Tips & Advice for Visitors to the UK

Craig looks after around 100 craft, hiring them out to the holidaymakers who descend on this quaint village on the Suffolk coast near Aldeburgh in the summer months, mending and repainting them with three colleagues through the winter. It has been his job for the past two decades, a role he took over from his late father.

Most of the boats are about a century old, dating from when The Meare opened in 1913. The 64-acre lake paints a pretty picture. Swans, teal and Canada geese grace waters shaded by willow and alder. On the shore, a cluster of black clapboard buildings edges a village green, framing a favourite snap for holidaymakers.

The Meare is the centrepiece of an extraordinary village that still provides a delightfully eccentric escape. It was born of the imagination of the barrister and playwright Glencairn Stuart Ogilvie, the owner of nearby Sizewell Hall, who, just before the First World War, began transforming the fishing hamlet of Thorpe into Thorpeness, one of Britain’s original holiday resorts.

Ogilvie bought the tranche of dunes and heaths on the southern edge of his estate and set to work in 1910 to revive the community, ensuring its fortune by making it a holiday village that thrives to this day.

The Meare was dug by hand to a depth of no more than 2ft 6in, “so kids from a very young age could learn to punt, sail and row”, Craig tells me. Its man-made islands are planted with oak and ilex and set with playhouses and characters inspired by children’s books, particularly the tales of Peter Pan, written by Ogilvie’s good friend J M Barrie.

The boating lake shifted the focus from the sea. Ogilvie didn’t want to replicate the promenade experience of resorts such as Clacton, further down the coast, which he found vulgar. His model resort might have been influenced by Ebenezer Howard, creator of the Utopian garden city movement, but it became an exclusive bolt-hole for the wealthy.

Ogilvie’s idea was to create a village that would conjure up the spirit of Merrie England with its mock-Tudor and Jacobean-style buildings. In addition, he furnished it with everything the holidaymaker could desire for a wholesome break – a boating lake, tennis courts, a golf club and holiday lodgings, a green, a pub, a shop, and even a church.

Craig takes me to see the village’s social hub, the Country Club, a gabled black clapboard building sitting on top of a sand dune. This Friday will mark the 100th anniversary of its opening, remembered with a special centenary exhibition. The opening of The Kursaal, its original name, was a glamorous affair attended by Ogilvie’s society contacts from as far afield as London. It set the tone; the club remained members-only for much of the 20th century.

The Country Club still hosts events today. But this bizarre destination’s top attraction is surely itself. Craig and I take a walk to see some of Ogilvie’s most indulgent architectural whims. At Eastgate I find a building styled as a Norman castle, constructed for no other reason than to disguise one of the two water tanks necessary to supply the village.

The second tank was hidden in The House in the Clouds, the most eye-catching building here (you can see it from the beach at Aldeburgh), a red house suspended on a five-storey black clapboard tower, apparently floating in the air. The tank is long gone and the house is now an unusual holiday rental. Near it stands The Windmill, a 19th-century cornmill that was moved wholesale from Aldringham to the village in 1923 and converted to pump water to its lofty neighbour.

I was staying in a more conventional yet no less original timber-framed house on The Haven. The Ogilvies were forced to sell off buildings to pay death duties in the 1970s, and my holiday home for the week, like many properties here, was purchased as a private residence.

Consequently, many of the younger generations of the village’s tiny population have had to move away. “They used to fill a school bus when I was a child, now just one kid gets on,” Craig tells me. He’s lucky, the boathouse on the edge of The Meare comes with his job.

Thorpeness’s community may be dwindling but, come summer, the holidaymakers will be queuing up as usual to take a boat out on The Meare.

Travel essentials

Getting there and staying there

Kate Simon stayed in Thorpeness with Suffolk Secrets (01502 722717; suffolk-secrets.co.uk). A week in a property sleeping five costs from £601. Thorpeness is accessible by car via the A12 and A1094. The nearest railway station is at Saxmundham, six miles away, which is served by trains from Ipswich with Greater Anglia (0845 600 7245; greateranglia.co.uk). Bus number 521, run by the Suffolk Links Alde service (0845 604 1802; suffolkonboard.com), connects Saxmundham to Thorpeness five times daily, 7am-7pm.

 

Further information

Centenary Exhibition, Thorpeness Country Club (01728 452176; thorpenesscountryclub.co.uk; 11am-4pm, 26-31 May).

One Man’s Dream: The story behind G Stuart Ogilvie and the creation of Thorpeness, by Ailsa Ogilvie de Mille (Nostalgia Publications).

Visit Suffolk: visitsuffolk.com

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Elder is very common and easy to identify. Look around roadside verges, parks, woods, wastelands and railway lines for a bush-like, shrubby tree. It has oval-shaped, serrated leaves that grow in opposite pairs and a cracked, corky bark, grey-brown in colour. The tell-tale squashy pith, which makes it ideal whistle-making material, runs through its core.

Use a straight branch a bit thicker than your index finger and around 10cm long. At this width, the pith inside should be at its widest, taking up most of the cross-section. The ratio is important; the tube needs to be hollow enough to create a decent whistle, but not so thin that it splits during its creation. Ideally, the remaining wood will be 2-3mm thick.

With a penknife, shave away the outer bark and use a sharpened stick to push out the pith in the middle to leave a clear, wooden tube. Now cut the “voicing mouth” 2cm in from one end by slicing vertically down on to the tube at 90 degrees and meeting this line with a 45-degree cut. Repeat until the hole resembles a smile that exposes the hollow tube within.

Next, find a round stick that is a touch wider than the end of the whistle and strip away the outer bark until it fits in the tube all the way up to the edge of the voicing mouth. Then give it a flat top with one or two decisive strokes and push it snugly into place. Cover the other end and blow. The flat surface allows the air to hit the voicing mouth cleanly, whereupon it splits to produce the whistle noise.

Regardless of where you source your elder, make a patch of woodland your workshop. We set about carving whistles seated beneath slopes thick with oak, birch and hazel above the slow, shining waters of the river Nidd in North Yorkshire. This was whistle-making by royal appointment; moments earlier we had seen the sapphire-flash of a kingfisher darting away downstream. Now we stripped away the bark, our knives exposed the wet, blonde wood and, with each stroke, the smell of the inner bark, a dense, leafy brew, perfumed the air.

