopher — who “absolutely loves my show.” And I remembered what Blackpool was all about: unbridled, unpretentious, lowbrow fun.

As I say in my guidebook, the Cumbrian Lake District in North England is beautiful, but its beauty is even more striking when coming from crass Blackpool. Keswick is my slam-dunk favorite home base for exploring the Lake District. Intending to freshen up my hotel and B&B listings, I spent a morning visiting new places. I toured a great guesthouse, thinking I was incognito. When I told Gillian (who ran the place) who I was, she said, “You’re not going to insult my carpet, are you?” Startled and confused, I asked what brought on that random comment. She said that her friend was in my book, and I described her place as “good in spite of the tired, kitschy carpet,” and she considered that insulting. It was funny to me because I didn’t even think she knew who I was, much less how I described the carpet in a competing B&B.

Rick Steves Observations from Wales:

As in the States, people in Britain have been trained by the media to talk about “The Crisis.” For 10 days, all I saw was Britain at play. But the metabolism of tourism is certainly down. It’s sad to see lively cultural events like the medieval folk banquet in Ruthin (North Wales) and the sheep shows (Ewe-phoria in North Wales and the Cockermouth Lakeland Sheep and Sheepdog show near Keswick) fall out of business. All three were major sights in my guidebook. And now all three are gone.

For 20 years, I’ve built my North Wales coverage in part around the medieval banquet at Ruthin Castle. Driving into Ruthin, knowing its banquet was out of business, I intended to cut the town entirely from my guidebook. I was on edge, moody, as if I was about to commit a violent act. I was mad that the town would drop the one thing that put it on travelers’ map. I was going to kill it.

But as soon as I entered my good old Ruthin — and saw the funky half-timbered pubs, the humble fountain, the cheap but beloved WWI monument, the home where Cynthia Lennon lived after John left her, the church with the never-locked wrought-iron gate where everything is in Welsh, and the views down cobbled lanes leading directly into forested hills — I lost my nerve and knew I’d have to keep it in my book. Even without the banquet — the wenches playing harps, the noble lord telling Irish jokes, and the rotund voices of Welshmen and -women raising the rafters of the castle dining hall to the delight of tourists from around the world — I couldn’t cut Ruthin entirely. I scaled my coverage down, but kept the city.

The new attraction for me — perhaps a sign of the times — was not the medieval folk banquet, but the panache that Christopher and Gavin (a big-city couple) have brought their adopted hometown with their artful guesthouse and restaurant. They’re gay, artsy, and flamboyant — a little dicey when they first came to this rural town. But within a couple of years, they and their restaurant were established. In fact, Gavin was actually mayor (actually, “president of the town council”). Today when locals want the best meal in town, they go to the Manorhaus, and are served by Gavin and Christopher.

On the joys of hiking in Britain:

I just spent 10 days in a car exploring Britain. I forgot to note the mileage, but I started in London, scoured the Cotswolds, toured North Wales, and then drove up north to the Windermere Lake District (near Keswick), before returning to London. Total cost for diesel: £120 (about $185).

For the first time, I really took time to hike in the Cotswolds and the Lake District. And when I think back on the highlights of the last 10 days, those hikes were it. Nothing too demanding — just hiking through farmland from Stow-on-the-Wold through the Slaughters to Bourton-on-the-Water and back in the Cotswolds; and up along Catbells, high above the lake called Derwentwater in the Lake District.

The point: I can’t imagine a better way to spend three hours in a day. Every day has three hours to spare. What else is so important between 4 o’clock and dinnertime? With these walks, I take home vivid memories.
In the Cotswolds: farms in action viewed from behind, ducks rudely butt-up in millponds, rabbits popping up in fields like some video game challenge, ancient wind-sculpted trees, wet and slippery kissing gates, and slender slate church spires marking distant villages where a hot cuppa tea awaits.

In the Lake District, I struggled up and over Catbells — a ridge walk I’ve recommended for years (and felt guilty having never actually hiked). The weather almost kept me in. But I was glad I ventured out — the wind “blowing the cobwebs out” (as my B&B host warned) once atop Catbells ridge, the comedic baa-ing of sheep, being the stick figure on the ridge for those observing from distant farms or boats on the lake…as others have always been the stick figures for me.

And, oh, the joy of a pub after a good hike. Studying the light on ruddy faces while sipping the local brew in a pub has always been part of the magic of travel in Britain. When your face is weather-stung and your legs ache happily with accomplishment, the pub ambience sparkles even better.

