Virgin Trains reinstate a direct twice-daily train service from London to Shrewsbury today (December 15 2014). The new link is likely to enhance the town’s appeal as a day trip and weekend-away destination. It’s a matter of touristic distinction to be joined to the capital by a through service. London is, after all, where most overseas visitors… Continue reading
Le Loir breaks cover from its better known cousin (La Loire)
No, it’s not a spelling mistake. The river Loir, and its tranquil countryside setting, is emerging from the shadow of its bigger and much better-known cousin, the Loire, as a destination in its own right. I visited this too often overlooked slice of France. His list includes a château fit for a Queen (Mum), wine served… Continue reading →
Significant ceramics – on the trail of Europe’s finest pottery cities
There’s a new and very distinguished international cultural itinerary through five countries, on the trail of an item that has seduced us for centuries. The ultimate thrill would be to spend a week, or more reasonably two, following the invisible thread running from Limoges in France, down to Faenza, Italy; then up to Germany for Höhr-Grenzhausen… Continue reading →
High-fly wi-fi York bids to be UK’s best online tourist destination
Could the guidebook and the tourist leaflet become obsolete, before too long, at least in town and city centres? Using ubiquitous, and free, Wi-Fi, tourists may never again need to look up the height of that steeple, the age of that ancient market cross, the architect of that building. That’s the reality in York. And… Continue reading →
The LED street light revolution cuts cost as well as carbon
LED streetlights have appeared in my village, one of the first pieces in the jigsaw which will depict a truly low carbon future, as seen from my doorstep. They come not so long after the first electric car was spotted here. While electric cars are still a better-off person’s indulgence, that essential street light above your… Continue reading →
Berlin without its Wall – 25 years on
On 10 November 1989, BBC reporter Olenka Frenkiel walked into the Newsnight Berlin studio, unannounced, with a chunk of the Berlin Wall, which she had appropriated just as bulldozers began to demolish the structure that had defined the deep fissure between East and West for a generation. She put it down on the table in… Continue reading →