The North West Of England

Blackpool Tramway

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Attraction | "Blackpool Trams"

Blackpool Trams Photo - Blackpool Tramway, Blackpool, England

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Blackpool trams are one of the iconic sights of the town which everyone has heard of and wants to use when they go on holiday. The tramline dates back to 1855 and runs for 11 miles from Starr Gate to Fleetwood, the section along the seafront is the part which is the most famous and the trams here run parallel to the seafront and the road. Blackpool trams are the only original trams in the UK as the rest of the country abolished them in favour of building road networks although a few cities like Edinburgh have now realised the benefits of a tram network and are building new tram lines.For the tourist the main tramline runs along the seafront and promenade with services running both ways ro...Read More

Blackpool trams are one of the iconic sights of the town which everyone has heard of and wants to use when they go on holiday. The tramline dates back to 1855 and runs for 11 miles from Starr Gate to Fleetwood, the section along the seafront is the part which is the most famous and the trams here run parallel to the seafront and the road. Blackpool trams are the only original trams in the UK as the rest of the country abolished them in favour of building road networks although a few cities like Edinburgh have now realised the benefits of a tram network and are building new tram lines.

For the tourist the main tramline runs along the seafront and promenade with services running both ways roughly every ten minutes. There are stops by many of the main tourist attractions including the North Pier and Blackpool Tower. To catch a tram you simply wait by the stop and stick your hand out and the driver will stop.

The trams are mainly double decker although a few single deck vehicles exist too and there is a large step up from the roadside posing a problem for those with restricted mobility or pushchairs. Once you are inside the tram they are nothing special as they look exactly like tired old double decker buses and you don’t have fantastic views from the windows on the bottom deck. The seats are slightly smaller than you would expect from a modern form of transport and there is very little luggage space. The trams get very busy during the main tourist season and they are also heavily used by locals, especially old age pensioners who can use their free bus pass on the tram. The fact the tram does not have to negotiate the heavy traffic of the promenade or the traffic lights makes them quicker than the bus to get from A to B but there is also a lot of stopping and starting at each stop to let people on and off.

The trams prove to be an expensive way to travel along the main tourist areas as they operate a flat fare policy, it was around £2 for a single adult ticket for the mile long journey from North Pier to the tower and you could not buy a return ticket. If you are going to travel the full distance of the tramline then the fare becomes far more reasonable but they could do with reducing the fares for those just wanting to travel a few stops. It is possible to buy passes for 3 days or a week which will save you money if you intend to make a lot of journeys by tram.

The trams come to life during the illuminations when many of the trams are lit up in bright lights including one decked out to look like an old fashioned steam train. The tram company run illumination sight seeing trips on open deck trams during this time and it is an ideal way to see the lights and be in the middle of the action. Sightseeing trips will cost around £6 per adult and are well worth the money to see the lights.

I was disappointed that the trams felt so ordinary as a means to get from A to B and also cost a lot of money for a short trip. I would however recommend that you use them during the illuminations for that true Blackpool experience.

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Member Rating 3 out of 5 on September 22, 2010

Blackpool Tramway
Blackpool to Fleetwood
Blackpool, England

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Blackpool Tower

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Attraction | "Blackpool's Answer to the Eiffel Tower"

Blackpool Tower Photo - Blackpool Tower, Blackpool, England

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Blackpool Tower opened in 1894 after being commissioned by the Blackpool Mayor after he had visited the Eifel Tower and been impressed with its design. This iconic 158m high structure is visible for 30 miles from Blackpool and when we visit the town catching sight of the tower is always a sign that we have almost arrived. Because the base of the Blackpool Tower is enclosed within a huge building, there is lots for visitors to do and see within the tower making it one of Blackpool’s most popular tourist attractions.The first thing that you come across when you enter the tower is the aquarium which was opened in the 1870s while the tower was being built. This has seen better days to be hones...Read More

Blackpool Tower opened in 1894 after being commissioned by the Blackpool Mayor after he had visited the Eifel Tower and been impressed with its design. This iconic 158m high structure is visible for 30 miles from Blackpool and when we visit the town catching sight of the tower is always a sign that we have almost arrived. Because the base of the Blackpool Tower is enclosed within a huge building, there is lots for visitors to do and see within the tower making it one of Blackpool’s most popular tourist attractions.

