Birmingham open market is an absolute lifesaver! We've been shopping here for over five years and…read morethe quality, variety and price far outweigh any convenience of shopping at a supermarket. From standard fruit and veg to more exotic Caribbean and Asian foodstuffs the open market has something for everyone, and usually something to didn't know you wanted. The produce is fairly seasonal so when something is in season it is cheap as hell like 3 butternut squash for a pound or bunches of asparagus for 50p. The frozen food stall at the back is well worth checking out for your freezer-stocking bargains and the stall at the front with eggs and cheese is a must. Seriously, you'll hear the egg man shouting from mills away!

Great Quality produce and great prices. Shop around for the best deals, but on average we save…read morebetween 50p to £1 on each item - meaning a £10+ a week saving on our shopping (compared to supermarkets). The traders are friendly and will normally do you a deal if you need a large amount of a particular type of fruit or veg. Well worth a trip! Remember to take your canvas bags!

Just finished a one week course on stone sculpture with Carole Kirsopp at the cost of £200 but…read moreworth every penny. Carole uses traditional methods that have changed little for thousands of years and takes students through the process step by step. Carole gets the best out of her students by giving sound advice at all times. I was very apprehensive being my first visit but the course is very welcoming and their is no pressure. Carole's skills as a sculptor and teacher are amazing and our finished work surpassed all our expectations. With the course limited to around eight learners the tuition is mostly one to one when needed. All the learners thoroughly enjoyed the course; several had been on Carole's courses before and we all agreed to return again next year. I recommend the courses run by Carole Kirsopp at the Stone Centre whatever your level of artistic talent and you will be amazed at what is possible with a little application. Eric Hoyle.

Never knew Manchester had a Chinatown but apparently it's the second biggest one outside of London…read more That being said, it encompasses only a few blocks (that we could see) but still it's fun to wander around and window shop - and have some dim sum or other more authentic dishes other than kung pao or general Tso chicken.

Manchester is a beautiful city itself. Having Chinatown adds an extra oomph. I didn't hit any…read morevendors when I was there for my UK trip but I just walked through it since I wasn't staying in Manchester and was waiting to go to Sheffield. 153/2017

Albert Square is a lively area in Central Manchester and the Square and surroundings are full of…read morenightlife, clubs, pubs eateries and more. During the day it is central to interesting shopping, theaters and restaurants. It was only our second visit to Manchester so we were a bit lost at times, but will be back in a week or so to have fun with one of our daughters and son in law. We went for the Christmas Market which was hyped as being as good as the better European Markets - in that regard disappointing - give me Vienna anytime! We enjoyed ourselves regardless thanks to our hotel (the Lowery) and a couple of eating experiences! Review #114 2019

Albert Square is a really nice part of town, it is generally a key point for the Christmas markets…read morearound the Town Hall but with the ongoing refurbishment it seems to have been moved to just a couple of minutes away in Piccadilly Gardens, Albert Square is in central Manchester, it has many bars and Starbucks stores in and around it with the added convenience of being right near a tram stop serving St Peter's Square, where there is the equally impressive Central Library building. While it is mainly based around the Town Hall which was built in the mid-1800s (it is a pretty old-fashioned street with cobbles etc so be warned), it was named after Prince Albert who at the time was married to monarch Queen Victoria, and one of the largest statues is the memorial after him. It is quite a nice part of town and I just feel it's better without the Christmas Markets, which I think are overrated, overpriced and destroy the city for the weeks before Christmas. 4*

I fecking LOVE the Gay Village. This area officially starts up by the Hippodrome Theatre…read more(http://www.yelp.co.uk/biz/birmingham-hippodrome-birmingham-2) and ends somewhere towards Second City Suite (http://www.yelp.co.uk/biz/second-city-suite-birmingham) and then across towards The Diskery (http://www.yelp.co.uk/biz/the-diskery-birmingham) and around in a square, it's not a huge area but has plenty of fun within it's confines. This area host Birmingham Pride (http://www.yelp.co.uk/biz/birmingham-pride-birmingham) which is one of the larger LGBT festivals in the UK and is home to many gay friendly bars, clubs and venues. The venues go from the sophisticated (http://www.yelp.co.uk/biz/the-loft-lounge-birmingham) to the ridiculous/fantastic fun (http://www.yelp.co.uk/biz/village-inn-birmingham) and you're pretty much guaranteed a fun night out whenever you go down. There is a wide range of venues to choose from in this area, so whether you're in the mood for a chilled out cocktail or a full on dance fest until 6am - you're going to have a great night. The people who frequent the Gay Village are just as colourful as the venues and you'll probably end up chatting to strangers at any of the places in the area. Whether you're gay, straight, Bi or undefined... You're going to have a good time in the GQ. The rules are.... play nice, be friendly and be prepared to have a whopping night out (even if you just intended to go for one or two).

