# Richard Hammond's favourite place in the world....what's yours?



## Amity Island (Nov 1, 2022)




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## Chris Hobson (Nov 1, 2022)

I would have to say that my favourite place is my own little semi detached house. Home is where the heart is.


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## Robin (Nov 1, 2022)

Glencoe. Or the Dolomites. Anywhere remote, with mountains, basically.


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## Bloden (Nov 1, 2022)

It’s a toss-up between Langland Bay or Caswell Bay, near Swansea. I’ll say Caswell cos it’s wilder!


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## Robin (Nov 2, 2022)

Whitby is lovely, but it has one thing I’m not looking for in my ideal place….too many other people! We were unfortunate enough to visit on the first sunny day of the year, and the harbour side was heaving with people exposing acres of pallid flesh, which you knew would be lobster red by the end of the day, who’d waddled the five yards from the car park to the fish and chip shops and weren’t going to progress much further all day. Once we got up on the cliff, it was quieter, and I started to appreciate its charms.


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## EmmaL76 (Nov 2, 2022)

My back garden reminds me when I’m feeling sorry for myself… that I’m blessed. Oh and also Zara (the clothes shop)


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## Ditto (Nov 2, 2022)

Blackpool. When I see pictures of it I feel homesick, maybe I lived there in a former life. 

2013


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## Robin (Nov 2, 2022)

Amity Island said:


> That's the down side to Whitby having so much to offer, it brings thousands of people. Summer gets very busy. If you prefer something quieter, more scenic, it's a nice walk from Robin Hoods bay (park up at top) walk down to beach and along the sea front to Boggle Hole. At Boggle hole there is a really nice coffee shop ran by the YHA. From there you can walk up the cliff, back towards Robin Hoods Bay (in about half an hour). If tide is in or out, the cliff walk can always be used.


We did that walk - both ways along the cliff, as the tide was in! I do love a cliff top walk.


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## nonethewiser (Nov 2, 2022)

Amity Island said:


> That's the down side to Whitby having so much to offer, it brings thousands of people. Summer gets very busy. If you prefer something quieter, more scenic, it's a nice walk from Robin Hoods bay (park up at top) walk down to beach and along the sea front to Boggle Hole. At Boggle hole there is a really nice coffee shop ran by the YHA. From there you can walk up the cliff, back towards Robin Hoods Bay (in about half an hour). If tide is in or out, the cliff walk can always be used.



Done that walk, we use to holiday there when kids were little, there & north east coast.

Robins Hoods Bay is great, delicious chippy there at bottom of hill on lane off to right, you can get batter scrapings there with your fish & chips.

Don't have fav place, Ulswater would be up there if had to name few.


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## rebrascora (Nov 2, 2022)

They still do "scrimps" (batter scraps) in the chippies here. Ian got some just a couple of weeks ago.


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## nonethewiser (Nov 2, 2022)

Amity Island said:


> I haven't seen batter scraps in fish shops for years!. A thing of the past unfortunately. Scraps with salt and vinegar are tasty.
> 
> Like a lot of popular holiday places, almost all the properties are now second homes, Robin Hoods bay is no exception.



Batter scrapps can be had in quite few places now, had them in Northallerton few months ago & again in Durham, as where once they were free they now charge for them.

When we were kids we use to collect old newspapers for local chippy, in return we'd get cone of batter scraps or if lucky half portion of chips with scraps on top, wife of owner always was kindest so you got both.

Second homes, some councils are trying to clamp down on this to keep young folk in area, not before time as they are being priced out of housing market.


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## EmmaL76 (Nov 2, 2022)

Batter bits round my way.. so my mum tells me


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## Ditto (Nov 3, 2022)

Amity Island said:


> Is it the sea?


Well I do luvs the sea but I don't hanker for Norfolk or Ayr or wherever. Just Blackpool, even though a lot of 'our' places are shut now, like the market and stuff.  Not to mention the bingo, the Apollo's been closed for years and all the clubs aren't the same either and Norman has gone from the Philharmonic, it's all quite sad. I miss all the peoples and my own peoples and the place. Good grief I'm old.


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## nonethewiser (Nov 3, 2022)

Ditto said:


> Well I do luvs the sea but I don't hanker for Norfolk or Ayr or wherever. Just Blackpool, even though a lot of 'our' places are shut now, like the market and stuff.  Not to mention the bingo, the Apollo's been closed for years and all the clubs aren't the same either and Norman has gone from the Philharmonic, it's all quite sad. I miss all the peoples and my own peoples and the place. Good grief I'm old.



We visited Blackpool 3 years ago for 1 night stay, having not been since kids were little we were shocked at what we saw, most b&b's shut shops boarded up, backstreets seemed unsafe as loads of dodgy characters hanging about. Those lovely hotels on front overlooking prom seem to be housing homeless, understand there's lot of homeless in town from businesses closing & staff no where to go.

It was shame to see town like that, even pleasure beach looked run down which is sad to see given that it, plus tower was heighlight of visiting Blackpool. Appreciate this is just small portion of town & there's nice areas away from promenade but it's still off putting to visitors & residents living there.



Amity Island said:


> @rebrascora @nonethewiser @EmmaL76
> 
> Scraps - I'm clearly not going to the right fish and chip shops! I honestly haven't seen them for a long long time. I'll look a bit harder from now on.
> 
> In Whitby I usually go to either Trenchers/Magpie for fish and chips, I'll put my scraps order in next time.



Can't get them in Whitby it would be bad job, always fancied visiting Magpie but queue is to long when we visit, there's nice chippy over bridge just to left as you go up hill.


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## Ditto (Nov 3, 2022)

nonethewiser said:


> It was shame to see town like that...