The first thing that you come across when you enter the tower is the aquarium which was opened in the 1870s while the tower was being built. This has seen better days to be honest and is simply a square room with large tanks of fish around the walls and is rather dark and gloomy. They do have Clown Fish made famous by Finding Nemo and a few other interesting tropical fish and some very amusing turtles. Little kids seemed to love looking at the fish but there’s not much in the aquarium to keep older kids or adults happy for long.

Moving up a level and you have the Jurassic walk and cinema, the walk has huge plastic dinosaurs set amongst foliage. The dinosaurs moved and roared and in one amusing scene a T-Rex was lying bleeding and being eaten by another dinosaur. We did not visit the 3D cinema showing as we did not want to wait for the next show to start but I have got a feeling that this is one that is best for little boys.

The next attraction on our list was the famous Tower Ballroom. Ballroom dancing seems to have fallen out of fashion of late but in it’s heyday was a popular pastime and the TV series Come Dancing was broadcast from the tower. It was like stepping back in time the second we entered the ballroom. The room itself is simply stunning with huge crystal chandeliers, lavishly painted ceilings and all kinds of sculptures in gold on the stalls. The famous Wurlitzer organ sits on the stage and couples twirled around the room in time to the music. There is a café selling cream teas in the ballroom and also a bar so you can partake of refreshments and sit for as long as you like soaking up the atmosphere in this amazing room.

Now it was time to go to the top of the tower. The only way to the top is via lifts which leave every 5 minutes during peak times and look rather ancient, I certainly would not want to get stuck in one of them! The lifts are made of glass and it is brilliant watching the view as you climb higher, you can see the innards of the tower as well as being able to see over to the sea when you get higher.

There are three levels to explore once the lift reaches its destination, the first one contains the Walk of Faith which is a glass floor 380 feet up in the air with views down to the street below. The walk of faith is brilliant, intellectually you know that the glass is strong enough to hold several elephants but your instincts are screaming out that it is dangerous to walk over a glass panel and these instincts are backed up by the outline of a body with the word ouch next to it painted onto a rooftop below! I did manage to walk over the glass floor while looking straight ahead but some brave souls were sitting and lying down on the glass and enjoying the view.

There are narrow staircases taking you up a further two levels. The views from the top of the tower are simply stunning and well worth the climb, unfortunately the views are shielded somewhat by the netting that surrounds each level but I suppose if the netting was not there then some people would decided to jump. You can see as far as Wales and the Isle of Man on a clear day but even looking at the proms and seafront along Blackpool is fascinating.

One of the biggest attractions of the Blackpool Tower is the circus and admission is included with your entry ticket. I will admit that I hate circuses so I went and found myself a quiet café and read a book while my daughter and her friend went in and saw the show. They loved the circus which has a spectacular water finale and also included genuine monks and Mookie the clown and displays of acrobatics. The circus lasts for 2 hours and there are three shows a day.

Other attractions within the tower include Jungle Jims soft play area, an exhibition celebrating Charlie Cairoli who was one of the original clowns in the circus and restaurants and amusement arcades.

I enjoyed my visit to Blackpool tower and there was plenty to keep us occupied for a few hours meaning it is an ideal place to visit on a wet day. It is especially good for kids because they will love the soft play area and dinosaurs but adults will enjoy the ballroom and tower top. An adult ticket currently costs £17 with a child ticket costing £14 so it is an expensive place to visit but considering the amount of entertainment provided is fairly good value. The tower is showing considerable signs of wear in some areas like the aquarium and I read with interest that it has been bought by Merlin Entertainment in 2010 and it will be interesting to see how they change the tower over time.