Carving is one of the most therapeutic pastimes possible, pulling us out of our everyday worries and stresses with gentle focus. The level of concentration required also rendered our work a silent labour, which left our ears open to the sounds of nature all around. Birds sang and fluttered about the canopy, squirrels scrambled up trunks and the reassuring murmur of the river calmed our minds. Sitting there, working in the midst of a vast and ancient forest factory awash with white wood anemone, we were subsumed, part of a wider community that stretches beyond the human.

Part of the thrill of British woodland is the stark relief it gives us from our everyday existence. Watching any animal, even one so common as the grey squirrel or ground beetle, reminds us of the mind-bogglingly varied contemporaries we share our planet with.

As we put our newly fashioned instruments to our lips, we wondered what strange creatures might be drawn to our glade. The elder tree has long been thought to be the favourite dwelling place of other, more mystical creatures. Fairies were once said to love the music from flutes made of this wood above all others.

After some adjustments to our whistles, two sylvan but distinct notes rang out. An elder whistle produces an organic, woody note, closer to that of a birdcall than anything else. It was as if we had found the language of the forest itself.

Making a whistle allows us to bottle something of the joy of the wood even when you return home. For a moment at least, when you take the whistle from a shelf and blow it, the walls and furniture fade away and you’re back in the trees.

‘Skimming Stones and Other Ways of Being in the Wild’ by Rob Cowen and Leo Critchley is out now (Hodder/Coronet, £14.99)

Whistle while you walk

Clifton Grove Woods, Nottingham

Running for several miles from the back of Clifton Hall along the River Trent, these rich, diverse woods form part of a thriving wildlife corridor. A lovely place to secrete yourself away and carve.

Bradfield Woods, Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk

A diverse workshop awaits in this wonderful wood where hundreds of plant species and mammals make every trip an eye-opening experience. Woodworkers will feel quite at home here, too; continuous coppice management has happened here since 1252.

Tintern Abbey, Monmouthshire

Footpaths lead from the abbey through the centuries-old oak, ash, beech, birch, and yew, with the occasional elder providing perfect whistle- making material and good acoustics. The views and vistas through the trees are spectacular.

Wandlebury Country Park, Cambridgeshire

Enjoy 110 acres of woodland in this enchanted, ancient spot and create your whistle in a place where people have worked wood since the Fifth Century BC – as the Iron Age Hill Fort proves.

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British spas have come a long way since “taking the waters” came into fashion in towns such as Bath and Cheltenham. Now every hotel worth its Dead Sea salts has a treatment room, if not a full-blown Roman tepidarium. Many treatments are tailored to our busy lives. Champneys (0843 316 2222; champneys. com) offers a Bamboo Massage for people who slouch at their desk all day (£65), while the Blue Harbour Spa at Wyndham Grand London (020-7823 3000; wyndhamgrandlondon.co.uk) has a VOYA Environmental Defence facial (£75), to combat pollution. Specialist booking agents include Health and Fitness Travel (0845 544 1936; healthandfitnesstravel.com) and spabreaks.com (0800 043 6600).

 

Who said that?

“To keep the body in good health is a duty… otherwise we shall not be able to keep our mind strong and clear.” Buddha

“If the body be feeble, the mind will not be strong.” Thomas Jefferson, US President

“Take rest; a field that has rested gives a bountiful crop.” Ovid, Roman Poet

 

Boot camp

Bovey Castle (0844 474 0077; boveycastle. com), a hotel in Dartmoor National Park, is offering a new five-day Weight Loss and Detox Break starting on 8 July with nutritionist Amanda Hamilton. The cost is £2,050 per person full board and includes a follow-up plan. Champneys (0843 316 2222; champneys.com), meanwhile, has introduced a boot camp taster weekend. The two-night Fit Camp Experience is available at Springs and Henlow and costs from £349.95 per person.

 

Learn to relax

Cornwall’s luxury hotel and spa The Scarlet (01637 861 800; scarlethotel.co.uk) has a number of new wellbeing escapes. The three-night Learning the Art of Ayurvedic Massage break includes a massage lesson and a four-hour Spa Journey designed to suit your dosha type. You can then zone out in the Deep Relax Room’s chrysalis-inspired sleeping pods, take a dunk in the outdoor reed-bed pool, or retire to the cliff-top hot tub for a seaweed soak. From £1,580 per couple, half board.

 

Private pampering

Book The Vean, a Georgian rectory near Gorran Haven in Cornwall, with friends. Three nights’ self-catering (min 12 people, max 16) plus a 30-minute treatment per person costs £230 per person through The Big Domain (01237 426777; thebigdomain.com). Shortflatt Tower (01661 881804; shortflatttower.co.uk) in Northumberland has a spa in the former stables and seven bedrooms. Two-night weekend breaks here start at £550 per person. An Indulgence Hammam Ritual costs £85.

 

Journey to the source

Bath’s Thermae Bath Spa (01225 331234; thermaebathspa.com) is the UK’s only natural thermal spa. Bathe in the warm waters, relax in the aroma steam rooms or gaze out over Bath’s skyline from the open-air rooftop pool. Its Ancient and Modern package costs £63.50 and includes a visit to the Roman baths, a three-course lunch or a champagne afternoon tea in the Georgian Pump Room, rounding off the experience with a two-hour session at Thermae Bath Spa.

 

Diamonds are a girl’s best friend

To mark the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, the spa at Rudding Park Hotel (01423 871350; ruddingpark.co.uk), an elegant Regency mansion near Harrogate, is introducing a Carita facial that contains diamond dust. The spa, which opened last year, also has a hammam and steam room. Doubles from £144, including breakfast. The 80-minute facial costs £95.

In London, the Balinese-inspired Mandara Spa (020-7620 7300; mandaraspa.com), a day spa that opened last year, has a “Feel Like A Queen” package with a choice of three treatments from a manicure or pedicure, facial, massage and coconut body scrub. The package also includes a glass of champagne for £120; valid weekdays from 1 June-10 July.

 

King of the castle

A new spa is being launched next month at Ruthin Castle Hotel (01824 702664; ruthincastle.co.uk) in north Wales – based around the moat of the 13th-century castle. The treatment rooms are in the old scullery, with specially designed treatments that include a Welsh salt scrub and Welsh seaweed wraps. There will also be a sauna tent and alfresco hot tub looking out from the moat over the parkland. Doubles from £125, including breakfast.

