Yorkshire Sculpture Park picture by Flickr user artq55

1. Yorkshire Sculpture Park – Just one mile from junction 38 on the M1 this beautiful park hosts sculpture from some of the world’s most famous artists. With a permanent collection and seasonal changing exhibitions there is much to see as you walk through the grounds. Currently there is a Joan Miro exhibition and also sculptures by Jem Finer, Anthony Caro and Marica Farquhar. Free entry but parking charges apply.

2. Tintagel Castle Easter Trail – Find the missing eggs on this trail around the Cornish castle and be rewarded with a prize! English Heritage Members: Free, Adult :£5.70, Child (5-15 years):£3.40, Concession: £5.10, Family:£14.80

3. Mother Shipton’s Cave – See the only petrifying well in England! Mother Shipton was believed to be a witch that prophesised events such as the Great Fire of London and the defeat of the Spanish Armada, she lived in Knaresborough near the well and so her story is intertwined with this strange place which turns objects into stone. There is a whole park to explore with children’s playground, tearoom, gardens and of course the petrifying well spring where you can watch everyday objects slowly but surely turning to stone. Adult: £6.00, Senior Citizens: £5.00, Child: £4.00, Under 4′s: free, Family: £18.00

Mother Shipton's Cave picture by Flickr user Auz

4. Irwell Sculpture Trail - Winding its way from Bacup to Salford Quays and featuring over 70 artworks by locally, nationally and internationally renowned artists this trail is a great free day out. You can do the whole walk or just sections of it, go to the website to plan your journey!

5. Snibston Discovery Park - Leicestershire’s largest interactive museum, Snibston showcases the region’s science, technology and design collections, including major innovations in transport and engineering history. A great and educational day out for the kids. Adult: £7.50, Child: £5.00, Under 3′s: free, Family of 4 (max 2 adults):£22.50

6. Glasgow Science Centre Egg Drop Challenge – Design a casing for your precious Easter cargo (a real egg) and see whether it protects or encourages a splat when dropped from on high! This is one of many fun activities to get involved in over the weekend, you could spend a whole day there and never get bored! Science Mall ticket price – Adult: £9.95, child/concessions: £7.95

Glasgow Science Centre 1 picture by Flickr user Jordanhill School D&T Dept

7. Eureka! - The national children’s museum near Halifax is another educational, interactive and enjoyable place to visit and especially welcomes visitors over school holidays such as these. It is currently celebrating its 20th anniversary and this weekend invites visitors to explore the ‘commotion in the ocean’ exploring the seven seas with mermaids and pirates! Voted the UK’s number one hand’s on museum by The Independent in 2011 you can’t go far wrong. Adult: £9.95, Child (3+) : £9.95, Toddler: £3.45, Babies (0-11 months): free

8. BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art – Situated in Gateshead, BALTIC hosts a programme of changing exhibitions of new and innovative contemporary art across four galleries. Currently showing are immersive video installations by Elizabeth Price, utopian structures by Andrea Zittel and highly conceptual artwork by On Kawara.

Aldermoor Cottages (sleeps 2-4) near Camelford in Cornwall are three cottages set in idyllic green surroundings with wild flowers, perfect in spring. The cottages are set within their own grounds and are ideally located for touring Cornwall and North Devon. You are within easy walking distance of the Moors and only minutes from surfing beaches, including the old market town of Camelford 1.5 miles away. The pretty fishing harbours of Boscastle, Port Isaac and Padstow are also within easy reach, as are many excellent coastal and moorland walks and the famous Camel Trail (bikes can be hired locally).

Or alternatively if you are in the mood for a romantic getaway for just the two of you, why not try Helpful Holidays’ the Bothy; a private, single-storey cottage with French windows overlooking its little wild garden with lovely views beyond. Approached by 80 yards of sloping path, there are 4 steps up to a glazed door opening into a large open-plan room with high exposed beams, comfy sofa, TV/DVD, dining table/chairs, woodburner, imposing four-poster bed (5’), floorboards/rug and wall-hung tapestries; 2 steps up to little kitchen with combi-microwave and separate electric hob, through to shower-room (suite). No children, except pre-crawling babies. A very romantic cottage situated near Exmoor and only 2.5 miles from the little pebble beach at dramatic Heddon’s Mouth.