Extremely inviting and warm. Very helpful and a great place to lose yourself. Been here quite a few…read moretimes and would recommend it for anyone looking for a good time. A lot less crowded than broad street so a much friendly atmosphere.

The second Sunday of every month is one of my favourite days of each particular month. That's one…read moreSunday when I'm happy to set my alarm, get my caboose out of bed and fly on further south in Manchester to Stockport's historic Victorian Market Halls, because that's where I can find epic 70s flowery maxi dresses, Smash Hits 'Best of the 80s' annuals and trinkets galore. Welcome to the Vintage Village! I've been to a lot of vintage markets and shops in my time. Once, I even travelled all the way up to Edinburgh for a coat, I brought back over £40 worth of vinyl and a 56 year old fur from Glasgow and I've been known to scour our little Manchester boutiques for hours at a time. But what Stockport offered last month just blew me away, knocked me sideways and had me gazing around open-mouthed like I did when I was taken to Disney World at six years old. This was epic. The quality was remarkable, the prices were insanely affordable and the sheer variety on offer was stunning. I defy you not to walk from stall to stall and see at least three things per section you covet. If you were to slap something not only like this, but of this calibre (exceptional quality, eclectic variety) bang in the middle of Manchester City Centre it would be completely overrun with fifteen-year-old Noel Fielding stalkers in knee socks and oversized Urban Outfitters jumpers (not that there's anything wrong with them - I've been known to rock a woolly from UO regularly and have frequent NSFW dreams about Mr Vince Noir myself), but as it's tucked away in a sleepy town centre in the South Manc 'burbs, it attracts a much calmer, quieter, more discerning clientele. Families bring along their children and have soup and bacon butties at Zip's Grill. Couples with dogs mooch around for gifts. It's incredibly relaxed and wonderfully friendly. I lost count of the amount of conversations I struck up with stall purveyors. This is worth getting out of bed on the day of rest for. Seriously, do it! You won't regret it. And if you do, come and have a go at me. I'll probably whup you upside the head. (P.S. Zip's Grill serves some of the finest coffee I've ever had the good fortune to taste, and the food looks all kinds of fabulous. I'll definitely have a soup this Sunday.)

Vintage Village is on every second Sunday of the month in Stockport's totally brilliant market hall…read moreplace. If the truth be known, It was more my wife and sister in law who were the instigators in us going but I wanted to stretch my legs and go out for the afternoon so thought I would give it a shot! Gotta say, it was really really good and there were all sorts of stalls selling vintage clothes, records, antiques, furniture - pretty much anything from yesteryear. Nice touches were a skiffle band playing live, with a DJ playing hits from the likes of Elvis throughout and a load of vintage cars and motorbikes on display outside. Great street food was provided from the (both) excellent Lord of the Pies and Honest Crust Pizza. I'll definitely be heading there again in the coming months as it's a great day out and only a £1 entry - bargain!

When my sister and I visited a friend in Nottingham earlier in the year, she took us for a walk…read moreround the Attenborough Nature Centre and what a treat it was! Located in the southern end of Nottingham, there is a fair amount of parking and you pay a suggested donation for parking. There's a large cafe located near the pond but we went for a long walk. The main habitat of wetlands and river are great for wildlife and there are numerous hides dotted around for twitchers and wannabe twitchers to observe birds. We enjoyed the riverside walk very much and I was lucky enough to get some incredible light that day for some lovely photos. This is a true gem and well worth a visit

Stumbled across this beautiful place whilst staying in a nearby hotel. Didn't even know it was…read morethere so it was a nice surprise. A really tranquil place to take a walk anyway from everything that's going on. Birdspotter's haven and a great place to watch the sunset.

