Swimming, Safety, Sea and Riptides

 The tragedy of three sisters drowning on Brighton Beach, a popular resort, has stayed in the headlines through May 2026 with speculation about the causes, and questions about prevention. Brighton attracts tourists all year, especially in summer. With hot weather, more are going for a dip. Foreign students take English language courses in Brighton. 

Brighton has many attractions. 

1 The Indian style former royal residence with its Chinese interior. 

2 The nearby Sussex university. Alumni return to see their old uni, attracted by free talks by famous people, followed by paid for  lunches for those in your year at uni, put on by the authorities for fund-raising.

3 The dinky little shops in the lanes.

4 And restaurants serving seaside food, both basic and gourmet. Fish and chips and oysters. 

What's not to like?

1 The beach is not sandy but pebbly. 

2 Less known is the fact that it shelves steeply., underwater.

3 If you suddenly find yourself caught out of your depth, in up to your chest instead of your ankles or knees, there is a current called a rip tide. 

The 2026 event was that three sisters who were on the beach late at night were found drowned next day, wearing their clothes and shoes. 

Later, it was revealed that their mother had drowned in a lake in Birmingham, England. Suicide.

This raises at least three questions for the public, especially holidaymakers, teachers, and parents. As well as for the local authorities, and governments.

1 How to ensure everybody can swim.

2 How to teach yourself, your family, and others to cope with riptides.

3 How to prevent people entering dangerous water.

I would add a fourth question:

4 How to safeguard the minds of children, and families, of suicides.  

Ensure children of suicides have meaningful, creative careers.

Put up signs for help services, police, coastguard, Samaritans. 

In the USA, at a bridge which was notorious for suicides, they installed catch nets but also signs saying, need to talk to somebody, any time, day or night, no money needed, call this free helpline.

They installed an emergency phone.

1 Swimming Lessons To Ensure Everybody Can Swim

You can teach babies to float. You can demand or ensure that schools teach swimming. You can teach yourself by watching videos, and learning in a swimming pool with water no deeper than chest height, from a trained, qualified instructor.

Make ability to swim part of the entry qualification for schools. Teach everybody at school how to swim. Add it as part of the school-leavers citizenship course. 

Then teach how to swim with a rip-current until it lessens.

2 Learning To Cope With Riptides / Rip Currents 

You can learn about coping with riptides from Wikihow, and Youtube videos by lifeguards.

3 Install Or Improve Warning Signs

Multi-lingual boards. Coloured flags, red for danger.

English and Spanish warning sign.

4 Install Barriers. 

Barriers across beaches at night would both prevent holidaymakers walking into the sea in the dark, when they cannot see nor be seen.

It would also help discourage unauthorised landings from immigrants and intruders.

 Lock beaches at night, like parks, because you can't patrol them. 

5 Have Volunteer Lifeguards.

6 Install Have Beach Surveillance Cameras

Useful Websites

https://www.wikihow.com/Swim

https://www.wikihow.com/Survive-a-Rip-Tide

https://weather.metoffice.gov.uk/warnings-and-advice/seasonal-advice/travel/out-and-about/understanding-rip-currents

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rip_current

USA Information Service

https://www.noaa.gov/jetstream/ocean/rip-currents/rip-current-safety

USA rip current prediction service

https://www.weather.gov/safety/ripcurrent-forecasts

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University or Sussex Alumni, official meeting photos and figures

 Alumnus is singu

Luch for the alumni in the University of Sussex Refectory.Official Event photo. The architectural style, which some call Brutalism, featured visible brickwork.

Angela Lansbury, left, chatting to a teacher of languages over the buffet. The buffet included meat balls, salads, hummus, chocolate desserts. Official event photo.

Angela Lansbury beside alumnus Trevor Sharot at the alumni lunch in the former refectory still used for meals but with an upgraded name. Official event photo.