 

Keep it in the family

The Como Shambala spa at The Metropolitan hotel in London (020-7447 5752; metropolitan.london.como.bz; doubles from £407) has “The Met Loves My Dad” package that includes a deep tissue massage, facial, hand scrub and nail tidy, for £130.

At the Balmoral Hotel’s spa (0131 556 2414; thebalmoralhotel.com; BB from £285) in Edinburgh expectant and nursing mothers can indulge in a three-hour Maternal Bliss package for £205. A mother and daughter programme at The Ritz (020-7300 2435; theritzlondon.com) in London offers Ritz-level pampering for £225 per couple; while Runnymede Hotel near Windor (01784 220960; runnymedehotel.com), offers teen-tailored treatments for £50 per person.

 

Insider information

“I launched Recovery Retreats, designed for people suffering from cancer, after one of our customers was unceremoniously turned away from a spa after ticking the cancer box on her consultation form. We send more than 2,000 people on spa days each week and one in three people have cancer at some stage in their lives. That’s a lot of people needing well-deserved respite. Our next launch is Spa for All, which highlights venues and packages that cater to people with disabilities.” Abi Wright, founder of Spabreaks.com

 

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It can take the adventurer from cosy, commuter-belt Hampshire to the threshold of another land entirely, one of wooded dales enclosing tumbling streams, steep hillsides and old stone farmhouses, purple treeless moors, eventually rocky headlands and sandy beaches and the surging sea. It is a road of magical properties.

From the late 1950s, for 10 or 12 years, Linda followed it each year with her father, mother and younger brother from their home in Buckinghamshire. Their first car was a Hillman Minx, their destination a caravan site near Weymouth. As their circumstances improved, they migrated further west for the annual holiday, to Devon and later Cornwall, and it grew from one week to two.

Linda’s father, a clerk with the Gas Board, would really have preferred to have spent his leave entitlement at home tending the garden that he loved with a deep, quiet passion. But Linda’s mother insisted that they must go away, and as he loved to drive, he drove. He wrote down the route on an envelope: across to Basingstoke, A303 to Honiton, A30 further west – the destination always a caravan site.

Linda’s mother did not drive and could not read a map, so Linda sat next to her father, passing on the instructions when it got complicated. The end of the road varied, but there was one constant. Linda would ask if they were going past Stonehenge. When, inevitably, they did, they would stop and climb on the stones and wander among them and wonder at them. Each year, the monument which had delivered different messages to so many over thousands of years told them that they were on their way.

Linda’s father liked the A303 because it was faster than the narrow, winding A30. The A303 gave the journey a firm, propulsive shove. He liked it even more when they widened stretches of it into dual carriageway. Stuck behind a crawling lorry or – worse still – a tractor dragging a stack of hay, he would become silent and tense. Then a section of dual carriageway would beckon and the mood in the car – later a Triumph Herald, later still a lime-green Ford Capri – would lighten as the accelerator pedal went down.

Simon and his family went every year to Devon or Cornwall, always staying on a farm, always taking the A303, always stopping at Stonehenge for their picnic.

Simon’s father was an Austin man: the family progressed from Austin 7 to Austin 55 to Austin 60. He had all the maps covering the South-west and had – or felt he had – no need of a map-reader. “Dad was in charge of getting us lost,” Simon remembers. When Simon, as a young man, took his girlfriend to Yorkshire for a holiday, he felt they were going the wrong way. It was unnatural not to be on the A303. The road was in his blood.

There are plenty who still follow the same path. I went to find a random sample of them on a Friday in the 2011 summer holiday season. It was grey and drizzly, the forecast dodgy. The traffic was heavy but not exceptionally so, just the usual solid stream. The car parks at the service areas were full.

Humour was good despite the weather and the traffic. A family from Hatfield in Hertfordshire – father, mother, two kids, two grandparents – were heading for Exmouth, their seven-seater packed to the roof. “Always take the A303,” Dad said, “less boring than the motorway, and you’ve always got Stonehenge.”

Derek from Newmarket was taking a cup of tea from a Thermos in the shelter of his boot-lid as the drizzle drifted down, his team – wife, daughter, two grandsons – tightly packed into a blue saloon bound for Bridport. Derek had seen a BBC Four programme I’d made about the A303. “Here, meet the wife,” he said proudly. She, he confided to me, would rather be heading east to see the sun – Yarmouth or somewhere like that – but he made the decisions and one of them was the A303.

An elderly couple in the queue for a cup of tea were doing as they had done most years since 1957, when as honeymooners they set off for Devon in their Austin 7. Now they had their 10-year-old grandson with them.

They had had their foreign holidays since then and there was nothing wrong with them, but there was something about the South-west, something special, and this was the way to find it.

An old rocker with a ponytail told me that it had begun for him in the mid-1960s folded into the back of the family Mini, and he’d finally settled in Cornwall and not come back. “It was part of my childhood, the A303,” he said, speaking slowly and nodding in that old rocker’s way. “So part of me.”

There were more of the same, taking the road not because they had deep feelings about it or had ever thought much about it, but because it was part of a familiar and comforting act of escape. Everyone knows the motorway is quicker from anywhere in the East and South-east of England: M25 around London, M4 to Bristol, M5 to Exeter. But the A303 belongs in the ritual and the motorway doesn’t.

Everyone moaned about the traffic, but in a good-humoured way, almost affectionately. It was part of the A303; what else could you expect on a Friday afternoon in the holiday season? Don’t fret, mate, we’ll all get there in the end.

Coming back is something else. Same road, but not the same at all. For a child, there is an almost physical ache as the special place is left behind, and even as adults we feel the sadness. The road is complicit in the loss. The landmarks in their reverse order remind us of what we are leaving behind.

We twist our heads for a last glimpse of the cottage or caravan or campsite, catch a last gleam from the lake or the sea. Ahead is home, work, school, routine, daily shaving, uncut lawn, unpicked veg, duties, appointments. It is the road that is returning us to this enslavement and we resent it.

