[ January 3, 2011 10:00 am to January 6, 2011 6:00 pm. ]
Olympia, London,
Tickets are £12.50 in advance and £15.00 on the door. A transaction charge of £1.20 will apply to advance purchases.
On the last day it closes at 5pm.

[ January 15, 2011 9:00 am to July 16, 2011 6:00 pm. ] A fun event for all abilities.Chester Forum Studio Theatre, Hamilton Place, Chester, Cheshire, CH1 2BHTel: 01244 341296email: mikej@gbevents.net

[ January 29, 2011; 9:00 am to 6:00 pm. ] This workshop is for the knitter who dreads finishing their project or often feels their finishing lets down the whole garment.Fibre and Clay11 – 13 Minshull StreetKnutsfordCheshireWA16 6HGUnited KingdomTel: 01565 652035Fax: Email: info@fibreandclay.co.uk

[ January 28, 2011 9:00 am to January 29, 2011 6:00 pm. ] A great show featuring well-known songs and high-energy dance routines.The Grange TheatreBradburns LaneHartfordNorthwichCheshireCW8 1LUUnited KingdomTel: 07702 806365Fax: Email: curtaincall2009@googlemail.com

[ January 23, 2011; 9:00 am to 6:00 pm. ] Talk to the counties leading wedding experts, showcased in a variety of interesting and beautiful surroundings, they will help to plan your special day from start to finish. Various North West Locations, see belowContact address: First Floor, Charter House1-3 Charter HouseMacclesfieldCheshireSK10 2NGUnited KingdomTel: 0161 925 4289Fax: Email: info@weddinglink.co.uk

[ January 29, 2011 9:00 am to January 30, 2011 6:00 pm. ] Peter Price will show you how to enjoy this ancient craft.Open to anyone. Includes everything you need on the day including lunch..Potters BarnRoughwood LaneHassall GreenSandbachCheshireCW11 4XXUnited KingdomTel: 01270 884080Fax: Email:

[ January 22, 2011; 9:00 am to 6:00 pm. ] In association with Virgin Trains Strange at Crewe – The Crewe Station Ghost Tour will highlight some spooky experiences in and around the famous railway junction station.Crewe Railway StationNantwich RoadCreweCheshireCW2 6HRUnited KingdomTel: 07952 984 229Fax: Email:

[ January 29, 2011 9:00 am to January 30, 2011 6:00 pm. ] Special winter open weekends to celebrate our beautiful snowdrops.Dorothy Clive Garden CentreWilloughbridgeMarket DraytonShropshireTF9 4EUUnited KingdomTel: 01630 647237Fax: Email:

[ January 23, 2011; 9:00 am to 6:00 pm. ] Snowdrop walks around Ness Gardens.Ness Botanic GardensNeston RoadNessEllesmere PortCheshireCH64 4AYUnited KingdomTel: 0151 353 1023Fax: Email: nessgdns@liv.ac.uk

[ January 30, 2011; 10:30 am to 11:30 am. ] Raising the Roof!A series of very special hard hat tours at Godolphin House on Sundays from 5th December. With the roof off the North and East ranges, there is opportunity for people to experience a once in a lifetime event and actually climb the scaffolding to see the layers of history making up Godolphin House. [...]

When you plan for a holiday one of the first things you might do is contact the local tourist board and ask for advice, some brochures and suggestions on where to stay. So if you are thinking of holidaying or visiting Lincolnshire you would look at the Visit Lincolnshire website as a start. Well if that’s what you are thinking do so quickly because it looks as though there will be no Visit Lincolnshire after the end of March.
Why?

Some TV ads we found appealing though we can’t remember the name of the product. Some are downright irritating that make us want to reach for the remote control faster than a Sky Sports News presenter can get into trouble and some are still irritating but we remember and buy the product. The worst ads are those that we don’t notice. All of us have ads that we secretly – and not so secretly –like. Liking an ad has nothing to do with it being the best. Surely the best has to be those that sell the most. Nonetheless, a poll has been conducted amongst travel marketing professionals to see which ad is the most popular.

Our China correspondent on life without Facebook

Our favourite Middle East holiday destination has had wall-to-wall news coverage over the last 12 hours or so. The French have advised their tour operators not to send French holidaymakers to the country but our foreign office has issued no similar warning. As such, anyone wanting to cancel holidays there in the next week or so has no option other than to lose their money or, maybe wait a bit longer and see if the foreign office does issue a statement saying all but essential travel to anywhere in Egypt is advised against.