Trevor, alumnus, and statistician, at question time, asks about the number of students nowadays, He has been given a roving microphone.  Official event photo.

lar, masculine. Alumni, is plural masculine. It means former pupils or members of a school or university. Meetups are for alumni. A picture of one person is of an alumnus. For women only it would be alumna, singular, and alumnae, plural..

Here are some official photos of the alumni meeting at the University of Sussex.

The uni is on a big tree-filled hillside campus of multiple brick buildings, brick and concrete. The buildings are housing the library, students' union building, and departments. And a multi-storey car park.

The distinctive circular building is the Meeting house. It is a non-denominational chapel.  

A supermarket or two, enable self-catering and special diets. The student and postgrad accommodation is sufficient to house all the students on site. But more students are overseas in China.

We saw these buildings on a walking tour after our alumni lunch for the decades of 1960s and 1970s. 

The total numbers at last year's count for the year which runs authum to autumn, 2023-2024 was about 17-19,000 students, according to which source you take.

Photos

The people attending the event were all sent about seventy photos taken by the official photographer. My husband selected the ones showing himself and me and forwarded them to me.  

Hotel Du Vin Brighton, Sussex

The clocks show the time in other cities where you find a Hotel du Vin. Trevor Sharot chose this hotelfor the University of Sussex alumn meeting trip in September 2025.. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

Bedroom on the ground floor of the Hotel Du Vin, Brighton, Sussex. Photo by Angela Lansbury.

Breakfast is expensive. No cheaper option.

 Bedrooms 

You get instant coffee and milk tiny capsules and a kettle in the room.

Bedrooms And Steps

They have two ground floor rooms. One had a steep step up to the shower and then a lip to step over. 

After jolting my hip stepping up, I rolled up a towel to riase the lower level.

Parking

A loeading bay is outside. Parking expensive nearby. Ceaper car park further away.

The other room has a flat shower, I was told.

Delightful decor throughout. 

Bedroom Decor

We had a colourful painting over the bed.

Restaurant

Pictures of a chef, food, and more

Lounge bar

Mock books, and real books on wine. Giant lily flower display.

 Prices

Prices can be high. You can book bedrooms through tripadvisor and booking.com

Check both. Usually booking rhough the hotel is cheaper, but we were offered a cheaper price by booking.com after booking through the hotel. 

Useful Websites

hotelduvin.com

Brighton's must see St Paul's Church With Neo-Gothic Arches

 

The covered way leading to St Paul's Church, Brighton. Photo by Angela Lansbury.

An ornamental side window in the covered way.

Abba plaque, Abba concerts in London and online Abba souvenir shopping

In Brighton, England, (About one hour from London by train) you can see a plaque to Abba.

Abba have performed all over the world.

You can buy concert tickets for an ABBA concert in London, Abba Voyage. 

Also buy online tee-shirt, tote bags, mugs of enamel or China, a scarf, fridge magnet. My favourite dancing queen pink baseball cap (fifteen pounds). It both says you are a fan of Abba and that you like dancing and consider yourself a dancing queen.

 Also a tray, a homage necklace, and drumsticks (ten pounds)!

Useful websites

https://shopmerch.abbavoyage.com/

How to reach the Dickens statues and sights

UK flag

What is worth seeing? As Jonson famously said, some things are 'worth seeing but not worth going to see'. That applies to many statues and plaques. If you are already in a city, sometimes it's worth a detour. Or you can do a trail following the haunts of a favourite character I was just looking at Dickens.

Dickens is associated with London. But let's go through his life logically.
Dickens' birthplace was in Portsmouth. I thought it was south of London. It's actually south west.

What's due south of London.

Brighton
Immediately south of London is Brighton with the Brighton pavilion, Indian on the outside, Chinese inside. What else? Associations with Brighton Rock. The rock you eat, not really good for your teeth but a novelty in olden times. the name of the Graham Greene book, another well known author for all you readers and lovers of literature.

Pebble beaches and narrow shopping lanes.
Brighton is only about an hour each way - make that two hours. I always add an hour to any journey. You need to only a day to get there and back and have time for lunch and shopping and with luck seeing inside a museum. So for those on language courses in Brighton, back to London to see the sites associated with Dickens.