“You can let yourself go on the 303,” pounded forth Kula Shaker. “You can find your way home on the 303.” The song celebrated in enigmatic lyrics the way to “the land of the summer sun” – presumably Glastonbury, where the band was born at the 1993 festival. Each June the Glastonbury faithful still follow the road in pursuit of some kind of escape or release, a few days of another kind of life.

For the generation before them, the lure was Stonehenge and its Free Festival – music, drugs, free love, hugs and acid smiles and signs of peace, a repudiation of the cheerless world of career and mortgage beyond, and the grim, dangerous world beyond that. Down the A303 the Love Convoy rolled, until Mrs Thatcher and her ministers and the Daily Mail decided that society had had quite enough of that sort of useless parasitism, thank you, and put a stop to it.

There was no psychedelic rock for me at the end of the road, and certainly no free love, just flowing water and the sweet, fulfilling joy of casting a fly for a fish.

Since 1945, the car – a vehicle built of steel, powered by petrol, owned by us – has become a dominant influence on the way we live. It has enabled almost all of us to embrace a frantic fluidity of movement that has progressively determined how, mechanically, society should function. Other forms of transport – horse, bike, train, bus – have been unable to stand against it. It made possible the immediate gratification of every fleeting desire to be somewhere else. It put within everyone’s grasp a vision of mobility that abolished constraint and reduced the world into a mesh of manageable journeys. We were all seduced by its central principle: go where you like, when you like, as you like.

Its flaw is that it is fabulously wasteful. It consumes resources of energy, space and time as if they were inexhaustible.

They are not. Little by little the vision’s sources of nourishment are beginning to run out. The price of fuel has risen to a point where only the rich and the stupid no longer pause to consider if a journey is worth it. At the same time, insurance premiums have been driven up to levels way beyond the means of many recently qualified drivers. The roads remain clogged; journey times rise inexorably.

A new model of mobility is needed. Already in the cities some people are giving up their cars in favour of a rental service available via a phone app that enables them to pick up a vehicle when they need it and drop it off when they have finished with it, paying an hourly rate for the use. Far from finding their freedom of movement restricted, they discover that they have rid themselves of a bundle of irritations (breakdowns, punctures, where to park, getting fuel, remembering tax and MOT), not to mention the expense.

The age of the motor car has been with us for little more than half a century, and there is no reason to believe that it will last for ever, any more than did the age of the train or the stagecoach. True, for much of the world it has only just begun and still has its course to run. But in traffic-strangled Western Europe its days are probably numbered.

When the new age comes, its people will look back at our system and consider it startlingly wasteful, destructive and crude.

It’s a fair bet that they will not be hopping into their plastic, hydrogen-powered micro-cars on a whim and nipping 80-odd miles down the A303 for an evening’s fishing and 80 miles back again. But there will still – unless we mess everything up – be fishing. And there will be an A303. It will still be assisting tomorrow’s travellers to accommodate the chronic restlessness of the species. It will still enable them to pursue their dreams and to live and relive remembered joys in one way or another.

The A303, Highway to the Sun by Tom Fort (Simon Schuster) is out now, priced £14.99

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Fans of Tim and Kit Kemp’s Firmdale Hotels will be able to check-in to their latest project, Dorset Square Hotel in London’s Marylebone, from 18 June. This Regency townhouse isn’t new to the Kemps: it was the first hotel they opened, back in 1985. However, they re-acquired it last year and have since been at work applying their signature bold colours and patterns to create a contemporary English look for the 38 bedrooms, drawing room and the Potting Shed bar and restaurant.

Dorset Square Hotel (020-7723 7874; dorsetsquare hotel.co.uk), doubles from £234 per night

Bristol’s Big Green Week, Bristol

Ideas are the main attraction at Bristol’s first festival of sustainable development and they’ll be explored in many ways, from comedy gigs to discussions forums. From 9-17 June you’ll be able to visit the UK’s largest-ever farmer’s market, see daily showings of some of the BBC Natural History Unit’s greatest films, and hear expert speakers debating the issues, including Grand Design’s Kevin McCloud and the Eden Project’s Tim Smit.

Bristol’s Big Green Week (01179 223686; biggreenweek.com)

Alice’s Day, Oxford

It’s been 150 years since Lewis Carroll first told tales from Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, a literary moment commemorated on 7 and 8 July in Oxford with an array of events. One highlight will be the re-enactment of the Caucus Race from chapter three of the book. The event will take place in Merton Field, part of Christ Church, the college where Carroll, aka Charles Dodgson, was a mathematics tutor. Appearances by the Mad Hatter, the Red Queen, the Dormouse and other characters will keep the atmosphere suitably surreal.

Alice’s Day 2012 (01865 790050; storymuseum.org.uk/alice)

The Novium, Chichester

A new £6.6m museum, The Novium will be opening in Chichester on 8 July and is the striking 21st-century home of some of the city’s most important historical remains. At its heart are the ruins of a Roman bathhouse, around which the museum has been carefully constructed. There are plenty more reasons to make a special trip to see the museum, in the themed exhibitions celebrating the city’s heritage, which showcase around 150,000 artefacts.

The Novium, Chichester (01243 775888; visitchichester.org).

The Sweet History, York

Make an indulgent trip to York to find out more about how they’ve been cooking up chocolate and confectionary in the city since the 19th century. Starring iconic brands such as Kit Kat, Smarties and Terry’s Chocolate Orange, new attraction the Sweet History of York tells the story of the Quaker families who first produced the city’s sweet treats. And, of course, there’ll be plenty of tasting opportunities along the way.

Chocolate: York’s Sweet Story (08454 989411; yorkssweetstory.com), admission £10.

Mega Mela, Manchester

Join the record-breakers on a weekend away at the Mega Mela at Platt Fields Park in Manchester, which runs from 14-15 July. Last year the event set the Guinness World Record for the largest Bollywood dance, with 1,406 people moving to the music of the British-Indian singer-songwriter Navin Kundra. This year, expect an equally vibrant celebration of south Asian culture with lots of food, dancing and traditional arts and crafts.

Manchester Mega Mela (0161-256 4518; manchestermela.co.uk), admission free.

Nira Caledonia, Edinburgh

Exclusive Gloucester Place, amid the cobbled streets of New Town, provides the atmospheric location for one of Edinburgh’s latest stop-overs: the five-star boutique hotel Nira Caledonia. The elegant Georgian property was once the residence of the 19th-century man of letters John Wilson, friend of William Wordsworth. Now discerning visitors to the city can call it home for a while by choosing from 28 plush bedrooms, many with private terraces.

