Whitby We left Liverpool New Years Day and began the trek across to the east coast, bypassing Manchester, Leeds and York on our way. We'd just passed York and were venturing onto the "b" grade roads when the snow started appearing out the car windows. We'd know it was cold the night before, but hadn't realised it had snowed. At once stage we joined about 20 other cars and parked on the side of the road and got out for a snowball fight and so Mum could bui...

We arrived in Liverpool as it was getting dark and checked into our hotel for the night. Seeing as I think this was Dad's ultimate dream place, we immediately headed out to find the Beatles store and the Cavern Club. Leaving him to it when Mum and I got sidetracked by a few clothing stores, we browsed before finding Dad in awe and wanting to buy lots from the Beatle's store. I have to admit it was pretty cool and I did end up buying a shirt (it didn't say Beat...

Hay-on-Wye and driving through Wales We arrived in Hay-on-Wye late in the afternoon and found a B&B to stay at before on the advice of the owner venturing back into town. Hay-on-Wye is the second hand book capital of the world so as you can imagine, I was in heaven. Basically it was a whole street or 2 of book stores. We amused ourselves in them for a few hours until they shut at 7pm before going and finding some dinner. It was so cold and I thoroughly e...

Devon and Cornwall We entered Devon late in the afternoon so our main priority was to find a place to stay for the night. A glance at the map, and we decided to try our luck in Torquay, a little coastal town. It was pretty obvious on entering the town that this was a major tourist destination due to the number of b&b's. We found a cosy one to stay in and set out to walk around and find some dinner. Even at night, Torquay was lovely, very relaxed and with...

Brighton and Portsmouth Mum, Dad and I picked up our rental car at Heathrow airport and immediately jumped on the M25 to get out of London, heading down south to Brighton. We arrived at this famously popular beachside town around 1pm and immediately headed to the pier. Unfortunately, Brighton in winter on a freezing, wet and windy day isn't a pleasant experience. We wandered the pier, well were nearly blown off the pier and tried to think warm thoug...