From Brighton, go west and you come to Portsmouth. Mouth of the port.

Portsmouth
Big maritime museum. Ah - Dickens birthplace. At very least you can see a plaque on the house. He left for the big city, the capital, London.

I used to muddle up Portsmouth and Plymouth. Go further west from Brighton and Portsmouth and and you reach Plymouth. Where the Plymouth Brethren left for the USA, what was to become the USA.

In London two sites associated with Dickens are near enough to be done in one trip. From Euston or another station you can pass the Old Curiosity Shop on your way to Dickens House Museum.

I sometimes think of London like the sun with spokes reaching out. Better still, think of it as the central point of a clock with roads and railways reaching out around Britain. (The M1, motorway 1, runs north. If Dickens birthplace was south west at 7 pm, then Bleak House I think of as east-north at 2 pm.
Finally back to the centre, where Dickens is buried, in London, in Westminster Abbey.

USA flag

Travelling overseas, going west, maybe to 3 or 2 on an imaginary clock face, we have a statue of Dickens with Little Nell in Philadelphia, (known colloquially as Philly) in Pennsylvania, south of New York (also known for A Place For Everything and Everything In Its Place).

Taking London and Dickens birth and death location as the imaginary clock face centre, go south  around the globe, 7, to Australia, you can see a Dickens statue.

Dickens Statue
 Loch Ave, Sydney, Centennial Park NSW 2021, Australia

Useful Websites
https://www.rome2rio.com/s/London/Portsmouth
https://www.centennialparklands.com.au/visit/history-and-heritage/statues-and-sculptures/charles-dickens-statue?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Dickens
To be continued tomorrow

About Author Angela
Author, Author! About the Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. (Not related to the actress.)
Author of twenty books including: Quick Quotations; Who Said What When.
See books and profiles on Lulu.com and Amazon, such as Wedding Speeches & Toasts. Also watch videos on YouTube.
See other posts on singers and statues and languages and destinations.

If you want to learn to speak the Queen's English, or Received Pronunciation. join me at my online toastmasters club,
Braddell Heights Advanced. Wednesdays, 7-9 Singapore time which is seven hours ahead of London, England.
I am also a member of
Singapore Online.9-12 pm, Singapore time, Fridays. I am also a member of
Tampines Changkat Advanced. This Tuesday evening Singapore time
Harrovians, London.
Toastmasters International Find a Club
https://www.toastmasters.org/find-a-club
https://books.google.com.sg/books?id=upSEBwAAQBAJ&pg=PA21&lpg=PA21&dq=quick+quotations
lulu.com/shop/angela-lansbury/who-said-what-when/paperback/product-21713991
learncool.sg
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Secret Surprise Band Gigs Worldwide from Sofar

They say no such thing as a free lunch but here are some free bands to hear in intimate surroundings in venues around the world. Great for a first date. You'll never be bored with a band which is a surprise.

Usually three musicians play four songs. That sounds pretty brief. But it's free. With encouragement, they might play an encore.

You could do a different one every night every weekday, every weekend and then go out for a meal.

They play in a secret and surprise location, such as a living room or a shop.

Then you could go off for a curry or McDonalds nearby. Ideal for students, the retired or anybody on a budget.

Good for music networking and talent spotting.

Where?
I found their events in London, Brighton, Cambridge in the the UK after a friend in London told me he was going to free concerts every night for three days.

He was going to Hackney Wick, where many famous bands started. But what if you are going somewhere new?

I changed my destination city to Singapore and up came some more.

If you go, let me know how it goes.

sofarsounds.com

For a post on Freddie Mercury, see my previous posts.

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.
Please share links to your favourite posts.

Where to find tourist board websites and cities

Problem
How do I find tourist board websites and cities?

Answer
Country List with Flags and Capitals
Got to www.Wikitravel.org
See www.countryconnect.co.uk

The quickest way to find a list of countries of the world is not to go to wikipedia which gives you the flags, which is good, together with the capital which is good, but in most of their tables several columns of other information.

