Barnsley museum in England's top 15 free attractions list
Cannon Hall was acquired by the council from the Spencer-Stanhope family in the 1950s and opened as a museum. It has a Georgian walled garden, glasshouses and Victorian pleasure grounds.The data estimated that tourists brought in £3.7bn for the region's economy.Yorkshire Wildlife Park in Doncaster was the most popular paid-for attraction in 2024, with more than 894,000 people buying tickets.Commenting on the data, Sarah McLeod, chair of the South Yorkshire Local Visitor Economy Partnership, said: "By working collaboratively, we can drive sustainable growth, ensuring that - now more than ever - we encourage visitors to stay longer and spend more with our local businesses."
The South Yorkshire Local Visitor Economy Partnership consists of Rotherham, Barnsley, Doncaster and Sheffield councils, the South Yorkshire mayoral office, and representatives from the private sector.Coppard added: "Our heritage and culture doesn't just enrich our lives and shape who we are - it drives our economy too. With a £3.7bn boost and more than 32,000 jobs supported, the impact of arts, culture, and tourism is clear. When we invest in our people, our places and our stories, we create growth and opportunity, and we build hope."
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The Guardian
44 minutes ago
- The Guardian
The Parallel Path by Jenn Ashworth review – a soul-searching walk across England
When Jenn Ashworth set out on Alfred Wainwright's 192-mile coast-to-coast walk, from St Bees in the west to Robin Hood's Bay in the east, she was stepping out of character. Her daily circular walks round Lancaster during lockdown were no real preparation, and a brief orienteering course was no guarantee that she wouldn't get lost. She wasn't walking for charity or running away from a marriage or, like the fell runner who'd done the route in 39 hours, trying to break any record. A homebody 'inclined to slowness', she was a 40-year-old novelist, professor and mother of two going off on her own for two-and-a-half weeks for reasons she couldn't quite articulate. Not that there weren't contributory factors. Lockdown had left her with post-Covid cabin fever, itchy to be elsewhere after the long months of caring for her family and students ('a one-woman battle against entropy'). She also knew that at every pub and guest house she'd booked en route supportive letters would be waiting from her terminally ill but brilliantly animated friend Clive. Most importantly, although her walking wouldn't be solitary, since she couldn't avoid bumping into other (potentially annoying) hikers, she'd be 'the sole owner of my own skin again'. As she flogs herself 'onwards towards impressiveness', her journey is marked out plainly. The chapters detail the distance and destinations of each day's walk. They also convey how brittle, sour and grumpy she can be, and how blistered and footsore she gets: she might be 'off on a jolly' but there's a price to pay, in pain and guilt. She doesn't go in for nature writing: when she evokes 'the damp green air and the heavy, alive smell of the still-wet branches and mulchy undergrowth', it's a plain-as-muck authentic response, not a 'soft' poeticism. Maybe that's down to her being grittily northern. She does reflect on what it means to come from the north, but her version of northern-ness isn't Alfred Wainwright's, whose 'gruff complaining' she engages with throughout – enjoyably and sometimes scathingly. He's not the only fellow traveller in her head. Nor is Clive, with his letters, nor Ben, her late first husband, whose 24 marathons in 24 months, completed after he was diagnosed with terminal cancer, were an amazing achievement. Mostly it's writers she carries with her – Henry David Thoreau, William Hazlitt, Werner Herzog (who walked from Munich to Paris to see his dying mentor) and Virginia Woolf – whose ideas inspire her own. (Had it come out sooner, David Nicholls's novel of last year covering the same route, You Are Here, might have featured too.) What's captivating about her book is all the thinking she does mid- or post-trek: on writing, friendship, welfare, illness, Charles Atlas, climate change, protest marches, knitting, and why it is that in popular mythology 'walking women' are either models on a catwalk or sex workers. As she wanders, her mind wanders. Solvitur ambulando: she's not sure what exactly it is she's trying to solve by walking, but the book's as much an invigorating mental workout as it is a hard physical trudge. Memories surface, too, from childhood and adolescence: of a girl called Alice she knew who died in a 'horrible accident' when Ashworth was 10 and whose photo she hid in a bottle; of her volunteering for the Samaritans as one of the women (Brendas, they were called) who'd listen on the phone to distressed or lonely callers, including men who'd masturbate as they talked; of how she returned to Preston from Cambridge