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Member Rating 4 out of 5 on April 20, 2010

Blackpool Tower
The Promenade
Blackpool, Lancashire FY1 4BJ
01253 622242

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Aira Force

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Attraction | "A Walk In The Lake District"

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When we were in the lake district recently we were driving around aimlessly looking for something to do to fill a couple of hours and find somewhere to walk the dogs when we came across the signs for Aira Force waterfall which is managed by the National Trust and is where Wordsworth was meant to have taken inspiration for much of his writing. The waterfall is around 3 miles from the village of Glenridding and is situated at OS map point NY 399205. Car drivers should put CA11 0JS into their sat nav to find it.The car park is pay and display, it costs £3.80 for two hours parking which I found to be really expensive, the toilets are also in the car park and the ladies was horrible, very old f...Read More

When we were in the lake district recently we were driving around aimlessly looking for something to do to fill a couple of hours and find somewhere to walk the dogs when we came across the signs for Aira Force waterfall which is managed by the National Trust and is where Wordsworth was meant to have taken inspiration for much of his writing. The waterfall is around 3 miles from the village of Glenridding and is situated at OS map point NY 399205. Car drivers should put CA11 0JS into their sat nav to find it.

The car park is pay and display, it costs £3.80 for two hours parking which I found to be really expensive, the toilets are also in the car park and the ladies was horrible, very old fashioned and dirty and since they must make a small fortune from the car park I would have expected better.

You exit the car park through an arch with information boards and begin the walk. The walk is a circular walk which takes you to the waterfall and back to the carpark and is just over a mile long. The walk is through a Victorian arboretum which is planted with native species such as oak, spruce, cedar and pine. The woodland itself is lovely mature trees and if I had not had been told it was man made would have believed it to be wild native forest. The arboretum is the home to native red squirrels but we were not lucky enough to see them probably due to how busy the woodland was.

Aira Force may only be a mile long but it is a fairly challenging walk and definitely not suitable for those with disabilities or buggies due to how steep and narrow the walk is in places and also there are many steps, the longest staircase is the one which takes you to the top of the waterfall and is 112 steps high.

There are two walks you can choose from, the easiest is meant to be by turning to the left when you reach a fork in the path which is meant to bypass the 112 steps to the top but it was not signposted and so we missed the turning meaning we went up the harder way.

Walking along the side of the river is lovely with the sound of the flowing water being very relaxing. There is an old oak tree felled around a third of the way along the walk which people had hammered coins into the trunk. I have no idea if this has any significance but I was happy to use a stone to put my own 2p into the tree, there was barely any room left for new coins and it was really interesting to see foreign coins and old British money too.

When you reach the waterfall itself there are two viewing areas, one from the top of the waterfall letting you look down and another from the bottom where you are sprayed with water. The waterfall is very pretty but not nearly as spectacular as I expected it to be and the viewing areas were extremely busy. Wordsworth may have wandered along Aira Force as lonely as a cloud but if you go on the walk on a sunny day then you will have plenty of company.

The walk is suitable for taking dogs but we found it frustrating how busy it was as it meant we could not let the dogs off their leads. At one point of the walk there is an area of the river which is suitable for paddling where dogs and kids played together in the water which was lovely.

After we had completed the walk we decided to head for the tea room. I had heard lots of positive things about the National Trust tea rooms but this one was privately owned and served only sandwiches for £4 each and coffee and a few assorted cold drinks and snacks. Again this was a bit of a disappointment and the sandwiches were definitely not worth £4 each.

