Jetsettersblog

With fabulous landscaped gardens, a backdrop of Bassenthwaite Lake and imposing North Cumbria fells including Skiddaw, the Castle Inn Hotel provides a spectacular wedding venue, especially for photograph opportunities.

The hotel is licensed to hold civil ceremonies in a choice of four rooms. It can cater for wedding for between 2 and 200 guests with an additional 100 guests in a marquee if required. One of the highlights of a religious ceremony arranged with the hotel is option to exchange vows at St Bega’s church. This pretty little church is set in an idyllic location by the shores of Bassenthwaite Lake. The church offers stunning views in every direction including lake or Ullock Pike.

Ideal for special weddings, the Castle Inn Hotel offers complete wedding packages from the ceremony right through to the wedding breakfast and evening entertainment. The hotel can be hired for exclusive use and can accommodate guests in 46 high quality en-suite comfortable rooms. An experienced wedding planning service is available for advice and support with arranging

Standing out from the crowd is the wedding breakfast where guests can choose on the day from a choice of two dishes per course. For later arrivals, an evening buffet can be provided tailored to the bride and grooms choice.

Wedding packages at the hotel are entirely flexible and will be arranged to suit each individual’s requirements, whether they are hiring the entire hotel or specific areas.

Wedding breakfast costs from £29.00 for two courses or £33.00 for three courses per person. Drink packages start at £16.50 per person to include four drinks around the wedding reception. Room hire varies from £55 to £385 depending on season and room size chosen.

For enquiries visit www.castleinnhotel.co.uk  or call Naomi Downs or Katie Batson on 017687 76401 to arrange a preliminary meeting to discuss individual requirements.

30 December 2011 -1 January 2012

The world’s original New Year party promises three days of theatre, music, dance and street party extravaganzas, attracting massive crowds from across the globe. On the opening night of the festival (30th Dec) revellers can join the Torchlight Procession as it flickers through the city, culminating in a spectacular Son et Lumiere and fireworks finale on Calton Hill. They can then dance beneath the stars at the main event (31st Dec), the world famous Edinburgh’s Hogmanay Street Party, which combines live music stages, a traditional outdoor ceilidh event, the headlining Concert in the Gardens and one of the world’s greatest fireworks displays. This year’s festival is packed with both free and ticketed entertainment with a serene Candlelit Concert set in the St Giles’ Cathedral, plus a full programme of entertainment on New Year’s Day, including guest lectures and debates, street theatre and The Loony Dook; a New Year’s Day dip in the freezing waters of the Firth of Forth.

www.edinburghshogmanay.com

Stately home near Melton Mowbray is latest accommodation partner for new Leicestershire food and drink short break campaign

Visitors to Leicestershire can enjoy luxury accommodation at Stapleford Park near Melton Mowbray as part of the Taste of Leicestershire Gourmet Break campaign.

Leicester Shire Promotions’ Taste of Leicestershire short break provides visitors with the chance to experience some of the tastiest gastronomic delights in the UK including quality local produce, awarding-winning restaurants, historic markets, food festivals and of course, the traditional Melton Mowbray Pork Pies and Stilton cheese. Stapleford Park is the latest accommodation partner for the campaign and for just £175 per couple, visitors can book the Taste of Leicestershire Gourmet Break and enjoy a choice of three out of five top gourmet activities with overnight accommodation and breakfast at one of England’s finest stately homes.

Stapleford Park offers a stunning blend of architecture, history and landscape. Set in 500 acres of woods, parkland, beautiful gardens and with a heritage stretching back to the 14th century, the setting is unique. This superb rate is available Sunday to Thursday, with additional nights available at £160 per room.

For more information and to book your Taste of Leicestershire Gourmet Break break, visit www.goleicestershire.com  or call 0844 888 5181.

On the Taste of Leicestershire short break, you will experience Leicestershire’s ultimate

foodie destinations including a trip to the UK’s Rural Food Capital, Melton Mowbray. Here you can sample the lip-smacking cuisine as well as learning the history of how Melton was instrumental in providing the country with many of its enduring food traditions.