Simpler List
Instead go to Simple.wikipedia.org

It's no use copying with select all because you get all the wikipedia page logos which overlay anything else you have already typed above.

Finding Addresses
How to find the tourist board addresses? I used the address cards and the WTM Catalogue 2016, issued in November 2016. Then I discovered a website with the addresses of the tourist boards in London and the addresses for getting a visa.

USA
Major cities and states include: Atlanta, Chicago, Denver, Los Angeles, New York, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Salt Lake City, San Francisco, Philadelphia, Washington DC.
Visit sites associated with Edgar Allen Poe, Houdini, Molly Brown, Dolly Parton, Elvis Presley and Presidents Jefferson, Lincoln, Washington, JF Kennedy, and Martin Luther King Jnr.

www.visitusa.org.uk
www.VisitTheUsa.com

UK
www.visitbritain.org

ENGLAND
Major cities in England include: Bath, Brighton, Cambridge, London, Manchester, Oxford, Windsor, York.
Major attractions include Madame Tussaud's, Sherlock Holmes' House, The V&A, Tate Modern, National Portrait Gallery, and a trip to Warner Brothers Studio Tour (Harry Potter locations).
Visit sites connected with Jane Austen, Charlotte Bronte, Charles Dickens, Disraeli, Beatrix Potter, Queen Victoria, The Rothschilds, William Shakespeare, Wordsworth.
Major areas to visit include Cornwall and Devon, or the Lake District.

The National Trust
www.nationaltrust.org.uk
www.visitlondon.com
www.visitbath.co.uk
www.visitbrighton.com
www.wembleystadium.com
www.westminster-abbey.org
www.wimbledon.com/museum
www.wbstudiotour.co.uk
www.visitisleofwight.co.uk

www.VisitEngland.com is the official tourist board for England.

WALES
Places to see: Caerleon, Cardiff, Fishguard, Llangollen, Tenby.
Northern Ireland
Major attractions are The Giants' Causeway; Belfast's Titanic Exhibition.
www.visitwales.com

SCOTLAND
Major cities are Glasgow and Edinburgh.
www.visitscotland.com

CHANNEL ISLANDS
www.visit.guernsey.com
www.jersey.com

ANTIGUA and BARBUDA tourism authority
www.antigua-barbuda.com

ARGENTINA
www.argentina.travel

ARUBA
www.aruba.com

AUSTRALIA
(Major cities: Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth, Sydney.)
http://www.australia.com/en-gb

AUSTRIA
See Salzburg, Vienna (Freud Museum).

BELARUS
Major cities include Minsk, not to be confused with next city which is Pinsk.
www.belarustourist.by

BELGIUM
See Brussels and Flanders Fields.
www.visitflanders.com
www.waterlooandbeyond.be

BRAZIL
visitbrasil.com

CAMBODIA
Allow three days to visit Ankor Wat temple and city walls, and tour half a dozen other temples, near the top tourist city, Seam Reap. Recently voted the world's top attraction. Tour in a tuk-tuk. the capital city is Phnom Penh.
tourism.cambodia.com

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phnom_Penh

CANADA
visit-canada.com
www.tourism-vancouver.org

CHILE
www.chile.travel/patagonia

CHINA
Top tourist cities are huge Shanghai with art deco waterfront, Big Beijing the capital and Xian for the now exposed once buried statues of warriors.
www.cnta.gov.cn

COSTA RICA
essentialcostarica.com
www.visitcostarica.com

CROATIA
www.croatia.hr

CZECH REPUBLIC
Captal Prague with Charles bridge hilltop castle and Kafka museum.
www.czechtourism.com

CYPRUS
www.visitcyprus.com

DENMARK
Major city Copenhagen.
Major character: Hans Andersen.
www.visitdenmark.co.uk

