Letter from London: cycling capital of the world?

“I believe that the cyclised city is the civilised city”, declares ebullient Boris Johnson. Love him or hate him, London’s mayor is – not so quietly –revolutionising cycling in the capital.

A day in… Dundee

Dundee is transforming its waterfront, to draw visitors in. Adrian looks at what there is for the short break tripper

Consumer Focus

From the website:

“Consumer Focus is the statutory organisation campaigning for a fair deal for consumers in England, Wales, Scotland, and, for postal services, Northern Ireland.

Advice for individuals on energy and post is given by Consumer Direct (08454 04 05 06).”

Free Entry to Historic Scotland

For the last four years, Historic Scotland has opened its doors, free of charge, to some of its properties in celebration of St Andrew’s Day. This year it has trumped itself by extending the free opening to cover four days starting tomorrow and ending on the day itself.
From 9.30am, you’ll be able to enter one or as many as you can manage of 48 heritage sites throughout the country.

The Great Wall of China: Potteries style

Just started in Stoke-on-Trent is a six week celebration of ceramics. Well what else would it celebrate apart from its premier division football team of course!

Delays or Damp Squibs Part 1

I’m just about to leave Chicago to go to the airport to fly back to the UK. This is the busiest day of the year to fly in the U.S. with 1.8 million people expected to fly in and out of Chicago over the next few days. There is some bad weather around which might delay flights but the main talking point is whether the opt-out of the body scanning will take place. These scanners are probably coming to the UK. Will our attitude mirror what is happening in the US?

Magical Christmas markets

Christmas just wouldn’t be Christmas, without a visit to a Christmas market. We round up some of the best Christmas markets in England.