Copyright of Sellar
By Nick Dalton and Deborah Stone
It would be easy to believe that in these economic doldrums, tourism and entertainment would be stalled, but that's simply not the case. We just love the fact that attractions are opening, boutique hotels are a growth industry, and there's regeneration in frumpy coastal spots. Here are some of our favorite recent news highlighting England and Wales are on the move.
Photo caption: The Shard in London, England.
The band's debut single Love Me Do celebrated its 50th anniversary on October 5, 2012, and Liverpool is proving that it truly does love its sons. Named in honor of manager Brian Epstein, the new Epstein Theatre (85 Hanover St.; tel. 0844/8884411, www.epsteinliverpool.co.uk), debuts the play Epstein -- The Man Who Made The Beatles in November. There's an exhibition in the new waterfront Museum of Liverpool (tel. 0151/4784545; www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk) and a collection of recently discovered photos in Hidden Gallery, in the new Pierhead building. One of the classiest places to stay is the Hard Days Night Hotel (North John St.; tel. 0151/2361964; www.harddaysnighthotel.com), the subtle theme culminating in the John Lennon Suite, a vision in white with grand piano.
Don't miss the award-winning Beatles Story in a riverside warehouse cellar, witty tours of John and Paul's childhood homes, bands in the Cavern Club, the Magical Mystery Tour by gaily-painted bus and the Casbah Coffee Club, where the band played as teenagers, which is a living museum after being mothballed in the early 60s. See www.visitliverpool.com for a full list.
Photo caption: The John Lennon Suite at the Hard Days Night Hotel in Liverpool.
The tired town with its elegant Edwardian frontage in East Sussex on England's south coast is in danger of becoming hip thanks to an influx of fun-lovers for whom nearby Brighton is now just too busy. At the heart of the new thinking is Central Eating (240 Terminus Road, tel. 07980/339864), a café and coffee bar with a retro heart where you can have a Jack Daniel's with your scampi and chips before popping out to the weekend vintage market. Nearby Hastings is also upwardly-mobile, with its revamped Stade, the shingly seafront, where fishing boats sit alongside the new Jerwood Gallery (tel. 01424/425809; www.jerwoodgallery.org) with its collection of modern and classic British art. Farther east in Kent, Margate made the jump with the seafront Turner Contemporary Gallery (tel. 01843/233000; www.turnercontemporary.org) and new boutique hotels, while Ilfracombe in Devon in mid-October unveiled controversial artist Damien Hirst's Verity, a 66-foot naked, pregnant, and sword-wielding woman and now Britain's tallest statue.
Photo caption: The Turner Contemporary Gallery in Margate, East Sussex, England.
A large swath of Cornwall is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, but this year a £35M project created a major new attraction. Heartlands (tel. 01209/722320; www.heartlandscornwall.com), near Redruth and the west coast, redeveloped the Robinson's Shaft tin mine and 19 acres of grounds into a free wonderland of history and fun, with gardens, World Heritage exhibitions, an adventure playground, a farmer's market, arts and craft stalls, music and theatre.
The Red River Café in the old carpenters' shop is a reflection on Cornwall's growing foodie reputation, not least Restaurant Nathan Outlaw (tel. 01218/862737; www.nathan-outlaw.com) at the hip St. Enodoc Hotel up the coast in Rock, which won two Michelin stars, putting the heat on other celeb chefs Rick Stein and Jamie Oliver with restaurants nearby.
Photo caption: Making withy pots at Heartlands, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, in Cornwall, England.
It would be easy to believe that in these economic doldrums, tourism and entertainment would be stalled, but that's simply not the case. We just love the fact that attractions are opening, boutique hotels are a growth industry, and there's regeneration in frumpy coastal spots. Here are some of our favorite recent news highlighting England and Wales are on the move.
Photo caption: The Shard in London, England.
There really is magic in the air. North of London, the young wizard has made his home at Leavesden Studios near Watford, where you'll find Warner Bros.'s spectacular The Making Of Harry Potter tour (tel. 08450/840900; www.wbstudiotour.co.uk). Here are the sets, props, and costumes from the movies: You can be naughty in the Great Hall at Hogwarts, feel humbled in Dumbledore's office, and peer into No. 4 Privet Drive.
Meanwhile in a purpose-built aircraft hangar of a space on Cardiff Bay is the Doctor Who Experience (tel. 0844/801 3663; www.doctorwhoexperience.com) -- a wild, hi-tech extravaganza filled with daleks and cybermen, flashing lights and screaming ray guns, and specially filmed sequences with The Doctor (Matt Smith). It's located next to the BBC studios where the sci-fi TV show is filmed.
Photo caption: The Doctor Who Experience in Cardiff, Wales.
Don't miss the award-winning Beatles Story in a riverside warehouse cellar, witty tours of John and Paul's childhood homes, bands in the Cavern Club, the Magical Mystery Tour by gaily-painted bus and the Casbah Coffee Club, where the band played as teenagers, which is a living museum after being mothballed in the early 60s. See www.visitliverpool.com for a full list.
Photo caption: The John Lennon Suite at the Hard Days Night Hotel in Liverpool.
Photo caption: The Turner Contemporary Gallery in Margate, East Sussex, England.
The Red River Café in the old carpenters' shop is a reflection on Cornwall's growing foodie reputation, not least Restaurant Nathan Outlaw (tel. 01218/862737; www.nathan-outlaw.com) at the hip St. Enodoc Hotel up the coast in Rock, which won two Michelin stars, putting the heat on other celeb chefs Rick Stein and Jamie Oliver with restaurants nearby.
Photo caption: Making withy pots at Heartlands, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, in Cornwall, England.