Destinations National
Offers
Reviews
 |
Saltburn by the Sea, North Yorkshire
by koshkha ~Unreliable Memoirs~ Memory is a notoriously fickle and unreliable thing - especially our memories of childhood. If pressed, I'm sure I would swear blind that my childhood summers were full of sunshine, of going out on my bike with my sister to catch tiddlers in the stream and having fabulous seaside holidays. I would claim ... that strawberries 'really' tasted of strawberries and that the school holidays flew by in a flurry of healthy activity. It's not true of course - it rained a lot, we sat around watching the telly, the bike rides surely didn't happen as often as I remember and the seaside holidays were more often spent in a caravan playing whist and rummy with my grandparents whilst Granddad claimed wistfully that the storm that was rocking the caravan was "only a clearing up shower". My brain knows that a week or two in Weston Super Mare was about mud and donkeys, bingo and slot machines and eating fish and chips. Only with many years behind me can I paint that idyllic image of gentle evenings on the beach or leaping around rock pools with a shrimping net. These things didn't happen - but if I was creating a fictional childhood to replace my mostly very satisfying non-fictional one, then I would be forced to airbrush out Weston Super Mare and the Isle of Wight and create a mock-history based on the coast of the North East of England. I'd switch the mud flats of Weston for the rock pools of Robin Hood's Bay, the bingo dens for the beach huts of Whitby and Weston's tragically burnt down old pier for the one at Saltburn-By-The-Sea. I fell in love this summer with the beaches of the north east. ~Our visit~ After two nights in Robin Hood's Bay it was time to head north to our next hotel and we decided to drive along the coast road rather than head back inland. We checked the maps and decided to stop for some lunch in the small seaside town of Saltburn-By-The-Sea. The only thing I knew about Saltburn was that it has a fascinating old 'cliff lift' tramway which joins the upper town to the beach below. I'd seen photographs and was keen to try it for myself. Saltburn is in the county of North Yorkshire and is about 12 miles from Middlesborough, not far down the coast from Redcar. The town became popular in Victorian times when the fashion for sea bathing became popular and it retains many of the original features of its hey day. We arrived at about 11.30 am and parked up in the car park at the southern end of the town. The public toilets had been closed due to some vandalism and this act of destruction (a bit of spray paint and lots of wet toilet paper, I presume) turned out to be 'the talk of the town' on that quiet Sunday morning. We left the car behind and headed for the beach, wary of the dark storm clouds threatening the calm of our day out. Saltburn has an exceptional beach and I say that as someone who generally prefers a rocky coastline to acres of sand. For a sandy beach to impress me it has to be wide, extremely clean, and preferably have no people on it. I can cope with a few people walking their dogs and that's pretty much what we got at Saltburn; a handful of people taking a stroll and lots of dogs having a wonderful time. If you lived here you would have to get a dog. If I were the Mayor of the town (if they have one) I'd put it into the town's charter that dogs were compulsory since the beach seems to give them such excessive joy that it would be criminal not to exercise a pooch on the sand every day. ~Lift and Pier~ In some ways it's a shame that Saltburn's Cliff Lift gets so much attention when it should be the pier that's the star of the show. Saltburn Pier is a beautiful work of art and engineering although I couldn't help thinking that surely the point of a pier was to allow people to walk 'above' the water rather than just to the edge of the water. During our visit the tide was very firmly 'out' and the end of the pier didn't even reach the waves. Whilst this gave us the spectacular sandy beach, it did rather make the pier redundant as anything other than something of which to take photographs. Piers are for walking on so that's what we did; from the shore end to the sea end and back again. Well you have to, don't you? The pier is in excellent condition and has been well maintained and is a fine example of its type. It's rather a simple pier because all the entertainments and arcade machines are at the shore end and there's nothing actually on the pier itself except a few benches. I expect to see fishermen on a pier but with the sea nowhere to be seen, they'd have been wasting their time. Whilst this isn't one of the grand piers more typical of the south coast, it still proudly boasts of winning Pier of the Year in 2009. The head of the pier stands opposite the base of the Cliff Lift Tramway and both are decorated in cream paint with the beams picked out in red. The cliff lift is a so-called 'inclined tramway' which replaced an earlier 'hoist' which used to transport people up and down in a contraption not unlike a coal mine cage which was powered by hydraulics. Given the winds that can build in the North East coast, it must have been a terrifying thing to use. The Inclined tramway is a more reassuring beast and its tracks are fixed to the cliff