About the weather: In Britain, you don’t wait for the weather to get good. Blustery weather is part of the scene. Consider it a blessing. The majority of “bad weather” comes with broken spells of brightness. Don’t get greedy — you wish for and are thankful for brightness, not sunshine. As they say here, there’s no bad weather…just inappropriate clothing. And if you’re in a hiking area and your clothing is inappropriate, your B&B host can likely loan you a heavy coat (along with the best local map).

Hiking along the ridge, with the weather — like a dark army — storming overhead, the wind buffeting in my ears, my camera bulging but dry under my coat, and a commanding 360-degree lakes view…makes me want to turn cartwheels.

Source: Rick Steves Blog Gone Europe

Rick Steves: Rick’s Observations of England from his Recent Travels is a post from: Anglotopia.net

We are flying by the Seat of of Thong with Actor Shaun Parkes and Comedian Pippa Hinchley.  This show will have you giggling as we say whatever we want when we want to.  Brit chatter is in abundance as we talk about the and the English football team, Pippa’s all female british sketch comedy and Shaun’s brand new TV show.  Listen in to find out about the things we miss from London including English crisps and British pirate stations.  Emily’s entertainment report gives us news about Kate Moss, Top Shows new store and the Ricky Gervais stand up show.

With a special report on The World Cup from World Football Daily and new music from Buppy and The Uplifters.

Listen here: http://www.latalkradio.com/images/Catherine-052010.mp3

Brit Celeb Radio # 10 – Flying by The Seat of Our Thong, with Actor Shaun Parkes and Comedian Pippa Hinchley is a post from: Anglotopia.net

In one way, Britain’s new government – the coalition, as we’re beginning to call it – resembles the  administration it replaced, rather than representing a break from it. Just as Labour government since 1997 was dominated by the relationship between two men, so this government is clearly based on and revolves around the obvious chemistry between David Cameron and his deputy Nick Clegg. Their first joint press conference in the Downing Street rose garden was an almost embarrassing love-in, partly because the two men do visibly get on well, and partly I suspect because of their shared exhilaration at sealing their deal, each having demonstrated political panache and each now tasting the reward of power. Do watch it here if you want a flavour of how the Conservative-LibDem government started. The two men’s reaction to the question 18 minutes in tells you a lot.

Prime Minister's Office | CreativeCommons

And the new government is, as Alastair Campbell said on the BBC’s Question Time on Thursday, motoring. Since I last wrote, the coalition has published a detailed programme for government, fleshing out what it’s proposing to the country. Some of the agreement is unsurprising: the coalition will take urgent action to reduce Britain’s budget deficit, it will reform banking and it will legislate to reverse what it sees as Labour’s authoritarian measures, getting rid of the planned identity card scheme, for instance, and reducing the scope of the national DNA database. Some of it is clearly compromise – on European policy, on human rights and on immigration. But other parts of the agreement are much less expected.

The coalition Cabinet | Prime Minister's Office | CreativeCommons

Most controversial has been a complex but important proposal to require a super-majority of 55% of MPs to vote in favour of an early dissolution of Parliament and a general election within five years. Parliament’s term is not fixed like that of the American Congress: at the moment, the Prime Minister can ask the Queen for an election at any time, and most Prime Ministers do so before they are legally required to, usually after about four years. And if the governing party loses its majority in the House of Commons, a vote of no confidence in the government usually triggers an election. The coalition wants to change that for a number of reasons. Liberal Democrats for their part believe in “fixed-term Parliaments“: they have long wanted to remove the PM’s power to initiate elections, which they believe should happen at regular intervals even if the government changes in the meantime. But they also want to remove David Cameron’s ability to undermine the coalition by seeking an election they don’t want. For the Conservatives, abandoning that unilateral right only makes sense if, equally, the Liberal Democrats lose the ability to leave the coalition and join with other parties to force an election. Since non-Conservatives are 53% of the House, settling on 55% as the threshold suits both parties’ aims admirably. But it is precisely this transparently partisan benefit that makes the proposal highly controversial. I’ve written against it myself.

