Spitbank Fort Hotel United Kingdom

A private owner invested £3 million and transform Spitbank Military Fort into a high-class luxury island retreat. Spitbank is located approximately a mile away from the coast of Portsmouth in Hampshire, United Kingdom. The gorgeous Spitbank Fort Hotel provides nine guest rooms that are nothing short of expensive along with three beautiful restaurants that come with bars, library, hot on rooftop, sun decks and a sauna. The unique idea consist of several original features from the fort have been retained such as the exposed brick walls, original fortress windows and a few cannons as well. Those who’re visiting the Fort hotel are met at Gosport and then taken to the hotel through a private boat. Therefore the second approach is to fly to No Man's Land Fort - big brother to the Spitbank and then take a boat ride lasting 10 minutes to reach the extravagance hotel. The Spitbank Fort provides twilight dinner and delicious Sunday lunch and both of which are experiences that you will never forget. The fort can be hired in private as well for sailing weekends, parties and weddings. But you must keep in mind that the stay at the hotel is extremely high with per head cost being £350.

The Guano Covered Island of Grassholm

Some island in the world is really awesome to see, just like remote offshore “Grassholm” which is a small uninhabited island, nearly 200 meters across, located 13 kilometers off the southwestern Pembrokeshire coast in Wales. This beautiful small island is home to one of the largest colonies of gannets. Therefore; during the breeding season starts from (April to September), approximately 39,000 pairs of birds, nearly 10% of the world’s population, nest on the northern side of the island. Therefore, this side of the island is well covered with a thick layer of bird droppings, mainly famous as guano, giving the island its characteristic off-white color.

From afar, the island looks extremely beautiful when bun sitting on the ocean with icing sugar on top.  So many visitors when approaches the island by boat, the stench becomes overbearing. The lovely white patch on the island that can be seen from above and off-shore, is neither snow nor limestone rock. These’re birds themselves and their shit. The tiny island is made up of basalt, an igneous rock of volcanic origin. It is well believed by researchers that the island was once a part of Skomer Island before it got loose during the last Ice Age. If you see the history you’ll came to know that during the late 16th century thousands of Puffins inhabited the island but now there are none.

Because the existing soil condition aren’t supported burrows that these birds normally make which is maybe why they’ve moved to the neighboring Skomer and Skokholm Islands. However; Gannets have increased their colonized in the island in massive numbers, perhaps arriving from Lundy Island where they were disturbed. Although Grassholm island covers only 22 acres and there’re more than 80,000 Gannets plus their chicks, colonies of Guillemots, Razorbills, Kittiwakes and Shags.

The gannets were first observed on the island in the mid of 18th of century roughly in between 1860 and in 1872, at that time only 12 pairs recorded as breeding there.  But at the late 18th century somewhere 1890's there were 200 or more birds breed. Therefore; in 1905 Cardiff Naturalists Society recorded 300 more breeding pairs. So Gannet population has been steadily increasing since then and now they’re in countless numbers. The birds live in very near proximity to each other and have evolved a series of vocal and postural messages. They’re always thousands of numbers in the air above the island, and would like to dive fishing from all angles at great heights.

The cacophony of sounds they make is deafening. Moreover; the guano had killed the dense mattress of grass in this island exposing archaeological remains of settlements from the Iron Age and early Medieval periods. So as you approach the island you’ll understand why it is white? And the noise and the smell of Grassholm is really a lifetime experience. The Gannets usually stay on Grassholm from February to October, and after that they’d like to travel as far south as Africa in the winter. The older birds will stay in European waters. Make sure there is no landing on the island but boat trips are run daily, subject to weather conditions.

World’s Largest Underground Trampoline United Kingdom

Bounce Below is the world's largest underground trampoline, bounce and slide facility is ready to open for general public on 4 July 2014. A set of three massive trampolines within the Llechwedd caverns in Wales brings trampolining to a whole new terrain. The old mining cavern is twice the size of St. Paul's Cathedral contains three mammoth trampolines and a 60ft slide. The activity lasts about one hour and visitors are supplied with cotton overalls and safety helmets before jumping on the train and taken inside the mountain. The train disembarks customers into a cavern lit up by an amazing display of lights. The three trampolines are connected by stairways and slides. The colorful lit caverns are the latest attraction at the regeneration project, which has seen over £1 million invested in it so far. 

Sean Taylor; the owner of Zip World said: We got this idea when my business partner saw this done in woods in France but this has never been done in a cavern, this is really a world first in Wales. Employees preparing the attraction had to work using portable lamps and carried out around 500 tons of rubble from the cavern. The first trampoline is 20ft off the ground, the second is 60ft and the third is 180ft high. They’re connected by shoots and you get in via a walk way in to the middle trampoline.

