On the Trail of Stan Laurel in North Shields
Take the Stan Laurel Film Tour of North Shields and Tynemouth to discover how growing up on Tyneside influenced the famous comic’s work.
Portland – Elliott Smith’s music city
Portland in Oregon is a city that always makes me think of my favourite American singer songwriter, Elliott Smith, who spent his formative years there after moving from Texas as a teenager. It’s strange how the atmosphere of the city soaks into Smith’s music. The new documentary film, ‘Heaven Adores […]
Newcastle – UK’s Top City Travel Destination
It’s astonishing news that my home city of Newcastle upon Tyne has been voted top travel city in the UK by readers of The Guardian and Observer newspapers. Many people were shocked that Newcastle beat better known cities like Edinburgh, London and Bath but it’s no surprise to locals who […]
Elstree Studios celebrates 100 years of film
Elstree Studios is one of those iconic film names that sends a shiver down my spine. Star Wars, 2001: A Space Odyssey and the Indiana Jones trilogy were some of the big blockbuster movies that were made here. Today it’s also home to major TV shows like Strictly Come Dancing, Big Brother and […]
Amsterdam’s Top Tourist and Cultural Hot Spots
Amsterdam is one of the world’s great cities so if you’ve visited before, it’s definitely worth going back for more. It’s a city which is constantly reinventing itself. There’s always something new and different to see, as I discovered on my trip this month. With several new tourist attractions and makeovers […]
The Sounds of Britain
What is the sound of Britain? The pouring of a cup of tea, a black cab beeping and the chimes of Big Ben are all being used in a new Visit Britain tourism campaign. Dubbed ‘Sounds of GREAT Britain’ it is designed to inspire the world to choose Britain […]
Inside Llewyn Davis, Inside Greenwich Village
Greenwich Village, New York, 1961. Imagine the excitement of being at the heart of New York’s folk revolution as it was about to kick off in the early 1960s. The times they were a-changing and popular music was undergoing a huge cultural shift. A young Bob Dylan was […]
Nebraska – A classic American road movie
Road trips are one of life’s great joys which is why I enjoy heading to the hills in a camper van so much. It’s the ultimate road trip – one of the reasons I was so drawn to the new road movie, Nebraska. Nebraska is a film that […]
Rush – Formula One’s glory days in overdrive
Formula One in the 1970s was risky, competitive and oddly glamorous, largely because of the charismatic drivers who vied for pole position in the sport – James Hunt and Niki Lauda. Posh Brit James Hunt and Austria’s driven Niki Lauda were arch-rivals, fuelling one of the most exciting […]
Blackfish – SeaWorld’s killer whales
SeaWorld in Florida was one of my favourite tourist attractions when I visited the marine park on holiday in the early 1990s. Dolphins, killer whales, seals and rays were some of the amazing animals that could be seen at close quarters. But the highlight was watching the killer […]
Tammy Tour Guide 