FOR years people have been saying that the British seaside holiday is dead and buried. Those advocating this view have pointed to the growth of cheap flights abroad through the Nineties and Naughties. Why would you want to holiday in a British resort where you would be served dreadful food, it would rain for seven days and then be charged a small fortune for the privilege? Brittany Ferries is even currently using the slogan 'Why have a British summer when you can afford a French one?' on its adverts.
In truth, things have moved on a long way since Fawlty Towers, and the bad service offered by proprietor Basil Fawlty, hit our TV screens in the 1970s – British seaside resorts have grown up and are ready to welcome guests with open arms. I’ve just had a great weekend camping with friends on the south coast. We experienced the stunning coastal scenery near Lyme Regis in Dorset and then moved on to the charming seaside resort of Sidmouth in Devon. The food was great, the weather scorching and the staff in pubs and restaurants were friendly. And I didn't even have to endure a rough overnight crossing on a ghastly car ferry.
A new report from academics at Sheffield Hallam University suggests that that Britain's seaside tourism industry has not only survived, but is in fact growing. It directly supports 210,000 jobs plus large numbers indirectly through the supply chain, contributing £3.6bn to the British economy. The industry in England and Wales employs as many people as the whole of the telecommunications sector.
You don’t need to look very far in any of our seaside resorts to see that the industry has adapted to survive – B&Bs are clean and serve great breakfasts using the finest locally sourced ingredients, many cafes have ditched the instant coffee and serve the finest blends from around the world, and restaurants have much more on the menu than just fish & chips.
At a time when private, rather than public, sector growth is needed more than ever before, the strength of the seaside industry will be welcome news for the new Government. We are at a point where we can truly say that our resorts are ‘open for business’ – we need to do all we can to market the individual towns to foreign visitors. If they become as bustling as Lyme Regis and Sidmouth were at the weekend, then we are on to a winner. And we will also start to reap the benefits.
Brittany Ferries claims that 'France is not only a truly magical holiday destination' and with their great it is easy on the pocket as well'. But I for one will be enjoying Britain this summer.
Monday, June 28, 2010
You don't need to be in Britain to discover our nation's riches
REGULAR readers of this blog have been asking me in recent weeks why I only seem to be writing about my travels in far flung countries like India, Dubai and Oman. If this is my chosen blogging subject matter then shouldn’t it be called ‘beingabroad’ or something similar? The simple answer is: no – ‘beinginbritain’ is a title that’s here to stay Allow me to explain….
Since setting up this blog, my emphasis has always been on discovering more about British heritage. I’ve toured our beautiful island and written about places in London, Manchester, Shropshire and the like. But Britain is about so much more than the cities, towns and villages stretching from Land’s End to John O’Groats.
Over the last 500 years we have, as a nation, had a major influence in numerous countries on all four corners of the globe. Take India, for example, where I visited just a few months ago. It was the British that brought the railways, the bureaucracy and the current schooling system. Walking around somewhere like Mumbai (formerly Bombay) today, you could be forgiven for thinking that you are actually in Manchester: the Victorian Gothic buildings with towering spires, have a remarkable resemblance.
There will be other opportunities to debate what sort of impact our colonial travels had on foreign populations. Anyone with even a limited grasp of history will know that the British didn’t always behave themselves when they took possession of foreign lands; there are probably literally thousands of books on the bloodshed that the British unleashed on local populations in most of the world’s continents at some point or another.
Here though my argument is that to discover all of this colonial history you need to travel to the places where the British had influence. You get a far greater impression and understanding of what it was like to like under the British Raj than you do by simply walking around the India galleries of the British Museum in London.
And a trip to the Indian subcontinent also continues the narrative of what happened after the British left by telling the story of the hardships for many today. Many live in slums, with no access to clean water and proper sanitation. Children grow up without a proper education and instead toil away in countless cottage-scale factories recycling goods for foreign international companies.
In summary, I’ve not deviated from my favourite subject of ‘Britain’ and ‘Britishness’ in recent months. I’ve just taken the opportunity to go abroad and delve further into the backstory of what makes our island such a special place. I’m now back in Bristol and can’t wait to bring you my thoughts from where British history began. It’s going to be a great summer.
