Grace Dawes

Apparently, summer is now upon us but in true British summer style, we’ve been promised 50 days of rain instead of summer rays. So if you want to avoid freezing cold temps, this may  not be the time for wild swimming  (unless you’re an ice bath enthusiast). But fear not: we’ve got the solution! Luckily,  there’s a whole bunch of heated outdoor AND indoor pools for you to take advantage of throughout the UK if having a dip is your only goal this summer. Count your lengths, catch up with a pal or simply bubble away in the shallow end and relax under a cloudless sky. We’ve rounded up the best spa pools, lidos and swimming pools to cater to your water based needs – and all of them are heated to perfection. Go on, dive in: here are the best heated outdoor pools in the UK. RECOMMENDED:💧 The UK’s best outdoor swimming pools📸 The UK’s most Instagrammed villages🪂 The best extreme outdoor activity breaks in the UK🚴 The most beautiful bike trails in the UK🏠 The best UK Airbnbs with swimming pools

Whether you’re keen to admire the stunning vistas of the Scottish countryside, or just after a setting to pretend you’re in a music video, staring longingly out at the mesmerising beaches of Cornwall or the mountains of Wales, these train journeys will make you feel like the main character in the window seat.  You could be a solo traveller craving some luxury transport, or just looking to take the kids on a wholesome family day out – either way, these railway trips will have you covered. Stretching from the very top of the country in Mallaig to the very bottom down in St Ives – and right across to Coleraine in Northern Ireland – here’s where to get your railway fix on your next UK holiday. All aboard! RECOMMENDED:🌊The best indoor and outdoor water parks in the UK☀️The best wild swimming spots in the UK🌴The most beautiful hidden beaches in the UK🏂The best extreme outdoor activity breaks in the UK🏞️The most beautiful national parks in the UK

The mighty tapas staple of croquetas now has a whole restaurant dedicated to it thanks to Spanish food folk Brindisa. An intimate northern-Spanish bar and miniature dining room on Beak Street, Bar Kroketa is rustic and informal, perfect for a quick bite or a more leisurely glass of Cava Brut Reserva after a long day of trawling around Soho.  Though small, the place oozes with a passion for Spanish culture. It’s decorated with wineracks stacked full of Pharos, and we’re delivered a bowl of spicy garlicky olives on arrival. Bar Kroketa is all about having a good time, with delicious food, a lively atmosphere and the perfect plonk to go with it all.  A chalkboard menu hangs on the wall, organised into four different sections: starters, croquetas, large dishes and desserts. It changes weekly, combining different traditional ingredients, but the croqueta is aways the main focus.  Bar Kroketa is all about having a good time, with delicious food, a lively atmosphere and the perfect plonk to go with it all  Croquetas come in twos, with five different savoury offerings plus two sweet ones for afters. The gambas croqueta was smooth and creamy on the inside and perfectly crisp on the outside, but the best part was the seafood aioli that came on top. Using the cooked juices of prawn heads in a garlicky sauce created a splendid depth of flavour. Warning: it’s rather rich, so one portion was more than enough. An assortment of cod, whitebait and guindilla tempura, all individually deep-fri

You may still be recovering from your Christmas/New Year’s hangover, but for anyone who doesn’t feel immediately nauseous at the mere thought of alcohol, it’s time to celebrate: Wetherspoons has announced a January sale with some drinks costing as little as £1.99.  December may have put a dent in your savings, but ’Spoons doesn’t want that to mean you have to cut out the Budweiser. Across all 811 of their pubs, you can expect bargains on alcohol, food, and soft drinks this month. Here’s everything you need to know about the sale at Wetherspoons. How long does the January sale last? Wetherspoons has announced that its sale will run from January 2 to January 17 – two weeks in total. It will also include discounts on low-alcohol drinks and coffee. What drinks are on sale in Wetherspoons? Here is a list of the drinks that are discounted this month:  Draught beers and ciders from £1.99 Sharp’s Doom Bar Bud Light Worthington's beer Budweiser Stowford Press cider Spirit and mixer from £1.99 AU Vodka (available in the flavours: pink lemonade, bubblegum, blue rasperry, and pinapple crush) XIX mixed berry vodka Corona hard seltzters from £1.99 Guava & Lime Raspberry & Lemin Classic cocktails from £2.99 Espresso Martini Strawberry Daiquiri Tommy's Margarita  Low- and alcohol-free drinks from £1.49 Erdinger BrewDog Punk AF Stella Artois Heineken 0.0 Kopparberg Strawberry & Lime Adnams Ghost Ship  Beck’s Blue Soft drinks from £1.49 Diet Pepsi  Pepsi Max R White’s lemonade Peps

