Archive for category Holiday advice

Bottle kicking and pie scrambling in Leicestershire!

Mar 31

Posted by elisa in Events, Fun, Holiday advice, Last minute breaks | No Comments

Hallaton - bottles held high by wobbler101.

Opening parade picture by Flickr User wobbler101

Stuck for something to do this Easter weekend? Do you live near or are visiting Leicestershire? Well, Easter Monday’s contest of bottle kicking and hare pie scambling between the villages of Hallaton and Medbourne.

This age old tradition is believed to have started in the 1700’s and starts with both ‘teams’ parading through each village where a hare pie (actually made of beef nowadays) is thrown into the crowd and there’s an almighty scramble to claim it. Once this is done both teams wrestle a ‘bottle’ (small keg) over a rather challenging terrain of streams, barbed wire, ditches and hedges and this is done as best of three competition to ascertain the winner! Tough going and can get rather competitive and can last several hours. Perhaps you might not want to join in if you’re not up for the rough and tumble aspect, but watching it go on will be a rather entertaining spectacle!

The festivities will begin at 11am in the sports field on Hallaton Road, Medbourne. Refreshments will be available and there is free parking for spectators, so if you’re near by it sounds like it’ll be a great family day out.

Rail strike imminent as vote results announced

Mar 12

Posted by elisa in Holiday advice, News, Rail, Transport | No Comments

Empty Railway picture by Flickr User access.denied

Rail passengers will not be pleased to hear that the results of the RMT union ballot to strike over the Easter period came back with overwhelming support with over 77% of members voting yes to strike action over jobs and rail safety issues.

RMT general secretary Bob Crow said: ”Nobody should be under any illusions about just how determined RMT members are to win this dispute and to stop this reckless gamble with rail safety. Nearly 150 MPs have signed an Early Day Motion opposing Network Rail’s cuts plans and have urged the Government to intervene to call a halt to this jobs carnage on the tracks.

”RMT remains available for talks with Network Rail and we would hope that in light of the overwhelming mandate for action delivered by our members today that the chairman will respond to our request for meaningful discussions aimed at ensuring that the staffing levels required to deliver a safe rail system are maintained.”

Next Friday, 19th March, an RMT executive will discuss its next move, the same day will also see the results of another strike ballot by National Rail signal workers amongst the same dispute which could lead to more disruption.

An exact strike date has not yet formally been announced but RMT are legally required to give seven days’ notice. Network Rail maintain that they have sufficient contingency plans for if the strikes go ahead, however many in the industry seem skeptical, advising travellers to have their own contingency plans if they wish to travel over the Easter period.

Helpful Holidays Buckfastleigh Cottage

Feb 2

Posted by elisa in Cottages Search, Devon, Holiday advice | 2 Comments

Ashburton Cookery School and Buckfastleigh Cottage (101) by e.artesero.

5 Sherwell Court, Buckfastleigh. Photo by Elisa Artesero

On my recent trip down to South Devon to take a course at the Ashburton Cookery School (see previous blog here) I stayed in a beautiful cottage in Buckfastleigh, 5 Sherwell Court, booked through Helpful Holidays.

This lovely little 18th century cottage, originally built for mill workers, sits in the stunning town of Buckfastleigh on the edge of Dartmoor. It is set close to the centre of this old town, where there are the usual local amenities, interesting shops selling arts and crafts, a weekly farmer’s market, and of course, the famous South Devon Railwaywhich operates original steam train journeys to Totnes.

The cottage has lots of character and is the epitomy of cosy, I even squealed with delight when I first stepped in! A gift of a bottle of wine was placed on the table of the dining/living room, which was an extremely nice welcome, and the gas fire was lit in anticipation of my arrival, creating a warm and welcoming atmosphere.

Through the living room there is the kitchen, fitted with all mod-cons perfect for a short or a long stay. The kitchen has a door that leads to the little garden, which even in winter is quite a suntrap.

Stairs from the living room lead up to the landing, the bathroom (suite with bath-shower) and a sizeable double bedroom with views of the town. From the landing there is a sliding door which leads up to the attic with low vaulted ceiling beams and two single beds, perfect for children.

I had a thoroughly enjoyable stay, cooking in the kitchen, sitting outside in the garden as the sun set and watching DVDs (of which there was a large collection) in the evening with a glass of wine in front of the fire. All in all a perfect place to feel relaxed after a day exploring the local area.

You can book this cottage from £256 for a week’s stay and pets are also welcome.

Ashburton Cookery School and Buckfastleigh Cottage (24) by e.artesero.

The cosy living room, photo by Elisa Artesero

Ashburton Cookery School and Buckfastleigh Cottage (27) by e.artesero.

Fully fitted kitchen, photo by Elisa Artesero

Ashburton Cookery School and Buckfastleigh Cottage (9) by e.artesero.

Bedroom (with very comfy bed!), photo by Elisa Artesero

Happy New Year in the Snow!

Jan 5

Posted by elisa in Fun, Holiday advice, News, Transport | 2 Comments

First and foremost, happy new year from the Holiday Cottages blog!