Famous for supplying the country with some of the most scrumptious food, Melton Mowbray is synonymous with Pork Pies and has to be the first stop on the food tour. Here, you can be amongst the quarter of a million visitors per year which head straight to ‘Ye Olde Pork Pie Shoppe’ to sample handmade, authentic and delicious Pork Pies.

Owned by bakers Dickinson & Morris, it has been located in the town since 1851 and is the oldest Pork Pie bakery in the county. As one of Leicestershire’s most popular exports, the Melton Mowbray Pork Pies were created in the middle ages and became a favourite snack amongst huntsmen in the area. After the hunting season finished many huntsmen retired back to London, but still had a craving for Melton’s Pork Pies. Soon word spread of these delicious treats and a delivery of the pies were shipped down the great North Road by stagecoach. Today, Melton Mowbray Pork Pies are recognised internationally as the world’s best Pork Pies and have gained Protected Geographic Indication status from the European Union in the same way as Champagne and Parma Ham. It is also a tradition in Leicestershire to eat a Pork Pie on Christmas Day for breakfast!

The feast continues in Melton with a trip to Stapleford Park, the perfect English sporting country house for a spot of afternoon tea. It is a little known fact that Melton actually gave the country one of its most enduring traditions, as Anna Maria Stanhope invented Afternoon Tea whilst staying at Belvoir Castle in Melton Mowbray in the 1840s. Anna, who was staying with the Duke and Duchess of Rutland, became tired of the long wait between lunch and dinner so she ordered the butler at five o’clock to bring her some sandwiches, buns and cakes to be served with tea. Soon she started inviting her friends to the Castle to join her for Afternoon Tea and when she moved down to London she took the custom with her and so the famous tradition was born.

At Stapleford Park you can take part in this favourite pastime with a delicious cream tea. You can tuck into homemade scones, clotted cream and strawberry compote in the elegant surroundings of the drawing room or have it on the beautiful terrace and soak up Leicestershire’s breathtaking countryside.

Arguably, the most famous food to come out of Leicestershire is cheese and no gourmet break is complete without sampling one of the widest selections of cheeses in the country (120 varieties stocked in total!) during a stop at the Melton Cheeseboard. Amongst the selection, is of course the ‘King of English Cheeses’, Stilton. Registered as a product of designated origin, Leicestershire is one of only three counties in which it can be produced. The collection also includes the nation’s favourite, Red Leicester cheese and a variety of local cheeses from Leicestershire and the surrounding areas, guaranteeing you an authentic taste of the county.

As well as local produce, Leicestershire also plays host to an abundance of award-winning restaurants and rural country pubs, with The Red Lion Inn in Stathern being just one of the must-visit places on the county’s foodie map. This 17th Century pub, demonstrates the county’s culinary credentials by serving succulent dishes using fresh and local produce.

Upon your arrival to The Red Lion Inn you will be offered a complimentary drink from the pub drinks list, which includes local beers and liqueurs, then sit back and enjoy their generous pub platter for two which includes seasonal soup, deep-fried whitebait, pub cured Salmon, pub pickles and chutney, pub cured meats, pub terrine and salads.

After indulging in some of the finest foods in the UK it’s only right to sample the local tipple too, and Leicestershire knows how to make a good drink. With the phrase ‘painting the town red’ originating from the county, the Belvoir Brewery has commemorated this claim to fame by creating the Melton Red and other fine beers brewed on site. You can also go behind the scenes and watch the brewers crafting the beers and learn about the history of brewing.

For your chance to experience a real taste of Leicestershire, Leicester Shire Promotions is offering an exclusive gourmet deal. In addition to the exclusive Stapleford Park offer, for just £99 per couple you can have overnight accommodation plus breakfast in either the Sysonby Knoll Hotel or Scalford Hall Hotel and still choose three out of the five activities above to tuck into.