University 34 weeks pregnant at the age of 21 and made it her home again. In her last nonfiction book, Notes Made While Falling, Ashworth devised a method that married narrative fragments with philosophising lyrical essays. Here the storyline is simpler – a walk, start to finish – but the method is much the same. Towards the end comes the threat of failure. She loses her balance and falls – no injury is sustained, but the dizziness feels ominous. Then a heatwave arrives, making the scheduled completion of the walk impossible. The complications gather to a major health crisis, closer to home than the one affecting Clive. Mercifully, there's an upbeat outcome, adding another layer to the motif of care. The walk that the author saw 'as a break from the labour of care turned out to be a path that led me deeper into understanding my own need for it'. 'Not until we have lost the world do we begin to find ourselves,' Thoreau wrote. Ashworth didn't walk 192 miles in order to find herself. But she's newly conscious afterwards not of her stamina and sure-footedness but of her frailty, of how 'my body is more fragmented and vulnerable than I wanted it to be'. Despite her guise as an 'armoured little being stomping her way across the entire country', she's forced to embrace a new kind of gentleness. And rather than exulting in independence, she's back among friends and freshly available to 'the traffic of love'. Chastened but buoyant, she's stimulating to be with, her book the best kind of walking companion. The Parallel Path: Love, Grit and Walking the North by Jenn Ashworth is published by Sceptre (£20). To support the Guardian order your copy at Delivery charges may apply.
Times
an hour ago
- Times
22 of the best treehouse stays in the UK
There's nothing quite like climbing a ladder or crossing a rope bridge as you approach your cosy perch for the night to zhuzh up some childhood nostalgia. But there are plenty of other reasons to book a stay in a treehouse — whether it's soaking yourself in nature and birdsong, unplugging from modern technology, or admiring the way these woodland homes allow their owners' architectural and artistic creativity to flow more naturally than it would in a commercial hotel. And nowadays you don't have to sacrifice creature comforts either, as many come equipped with swanky coffee machines and sound systems. Thanks to acres of pristine woodland and a legacy of craftsmanship, the UK is one of the best places to find tranquil tree-hugging boltholes. Follow our guide to the best treehouse stays in the UK. This article contains affiliate links, which may earn us revenue £ | DOG-FRIENDLY | Sleeps 8 This contemporary-styled treehouse in North Yorkshire is perfect for big families or groups of friends. It sleeps up to eight people across a three-bedroom main cabin and secret separate pod accessed via its own bridge. There's super-fast wi-fi so you can host a film night, and the kitchen, equipped with a Nespresso coffee machine, dishwasher and large fridge-freezer, could be straight out of a showroom. The little details have been considered too, like soft bath robes for stepping out of the outdoor hot tub. It's part of a wider holiday camp which offers in-cabin spa treatments, home-delivered meals and kayak or cycle hire. • Best hotels in Yorkshire £ | DOG-FRIENDLY | Sleeps 2 At this treehouse you can play act at being lord of the manor by taking your very own boat out for a row on your private lake. Inside, the property is similarly full of sweet touches and the hosts even provide milk and breakfast cereals on arrival in case you don't have time to pick some up. But if it's pure luxury you're after, be warned: this is not it. The treehouse is totally off-grid, so fresh drinking water comes from a bowser, the cooking facilities are a gas camping stove, and if you need the loo, you'll have to head to the composting loo among the trees. Oh and there's no shower. It is, however, well located with knockout views. Both Dartmoor National Park and the rugged north Devon coast are a short hop away. • Cornwall v Devon: which is better? ££ | DOG-FRIENDLY | Sleeps 5 A country house hotel for our times, Wildhive Callow Hall, outside Ashbourne, has an indoors-outdoors approach that extends to the accommodation. As well as 15 bedrooms in the main house (appropriately decorated in soft botanical colours and leafy fabrics) there are 11 one-bedroom suites peppered through the woods. For ultimate woodland escapism, however, the ones to book are the hotel's two treehouses. They're geared more towards self-catering than the one-bedroom Hives, with open-plan sitting rooms and kitchens, outdoor copper baths, two en suite bedrooms each and a pup-friendly policy. • Lake District v Peak District: which is better? £ | DOG-FRIENDLY | Sleeps 10 If walkers and mountain bikers go down to the woods at Garwnant they will be in for a big surprise. As well as the kingfishers and otters they're used to spotting at Coed