side so it's much safer than its predecessor. Since 1884 it has carried passengers in two brightly painted carriages which travel up and down the tracks - one going up whilst the other comes down and each holds about a dozen people. I believe we paid a pound or less for our trip. It really shouldn't be much more as it's quite a short distance which we could easily have walked, but the cliff lift has been recently renovated and they obviously need to generate some income from it. My husband and I paid for our ride, passing through an old turnstile and then settling into the carriage. My husband hates cable cars and other high swingy things and is regularly subjected to terrifying ordeals on our holidays but even he thought the cliff lift provided a comfortable and totally unterrifying journey. The mechanism is so smooth that you almost glide up the hillside. Whether you walk or take the lift, it's definitely worth heading up the cliff to get the best views of the beach below although I couldn't see too much at the top that would have lured us away from looking at the sea. ~Admire the view~ We headed along the cliff top until we found a path back down again and then walked back along the beach. Just as we were starting to think about finding something to eat it started to rain so we took shelter under a small pavilion with everyone else who could reach it. Most of them were gossiping about the vandalism at the car park toilets. The rain showed no sign of stopping so I borrowed my husband's coat and went back to a food stall and bought us some bread rolls filled with freshly fried fish and then we ate them on a bench when the rain had stopped. In total we probably only spent a couple of hours in Saltburn but found it to be charming, pretty and to have a wonderful beach. I loved the pier, enjoyed the cliff lift and was very glad we'd broken our journey to have a look around. I can't imagine spending a week there, but a few hours were enough to make a good impression. Read the complete review |
|
|
Portishead in general
by Lizzie I have lived in Portishead for over 18 years and love it. In that time there have been a lot of changes though, including many massive housing developments. *Housing* I live in the older part of Portishead, however there are several new developments. The Vale was built around ten years ago and sits on the ... outskirts of Portishead (but only a ten minute walk to the high street and shops), The village quarter is situated next to the marina and on the other side is the fisherman's village. However, these three new developments are all prone to flooding as they are built on old marsh lands and there are concerns that they won't still be standing in 100 years time. You can see this by the bridges they have to build as walkways between houses etc and some areas were abandoned as they couldn't pump all the water out despite having industrial pumps in for months. There is another new development at the top of Portishead, however, this is a very long walk to the highstreet! It is a very modern and affluent area, with some of the larger houses in Portishead. It is called Charlcombe Rise. The older part of Portishead consist of the high street, lake ground area, nore road, avon way, up near Highdown school and the Slade road area, just to name a few. *School* There is one secondary school, Gordano. The school is very well regarded and has a large catchment area. It is doing well in league tables and is 'outstanding' according to OFSTED reports. It has also had a lot of new building work meaning it can accommodate everyone. The school is large and about 2000 students attend Gordano. Primary schools include: St Peters Highdown Portishead primary Trinity St Josephs and more... There are also many nurseries/childminders/playgroups. *Shops* You could cater for your every need in Portishead. The High street consists of several banks, charity shops, many pharmacies and a few independent businesses - clothes, hairdressers, food, sports, jewellery etc. There are also a few chain stores such as Gregs and Costa, iceland and budgens. Outside of the high street is subway, lidl, coop, waitrose, and more. We also have a small retail park including new look, peacocks and pets at home, as well as dreams and homebase and argos. Sadly we also have a McDonalds! :( *Leisure* Portishead has an outdoor swimming pool (open in the summer months), situated next to the lake grounds, and an indoor leisure centre too. the leisure centre includes a large gym, swimming pool, bowls room, spinning room, sports hall, multi-purpose studio room and cafe. They offer many classes per week (very good too!!!) and membership is reasonable. There is also a library and youth club, as well as several parks and a skate park at the top of Portishead. Read the complete review |
 |
Newbury (Berkshire)
