A Brief Encounter with Carnforth Station

Carnforth is a small town on the Lancashire/Cumbria border, famous for its Railway Station which was used in the classic movie ‘Brief Encounter’.  Filmed at the end of WWII in 1945,  the Ministry of Transport chose Carnforth Station as it was deemed safe from enemy fire – why would anyone bother to come so far north to bomb this town?! Filming took place at night so as not to interrupt regular train operations. 

The film had a great cast, with relative new-comer Trevor Howard making his name and Celia Johnson overcoming her dislike of filming (she preferred stage acting and didn’t like being away from her family) to win an Oscar nomination for her delicate performance as a married woman verging on infidelity.  It may come as a surprise to know that Trevor was 8 years younge than Celia.  Stanley Holloway created a memorable comedy cameo asthe Station Master. It was co-directed by David Lean, famous also for ‘Dr Zhivago‘ & ‘Lawrence Of Arabia’.  What is less well-known is that Noel Coward co-directed it, produced it, wrote the screen play AND the music.

There is now an award-winning Visitor Centre at the station with lots of interesting railway memorabilia.  You can have a cup of tea at the Refreshment Room, faithfully restored to 1940s splendour, as it looked when Celia and Trevor gazed adoringly at each other whilst Stanley flirted outrageously, oblivious to the heart-breaking drama being played out nearby …

Find out more at Carnforth Station  Next time you are in the area, why not visit and who knows, you may have your very own Brief Encounter …

Travel Writers & Photographers London Weekend

“It’s amazing to be standing here in this place where  such great explorers as Livingstone and Shackleton stood before.”  Benedict Allen, a quirky traveller if ever there was, opened this year’s  inspiring Travellers’ & Photographers’  Tales Festival last weekend at the Royal Geographical Society in London. He was so funny and self-deprecating about his time as an idealistic young  man sharing the inaugural Manhood ceremonies of the Amazon tribes and living with indigenous peoples of Papua New Guinea, from whom he learnt so much.

What a brilliant line-up it was. Just a few of the people I saw …

• Impish DERVLA MURPHY, now in her 80s and as feisty as ever, talking about her youth in Ireland and how it inspired her love of travel
• Moving FERGAL KEANE sharing his stories as a BBC foreign correspondent and the impact on him of the horrific war in Rwanda
• Hilarious CHRIS STEWART, author of ‘Driving Over Lemons’, keeping us amused with his tales of how he got into writing and his tales of life in rural Spain
• Internationally renowned (tho rather long-winded!) photographer FRANS LANTING, sharing with us ‘The Life Project’ and his visualisation and musical realisation of the Cerne Hadron Collider project in Switzerland
•  Thought-provoking NEEL MUKHERJEE, sharing the genesis of his award-winning Indian novel, ‘Past Continuous’
• Creative world-renowned photographers CAROL BECKWITH & ANGELA FISHER, sharing with us their magical images of African tribal body painting 

The absolute highlight for me was seeing and hearing one of my absolute Travel Heroes, Jan Morris, reading from her latest book  of travel reminiscences, ‘Contact!’  As a young English teacher in the West Midlands, I hankered after foreign climes. I yearned to live in another culture and be not just as a tourist but to really experience what it was like to be a ‘foreigner’.  One day I heard Jan Morris speaking about her travels in Europe and I just knew I had to follow my dream …

… And so I told her as she signed my slightly battered copy of ‘Venice.’  “What shall I write?” she asked. “Can you put ‘In search of Letitia’ please,” I said. “I recently discovered she is my Venetian Gt Gt Gt Grandmother, and I am trying to find her. You inspired me to give up my teaching job and follow my heart …”  She smiled vaguely and wrote as requested.  No doubt for her I was just one more ‘star-struck fan’ but for me it meant a huge amount and I shall remember that moment forever …

I am Travel Editor for Wandering Educators. In this article you can read about Virginia Woolf’s birthplace, in the same road that Winston Churchill lived a died, just round the corner from the Festival venue.

A Winter Break in Prague …

This time last year I spent a magical week in Prague. It’s a perfect time to visit – not too many tourists, wintry weather which fits with the scenery, lots of cultural things to go to ie opera, ballet, concerts and theatre – and you can get a table at any bar or restaurant with no hassle. We were there during Obama’s inauguration and spent a memorable evening with locals & foreigners at the American-run Globe Bookstore watching the historic event on a huge screen and celebrating with excellent local ‘champagne’.

Here are five things to do in that wonderful city …

1. Indulge in the glories of Art Nouveau. Visit the Mucha Museum and learn about Alphonse Mucha, one of most famous exponents of the form. You can find wonderful original examples of his work, including his Four Seasons posters and those he did for his Muse, the English actress Sarah Bernhardt. There’s a beautiful stained glass window by him in St Vitus Cathedral (See pic above) and many fine examples of Art Nouveau architecture and design all over the city. My favourite building was the Obecní dům (Municipal Building), a fabulously ornate concoction to delight the senses.

