Tin tabernacle: The Chapel at Walcot Hall in Shropshire A fine example of the non-conformist, colonial-style, tin-clad chapels that proliferated in the 19th century, this little beauty is hidden in woodland in Shropshire’s 30-acre Walcot Aboretum. The chapel sleeps four in two woody bedrooms (from £575 a week) and features stained-glass […]
Holidays, when I was child, rarely took us further than my grandparents’ smallholding in Somerset – only two counties away from our towny home in Cornwall. We slept on lumpy mattresses under a thatched roof, woke up to crowing cockerels and fresh eggs fried in lard, watched by a herd […]
Tenement House, Glasgow Working gas lights, a coal-fired kitchen range, a vintage packet of Rinso, an old tin of Mothicide and a jar of jam made in 1929, are some of the relics on display in an otherwise ordinary Glasgow flat preserved for posterity by the National Trust for Scotland. […]
Goodbye boarding house, hello boutique hotel. Margate’s new generation of places to stay is all about cool Independents – guest houses, pubs with rooms and some quirky one offs. Our top ten includes more than one townhouse, a rock-and-roll guest house, an art deco B&B, a jazzed-up vintage caravan and a prison cell.
As Sam Mendes’ new film Empire of Light turns the spotlight on Margate, we take a look at the Isle of Thanet town’s architectural landscape – highlights include a chalk cave, a mysterious shell grotto, a derelict lido, a 1960s Brutalist tower block, a vintage roller coaster and the Grade II* listed Dreamland cinema (the fictional Empire of Light in the aforementioned film).
Latest hot hut alert: Two off-grid eco cabins made from sustainably-sourced wood. Solar power. High insulation. Bio-fuel fireplace. Comfy bed (duvet and pillows made from home-spun merino wool). Bathroom. Sea views. And I’m liking the sound of the ‘secret seaside garden’ in which they ‘nestle’ (we don’t generally do ‘nestling’ […]
Look beyond the deckchairs and the donkey rides and the cliched seaside bling and this colourful Dorset town is a treat for architecture buffs. One of Britain’s oldest resorts, its best bits are mainly Georgian (a gilded statue of George III reigns over the seafront’s Regency terraces) but the town’s […]
Introducing our current hot list of self-catering ‘cottages’ – including shepherds huts in deepest Devon, vintage railway carriages in Cornwall, a Scottish island eyrie, a dinky cottage overlooking Polperro’s fishing harbour and a time-warped tin hut in rural Somerset. They are booking up fast for 2023, but there’s always next year…
Cornwall is so rammed with visitors these days they are squeezing into every nook and cranny. But there are still relatively undiscovered places that don’t draw the crowds. My round-up of ‘secrets’ is quite heavy on tin mining, Cornish moorland, scenic railways and social distancing. The only beaches on the list require walking boots and stamina. And I’ve chucked in three random food options.
In Somerset’s Wedmore Vale, this traditional coaching inn turned gastro pub offers quirky rooms and great food.