A journalist for some 25 years, Abigail cut her teeth on women's magazines before swapping print for TV. Ending up at the BBC, she survived a long haul as a producer and director on ‘Watchdog' with Anne Robinson, and a stint on ‘Animal Hospital', both without being bitten. Now back freelancing, she focuses on travel, family and consumer issues, writing predominantly for The Guardian, Sainsbury's Magazine and takethefamily.com. Mum to a nearly teen, she has written extensively on family-friendly Britain, including The Guardian's "1001 things for kids to do". A keen rider and self-confessed "nature nut", she is usually accompanied on her travels by her long-suffering son. On the few occasions when she does leave him behind, it is invariably because she has escaped on a horse somewhere.
Adrian Mourby is a UK-based travel writer who has published four novels alongside two travel guides and a book of humour based on his award-winning Radio 4 series Whatever Happened To...? He has travelled to most parts of the world but would cite Cambodia, Antarctica, Istanbul, Finland, Venice, Luxor, Zanzibar, Burma, Namibia and Sinai amongst his most interesting journeys. Adrian also writes about the UK for European and American publications. His travel journalism has appeared in every UK broadsheet and numerous in-flight and luxury magazines.
Amanda Statham is travel editor of Cosmopolitan and former travel editor of You & Your Wedding magazine, a position she held for eight years. During her 12 years in the industry Amanda has enjoyed a successful career as a travel writer, author and photographer for national magazines, newspapers, trade press, guides and travel-travel-related books, the latest of which is Heaven on Earth Honeymoon Islands. She is also a contributor to websites such as Yahoo!, Jetsetter.com, CNNGo.com and dailytelegraph.co.uk. Amanda travels at least once a month to a wide variety of places, from hip European cities to the wilds of the Galapagos and dreamy islands of the Indian Ocean.
Andy Lynes is a Glenfiddich Award nominated freelance writer specialising in food, drink and travel. He writes the Food of the Week column and travel articles for the Independent on Sunday Compact Traveller supplement and is a regular contributor to Restaurant magazine. He has been guest restaurant critic for The Guardian and Metro (London edition) and has contributed to the 2007 and 2006 editions of the Square Meal restaurant guide. His work has also appeared in olive magazine, Waitrose Food Illustrated, Independent on Sunday Review magazine, Food Arts, History Today and Scarlet magazine. Andy contributed to the revised edition of the Oxford Companion to Food and The AA's The Guest List, both published in 2006. Andy lives in Brighton with his wife Gill, children George (14) and Alice (10) and Lulu the German Shorthaired Pointer.
Ben West has written travel articles for most of the UK's national papers including The Sunday Times, Guardian, Daily Mail and Daily Telegraph, as well as several guidebooks. Travel writing, as well as touring his theatre show, Gertrude's Secret, has taken him to many parts of Britain, staying in a wide variety of accommodation, including many coastal cottages, along the way.
Dinah Hatch is a travel journalist and guidebook writer. She has reported from destinations across the world for the likes of The Daily Telegraph, The Observer, The Guardian, The Daily Mail, The Express and The Sun but since the arrival of her two children has become more interested in British travel and re-discovering the delights of the country she was born and raised in. She has since written three guidebooks for US guidebook giant Frommers; England With Your Family, Scotland With Your Family and Britain For Free. She almost always travels with her two children, aged 7 and 5, who are also her unwitting guinea pigs - and never slow to pass comment on the merits of an attraction!
For over a decade Greg Cook has worked as a successful professional freelance writer, sourcing and generating editorial features for a diverse array of magazines and newspaper supplements. During this time he's reviewed everything from rock albums to boutique hotels, modern art galleries and contemporary restaurants. Greg has visited a host of period homes and stately gardens while writing for interiors and garden magazines such as Living Etc and Homes & Gardens, and as a travel writer he's visited popular holiday destinations, working and writing for A Place In The Sun Magazine, as well as straying far off the beaten track to provide features for publications ranging from The Sunday Telegraph Magazine to Singapore Airlines Inflight magazine Silverkris. More recently his journey's, domestic and foreign, have seen him lost below Dover Castle in unexplored 12th-century siege tunnels and laying down a harmonica track for African artists Amadou and Miriam at a recording studio in Mali.
Jan Fuscoe has been writing and editing for over a decade and cut her editorial teeth with Time Out magazine and guides, editing Weekend Breaks in UK and Ireland as well as the Pubs & Bars guide for several years. She has also reviewed hotels and restaurants for the London guide and spas for the Health & Fitness section of the Shopping guide. As Copy Editor on Britain: Perfect places to stay, eat and explore and a regular contributor to the Eating and Drinking guide, she's quite the expert on leisure in Britain. She has also written for the Guardian, the Sunday Times, the Independent, Dorling Kindersley, Thomas Cook and Fodor's.
