High quality natural skincare for lovers of of the finest ingredients! Organic, herbal extracts and high quality essential and cold pressed oils that are blended into delightful cleansers, serums and balms. Tried, tested and trustworthy. Make for great presents that smell utterly delicious.

A children’s bookshop and cafe in the heart of North Yorkshire. A colourful spot: come for a brunch of toasted crumpets and tea with the young’uns, then indulge in Roald Dahl & books about the Great Outdoors. Also attracts big name authors for book signings, like Ella Woodward of 'Deliciously Ella'.

'Sabah shoes' are a simple slipper that come in a rich variety of colours. The shoes are handmade by a craftsman in southeast Turkey. Mickey Ashmore discovered them in 2013 and now travels the world selling them. Buy 'in-person' through the travelling dealer or online (orders accepted worldwide!).

Saddle Purses, Special Edition Canyoneers, Water Slings and Brown Bifold Wallets. They even make the prettiest mustard coloured fanny packs. Well made leather items to facilitate adventure. All made by talented leather craftsman Chris Franks.

The place to go for unique ‘found’ artefacts from British social history. Examples from founder, Jessica Farnham’s, ‘shop’ include a pair of decorative antique Sicilian lions, an old advertising paperweight and a granite porcelain photo developing dish. It’s rich pickings you won’t find elsewhere.

Although Manchester has a thriving independent beer culture, don’t miss out on the nearby Bollington Brewery. Beers include a mild and stout, plus an excellent after-dinner ale. It has three pubs on the edge of the Peak District; in Bollington, Macclesfield and Poynton.

Experience a slice of New Forest heritage by witnessing the annual “pannage”, when wild pigs snuffle up the acorns that are poisonous to the forest’s ponies. Book a day’s walking with Harry Oram, the chief forester for 20 years, who knows the best spots to see the pigs enjoying their pannage feast.

Held annually in September, this is the place to go for an Indian Summer with temperatures often staying high until November. The festival runs throughout September, with lobster feasts, surf-and-turf barbecues, pop-up crab shack evenings and a one-off Island Hopping Supper Safari!

National Parks are a stargazer’s paradise, with some of the best night skies in the country. This is celebrated at the Dark Skies Festival. Since 2016's inaugural event, the festival has become a fixture across the Yorkshire Dales, North York Moors, Northumberland and South Downs National Park.

A renovated Georgian townhouse, now with a façade of Victorian yellow brick, that offers five sumptuous rooms and walks in the nearby Elan Valley, where the six dams create beautiful water and hillside scenery. The website boasts that teapartys have been going on here since the 1880s.

A free of charge festival! Explore one of the UK’s finest historic landscapes on-foot as part of the first ever High Weald Walking Festival. Take one of a multitude of routes such as the ‘Winnie-the-Pooh’ walk or the Brede High Woods walk led by site manager, David Bonsall.

Go to the Ribble Valley and stay at the Spinning Block Hotel. The Hotel is a truly impressive, meticulous conversion of the oldest of Clitheroe’s Textile Mills. The Hotel is part of a complex – including the Boiler House and the Weaving Shed.

Pick up a mini beignet from your nearest Whole Foods Market en route to work. They’re a circular doughnut covered in powdered sugar and with a delightful chocolatey centre. One is just enough and will set you up for a good day.

Bonne Maman may be known for their delightful conserves but have you sampled the yoghurts? Yoghurt with a rhubarb, raspberry or strawberry layer. Truly wholesome French yoghurts that make for a pleasant dessert or pick-me up any time of the day.

Quite simple – but very charming. And probably very practical. An unpretentious tote bag for carrying books or your shopping around. Jolly handy.

The gift of a voucher to spend at Anthropologie would be money well spent. Undoubtedly there will be trinkets you’ve lustily admired from afar, and many will have been sourced at this shop. Their bedding, crockery, jewellery and furniture are all heaven-sent.

Stonehenge’s little known rocky rival. It may not have the pomp and glamour of Stonehenge but it far more easily approachable and equally enigmatic. It adds to the experience that the village of Avebury seeps into the middle of the circle, such that daily life takes place amidst antiquity.

The country is now forever branded as real-life Middle-earth by global legions of Tolkienites. Luckily for you – this means a swelling number of themed tours of Queenstown, Matamata and the Southern Alps.

Funny how it takes someone to die before you realise how utterly fantastic their music is. Work your way through Aretha’s albums to experience the very best. ‘I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You’ is a good place to start, with Respect for starters.

The C12th Knights Templar built Temple church to recall the architecture of Jerusalem. Its rotunda evokes the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, which crusaders claimed as the Temple of the Lord. Climb the church’s ancient spiral staircase & you can peer down on the medieval effigies in the Round.

These are Cold War relics on a shingle spit in Suffolk, built to test Britain’s atomic bombs. Here the bomb’s detonators were put in pits & subjected to the shocks they might experience en route to a target. The ‘pagodas’ were not designed for visual effect – they were built to control bomb blasts.

Epic expanses of colour. Red-wash walls that provoked a near ‘religious experience for Rohko’ whilst at work. When Rothko gave his Seagram Murals (1958-59) to the Tate, he requested that they should be set in a room of their own, wit tinted walls and dimmed lighting.

See what they have lined up to perform and make it a priority to plan a visit! All stucco and gilt, with make-believe drapery and historic styles pillaged for ornamental effect. It was built by brilliant Frank Matcham in 1991 and originally its purpose was as a variety theatre.

A memoir about depression that the Guardian describes as ‘anything but miserable’. This book is an account  of how moving east from the Chilterns to Suffolk and its fresh landscape, its barn owls and hedgerow flowers brought Mabey back to life. A book that sings with love and wonder.

An overlooked wonder! The very best way to share wine. It will make you feel almost instantly holiday-ish, even if beached up on home turf. It’s the way wine would be served at your favourite holiday trattoria and will add a little ceremony to your splash. Have a look at Zara Home for a few ideas.