Plymouth Maids Clog Dancers were established in 1980 and have been entertaining ever since then all…read moreover the South West of England and sometimes far beyond, including overseas! They perform a variety of dances mainly in the style of North West Morris. I was one of the Maids from 1990 until 1995 and thoroughly enjoyed it! They are always on the lookout for new members; these days they practise at the Plymouth City Bus Social Club, Milehouse (at 8.00pm), learning new dances from October to May before performing in public in the summer months (and sometimes in the winter). The blue and white costume is based on the working clothes of a 19th century mill girl, and made by the members themselves. It is personalised by embroidery on the apron (the only half-decent bit of embroidery I've ever achieved!) I have no problem in recommending the Maids to either join as a dancer, or to go along and be entertained!

The annual St Ives Festival is in the first two weeks of September. This is a boutique arts…read morefestival, with an emphasis on folk, world music, jazz, and the visual arts. A full set of listings is available from the website, and tickets can be bought from the Tourist Information Office at the Town Hall in Street-an-Pol (or online or by phone). As well as events in the Town Hall, there are all sorts of fringe events in local pubs and clubs, films in the cinema, youth theatre, poetry readings etc. There is an associated 'Artists Open Houses' event, with a flyer listing times and places when you can visit artists in their homes or studios.

A boutique-ish three-dayer that began life in summer 2010 in countryside near the perimeter of…read moreCardiff International Airport, Watusi is an interesting additional to Wales's undersubscribed festival season, from a collective of the region's promoters. Small in scale but big on ideas, the musical policy is on the laidback side, DJs spinning sounds spanning Brazilian, funk, reggae and Afrobeat music, plus live performers dealing in whimsical folk, indie-rock and audio-visual sets. The atmosphere is similarly tranquil - midway between hippy jam and refined middle-class relaxation - albeit sporadically interrupted by its location directly under the flightpath of the nearby airport. It proves weirdly hypnotic, however, as everything from light planes to international commercial aircraft approach to land at regular interviews. You may not be so impressed should your mornings involve sleeping off the previous night's excesses, of course; compensation is a stunning sea view beyond the festival's fences. The drinks are heavy on local brewers, commendably reasonably priced for a festival (ordinarily carte blanche to charge extortionate money for generic drainwater), and the food, while not such fantastic value for money, is hearty with good vegetarian options. If you don't drive, the trip is only a minor inconvenience, less than 30 minutes walk from bus and rail links. Here's hoping Watusi becomes an annual fixture.

I wish there was a magical little extra star I could heap atop this review. 6 stars are certainly…read morewell deserved. ****** I had a truly fantastic weekend at this festival over the weekend. Fortunately the weather held out and a good time was had by all, I believe. Highlights of this year were (of course) Hugh Lupton telling traditional British stories, Melanie Ray with Tristan and Iseult, and Daniel Morden just in general. Hand to Mouth Theatre also provided wonderful entertainment with their dragon puppet show, which was hilarious fun for all ages. The sign of a good festival is coming back exhausted and full of excitement for next time. And this is certainly the case for me; I'm currently on my second day of bed rest! Well done to everyone who performed and put this magical experience together. I really cannot sing your praises loud enough, my friends!

What a disappointment... some signs gave the closing time as 5pm, but in actual fact it was 4pm all…read morethis on half term week, but at least they managed to keep the car park charging period to 5pm, shame nobody thought that for the cafe or the gift shop. Although a damp and squally day the attraction does have potential with good looking playgrounds and manicured landscape and I will give it a second chance

Great outdoor playground for children. We paid £1.80 to park for 2 hours and the children (3 & 7)…read morehad a great time playing. Even fun in the drizzle. Didn't get to the cafe and museum but these looked good for older ones. Quote from 7 year old "Fun, creative and unusual". Quote from 3 year old "Billy goat". Thanks for a nice morning.

Well! I'm getting really bloody excited! We are only a couple of weekends away from the pretty…read morespecial Fair Play Festival! This is a three day Music and Art festival that takes place at two great venues in Cardiff, and features a dizzying list of performers and artists. The most stunning thing about it is that it is only a tenner! Yes, you heard me right! A tenner! I shit you not! That's three days of live music and art for a tenner! Honest! Here's a few highlights: The Boiler House is hosting one of the stages throughout the festival, and has had a recent makeover by the SIN Cru, a graffiti collective that is comprised of street artists from all over the UK. (Canvas and prints will also be available at one of the stalls during the festival.) Rachel Taylor Beales will be performing on Saturday afternoon... if you haven't seen this musical alchemist with the hauntingly beautiful voice, you had better not miss this opportunity to understand why I think she is so utterly special! Dirty Revolution will be raising the rafters on Saturday night and Cakehole Presley will be putting in an illustrious performance. The very wonderful Whistling Buiscuits will have you dancing out of your skin with a big fat grin on your silly little faces and VJ Skulpt will be driving whacked out onlookers straight to rehab with his mind-bending visuals... There's early bird tickets on sale at the moment, but I reckon you're going to have to get clicking on that link pretty darned quick if you want to be one of the lucky ones to get one!