Jessica Baldwin is an award-winning spa and hotel reviewer. Having written for everyone from Time Out to EasyJet she specialises in testing out the finest spas and most luxurious hotels around the globe. So far her search for the best spa in the world has seen her get gold plated in Italy, trek into Switzerland's Pennine Alps looking for medicinal Moiry Glacial mud and even get her own blood injected in to her face in Spain. But despite her foreign travels she believes that Britain has some of the world's best hotels and spas and is passionate about finding the country's most decadent rural escapes.
Joanna Reeves is a London-based travel writer, with work published across National Geographic Traveller (UK), Suitcase, Fodor's, Escapism, Rough Guides, among others. She is a contributor to two coffee-table books: Rough Guides' Top 1000 Travel Experiences (2020 edition) and Rough Guides' Best 100 Places on Earth (2020), and has also updated the Insight Guide to London 2019, Insight Guide to England 2019 and Berlitz Guide to London 2019. She is currently working on the Rough Guides to London and Cambodia for 2020, and the Berlitz Guide to Marrakech.
Julie Vuong is a freelance journalist, based in north London, writing reviews for a range of online publications including The Pool, Marie Claire, the Press Association and Running In Heels among others. She has reported from destinations across the world, but now with a baby in tow, is happy to stay put and explore the best of Britain.
Kate Simon has worked as a journalist for national newspapers and magazines for almost 30 years. She was Travel Editor of The Independent on Sunday from 2005 to 2011, when she stepped down to become the Travel Correspondent of the paper and its sister title The Independent. Kate now spends her time roving the world for the newspapers and the other publications she writes for, which include The London Evening Standard and National Geographic Traveller Magazine. Her favourite places to wander include Britain, Spain, US cities and the Caribbean. Kate hosts an occasional travel-writing workshop, and she also runs Little Black Book Creative, a business she co-founded with friend and fellow journalist Simone Kane to offer editorial and media relations services.
From bush fires to the Paris couture collections Liz Coggins has covered them all. She has worked extensively in Australia and England, in Australia, for The Australian Broadcasting Corporation in radio and television. In England, as a features/women's editor on several large regional newspapers before becoming Editor of the national bridal magazine Bliss For Brides. One of top wedding specialist writers, Liz, a member of the British Guild of Travel Writers, has written on wedding, honeymoon and romantic destinations for; Wedding Ideas, For The Bride, Perfect Day, F Magazine, Travel Africa, Debrett's Femme, Choice, Australian Bride-to-be, and numerous websites, magazines and newspapers both in the UK and Australia. Her book “Wonderful Wedding Destinations” was published in the UK and the USA. Liz often broadcasts and appears on TV and must bear the unique distinction of having slept in at least 175 bridal suites world wide on her own!
Lucy McGuire is a travel writer who has contributed to print publications such as Escapism, BALANCE and Square Mile and websites such as Suitcase, Weather2Travel, Family Traveller and LoveExploring. She also runs the blog The Travel Journo. During her 12-year journalism career, she has worked for regional newspapers, global travel companies and women's magazines. She has also written for trade press and inflight magazines. After growing up in North Yorkshire, she has worked her way north to south, living in Edinburgh, Manchester, London, and now Hertfordshire. Her favourite travel experiences include a three-month sabbatical in Eastern and Southern Africa and several trips to the Caribbean.
Lynn Houghton is a journalist residing in London who writes about Luxury travel topics such as spa and cruise for consumer websites including spa wellbeing.com and national publications; Health and Fitness, the Evening Standard and Independent on Sunday. She is also a specialist on adventure travel, the South-west US and Canadian Rockies.
A pair of perpetually itchy feet ensure that Natalie is always plotting and planning her next big adventure. Her escapades have led her to chase the aurora borealis in Iceland; camp with cowboys in Outback Australia and master the art of blind faith to enable her to cross the road in Ho Chi Minh City. After a stint of living in Sydney, Saigon and Scotland (Edinburgh), she now resides in Hampshire – where she's re-discovered a love for good old Blighty. Becoming a freelance travel writer and journalist seemed like the obvious option and Natalie has written for various travel magazines and online publications at home and overseas including: Sunday Times Travel Magazine, National Geographic Traveller, Hampshire Life Magazine, Let's Travel (NZ) and TheTravelEditor.com.
Natasha Blair is a member of the British Guild of Travel Writers and has worked in the travel industry for the majority of her working life. She was initially employed in public relations working both in-house and via consultancies for luxury hotels. She has written on hotels for numerous publications as well as on-line.
