“Oh this is great! I’ve not felt so liberated since I was a teenager and used to cycle for miles round here. Just look at that view.” Good friend Liz Mcgillivary, retired PR specialist, and I were standing at the top of Birkrigg Common looking out over a misty Morecambe...

The heavenly scent of deep pink roses weaves around me every time I pass the front gate. In the summer months, these small, compact blooms scent the air in a way no other flower can. My mother absolutely loved these beautiful flowers, growing many different varieties and spending hours pruning...

Want to have a look round the site of some of Canada’s TOP-SECRET communications throughout the Cold War? Well, you can, at The Diefenbunker, one of the country’s most unusual and fascinating visitor attractions, just 20 miles outside Ottawa. Last year I stayed in the capital to celebrate Canada’s 150th Birthday. During...

Love medieval castles? Then you’ll be in seventh heaven in North East Wales. There’s a castle round every corner, testimony to the region’s strategic significance in the power battle between the English and Welsh. I’ve been going to North Wales since childhood and am familiar with the big boys – ie Conwy...

Building sandcastles on the beach has got to be one of the quintessential childhood memories for many of us. Fill a bucket with damp sand, turn it upside-down, bash it on the end with a plastic spade, jiggle the bucket and lift, keeping fingers crossed it will come out perfect...

Pembrokeshire Coast – Stackpole And the winner is … jaw-droppingly gorgeous Pembrokeshire. It possesses a glorious, beach-strewn coastline; the Pembrokeshire Coastal Path has been ranked by National Geographic as one of the great hiking paths of the world. It also won BBC Countryfile Holiday Destination of the Year 2018. Medieval castles...

The smell of freshly-baked bread mingles with the enticing aroma of chocolate, almonds, coffee and fresh flowers. I’m sitting by the window in the Three Hares Café in the little town of Sedbergh, just 10 minutes off the M6 in Cumbria. I’m on the first stop on a day following...