In just under 5 hours the last ever service by the Wrexham & Shropshire railway will leave London’s Marylebone station on its final journey. Why get so concerned by a train service you might ask. After all, Virgin Trains run a direct service down to London even if it is only once a day.
The concern is because this little railway achieved so much in its short 3 year life. The satisfaction ratings given to it by passengers were better than anything ever seen since the ratings began. At 99% you can’t really get any better. And I doubt whether other train lines will. The service was good too. The staff would come through the train, address and treat you politely and then be there when you got off to thank you for travelling (at least on the few times I travelled with them.) And that’s part of the problem. I used them a few times; how often did others?

Holly Holy Day in Nantwich, Cheshire, is commemorated with a re-enactment of The Battle of Nantwich which originally took place in 1643 and was part of the civil war between the Roundheads and Cavaliers. The name derives from the holly sprigs worn in hats to celebrate the lifting of the siege.

Chris Wrede – Tukuyu, Tanzania
What do you like to do on holiday?
Stay in small locally owned hotels out of the tourist centers that are used by locals as much as travelers. Less luxury but loads more quirkiness and more interesting people. From this base I like to wonder the streets and sites, and visit [...]

Jonny Bealby the ex-travel writer set up Wild Frontiers so that he could share the sort of experiences he had as a writer. Today he tells us where he likes to holiday

Two days ago I wrote about the strange position lots of tourist groups are in as the government makes its mind up about how it is going to stimulate, privatise or incentivise us to visit places. On Monday the tourism minister, John Penrose, said that local enterprise partnerships will be the main economic drivers and that they should work with local tourism bodies. Forget for the moment that this sounds suspiciously like what they are replacing but with different names and smaller geographic areas, it was what he said next that was important.

Would tourism be as successful or indeed as profitable as it is without volunteers? The industry relies on us to turn up week in, week out to act as guides, parking attendants, ticket sellers, watchful glances to keep an eye on visitors, information kiosk minders and goodness knows what else. Why do we do it?
The main reason is that we like it. No, we enjoy it. Which is just as well because, just like charity shops, many attractions and sites may not open without the volunteers.
Take this coming Saturday at Linlithgow Peel next to the famed palace in Scotland.

Martin Anslow
What do you like to do on holiday?
Diving and trekking
Where did you last travel?
Burma
Do you know where you’re going next?
Maldives
Of all the places you’ve been to, what was your favourite and why?
Vietnam in 1990 – as it was so untouched by mainstream tourism
Which destination do you wish to travel to but haven’t been there [...]

A paradise for “walkers”

“It’s like getting our countryside back ” say some of the locals when Spring comes to Davos.
This has nothing to do with the World Economic Forum (Heads of State and heads of banks and so on) moving off but the fact that being permanently under snow creates a sameness across the Alps. But then the green foothills reappear and the cows with their incredibly clean velvety coats and bells are allowed out again to reclaim their high ground, well higher ground anyway! And so do the “walkers”

Harriet Norton of the family owned adventure sailing business (www.thepolarfront.com ) which focuses on Arctic ocean trips and expeditions tells us where she likes to holiday.

The tourism minister, John Penrose, said last week that local tourist boards are being changed. What he actually said – and I need to quote this because I don’t understand much of it – is “we are engaged in a recalibration and reorganization of local tourist boards-destination management organizations, to use the jargon-which are being refocused to become more private sector-led.Perhaps this should be nominated for the “Can’t People Speak in English Awards”
Only tourism professionals talk this gobbledegook and I’m not sure how many of them understand it. What it boils down to is that the government is expecting the private sector to promote itself and the country. Is this a bad thing? Will this be of any benefit to us as visitors?

Charlie Hopkinson, MD of adventure holiday company, Dragoman, tells us, as his company reaches its 30th anniversay where he likes to holiday

The role of the ferry in enabling us to get away for our holidays is often overlooked. It is only when strike action or weather intervenes that many of us see the impact that not having ferries can have on our ability to get away. Yet on routes to Ireland, France, the Channel Isles and Holland for example, they play a vital role.

This time it is for Adventure Travel Live which starts at the Royal Horticultural Halls in London at 6pm next Friday and then continues over the weekend. This is the place to go if you fancy off the beaten track holidays, energy filled breaks like skydiving or white water rafting. Or just plain old fashioned getting away from it all holidays with a bit of polar exploration or gap year experience. It isn’t just for the singles and young; far from it. There will be family holiday ideas as well as well as for those who are young-at-heart.
To win one of the ten pairs all you have to do is the usual thing. Send an e-mail to emily@escapeevents.com and put Adventure Travel Live in the subject line.

The menus from outer space