DUBAI - see UAE

FINLAND
www.visitfinland.com

FRANCE
From the UK on the ferry or tunnel or by air. Paris, the capital, the Loire valley castles, or south to the riviera.
www.uk.rendezvousenfrance.com

GERMANY
Berlin, the Romantic road through cities with riverside castles.
www.german.travel

GHANA
www.ghana.travel

GIBRALTAR
Gibraltar Tourist Board, 150 Strand, London WC2R 1JA UK
tel:+44 (0) 20 7386 0777.
www.visitgibraltar.gi

GREECE
Athens or second city Thessaloniki. Islands including Crete, Kefalonia, Mykonos. Trip to Olympia, flame site.
www.visitgreece.gr

GUYANA
www.guyana-tourism.com

GUATEMALA
Land of Catholics, cobblestones, coffee, Conquistadors, Mayan villages and volcanoess.
www.visitguatemala.com

INDIA
Major tourist cities and states and areas include: Agra, Delhi, Mumbai (previously called Bombay), Calcutta.
Ministry of Tourism:
www.incredibleindia.org
Railways:
www.irctc.to.in
Hotel Association of India (HAI) www.hotelassociationofindia.com
Airindia:
www.home.airindia.in
London Office:
email:indiatourism@aol.com

INDONESIA
Jakarta. Bali.
www.indonesia.travel

ISRAEL
Major cities include: Bethlehem, Eilat, Haifa, Jerusalem, Tel Aviv (Bauhaus-art deco). Biblical characters (Old and New testament, too many to list. OK - cities, tombs, walls, building, Abraham, Solomon, Jonathan, David, Romans and ruins, Jesus, rabbis.)
Jerusalem-hotels.org.il

IRELAND
Major city Dublin.
www.tourismireland.com

ITALY
Major cities include: Rome, Venice, Milan, Florence, Assisi, Perugia.
www.umbriatourism.it

JORDAN
Roman ruins and churches, Moses stood here.
www.visitjordan.com

KOREA - South Korea
Major city is Seoul.

english.visitkorea.or.kr/

LITHUANIA
Major city Vilnius.
www.vilnius.lt

MACEDONIA
www.visitmacedonia.com

MALAYSIA
Day trips and buses from Singapore. KL capital city. Waterfalls. Pink city.
www.tourismmalaysia.gov.my

MALDIVES
www.visitmaldives.com

MALTA
Side trip to second island.
www.airmalta.com
www.visitgozo.com

MEXICO
visitmexico.com
www.mexicoonline.com

The NETHERLANDS / Holland
Amsterdam.
Board of Tourism
Http://www.nbt..nl/holland

PERU
www.peru.travel

PHILIPPINES
www.tourism.gov.ph:
itsmorefuninthephilippines.co.uk
https://www.tourismphilippines.com.au/

PORTUGAL
Lisbon. Oporto.
www.visitportugal.com

ROMANIA
Bucharest.
www.romaniatourism.com

email romaniatravel@btconnect.com

or tel:0 207 935 6435.

RUSSIA
Moscow. Stalingrad / Volgograd / St Petersburg.
www.visitrussia.org.uk

SERBIA
www.serbia.travel

SOUTH AFRICA
Johannesburg, Pretoria,  Durban. Trip to Sun City.
www.durbanexerience.co.za

SPAIN
Madrid. Seville. Fly drive staying at paradores.
Barcelona is in the Catalan region.
Catalan Tourist Board
17 Fleet Street, 3rd floor, London EC4Y 1AA. tel:+44 (0)20 7583
8855
info.act.uk@gencat.cat
www.andalucia.com
www.catalunya.com
www.spain.info

SWEDEN
www.visitsweden.com

THAILAND
https://www.tourismthailand.org/
Tourism Authority of Thailand

Address: 370 Orchard Rd, Singapore 238870

Phone: +65 6235 7901.

