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Posts tagged ‘holidays’

The excellent breakfast from the Wheelhouse Snack Bar in Minehead, Somerset

Beer, Butlins and more Beer: Part Two

“Kay had been to Butlin’s several times as a kid and had memories of the classic holiday camp experience – mass-produced holidays churned out by the hundred thousand, from the wake-up tannoy call in the morning right down to the meals organised by sittings, and days and nights packed solid with fun-filled activities. I’d never been myself and was curious to see what the modern Butlin’s experience would be like.” After 40 years of holiday camp-free existence, Dave finds out…

CAMRA Somerset Beer Festival at Minehead Station, 17 September 2005

Beer, Butlins and more Beer: Part One

“We’d nearly finished getting the house ready to put on the market, we were due for a break, and we knew there was going to be a beer festival in Minehead. One of the three remaining outposts of the once-mighty Butlin’s empire was located in Minehead – and Butlin’s still offered accommodation for smokers. The idea of staying there was too daft for words. How could we resist?” Tempted by beer, Kay and Dave return to the West Country…

Aqueduct carrying the Canal du Midi over the River Orb at Béziers

Canal Capers

“It was one of these holidays that didn’t exactly run to plan. When we rented a house boat on the Canal du Midi for a week, we imagined sunning ourselves on deck and pottering about on the canal. In the evenings we would stroll to canal-side hostelries to quaff fine wines and scoff gourmet food at rock bottom prices. Yeah, and pigs might fly too.” A week’s boating holiday on the Canal du Midi doesn’t all turn out as imagined!