Keswick’s Cottage in the Wood Country House Hotel was the only hotel in North West England to Feature in Trip Advisor’s 2008 Travellers’ Choice Awards announced earlier this month. It ranked 7th amongst the Top 10 Best Bargains in Europe.
TripAdvisor is the world’s largest online travel community. The Travellers’ Choice Awards were determined by a combination of TripAdvisor’s Popularity Index and traveller ratings.
Burnley’s Queen Street Mill Textile Museum was voted Best Tour in Lancashire by the Association of Industrial Archaeology (AIA) at its annual conference, held at the University of Central Lancashire in Preston. The AIA is a national organisation for people and professional bodies with an interest in Britain’s industrial past.
City centre restaurants in Manchester and Liverpool have failed to gain a coveted Michelin Star in the latest edition of the Michelin Guide to Great Britain and Ireland published yesterday. The North West restaurants retaining their single star were Juniper in Altrincham, Northcote Manor in the Ribble Valley, the Arkle at the Chester Grosvenor, L’Enclume in Cartmel, and Sharrow Bay on Ullswater.
Demolition of the Lord Square section of Blackburn’s Mall shopping centre started yesterday and is expected to take around 15 weeks. The work marks the start a £66 million pound redevelopment that will see the shopping centre extended and refurbished.
Primark will be the anchor tenant in the new development, and existing tenants New look and WHSmith will move into larger units. The development is due to be completed in 2010.
Liverpool John Lennon Airport has installed two wind turbines to contribute towards its electricity needs and help minimise its impact on the environment. If successful, the airport plans to install further turbines to increase levels of sustainable power generation. Management believe the airport is the first in the UK to install wind turbines.
The airport has also recently welcomed several new retailers to its terminal building. Go Pizza, World in Motion, Bo Shoes and Antler have joined established tenants such as Boots, WHSmith, and Starbucks.
Chester City Council’s new Conservative administration are to freeze city centre car parking charges in an attempt to halt the drift of shoppers and visitors to neighbouring towns and shopping centres.
Councillor Stephen Mosley, Executive Member for Customer Services, said ‘It has long been suspected that constantly increasing car parking charges have literally driven visitors and shoppers away from the city centre and this decision marks a significant change in direction for Chester.’
Bolton Wanderers are setting up an experimental singing section at the Reebok Stadium at for the UEFA Cup match against Athletico Madrid on February 14. Commercial Director Gareth Moores said, ‘We’ve had a large number of calls and emails from fans asking us to consider providing such an area. As a result, the club has responded by allocating the Debt Matters North Stand as a trial for this crucial European fixture. It is going to be one of the biggest games in the club’s history and having a singing section can only add to the atmosphere.’
If the move is successful the club plans to make the North Stand a dedicated singing stand from the start of the 2008/09 season.
Following months of delay Carlisle’s Botchergate will at last be closed to traffic on weekend nights. A traffic ban on Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings between 9 pm and 5 am, will start today and run for a trial period of 18 months. The move, proposed by the police, is intended to cut the number of accidents involving revellers attracted to the street’s numerous bars and clubs.
Lancaster’s John O’Gaunt pub is to reopen this weekend after mysteriously shutting its doors last week. The closure of town centre pub, famous for its live music, is rumoured to be related to a tenancy dispute.
The 7th annual Words by the Water literature festival will be held February 29 to March 9 2008 at the Theatre by the Lake in Keswick. An impressive line up of speakers includes Michael Buerk, Roy Hattersley, Penelope Lively, and Tony Benn.
Words by the Water is Cumbria’s major literary festival. Around 10,000 are expected to attend almost 100 events scheduled. Tickets can be purchased by calling the Theatre by the Lake on 017687 74411. A full programme can be found on the Words by the Water website (www.wayswithwords.co.uk).