The first week of 2010 brings with it a barrage of snow and icy weather, causing havoc on the roads and stirring up many public debates regarding the organisation of gritting roads on time and the grinding to a halt of some public transport. I, however, would like to steer away from the doom and gloom on the news for the first blog of 2010, and focus on the fun that can be had in the snow!

I can’t imagine a more perfect time to be huddled up in a holiday cottage in some beautiful location in the UK, taking the time to go for walks in the wintry weather or perhaps playing in the snow.

If any of you have pictures of some snow sculptures or just beautiful snowy landscapes from around the UK, please post them in a comment on this blog as it would be wonderful to see what’s going on aside from the crisis on the roads. In order to show the pictures on the blog it may be best to post a link to a web-based site such as Flickr.com If these appear purely as links not to fear, I will gather them up and create a new post for all the pictures. So get posting!

To kick start some inspiration, here is one of my own creations:

Snow Christmas Tree (30) Snow Christmas Tree (25)

Ashburton Cookery School to Open in Dartmoor

Nov 17

Posted by elisa in Devon, Food and Drink, Holiday advice | No Comments

A new, ultra-modern cookery school is opening on the edge of Dartmoor, South Devon this autumn when the Ashburton Cookery School moves to newly built, custom-designed premises.

Three new state-of-the art teaching kitchens, equipped with the latest Siemens appliances, will enable the school to increase the choice of courses on offer and expand the number of student places to meet an increasing demand to learn new cookery skills. Students are taught fundamental cookery techniques that can be used when cooking at home, entertaining family and friends or working in a professional kitchen.

There are over 40 Cookery Courses running seven days a week in up to four kitchens, split into five levels of ability and one to twenty days in length. Most are designed for the enthusiastic home-cook, but there are also courses for those with no cookery skills whatsoever. Several students have started on a beginners’ weekend and worked their way up to an advanced course, cooking at a fine dining level.

Among the more popular are the one and two day Express Dinner Parties, which teach the art of quick, effective entertaining, and Gentlemen’s Relish – a two-day course intended for men to build-up their confidence and skills in the kitchen. Others include breadmaking, canapés, desserts, fish and seafood, game, knife skills and modern vegetarian; there are also courses inspired by a country’s cuisine such as Italian, French and Thai.

The twenty-day Ashburton Cookery Diploma is an intensive training course for those wishing to launch a career in catering or start their own business. It is highly regarded in the catering industry and past graduates can be found working in Michelin starred restaurants, appearing on television’s Masterchef, or running catering companies and bistros.

Headed by Chef Director Darrin Hosegrove, Ashburton Cookery School’s chef tutors are qualified lecturers with extensive experience of working in the catering industry.

The Cookery School is located in the small Georgian town of Ashburton, the new building is a few minutes’ drive from the A38, equidistant between Exeter and Plymouth, while the nearest train station with a direct service to London Paddington and Birmingham New Street is at Newton Abbot (about 15-20 minutes by car).

Cookery courses are priced from £149 per person for one day; this includes a personal workstation with all necessary utensils and ingredients, an apron, course folder with notes and recipes to take home, morning tea/coffee and lunch with a glass of wine, partly comprising the dishes made during the day. Those on courses lasting two days or more may also have supper.

Courses run from 9.30am and finish at either 4 or 6pm with a break for lunch. B&B is available, however I think this would make for a perfect activity as part of a longer holiday, so you may wish to book a cottage for a week or two. Go to the main Holiday Cottages website for details.

For a brochure or to book a cookery course contact the Ashburton Cookery School on telephone 01364 652784 or visit www.ashburtoncookeryschool.co.uk.

New Android and Blackberry application aimed at finding a recycling point near your holiday cottage

Oct 6

Posted by tomkerswill in Holiday advice, Recycling, eco-tourism | 1 Comment

T-Mobile recycle App, shown on G2

T-mobile have just released a new app for smartphones, including the Android and Blackberry. Give it your postcode and, optionally, the type of thing you need to recycle, and it will show a map of your nearest recycle points.

I tested the app on my T-mobile G1, and it was very impressive indeed. It seems to pinpoint not only larger recycling centres, but also just those bottle banks you get on the side of the road and in supermarkets. And if you input the postcode of your holiday cottage, it will give you info on the local council’s kerbside recycling policy too.

Allison Murray, Head of Corporate Responsibility at T-Mobile, says:

“Although national recycling rates are on the rise, thousands of potentially recyclable materials still get thrown away every day purely because people don’t know where the nearest recycling point is. We don’t often hear about the link between throwing waste in landfill and the contribution it makes to global warming, when in fact methane gas produced from landfill sites is a powerful greenhouse gas. Methane accounted for about eight percent of the UK’s greenhouse gas emissions in 2007. We’ve harnessed the latest mobile technology in partnership with Valpak to make it easier for people find out what they can recycle and where, saving them time and money – on top of doing their bit for the environment.”

It’s a free application, although your mobile phone provider may charge you for Internet data usage associated with the app. The application can be downloaded from www.thespark.t-mobile.co.uk or by texting RECYCLE to 80988. I was also able to download the app direct to my phone on the Android Market, which seemed to work flawlessly. It’s called the “Recycle Guide”.

Looks ideal for recycling all those wine bottles after a weekend break in a cottage!

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