UAE
Dubai is the largest city. UAE consists of several emirates.
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates
https://www.visitdubai.com/en-uk/

UKRAINE
(Main cities: Kiev; Lviv; Odessa.)
kyivcity.travel e-mail:kyivtourism@gmail.com
www.lviv.travel
www.odessa-tourism.com

VIETNAM
www.vietnametourism.gov.vn

Open top buses:
www.bigbustours.com
www.city-sightseeing.com
For the latest feedback on which is best in the city your are visiting, see TripAdvisor.

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. Please share links to posts.
Azerbaijani is the primary and official language of Azerbaijan, and is also known as Azeri Turkish. It is alUKRAINEso t

Authe primary language in northwestern Iran, and is also spoken to a small extent in southern Dagestan (Russia), the Kvemo Kartli region of Georgia, and eastern Turkey. It is a Turkic language with notes of Russian and Persian influence.
Azerbaijani is the primary and official language of Azerbaijan, and is also known as Azeri Turkish. It is also the primary language in northwestern Iran, and is also spoken to a small extent in southern Dagestan (Russia), the Kvemo Kartli region of Georgia, and eastern Turkey. It is a Turkic language with notes of Russian and Persian influence.

Spare Shoes and Slippers For Travelling, Spare Ties and Jackets

Problems
I've needed spare shoes on four occasions:

1 Ferry to Bukom Island, Singapore - health and safety on ferry to oil refinery island.

2 Club dress codes. I go online to check dress codes at clubs. If you are a member of a club you probably have reciprocal agreements with clubs around the world. You can check the dress codes for their restaurants.

3 On planes leaving on a chute to the ground in an emergency you need to remove heeled shoes which at speed could rip the fabric or get caught in any obstruction or tag, also impede you in running away from the plane which could explode or catch fire.

4 Safety regulations may require you to wear shoes with : covering toes to protect them; and with solid backs, not straps at the back, so shoes don't fall off.

5 Dress codes in some clubs require men and women to wear shoes with covered toes (for reasons of formality, smell, and sight of uncovered body offending some; also no flip flops (called thongs in Australia, the sort which are backless and have a toe post) nor 'slippers' (in Singapore meaning backless shoes either with a band across the toe or a covered front but no back - the sort you can slip your toes into, of the sort worn casually or around the house for ease, no grip and make a slushing noise which annoys others, looks sloppy, and as you walk they prevent you walking with lifting your feet so you are more likely to trip over steps, and again could be smelly as well as exposing the feet to view and not sufficiently formal when surrounded by people dressed up for business meetings, weddings, anniversaries, engagement parties and other celebrations.

6 My heel broke at an event.

7 My rubber soled platform heels disintegrated at an evening dinner at a conference.

Answers
1 If you are in a health and safety environment you need closed shoes or shoe covers. Black is less conspicuous if you don't want to get attention. However a mere thin plastic rain or pool shoe cover might not be considered protective.

2 Exchange or borrow shoes from somebody in an office on land just for the ferry journey.

3 Ensure all members of your group know the dress code in your first invitation email. (And report the dress code in all later emails.) Don't wait until they confirm they are attending. They might not reply if they think they are not able to make the meeting and might join the group at the last minute. The search for shoes, or wait, or change of people attending, and escorting them back to base as a courtesy, can cause disruption, delay and embarrassment to everybody. They might send in their stead another colleague who has been invited by phone or is out of email contact and does not get the follow up emails containing the dress code.

4 Go through your cupboard and find your lightest to carry closed shoes. If you are a group organiser, or travelling by car and don't mind extra wight and bulk, carry a spare pair small for ladies and large for men to lend to others. You might go for a year and a hundred meetings and never need them. Then one day, you are the person who saves the day.

5 If you are visiting 5 star hotels and restaurants carry a spare tie. Whether you are a man or a woman, one of your family or business group may be without a tie, demanding that the entire group leaves. Also travel with a spare tie on any long trip.

Stories
Disintegrating Heel - UK conference
My rubber soled platform heels disintegrated.
It happened as I walked to the basement ballroom along a long corridor, leaving black mess everywhere. I began limping, one foot high than the other, danger of falling. No chance of dancing later.

