Indulging in Bristol’s Waterside Dining Scene Last week, my visit to Bristol offered an opportunity to experience its dynamic food scene. A highlight was dinner at The River Grille , an elegant establishment perfectly situated within the waterside setting of The Bristol Hotel . This recent visit coincided with the launch of their brand-new Winter Menu , a seasonal collection that is said to offer warmth and depth of flavour. Executive Chef Pawel Mikolajczewski: Celebrating Se

Rediscovering Bristol’s Harbourside Charm Sipping a pint of beer the other day, the thought struck me that we humans are an odd lot. Many of us will have often made the same observation, but on this occasion it was inspired by both the beer and the lively and interesting view out of the bar’s window. Here I was in the heart of Bristol - a city I know well, but haven’t visited for years - and I was struck by how odd it is that we humans we often tend to ignore the good things

Discover the Algarve’s Hidden Heart Some places have a kind of instant reputation - you hear the name and straight away you think of the things for which they’ve become renowned. In the case of this article, I’m talking about the golf-courses and beach-resorts of Portugal’s Algarve. And if this theory needed any proof, I can tell you that my flight from Bristol last week was filled with golfers and seekers of winter sunshine. Nothing wrong with that. If you’ve got it, flaunt

Discovering One of Cornwall’s Least Touristy Harbours If you had to make a shortlist of the Westcountry’s finest attributes, then the peninsula’s harbour towns and villages would be near the top. You only have to visit our seaside venues at any time of the year nowadays to know that is the case. Some of the prettiest havens are nowadays filled with visitors summer and winter. Which, to many of us, immediately begs the question… Which are the least visited most untouristy com

Autumn Festivals in Portugal’s Algarve Mountains The seasons tend to have their quintessential moments or occasions - winter, of course, has Christmas while summer has village fetes and other outdoor festivals. Apart from the Harvest Festival celebrated by some religions and the overly commercial Halloween, autumn doesn’t have that much to offer when it comes to stand-out celebrations. So imagine my delight when I came across a small, but unique event in the mountains of sout

A Special Sunday Lunchtime in Southwest France Sunday lunchtime can be special. I don’t know why exactly, maybe it’s the way I’ve been brought up but I still regard this special time of the week as a moment to celebrate in some way. Which is why I was more than delighted to find myself heading towards one of the most beautiful villages in France one Sunday morning recently. Monpazier: A Perfectly Preserved Medieval Bastide Monpazier is considered one of the finest “bastides”

Visiting an Olive Oil Producer in Monchique, Algarve We were recently pondering a press trip to the Algarve and as part of the itinerary we visited the amazing Lagar dos Pardieiros olive oil producing business up in the high hills near the lovely little town of Monchique. I was so taken by the amazingly hard-working and interesting Miguel Gonçalo Oliveira Santos Bigodinho , who now runs the family business, that I thought we’d produce a special article here based on our visit

A Taste of England’s West Country — in the Heart of France Imagine a vast area that boasts all the best bits of the West Country and very few of our less scenic zones. A place of forested hills and deep river valleys which combine to provide a rural heartland that seems to stretch on-and-on. A region so rich in history, there seems to be a castle on every knoll and evidence of prehistoric humankind somewhere near every cliff and cave. Okay, so the Dordogne , which lies hundre

A Dartmoor Hike from Cadover Bridge to Great Trowlesworthy Tor If you love Dartmoor’s wild edges and secret stories, this short circular walk from Cadover Bridge takes you deep into Trowlesworthy Warren , past ancient pillow mounds, granite tors, and the haunting white scars of the china clay pits . It’s a fine mix of moorland solitude, industrial history, and far-reaching views over Plymouth and the South Devon coast During our stay at Boringdon Hall , we took a five-minute

Boringdon Hall Hotel : History, Luxury and Michelin-Star Dining Every region has a small clutch of grand hotels whose names and reputations are well known to most local people. They are the places to which we doff our collective cap — the venues which host our big social events and special occasions — the hostelries where we expect the best to simply be the best. Best bib-and-tucker, best food, best service, best accommodation etc etc… I can think of half-a-dozen such hotels