Since setting up this blog, my emphasis has always been on discovering more about British heritage. I’ve toured our beautiful island and written about places in London, Manchester, Shropshire and the like. But Britain is about so much more than the cities, towns and villages stretching from Land’s End to John O’Groats.
Over the last 500 years we have, as a nation, had a major influence in numerous countries on all four corners of the globe. Take India, for example, where I visited just a few months ago. It was the British that brought the railways, the bureaucracy and the current schooling system. Walking around somewhere like Mumbai (formerly Bombay) today, you could be forgiven for thinking that you are actually in Manchester: the Victorian Gothic buildings with towering spires, have a remarkable resemblance.
There will be other opportunities to debate what sort of impact our colonial travels had on foreign populations. Anyone with even a limited grasp of history will know that the British didn’t always behave themselves when they took possession of foreign lands; there are probably literally thousands of books on the bloodshed that the British unleashed on local populations in most of the world’s continents at some point or another.
Here though my argument is that to discover all of this colonial history you need to travel to the places where the British had influence. You get a far greater impression and understanding of what it was like to like under the British Raj than you do by simply walking around the India galleries of the British Museum in London.
And a trip to the Indian subcontinent also continues the narrative of what happened after the British left by telling the story of the hardships for many today. Many live in slums, with no access to clean water and proper sanitation. Children grow up without a proper education and instead toil away in countless cottage-scale factories recycling goods for foreign international companies.
In summary, I’ve not deviated from my favourite subject of ‘Britain’ and ‘Britishness’ in recent months. I’ve just taken the opportunity to go abroad and delve further into the backstory of what makes our island such a special place. I’m now back in Bristol and can’t wait to bring you my thoughts from where British history began. It’s going to be a great summer.
Monday, April 5, 2010
The "hardship" of living in a country more advanced than Britain
Reading an article in the Times today (www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article7087627.ece) about Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) workers being paid a “hardship” allowance in certain countries really made me laugh. That’s because Dubai, the emirate with better living conditions that we enjoy in Britain, was included on the list. The FCO told the Times: “The FCO pays staff allowances to compensate them for their requirement to live and work abroad, often in dangerous and challenging environments. These allowances are reviewed regularly to ensure that they are fit for purpose."
Having just returned from a long weekend seeing friends in Dubai I can assure that it’s not a difficult place to live. You have some of the biggest shopping malls in the world with all the big Western names. There are hotels with as many as seven stars where lavish entertainment is laid on every night where you can drink yourself silly if you so choose.
On Friday’s the big expat thing to do is to go to an international hotel and enjoy ‘Brunch’. Not just your full English breakfast items but everything from your own personalised noodle meal to the likes of good quality chargrilled steak. I love buffets and have visited many over the years, but none have been anything near as good as what’s on offer in Dubai.
There are also fantastic beaches where you can relax in your leisure time. On the outskirts of Dubai expats also enjoy games of golf on some of the best kept courses in the world. And then of course Dubai residents get to enjoy some of the world’s most spectacular architecture, including the world’s tallest building. Those with kids will enjoy the many waterparks or trips to Dubai zoo.
I do feel sorry for the poor FCO workers for having to put up with these terrible conditions. I really do.
Having just returned from a long weekend seeing friends in Dubai I can assure that it’s not a difficult place to live. You have some of the biggest shopping malls in the world with all the big Western names. There are hotels with as many as seven stars where lavish entertainment is laid on every night where you can drink yourself silly if you so choose.
On Friday’s the big expat thing to do is to go to an international hotel and enjoy ‘Brunch’. Not just your full English breakfast items but everything from your own personalised noodle meal to the likes of good quality chargrilled steak. I love buffets and have visited many over the years, but none have been anything near as good as what’s on offer in Dubai.
There are also fantastic beaches where you can relax in your leisure time. On the outskirts of Dubai expats also enjoy games of golf on some of the best kept courses in the world. And then of course Dubai residents get to enjoy some of the world’s most spectacular architecture, including the world’s tallest building. Those with kids will enjoy the many waterparks or trips to Dubai zoo.
