Have you ever raced a cleek? Spotted a flying hedgehog? Well, 2005 could be the year you do. Every year, many people choose to stay in Britain for their holidays, and why not? There's something about a British summer holiday that can be found nowhere else in the world. So in a celebration of the Great British Summer we've listed the best that Britain has to offer over the next few months, and where to stay.
A=Alternative Games, including the gird and cleek (hoop) race
Tossing the caber and bagpiping may be good enough for tourists but if you want to get to the heart of the Highland games you need to get to New Galloway for 7 August. Traditional agricultural activities are the featured events and everyone is encouraged to join in gird and cleek (hoop) racing, hurlin' the curlin' stane (throwing the curling stone) or flinging the herder's bonnet.
Web www.scottish-alternative-games.com
B=Bog snorkelling, a big, messy event for Britain's smallest town
This event, in its 20th year, is held on bank holiday Monday, 29 August, in the Waen Rhydd peat bog. Contestants, who pay £12 to enter, must swim about 380ft in
a trench dug from the bog near Britain's smallest town, Llanwrtyd Wells, in Powys, Mid Wales.
Contact www.green-events.co.uk
C=Country shows.
Most counties have them but we reckon the Town and Country Festival in Stoneleigh Park in Warwickshire (27-29 August) will be the biggest and the best. Not only will the showground have all the usual agricultural activities, animals, displays and stalls of any self-respecting country show (700 in total, selling everything from crafts and collectables, and wallflowers to Wellington Boots), but we will be there hosting our annual rally. Readers can camp courtesy of Practical Caravan, enjoy the show and pay less – the
four-day rally costs just £39.50 for two adults, including entry to the show on Saturday – a saving of £19 on standard festival prices. Turn to page 30 for more details and the booking form.
Web www.townandcountryfestival.org.uk
B=Bog Snorkling
This event, in its 20th year, is held on bank holiday Monday, 29 August, in the Waen Rhydd peat bog. Contestants, who pay £12 to enter, must swim about 380ft in
a trench dug from the bog near Britain's smallest town, Llanwrtyd Wells, in Powys, Mid Wales.
Contact www.green-events.co.uk
D=Dining for free
Dabbling about in rock pools is quintessentially British, and the National Trust will show you how this activity can provide you with a tasty seafood meal that for nothing. Seashore Food for Free on 4 August is a family event that will teach you how to find and identify edible seaweed and rocky-shore invertebrates. Conservation issues will also be highlighted. Afterwards, participants can sample fresh local delicacies, including seaweed and shellfish dishes. Families will find out just how tasty and fresh seashore food gathered for free can be. Information sheets will be provided for participants to take home for further learning after the event. Turn up at 10.30am outside the old Coastguard's station at Robin Hood's Bay, North Yorkshire, wearing sturdy shoes and dressed warmly. The trust reports that this is a popular event so advance booking is essential.
Web www.nationaltrust.org.uk
E=End of the Pier
Traditional end-of-pier shows make a great family day out. These include Cromer Pavillion Theatre's Seaside Special, 18 June-17 September, so make sure to book for an afternoon of singing, dancing, comedy and variety.
Web www.thecromerpier.co.uk
F=Flower carpet
Belgium's begonia growers will have had a busy year to grow more than the one million flower heads needed to complete the UK's first flower carpet. Visitors can watch the floral tapestry being laid in the Abbey Gardens in Bury St Edmunds from 26-28 August. The work begins when the blooms arrive on the overnight ferry on 24 August. The design will be more than 5000 sq ft and will include the world's first scented begonia.
Tel 07931 556990
G=Grunge match
Cricketing rivals Australia and England played the first Ashes tournament in 1882, making it the world's oldest sporting fixture. The tickets have long gone, but you can watch the tests live on a big screen. On 5-6 August, Cannon Hill Park in Birmingham will be the venue for the free screening of the second test at Edgbaston. Take a hamper of goodies and make a day of it.
Web www.ecb.co.uk/fans/
H=Hampton Court
Visit the largest horticultural show in the world, 5-10 July, with more than 150 exhibitors showing the fruits of their labours. If you fancy showing off your own green fingers, amateur gardeners can enter the summer fruit and vegetable competition.
Web www.rhs.org.uk
I=Icarus
The man who tried to fly using homemade wings was probably unaware that his tale would spark a craze. Now the pursuit really takes off for the International Bognor Birdman Competition on 24 July. Watch modern-day madmen (and women) throw themselves from the town's 30ft pier. See hedgehogs hover and 6ft chickens soar. But the event has
a serious incentive: a £25,000 prize for the furthest flight.
Web www.birdman.org.uk
J=Jingling ballpads
Troupes of Morris Men are to descend on Warwick School and the city centre over the weekend of 22-24 July for the Warwick Folk Festival. Other entertainment includes concerts by the likes of Kate Rusby, children's shows, vocal workshops and circus clowns.