The entrance to Pencarrow House and Gardens is a mile long drive through dense woodlands, which…read morecontain amongst other things rhododendrons, hydrangeas and one hundred species of conifer. The car park is of a fair size, but would fill up quickly on a busy day. Adjacent to the car park is a shop and an area selling plants. The shop sells the usual gifts and paintings, but also serves as the location to buy tickets for the house and gardens. Be aware though, they don't take credit cards. The gardens are stunning, very well landscaped and looked after, and complement the impressive Pencarrow House - a perfect place for taking pictures. There are actually over 50 acres of garden, which include Italian and American gardens, however, we didn't get very far into them because of the unpredictable english weather. Guided tours take you around Pencarrow House, which take place every half an hour. For us this really brought the house to life, the guide was knowledgable about the furniture, paintings etc, adding in fascinating anecdotal stories in each room of the house. The house is still lived in to this day, and has recently recieved the license to conduct weddings ceremonies and receptions. Alongside Pencarrow House is the Peacock Cafe, appropriately named as peacocks and chickens roam free range through the area of outside seating in the courtyard surrounding the cafe. The cafe has a compact menu of dishes like salads, sandwiches and cake. All very tasty, but a little expensive for the size of the portions. But the cafe's setting more than makes up for it though. Pencarrow is a hidden gem in Cornwall and one we thoroughly enjoyed.

Terrific farm shop and restaurant We stumbled across this…read morelovely farm shop and restaurant while we were on route from Torquay to Penzance. We spent some happy time browsing through the goodies at the farm shop and had a terrific lunch - delicious roast belly pork and cauliflower Stilton soup. The portions were generous, the staff were friendly and the prices very reasonable!

A good place to stop for breakfast or lunch if you're travelling along the A30; it's only a short…read morehop off the junction and a much better option than the higher-priced on-road services. It's a bit reminiscent of Tebay/Westmorland services on the M6 if you're familiar with that. Great farm food, well presented and spacious enough to cater for large numbers. Lots of outside seating and a play area for the kids. The restaurant menu is fairly extensive, and the staff are all decked out in matching uniforms and boaters and are very attentive. Good service with a smile. Plenty of goodies to buy in the farm shop too, although I found that the veggie options were heavily biased towards the cheese end of the spectrum so not much good for me with my dairy intolerance. But otherwise a great choice of local produce to take away.

If you want a slice of heaven:come here. Nestled in the…read moreSouth Hams of glorious Devon is Dartington. The mediaeval Hall & gardens play host to a Festival of Literature in July : Ways With Words & to a month of classical music in August : The Dartington Music Fesitval. I've seen such greats as Stravinsky strolling the lanes around the Hall in August.It is a simple pleasure of mine to take a blanket & a good bottle of wine & sit with a friend outside the Hall listening to marvellous music on a summer evening. There are 3 huge car parks & 3 buses a day Station is Totnes, 3 hours from London Paddington. If you want something more commercial, or even entertainment for children,drive down to the Cider Press on the Estate (see my review elsewhere)

Beautiful gardens to rival some of the best in the country, and they are free. I'm currently laying…read moredown in a serene secluded spot listening to bird song. Nearby there are wonderful tiered gardens, windy paths and amazing views and prospects. There's also a Henry Moore too. It's July and the Way with words literary festival is on, a middle class festival of delight but definitely worth checking out if you are here then for talks, events and pop up food spots.

One of the highlights of our UK travel this year was the opportunity to visit Eden Project in…read moreBodelva, Cornwall. Inside the two Biomes are collections of plants in diverse climates and Environments, the project also showcased extensive gardens with a wide variety of plant and flowers. Of the two Biomes, Mediterranean and Rainforest, I found myself more fascinated with the latter. The rainforest is way too realistic, the swamp, waterfalls and humidity its a good preview for someone who hasn't been to Asia or some tropical countries. The food court is also a destination in its own right; there are so many dishes to choose from as a matter of fact I believe that there were dishes from Africa, South America, Asia and of course some English dishes such as the local Cornish Pasty. It is a truly unique experience for me and I have never seen anything like it.

Interesting garden and biospheres. The tropical rainforest sphere was especially good. Informative…read moreboards detailing plants and how they add to our global diversity. I do think the price of £27.50 was very expensive for a one day visit, although that was for a year pass so a good deal if local or planning to go back. Although the site is incredible and the eco aspect interesting I have been to greenhouses with as much impact. Pleased I went but thought it overpriced