AS hotel names go, this one’s a little unusual. Across Church Street, where I’m standing in the Welsh Border town of Chirk, is the Hand Hotel. Parts of it date back to 1610, during the reign of James

One of the most picturesque inland waterways in the world, the Caledonian Canal is a magnet for leisure boating, cycling and walking. It stretches diagonally across the Scottish Highlands, linking som

We arrive at the top of High Cup Nick in the North Pennines. “It’s like the world starts just over there,” comments my friend Mark. He’s pointing down the U-shaped chasm of High Cup Gill, beyond whose

(Photograph taken in 1888) As a family, we first stayed at Rothay Manor in Ambleside in 1953 and it was then that I had my first experiences in fell walking, trout fishing and negotiating the nearby s

Celebrating 100 years of the BBC Shipping Forecast, Jane Russell takes us on a series of coastal cruises through the forecast sea areas, exploring some of the special places on offer in each of them

● CERTAIN PHRASES, LIFTED FROM famous writers, ...