Nira Caledonia (01312 252720; niracaledonia.com), doubles from £264 per night

Gadds Town House, Durham

The latest addition to Durham’s accommodation scene, Gadds Town House, provides a new reason to visit this north-east city. The restaurant with rooms is unashamedly glamorous, with damask wall coverings and velvet drapes, richly patterned carpets and antique furnishings throughout, from its dining room Gadz Grill to its 11 sumptuous bedrooms. Book the Bijoux Loft or the Penthouse for views across the rooftops to the cathedral.

Gadds Town House (0191-384 1037; gaddstownhouse.com), doubles from £90 including breakfast.

Joseph Wright Gallery, Derby

A wider selection of the work of this celebrated 18th-century artist and philosopher can now be seen thanks to a £150,000 facelift of the 19th-century exhibition space named after this son of the city. The works on display include his world-renowned portrait paintings of the Midlands’ entrepreneurs behind the industrial revolution, including a likeness of the inventor of the spinning frame, Sir Richard Arkwright.

Derby Museum and Art Gallery (01332 641901; visitderby.co.uk), entrance free.

Jolyons at No 10, Cardiff

An offshoot of Jolyons Boutique Hotel Cardiff has opened in a Victorian property overlooking the River Taff, 10 minutes’ walk from the city centre. This rather bigger sister hotel – which has 21 rooms and suites – features a bar and restaurant called Cwtch Mawr (“big cuddle”), and richly decorated contemporary rooms, with plunge pools in the en-suites.

Jolyons at No 10 (02920 091900; jolyons.co.uk), doubles from £89 per night including breakfast.

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The 630-mile coastal trail from Poole in Dorset around Devon and Cornwall to Minehead in Somerset is arguably Europe’s greatest seaside walk. A new website includes short and long hikes, those that pass by pubs or tea rooms along the way, as well as others that are family- or dog-friendly. Its “walk finder” tool for downloading routes provides an interactive map and allows you to create personalised itineraries that can be shared on social media sites. If you’re inspired by any of the website’s photography, the tool can locate it for you on a map and suggest a walk that would take you there.

South West Coast Path (southwestcoastpath.com), free.

Stade Saturdays, Hastings

Take a stroll along the seafront at Hastings on a Saturday evening to see one of the outdoor arts performances at the Stade Open Space, which opened alongside the new Jerwood Gallery in March. Set around the gallery and the town’s fishing fleet, this inspiring space is the location for Stade Saturdays. This is a season of performances running throughout the summer. It will include Pi-Leau, a water-themed street dance spectacle by Dutch company Close Act, on 23 June, and the Hastings Sea Shanty Festival on 21 July.

Stade Saturdays (visit1066country.com), admission free.

Monty Halls’ Great Escapes, Devon

Get an expert view of the Devon coast on one of the newly launched tours and courses now available in the Dartmouth area through Monty Halls’ Great Escapes. Guided shore walks, wildlife-watching trips, as well as diving and short courses in underwater photography are among the marine-focused activities that have been created by Halls, best known from BBC2′s Monty Halls’ Great Escape and The Fisherman’s Apprentice series.

Monty Halls’ Great Escapes (01803 431858; montyhalls.co.uk).

Sea Change at Wyre, Lancashire

Acquire a fresh perspective of the Lancashire coastline from Cleveleys to Fleetwood, the subject of a regeneration project called Sea Change at Wyre. Fleetwood’s Marine Hall and its gardens are being revitalised. An observation tower is being constructed at Rossall Point and due for completion by July. Meanwhile, the Mythic Coast is being created, a visual narrative of this shoreline based on published stories and using natural features and public art works along its route.

Sea Change at Wyre (wyre.gov.uk/seachange), admission free.

Luxury Yurts at Priory Bay Hotel, Isle of Wight

Five Mongolian yurts have been pitched in the grounds of Priory Bay country-house hotel on the Isle of Wight. The intimate luxury campsite is set in a woodland clearing and commands views of a private beach and the Solent beyond. Inside, the yurts have been styled with contemporary furnishings, including king-size linen-dressed beds, and each has an en-suite bathroom with overhead shower or rolltop bath.

Luxury Yurts at Priory Bay (01983 613146; priorybay.co.uk), from £200 per night BB, available until 30 September.

The Hebridean Trail, Scotland

No fewer than seven islands are waiting to be conquered on the Hebridean Trail, an extraordinary mountain-biking holiday in the Outer Hebrides from Wilderness Scotland. The week-long guided cycling adventure covers 175 miles, following mountain tracks and ancient paths through wilderness populated by golden eagles and red deer to call at the islands of South Uist, Benbecula, North Uist, Berneray, Scalpay, Harris and Lewis.

The Hebridean Trail (01479 420020; wildernessscotland.com), price £995, including six nights’ accommodation, most meals, equipment, expert guiding and support vehicle.

Weymouth Sea Life Tower, Dorset

A new tower will cast its shadow across the Festival Pier at Weymouth from July. Take your place in its revolving gondola, which rises more than 170ft in the air to afford spectacular panoramic views of the Jurassic coast, the west Dorset countryside, and the course for the Olympic sailing competitions.

Weymouth Sea Life Tower (weymouth-tower.com), admission £8.

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Enjoy a wet weekend with Gone Swimming, a company that launched this month to offer wild swimming experiences in North Wales. Snowdonia, the Llyn Peninsula and Anglesey provide the spectacular locations for river, lake and sea swims led by local experts who will also coach you and supply tips to boost your confidence in open water.

Gone Swimming (01244 940740; goneswimming.co.uk), from £175 per person for two nights’ BB, transfers, lunches, activities and the services of a guide.

Yurt and Traveller’s Hut, Suffolk

Best of Suffolk has built a reputation for searching out stunning holiday properties to hire. Now it’s expanding into luxury camping. The Yurt and Traveller’s Hut is the result. Set in the woods at Kenton Hall Estate, near Debenham, these two unusual structures are set apart, but share a kitchen-dining area. Both sleep two and are stylishly furnished with a king-size bed and supplied with a wood-burning stove, barbecue area and separate shower room.

