Green valley scoured by its mining past

The Victorians confused these Shropshire hills with the Alps. How? Why? Trail dons its lederhosen, downs a glühwein and reaches for the Stretton Skyline to find out.

In the hills above Blaenau Ffestiniog lie the remains of RHOSYDD QUARRY . Once a hub of industry, now abandoned and left to decay, it’s a place that echoes with whispers of the past.

It was feeling as though it had been an incredibly long, damp and grey winter, so we were absolutely ready to get out and about in the caravan again. The Peak District is pretty much on our doorstep,

Built on the wealth of the wool industry, picture-perfect Lavenham in Suffolk is lined with colourful timbered buildings and has a close-knit community at its heart

It’s the busiest time of year for Britain’s beautiful places. Yet as these locations prove, you can find silence, sensational scenery and space to breathe.

‘The past is a foreign country: they do things differently there’. Those words begin one of my very favourite books, The Go-Between, by LP Hartley and, standing in the main street of Malvern, I couldn