Aira Force is a fairly nice walk, in some ways it is a beauty spot that has been spoiled by its popularity as the fact it was so crowded on a sunny Sunday in May meant it was far less enjoyable than it would have been if it was quiet but given the popularity of the Lake District as a tourist destination it will always be busy. Recommended as a nice place to visit but not for those who want to enjoy the quiet of the countryside.
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Member Rating 3 out of 5 on June 8, 2010

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Twa Dogs Inn

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Hotel | "I Won't Be Making Twa Visits Here"

Twa Dogs Inn Photo - Twa Dogs Inn, Keswick, England

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When we were in the Lake District recently we needed to go and find somewhere to eat on the Saturday evening so decided to take a drive into Keswick to see what we could find. We came across the Twa Dogs Inn which is on the outskirts of town and were attracted by the signs advertising home cooked food and the large beer garden. After checking that kids were welcome at 7pm on a Saturday night we decided that this was the place we would stop and eat and had a look at the menu. There was the typical range of pub grub like fish and chips, burgers, gammon, sausages, salads, baked potatoes and a couple of veggie options. Me and my friend both went for the veggie dish of the day which we were tol...Read More

When we were in the Lake District recently we needed to go and find somewhere to eat on the Saturday evening so decided to take a drive into Keswick to see what we could find. We came across the Twa Dogs Inn which is on the outskirts of town and were attracted by the signs advertising home cooked food and the large beer garden.

After checking that kids were welcome at 7pm on a Saturday night we decided that this was the place we would stop and eat and had a look at the menu. There was the typical range of pub grub like fish and chips, burgers, gammon, sausages, salads, baked potatoes and a couple of veggie options. Me and my friend both went for the veggie dish of the day which we were told was vegetable and stilton crumble and my daughter went for chicken nuggets and chips from the kids menu. Main courses cost from around £6-£10 and the kids menu was overpriced at £4.99 considering a drink was not included in the price.

The interior of the pub looked really dark and a bit dated although the games room containing pool tables, darts boards and dominos looked good so we decided to head out to the beer garden to enjoy the warm sunny evening. We chose some benches under the trees as other parts of the beer garden were filled with drinkers and this area was quieter. The good thing about sitting here was that my friend was able to get her dogs out of the car and let them sit with us, there were several dogs with their owners and the bar staff were happy to give the dogs a drink of water.

The location of the Twa Dogs is lovely with views up into the hills. The beer garden itself is a bit tacky and twee with a plethora of England flags obviously for the world cup, lots of flowers and tacky little ornaments nailed to the huge tree in the car park. The pub overall gave an impression of somewhere that could do with a lot of work to modernise it.

We sat in the shade of some trees, there were bird feeders in the trees which was nice as it attracted birds to the area, the problem being that the birds sitting in the trees loved to poo all over the tables making them filthy and there were also a couple of near misses where we were nearly bombed from above.

When the food came out the waiter brought one vegetable crumble and the chicken nuggets out first, the problem was that the vegetable crumble was finished so my friend got pasta in a stilton sauce. When the waiter brought my meal out I explained this was not what I had ordered and only then did he apologise and explain why there were no crumbles and I was not happy at being given a substitute dish without being asked first if it was ok. I was given the choice of a refund or to re-order something different and I decided to order a roast beef salad and a plate of chips instead.

The food itself was average to below average in quality and taste, you can’t really go wrong with chicken nuggets and chips so my daughter was happy enough but me and my friend were less than satisfied. My friend described her pasta dish as being very average with very few vegetables and it was served with chips which would have been nice with a veggie crumble but not with pasta. My salad at first looked good, it was truly enormous but it turned out half the plate was covered in iceberg lettuce which was annoying to dig through looking for the good bits. The brisket was plentiful, so plentiful in fact that I ended up feeding some of it to the dogs but the meat was low quality and they had hidden the fatty and gristly meat underneath the nice looking slices! Apart from the beef and iceberg there was an overboiled egg with a green ring around the yolk and some dollops of supermarket coleslaw and pasta salad, really when you pay £8 for a salad you expect something nicer. The chips were nice enough and obviously out of a packet and not properly home made.