The other surprise proposal is to grant anonymity to rape suspects, a policy that was adopted a few years ago by the Liberal Democrat conference but which most political junkies, never mind the general public, were unaware of. Women who report being raped have been granted anonymity since the 1970s, when the protection was brought in to encourage them to come forward, but this is a rare exception to the principle here that justice should be in public. There is a strand of opinion that thinks defendants in rape cases should be given “equal treatment” with their alleged victims; but strong resistance to this idea comes especially from feminists who see the policy as pandering to the idea that false rape allegations are widespread. The 55% policy will be the first of these to cause real turbulence, as it’s an immediate priority for this year and was trailed in the Queen’s speech – which you can see in its entirety here. There’s no suggestion of a criminal law, sexual offences or criminal justice bill in this session, so the row about rape anonymity will be postponed for the moment.

David Laws | Liberal Democrats | Alex Folkes | fishnik.com | CreativeCommons

But nonetheless, the coalition has already run into a serious, unexpected difficulty. Its early star was David Laws, the rather dashing Liberal Democrat and new Chief Secretary to the Treasury. This is always an important post: it’s effectively deputy to the Chancellor of the Exchequer, and is itself a Cabinet post often held by future Chancellors such as John Major and Alistair Darling. But because the Chief Secretary is specifically responsible for public spending levels, it’s even more important than usual at this time of budget cutting. It was Laws who announced the detail of the government’s immediate savings package at the Treasury last week, and it was he who defended them in Parliament. He’s become the pin-up of fiscal conservatives who admire his parsimony in small things as well as big. So it comes as a massive blow to both him and the new government that this Saturday morning the Daily Telegraph reported his having claimed expenses to pay rent to his partner, contrary to Parliamentary rules, since 2006.

The scandal seems to be dividing opinion. David Laws clearly wanted to keep his relationship private; and neither his sexuality nor his desire for privacy are matters of scandal or controversy in Britain, where people increasingly take pride in seeing such things as irrelevant to public life. Some, and not only Liberal Democrats, defend Laws on the basis that he was simply trying to maintain his privacy and that, by claiming for the rent he paid to his partner he actually saved public money, as compared with what he could have claimed had the pair openly bought and shared a property. Certainly, Laws is attracting some sympathy on a human level and because his visible competence has made him look the right man, in the right job at the right time. But this is a very serious business. Laws seems to have plainly broken the rules, which since 2006 have prohibited payments from expenses going to MPs’ partners, and this exposure resurrects the poisonous expenses scandal of last year. Not only that: this apparent abuse of taxpayers’ money comes from the very man – a rich man, at that, who it’s said retired from the City, a millionaire, at 28 – whose duty it is to make the nation face the need for austerity in the use of public funds. This is a sad story of a talented man brought down by a collision between 1950s-style prejudice, or the fear of it, and the fierce new mood of fiscal rectitude in Britain. I’m afraid he’ll probably have to go; perhaps even has gone before you read this.

Maybe next time there’ll be a little less politics to write about, and a little more room for pubs.

A Pint of Bitter: UK Coalition government, and how men’s relationships matter is a post from: Anglotopia.net

We reported earlier that all flights in and out of the UK are cancelled for the forseeable future.

NASA have released an amazing satellite image that shows the volcanic plume from the Iceland Volcano as it stalks towards the UK.

Check out this amazing picture from space of the Iceland Volcano ash headed for Great Britain.

Picture of the Volcanic Plume Headed for Britain – Iceland Volcano Disruptions is a post from: Anglotopia.net

Britain's Empty Airspace

A massive volcano has erupted in Iceland – spewing a massive plume of ash towards Western Europe that is hitting Britain today. It’s so bad that the Met Office (Britain’s Weather Authority) advised the air authorities to shut down ALL flights into and out of the UK unless there is an emergency.

If you were flying to Britain today, you aren’t anymore. If you’re there now and were supposed to leave, you’re stuck there until the cloud passes.

Here is a statement from British Airways about how it affects their passengers:

Due to a plume of volcanic ash drifting over the UK, there is severe disruption to our operation today.

Please do not go to the airport if your flight is cancelled.

Since 11.30am UK time there have been no departures from any British Airways served UK airport. Many flights before that time have also been affected. Flights arriving into the UK are also affected check the status of your flight.

The decision to cancel has been made for safety reasons and on the direction from Air Traffic Control Service (NATS).

ALL airlines will be affected.

You are advised to check the status of your flight before leaving for the airport.

Check the status of your flight

It is not clear when flights will resume – but expect flights to be cancelled tomorrow and further into Europe as the ash cloud progresses.

All seriousness aside – this is clearly Iceland’s revenge for the whole banking crisis and the aftermath.

