News
Runner up - Best Farm Attraction
Thursday 1 May 2008
We are pleased to announce that the Dick Whittington Countryside Centre are now the proud owners of
The Jim Keetch Farm attraction of the year competition 2007 runner up certificate.
This is a national competition run by the national farm attractions network, amongst others.
Needless to say they are very excited by this achievment!
As a national competition it is a great boost for tourism in the area!
Congratulations to Chris, Jane, Kerry and all of the team at the centre. Wye Valley Butterfly Zoo nets award
29 April 2008 A WVFDTA member has been awarded the title of Overall winner of Midlands Best Small Attraction 2007/2008 by Going Places magazine. Wye Valley Butterfly Zoo in Symonds Yat West features tropical and sub-tropical butterflies from around the world, flying around you in an indoor exotic garden which provides their habitat. All stages of their metamorphosis can be seen close-up. Visitors are lent a magnifying glass to get closer still, and information to share about the butterflies and their survival strategies. It's a great place to take photographs. There's full access for wheelchairs and if you don't like them fluttering there are special netted hats for scaredy-cats! Wye Valey Butterfly Zoo is co-located with the aMazing Hedge Puzzle and with Wye Valley Miniature Golf, saving your guests a lot of travel, and there are great savings to be had through joint tickets and free parking. This is one place you can recommend with confidence.
25th February 2008 ‘Braintree’ Babes in the Woods
Taurus Crafts – Lydney, Forest of Dean Just in time for fair-trade fortnight – 25th Feb – 9th March 2008 Taurus Crafts launches its new range of Organic baby clothes. Made using ‘Certified Organic Cotton’ in a ‘Sweatshop Free Environment’. These are the coolest and most environmentally friendly clothes you can dress your baby in and you don’t need to travel far or battle the crowds on the high-street – keeping it local and stress free. Did you know – The clothes industry is one of the most polluting in the world using over 8,000 chemicals and causing over 20,000 deaths a year. “We want to let the children of the Forest of Dean be the best dressed without costing the earth” says Gift shop Manager Helen Pike. “We have a full range of clothes for babies from 0-18 months, ranging from bibs and hats to baby grows and trouser suits, there’s something for all. They are really nicely packaged and would make a perfect gift” A BIG THANKS FROM BANGLADESH FOR MISBAH Misbah Tandoori in Monmouth have assisted in distributing 4000 KG of Rice to the flood victims and needy people surrounding Mr. Miah's native village of Khadimpur, Sylhet in Bangladesh.
Misbah Tandoori raised over £1000 through its charity nights appeal and raffle draw for the flood victims in Bangladesh.
Mr. Miah's relatives and other members of the village are distributing the rice. Every body appreciates and thanks the Monmouth MISBAH's customers and friends for the generous donations. CONGRATULATIONS TO BISTRO PREGO!!! Metro Food and Drink Awards December 2007. NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR
Bistro Prego
The seasonal, modern, unfussy food served up by head chef Steve Robbins at Bistro Prego proved a big hit with Metro readers, who loved the Italian influence and simple approach. Glorious saddle of hare with braised red cabbage, chestnuts and cranberries; fragrant tagliolini with crab, chilli, parsley and cherry tomatoes; griddled squid with a salad of chickpeas, chilli and mint; home-cured bresaola with rocket and Parmesan; rare Herefordshire rib-eye; grappa panacotta; and marsala semifreddo were all on the menu when we paid a visit nearly a year ago. Since then Prego has gone from strength to strength. New front of house manager Lynnette Bourgaize keeps a watchful eye on service in the laid-back dining room; eight coolly contemporary ensuite bedrooms opened in March - the Welsh Tourist Board recently upped Prego's accommodation rating from two to three stars - and local hero Francho Taruschio is named as a consultant. 'It's been a fantastic year, despite the terrible weather this summer' says Robbins. 'It's nice to win awards and get rosettes, but all we really want is to make our customers happy and keep serving good food.'
7 Church Street, Monmouth. Tel: 01600 712600. www.pregomonmouth.co.uk
"The Forest of Dean is No: 1 for family cycling routes" - The Observer - 29th July 2007! WVFDTA Booklets for 2008 We are pleased to confirm that next year, we will once again be producing useful booklets for visitors to the area (but great for us locals also). These will be: GREAT PLACES TO STAY
This booklet will take the Association's usual format of DL (1/3rd A4), stitched on 100gsm silk finish paper. It will list all types of accommodation available from our members. It is expected that it will have a minimum of 24 pages. It will have a map on the two centre pages and all entries will be grid referenced. There will be a print run of 50,000. All entries will be equal in size as in the 2007 WVFDTA booklet “DO SOMETHING DIFFERENT” Details of Booklet DO SOMETHING DIFFERENT This will highlight all there is for visitors to do whilst in the area – Attractions and Activities, Speciality Shopping and Business Services. The booklet will take our usual format of DL (1/3rd A4), stitched on 100gsm silk finish paper. It will be no more than 24 sides, i.e. twice the size of the current “Magic” leaflet, but on thinner paper to maximise its rackability. Its cover will seek to emulate the current winning formula of the “Magic” leaflet. It will have a map on the two centre pages, identifying the 18 “super enhanced entries” by numbered stars. All other entries will be grid referenced. There will be a yellow star stating “Map” in the top right corner of the cover. The print run will be up to 120,000. EATING OUT GUIDE
This has now gone to print and has been produced in association with the Forest of Dean District Council. A PDF version of the document can be downloaded here - it is a 2.4mb file.
Watch this space for the date upon which they will be available.
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