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Take a walk on the wild side: make sure you go for a winter walk this Christmas | Eat in the trees
The Treehouse restaurant at Alnwick Garden, in Northumberland, offers a unique dining experience. High up in the trees in one the most beautiful publicly accessible places in the country, the Treehouse has a roaring log fire in the centre of the room and the living tree it’s built around has leaves growing throughout the restaurant. The screens – created from fallen branches – and dimmed lighting create an ethereal, magical environment and the chef is passionate about fresh, local and seasonal ingredients.
For more information visit alnwickgarden.com or ring 01665 511350
Walk in a winter wonderland
There are few better ways to start the New Year than with a bracing walk and there are few more beautiful settings than the gardens at Stourhead in Wiltshire. Walkers can enjoy both because, on January 1, you can join Stourhead’s Estate Warden and Head Gardener for a wonderful walk through the estate and a talk about the conservation management that makes Stourhead special. After the walk there’ll be mulled wine and mince pies in the Head Gardener’s garden.
For more information visit nationaltrust.org.uk or ring 0870 300 0579
Oh, I do love to be…
Winter walks along the gorgeous British coastline are hard to beat. Holkham in North Norfolk is probably one of the most beautiful beaches in the country and is hugely popular for winter walks. It is perhaps most famous as the setting for the final scene in Shakespeare in Love, in which Gwyneth Paltrow walks along its huge stretches of sand. A national nature reserve, Holkham’s diverse and dramatic coastline is something everyone should see at least once. The miles of dunes, maze of creeks and saltings and beautiful pinewoods make it unique.
For more information visit www.holkham.co.uk
It’s Bath time
Bath is one of my most favourite cities – it seems to have somehow escaped the awful homogenisation that many shopping areas have suffered and, though there are a number of chain stores, it’s still retained an identity all of its own. The best place for lunch is definitely Mitchell Tonks’ FishWorks Café, which has a fishmonger’s at the front of the shop. It’s perfect for buying last-minute delicacies and there’s a restaurant serving brilliantly prepared fresh fish. The FishWorks Café is open for lunch on Christmas Eve – so if you’re last-minute shopping in Bath why not pop in – and then closed until January 3. Visit fishworks.co.uk for more information. Also, the long-awaited Thermae Bath Spa is now open and well worth a visit. It’s closed on Christmas Day, New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day, but open the rest of the time between 9am and 10pm. Visit thermaebathspa.com for details of the treatments on offer.
Enjoy nature at home
There’s a brilliant website called When to Watch Wildlife, which tells you everything to look out for each month. So log on to whentowatchwildlife.org, step outside your back door and discover a whole new world. |