Natasha Jackson joined Trinity House in 2019 as Senior Events Manager in charge of weddings. Upon completing her degree in International Hospitality Management at Oxford Brookes, she furthered her career with managerial positions at Painter’s Hall in the City of London, and subsequently at BAFTA 195 Piccadilly where she planned weddings and events on a larger scale. Prior to taking up her position at Trinity House, Natasha was the designated wedding planner at famed caterers, The Admirable Crichton, during which time she organised weddings in multiple venues throughout the UK but particularly London, including the Royal Hospital Chelsea, Hedsor House and Middle Temple. She has already organised several weddings at Trinity House with more in the offing.
Nikki Bayley has written extensively about spas, travel and food for a range of titles including the Sunday Times Travel Magazine, the Guardian, Good Spa Guide and Yahoo! According to Nikki few things make her happier than running barefoot across the grass to sink into an outdoor hot tub in the rain. “Trust me a spot of cooling rain on your face as you bubble in a tub is one of life's greatest pleasures.”
Former editor of Period Ideas magazine and author of Happy Home, Rebecca Winward is a connoisseur of interiors both traditional and contemporary, meaning she's particularly well-placed to seek out the most stylish hotels, restaurants and stately homes to visit. Having written about everything from bridal gowns to automotive engineering during her 11-year career in journalism, she specialises in lifestyle topics including food, health, homes, gardens and travel, and has seen her work published in a variety of titles worldwide, including Elle Decoration, House & Garden, Good Housekeeping, and the London Evening Standard. Rebecca's travel writing focuses largely on the luxury end of the spectrum, and often involves some element of food tourism. Her work has taken her to far-flung locations around the world - yet she still has an overriding love of Britain and everything that it offers, in all its glorious regional diversity. Rebecca lives in Essex, with her husband and a rather soppy Siamese cat, and is expecting her first child in December 2012.
Sarah is a full-time travel writer. After writing regularly for the Mail on Sunday, the Times, the Evening Standard and the Observer, she became deputy travel editor of the Sunday Mirror in 2011. Interested in both city and countryside, she has a particular interest in new hotels and loves small, lesser-known museums. She travels regularly to the USA, Scandinavia and the rest of Europe but loves the east coast of Scotland most of all.
Freelance journalist Suzi Dixon loves hotels with fitness breaks and spas... anything with a wellbeing angle. She's not keen on flying so thanks to 12 years of press trips within the UK, she's a great source of ideas for Britain's Finest fans. She started off in journalism aged 16 at The Wiltshire Times. After her degree, she spent four years at the Western Daily Press in features, before heading to London and The Daily Telegraph. A stint on Telegraph.co.uk indulged her inner geek and she's also worked for the paper's Weekly World Edition, writing about Brits abroad and expat adventures. After a few years in the fast lane in London, she now lives in Bournemouth for a better work/life balance. You often find her with her laptop in one of the town's beach bars or working with media students at her alma mater, Bournemouth University. In between freelance features, she is brand ambassador for MyTravelMoney.co.uk and runs independent news site BournemouthNews.info.
Ursula Hirschkorn is a freelance journalist who regularly contributes to the travel pages of the Daily Mail's Weekend magazine, writing six of the best columns on everything from pet-friendly breaks to the most romantic hotels in the UK. She also writes about family travel and days out for the Daily Mail and Parentdish.co.uk. In her 18 year career as a journalist Ursula has written for most of the national newspapers including The Telegraph, The Independent, The Sunday Times and The Sun's Fabulous magazine, writing on a whole range of lifestyle issues. She has also had her work published in Jet2's inflight magazine, the Tesco magazine and Woman as well as many other publications and websites.
Veronica Peerless is the Deputy Editor of Which? Gardening magazine and a qualified garden designer. She also writes a blog, throughthegardengate.co.uk/blog, which documents inspirational gardens that she's seen on her travels around London and beyond. In 2011 Veronica won The Garden Media Guild ‘News Story of the Year' award.
WILLIAM GRAY is an award-winning travel writer and photographer, specialising in family travel, wildlife and adventure. The author of 'Travel with Kids' (winner of the BGTW Best Guidebook in 2008)as well as 'Britain with Kids', 'Europe with Kids' 'Cornwall with Kids' and his latest book, 'Wildlife Travel'. Voted fourth in the Press Gazette's Top 50 Travel Journalists 2010, Will presented family travel features for the BBC's Holiday programme and is a contributing editor for Wanderlust magazine. He regularly writes for The Sunday Times Travel magazine and numerous other publications and is editor of Kenya Airways' inflight magazine. He lives in the Oxfordshire Cotswolds
Some text in the modal.
Sign up to our email to receive our most splendid special offers each month!