As you can probably tell from what I have written above I was not overly impressed with the Twa Dogs in Keswick and would not recommend it as a place to go for a bar meal, the quality of the food was very low which was not reflected in the prices we paid for our meals. It’s a fairly nice place to go and sit and have a drink with friends, I was impressed that the atmosphere was calm and laid back on a Saturday evening, just don’t sit under the trees!

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Member Rating 2 out of 5 on May 29, 2010

Twa Dogs Inn
Penrith Road
Keswick, England CA12 4JU
+44 01768 772 599

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Troutbeck Head Caravan Park

Best Of IgoUgo

Hotel | "Happy Campers"

Visitor Photo - Troutbeck Head Caravan Park, Cumbria, England

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When we decided to spend a weekend in the Lake District my friend chose a caravan park for us to stay in. She chose Troutbeck Head which is around a mile from the tiny village of Troutbeck and around four miles from Ullswater set in a truly stunning location under the Great Mell Fell with miles of green countryside surrounding the site.The site has a five star rating from Visit England and accepts both caravns and tents, the pitch fees start from £5.30 per night with adult occupancy costing £5.30 during the off peak season with prices rising by about 1/3 during peak times. There are a total of 151 pitches on the site, the majority which are hardstanding and suitable for caravans but the si...Read More

When we decided to spend a weekend in the Lake District my friend chose a caravan park for us to stay in. She chose Troutbeck Head which is around a mile from the tiny village of Troutbeck and around four miles from Ullswater set in a truly stunning location under the Great Mell Fell with miles of green countryside surrounding the site.

The site has a five star rating from Visit England and accepts both caravns and tents, the pitch fees start from £5.30 per night with adult occupancy costing £5.30 during the off peak season with prices rising by about 1/3 during peak times. There are a total of 151 pitches on the site, the majority which are hardstanding and suitable for caravans but the site retains the feel of a small site due to the arrangement of the pitches. Each pitch has electric hook up and TV reception is guaranteed due to the individual arial hook up for each caravan. There are plenty of taps for clean water, disposing of waste water and the contents of chemical toilets.

Our pitch was beside the beck (stream) and this was a lovely place to stay. The horses in the field neighbouring the site came over for a visit in the early morning and loved being fed handfuls of long grass and having their noses rubbed. Curlew came to the beck to feed and there were also kingfisher and various small birds in the trees. The sound of the flowing water was lovely and due to the remote location of the site it was lovely and quiet during the night and I loved sitting outside and just listening to the sounds of nature and looking at the stars.

The facilities on site are fairly basic. There are two toilet blocks, the ladies has four showers and two washbasins in private cubicles in one of the blocks. There is also baby changing, disabled facilites and a laundry room. The showers, basins and toilets were all lovely and clean and despite the site being almost full we never had to queue to use the facilites. There is also a small games room which has ping pong table, pool tables and a few electronic games but I was disappointed at how early in the evening it closed. The on site shop is tiny and sells a small range of essentials at reasonable prices and has a good range of newspapers and guide books on sale. Because of the remote nature of the site it will be a good five miles to any shops but there is a pub about a mile up the road.

The site has a small playpark and baby changing facilities but I would worry a bit about taking small children here, some parts of the beck are not fenced off and it would be very easy for a curious littun’ to fall in when their parents back were turned for a second. The other drawback in my eyes is the fact that the site is right next door to Rookin House Activity centre and the field which housed the horses overnight becomes a hive of activity during the day. The field had clay pigeon shooting, horse treks and quad bike expeditions going past all through the day. There were many dogs on the site and every time the quad bikes went past (at least once an hour) it would set of a cacophony of barking which was even more annoying then the roar of the engines.

Troutbeck Head is a nice caravan site offering good basic facilities and is set in an idyllic location and makes a good base for holidays in the Lake District, it might be noisy during the day but is a lovely place to sleep with the sounds of nature surrounding you.
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Member Rating 4 out of 5 on May 24, 2010

Troutbeck Head Caravan Park
Troutbeck
Cumbria, England
+44 1768 483521

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