Finally, if those don’t quite fit, there’s always a sea and shipping themed holiday at this third floor apartment with 180 degree sea view of ships (and the occasional warship) entering Plymouth from Helpful Holidays’ 48 Fort Picklecombe (R378). This well-kept apartment comprises of hall leading to living/dining room, smart fitted kitchen area (washer-drier, microwave) with TV/DVD, full of interesting pictures and pieces of china, and glazed doors to balcony (table/chairs), all with superb sea views (telescope). At the back, overlooking the gardens there are two bedrooms – one twin (VDU/DVD/video), and one with single and pull-out truckle; bathroom (suite plus bath-shower). Sleeps maximum of 4, including babies.

For even more choice, go to our main Holiday Cottages website for some last minute gems.

Hartland Abbey in Bideford, North Devon is hosting a daffodil weekendthis weekend, just in time for Mothering Sunday! This is a beautiful place to visit for a day out with the family. The area is filled with a historic collection of daffodils, many planted 150 years ago. You don’t have to be a daffodil enthusiast to enjoy the day however, as there are lots more varieties of flowers grouped around the grounds, including  camellias, hellebores, early spring bulbs, mimosas and lovely wild primroses and violets. The Abbey holds many wild flower days throughout the year, which has proved very popular with visitors.

Many parts of the estate which are normally closed to the public will be open this weekend, with the opportunity to walk along to Blackpool Mill, which fans of the BBC adaptation of Jane Austen’s ‘Sense and Sensibility’ will recognise as ‘Barton Cottage’.

Dog owners will be pleased as this is a dog friendly place to visit, where literally hundreds were walked by their owners at last year’s daffodil weekend. Visitors are advised to bring wellies in case the British weather decides to turn, but hopefully this won’t dampen the mood during the Family Treasure Hunt!

Warming hot pasties, light lunches and really good home made cream teas will be provided by the wonderful ladies of St. Nectan’s with all the profits going to the beautiful church.

Tickets are £4 for adults, and £1 for children over 5.

 The Abbey itself will be open between 12 –4pm which will incur a small extra charge if you would like to look inside.

(Photos from the Hartland Abbey website)

The panel of 2,678 Which? members who had booked a villa or holiday cottage in the past two years were asked to rate the companies they’d used.

Lorna Cowan, Editor of Which? Travel, said, “Nearly 3,000 members gave us feedback on cottage and villa booking companies – Helpful Holidays stood out, receiving an outstanding customer score overall, with members impressed by the excellent customer service and easy-to-use website.”

Mary Bowater said in a message to all subscribers to the Helpful Holidays newsletter: “We’re thrilled to receive this unbiased endorsement. Which? is the UK’s pre-eminent and most trustworthy barometer of consumer attitudes and opinions and we couldn’t be more delighted to get this feedback from them. The values of honesty, integrity and attention to detail that Helpful Holidays puts into practice every day are recognised and appreciated by customers in this report. Ultimately, trust is the currency that really counts and earning that of our customers has been the purpose of Helpful Holidays for the last 30 years.”

The temptation for some parents is to take their children on holiday during term time; however this may no longer be a cost-saving option as parents could face fines if they repeatedly take their children away during term time.

The drive is part of a drive by Education Secretary, Michael Gove, to improve attendance rates. As a result headteachers are likely to lose their ability to grant up to two weeks of ‘authorised absence’ each year. The discretionary absence is intended to cover illness, bad weather and bereavements, whereas it is sometimes used to cover periods of holiday during term time.

A review of school discipline and attendance by teacher and behaviour expert Charlie Taylor found that around 4.5million days of schooling are missed by pupils going on holidays which would be significantly more expensive if taken during school breaks.

A source at the Department for Education told the Daily Mail: ‘Any time out of school has the potential to damage a child’s education. That is why the Government will end the distinction between authorised and unauthorised absence.’

What are your views on these proposed new measures? Have you ever taken your children away during school term time? Do you feel it impacted on their education?

Travel companies actually employ more women than many other sectors, however, this is still falling short of the Government’s ideal, which is for one in four directors of the FTSE 100 to be women by 2015.

Cameron said he thought there is a “positive link” between women in top jobs and business performance – with wider repercussions for the whole economy. He went to Sweden to see the positive effects of women in top positions in business and said that the Scandinavian countries have taken pioneering ways to encourage more women into these top roles. 25% of big business board positions in Sweden go to women, with 40% in Norway as a legal minimum requirement. Currently the figure is only 15% in Britain.

IAG (parent company of British Airways) is listed in the FTSE 100 index, and has three women on its board of 14, putting it within the government’s target.

