Booking a trip in the British Isles makes for a rewarding treat

When you get bitten good and hard by the intrepid international globe-trotting bug, there’s a danger that you dismiss a huge avenue of adventure that abounds with excitement and promise; namely, the discovery of good old Britannia. That we travelling Brits tend to take our own back yard rather for granted, and never see it as the same garden of paradise that foreigners do, is something of a crying shame. There are many jewels in the United Kingdom’s crown, and to dismiss them for the thrill of more exotic locations and climes is to cheat yourself out of some real magic.

Let’s take city breaks for a start. Availing yourself of the many delights of our wonderful capital, or indeed one of the other fine cities Great Britain has to offer, will open your eyes to a plethora of art, culture and architecture just waiting to be stumbled across. You could start with the main candidates such as York, Edinburgh, Durham, Manchester or Birmingham, but it can be immense fun picking out some of the less-visited examples like Sheffield, Brighton, Cambridge, Lancaster, Exeter, Chester… the list isn’t endless, but it will keep you going for quite a while.

And when you’re done with cities, start ploughing your way through our fantastic collection of towns and villages – if you haven’t a clue where to start, just decide how far you want to travel and literally stick a pin in the map.

If you don’t fancy driving, why not consider the train, bus or coach – try to see even the most mundane forms of transport as a passport to adventure, and always take your camera and a notebook to keep a record of your trip.

Book journeys well enough in advance and it won’t cost a fortune either, and when booking accommodation, your online world is pretty much your oyster. Whether you’re after a humble guest house or something offering a bit more luxury, you can bag some amazing hotel deals from some of the leading chains, especially at weekends. Don’t just rely on sites like Booking.com either – make a note of all the good UK hotel operators and get into the habit of searching their own websites too; there’s many a good deal to be had as they all compete for your lucrative business.

And a fantastic time to start your little odyssey is in the run up to Christmas – why not be adventurous and do your Christmas shopping out of town? Your gifts will be different and you get to have a mini-holiday too.

Post Christmas is also great for an indulgent little treat. The bright lights of the festive season are over, and the long, dark days of January can easily fall flat and lacklustre. Book your early new year break now and you’ll be surprised how it bucks you up, sustaining you throughout the stress of Christmas, and giving you something special to look forward to after you’ve returned to work.

Of course, it doesn’t mean you’re never going to go abroad again, but it will hopefully enable you to appreciate some of the finer points our beautiful little group of islands has to offer.

Cardiff Bay’s redevelopment makes it the flagship of the Welsh capital

My memories of Cardiff were not that good. I had worked there briefly in the mid 1980s and it had not been a particularly happy time, largely down to my employer rather than the city but, you know how it goes – if a time spent in a place is a negative experience, you tend to associate those feelings with the place itself.

Being a self-confessed Dr Who and Torchwood fan (no, not the geeky type – I just appreciate the finer qualities of Russell T Davies’ art as a writer and producer of superb television programmes) my interest in the place was re-awakened, so I endeavoured to go back there, give Cardiff another chance and dispel all those nasty memories.

And am I glad I did – what a fantastic experience the Cardiff of today is, from vibrant, cosmopolitan bay to thriving, exciting city centre, the Welsh capital exudes enthusiasm and feels so alive and full of adventure.

I had been staying in Gloucester for a couple of nights, and was relieved to discover that Cardiff was much more accessible than I had remembered. An hour in the car and I was at the bay – famously known before a massive cash injection as Tiger Bay – and easily parked up (free on a Sunday). The first impressive landmark is the Norwegian Church, now sadly no longer a place of worship but a cafe and kind of exhibition hall. Built by Norwegian fishermen as a place of get-together and worship, the church also boasts the fact that Roald Dahl was baptised here.

This is actually Europe’s largest waterfront development, and it certainly feels like it. The chic, cosmopolitan feel, stunning modern architecture and beautifully developed marine area – complete with Wetlands and bird sanctuary – belies its UK location, and you could be forgiven for thinking you were in Bilbao, or somewhere of that ilk, which has also benefited greatly from extensive regeneration.

It’s hard to imagine the past, when Cardiff Docks as it was then called was the world’s largest coal exporting port. There’s now a fantastic balance of working port, high-end leisure complex and playground and area of incredible natural beauty.