About Leicester Shire Promotions:

Leicester Shire Promotions is a private, not-for-profit company formed in July 2003 and is a partnership between Leicester City Council and Leicestershire County Council. The company is the Destination Management Organisation (DMO) responsible for promoting Leicester and Leicestershire to visitors, based on a coordinated place marketing strategy that focuses on destination leadership and coordination, attracting and visitors, services for and visitors, and services for the tourism industry. For more information, please visit www.goleicestershire.com  or follow us on Twitter @l_p_l

Local City of London guide brings the Square Mile’s history alive

Guests at Mint Hotel Tower of London can now explore the unique history of the City of London by taking a walking tour with a qualified local guide from only £8 per person.

City of London guide Geoff Boyd promises to show guests buildings and locations that reflect life in the City over the past 2000 years and talk about historical figures who helped shape it.

“These walking tours introduce guests to the City – the heart of London, developed originally by the Romans,” said Boyd, who leads each group. “I reveal the history of this contemporary city and introduce guests to some of the characters who were the lifeblood here.”

Highlights of the 90-minute tour include All Hallows by the Tower, the oldest church in the City of London. Samuel Pepys climbed the tower of the church to survey the damage caused by the Great Fire of London.

Boyd also leads guests to the River Thames and the old headquarters of the Port of London, located opposite Mint Hotel Tower of London, in Trinity Square. Leadenhall Market provides another stop, built on a Roman site and used as a location in the Harry Potter films.

From London’s first coffee house, built in the 17th Century, to the Royal Exchange and the Bank of England, the tour also incorporates a look at new buildings under construction in the City. “There is some wonderful 20th and 21st Century architecture here,” added Boyd.

“Mint Hotel Tower of London is always looking to provide special extra touches for our guests and these new walking tours are a perfect example of that,” said the hotel’s general manager, Patrick O’Connell.

“Geoff is a well-known, well-respected City of London guide and he really brings the history of the local area alive.”

To arrange a walking tour from Mint Hotel Tower of London, please contact hotel reception staff. Walks last for around 1.5 hours but shorter tours can be arranged on request.

Price points vary according to the size of the walking group. For groups of ten or more, the cost is £8 per person. For groups of five to nine persons, the cost is £10 and for groups of five persons or less, the cost is £12.

Please note, walks are not suitable for children under the age of 12 and there is a minimum requirement of two persons per walk.

To celebrate both its opening and inaugural shooting season, The Bell in Ticehurst is offering a limited number of exclusive pheasant shooting days for single guns or small groups of up to eight people, including up to two places available on each shoot to those who are new to the sport.

Each shoot day, in October and November 2011, can be booked as part of a luxury package arranged by The Bell including a full breakfast prior to departing on the shoot, a luxury hamper lunch and afternoon tea and a 5-course game dinner in our private dining room. Accommodation is provided in The Bell’s individually-designed en suite guest bedrooms.

The Bell is located a short drive from the A21 which is the main London to Hastings Road (London, approximately 90 minutes), or guests can be picked up from nearby stations in Wadhurst or Stonegate. Partners are welcome at a small extra charge, to cover accommodation and meals, and guests can stay either two nights (Sunday and Monday) or on Monday night only.

These are 150 bird days, generally over five drives. Drives are from woodland and cover crops, with birds being driven across undulating and wooded countryside. Birds will be found, flushed and retrieved by an experienced Labrador gun dog with dog handler. Each gun will receive the traditional brace of game birds on departure.

The package, with one night’s accommodation, costs a total of £1,000 (inclusive of VAT) per gun and includes:

Full English Breakfast

Mid-morning ‘pickers’ pick-me-up’ after two or three drives

Luxury field lunch

Late afternoon tea, back at The Bell

Traditional 5-course gourmet game dinner on Monday evening in private dining room

Overnight accommodation (Monday) with breakfast

The price for a two night stay (Sunday and Monday) is £1,200 and includes an additional evening meal.

Experienced guns will be expected to bring their own shotgun certificate and insurance (BASC/CPSA/CA etc.). Novice guns (maximum two per shoot day) will need to be accompanied by an experienced loader, provided by the shoot at a small extra charge. The cost for partners accompanying standing guns is £75.

Booking enquiries: shootdays@thebellinticehurst.com

Both Christmas Day and New Year’s Day fall on a Sunday this year, making it a bit more complicated for those who are tempted to get away to the Alps for their first ski break of the season. To help make holiday planning run more smoothly, Lagrange is offering customers extra flexibility this winter holiday season with flexible arrival days, 8 and 9 nights for the price of 7 and short breaks.