Yurt and Traveller’s Hut (01728 638962; bestof suffolk.co.uk), from £525 for a seven-night break.

Pennine Bridleway Trail Ride, Yorkshire

The latest section of the Pennine Bridleway National Trail opens in June, completing a 200-mile route from Derbyshire to Cumbria. Experienced riders can explore this stretch on horseback on a five-day group tour with the Eden Valley Riding Centre, taking in the scenery between Settle and Kirkby Stephen, with overnight stops in ancient villages including Austwick, Horton-in-Ribblesdale and Garsdale.

Pennine Bridleway Trail Ride (01539 623444; edenvalleyridingcentre.com), from £795 per person, including four nights’ BB, picnic lunches, four days’ riding, hire of horse and tack and luggage transfers. Pennine Bridleway National Trail (nationaltrail.co.uk/PennineBridleway).

Forest Segway Adventure, Sherwood Forest

Explore Britain’s woodland on the new Forest Segway adventure at Go Ape! Sherwood Pines. Use the two-wheeled electric vehicles to follow specially designed forest routes on an hour-long trail led by a qualified instructor. And you can try out the new luxury log cabins that have just opened in the forest while you’re here.

Forest Segway Adventure (0845 643 9215; goape.co.uk), one hour tour £25. Sherwood Forest Cabins (0845 130 8223; forestholidays.co.uk), from £564 for three nights.

Heli Fly-Fishing and Whisky Weekend, Scotland

Fish a beat of the River Tay and try some of Scotland’s finest whiskies on a new break at the Craigellachie Hotel near Elgin. Guests will fly by helicopter to one of the best private stretches of water on the Tay for salmon fishing, accompanied by a guide and all the necessary tackle. A Range Rover will be the mode of transport for the next day’s whisky tour of the Aberlour, Glenfiddich and Macallan distilleries.

Heli Fly-Fishing and Whisky Weekend (08444 146600; oxfordhotelsandinns.com), from £1,010 per person based on a group of four, including three nights’ full-board and activities.

Stayfari, Cotswolds

Get a close-up experience of the British wilderness at Lower Mill Estate, a 500-acre nature reserve and lakeside retreat near Cirencester in the Cotswolds. Its new Stayfari is a bespoke itinerary of night-time walks, amphibian adventures and woodland wildlife-spotting – more than 500 species of wildlife live in the reserve, including beavers, which were recently reintroduced to the area. Don’t think you’ll have to rough it; luxury accommodation is provided in a community of modernist lakeside cottages.

Stayfari at Lower Mill Estate (01285 869489; lowermillestate.com) Three nights from £371 based on four sharing. Additional activities from £16 to £500.

Lake District Adventure Ale Trail

See Cumbria through the bottom of a glass on the Lake District Adventure Ale Trail. The newly expanded walking routes, designed by Jennings, a local brewery, are free to download or order as a booklet titled From Here to Beer. Hikes through the heart of the lakes, from Kendal to Cockermouth, vary in length from one to four days and include rest stops at recommended inns and hotels along the way that serve Jennings real ales.

Lake District Adventure Ale Trail (golakes.co.uk/Jennings).

All Aboard Tram Driver Experiences, Devon

Learn to drive a tram on a two-night break at The Bulstone Hotel near Sidmouth in East Devon. Taster and full driving experiences have been organised at the nearby Seaton Tramway, where guests can get behind the controls of one of the heritage trams and ride the rails along the River Axe Estuary on the Seaton to Colyton branch line.

All Aboard Tram Driver Experiences (01297 680446; childfriendlyhotels.com), from £442.50 for a family of four, including two nights’ half-board accommodation and a half-day tram-driving lesson for one adult.

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VisitBritain is expecting more than 30 million people to travel to these shores this year and that they will make the tills ring to the tune of £17bn while they’re here. Although the number of inbound visitors is likely around the same as in 2011, the national tourism agency reckons that would be a good outcome considering the unpredictability of the global economic climate.

Sandie Dawe, chief executive of VisitBritain, believes 2012 will provide “an unprecedented opportunity” to showcase the UK as never before. She’s confident it will “revitalise mature markets and help us get Britain on the destination wishlist of first-time visitors from growth markets such as Brazil, China, India and Russia”. That’s if they can get through passport control at Heathrow, of course.

Yet, for tourism chiefs, the emphasis isn’t just on inbound visitors. Sarah Long, head of corporate communications at VisitEngland, believes that as Britain goes under the spotlight people living here will take a closer look at what’s on their own doorsteps. “Some fantastic events are taking place up and down the country, many of them free,” she says. “There’ll be celebrations where the Olympic torch overnights, and there’s the Cultural Olympiad, with events like the art installation along the length of Hadrian’s Wall [part of the London 2012 Festival]. Hopefully, this will inspire us to take breaks in this country.”

But will we be expected to reach deeper in our pockets just because of the Olympics are being held here? Ms Long maintains that although prices will be driven by demand, there will still be plenty of choice. “We market England as very good value, we don’t say it’s cheap. In research 78 per cent of those surveyed said it was good or excellent value for money,” she says. To encourage holidaymaking whatever your budget, VisitBritain has launched great2012offers.com, a website detailing thousands of special deals, from accommodation to attractions to performances, with discounts of 20.12 per cent or more, which will run until the end of the Paralympic Games on 9 September.

There is also plenty to do in England, Scotland and Wales that isn’t directly related to the Diamond Jubilee or the Olympics. In fact, if you head to Llantwyrd Wells in Wales from 17 August to 2 September you can thumb your nose at the Olympics by attending the first World Alternative Games (01591 610270; worldalternativegames.co.uk; free). The quirky programme offers spectators the thrill of witnessing unlikely sports such as bog snorkelling, wife carrying and Pooh sticks.

Meanwhile, at Sudeley Castle (01242 602308; sudeleycastle.co.uk) in Gloucestershire, Katherine Parr, rather than Elizabeth II, will be the centre of attention. This stately pile was where the sixth wife of Henry VIII lived and died. The 500th anniversary of her birth will be marked with historical, literary and musical events until 28 October.

Other festivities taking place in Britain this year include celebrations of Charles Dickens’ bicentenary, which will continue throughout 2012 in the south of England. The Great Expectations Festival runs from 22 June to 1 July at various locations in Portsmouth (portsmouthfestivities.co.uk). It features literature, music, film, theatre and exhibitions.