I do feel sorry for the poor FCO workers for having to put up with these terrible conditions. I really do.
It's only right that we pay our way in India
There would be horror in many circles in Britain if you had two queues, one for ‘UK nationals’ and the other for ‘foreigners’ at our major tourist attractions. Yet in India this segregation has long been a reality. What’s more, from the Taj Mahal in Agra to the Prince of Wales Museum in Mumbai, overseas visitors pay a higher admission prices – often up to five times the amount.
Personally, I think it’s a bit silly people standing in different lines to pay for their tickets. From a practical point of view at least, you can end up with one very long queue while at the next window the attendant twiddles his or her thumbs. But I don’t have a problem with foreigners paying more to enter the major attractions. After all, if they’ve travelled all the way to India, surely they can afford to pay their way and help the Indian people preserve their heritage?
If you had the admissions at a standardised level for both foreign visitors and Indians then everyone would lose out. The Indian people either wouldn’t be able to afford to visit the museums and monuments that have shaped the identity of today’s country. Or the admission prices would need to be so low that the heritage would be in danger of falling into disrepair. After all, preserving monuments is an expensive process. The current approach in ticket prices is therefore ideal in ensuring that future generations, whatever their earnings, can enjoy India.
And what a fascinating place India is. You have for example the Taj Mahal, which I think is one of the greatest monuments ever built in the world. It looks amazing on postcards but when you get there it appears a million times more special. Erected by a Muslim Mughal ruler to remember his beloved wife, but it seems to sidestep religion. Today the Taj is enjoyed by Muslims and Hindus alike.
Then 20 miles or so from the Taj, there’s the abandoned red sandstone city of Fatehpur Sikri. Capital under the Mughal ruler Akbhar, the seat of the government later had to be moved after the water supply dried up. Being a Mughal Akbhar was a Muslim but he celebrated the diversity of religions. He even had three wives of different religions (Muslim, Hindu and Christian) and built them all their own palaces at Fatehpur Sikri. Akbhar’s armour is one of the many treasures at the Prince of Wales museum in Mumbai.
At a time of religious intolerance in the Indian subcontinent, it is fitting to look back at leaders like Akbhar and see how they not just tolerated, but also celebrated diversity. Reading the histories of Akbhar’s time, you discover just how successful India was at that time. Indeed, the West was only really just waking up after years of decline. For example Akbhar ruled 100m people, while Elizabeth I ruled just 3m people in England.
As the Indian leaders that followed Akbhar became less intolerant to different religions the tables well and truly turned. India was too busy fighting within its own borders to see the colonisation threat from Europe. As Hindu temples were being smashed up and other equally bad atrocities taking place, the domestic economy suffered and rule by nations like Britain became inevitable.
Every nation needs to understand the mistakes of its past in order to have a better tomorrow. It is therefore extremely important in India today that people get to see the sites where history took place and understand the happenings mean for them as modern citizens. Why shouldn’t Indians whatever their income levels get to enjoy their national treasures.
The West spent decades plundering countries like India, extracting riches for maximum profit. Now it’s only right that foreign visitors pay their way and not expect to have everything on the cheap.
Personally, I think it’s a bit silly people standing in different lines to pay for their tickets. From a practical point of view at least, you can end up with one very long queue while at the next window the attendant twiddles his or her thumbs. But I don’t have a problem with foreigners paying more to enter the major attractions. After all, if they’ve travelled all the way to India, surely they can afford to pay their way and help the Indian people preserve their heritage?
If you had the admissions at a standardised level for both foreign visitors and Indians then everyone would lose out. The Indian people either wouldn’t be able to afford to visit the museums and monuments that have shaped the identity of today’s country. Or the admission prices would need to be so low that the heritage would be in danger of falling into disrepair. After all, preserving monuments is an expensive process. The current approach in ticket prices is therefore ideal in ensuring that future generations, whatever their earnings, can enjoy India.
