May 7, 2011by Zoe Dawes12 CommentsBlog trip, Competition, Writing

Winning a Travel Blogging Competition

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Travel Titbits Blog Competition
In January 2011 holiday company Travel Titbits ran a travel blogging competition to find Britain’s Best Travel Blogger.  They posted an invite to enter on Twitter and I decided to give it a go. It was the first time  I had ever entered a writing competition and just decided to give it a go…
The brief was:

Are you Britain’s Best Travel Blogger?
We want to find the best travel blogger in Britain and give them the opportunity to win a paid blog trip.

The Mission: “Can you have a Great British weekend on a budget?”   Will you pick the big lights of Blackpool, the calm waters of the Lake District or the historic sites of Windsor? The destination is up to you…

So I chose where I know best – quirky Cumbria.  There are some many lovely places to visit but I wanted to share somewhere away from the very well-known Lake District, a place tourists may not know about, and also somewhere with a variety of unusual and interesting sites to see.  Oh, and I know all about  ‘budget travel’! Plus the entry only had to be short which appealed. Here’s  what I wrote on Long Meg:

 

“Discover ‘a very fecund witch’ at England’s 3rd biggest Stone Circle, Long Meg … Savour a delicious organic lunch at truly quirkilious Little Salkeld Mill … Meander alongside the sinuous Eden River and explore eccentric Captain Lacey’s 18th century sandstone caves … Marvel at what the Romans did to stop the Scots coming oe’r the border at atmospheric Hadrian’s Wall …. All this, and so much more, off-the-beaten track in the Eden Valley in gloriously quirky Cumbria.”

 

Long Meg

I was so surprised when I was informed I’d won – and even more delighted when they said it was for the quality of the writing.  I’m not very good at ‘traditional tour guide’ writing so the fact that they’d enjoyed my more idiosyncratic style meant a lot.  Travel Titbits have given a great prize -a travel blogging trip anywhere to visit in the UK.  I’ve decided to revisit a favourite holiday destination from childhood – the Isle of Man;  sure to be many quirky and fascinating things to see and write about there.  Visit Isle Of Man have organised a very interesting itinerary with a great variety of sight-seeing, walking, eating out and even a boat trip …

Isle of Man

The trip is from Sunday May 8th to Wednesday May 11th so plenty of time to explore this little island..  I’m staying in the quaint-looking Port St Mary at what looks like a very quirky B&B – Aaron House … So – any suggestions for what to see and do whilst I am there?  And if you are in the Isle of Man do say hi …

Update January 2013: Sadly ceased trading last year, another victim of this deep and long-lasting recession. I owe the company a great deal and wish Alan and the rest of the company all the very best  … wherever they are and whatever they’re up to now!  You can read about my prize trip to the Isle of Man here.