Flexible arrivals

Over Christmas and New Year, Lagrange is offering flexible arrivals at selected self-catering chalets and apartments, giving customers the choice to start week stays on Friday, Saturday, Sunday or Monday. For example, Christmas at a one bedroom ski-in/ski-out apartment in the Lagrange Prestige Les Chalets Edelweiss in Plagne 1800 is £1750/apt/wk either from Monday 19/12 to Monday 26/12 or from Saturday 24/12 to Saturday 31/12. Or for those who prefer to travel on a Friday, Christmas at a two bedroom apartment in Les Montagnettes Cimes & Vallon in Belle Plagne is £2630/apt/wk from Friday 23/12 to Friday 30/12.

8 and 9 nights for the price of 7

In addition to flexible arrival days, Lagrange is offering 8 and 9 nights for the price of 7 at selected accommodation. The possibility of arriving one or two days earlier at no extra cost allows more time on the slopes in addition to the choice to arrive on whichever day is best. Self-catering chalets in Morillon are on offer for 8 or 9 nights for the price of 7 over Christmas from £965/chalet while chalet apartments in Courchevel are available for 8 nights for the price of 7 from £3270/apt over New Year. And for those who prefer a pre-Christmas break in order to be home in time to spend Christmas with the family, one bedroom apartments in La Rosière are only £1521 for 8 nights from 16/12 or just £1372 if booked before 31/10.

Short breaks

Already used up your holidays for 2011? Never fear, the four-day Christmas weekend and three-day New Year weekend offer the perfect opportunity to escape to snowy peaks for a short break and one of Lagrange’s recommended hotels close to Geneva will maximise your time on the slopes. Over New Year, the three-star Hotel Le Petit Dru in the charming resort of Morzine is £379/adult for three nights 30/12-2/1 on half board, including New Year’s Eve dinner, based on two sharing a twin or a double room. Or for a longer stay over Christmas, the two-star Hotel Richemond in the centre of Chamonix is £226/pp for four nights 23/12-27/12 on B&B, based on two sharing a twin or double room.

Lagrange Ski 2011/12 offers one of the widest ranges of French resorts, from villages to large ski domains. Forty-eight resorts feature in the brochure and an even wider programme of over 70 French resorts is available online. As well as high-end self-catering Lagrange continue to feature accommodation to suit all budgets and styles, from simple studios to large self-catered chalets, plus a selection of short ski breaks. Accommodation can be booked alone, or with ferry, Eurotunnel and rail packages. For brochures and reservations call 020 7371 6111 or visit www.lagrange-holidays.co.uk

Rodin’s “The Kiss” Short Breaks Margate’s Walpole Bay Hotel and Ambrette Restaurant combine to provide romantic mini-breaks

Champagne, Chocolates, Roses, Rolls Service – and a 10-course aphrodisiac tasting menu

To celebrate the arrival of Rodin’s famous sculpture, “The Kiss” at Margate’s Turner Contemporary this autumn, the town’s famous Walpole Bay Hotel and Michelin-listed Ambrette Restaurant are joining forces to offer a special romantic mini break package.

The renowned Indian fine dining Ambrette will serve an exquisite 10-course aphrodisiac sampler menu, using ingredients known for their positive effect on the libido. The aphrodisiac menu will be served on the day of the statue’s unveiling on the Tuesday 4th October, and thereafter throughout the exhibition, which lasts until 2nd September 2012, by special request at 24 hours’ notice.

The legendary Walpole Bay has double rooms from only £75 a night including buffet breakfast. A superior 4-poster suite costs £145 a night in high season. Couples can upgrade to the Walpole’s special “Celebration Package” with champagne, chocolates, flowers and breakfast in bed for an extra £75.00. Guests can also arrange to be collected service in the hotel’s chauffeur-driven Royal Royce Silver Spirit from the Margate station, which is 4 miles away, for only £30.