Calling all members of the Bey Hive: the time has finally come. Beyoncé has announced that she will be touring her latest album, ‘Renaissance’, released in July last year. Much to our delight, the superstar confirmed the live dates were happening at the Wearable Art Gala in California on October 22, and now the European and North American legs of the Renaissance World Tour have been announced. There is a huge amount of hype around Bey returning to British shores, and people are already calling for the star to add more dates to her tour to satisfy demand. There’s been a serious scramble for tickets so far, with many fans complaining on Twitter that they were kicked out before reaching the front of the presale queue.  RECOMMENDED: The best Beyoncé songs of all time We expect that when the general tickets finally drop for ‘Renaissance’ in the UK they will sell out mega fast, so make sure to keep an eye out and plan ahead. Here’s everything you need to know about Beyoncé’s 2023 UK shows. When do Beyoncé’s Renaissance tour tickets go on sale? An O2 presale has already taken place, as well as separate Live Nation and venue presales. The BeyHive presale will go live on Monday February 6 from 9am to 6pm, while general public sale will start at 10am on Tuesday February 7. How much do tickets cost? As expected, tickets don’t come cheap. Prices for Beyoncé’s UK dates range from £56.25 for a seated ticket to £106.80 for a standing ticket, plus fees. VIP packages range from £1,960 to

Fed up of being ripped off by ridiculously expensive train tickets? Look no further: a new section in the London North Eastern Railway (LNER) app can apparently find you the cheapest tickets available for wherever you may be travelling to and from.  The app’s new ‘Deal Finder’ button on their homepage can instantly show you the cheapest possible train ticket prices for rides all over – and even out of – the country. Ranging from London to Scotland and most parts in between, it’s sure to save you a few quid on your next train trip.  One of the stellar deals on offer is a one-way ticket to Aberdeen from London King’s Cross for a measly £43 (the route usually costs around £70). There are also trips from London to Leeds for just £20 and from London to Newcastle for £28. The app lays out all of the journeys on offer in chronological order, so is pretty intuitive to use. But just a heads-up: it’s best to avoid any trips at the beginning of next month as the LNER service will be drastically reduced due to more train strikes on February 1 and 3.  Stay in the loop: sign up to Out There, our free newsletter about all the best stuff to do across the UK.

If you spotted a bus-full of saplings riding around in Birmingham this week and had to take a second glance, don’t worry: you saw that right. The no. 11 bus dropped off 600 blossom trees on Tuesday, ready for volunteers from the local community to plant just in time for spring. The trees were donated by The National Trust so that they can be planted along the bus route, which loops around the city. It is part of the organisation’s latest effort to boost biodiversity across the UK. Fruit trees have already been planted in other cities including Plymouth, Nottingham and Newcastle.  We're giving away more than 600 trees to schools, community groups and residents to recreate a "ring of blossom" around #Birmingham. And we're delivering some by bus today.#EveryoneNeedsNature pic.twitter.com/tUIGz7I1Da — National Trust in the Midlands (@NTmidlands) January 17, 2023 The project aims to recreate an iconic ring of fruit trees that used to encircle Birmingham in the mid-eighteenth century – when it was known was as ‘the town ringed by blossom’ – but were mostly cut down during the industrial revolution. It’s set to be a pretty dazzling sight, that’s for sure. Stay in the loop: sign up to Out There, our free newsletter about all the best stuff to do across the UK.

Known for his breakout role in hit TV series Bad Education, Layton Williams is a British actor who was born and bred in the market town of Bury, Greater Manchester. Although he made the move to London when he was 11, to pursue his acting career, he makes frequent trips back to his hometown to see his family. With a memory around every corner, Williams gives us a rundown of his favourite places to go for bite, a quick coffee – and even somewhere to hit the dance floor. Eat ‘One of my favourite places is a café called Automatic. In the daytime you can go for a coffee and chill, and maybe whip out your laptop and work. In the evening they do cocktails and it becomes more like a restaurant, somewhere you’d have an intimate dinner or a cute catch-up with a friend. I used to take my mum out for a meal there, back in the day – they serve up buddha bowls, vegan burgers and a variety of pizzas.’  Drink ‘For an oat milk latte, I like to head to Bloom Coffee Co. It’s got an Australian kind of vibe to it, and has a few bits and bobs to eat as well, like avo on toast (which is definitely not something you could get in Bury back in the day). The windows overlook the town’s church and square, so it’s a good space to watch the world go by and do some people-watching.’  Do ‘The award-winning Bury Market has around 200 stores and is well worth a wander. My step-mum used to have a stall there that sold baby wear; I used to help her out when I was younger. And if you’re a veggie or vegan like my