Britain Closed Due to Volcano – No Seriously – Statement from British Airways is a post from: Anglotopia.net

Last week’s budget wasn’t much to write abroad about – very few of us here expected it would be. In truth Alistair Darling had very little room for manoeuvre, Britain’s budget deficit being so high at just under ï¿¡170 billion. Some government backbenchers might have wanted to bribe the electors with a giveaway budget: one of the great Labour myths is that it lost the 1970 election because the then Chancellor, Roy Jenkins, opted for fiscal rectitude in his pre-election budget, rather than indulgence. The Jenkins path was forced upon Darling, though. There was simply no money to give away. In any event, the now unsackable and uncontrollable Chancellor clearly believes that the voters are fed up of, and unimpressed by, the apparently dishonest financial sleight of hand Gordon Brown consistently used when he was responsible for the country’s finances. So he opted for solidity by choice and necessity. Tax on cider has gone up, which won’t please the West Country – but then the Labour vote there is low anyway. The rest of the budget was small beer. Even so, conservative and business commentators lambasted him for not doing more to convince the world he plans to reduce the UK’s national debt, which is only going up. My one complaint was that he did not renew his tax on bankers’ bonuses – surely that would have been a popular move, and would have brought in a useful couple of billion.

Alistair Darling | HM Treasury | CreativeCommons

All of which set the scene for this week’s “Chancellors’ Debate” on Channel 4, which you can see extensive highlights of here. As expected, the Liberal Democrat Vince Cable was perceived to “win” the debate. Even a few years ago there were signs that Cable had a rare political gift – I remember the American pollster Frank Luntz spotting in BBC focus groups that he was notably more trusted than other economic spokesmen. Since the global crisis, though, his reputation has soared along with the deficit, and Liberal Democrats must wish, desperately, that he were their leader. A couple of years ago they dumped their old one (Ming Campbell, who’d got the top job off the back of his star performance as foreign spokesman, leading opposition to the Iraq war) precisely for being too old, and replaced him with the less solid, but more telegenic Nick Clegg. Clegg has been doing reasonably well recently but is still untested, while the other old stager Cable would be the obvious choice now.

Vince Cable | Alex Folkes/Fishnik/Liberal Democrats | CreativeCommons

What’s strange about the current political situation, though, is that Alistair Darling’s boringly “stolid” strategy seems to be paying off – and the Conservative challenge to have become distinctly wobbly. It’s very hard to interpret recent polling because some polls still show Conservative leads of around 10%, and the average lead is something like 6 or 7%; but the common feeling of commentators is that that lead is narrowing. Governments here usually narrow opposition leads during election campaigns, so if current trends continue, we may have the closest general election in Britain for decades. Why aren’t the Tories doing better? Surely, with the country’s finances in such a state and against a tired government with an unloved leader, they should be roaring towards power? Tony Blair’s old strategist Alastair Campbell thinks the answer is that their offering is confused; here’s the Times piece he refers to, which agrees. I think the problem for the Conservatives is that they’ve been caught out badly by the banking crisis and recession – in a way, rather like the Liberal Democrats have.

George Osborne | Ewan McIntosh | CreativeCommons

In 2005 when he became leader, David Cameron launched the Tory party in a new direction, trying to ditch the old image of being in favour of cuts in public services and tax cuts for the rich (an approach that had lost them three elections running, don’t forget) in favour of a much more upbeat message of concern for the environment, health and the quality of life. But just as the Tories had successfully case off doom, gloom came to meet them. Now, events have forced their Shadow Chancellor George Osborne back into arguing for deeper, faster spending cuts, which is comfortable, natural territory for them, but means  they can’t help appearing to have turned one way then the other in recent years, with many voters not really knowing what they stand for. So far, so understandable. But they have also made errors, like allowing themselves still to be cast as tax-cutters for the rich. I’m a Labour supporter, so I’m naturally biased, but there is a real feeling here that some voters – especially fed-up previously Labour voters – are looking hard at the Conservatives and are less sure than they were about defecting. It’s not as obvious as it once seemed that they’ll win on May 6th. But who will? Will anyone?