by catsholiday Newbury, Berkshire Newbury is situated on a crossing on the River Kennet and because of this strategic position the first settlement was way back in the Stone Age around 7000AD. The Romans had a military base here on their main road between Cirencester and Silchester. Newbury is an old market town in the middle of a ... thriving agricultural area. The markets started back in Norman times and continue to this day. In the Middle Ages Newbury had a thriving woollen and clothe industry and in fact "Winchcombe" cloth from the town was a 16th Century market leader in England and beyond the shores as well. During the Civil War Newbury was the centre of two major battles, one in 1643 and second in 1644 probably because Donnington Castle nearby was a Royalist stronghold. Newbury continued to develop its manufacturing industries and also became important for engineering advances and a little bit of fame came from the fact that the gliders used in the Normandy landings were made in Newbury. Newbury is the headquarters of Vodaphone so I got good reception there as my phone is through Vodaphone. Visiting Newbury recently i was surprised at how big the town was and also how prosperous it looked. There were busy shops and a clean smart looking town centre. The older buildings were charming and were well preserved despite being now mixed with a variety of modern buildings which have sprung up over the last few decades. The tourist Information centre is not far from the canal dock or wharf and this was our first port of call despite the fact we missed it initially and walked a very long way round and almost back to where we had parked to find it. This is where we discovered what we could see and picked up a few brochures and guides. Not far from this office closer to the canal is the library but of more interest to us was the mosaic on the pavement next to it. This was a lovely piece of art showing the history of the town through pictures which was pretty impressive. The Tourist information office and the museum (sadly closed when we visited the town) are both housed in a very lovely old building which was once the Jacobean "Old Cloth Hall" which dates from 1627. Apparently there is a problem with health and safety which may be why the museum being closed so I read on one website. It was a shame that the museum wasn't open as I wanted to see the famous "Newbury Coat" made as a bet in 1811 that they could go from the sheep's back to a coat worn by a person in one day. The poor sheep was then roasted and shared by the crowds watching the event. The Market Place had a busy market with stalls selling locally made produce such as cheese and bread as well as other less local things typically found in cheap markets as well. Markets are on Thursdays and Saturdays and a Farmer's Market is held on the first and third Sunday each month. The Town Hall is an impressive brick building with a tall clock tower which dates back to the late 19th century. I loved the story told about Arcade alleyway which used to be known as 'Whirligig Alley because of the effect passersby had when walking down there and breathing in the fumes created by the felt makers and dyers yards along the alleyway. St Nicholas Church had a wonderful archway entrance to the grounds. The church was rebuilt in the 1520s with a Tudor roof. The bell tower has a magnificent ten bells inside. We didn't have time to go into the church but from the outside it was a very solid and attractive building. The town is full of interesting stories to go with different places and Newbury Bridge it is told has vaulted store rooms under it which were packed with explosives during WWII . This was to defend London from a German invasion. Victoria Park which we walked through on our way to Shaw House has an original 1930s Boating Pond still this was built by unemployed during the Depression as relief work. It also has a statue of Victoria and stone lions around her but these have had several moves before arriving here. It was originally in the Market Place in 1903, then moved to Greenham House in 1933 and then finally here to Victoria Park 1966. The park was originally very marshy and was like many green areas in towns also a place where anyone could graze their animals in days gone by. We enjoyed our wander around the town and I wish I had had more time to explore. We walked to Shaw House and back and also enjoyed a visit to Shaw House which I have written about in another review. We also took a canal boat trip on the 'Jubilee' canal boat which filled an hour or so and was very relaxing. I have written about this trip in a separate review too. The famous Newbury racecourse is close by as well too of course if you are interested in horse racing. This town is well worth a visit for both shopping as there are many lovely shops and also for its architecture and interesting history. Parking was quite easy to find and a quick walk from the town centre and not too expensive . Thanks for reading. This review may be posted on other sites under my same username. ©Catsholiday Read the complete review |
Destination National |
||
|---|---|---|
|
25 reviews Destination National / |
|
|
6 reviews Destination National / |
|
|
2 reviews Destination National / |
|
|
11 reviews Destination National / |
|
|
Destination National / |
|
|
3 reviews Destination National / |
|
|
12 reviews Destination National / |
|
|
3 reviews Destination National / |
|
|
9 reviews Destination National / Morecambe is a resort town in the Lancaster district of Lancashire, England. As of 2003 it has a resident population of about 45,000. It faces into Morecambe Bay. |
|
|
Destination National / |
|
| Destination National recommendations 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 ... back next | ||
| dooyoo Results 41 - 50 of 1662 | ||