A Journey to the Wye Valley: Where England Meets Wales “Oh sylvan Wye! thou wanderer thro' the woods, how often has my spirit turned to thee!” So wrote William Wordsworth 227 years ago in his poem Lines Composed a Few Miles above Tintern Abbey. And I am repeating them here because I happen to be in Tintern, looking across at the River Wye. Like a great many West Country folk, I have visited this most beautiful of valleys on several occasions and never failed to be impressed

Perfect Porlock Weir Porlock Weir is one of my favourite places in the world and I have written about it many times. As the nicest of our local seaside haunts I’ve been visiting the place since I was a small boy - and later writing many different newspaper articles based on many different subjects down there where the Exmoor hills dip to meet the sea. I popped down to the Weir this week with a spare hour to spare and walked in the rain. Porlock Marsh: Britain’s Fastest Changi

Ortigia: Where Greek History Meets Baroque Splendour Syracuse (Siracusa in Italian), on Sicily’s eastern coast, has a history that rivals just about any other old port in the Mediterranean. Once described by Cicero as "the greatest Greek city and the most beautiful of them all," its true nucleus remains the tiny, altogether captivating, island of Ortigia . Connected to the mainland by a couple of short bridges, this island is a UNESCO World Heritage site, and for very good r

Hike the 'Devon's Frenchman's Creek': A Secret 3.5-Mile Circular Walk Around Tuckenhay The Dart Valley cuts a slice of countryside so deep and secluded that it feels a world away—and this short, sensational loop from the creek-side hamlet of Tuckenhay is proof. This 3.5-mile circular walk is utterly crammed with waterside views , the haunting call of wildfowl , ancient trackways, and picturesque, time-forgotten villages. It scores at least nine-out-of-ten on the 'Hesp-patent

Apple Glut? 3 Delicious Ways to Preserve Your Bumper Harvest (Plus a Secret Tip for Better Flavour!) The autumn air signals more than just changing leaves; it brings the annual apple glut ! If my own trees are any indication, it’s been a great year for the harvest. But the sudden bonanza of ripe fruit—especially after a weekend of gales—brings a classic problem for the proud apple tree owner: how do you deal with a mountain of fruit before rot sets in? Forget eating ten a da

Luscombe Drinks at 50: The Pursuit of Britain's Best Soft Drinks The sound of milling resounded through the orchard and we watched as hundreds of fresh-picked apples bobbed along in clear water, gushing down a metal chute towards the ‘scratter’ or crusher , and eventually the press which would extract their delicious juice. Most Westcountry folk reading this sentence will immediately assume this article is going to be about the new cider season, but I had actually gone to the

Rediscovering Old Friends and New Adventures in South Devon Social media has many downsides but one useful role it plays is in allowing users to keep up with old friends. Occasionally their posts can surprise and delight you - which is what happened recently when I saw an Instagram photo and note from an old colleague saying: “Really enjoying life - wish I’d done this years ago.” The photograph showed a lovely waterside inn, tucked away deep in the South Devon countryside - a

A Taste of Tunisian Life in Just 20 Minutes Just 20 minutes - that’s all we had time for as we entered the central medina in Tunis some 20 years ago – and I was fed up because, to do the vast, fascinating, colourful labyrinth justice, you need a day. That was a year ago and I had to be dragged out of the medieval bazaar kicking and screaming, grabbing handfuls of ludicrously cheap herbs and spices as I went. The man from the Tunisian tourist office looked concerned – it hadn’

Fantastic News for This Website Fantastic news! For me, at any rate. This website has earned me the position of finalist at the British Guild of Travel Writers annual awards . Along with two other people, I am up for Travel Blogger of the Year. So I am over the moon - partly because I began the website six years ago merely as a bit of fun and as a challenge to see if I could do such a thing. And that is exactly how the website has continued.  Oh, and I’ve also been shortliste

A Celebration of Perry at the Malvern Show James Crowden, a great friend of these pages, invited me along to the Malvern show where he was judging at the Three Counties Cider and Perry Association’s annual Perry Festival. The event is dedicated to promoting knowledge, understanding and appreciation of that most delicious of English drinks, made from fermented pear juice. The Orchard Marquee: A Cathedral of Apples and Pears It all takes place in the amazing orchard marquee. If