A valley fit for a queen? Now you’re Tolkien ...
Stewart Binns is a Bafta-winning filmmaker and author.
A former SAS man, Stewart’s new novel Betrayal (Michael Joseph £7.99), his seventh, is published to mark 20 years since the Good Friday Agreement and 50 years since the start of The Troubles in Northern Ireland.
Stewart, 67, and wife Lucy live in Somerset and have twin boys Charlie and Jack.
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hrough my work in television I’ve been incredibly fortunate to travel to many countries, most packed with holiday locations of which dreams are made.
Even so, my favourite place in the whole world is no more than a stone’s throw from where I grew up, in Burnley, Lancashire. Now a slightly forgotten little place, it used to be called King Cotton, the centre of Lancashire’s cotton industry.
I remember the countless mill chimneys belching thick soot, the stark pitheads and the dark, dank atmosphere. But Burnley sits high in the Pennines, where the air is clean and the views spectacular. Cutting through those Pennines is my own little piece of heaven, a place to which I love to return whenever I can.
To those who know the relatively unsung Ribble Valley, a number which apparently includes no less than the Queen herself, it is a haven of serenity.
To diehard Lancastrians, the only flaw in the River Ribble’s sedate progress from the High Pennines to Preston, where it meets the Irish Sea, is that it begins its journey in Yorkshire!
It has many claims to fame: rugged moorland, quintessentially green and pleasant pastures, picture-postcard villages and Pendle Hill, the brooding lair of its legendary witches.
Tolkien is said to have based The Shire of Middle Earth in The Lord of the Rings on the area around Stonyhurst College, where his son studied for the priesthood.
Tolkien must have known what the Ordnance Survey has recently announced, that the geographical centre of the British Isles is located in the middle of the Valley.
On its northern boundary is the historic Forest of Bowland, one of England’s most remote regions.
An area of wild moorland, its lower slopes used to provide excellent deer hunting and is still overseen by a hereditary Bowbearer.
We like to call it God’s own country and don’t take kindly to anyone disagreeing with us!
▼ STARRY EYED
Enjoy an overnight stay at Glenapp Castle near Galloway Forest Park – home to one of the UK’S Dark Sky Parks.
Prices start from £250 per person (two sharing) and include a three-course dinner, breakfast and intimate stargazing in its Victorian walled garden.
Book before March 29 by visiting prideofbritain hotels.com or call 0800 089 3929.
▼ CALIFORNIA DREAMIN’
Explore America’s Golden state with British Airways.
The airline is running trips to California in March from £1133 per person (two sharing) for seven nights if booked by Wednesday.
Included are return flights from London Heathrow to Los Angeles, a choice of hotels and car hire.
Visit ba.com for more offers.
▼ LIFE’S A BEACH
Treat the family to a luxury beach-side holiday in Lara, Turkey this May.
Seven nights at the all-inclusive, five-star Delphin Imperial hotel costs from £505 per person for a family of four.
Return flights from Glasgow, departing May 10, are included.
For more information, visit travelrepublic.co.uk or call 020 8974 7200.
▼ SNOW LIMITS
If you loved the Winter Olympics, head to La Plagne in the French Alps to see the adrenalin-fuelled Super Slalom on March 31.
One week’s self-catering costs from £59 per person, based on four sharing a studio apartment.
Return easyjet flights (London-geneva) cost from £182 per person.
Visit la-plagne.com