Variety’s the spice of 2018
Fancy escaping the whoop-dedoo? Small is beautiful in foodie, artsy Helmsley, a quiet market town in Yorkshire where locals gather in the main square at midnight for a bagpiper and fireworks.
And as it is the gateway to the North York Moors National Park, you can start your “get fit” New Year’s resolution by cycling, riding or hiking in its woods and heather moorlands. Alternatively, slow down to experience spectral phenomena.
Take the four-hour circular walk from Helmsley to Rievaulx Abbey, part of the Tour de Phantome. You might see a 17th-century woman at Helmsley Castle and hear bells ringing and monks chanting in the ruins of Rievaulx.
Return to reality over local pork pies, scones and cakes in the abbey’s cheerful cafe.
HomeAway (020 8827 1971/ homeaway.co.uk) offers seven nights in a converted barn in Old Byland, four miles from Helmsley for £1,085 from December 30 (sleeps six), self-catering. Yorkshire Coast tourism: discoveryorkshirecoast.com Take a barrel. Fill it with tar and paraffin. Set it alight. Now put that barrel – with flames zooming upwards – on your head and parade through the village of Allendale in Northumberland.
That’s what 45 “guysers” do as midnight approaches. Said to echo pagan rituals, the Tar Bar’l Festival combines costumed locals, band music and a spectacular finale that sees the flaming barrels tossed on to a giant bonfire in the Market Place.
After Auld Lang Syne, the guysers go “first footing”, bringing New Year cheer and luck. The following morning, kick-start the New Year with a walk along Don’t just dip a toe into the New Year, jump right in.
See in 2018 in Tenby, Pembrokeshire, with its picturepostcard harbour, Georgian houses, medieval stone ramparts and fireworks on Tudor Square.
Then start the year with a challenge: the annual New Year’s Day Swim on nearby Saundersfoot beach. Around 2,000 swimmers are cheered into the water by a