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Your support makes all the difference.The National Trust has published a collection of 10 coastal walks through Trust-owned land.
The walks are to help celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Neptune Coastline Campaign, which was established in 1965 to help raise money to buy important stretches of the UK coastline.
Two of the walks are in Cornwall: a five-mile hike around Tintagel on the north coast and four miles along the Lizard peninsula, taking in Kynance Cove. Others include a route around the nature reserve and former secret military site at Orford Ness on the Suffolk coast and a five-mile walk past Dunstanburgh on the Northumberland coast, home to a wide variety of birds and flowers. Another trail, Old Harry Rocks in Dorset, forms part of the World Heritage-listed "Jurassic coast".
Since the Neptune campaign was founded more than £45m has been raised, and the Trust now owns more than 700 miles of coastline. All walks can be downloaded from www.nationaltrust.org.uk.
Save your place in line
Chessington World of Adventures (0870-999 0045; www.chessington.co.uk) has introduced a Pit Stop Pass to help parents whose children need to use the lavatory.
The "pee pass" enables parents whose children are caught short while queuing for a ride to whisk them to the loo and then bring them back to the head of the line. Families collect a pass at the information centre and hand it to the ride operator when they return from the toilet. "The unwritten rule says children will want to use the loo at the most inconvenient time, in the most unsuitable place - such as the front of the queue for their favourite theme-park ride," said a spokeswoman.
Tahiti without LA
Travellers headed for Tahiti can now fly via New York (pictured) and avoid Los Angeles airport, the traditional hub for the Pacific and widely regarded as the most unwelcoming transit point in the US.
Air Tahiti Nui (0870-774 5450), the French Polynesian national carrier, is offering flights in partnership with Virgin from London to New York that allow passengers to stop over in New York en route to the Pacific. The non-stop flight between New York and the Tahitian capital, Papeete, takes 12 hours and operates three times a week. Return fares from London to Tahiti cost from £699 per person, including taxes.
Forest tours
Britain's newest national park, the New Forest, has launched a hop-on, hop-off tour bus service in an attempt to reduce traffic congestion.
The bus runs daily until 4 September, and calls at key places within the Forest, including the National Motor Museum at Beaulieu, Lymington Pier (for the Isle of Wight) and Lyndhurst. A day pass costs £8 for adults, £4 for children and £20 for a family ticket. The bus also carries a cycle trailer with room for nine bikes. For more details on the service, see the New Forest link at www.city-sightseeing.com; and, on the New Forest, visit www.thenewforest.co.uk.
In Lear's footsteps
The poet Edward Lear had a less well-known role as a travel writer and landscape painter.
A guide to Edward Lear's Italy, from Cadogan, priced at £8.99, focuses on the writer's other artistic life and follows in his footsteps around Italy, with information from his diaries, travelogues and letters. More details are at www.cadoganguides.com.
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