Well, apparently peoples on the Dole say if you have to sign on you might as well sign on at the seaside!  It doesn't bode well for the town and the backstreets were always a tad seedy. Very old all of it. Great Yarmouth is the same.


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## nonethewiser (Nov 3, 2022)

Ditto said:


> Well, apparently peoples on the Dole say if you have to sign on you might as well sign on at the seaside!  It doesn't bode well for the town and the backstreets were always a tad seedy. Very old all of it. Great Yarmouth is the same.



Never been to Great Yarmouth, visited Southport in summer & parts of that has seen better days though not as bad as Blackpool.


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## Jenny65 (Nov 3, 2022)

My bed


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## Leadinglights (Nov 3, 2022)

I remember Morecombe being very run down many years ago but on a visit about 5 years ago I was pleased to see it was much better with money being spent from the European Social Fund to spruce it up.


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## EmmaL76 (Nov 4, 2022)

Amity Island said:


> Anyone been to Tenby? If Whitby is a 10/10 what would you give for Tenby?


Omg I went there all the time as a kid, must ask mum what the name of the site was. I felt like it was the best time of my life… and always Sunny


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## eggyg (Nov 4, 2022)

Buttermere, along with Ullswater , is my favourite lake. As a Cumbrian born and bred it is somewhere I have visited since I was a child. Unfortunately, like Ullswater, it’s always packed out. 
I’m more a Scottish islands girl now. Skye and Arran are spectacular but I hanker for a trip to Harris and Lewis and the Orkneys and Shetland. Wild, often wet, but less crowded than the lakes. We’re thinking of doing a 6 week tour of Scotland next year. Not the North 500 as apparently everyone does that. 
I also like Whitby, haven’t been for years but I keep looking out for cottages there, quite pricy!


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## eggyg (Nov 4, 2022)

Amity Island said:


> Anyone been to Tenby? If Whitby is a 10/10 what would you give for Tenby?


I love the idea of Tenby. It looks right up my street. Not done much of Wales, must remedy that.


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## Robin (Nov 4, 2022)

eggyg said:


> I also like Whitby, haven’t been for years but I keep looking out for cottages there, quite pricy!


We stayed in a lovely cottage near Castleton (not the one in Derbyshire, the one on the N Yorks moors), it was a collection of converted barns about half a mile outside the village, just above the River Esk, and had a huge picture window overlooking the moor. We did Whitby and Robin Hoods bay from there, as well as local walks on the moors. I seem to remember it was quite reasonable, we did it in May 2021 in between lockdowns. I think we did a Monday- Friday, not the full week though.


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## Robin (Nov 4, 2022)

eggyg said:


> Buttermere, along with Ullswater , is my favourite lake. As a Cumbrian born and bred it is somewhere I have visited since I was a child. Unfortunately, like Ullswater, it’s always packed out.


We caught Ullswater on a quiet, sunny afternoon on our way up to Scotland at the end of September, then had tea at the NT cafe at Aira Force and went for a walk round there. It was beautiful. I think it helped that the Kirkstone Pass was closed for repair that day, so maybe people had chosen to go elsewhere. We had been intending to drive up through the lakes, but we dived in from Penrith and back again.


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## eggyg (Nov 4, 2022)

Robin said:


> We caught Ullswater on a quiet, sunny afternoon on our way up to Scotland at the end of September, then had tea at the NT cafe at Aira Force and went for a walk round there. It was beautiful. I think it helped that the Kirkstone Pass was closed for repair that day, so maybe people had chosen to go elsewhere. We had been intending to drive up through the lakes, but we dived in from Penrith and back again.View attachment 22786


We can be at Ullswater in 20 minutes. It’s spectacular whether you’re up high or down on the shore. Been to Aira Force more times than I can remember. I’m feeling a day out coming on.


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## nonethewiser (Nov 4, 2022)

eggyg said:


> Buttermere, along with Ullswater , is my favourite lake. As a Cumbrian born and bred it is somewhere I have visited since I was a child. Unfortunately, like Ullswater, it’s always packed out.
> I’m more a Scottish islands girl now. Skye and Arran are spectacular but I hanker for a trip to Harris and Lewis and the Orkneys and Shetland. Wild, often wet, but less crowded than the lakes. We’re thinking of doing a 6 week tour of Scotland next year. Not the North 500 as apparently everyone does that.
> I also like Whitby, haven’t been for years but I keep looking out for cottages there, quite pricy!



Love Isle of Arran, fond memories travelling over there from Ardrossan.

Keep meaning to go back, were hopefully going over to Dublin come April so might try to get to Arran later in summer.


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## Leadinglights (Nov 4, 2022)

I love all the Lake District, it was the go-to place for holidays when I was a kid living in Lancashire as it was not too far, well before the M6 though so a trek up through Long Preston, Kendal and on to wherever we were staying. I remember a vegetarian hotel in Grasmere, the Old England in Bowness, and the Ramsbeck Hotel at Ullswater. That was a find after we walked out of somewhere near Ambleside as it was so awful. Then as a teenager, youth hostelling holidays with school friends when cider was 10 old pence a half pint. We bit off a bit more than we could chew as hadn't appreciated that the distance between hostels involved more ups and downs and lugging a rucksack was hard work. Black Sail youth hostel was amazing and the cockroaches in the kitchen at Derwentwater, I will never forget. Then camping trips when the kids were little were fun.
I would live there in a shot.


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## BrianC (Nov 10, 2022)

Wells Next the Sea


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## mikeyB (Nov 14, 2022)

We did  live on our favourite place when we lived on the Isle of Mull. For family an health reasons we now live in the Ribble Valley, where I was born. Said to be one of the late Queen's favourite places, too.

My favourite city is Glasgow. Abroad, Dublin and Moscow when it was still 'communist'.  All because the first time I visited those cities I had the feeling that I had been there before in previous lives.


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