And what a fascinating place India is. You have for example the Taj Mahal, which I think is one of the greatest monuments ever built in the world. It looks amazing on postcards but when you get there it appears a million times more special. Erected by a Muslim Mughal ruler to remember his beloved wife, but it seems to sidestep religion. Today the Taj is enjoyed by Muslims and Hindus alike.
Then 20 miles or so from the Taj, there’s the abandoned red sandstone city of Fatehpur Sikri. Capital under the Mughal ruler Akbhar, the seat of the government later had to be moved after the water supply dried up. Being a Mughal Akbhar was a Muslim but he celebrated the diversity of religions. He even had three wives of different religions (Muslim, Hindu and Christian) and built them all their own palaces at Fatehpur Sikri. Akbhar’s armour is one of the many treasures at the Prince of Wales museum in Mumbai.
At a time of religious intolerance in the Indian subcontinent, it is fitting to look back at leaders like Akbhar and see how they not just tolerated, but also celebrated diversity. Reading the histories of Akbhar’s time, you discover just how successful India was at that time. Indeed, the West was only really just waking up after years of decline. For example Akbhar ruled 100m people, while Elizabeth I ruled just 3m people in England.
As the Indian leaders that followed Akbhar became less intolerant to different religions the tables well and truly turned. India was too busy fighting within its own borders to see the colonisation threat from Europe. As Hindu temples were being smashed up and other equally bad atrocities taking place, the domestic economy suffered and rule by nations like Britain became inevitable.
Every nation needs to understand the mistakes of its past in order to have a better tomorrow. It is therefore extremely important in India today that people get to see the sites where history took place and understand the happenings mean for them as modern citizens. Why shouldn’t Indians whatever their income levels get to enjoy their national treasures.
The West spent decades plundering countries like India, extracting riches for maximum profit. Now it’s only right that foreign visitors pay their way and not expect to have everything on the cheap.
The glamour of going to the movies
Going to the cinema in India is a completely different experience to watching a film back in Britain. People cheer, they laugh, they boo, they wail and they applaud. Mobile phones go off and cinema goers end up having fool blown conversations. But no-one complains about these disturbances, that’s because they are too busy joining in with the action.
Bollywood is a big industry for India, so it was only natural to go and watch a film while in the country. The fact that there were going to be no sub titles slightly worried me, but I shouldn’t have been concerned. The film I saw featured a simple plot of an unwelcome family visitor and his many irritating antics. In any case, the very public reactions of the audience helped me along greatly.
And it felt special going to the cinema as well. The Raj Mandir Movie Theatre in Jaipur has wonderful chandeliers in the lobby area. People had made an effort dressing up and were ready to make an evening of it. That just does not happen anymore in Britain. Brits drive in their cars to an out of town multiplex and then grab a KFC drive through on the way home. Where’s the glitz and glamour in that?
Bollywood is a big industry for India, so it was only natural to go and watch a film while in the country. The fact that there were going to be no sub titles slightly worried me, but I shouldn’t have been concerned. The film I saw featured a simple plot of an unwelcome family visitor and his many irritating antics. In any case, the very public reactions of the audience helped me along greatly.
And it felt special going to the cinema as well. The Raj Mandir Movie Theatre in Jaipur has wonderful chandeliers in the lobby area. People had made an effort dressing up and were ready to make an evening of it. That just does not happen anymore in Britain. Brits drive in their cars to an out of town multiplex and then grab a KFC drive through on the way home. Where’s the glitz and glamour in that?
Thursday, April 1, 2010
Would my laundry come back in one piece?
When I was told earlier that there was a good chance that the clothes I'd arranged to have washed could have gone to Mumbai's biggest open air laundry I was worried. I thought I would never see my pair of jeans and two shirts again. What I saw at a visit to the site today seemed nothing short of chaos. How on earth could they keep track of so many clothes?
Apparently 3,000 people work washing garments in the open air pools. Exposed to the blazing sunlight, it gets very hot down there so many just toil away in their shorts. They dip the clothes in the soap water and then wring them out by hand. The clothes are then hung on giant make-shift wooden clothes rails jutting out from the washers' shack-like homes.