The Walpole has a long connection with the art world and features its own Napery”, a textile art gallery, displaying works on linen table napkins from more creative guests and internationally renowned artists including Russell Crotty and Ellen Harvey (both Turner Contemporary exhibitors), Curtiss Tappende, Martin Parr and Tracey Emin.

The hotel also serves as a living museum of social history with original features and permanent displays of antiques, photographs, period costumes and artefacts.

The lightly spiced dishes The Ambrette promises a very different fine Indian experience, where guests taste the real herbs, rather than have their flavours overwhelmed by strong spices.

A keen student of Indian cookery, Ambrette’s chef-patron Dev Biswal learned how aphrodisiacs are intrinsic in the social fabric of a country that portrays itself to be highly conservative.

As a child Dev spent a lot of time in Orissa, a magical land with parts lost in time. The temples are covered in highly erotic and beautiful carvings of men and women – sometimes in groups – from the Kama Sutra, the ancient Indian text on human sexual behaviour. He had never seen such an energetic celebration of the sexual energy. These temples were built in the pre Islamic periods when people enjoyed sexual freedom in society. These stone sculptures used to baffle Dev’s adolescent mind, asking, “If sex is sinful, then how come the abode of the Gods are covered with sexual impressions”

Build just before the First World War extended in 1927, The Walpole Bay Hotel is now being lovingly restored to her former glory by the Bishop family. It was built by Louisa Budge and stayed in her family until 1995, before being acquired by the Bishops. The caged 1927 Otis Trellis lift, serving all 5 floors, is the centrepiece of reception.

Coastal Cottages of Pembrokeshire is highlighting a range of properties where couples can enjoy a four-night break for a total of £99 – equating to just £12.50 per person, per night.

The £99 offer is available between 24 September and 17 December (excluding the October half-term) at more than 100 cottages in coastal and countryside locations throughout the county.

Properties on offer include Farmhouse Cottage, a converted dairy in the quiet hamlet of Trevinert and situated less than a mile from the sea and the tiny, cathedral city of St Davids with its shops, pubs, restaurants and galleries.

A selection of the featured properties can accommodate more than two people, with the cost for each additional person being £49 for four nights and some cottages may be subject to a fuel charge.

Reservations: 01437 772760, www.coastalcottages.co.uk

To celebrate a successful year, HF Holidays – the UK’s largest walking and leisure activity holiday organisation – is highlighting superb savings (worth up to £281) on all its three, four, six and seven-night guided walking and leisure activity holidays taken before 30 November 2011 at any of its 17 UK Country Houses.

The maximum discount is available, for example, on a seven-night Unmissable Britain holiday – offering a mix of activities each day combining guided walks with other ways to discover the countryside – based at Glen Coe in the Scottish Highlands.

Options include white water rafting, horse riding, visits to the Isle of Mull, the Isle of Lismore and Urquhart Castle, an evening meal in Oban, plus a selection of walks. The revised price of this seven-night holiday starting 01 October is £438 (saving £281).

Or a four-night guided walking break based at Chy Morvah – the company’s Country House situated just a short walk from Porthminster beach in St Ives, Cornwall – is reduced to £239 (saving £186). Walking options – a choice of three each day – include the coastal path, unspoilt beaches, Lizard Point and Land’s End.

Three-night breaks now cost from just £199, whilst six-night options are from £398. All bookings must be made by 31 October 2011.

All prices are per person, twin-share and include full-board accommodation at the company’s Country Houses, transport as required, plus the services of HF Holidays’ leaders.

0845 470 7558, www.hfholidays.co.uk

A refurbished centre for the Atholl Estates Ranger Service has opened as part of a scheme to upgrade ranger bases throughout the Cairngorms National Park. This forms part of a wider programme of information, visitor and ranger centre refurbishments in the area and aims to give visitors a memorable experience of the park. Last October, the boundaries of the park were extended south to Blair Atholl, making the historic village and Atholl Estate’s landmark, Blair Castle, a new gateway to the Cairngorms. Rangers in the area have started a regular blog to help people keep up to date with all the latest news from the UK’s biggest national park.

http://athollestatesrangerservice.blogspot.com/