Easyjet, a FTSE 350 business, has only two women on its board of 10, including chief executive Carolyn McCall. The other is non-executive director Adele Anderson.

This week, Thomas Cook, trading as a FTSE All-Share company, appointed a second female non-executive director, Martine Verluyten, which puts the company within the target.

What do you think of the possibility of legal quotas for women in business? Is it fair or just necessary to redress the balance?

We’ve received the following email from the editors of Holiday Villas and Cottages magazine, which is relevant to all people who advertise their property on holidaycottages.cc and any other web site or magazine:

Please be aware that a number of advertisers in our publication Holiday Villas & Cottages have recently received calls from sales people improperly claiming to work for, or on behalf of, the magazine.

In a number of cases individuals have been persuaded to hand over credit card details after being offered renewal of their advertisement booking at a low price, subject to immediate acceptance of the offer and payment by credit card. Their card is then debited in that amount, often several times.
No written or email confirmation is supplied until after payment has been taken.

Any advertising supplied as a result appears to be in a freesheet style publication, not in a bona fide magazine.

These calls are not in any way connected with Holiday Villas & Cottages, Merricks Publishing Ltd, holidaycottages.cc.

Calls to our advertisers are almost certainly just the tip of the iceberg. Anyone advertising in any publication or on any website could be called by these people.
If you receive an advertising sales call seeking a repeat booking in any publication/website and you have any doubts at all as to whether it is genuine, ask the caller for his/her name and the name of the company and publication, then call that publication (making sure you call the genuine number, not one that you are given on the pretext that ‘the switchboard is always busy.’) In our case, the number to call is 01458 274447.

Allegations of improper sales activity of this sort have been covered by the BBC and discussed online, for example here and here.

If this has already happened to you, call me, Hamish Watson-Grey, or e-mail info@merrickspublishing.com and we will advise what steps you can take to recover your funds.

With kind regards

Hamish Watson-Grey
Managing Director
Merricks Publishing Ltd

Tonight temperatures could drop as low as -10C in many parts of the UK.

The alert is also passed on to Age UK as part of the government’s cold weather planning strategy, as older people are at risk during cold periods of weather such as this. Michelle Mitchell, director of Age UK, said: “It may have been relatively mild so far this year but the winter can be a dangerous time for older people. Low temperatures raise blood pressure, which puts people at a greater risk of heart attacks and strokes, as well as increasing the likelihood and severity of flu and other respiratory problems.”

A warm front is set to come next week however, which will raise temperatures slightly, but it will still be seasonally chilly and could cause snow.

If we think that it is getting cold here though, think about those in other parts of Europe, such as Italy and Northern Greece, where temperatures are at a chilly -16C!

The clock is ticking! Picture by Flickr User Ben Sutherland

Over 1 in 10 Brits will be going abroad on holiday specifically to avoid the London 2012 Olympics. 12% of the 2,018 adults asked in the ABTA commissioned poll, said they would b going overseas between 27th July and 12th August to get away from the games. Whereas 9% said they were looking for a holidays in the UK that was Olympics free.

Of those who were staying put, 30% said that they ignore the Games completely, whereas 11% are planning to take time off to watch the Games on TV, and 5% will take time off to attend events. 31% said that although they will not take time off during the events, they are excited about them nonetheless.

ABTA head of communications Victoria Bacon said: “With only six months to go until one of the biggest sporting events in our country’s history, it’s clear that hundreds of thousands, especially the young, will be taking time off to enjoy London 2012. However, for those who don’t love sports or want to escape the crowds, going abroad will provide a welcome alternative.”

The research was conducted by Arkenford Ltd, which specialises in tourism and leisure market research.

So, will you be staying for the Olympics, going away, or ignoring them? Tell us your thoughts in the comments section below.

National Express, First Capital Connect and London Midland received the most bad feedback. The worst for value for money, with only 27% customer satisfaction, was National Express East Anglia’s Stratford line. However, West Anglia services only performed marginally better.

Overall, 84% customer satisfaction is the same figure as last year, however, as Passenger Focus chief executive Anthony Smith pointed out ratings for services only ranged from “mediocre to good”, and “satisfaction with value for money has gone down, illustrating the impact tough economic times coupled with fare rises are having.”

Michael Roberts, of the Association of Train Operating Companies, had a more positive view of the results: “Overall, customer satisfaction remains at a record high level, though the survey results by route show there is no room for complacency.”

What do you think about your train services? Are the price hikes in comparison to the level of service provided justified? Please comment below.