Coleridge Cottage (01278 732662; national trust.org.uk/Coleridge-cottage), the home of the Romantic poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge, is now open at Nether Stowey in Somerset after a £175,000 restoration project by the National Trust that has breathed 18th-century life back into the building.

The work of Lincolnshire local boy Sir Isaac Newton will be celebrated at The Gravity Fields Festival (01476 406158; gravityfieldsfestival.co.uk) in Grantham from 21-28 September.

The spectacularly rejuvenated National Museum of Scotland (0300 123 6789; nms.ac.uk) in Edinburgh attracted 1.5 million visitors last year, making it the nation’s most popular draw. This summer’s big exhibition celebrates Catherine the Great, and includes loans from the Hermitage in St Petersburg.

Major new attractions in England include two maritime greats. The tea clipper Cutty Sark (020-8858 4422; rmg.co.uk) reopened last month, following a £50m restoration, five years after the devastating fire. And Southampton’s SeaCity Museum (023 8083 3007; seacitymuseum.co.uk) opened its doors in April, including an exhibition about RMS Titanic to mark the 100th year since the liner sank.

In London, the 19th-century landmark Café Royal (020-8253 6513; hotelcaferoyal.com; doubles from £400 per night) is being transformed into a five-star hotel, due to open this summer. The Grill Room, a favourite hangout of celebrities since the days of Oscar Wilde, will be preserved along with other Grade I-listed areas of the building. The transformation will form part of a remodelling of the southern end of Regent Street.

Finally, Britain has put together a world-beating new attraction as the final stretch of the Wales Coast Path (walescoastpath.gov.uk) is officially opened, offering 870 miles of scenic possibilities.

All these new attractions and events can provide the centrepiece for a memorable holiday at home – and there’s more where they came from. So, whether you’re headed into the towns, countryside or coast, read on for inspiring ideas on how to create your own Great British Escape…

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Of course, we parents often don’t feel comfortable allowing our precious darlings to go off exploring in the way that many of us did in our own childhood. That’s why camping is so perfect for young families. Camping provides the freedom children need to run around, build dens, see some wildlife and get ridiculously grubby.

Best for animal magic: Cotswold Farm Park

Bemborough Farm, Guiting Power, Gloucestershire GL54 5UG (01451 850307; cotswoldfarmpark.co.uk). £13-£19 per night for a tent pitch.

 

Being able to pitch a tent in the Cotswolds is an extremely rare occurrence, given its lack of decent sites, so it’s somewhat apt that you can here – at a rare breeds farm. It’s is a huge hit with families, as you’re next to the popular Cotswold Farm Park (Adam’s Farm from the BBC’s Countryfile). You’re surrounded by the sights, snorts and smells of all creatures great and small, from Highland cattle and Gloucester Old Spot pigs to chickens and donkeys. Campers can take advantage of a one-off entrance fee for unlimited visits to the farm park. Kids love the adventure playground and the Touch Barn, where you can pet newborn chicks, rabbits and ducklings. And as you’re camping in a flat field on top of a Cotswold ridge, there are stunning vistas in every direction.

Best for star-gazing: Balloch O’Dee Campsite and Trekking Centre

Kirkcowan, Newton Stewart, Dumfries Galloway DG8 0ET (01671 830708; ballochodee.com). Nightly flat rate £6 for tents, £10 for motorhomes/caravans.

 

Balloch O’Dee’s farm campsite is located in one of the Lowlands’ most stunning areas – right on the edge of the fir-cloaked Galloway Forest Park, with its clear night skies. (It’s the only European designated Dark Skies forest.)

Communal campfires accompanied by evening sing-songs are commonplace, while in the morning campers are woken by the dawn chorus and get to throw open their tent doors to the sight of Culvennan Fell.

By day, kids can watch the rare birds soaring overhead and wild deer slinking through the trees. By night, they can keep watch for shooting stars.

Best for rope swings: Wowo

Sheffield Park, East Sussex TN22 3QT (01825 723414; www.wowo.co.uk). Adults £10 per night; children £5, under-fours free. Yurts £112–£250 per two-night stay.

 

Wowo is a rare and beautiful thing – a fantastic campsite within two hours’ drive of London. It’s also the least ruled and regulated site you could possibly find, virtually untouched by nanny state-ism. Campfires are allowed, and children’s entertainment is strictly of the old-school variety: climbing trees, swinging on tyres, rolling around in ditches, making camps in the undergrowth. In fact, the entire 150-acre site is a huge, natural adventure playground. There’s usually some communal fun going on during summer weekend evenings too: soup suppers, pizza making, plenty of mingling, and perhaps even a little singing around the campfire. Leave the rules at home and let the kids roam free.

Best for building dens: Comrie Croft

Braincroft, Crieff, Perthshire PH7 4JZ (01764 670140; comriecroft.com). Adults £7-£9 per night; children half price, under-fives free.

 

Comrie Croft is run by a group of outdoorsy locals who wanted to make the most of the croft’s farmland. The result: a naturally beautiful and friendly campsite that allows tenters to get as close to a wild camping experience as possible. There are three camping areas to choose from – a spacious field next to the reception that’s ideal for larger tents; a birch glade offering the thrill of true woodland camping; and an elevated meadow, with spectacular views across the Perthshire countryside. The woodland provides a natural playground, making it great for exploring and den-making, but other popular activities at the croft include nature trails, bike rides, fishing and fruit picking. So it’s a great place to tick off quite a few of those outdoors activities that every kid should do.

Best for tree climbing: Tree house

Bryn Meurig Farm, Cemmaes, Powys SY20 9PZ (01654 703700; living-room.co). Family of four for two nights costs from £349.

 

From the moment you arrive in the farmyard, which is nestled halfway up a valley on the edge of Snowdonia National Park, you know you’re on to a winner. The air is fresh, the meadows lush and the views are to die for. The site is over 300 acres, so you’re unlikely to hear or see any of your fellow “tree housers” from your spot. You will be thrilled when you first encounter your tree house: clambering up its handmade wooden spiral staircase, supported by a twisted willow balustrade. The pod-like creation is a beauty unto itself, with trees growing through, and supporting, its structure – all modern on the inside and with a living roof outside. There’s no electricity on site, but kids will love dozing off to candlelight in their cosy wooden bunks.