Taf Fawr — the large forest area that Garwnant belongs to — they will see much larger visitors; Forest Holidays opened a site here in 2023, covering 400 acres and including three Golden Oak treehouses. These four-bedroom cabins on stilts have a further treehouse suite reached via a rope bridge. Looks-wise they veer more towards Dunelm than Grand Designs, but they're an oak-solid option for multigenerational groups. • Best beaches in Wales £ | DOG-FRIENDLY | Sleeps 2 This wonky house at the top of an old oak looks like something that's been magicked together by one of the fairies in Brian Froud's paintings. Shelves built into the tree's gnarled trunk, straw-bale walls, off-kilter staircases winding up into the branches, a skylit master bedroom accessed via a steel ladder — you'll find them all here, as well as hand-carved benches, a cob fire and a wood-fired Japanese-style hot tub. It's properly off-grid, with a composting loo, solar lighting and zero wi-fi — but there are few more bewitching places near the Welsh borders. • Most luxurious places to stay in Herefordshire ££ | Sleeps 4 With its conical roof, arched windows and lofty cedar rafters, there's a hint of Harry Potter about this charming little treehouse near Mayfield. A winding boardwalk leads up to the cabin, lodged in its own area of private woodland. Inside, there's space for a lounge (with sofa and wood-burner), and a light-dappled kitchen and bathroom, while the master bedroom is just about big enough for a family of four, with a couple of extra beds in the loft (accessed by ladder). The decked terrace makes an ideal spot for breakfast, with birdsong providing a bucolic soundtrack. • Best luxury hotels in Sussex £ | Sleeps 2 The outside may whisper 'Squirrel Nutkin' but this treetop hideaway in Anglesey is surprisingly slick inside: its fitted kitchen, modern wood-burner and galaxy of downlights wouldn't look out of place in a conventional holiday cottage. Roughly circular in shape and ringed by a wooden deck, it sits overlooking fields at the end of the owners' garden. Inside, the standout feature is a central glass column that frames the branches of an oak tree: it's a handy reminder to pick up the binoculars and bird-watching guide provided and explore the local wildlife. • Best things to do in Wales £ | DOG-FRIENDLY | Sleeps 4 Tarzan would get a bit more luxury than he bargained for if he were to shimmy up the branches into this Devon treetop retreat, which has a hot tub, pizza oven and copper bath tub on wheels (soak indoors or slide out for an alfresco wallow). Set on a 20-acre estate within the Unesco-designated North Devon Biosphere reserve, the cosy timber hideout is tailor-made for parents seeking romance. As well as a king-size bed with a view, there's a second bedroom with bunk beds and a large projector screen for post-pizza cinema nights. • Best campsites in Cornwall £ | Sleeps 4 Imagine a human-sized bird box shaped a bit like ET's head and you get a pretty close picture of Living-Room's arboreal abodes. Its six two-bedroom treehouses are perched among oak, larch and Scots pine trees outside Machynlleth. There's also a separate treehouse shop. Spiral staircases have been built for five of the treehouses; their rustic style is so in keeping with the surroundings they look as though they've been woven by squirrels. Enjoy bluebell-fringed walks, spring water showers and the chance to do some dark-sky gazing just that bit closer to the stars. ££ | Sleeps 2-4 Cotswolds tree-huggers have been able go one step further and embrace their inner tree-sleeper since six treehouses opened in 2023 at Elmore Court, a sustainable wedding and events venue just west of Gloucester. Don't expect tipsy partygoers to conga through the nearest clearing late at night though. Sleeping between two and four, the high-rise cabins speckle the edge of the estate's woods, well away from wedding parties. Gaze out from your wraparound deck while you wait for your pre-ordered breakfast hamper to arrive, and you can soak up tranquil scenes of the estate's rewilded land. £ | DOG-FRIENDLY | Sleeps 4 This heart-shaped treehouse perches amid Laverock Law's handful of holiday rentals, inland from Holy Island. Crafted from local wood and sheep's wool, it's peppered with low-impact luxuries like organic bedding, hand-thrown crockery and homemade cake. Romantics can wallow in sunrises, sunsets and starry skies with the help of skylights, portholes and even a little heart-shaped pane in the front door, while a bunk room and a sister business offering family-friendly activities such as cooking classes and wild walks make it a good family option too. £ | DOG-FRIENDLY | Sleeps 10 A prow-like RIBA award-winning house, wedged into a wooded slope on the oak-lined Chevithorne Barton estate, Verte is one for those who like to enjoy the high life — in all senses. This towering larch-clad lair dispenses with whimsy in place of elegant, contemporary design and luxury