From some distance the different garments create a feast of colour on the eye. There are items from all over the city – green sheets from hospitals, a batch of jeans having their first wash before being sold and many more items for individuals. I'm assured that less than 1% of clothes are lost because everything is carefully tagged. Still, it wasn't enough to convince me that my clothes would arrive back in one piece.
But just a few minutes ago I had a delivery at my hotel room. Of course, I can't be sure that they were washed at the open air laundry, they could have just been put in some electric washing machine (increasingly popular gadgets in India which are unfortunately putting the future of open air laundries in doubt). Still, it's a pretty impressive, manual system that leads you to question why parcel companies have to spend so much on electronic tracking devices. I'm just happy to have my laundry back.
Apparently 3,000 people work washing garments in the open air pools. Exposed to the blazing sunlight, it gets very hot down there so many just toil away in their shorts. They dip the clothes in the soap water and then wring them out by hand. The clothes are then hung on giant make-shift wooden clothes rails jutting out from the washers' shack-like homes.
From some distance the different garments create a feast of colour on the eye. There are items from all over the city – green sheets from hospitals, a batch of jeans having their first wash before being sold and many more items for individuals. I'm assured that less than 1% of clothes are lost because everything is carefully tagged. Still, it wasn't enough to convince me that my clothes would arrive back in one piece.
But just a few minutes ago I had a delivery at my hotel room. Of course, I can't be sure that they were washed at the open air laundry, they could have just been put in some electric washing machine (increasingly popular gadgets in India which are unfortunately putting the future of open air laundries in doubt). Still, it's a pretty impressive, manual system that leads you to question why parcel companies have to spend so much on electronic tracking devices. I'm just happy to have my laundry back.
A hotel of defiance
I'm in sitting in a swish bar at the Taj Palace and Hotel in the centre of Mumbai. Peering out the window, the iconic Gateway to India is lit up. Indians, plus a few expats, gather in front of it and enjoying the warm evening. This is the best spot in the city and room rates (which start at $300 per night) at the Taj, which dates from the early 1900s, reflect that. The service is good and passing through the marble decorated corridors you reach some very luxurious shops.
Unfortunately I'm not staying here, I've merely just popped in to enjoy a drink and a very tasty chicken curry. The timing of my visit is significant, just yesterday the ballroom re-opened after the deadly 2008 bombings in which more than 160 people were killed. And coincidentally yesterday was also when the Indian government announced that the verdict of the only bomber captured alive will be May 3rd.
Today the national newspapers are full of the details about the trial – how much it's costing and stressing the Pakistan link (India holds Pakistan responsible for the difficulties in bringing to trial the suicide bomber.) And families of the victims killed in the atrocity say that the death penalty is not enough, they want to seem the bomber hung drawn and quartered in public.
But for the Taj, the swift progress in getting it open again sends out a message of defiance. The hotel re-opened its doors to guests just three weeks after the attack. The unveiling of the splendid ballroom pretty much completes that process. It signifies that terrorism won't be tolerated, not in India, not anywhere in the world. It says that terrorists will never win.
Unfortunately I'm not staying here, I've merely just popped in to enjoy a drink and a very tasty chicken curry. The timing of my visit is significant, just yesterday the ballroom re-opened after the deadly 2008 bombings in which more than 160 people were killed. And coincidentally yesterday was also when the Indian government announced that the verdict of the only bomber captured alive will be May 3rd.
Today the national newspapers are full of the details about the trial – how much it's costing and stressing the Pakistan link (India holds Pakistan responsible for the difficulties in bringing to trial the suicide bomber.) And families of the victims killed in the atrocity say that the death penalty is not enough, they want to seem the bomber hung drawn and quartered in public.
But for the Taj, the swift progress in getting it open again sends out a message of defiance. The hotel re-opened its doors to guests just three weeks after the attack. The unveiling of the splendid ballroom pretty much completes that process. It signifies that terrorism won't be tolerated, not in India, not anywhere in the world. It says that terrorists will never win.
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