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QCAN WE TOUR MORE UNUSUAL PLACES?
We love touring the UK in our little Avondale Dart – we bought it just before the first lockdown, and since then we’ve enjoyed seeing some of the best of the country, both on long weekends and for a couple of weeks at a time. We like going to unusual places, but we’re running out of ideas – could you please suggest somewhere a bit different?
Clare Walsh
Paul Critcher replies…
For starters, you could try the fabulous Poison Garden in Northumberland (alnwickgarden. com/the-garden/poison-garden).
Yes, this is one for budding toxicologists, but the gardens at Alnwick have enough interest and variety to satisfy even the most casual gardener.
Those with a leaning towards the macabre will be fascinated! If you dare to enter through the garden’s ominous black gates, you’ll be treated to a collection of around 100 intoxicating and narcotic plants.
Forget ‘Don’t walk on the grass’, the instructions are clear and essential to follow – ‘Don’t touch, don’t smell, don’t eat!’
We’d suggest staying at Greensfield Moor Farm (greens fieldmoorfarm.co.uk), 1.5 miles from Alnwick and within easy reach of the gardens.
If you’re in the south, you might be tempted to visit Longleat – but have you explored its splendid hedge maze (longleat.co.uk/adventure-attractions/hedge-maze)? It’s the biggest in Britain, comprising some 16,000 yew trees. Longleat Caravan and Motorhome Club Site (www. caravanclub.co.uk) is within a lion’s roar of the maze and the famous safari park.
Finally, if you’re in Northern Ireland, the amazing Rathlin Island, five miles north of Ballycastle on the North Antrim coast, is a must-see (discover northernireland.com/things-to-do/rathlin-island-p687111).
Seabird colonies, lighthouses and a scattering of stone pillars create a magical scene – legend has it fairies danced on the pillars!
The coastline is surrounded by some 40 shipwrecks, from cargo vessels laden with rum to a WWI cruiser torpedoed by a U-boat.
We’d suggest staying at Ballyness Caravan Park (www. ballynesscaravanpark.com), which is a regular in our annual Top 100 Sites Guide.
QSHOULD I WAIT FOR THE NEW SANTA FE?
I plan to change my tow car in the next month or so and h
