The vast majority of visitors to Bath find themselves entranced by the city's elegant architecture and its charming setting, nestling among the hills of the southern edge of the Cotswolds.  Not so Jane Austen, who allegedly hated the city, and had to be dragged there against her will in 1801 when her father moved the family to Bath upon his retirement.  Jane's…

Going to the pub is one of the pleasures of a visit to the English seaside. Whether you have been for a bracing walk along the seafront with a fierce souwesterly hurling seaspray across your path, or have spent a pleasant interlude pottering around a harbourside, dodging the waves crashing over the harbour wall, there's nothing like heading to a cosy pub for a cold one, the heady aroma of hearty pub food and a clutch of local characters of varying degrees of eccentricity putting the world to…

The very name Cheltenham conjures up images of turf being thrown up by thundering hooves to a backdrop of shouts and cheers.  This elegant spa town in Gloucestershire in the heart of England is one of the country's most prominent horse racing venues, and each year in March the town's racecourse hosts a festival widely regarded as the "Oscars" of the horse-racing world.  The festival is commonly referred to as the Cheltenham Gold Cup, although strictly speaking it is the Cheltenham Festival,…

Anyone who thinks the British weather is getting wilder with each passing year should cast their mind back to this day 60 years ago.  On the night of 31st January to 1st February 1953 the east coast of Britain experienced one of the most catastrophic weather events in the nation's history when it was pummelled by violent storms which resulted in the loss of hundreds of lives.  Many of those whose lives were spared found themselves on rooftops awaiting rescue.

The trouble began…