Make the most of the UK
After the past 18 months, we’re desperate to get away. But Christabel Smith believes good old Blighty is the only place to be
Don’t be too downbeat if you’re not jetting off abroad – here’s why GB is the place to be this year
Summertime and the livin’ is easy… or, at least, a blooming sight easier than it has been of late. A long time ago (2019), we would start planning where to go for our summer holiday as soon as we’d chucked out the last of the Christmas turkey. Now, such behaviour seems as outdated as booking tickets without reading the cancellation policy or leaving home without a face mask.
Those old conversations along the lines of ‘I hear Croatia’s gorgeous’ have been replaced with ‘They say the lavender fields of Norfolk are just as picturesque as Provence’.
What we lose in warm seas, we win in not having to stress about travel corridors. Better 10-mile tailbacks in the West Country than queueing at the airport, only to be told that the plane’s still in Palma.
Here are eight of the many reasons to be cheerful about holidaying in Britain.
‘Adopt a relentlessly cheerful expression and say, “Isn’t this lovely?”’
2 PIE + PINT + PRETTY PUB GARDEN = PERFECT
…or prosecco and a panzanella salad, depending on where you go! Our pubs are the envy of the world, and lockdown has given many a new lease of life, as landlords have found creative ways to expand their outside space, using pods, canopies, tents and teepees. Whether you choose a cute country inn with a thatched roof, a city slicker or a coastal terrace such as Belle Vue Tavern in Kent’s Pegwell Bay (thebellevuetavern.co.uk), you’ll have the added feelgood factor of knowing that your custom is helping the hospitality industry to get back on its feet.
3 I’LL TAKE A COURSE, OF COURSE!
Staying put for summer may mean you’ve missed out on genning up on the architecture of Ancient
Greece or the viticulture of Portugal (aka downing Vinho Verde and Mateus rosé by the gallon), so how about learning something new? You name it, you bet you’ll find a course on it. How about ice-cream making, using seasonal produce? A scoop of pear and Parmesan, anyone? (schoolofartisanfood.org) Or maybe you fancy coasteering, an exhilarating mix of walking and swimming along the coastline? Getting close to nature doesn’t come closer than this – you’ll get to know GB in a very intimate way as you’re eyeball to eyeball with her rocky limits (headlandhotel.co.uk in Newquay is just one glorious location offering a course). A calmer option would be learning to make your own flower crown, hat or fascinator to wear to that postponed wedding (craftcourses.com or search ‘millinery courses near me’).
4 WALES LOOKS LIKE BALI (ON A GOOD DAY, IF YOU SQUINT)
Showing off to our friends is obviously an essential part of our travel enjoyment, and there are corners of Britain that lend themselves perfectly to the envy-inducing social media post. Elegug Stacks in Pembrokeshire is a dead ringer for the clifftops of the Balinese island of Nusa Penida if – repeat if – the weather is right. There are beaches on the Scottish isles that give Barbados a run for its money, while Somerset’s Cheddar Gorge trumps Skippers Canyon in New Zealand any day.
5 WARM THE COCKLES OF YOUR HEART
Overseas visitors are often caught out by the unpredictability of the weather in Britain, which turns today’s sunbathers into tomorrow’s drowned rats. You, however, are a seasoned veteran, hence your car boot jammed with tarpaulins, wellies and serious rain gear, along with the sunhats and parasols. Thanks to the months we spent shivering outside when meeting indoors was banned, there are many new options for keeping warm in style. You may or may not be able to persuade your other half to wear a hipster Action Blanket (hebtro.co), but a recycled cashmere wrap is hard to resist (turtledoves.co.uk).
6 EXPLORE THE PARTS OTHER HOLIDAYS DON’T REACH
This is your chance to treat the summer of 2021 as a mini gap year, visiting the places you always wanted to see but never had the time because you were on Europe’s Costas and Cotes instead. There’s a fair chance the big-ticket destinations in the Lake District and West Country will be displaying ‘FULL’ signs, so venture off the beaten track to uncover new delights, telling everyone that you’re ‘on a safari that’s not “so far-i” from home’. If you’re heading north, Sunbiggin Tarn is one of the Yorkshire Dales’ rare lakes, famous for its murmurations of starlings; while in Somerset, walk or cycle along the disused Strawberry Line train track to spot otters, owls, butterflies and bats. If you brave the steep path to beautiful Blackgang Beach on the Isle of Wight, there’s a sight for sore eyes in a different kind of way – it’s popular with nudists.
7 KEEP THE HOME FIRES BURNING
Waking up to a sunny day triggers a switch in the British psyche. All over the land can be heard cries of ‘Barbecue?’
‘You’re on!’ Since we’ve been spending more time in our gardens, our grill skills have become more sophisticated. We think nothing of whipping up a tasty marinade, stuffing a fish or serving up homemade burgers that cater for all.
A few suggestions:
✢ Make a hasty, tasty Asian chilli marinade for chicken or salmon, using 4tbsp sriracha, a grated chunk of ginger, 1tbsp palm sugar and the juice of 2 limes.
✢ Marinate 2 whole, cleaned sea bream in a paste of 4tbsp soy sauce, 4tbsp brown sugar, 4tbsp fish sauce, juice of 4 limes plus zest, grated chunk of ginger, 8 crushed garlic cloves, 3 chopped shallots and 6 chopped red chillies (deseeding optional). Wrap each one in tin foil and cook directly on the coals (lid down) for
25-30 minutes.
✢ Pulled pork in a soft bun with coleslaw is a crowd-pleaser, and jackfruit, fresh or canned, makes the ideal vegan alternative.
If you’re out and about, wood-fired pizza vans are increasingly popular – what’s not to love about a slice of smoky sourdough margarita/pepperoni with a cold beer?
8 WHO DOESN’T LOVE A DORSET KNOB?
Your seafood paella and pasta pomodoro can wait for another year as you sample some of our, ahem, more unusual regional delicacies. Stargazy pie from Cornwall is a pie made of whole pilchards, whose heads poke out of the pastry. East Scotland’s red pudding is an artery-assaulting, sausage-shaped, deepfried mishmash of bacon, pork rind, suet, colouring and beef fat. After a slice of Buckinghamshire bacon badger, made from suet, bacon, onion and potato, you may have room for a Dorset knob, the small, dry biscuits made from bread dough, which come with a giggle guarantee.