2. Walk around medieval Staroměstské Náměstí (Old Town Square) and look at the fantastic collection of buildings from over 400 years. One of Prague’s most atmospheric Churches, Our Lady Of Tyn is beautifully silhouetted against the sky. Find a table at one of the restaurants (expensive but what a view!), watch the world go by and wait for the most beautiful Astronomical Clock in Europe strike the hour.

3. Slow down and get into the Cafe society. This city must surely rival Paris for the variety and quality of its Coffee houses. One of my favourites was the Grand Cafe Orient with its unique Cubist decor. Its other name is the House of Black Madonna, in honour of the statue on the corner. Behind Our Lady of Tyn is another gem – the Cafe Ebel Coffee House; very cosy and quirky – with excellent carrot cake. If you fancy trying the local tipple that drove Toulouse Lautrec and others mad – Absinthe – then go to the Art Deco gem Cafe Slavia and have their Seksinst Cocktail. It’s a potent mix of champagne and Absinthe – you have been warned …

4. For a slightly different perspective visit the The Vysehrad Cemetery Vysehrad, the burial place for many famous and important Czech people. You’ll find the composer Dvorak just round the corner from Smetana and in the large Slavin Memorial many illustrious Czechs including the Art Nouveau artist, Alphonse Mucha (see above). The cemetary is in the grounds of the Vysehrad ‘Castle on the Heights’ and there are great views over the city from its ramparts. To get there, you can walk there along the river, get the Metro or try the excellent tram system.

5. Watch the Changing of the Guard at Midday Prague Castle In the winter the Guards wear great-coats and furry hats (unlike their powder blue & decidedly fey summer uniform!) and at Midday when they do the Banner exchange, they march about to music that sounds vaguely reminiscent of the Thunderbird Theme tune. You can then go round Prague Castle, a glorious hotch-potch of buildings from different periods and also see the magnificently Gothic St Vitus Cathedral.

There are lots of great websites and guide books to help you enjoy your stay, but I found the best things of all was to simply relax into the rhythm of the city, take time to absorb the multitude of glories that this city presents and let it work its magic …

For a longer version of this article with a few more quirky things to do in Prague visit my Blog site at Wandering Educators

Personal & Quirky Reflections & Intentions

As we shift from one decade to another I’d like to share with you what I’m really grateful for.  Please do share your thoughts, resolutions, gratitudes, intentions …  

I am really grateful for:

• My son Alex, who’s grown from a toddling 2 year old to the threshold of teenagerdom and brought us such joy, fun, enrichment and learning…
• My Mum, who died 7 years ago and whose wisdom, beauty and grace is with me every day. I thought I had lost her when she died but have learnt that she is all here all the time …
• The rest of my family for ‘being there’, keeping me sane and sharing the good and bad times, even when we drive each other crazy :-)
• Dear friends who share the journey, allow me to fail, be ‘out of order’ and forgive me every time … and for those friends who I have lost touch with but who are still in my heart ….
• All the very special clients, colleagues and people I have worked with – thank you for sharing your lives, loves, aspirations, hopes, problems and dreams – such a privilege …
• Living and working in such a beautiful part of the world
• Good health and that of those around me
• The luxury of being able to look forward to the coming decade from the warmth and safety (hopefully!) of my own home
• For learning the difference between desiring what I don’t have, and being content with all that I am blessed with …

My INTENTION for the coming decade is to live as much as possible in the PRESENT, to appreciate all that is good around me, to share what I can with others and be open and  positive to whatever DESTINY may have in mind in 2010 and beyond  …

I wish you all that you wish for yourself in the coming year, with an extra dash of magical  quirkiness

Quirky Christmas Past …

I recently wrote this article for a Twitter friend, Stephanie @TravelDesigned. You can see the original here   If you have a quirky Christmas memory please do share it … Leave a Comment below.

Aswan, Egypt

In the early 80s a group of us spent one Christmas and New Year in Egypt.  On Christmas Day so we left our VERY basic hostel to find a cheap restaurant open which served festive fare and a drink. As you can imagine, in a predominantly Muslim country on a Saturday, that was not so easy … Eventually we found a little place by the Camel Market (not on that day), with a big table outside.  We were offered Roast chicken and chips with local beer… Perfect.

Whilst we waited (for hours) for the chicken, we drank warm beer and relished the hot sun, safe in the knowledge that back home in the UK it was probably raining and definitely cold.  The chicken was the toughest, ropiest old bird you could imagine – but we enjoyed it anyway as we reminisced about our favourite Christmas holidays, exchanged REALLY cheap and fun gifts, toasted absent friends and congratulated ourselves on having a very unChristmassy Christmas Day.