The bay itself has been turned into a vast freshwater lake thanks to the introduction of a barrage. A number of boat tours operate from Mermaid Quay, which allow you to gain an understanding of the history and fauna of this exciting area. There’s also a convenient new water taxi service which operates throughout the year from the bay to the city centre and Penarth. If you take the organised boat trip (it’ll cost you just a fiver) it’s well worth getting out at Penarth and having a walk along the barrage. Enjoy a refreshing pint at the old Custom House, now a chic restaurant and wine bar, before catching the waterbus back to Mermaid Quay. The return boat on the hour takes you straight back, whereas the one at quarter past the hour will take you on the tour again, this time in reverse.

Cardiff Bay is also home to a number of attractions such as Techniquest Science Discovery Centre – ideal for all the family, Craft in the Bay, The Welsh Assembly at the Pierhead, Butetown History and Arts Centre, Goleulong 2000 Lightship, the previously mentioned Norwegian Church Arts Centre and the brand new Wales Millennium Centre, a stunning and international arts centre. The Atlantic Wharf Leisure Village provides further options for family entertainment.

The harbour at Cardiff Bay experiences one of the world’s greatest tidal ranges of up to 14m. This has meant that at low tide, it has been inaccessible for up to 14 hours a day. The new barrage has eliminated the effect of the tide, which has acted as an inhibitor to development, releasing the potential of the capital city’s greatest asset – its waterfront.

The construction of the barrage was one of the largest engineering projects in Europe. Completed in 1999, it has created a 500 acre freshwater lake with 8 miles of waterfront and it is already stimulating the future development of the bay as a tourist and leisure destination

The Cardiff Bay Development Corporation was set up in April 1987 to regenerate the 1,100 hectares of old derelict docklands of Cardiff and Penarth. It was part of the British Government’s Urban Development Programme to regenerate particularly deprived and run-down areas of British inner cities. In recent years, Cardiff has become home to a new generation Dr Who, and its spin-off series Torchwood, and BBC Wales can often be found filming in the city and its environs. In fact, Dr Who writer and producer Russell T Davies occupies one of the luxury apartments overlooking the waterfront, next to the five star St David’s Hotel and Spa.

The Wales Millennium Centre, Cardiff – fictional home to Torchwood

If you plan to visit, you’ll find a great selection of places to stay (pretty much to suit your budget) and you certainly won’t be stuck for somewhere to eat or drink. But if you want to do the new Cardiff justice, make sure you go for at least a long weekend, or you haven’t a hope in hell of squeezing everything in.

Torchwood – UK sci-fi drama grown up

WARNING! Plot spoilers abound in the below article. Oh well, I did warn you…

I thought the first series of Torchwood was sensational, but with series two, the BBC have taken adult British sci-fi to a level which surely leads the rest of the world.

Creator Russell T Davies is no stranger to critical acclaim, having given us the fantastic new Dr Who franchise, and previously the much admired Queer as Folk, but with Torchwood, even Russell has excelled himself.

The characters are all rich, and the depth invested in them by each cast member is nothing short of genius. It would be hard to pick a lead, as each and every performer contributes his or her own special magic to make televisual perfection.

Davies is clearly a fan of Joss Whedon’s cult classic Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and there have been one or two brilliant nods to this forerunner throughout the series. But the ultimate stroke of genius has to be the casting of James Marsters (Buffy’s Spike) as Captain John Hart, adding sharp wit and even camper humour, particularly in the superbly scripted banter with Captain Jack Harkness (John Barrowman).

Fine performances too from Eve Myles as Gwen Cooper, Burn Gorman as Dr Owen Harper, Naoko Mori as Toshiko Sato and Gareth David Lloyd as Ianto Jones lend even more weight to the mix, leading to Torchwood being promoted from BBC 3 (where it won fantastic audience figures) to BBC 2 for series two.

As it hurtled towards its apocalyptic finale, the second series made some pretty tough choices along the way. We thought we’d lost Owen for good in episode six (Reset) as he was dispatched by Jim from Neighbours (Alan Dale) in a timely plot twist.

But as Dead Man Walking, Owen continued to be a regular throughout the rest of the series, almost lulling us into a false sense of security, so by the time of his ultimate dispatch in the final episode (Exit Wounds) we were sent into spasm all over again, and then finished off completely with the unexpected murder of Tosh by Jack’s brother Gray (Lachlan Nieboer). I defy anyone to watch those closing moments without shedding a tear, beautiful scenes written by Chris Chibnall and sensitively directed by Ashley Way which must rank among the best in British drama for many a year.

How a future Torchwood will fare without half of its team is anyone’s guess. Is Owen really gone for good? Can Tosh be brought back with the resurrection glove for more than two minutes? Would she want to be? Oh gosh – the suspense is killing me already!

All images used in this post are copyright © BBC 2007/2008 and reproduced by kind permission