Love the Beautiful Landscape of Broads

The Broads is a member of the international family of National Parks, and unique landscape of shallow lakes and rivers is renowned for wildlife. In fact it is a rich mix of attractions are on offer on land and water all year round and the historic city of Norwich is right on the doorstep. The Broads are a network of mostly navigable lakes and rivers in the UK Counties of Norfolk and Suffolk. The Surrounding land was constituted as a special area with a level of protection similar to a National Park by The Norfolk and Suffolk Broads Act of 1988, and main responsibility is to managing the area by The Broads Authority, a Special Statuory, which started the operation in 1989.  It is UK largest protected wetland and a sprawling inland waterway where 6 free-flowing rivers wander 200 KM through a landscape soaked with lakes, fens, and marshes. The fens boggy peat-land rich with reeds and rushes are home to over 250 plant species, including the odd fen orchid. The Broads’ grazing marshes are home to waterfowls and wading birds, while the Breydon Water estuary is a famous stop for important flocks of migratory birds. The total area is 117 sq mi, most of which is in Norfolk, with over 120 mi of navigable waterways, and seven rivers and 63 broads, mostly less than 13 ft deep. Thirteen broads are usually open to navigation, with a further three having navigable channels.

Some broads have navigation restrictions imposed on them in autumn and winter. Moreover; Man-Made The Broads’ landscape is in fact man-made in large part as a byproduct of some two centuries of excavation. In the 12th century, with most of east Norfolk’s woodlands cut, area inhabitants started to dig huge pits and extract peat as a major fuel source. Interestingly the diggings slowly filled with water and eventually became an enormous wetland. The Wide shallow waterways of Broads are best for boating for beginners, boaters from sailors to canoeists. The tour guided are easily available, as park is considered fine place for beginners to learn in a safe scenic environment, and also visitors can sail on one of the legendary Norfolk wherries, which once made commerce move in the region. For nature lovers, Mammals in the Broads include mice and water shrews as well as larger animals such as otters.

Several plants growing like stoneworts are exclusive to the Broads; others are all-encompassing species, like Himalayan balsam, which threaten to tip the local ecosystem off balance. The attractive Broads landscapes include extensive bike trails almost 300 KM of footpaths and villages. It is highly recommended to experience the Broads by boat, because water is the heart of this place. The real essence of Broad is always something happening here, wildlife watchers will find multiple verities and activities in both seasons (spring and summer). Transit time from London is two hours, buses and trains can catch bearby the city of Norwich, as well as smaller stations within the Broads proper. Moreover Norwich also has the international airport facility with global connection via Manchester, Amsterdam, and Paris. Whatever you want to do here, hire a boat for a day, visit a nature reserve, historic buildings, or shopping, birdwatching, walking, cycling, are famous things. To protect this beautiful landscape, everyone has to love the Broads is the visitor offering scheme for the Norfolk and Suffolk Broads. The real purpose behind this scheme is to inspire people to care the environment via small donations by giving money directly. If every visitor to the Broads gave just £1 we could raise £7 million each year for projects to protect the Broads in the future.

Arcelormittal Orbit London

Renowned structural engineer Cecil Balmond and artist and sculptor Anish Kapoor designed the 114.5m-high sculpture was largely funded by global steel firm ArcelorMittal who stumped up £19.6m of the full £22.7m cost. The balance £3.1m was funded by the Greater London Authority. Steel is the primary material used in this largest Britain Sculpture, because steel was the only material that could give the minimum thickness and maximum strength represented in the coiling structure. The organic design of Orbit is an extraordinary amount of work was necessary on structural engineering ArcelorMittal has largely sourced the 2,000 tonnes of steel used in construction from its Western Europe plants although token quantities of the material have been included from each continent where the firm has a plant. The company has also taken a level of sustainability into account, ensuring that 63% of the steel used was from recycled sources.

Arcelormittal Orbit is located between the Populous-designed Olympic Stadium and Zaha Hadid Architects’ Aquatics Centre, the ArcelorMittal Orbit is the tallest sculpture in the UK and reaches 22m taller than the Statue of Liberty. Its extravagant design has been a talking point for Londoners both within the AEC community and for the general public, splitting the critics into teams of either ‘love’ or ‘hate’. Moreover within the two 300 sq m inside viewing decks, visitors were able to gain panoramic views of the Olympic Park and London skyline for 20 miles in every direction.