fittings. A circular fireplace takes centre stage if you want to boost the building's geothermal heating, and there's a Sonos sound system. Wood is the focus, though; as well as bosky views and that larch cladding, the house's dining table and spalted stairs are both made from a storm-felled beech tree. £ | Sleeps 2 A collection of hobbit house-like burrows, summer houses and pint-sized cottages on a farm near Dunblane, Craighead is as close as Perthshire gets to Tolkien's Shire. Among its storybook rentals is Ash Tree Howf (not a Hobbitish spelling of house but a Scots word for a haunt), built into an old ash tree. While some treehouses are essentially suites on stilts this is the real deal, its hand-crafted, higgledy-piggledy form topped by little shingle-roofed turrets and embellished by viewing platforms spinning off into the tree's branches. The enchanted forest approach continues inside with a sink set on twig-like legs and a dedicated star-gazing window. • Best unusual places to stay in the UK• Best Airbnbs in the UK ££ | Sleeps 2 Herons, hares and showboating pheasants are amongst the wildlife that call Red Hurworth Farm home. There are plenty of places to spot them during a stay here; on a walk around the wildflower-bracketed reservoir as the sun dips or — perhaps more tempting — as you soak from your hot tub in one of the farm's two treehouses, Nuthatch and Wren, which overlook a natural pond. Despite being cocooned by fields as far as the eye can see, the cedar-clad treehouses are ultra-modern inside with Sonos speakers, underfloor heating and a basket of treats including popcorn and hot chocolate. Should you wish to overlook the reservoir you can also book one of the lakeside lodges — complete with hot tubs and swish, suspended log burners — instead. ££ | DOG-FRIENDLY | Sleeps 4 Treading a neat line between blingy and bucolic, this two-bedroom treehouse may be off-grid, but solar power and bottled-gas heating mean it's not short on frills; on the decking there's a wood-fired hot tub and a zellige-tiled outdoor shower, while inside you'll find a huge stone bath, Minirig speakers and even a Nutribullet blender. Decorated in soft, muted tones, it has pops of colour to add a playful element, especially in the first floor 'tent' bedroom, which was designed by the interiors company Côte de Folk. It's accessed via a hatch and comes with billowing colour-block curtains and candy-striped bed linen. ££ | DOG-FRIENDLY | Sleeps 2 Near Gargunnock, on the fringes of Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park, the four treehouses at Leckie may be clean-lined and contemporary in style but the big idea is minimal impact on the surrounding landscape as it transitions from traditional sporting and farming estate to a more wildlife-focused setting. Each treehouse is built into the canopies of sycamore or oak trees, using timber sourced from the estate, and air-source heat pumps provide heating and hot water. For an alternative warm-up, try a hike around the estate's Leckie Broch and waterfalls. • Most beautiful places in Scotland £ | Sleeps 2 You don't need a particularly good head for heights to stay at this new tin-roofed treehouse a few miles northwest of Penrith. Set on a working farm on the fringes of the Lake District, its position part-way up a hillside means you can walk in at ground level but enjoy sweeping views from its lofty front decking as the land drops away below sturdy birch balustrades. There's a homely, handmade feel to the furnishings: an outdoor bathtub is filled from taps upcycled from copper piping and kitchen cupboards are colourfully mismatched. • Best campsites in the Lake District ££ | Sleeps 2 They've taken the arboreal theme and run with it at the Treehouse at Bainland Lodge Retreats. One of more than 30 different accommodation options in an upmarket 45-acre holiday park, it's a true dendrophile's den with cosy timber walls, a hot tub with a view of the park's lake and trees, and the rustic good looks of a kind of souped-up Swiss Family Robinson homestead. You'll find a restaurant, bar, swimming pool, gym, farm shop and range of bookable activities on the site, which is within walking distance of Woodhall Spa; for a night out on terra firma, take in a screening at the village's legendary Kinema in the Woods. ££ | Sleeps 2 One for those who grew up reading about the mice in the Brambly Hedge children's books, whose multi-storey country houses were hewn into the trunks of old trees. The Old Oak is built around the boughs of a mighty old Essex oak tree, with some of those boughs snaking up through the floors and walls, and staying here is as close as you'll get to a visit to the Old Oak Palace of Lord and Lady Woodmouse. There may not be pantries stuffed with acorns or thistledown carpets, but there is a roof terrace for stargazing, a bath with a view and twin hammocks on the balcony for gazing up at spinning leaves. £ | DOG-FRIENDLY | Sleeps 2 Exeter may be within 