(Luckily I was at a hotel at a conference in Brighton, England. However, my dinner companion was annoyed that I arrived at dinner late, missing the opening speech.) My new (to me) gold evening shoes were very pretty gold leather shoes with a black rubber type base made by a top end high street store, my third pair, originally I had one pair from the shop, then a second bought in a sale, but I bought a third second hand pair years after they were out of production from a second hand shop. Shoes disintegrate a lot - I've read whole forums on this with customers from the USA and UK and Singapore with even brand new or never worn shoe heels and bases disintegrating, including designer shoes.

USA Broken Sandals
In the Sixties in Haight Ashbury, with scrappy gladiator type shoes, after two months of trading about, my shoes fell apart. You would think you would be able to find a shoe mender. No. Cheap replacement shoes in small size suitable for a lot of walking. No.

Indian Wedding
I want to India, having been told we were dressing casually. On the plane we were delayed 24 hours and made friends with somebody going to their relative's wedding, who invited us to attend. You just never know when you will be invited to a wedding in a country where all comers are invited, or a PR invites you to an opening of an event, a foreign country is celebrating a national holiday, a member of royalty of government is visiting your hotel or hostel, new office or school.

Tips
Companies supplying spare / fold up shoes
Mahabis.com
rollaoole.com
cocorose.london.com
Foldashoe.com
fitkicksshoes.com
If you just want spare towelling slippers to wear in a hotel or home when your outdoor shoes are wet from rain or snow or mud, you can buy backless towelling slippers from the Pounds shops or similar shops in the UK.
Look out for cheap spare shoes in the sales.

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. See my books on Lulu.com and Amazon.com

Want a pick-me-up snack whilst shopping? Yogurt, fat free, sugar free, gluten free, at Watford and elsewhere

Walking uphill from Watford High Street station, you cross on the triple crossing towards the shops. Take a detour into Boots and try to avoid buying. (I ended up with three nail varnishes, which I wanted, at least I wanted one or two but the offer was three for two.) The Boots entrance brings you out at the lower level passing the toilets, baby change area with the drinking water fountain. As you pass towards the escalators on your left is the Yogurt kiosk. They often have a free taster of their yogurt or you can ask for one.

If you like the yogurts, take a card which gives you a free topping after five separate purchases, and a free yogurt after ten.

I tried the yogurt with the granola and blueberry topping. De-lish.

Want Calcium?
I'd previously avoided the kiosk and went to a coffee shop because I'm wary of sugar in smoothies. However, I love yogurt, and think I need calcium more than caffeine, calcium to build nails, teeth and bones - if you've ever had a cracked nail, broken tooth, or broken bone or backache you may share my concern.

How Much Sugar?
So reading the literature and claims on the signboard about the sugar and fat and gluten content, I was reassured I was getting calcium, without too much sugar. However, do read all the literature and check for yourself that what you are choosing, whether in a coffee shop or kiosk suits your needs in general or on that occasion. If you bought a low calorie coffee from a coffee shop, but added sugar, obviously you end up with more calories and more sugar. So if you buy yogurt, then add honey, you have to take into account what is added.

Onwards and Upwards at Intu, Watford
If you are aiming for a second storey shop, you are right by the escalator. If you want to sit in the shopping mall, Intu has lots of seats. You can eat the yogurt and read the literature.

Location, location, location
As Hilton used to say about a successful hotel, Location, location, location. Where can you find Yog yogurts?
Their website lists outlets in: Intu, Watford; Brent Cross; London - several including Greenwich; Brighton and more. You can also buy their products from Tesco.

More details and locations from:

yogyogurt.co.uk

ANGELA LANSBURY AUTHOR is a travel writer, speaker and English tutor and speech coach.
More about Angela Lansbury author on Youtube, Lulu.com, Amazon, LinkedIn, Facebook.

The Chocolate Show at Business Design Centre, Islington

Chocolate - what's not to like!
Chocoholics in paradise in a chocolicious show with a chocolate decorated Xmas tree. The French celebrate Xmas with Yule log cakes but now the chocolatiers are developing all sorts of concoctions for Xmas holidays.