The civil service is certainly planning for the possibility that no one will. This level of organisation for the eventuality of a hung parliament – one in which no party has a Parliamentary majority – is new, but surely sensible. The civil service is the one institution that can provide continuity and offer practical support to politicians if they need to hammer out an agreement for government this summer. The rule is, basically, that Gordon Brown continues in power until it’s clear he can’t, and someone else can, command a majority in Parliament. That could mean even if defeated, he stays in Downing Street for days or even weeks while he tries to put together some sort of deal with the Liberal Democrats. I’m not sure that a hung parliament would be a disaster for the country: a very close election will undoubtedly be good for political engagement here, and a minority government of either colour depending on Liberal Democrat support could be more stable and effective in dealing with the economic crisis than many fear. What would be damaging, though, is a prolonged period of uncertainty – especially if the leader of the biggest appears appears to be trying to hold on to power illegitimately. Whatever else happens, I hope we don’t go there.

The Seven Stars

Booze-wise, I was in the Seven Stars last week, in Carey Street just behind the Royal Courts of Justice. If I had to name London’s best pub, this is one of the three that come instantly to mind. It’s cosy in winter, and the simple, music-free inside is a brilliant place for conversation. The beer’s terrific (it’s Adnams plus a guest beer or two) and it’s worth ordering food here, too – they serve more interesting than usual pub food, which gives the place a really old-fashioned, almost “eighteenth century tavern” feel. It’s right opposite the back entrance to the High Court, so has a very legal theme – and a nice black cat, apparently called Thomas Paine. I’ll be back in the summer when the place is at its very best, with punters crowding the street outside. I wonder which of the three men above will be in Number 11 Downing Street by then – and how much my beer will cost.

A Pint of Bitter: Could Darling’s dullness and Tory wobbles give Britain a hung Parliament? is a post from: Anglotopia.net

There’s been a debate in the UK over the last couple days as to whether the historic UK/USA ‘special relationship’ was still, well special.

The general consensus has been: no. The USA long ago stopped treating the UK as an equal partner. There’s a lot of talk about shared heritage and whatnot – but really other than a language that differs greatly – the US and the UK are completely different in every regard. Many America commentators have argued that for a long time the ‘special relationship’ has only really existed in Britain’s mind and that the average American just doesn’t care.

So, dear readers, do you think the ‘special relationship’ is dead? Is the UK just another European country to us? Does it matter?

Let me know your thoughts in the comments.

From the BBC: Special Relationship is Dead

Discussion: Is the UK/USA Special Relationship Dead? is a post from: Anglotopia.net

One of the hardest aspects of trip planning to Britain is find good and decent hotels. Many of the trip planning websites have reviews – but sometimes they are just a little hard to believe. There’s usually an extreme between people who loved the hotel or hated it and post disturbing pictures.

That’s why I love The Good Hotel Guide – it’s filled with hundreds of great reviews for hotels all over Britain and they’re written by professionals. They’re not biased based on one terrible experience and they judge hotels on many different sets of standardized criteria.

The book is definitely thorough with detailed and honest reviews of over 800 hotels, inns, guest houses and bed and breakfasts throughout Great Britain and Ireland. A hotel cannot asked to be review, they have to be recommended by someone and then a trained professional is secretly sent to evaluate the place (gotta be a hell of a job!) and write an honest assessment.

Each review gives you the basic information about the hotel, the detailed review and any specific notes about the establishment, such as if they allow pets, number of rooms, payment options and any other special requirements.

This book is not quite for you if you’re on a budget. Many of the hotels featured are high dollar hotels, but there are also a few budget hotels worth looking at. More often than not, when talking about British hotels, you get what you pay for. So, if you can afford a little more to splash on a nicer hotel, you’re bound to guarantee a better time.

My wife and I have stayed in some real crappy hotels on our many trips to England and after our last trip where we had the opportunity to stay at a Hilton, we’ve resolved to save more so we can spend more on much nicer hotels. Sometimes a broom cupoboard will do for a hotel room. But sometimes, a much nicer room can help you have a much more enjoyable vacation. And this book will certainly point you in the right direction.

The book some with £150 worth of vouchers for you to save money on your hotel booking, which will help offset the cost of some of these hotels. In the back of the book, there’s a very useful map that plots all the hotels so you can easily plan your holiday accordingly. The front of the book features a handy ‘hotelfinder’ that breaks down the best places to stay based on certain situations such as value, family, location, etc. Very helpful indeed.

My only complaint about the book is that there are absolutely no pictures, which is a real shame as it would be lovely to be able to visulize some of these really amazing sounding places. Thankfully, they do have a website with ample pictures.

If you’d like to buy a copy for yourself – it’s only £17.50 plus shipping – check out the Good Hotel Guide Website here.

Anglophile Reviews: The Good Hotel Guide – Guide to Hotels in Britain is a post from: Anglotopia.net