Tunnel closed to passengers for 60 years reopens for weekend
An East Sussex tunnel which was last used by passenger trains 60 years ago will be reopened to pedestrians for one weekend.Volunteers have spent thousands of hours restoring the 256 yard (242m) Heathfield Tunnel to open to the public on 13, 14 and 15 June from 10:00 to 17:00 BST.The tunnel was once part of the now disused Cuckoo Line, running from Polegate to Eridge via Heathfield, which was fully opened in 1880 and closed to passengers in 1965.The reopening is part of Spa Valley Railway's Cuckoo Line gala, marking 60 years since the rail line was shut to passenger trains following a recommendation by the British Railways Board.
The last passenger train to run through the Heathfield Tunnel on 12 June 1965 was a BR Standard 4MT 80144.The tunnel remained open to freight trains until 1968 and was closed to pedestrians in 2015.The train line's name came from a tradition at the Heathfield Fair where the "first cuckoo of Spring would be released", says Spa Valley Railway. In the 1990s, the Polegate to Heathfield portion on the track was turned into the 10.4-mile Cuckoo Trail, jointly owned by Wealden District Council and East Sussex County Council.
Six steam and diesel locomotives once used on the Cuckoo Line will run from Tunbridge Wells West to Eridge via Groombridge as part of the celebrations. A spokesperson for Spa Valley Railway said: "This is as close as we're probably going to get to recreating the Cuckoo Line."
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BBC News
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What you need to know for Chalke History Festival
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Times
an hour ago
- Times
15 of the best UK hotels with outdoor pools
Let's face it, the UK isn't exactly built for heat. Summer can become a bit awkward, as trains turn sticky, beaches fill up by lunchtime and it's never clear if sandals count as office-appropriate. So, when we are faced with a heatwave, the whole country gravitates towards water — and hotels with outdoor pools are the season's most coveted escape. These are self-contained worlds where everything is made to help you relax — loungers in all the right places, drinks that appear with barely a nod, no need to pack a towel or claim a spot. Once you've found your space, the only real decision to be made is whether to swim now or after another chapter of your book. From cliffside infinity pools to reed-filtered natural dips, we've rounded up the UK's most inviting outdoor hotel pools to cool off this summer. Some are exclusively for overnight guests; others welcome day visitors or spa-goers. Whether you're checking in for a weekend or just stopping by for a dip and dinner, there's an escape here for you. This article contains affiliate links, which may earn us revenue ££ | POOL | SPA Carbis Bay's heated outdoor pool was unveiled just before the G7 summit in 2021 and remains one of the most spectacular in the UK. Set above a 25-acre privately owned Blue Flag beach, it offers cinematic views across the Cornish coast. A hot tub, sauna and hydrotherapy pool are also on hand, soothing you along with the sea air. There's even a private hot tub on the beach that's bookable by the hour. The bay's sheltered position and Cornwall's mild climate mean palm trees thrive and warm-weather swims stretch longer into the season. You can stroll straight from the beach into the deli or beach club restaurant for local crab dishes; or head to the Gannet gastropub. If you can tear yourself away, the South West Coast Path leads straight to St Ives with its galleries and charming cafés. • Cornwall v Devon: which is better?• Best hotels in Cornwall £ | POOL | SPA Finished with glinting green tiles, the 30m heated outdoor pool at the Nici is flanked by candy-striped parasols, loungers (first come, first served) and curtained cabanas on a sandy deck — they're bookable, but there's a minimum spend. Fun and family-friendly, it's suitable for laps and lounging — the latter in the form of in-water seating, virgin coladas and complimentary sunglasses polishes. During school holidays, the kids' club keeps little ones busy with a full activity programme, leaving grown-ups to chill in a cabana or hit the spa. Sunken fire pits warm things up on cooler evenings, while mid-century-style furniture, apricot and green-accented bedrooms, CBD treatments from OTO and a zigzag path down to West Cliff's golden sands all add to the resort's could-be-Miami allure. Non-guests can also book for a quick dip and dine package. Read our full review of the Nici ££ | POOL A brickwork marvel with towering white chimneys, Battersea Power Station provides one heck of a backdrop for your breaststroke. Sixteen floors up, on the rooftop of the funky Jaime Hayon-designed art'otel London Battersea Power Station, is a 12.5m heated infinity pool with a bubbling hot tub at one end. Soundtracked by Latin and house music from Soho Radio, the pool has a strip of loungers where you can enjoy chilled sangria pitchers and tapas from JOIA Rooftop. Swims are usually for hotel guests, but if you're looking for a taster experience of the pool you can book an Aqua Aerobics session or the soon to be launched headline series Rooftop SUP-Fit Yoga. Think yoga but on a paddleboard in a pool with unbelievable views and you've got your wellness routine covered. Read our full review of art'otel London Battersea Power Station££ | POOL | SPA South Lodge offers a rejuvenating spin on the traditional country-house spa