Call me Scrooge but when Manchester's Christmas Markets come to town, it really does make the city,…read morewhich I've always thought is one of the world's greatest, much worse as they are really poorly thought out across all locations on and off Deansgate, Kings Street, Exchange Square Piccadilly Gardens, St Ann's Square, Market Street and Albert Square, which tends to be the main and focal hub until the Town Hall's renovation. Firstly the layout is terrible - they are located on many narrow streets in and around the city which not only increases traffic (causing buses to divert), but it makes many areas of the city which previously are accessible, inaccessible to disabled people by making streets to narrow to get down with mobility equipment, to putting the stands over dropped curbs (ramps) designed to help disabled people get down without a step. It seems to be the same stalls every year, in a way it gets a little boring seeing the same brands selling the same overpriced products, even the stalls are exactly the same - prices here can cost 2-3x as much considering what you could get elsewhere in the city and the stalls I have visited I've had multiple quality issues where vendors even appeared rude and aggressive (hot food, german beer and cheese stalls especially) I really struggle to understand the popularity of the Christmas Markets and feel it is just one of those places one could look at and say "I'm going because it's in my city", rather than going because it actually offers something new and cool. I just can't help but join in with the indulgement of the floccinaucinihilipilification of the continuation of Manchester Christmas Markets in its current format which just brings strong feelings of frustration and ennui as it's just a mediocre attempt of the markets you'd see across Europe - poorly managed, poorly planned out... just poor. 1*

I was in Manchester for the weekend and lucky me, the Christmas market was open so I checked it…read moreout... I looovvveee Christmas markets! The Manchester Christmas market is everywhere and is sprinkled throughout the city centre. The main market is located in St. Albert square, town hall area. The market is pretty standard. It has many stalls that sell ornaments, winter plants, toys, and of course food! There's loads of stalls selling German sausages, carmelised nuts, sweets like chocolates, cakes, caramelised nuts, strudel, Italian biscuits, and many more. Of course a Christmas market would not be complete without the mulled wine and beer. The market was pretty crowded on Saturday, but that's no surprise cause it's the weekend. If you want to go when there's less people, come during the weekdays. The experience was dampened a bit cause it was raining and windy, but honestly, you can't not enjoy yourself in a Christmas market. The only negative thing Id say about this market is its all over the city centre and you have to walk everywhere if you want to see every stall, but truthfully you'll see the same thing no matter which part of the market you go to. If you want to have a "Chrismassy" time I'd say come here if you're in city centre. Be prepared to bring some cash cause you'll spend some money. For example, a a bratwurst cost £4.50, pretzel cost £2.50, mixed carmelised nuts cost £3.00-£3.50, mulled wine £3-5.

This is the place to come to if you fancy getting away from it all. Barr Beacon is about 3 miles…read morefrom walsall town centre and is one of the highest points in the west midlands. The top on the hill has fantastic panoramic views. On a beautiful sunny day you can see iconic areas and buildings such as Cannock Chase, Lichfield Cathedral and Birmingham City Centre. They have a lot of lovely pathways for walk like the beacon way and the 2 mile circular trail. It has many other trails too which are yet to be explored. i was there on a warm sunny day, this place offers secluded spots for a nice picnic or sunbathing. The only problem is it lack basic facilities like toilets and a shop/ cafe to buy food and drink. There was a ice-cream van but prices were a rip off. £3.00 for a simple flake ice-cream cone. They have benches if you bring your own food. But this place needs some money pumped into it to bring it up to scratch. This place is beautiful it needs basic facilities. The bandstand like memorial stand was built in 1900's and the roof is made from copper which has aged and blends into the hues of landscape well. inside is a small pedestal has a map of how far surrounding areas are from this pin point location. Theres two car parks off Beacon Road a north car park which is less busy, but i used the south car park which was busier and was where the memorial monument was. this place is very popular with dog walkers, families with picnics, people playing football and there was a kite flyer too. This place has stunning amazing views, i recommend this place highly.

Beacon Hill is one of the highest hills in the West Midlands. A fact, it is the highest point…read morebetween here and Ural Mountains in Russia, On a good day you can see Wolverhampton, Walsall and Birmingham, Shropshire and Wales. On a very clear day you can see the Bristol Channel. As well as its wonderful views, it also has good wide open space, a couple of football pitches and some flat ground on top of the hill.

Anderton Boat Lift is a brilliant educational and entertaining day out. It's an amazing piece of…read moreengineering, that is a sight to behold. The structure itself is a far cry from modern contemporary styles we see a lot of, it's full of classic charm and character, and the scale of it is quite imposing. There is also a one of the best visitors centre's I've seen in the country here, it's very informative discussing the whole history and significance of the place, and it keep your attention with some impressive design. It's very well thought out and put together. The information is presented in so many different ways, from videos, to wall displays to practical demos. Definitely worth the trip.

Great afternoon out for all ages, lovely boat trip and a history lesson included. My kids love…read morethis. This is a great place to take visitors from other parts of the country and the world as it is the only one of its type. Please be aware that it is advisable to book the boat trip in advance to avoid disappointment as this is very popular