Date
Friday afternoon Dec 12 and the weekend of Dec 13 and 14 2014 in London, England, plus more dates coming up.

Who is there from the chocolate world?


Want a ticket?
Adult tickets are £8 on the door, reduced to £7 if you buy online in advance.

Children up to 5 years old go free. Over 5′s tickets are £4 online or £5 at the door.

For any queries on online bookings please call The Ticket Factory on 0844 338 8000

Need to contact them?
thechocolatefestival@yahoo.co.uk

Nearest tube stations ANGEL (NORTHERN ONE STOP FROM INGS CROSS, TWO STOPS FROM EUSTON) OR HIGHBURY AND ISLINGTON.
http://tfl.gov.uk/plan-a-journey/
For more details see
festivalchocolate.co.uk/2014/10/the-biggest-chocolate-show-in-the-uk/

More! More!
More shows at Brighton, Bristol and Oxford.


Pictures:
I did a google search for chocolate xmas tree and found this link:
http://www.notonthehighstreet.com/partners/sweettreebybrowns/products

So, you can buy or make chocolate cones from chocolate buttons, Xmas trees with a dark chocolate trunk and chocolate buttons, Ferrero Rocher chocolates, with or without the gold foil covering, decorated with liquorice or chocolate buttons plain or coloured.

Another date for your diary:

Wine and cheese festival in 2015:

Friday 27 – Sunday 29 March 

Friday – 1pm – 8pm
Saturday – 10am – 7pm
Sunday – 10am – 3pm - so you must get there early.

Business Design Centre
52 Upper Street,
Islington,
London N1 0QH
You can park in a car park between the Business Centre and the hotel and pay online in advance. Quite pricey parking for one person, but reasonable if you've a car of seven people. (Or if you can offset it as a business expense.)

http://tfl.gov.uk/plan-a-journey/
Ticket sales for other shows are coming soon.

Map of the Vineyards of England and Wales

I saw this map on the wall of The Butlers Wine Cellar Limited in Queen's Park Road, Brighton, when we went in there to buy some wine. I asked where they got the map and said I wanted to know because I'd like one. This is the 2011 edition and out of date which cost £2.95. Helpful Mike in the shop posted me an old copy as he had a spare one. I thought it would arrive in a tube but it packed flat into an A5 envelope with a first class stamp. Thank you, Mike!

I'll be reading it and listing places to visit and checking online to see the places still exist and get updates. So come back later to find out what I've found out.

Would you believe by the time this map was printed in 2011 we already had 160 vineyards in England. Another seven in Wales. And global warming is good news for wine growers in the UK.

I have written earlier posts about visiting vineyards.  Denbies has a big, bustling building offering indoor and outdoor tours, a shop adjoining the ground floor cafe, plus a smart upstairs restaurant. 

Nyetimber is even more picturesque. It was open only intermittently for odd days in 2014 but plans to open more often later next year.  I also tried wine tasting at a bustling vineyard complex in Wales which has a restaurant, a bar, outdoor seating for eating in good weather, a shop and accommodation.

Speaking of English and Welsh wine, do you know the difference between English and British wines? England now has protected status for geographical locations. But a British wine can be a blend, not even grown in England, but blended and bottled somewhere in Britain.

Butler's Wine Cellar Ltd

247 Queens Park Road, Brighton BN2 9X.

Tel: 01273 698 724.

www.butlers-winecellar.co.uk

An online map of vineyards:

http://ukvineyards.co.uk/vineyards-map/

More Associations:

www.drinkaware.co.uk

www.drinkbritain.com

www.englishwine.com

www.englishsparklingwine.com

www.englishwineproducers.com

www.sparklingenglishwine.com

www.ukva.org.uk (UK Vineyards Association)

www.wineguilduk.org

Angela Lansbury, author, travel writer, speaker.

See Angela on YouTube, LinkedIn and Facebook.