break. Yes, there's a sleek 22m indoor pool and bubbling outdoor hydrotherapy pool, but it's the natural reed-filtered wild swimming pool that sets it apart. Cool, clean and deeply invigorating, it lets you dip straight into nature, no wetsuit required (it's heated a little to 14C). If real wild swimming is more your thing there's also a lake for guided swim sessions — followed by a hot chocolate during cooler months, naturally. Back inside, the spa takes its cues from the surrounding landscape, with a sauna that has a rippling roof in timber cladding. There are two fine dining restaurants, and another focused on health-conscious and plant-based eating. For extra seclusion, book one of the lakeside lodges, The Reeds. Read our full review of South Lodge • More of the best hotels in Sussex £ | POOL | SPA St Brides is all about sea views and slow unwinding. Its showstopper is the hydrotherapy infinity pool, heated to body temperature and perched on the cliffs. At high tide the boundary between pool and sea all but disappears. Swan-neck fountains, recliner jets and the gentle embrace of warm water create a welcoming retreat even on blustery Welsh days. But then the spa here is built for all seasons, with a thermal suite, relaxation zones and views that stretch for miles across Saundersfoot Bay. The hotel underwent a full refresh for summer 2025, bringing soft seaside tones and unfussy comfort to its bedrooms and brasserie. Seasonal produce features on a menu that includes the likes of local wild sea bass and Welsh sirloin steak. • Best UK holidays for families £££ | POOL Arriving at Burgh Island is anything but ordinary. Guests park on the mainland at Bigbury-on-Sea then, depending on tides, are ferried across the causeway by the hotel's sea tractor. This 1920s art deco hideaway invites you into a world of black-tie dinners, martinis under chandeliers and vintage glamour made modern. The natural Mermaid Pool is carved into the rocks and filled with seawater from the English Channel. Sealed in the 1940s by a sluice gate, it's now a wild but sheltered spot for a bracing dip. The pool is for hotel guests only and there are few better places to cast off the everyday and disappear, even just for a night. • More of the best luxury hotels in Devon £ | POOL Once home to a rector and his 14 children, this handsome Georgian manor on the edge of the Cotswolds still feels like a well-kept family secret. With just 18 bedrooms, it retains a quietly luxurious, home-from-home feel, where you're as likely to spend the afternoon in the sitting room with a drink from the honesty bar as out in the sun. Come summer, the real draw is the heated outdoor pool, situated discreetly in its own corner of the garden, and open from May to October equipped with its own radio for drinks orders. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, non-residents can take advantage of the Lunch & Swim offer to enjoy a dip either side of a leisurely meal. And food here is something to really stick around for: elegant, ingredients-led dishes in a light-filled glasshouse restaurant, from egg-yolk raviolo with bottarga butter to grilled peaches with burrata and rosemary oil. The whole place hums with Cotswold charm and it's only a stone's throw from sister pub the Potting Shed — handy, as swimming is thirsty work. Read our full review of the Rectory£ | POOL | SPA The Coniston acts as both a gateway to the Yorkshire Dales landscape and a comforting place to return to once the day's adventures are done. And there's plenty to do before you swim: take a hike through heather-strewn trails, cast a line on the lake, go clay-pigeon shooting or bounce through the hills on a Land Rover experience. After that, the spa's two outdoor infinity pools, garden baths and steam rooms feel especially earned. The Nadarra Spa is set high above the lake with views that stretch across the estate to the Dales beyond. Whether you're floating in the indoor bubble pool or warming up in the Himalayan salt sauna, everything here is designed to slow you down in the best possible way. Guests are charged an additional fee to use the spa facilities, and non-guests can book day packages too. With three restaurants, cosy rooms and one of the best sunset views in North Yorkshire, this 1,400-acre estate rewards both energy and ease. • Best hotels in London with pools• Best beaches near London ££ | POOL Hambleton Hall feels like a secret you've somehow been let in on. This Victorian country house hotel is one of the UK's finest, and the garden hums with old-world romance. It's refined without being fussy. Think croquet on the lawn, a Michelin-starred restaurant and a wisteria-draped pool terrace. The heated outdoor pool opens onto panoramic views of Rutland Water with the vast lake stretching wide and still below. There's no spa here, so the relaxation comes not from scented candles or soft chill playlists, but from quiet: the click of croquet balls, the rustle of trees and the sense that time has slowed down for a while. Book a lake-view room and bring a good book. Read our full review of Hambleton Hall £ | POOL | SPA Set in a lavender and rosemary-filled garden, the Manor House Alsager's 10m spa pool aims to chill you out. It's bookable as part of a spa package, heated to 38C, has benches and beds with hydrotherapy jets, and a south-facing swim-up bar where cocktails and passionfruit nojitos are served. The garden also has a series of relaxation spots, including a hydro tub and salt steam inhalation chamber. The hotel has an indoor swimming pool and orangery-style