Best for campfires: Caffyns Farm

Lynton, Devon EX35 6JW (01598 753967; doonevalleyholidays.co.uk). £5 per adult; £3.50 per child, under-5s free.

 

Owners Colin and Jill have set up a relaxed, rule-free, pitch-wherever-you-fancy site along the stunning North Devon coast. A campfire culture is encouraged and made even more magical by the surroundings, with expansive countryside all around and views out over the Bristol Channel. Campers are free to wander the 150 acres of farmland, which is some of the flattest in this otherwise undulating area of Exmoor – all the better for pitching. The location is beautiful and the laid-back vibe ensures friendly, relaxed campers. It’s an irresistible spot for kids who are hooked on riding and beach days, too, with pony trekking right from the farm’s own stables, and walks down to the stunning beach at Lee Bay for days spent bodyboarding, sandcastle-building, and rockpooling.

Best for foraging: Nethergong Nurseries

Nethergong Hill, Upstreet, Canterbury, Kent CT3 4DN (01227 860268; nethergongnurseries.co.uk). £15 per tent per night.

 

Nethergong Nurseries is the perfect kids’ playground: full of secret paths that promise adventure, and nooks and crannies in which to hide. The first of three camping areas is a shady area with English broadleaf trees planted neatly in rows. Pick through some dense woods and thickets and you’ll come to an open field for eight tents, with two extra pitches by Pimlico Pond in the far corner. Beyond that is the area known as Puddle Dock, where semi-private pitches cut into the field’s shrubby borders. The ridge that marks the site’s northern border is the elevated riverbank path running alongside the Little Stour river, a fantastic overgrown throughway for kids to explore and find plums and damsons to pick off the trees.

Best for fishing: Swiss Farm Touring Camping

Marlow Road, Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire RG9 2HY (01491 573419; swissfarmcamping.co.uk). Family of four £15-£22.

 

At first glance, Swiss Farm might seem a little on the commercial side, but first impressions can be deceptive. Once you’ve spied the spacious fields and adventure playground, the outdoor swimming pool and the still waters of the willow-fringed fishing lake, any reservations will soon evaporate. Just outside the quintessentially English town of Henley-on- Thames, Swiss Farm is a popular and accessible campsite, which makes a great option during the festivities of the summer’s Royal Regatta. At quieter times of the year, Swiss Farm is simply a great place to come to relax by the lake, a base from which to explore Oxfordshire’s countryside, hills and interesting towns. And in the evenings, it’s a place to enjoy family barbecues in the dusky evening glow.

Best for wild swimming: Tresseck

Hoarwithy, Herefordshire HR2 6QJ (01432 840235; tresseckcampsite.co.uk). Adults £5.50 per night; children £2.

 

This site is adored by plenty of campers who come back again and again for the “no delusions of grandeur” vibe. It’s a field by some water – that’s pretty much it! But what water. Whether you’re messing about in boats, splashing, paddling or just admiring this great expanse of river (and the array of wildlife and floating or capsizing vessels on it), the River Wye will quickly have you hooked. With a family-friendly pub by the gate and the opportunity to make a campfire, what’s not to like? Whatever time you choose to climb into your sleeping bag, you can be assured that you’ll fall asleep to the crackle of open fires and the swishing of water in the reeds.

Best for building sandcastles: Porth Joke Campsite

Treago Mill, Crantock, Newquay, Cornwall TR8 5QS (01637 830213; treagomill.co.uk). Adults £7.50-9.50 per night; children £4.50.

 

Lucky campers who’ve stayed at Porth Joke know that this is seaside camping at its finest. Not only is surf city Newquay just four miles away, but you’ve also got Porth Joke Beach – which offers privacy and enviable beauty – on your doorstep. The site itself is very basic but comes with good facilities. The jewel in its crown, and the single onsite source of entertainment, is a giant sandpit which campers are requested to replenish with the sand from Porth Joke Beach. If you do want to venture out of the site’s seductive environs, then within a few miles of the site you’ll encounter the beauty of Holywell Bay, the endless sands and roaring surf of Perranporth, and the equally sublime Crantock Beach.

‘Cool Camping Kids’ (second edition) is out now, available from coolcamping.co.uk and at bookstores (£16.95)

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The Secret Gardens of Sandwich (01304 619919; the-secretgardens.co.uk; admission £6.50) will also be a subject of celebration for the town throughout 2012. One hundred years ago, the house known as The Salutation was built by the renowned architect Sir Edwin Lutyens, who also laid out the gardens with the help of horticultural designer Gertrude Jekyll. To see the grounds in their full splendour, join the guided Midsummer Dusk Tour (admission £12, including a glass of wine) on 24 June.

Events marking the bicentenary of Charles Dickens’s birth continue throughout 2012. Kent’s important role in the writer’s life means the county’s calendar is filled with celebrations such as the Broadstairs Dickens Festival (01843 861827; broadstairsdickensfestival.co.uk; 16-22 June).

Meanwhile, the Historic Dockyard at Chatham (01634 823845; www.thedockyard.co.uk; admission £16.50) has launched a new walking tour, “Dickens’s Dockyard”. Led by a costumed guide, it takes in sights such as the place where his father worked. Tours depart Sundays at 2.30pm; £3.50 plus admission.

It’s the 200th birthday of the Royal School of Military Engineering in the village of Brompton. At the Royal Engineers Museum (01634 822312; re-museum.co.uk; admission £7.80) in nearby Gillingham, a programme of talks (admission £10) includes, on 17 May, Corporal James Bedford MC speaking on why he was awarded the Military Cross in Afghanistan and became one of GQ’s Men of the Year. Free guided walking tours of Brompton will take place throughout the summer.

Among the mere whippersnappers, Canterbury Historic River Tours (www.canterburyrivertours.co.uk; tours £8) has notched up 80 years of taking visitors by boat along the River Stour to see the city’s main sights.

It’s 60 years since Brogdale Farm (01795 536250; brogdalecollections.co.uk; admission £10) near Faversham became the home of the National Fruit Collection. Fifties-themed celebrations include a Soft Fruit Day on 24 June and a Cherry Festival, 7-8 July.

For more information go to visitkent.co.uk.

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