When my friends suggested we go for afternoon tea for my birthday recently, I jumped at the chance. I love afternoon tea. One of my friends works for a foodie magazine so after asking one of her colleagues where we should go, we had a shortlist of Bea’s of Bloomsbury, the Dean Street Townhouse and the Berkeley Hotel. I plumped for Bea’s of Bloomsbury as I liked their menu and at £24.50 for a full afternoon tea, it wasn’t too expensive compared to some afternoon teas in the capital – some charge eye-watering sums of money. Bea’s of Bloomsbury is a small chain…

Welcome to part two of my Wells adventure, which after Wells Cathedral and Vicars’ Close focuses on the remaining part of the city’s triumvirate of medieval masterpieces – the Bishop’s Palace and gardens. The partially-ruined Bishop’s Palace has been the home of the Bishop of Bath and Wells for more than 800 years and is steeped in history. The palace, along with the 14 acres of gardens that surround it, lies in the heart of the city, a stone’s throw from Wells Cathedral, concealed behind high stone walls. To get inside, you have to cross a large moat, which is home to a…

Straddling the Essex-Hertfordshire border, the Lee Valley Country Park is a 1,000 acre picturesque site teeming with wildlife and the home of the Lee Valley White Water Centre (where you can follow in the footsteps of the London 2012 Olympic canoers). It’s also a surprisingly peaceful and calming place to while away an afternoon. Aside from the odd cyclist, dog-walker and family picking blackberries and raspberries, I came across very few people during my two-and-a-half hour stroll along the banks of the River Lee and its surrounding wetlands. I did, however, enjoy the company of lots of birds, including some very curious swans and a gaggle…

When my friend told me we’d be spending the day on a barge near Maldon in Essex, I had visions of a genteel Rosie-and-Jim-style barge trip down a canal. I did wonder quite how we were not only going to fit 30 of us onto such a snug boat, but where on earth they’d serve us all afternoon tea. Much to my friend’s amusement, my fellow city-dwellers and I had quite the shock when we discovered the barge in question was actually a fairly large wooden sailing boat (unbeknown to us otherwise known as a barge). Maldon is a pretty, charming town…

Last Friday, the Charterhouse, near Smithfield Market in London, opened to visitors for the first time in its 700+ year history. I’d walked past the medieval manor many times when I lived in London, always dying to have a peek inside, so when I was in London yesterday, my friends and I decided it was time to have a look around. The Charterhouse dates back to the mid-14th century when the area was used as a burial ground for victims of the Black Death. In 1371, a Carthusian monastery was built on the site and it remained a monastery until…

I was given the GCHQ Puzzle Book for Christmas, and while I’ve only solved the first three puzzles so far, it reminded me that I’ve not yet blogged about my visit to Bletchley Park, the centre of Britain’s code-breaking activities during the Second World War. I have an incredible amount of respect for the men and women who worked so hard to crack the secret messages being sent by enemy forces during the war. Largely because I’m so appallingly awful at deciphering codes and am in awe of those who can unravel the seemingly indecipherable series of letters, symbols and numbers. So…