It’s that time of year when we’re all starting to make plans for the months ahead. Many of you may be into the idea of a nice sunny holiday somewhere new. And if that’s the case, we’re on hand with some inspo. More than 100 new air routes have just been announced across UK airports for 2023 – and we’ve picked out the highlights below. This is our non-exhaustive list of the major flight routes launching across the UK over the coming months. We’ve arranged them by the airport they’re leaving from. RECOMMENDED: The 15 best places to visit in the UK in 2023 London Gatwick  March 26 – British Airways – Aruba (via Antigua) March 26 – British Airways – Las Vegas May 19 – British Airways – Vancouver May 31 – TUI Airways – Ohrid Manchester March 29 – Ryanair – Venice May 1 – Jet2 – Tivat May 31 – TUI Airways – Ohrid June 23 – Norwegian – Copenhagen May 6 – TUI Airways – Budapest Edinburgh  March 28 – Ryanair – Venice May 17 – WestJet – Calgary May 25 – Delta Airlines – Atlanta June 2 – easyJet – Catania Belfast (International) March 26 – Ryanair – Girona March 26 – Ryanair – Krakow March 27 – Ryanair – Beauvais  May 1 – Ryanair – Valencia June 22 – TUI Airways – Orlando Melbourne London Heathrow  March 25 – Delta Airlines – Los Angeles April 16 – British Airways – Florence June 5 – British Airways – Cincinnati November 4 – Virgin Atlantic – Providenciales London City  January 16 – Luxair – Antwerp April 3 – Aer Lingus Regional – Newquay April 23 – Lufthansa – Frankfurt May 6 – Aer

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ll have noticed that the internet has been buzzing with headlines detailing some pretty juicy revelations from Prince Harry’s upcoming memoir ‘Spare’. There have been stories about how he lost his virginity to an ‘older woman’, revelations about him killing Taliban fighters in Afghanistan and even goss about his penis and cocaine use. There’s been a lot of speculation about how much we will discover about life in the royal family, as well as Harry’s relationship with his brother, Prince William, and his love story with Meghan Markle. Here’s everything we know about ‘Spare’ so far. When is Prince Harry’s book ‘Spare’ released? The book will be released on January 10 2023 in a whopping 16 different languages.  How can I pre-order it? You can pre-order the book via most major book retailers, such as Waterstones. If you’d rather hear the prince read the book himself, the audiobook is available for pre-order on Audible. What is Prince Harry’s memoir about? ‘Spare’ is the long-awaited autobiography of Prince Harry. The book includes reflections on grief, youth and the complications of royal life. There are sections dealing with the death of his mother, his marriage to Meghan Markle and his eventual exit from the royal family in February 2021.  What are the biggest revelations we know so far? Some of the stories that we can expect to read have been leaked (as copies of the book accidentally went on sale a few days early in Spain), includi

It’s that time of year when people like to treat themselves (just a bit) to get through the January blues. A slick new hair do? A day trip to your fave seaside town? An entire Regency-era square in Bath? Ohh, go on then! If you’ve watched the Netflix drama Bridgerton, then you may recognise Beauford Square in Bath. Now the whole thing (yes, the whole thing) has hit the market – with a whopping £18.5 million price tag. Just a five-minute walk from Bath Abbey, the square holds 13 houses, four apartments and two commercial units. It was developed by St John’s Foundation charity back in 1730 and is now being sold for the first time in 300 years. The property featured in the first season of Bridgerton that aired back in December 2020. Beauford Square can be easily spotted in episode two when main characters Eloise and Penelope discuss the pregnancy of a maid, as well as several other scenes. Fancy having a snoop around? The collection of properties is being sold by the St John’s Foundation and estate agents Carter Jonas. Stay in the loop: sign up to Out There, our free newsletter about all the best stuff to do across the UK.