Web www.warwickfolkfest. demon.co.uk
K=Kegs of British beer
There'll be plenty to drink in Kensington during 2-6 August, when London's Olympia hosts the Great British Beer Festival. Expect a bountiful bevy of brews, with big names exhibiting alongside obscure specialist brewers. For your convenience, there is a Tube station just a short stagger from the venue.
L=The Lawns
This summer has hardly started, but you can start planning next
year's holiday in a new tourer at Europe's largest outdoor caravan exhibition, in Hull, 3-4 September. In its 30th year,
the Lawns will feature many of the big names in the industry, including Swift, the Explorer Group and Coachman.
www.hercma.co.uk
M=Mud glorioius mud
You're bound to encounter some of it on site this year thanks to that British summer certainty: rain. So why not celebrate its soggy splendour at the National Mud Festival at the National Wetlands in Llanelli, 10-11 September. Events include pottery lessons, traditional
well-dressing sessions and mud hut building. There will also be competitions for the family, including welly-wanging and
a ‘mud of war', so get stuck in.
N=Notting Hill Carnival
The capital's Caribbean influences hit the streets in glorious colour on 28-29 August, for one of the world's largest parties. To avoid the crush, join in the fun on Children's Day, on Sunday the 28th.
O=Orkney
A round of golf at midnight is one way to make the most of Orkney's long summer days. Simply turn up to the 18-hole Stromness course and you can play without booking.
P=The Proms
If you don't fancy the crush at London's Albert Hall, take a picnic to Singleton Park in Swansea on 10 September for the Welsh version of Proms in the Park. It is one of five happening simultaneously around the UK.
Web www.bbc.co.uk/proms/
Q="Kew" summer swing
Come to the ultimate garden party, 12-17 July at London's Kew Gardens. This open air concert and fireworks display will feature acts such as Jools Holland and Omara Portuorno from Buena Vista Social Club. After boogeying, admire Dale Chihuly's glass sculptures, to be placed around the gardens.
Web www.rbgkew.org.uk
R=Rain
Nice weather for ducks – and for waterfalls. Don you're hiking boots and a kagool, head to the Yorkshire Dales and pray for inclement weather. That way you'll see such falls as Hawdraw Falls and Ingleton at their thunderous best.
S=Sun
The highest monthly average of sunshine was recorded in Eastbourne and Hastings in 1911. This part of the South Coast was bathed in 384 hours of glorious sunshine in July of that year. With its laid-back atmosphere, Victorian charm and brass band on the pier, it's a great place to spend a typical British summer's day – even if the sun doesn't make its daily 12-hour average.
Tel 01323 410000 call for events
T=Edingurgh Tattoo
Edinburgh Castle serves as the floodlit backdrop for more than 1000 performers from the UK, Russia, Norway and the USA who will provide a wealth of entertainment at the Edinburgh Tattoo, 5-27 August.
This year's show, the 56th, will have
a distinctly maritime flavour as it marks the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Trafalgar and commemorates Admiral Lord Nelson, one of Britain's greatest war heroes. The programme promises to be a multi-cultural mix of music, dance and more.
Show-stopping turns are anticipated from the Russian Cossack State Song and Dance Ensemble, while The Imps from London's Docklands will present a motorcycle display at breathtaking speed. Highlights will also include a demonstration of precision drill by the guard of the King of Norway, whose skill with bayonet-tipped rifles has excited spectators at six previous shows.
Alongside these colourful overseas displays will be the Light Division Band and Bugles, which will provide a musical and marching exhibition, performed at an incredible 140 paces per minute.
Again the stirring sound of 200 massed pipes and drums is expected to ignite proceedings with a highly-charged performance at this military showpiece.
U=Urban games
The country's best BMXers, skateboarders and breakdancers will gather on London's Clapham Common 22-24 July for this celebration of all activities hip, rad and banging.
V=Victoriana
Revel in the gentility of a Victorian spa, when the town of Llandrindod Wells dresses up for its annual festival, 20-28 August.
Web www.victorianfestival.co.uk
W=Wimbledon
Strawberries and cream, rain stopping play and Tim Henman's ongoing quest – no other event encapsulates the British summer experience better than the Wimbledon championships.
Web www.wimbledon.org
X=Project X
Calling all adrenaline junkies: Britian's newest roller coaster will open for business on 26 July. The £3m ride at Drayton Manor theme park in Tamworth, Staffordshire, takes terrified thrill-seekers through high-banked twists and turns at speeds of up to 45mph and as much as 75ft from the ground. Hailed as revolutionary by coaster aficionados, Project X (as it's been code-named) leaves passengers dangling from the hip.
Y=Yachting
There's only one place to go during British summers for sailing: the Isle of Wight's Cowes week,
30 July-6 August.
Web www.cowesweek.co.uk
Z=Zoom
Super-powerful zoom lenses will be employed by the Land's End Wildlife Discovery Centre to help visitors see the summer visitors that inhabit the Cornish coastline. Gannets, fulmars, kittiwakes, shags, razorbills are all there to be seen. What is more, if you are lucky, dolphins and basking sharks might make an appearance. The center is open 25 March-30 September and admission is free. Parking at the Land's End visitors centre costs £2 for the day.
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