 Pattaya, Thailand

In 1990, a friend and I escaped from Hong Kong to stay at a luxury hotel in Pattaya, which looked absolutely dreamy. What we didn’t know was that during the Vietnam War, Pattaya had been a favourite place for soldiers to chill out and ‘relax’ – and their legacy lived on …

 Having arrived on Christmas Eve we decided to eat out in Pattaya the next day, so after a relaxing day by the pool we wandered into the town.  What a shock that was.  It was late afternoon and still daylight but all the bars were busy and it was obvious what delights were on offer for Christmas here… We wandered up and down Soi 6 barely able to contain our amazement. Some of the bars and clubs had festive decorations amidst the neon – I’ll never forget one sign which read ‘A Merry Christmas to all our Customers’ above a lap-dancing club offering some very exotic acts …

 Eventually we found a vaguely respectable bar where we had Pad Thai noodles and fended off the attentions of some very drunk Australian guys who’d clearly partaken of a fair bit of Christmas cheer.  As their propositions got more extreme we decided return to our hotel and leave Pattaya red light district to its own unique Christmas festivities!

 Queenstown, South Africa

“We’re having a Braai on Christmas Day – just family and a few mates …” thus was I introduced to Christmas Dinner, South African style. I was staying with my boyfriend’s family on their farm just outside Queenstown. The weather was fantastic; warm, sunny and fresh. On Christmas morning we exchanged presents, drank sparkling wine and opened cards showing Santas and snow-covered carol singers outside typical English churches; all very incongruous with the African veldt outside the back door.

 A Braai is a BBQ, SA style. On the biggest grill I’ve ever seen, was every kind of meat imaginable, including ostrich and Boerewors, a spicy sausage.  Huge buckets were filled with ice and beer, boxes of red wine stood outside the kitchen door next to a tall fridge full of white wine, soft drinks & mixers.  Two trestle tables were loaded up with all manner of salads, dips, breads and fruit, with a smaller table for the kids – and not a turkey or Brussel sprout in sight.

 By 4pm the party was in full swing and it was time for carols and the Christmas pudding. The farm workers joined us and as ‘Hark The Herald Angels Sing’ rang out into the African sky from over 50 voices, it seemed the best way ever to celebrate this wonderful season.

Whatever you do, wherever you are and whoever you are with, may your Christmas be quirky and bright

Passage to Indian dreams …

Last month The Big Journey Company moved in to my office. It is great to be sharing space with this up and coming tour company; they were nominated for The British Travel Awards 2009.  

I’ve always wanted to visit India and in November the Big Journey Company is planning a tour there, The Golden Triangle and Ranthambhore Park  and fingers crossed I will be joining them!  As a lover of the Alastair Sawday books, I was delighted to discover Sawday’s India & Sri Lanka Special Places To Stay, and I spent a magical time looking through the book and dreaming of the trip.  (A version of this appears in an Amazon review for the book – see link.)

There are loads of wonderful choices – from palaces and luxury hotels to homely B&Bs, tree houses and tents – to suit every budget, including a fairly limited one like mine. All the places are chosen with Sawday’s unique approach to accommodation – “We look for comfort, originality, authenticity and reject the insincere, anonymous and the banal.”

I fell in love with exotic locations like Neemrana Fort-Palace built over 6 centuries and spread over 11 levels, Devra Udaipur with its organic farm and views across Lake Pichola, Savista Retreat and its musical preformances on the amphitheatre steps and Dev Villas with 7 ‘stylish safari tents’ and India’s most famous tiger reserve nearby.

(A version of this appears in an Amazon Review for the book – see link.)

Having indulged in a myriad of fab places to stay, I then spent a while wandering around the websites giving info about the region, including Rajasthan Tourism site which gives loads of helpful info and ideas for travel. What a fascinating place to visit – I can’t wait.

If you have any hints or tips for India travel, do let me know …

Cumbria Recovery & Festive Fun…

Just a quick update re the floods and Cumbria’s recovery. The slogan going around is ‘Cumbria’s open for Business’ to which I would definitely add ‘… for Pleasure too!’  Today the new footbridge, Barker Crossing, was opened in Workington.  Well done to the Army, Royal Engineers for getting it put up in only a week. The BBC have given it great coverage here – note the rain is still pouring down!

There is a rather lengthy and earnest article on Cumbria Tourism’s website from Ian Stephens, their CEO, which gives details of what’s going on in the bigger picture – riveting stuff about NWDA and how we are leading the country in Tourism – yay! Read it here …

However, as Christmas is coming, I was much more drawn to how we are going to celebrate the festive season.  I especially love some of the quirky and fun events going on around the county.  All the towns and villages are bedecked with lights and decorations and the shops are full to bursting with hand-crafted gifts and delicious food.  I went Christmas shopping in Kendal on Sunday and found lots of quirky and beautful pressies  - and FREE parking!  (Apparently all South Lakeland Car Parks are free each Sunday until the 27th December.)

Holker Hall is hosting loads of great things including their Victorian Christmas extravaganza.  The Lake District is such a lovely place to visit at this time of year – there’s plenty to see and do so why not come up and see us sometime