pool bar. Bedrooms in the 17th-century farmhouse riff on the botanical mood, while the Stables Bar & Grill restaurant does pub grub with aplomb. • More of the best hotels in Cheshire ££ | POOL | SPA The Scarlet is a perennial favourite with good reason: its natural reed-filtered swimming pool offers wild swimming in boutique style. Unheated and freshwater, the pool at this adults-only clifftop retreat has views out to Mawgan Porth beach. Swimming is available to non-hotel guests as part of a spa day including a Solo Journey or Swim, Soak & Supper. There are log-fired hot tubs and a cedarwood sauna to warm the cockles post-swim, and a spa menu featuring ayurvedic treatments — think coffee-mud hammams and grounding sarvanga massages. Expect clever tasting menus in the restaurant — miso onion tatin with morels and Earl Grey rice pudding, say — and boho-beachy-feel bedrooms. £ | POOL Stone columns, curved archways and carved stone lions give the 10m x 5m pool at the Tawny more than a hint of Roman baths drama. Heated year-round to a toasty 31C, it faces the 70-acre estate and its folly, tucked below the Plumicorn restaurant — named for and resembling a pair of owls' tufted head feathers. Use the poolside phone to order a delivery of cold drinks such as the ginger-citrus Aperol spritzes, or to request buggy chauffeurs back to your room. Quirky, scattered accommodation includes glass-fronted treehouses, lakeside boathouses and The Fledglings — self-catering cottages with private pools for groups or families looking for extra privacy and plunge potential. Read our full review of the Tawny £££ | POOL | SPA Set on a 2,000-acre working estate in Somerset, the Newt is pure bucolic bliss. Guests drift from the hydrotherapy pool to the glass-walled indoor-outdoor pool which appears to spill straight into the formal gardens beyond. Every corner of the Newt offers a gorgeous green view across orchards, wildflower meadows or the deer-dotted parkland. Poolside loungers fill up fast on sunny days, but there's no shortage of calm: the spa's steam room, salt therapy room and garden-view sauna all await. An overnight stay includes access to the estate and the herb-scented spa. Guests also get a year-long Newt membership, although you'll need to book a full spa package as it excludes use of the pool. And this is the kind of place you'll want to revisit in different seasons, with changing menus, new nature to discover and steam rising from the water on crisp autumn mornings. Read our full review of the Newt • More of the best luxury hotels in Somerset £ | POOL | SPA Ullswater is a long, glacial lake framed by fells and thick woods in the northeastern part of the Lake District. Wilder and less touristy than hotspots like Windermere, it's where you'll find Another Place, a hotel for adventurers set right on the water's edge. Paddleboards lean by the jetty, wetsuits dry in the breeze and guests peel off for dips that start chilly and end euphoric. There's no outdoor pool as such, so shoreline swims — and routes across the open water for the more experienced — are firmly on the agenda. But it's not all mountain grit. The 20m indoor pool is flanked by glass and filled with light, offering serene laps with Arthur's Pike in view. There are indoor and outdoor hot tubs, a sauna, treatment rooms, and even an 'endless' indoor pool for coached sessions. Book a shepherd's hut overlooking the lake so you can swim, paddle and hike to your heart's content. Read our full review of Another Place • Best hotels in the Lake District £ | POOL Portavadie is a marina-based resort on Scotland's west coast that's family friendly, affordable and offers serene views of Loch Fyne. Its 9m outdoor infinity pool is kept at 32C between March and November, and a more refreshing 20C in winter. Aquaphiles are spoilt for choice with an array of other dipping spots — a 16m indoor pool, kids' splash pool, and indoor and outdoor hot tubs. Choose between Scandi-look holiday cottages, apartments and secluded couple's retreats with wood-burning stoves and double bath tubs. Non-residents can also book a swim session via the resort's website, making it a great stop even if you're not staying overnight. • Best hotels in the UK• Read our full guide to the UK What's your favourite UK hotel with an outdoor pool? Please share in the comments below
BBC News
an hour ago
- BBC News
Part of busy Salford road to close for six months for bridge work
Part of a busy road in Salford will close for six months as part of a major regeneration Road is set to shut between Lissadel Street and Leslie Hough Way from 12 closure is due to the construction of Salford Rise - a 721ft (220m) elevated walkway which will provide a traffic-free route across the city.A diversion will be in place with drivers directed down Lissadel Street, Cromwell Road, Gerald Road and Seaford Road, while pedestrians can walk up Broughton Road East. Parking restrictions will also be in place on Lissadel Street and Broughton Road Rise is a project to get more people walking and cycling around the city by creating a new link over Frederick Road to the University of Salford's started on the scheme in September 2024 and is set to finish next is part of the £2.5bn Crescent Salford project, a 240-acre masterplan to transform part of Salford city centre with more than 3,000 new homes and buildings for research and businesses. Listen to the best of BBC Radio Manchester on Sounds and follow BBC Manchester on Facebook, X, and Instagram. You can also send story ideas via Whatsapp to 0808 100 2230.