40 minutes' drive, but city life feels magically far away when you gaze from the balcony of this small treehouse cabin just south of Exmoor. Overlooking 24 acres of woodland, it's perched on the edge of what was once a quarry. In the 200 years since they stopped extracting iron here, nature has reclaimed the land, turning the tumbling landscape below into a rainbow of dappled greens: a view best soaked up from the outdoor bath. One other important feature is the cabin's accessibility. Unlike many treehouses, this one is fully wheelchair-friendly; there's even a hoist for that outdoor bath. £££ | Sleeps 2 It's all about the thoughtful details at this simple A-framed treehouse, surrounded by two acres of private woodland. Featured on Channel 4's Extraordinary Escapes with Sandi Toksvig, a barrel sauna, outdoor bath and cocktail trolley set a celebratory tone while the mezzanine bedroom's ceiling-to-floor window allows for easy leaf-peeping, or bird-watching, from bed. Home-made sloe gin and shortbread are provided, and breakfast hampers and BBQ boxes can be ordered in advance. Go wild swimming in the Wye, visit nearby Tintern Abbey or light the floating fire and snuggle into the green velvet sofa to gaze at the flames. ££ | Sleeps 2 The chic, minimalist Pinwheel is a treat for architecture lovers with a layout designed to mimic a child's pinwheel toy. It's in an area of outstanding natural beauty and one-way glass allows guests to appreciate wildlife up close without scaring animals off. The compact space ticks plenty of boxes, including shard-like floor-to-ceiling windows that give views onto the leafy surroundings while maintaining privacy, as well as a wood-fired pizza oven, a terrace with a swing and a hot tub. You can reach the Jurassic Coast in 25 minutes by car; and if you fancy a change from self-catering, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's River Cottage is a 20-minute drive away. Additional reporting by Marianna Hunt, Yasmin Choudhury and Lucy Perrin • Best luxury glamping in the UK• Best romantic weekend breaks with a hot tub in the UK• Best campsites in the Cotswolds What's your favourite UK treehouse stay? Please share in the comments below
Finextra
2 hours ago
- Finextra
FCA proposes reforms of mortgage rules
Borrowers will find it easier to remortgage, saving time and money, under changes confirmed today by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). 0 The package of measures is part of a series of reforms the regulator is undertaking to mortgage rules to help people navigate their financial lives and support growth by ensuring more people can benefit from choice in the mortgage market and the security of homeownership. Under these changes, borrowers will: • Find it easier to reduce their mortgage term, helping to lower the total cost of borrowing and reduce the risk of repayment extending into retirement. • More easily remortgage with a new lender, helping them access cheaper products. • Be able to discuss options with their mortgage provider and get advice when they need it. The FCA expects many borrowers to continue to benefit from regulated mortgage advice. Lenders are expected to consider what is appropriate to identify consumers who need advice or other support. Emad Aladhal, director of retail banking at the Financial Conduct Authority, said: 'We are helping more people navigate their financial lives by supporting those who can afford to buy a home and supporting competition in the mortgage market. 'Consumer needs have changed over recent years, and our rules are changing too. Today's changes support growth by simplifying some of our rules, saving consumers time and money, while ensuring they still benefit from advice, where needed. 'We want lenders to use these changes to innovate and better serve aspiring homeowners and existing borrowers. These reforms are another significant step in our mortgage rule review, which we're delivering quickly. They are supported by the strong protections we've already put in place for consumers in the mortgage market'. As part of the changes, the FCA is also removing guidance that has served its purpose to reduce the regulatory burden. Reform of the mortgage market is possible because of the high standards set by the FCA. These include effective affordability checks, support for those who get into financial difficulty and the Consumer Duty, which requires lenders to achieve good outcomes for borrowers. Changes to the mortgage rules were included in the FCA's letter to the Prime Minister earlier this year, linking with the goals in its strategy to help consumers and support growth. While these changes are voluntary for firms, supporting sustainable home ownership and a competitive mortgage market is a collective responsibility. The FCA is playing its part and is encouraging firms to use these flexibilities to help broaden access, strengthen competition and support greater innovation and choice for consumers.
