Custodians of the spaces and places that people love.

Royal Liver Building 360 Tower Tour and Experience took their Gin collection, which has been made by The Handmade Gin company with specially designed labels by the Jones Boys, to the 10th Anniversary of Jamie Carragher’s 23 Foundation Dinner hosted at the Titanic Hotel Liverpool.

Royal Liver Building 360 were able to support the evening with their Bella, Bertie and Nineteen Eleven Gins.

It was a great evening that managed to raise 200K for Grassroots Football in Merseyside

For more information on Royal Liver Building 360 please visit their website or follow on Facebook and Twitter.

Ambitious plans are being drawn up to transform a landmark building at John O’Groats into a new tourist attraction based on locally brewed craft ale.

John O’Groats Brewery is proposing to create a brewery, tasting room and visitor centre at the Last House, which has been unoccupied for almost a year.

A planning application for change of use has been lodged with Highland Council and, if approval is granted, the venture could be under way by Easter 2020.

The development – costing around £250,000 – would add to the existing brewery operation at the village’s old fire station and would be a new experience on the North Coast 500 touring route.

The plan has the full backing of Heritage Great Britain, the company that owns the Last House. The building is thought to be more than 100 years old and has previously been used as a shop, as well as a small museum.

Andrew Mowat, one of the directors of John O’Groats Brewery, believes the development will further enhance the village’s tourism appeal if it gets the go-ahead.

“It’ll be a brewery and visitor experience with a tasting room and shop along with an audio-visual display and information about the area and how the beer is made, with a little tour at the end where people can go round,” Mr Mowat said.

“The beer will be the mainstay of it, but we’ll try to incorporate a bit of local interest where we can. One of the things we might look at is extracts from some of the old visitors’ books from the John O’Groats hotel from way back in the late 1800s or early 1900s.

“We’ll keep the existing brewery where it is, in situ, and we’ll put a new, smaller kit into the new building so we’ll have the capability of two areas where we can brew in.

“The emphasis will be more on the visitor experience – people coming in to taste it, and to get the tour. Where it is just now in the old fire station is just like a small factory, really – it’s not set up to look nice for tourists.

“It gives John O’Groats another attraction and it’s not competing against anybody else, and it’ll hold people for a bit longer. If people can spend an hour to an hour-and-a-half doing the tour, sitting having a taste, that’s an hour-and-a-half longer they’re in Groats.

“They might then go on and have a cup of coffee somewhere else, or something to eat, and maybe stay. That’s the idea, and we can expand our business as well.”

John O’Groats Brewery was set up in 2015, with the first batch of beer ready by early 2016. At present it produces three bottled beers, four main cask ales and some specials.

The plan for the Last House comes at a time when micro-breweries and craft ales are on the rise generally across the country.

Mr Mowat, who is treasurer of John O’Groats Development Trust and proprietor of the Seaview Hotel, said: “More and more people are asking for it. I know that from the hotel – they want to try the local thing wherever they are.”

Allan Leech, CEO of Heritage Great Britain, said: “To find the right venture for the Last House was absolutely critical, not just for us as a business but for the visitor experience and the success of John O’Groats.

“It sits right in the heart of John O’Groats, next to the signpost which gets 100 per cent of all visitors.

“I’ve known Andrew for many years and we have worked together on other projects at John O’Groats. When he said the brewery boys would like to have a chat it seemed a bit of a perfect match.

“This is also going to showcase the history of John O’Groats, the visitor experience at John O’Groats, and it’s going to be really high quality.

“As we’re finding more and more now, people want a true experience and a true sense of place.

“It was probably one of our most important decisions to find the right people to go in. That’s why it has sat empty for nearly a year.

“When the brewery chaps came along with this concept, that they were going to take their brewing skills and place them into a visitor experience with retail attached to it, but also showcasing the history of John O’Groats, it was a no-brainer.

“They’re going to be the custodians of the Last House.

“They’re really good chaps, local guys, and we’re really looking forward to seeing it coming to fruition. We’re fully behind them.”

John O’Groats and the wider area is benefiting from the growth in popularity of the North Coast 500, according to Mr Mowat.

“There’s more and more people visiting these days. There are people moving about in the quieter times,” he said.

“It [the NC500] is definitely helping. I dare say people not going abroad on holiday and Brexit and the pound plays a part too, but in general terms the whole area seems to be busier.”

Mr Mowat believes the Last House dates back more than a century. The traditional low-lying croft house featured in countless souvenir snapshots over the years as visitors reached the “end of the road”.

“The last person to live in it was called Maggie Mowat,” he said. “She was a fairly far-out relation of mine, and I do remember her when I was young. After that it became a shop for a time.

“It’s just lying empty now. It has not been looking very good for the last year or two, so it’ll spruce up that whole area.”

Earlier this year John O’Groats Brewery was awarded a bronze medal for its oatmeal stout in the London Beer Competition, the first event of its kind the company had entered.

The other three directors are Simon Cottam, Allan Farquhar and John Mainprize.

Meanwhile, there are unrelated plans for a micro whisky distillery at John O’Groats. The couple behind the venture, Kerry and Derek Campbell, from Thurso, hope it will create local employment and attract visitors.

Article credit: The John O’Groat Journal

To read this article on the John O’Groat journal website, please click here. 

For more information on staying at John O’Groats, please click here.

As part of Liverpool’s River of Light Festival (1^st to 9^th November 2019), Royal Liver Building 360 is proud to sponsor “Flight,” an immersive light experience showcased on the unique lightscape of the famous Royal Liver Building.

Utilising over 450 individual lights as well as a bespoke soundtrack, Flight brings this iconic building to life like never before with a story told through light.

The special digital showcase, known as ‘Flight’, sees the Royal Liver Building illuminated in a five minute light show every 30 minutes. It is accompanied by a new soundtrack composed by local artist Sam Crombie.

The light show, which has been designed by Arup and supported by Heritage Great Britain, will thereafter become a permanent feature of the city’s culture calendar as the building will have bespoke displays for special occasions.

Chris Devaney, operations manager for RLB360, said: “We know from the huge numbers of visitors we’ve had to RLB360 that people from all over the world love the Royal Liver Building. The new light show adds to this affection and gives this magnificent building a new lease of life. It strengthens its presence as a landmark building.”

For more information about Royal Liver Building 360, please visit their website or follow on Facebook.

We are thrilled to confirm a £750k investment in a brand new high nets adventure course for Sandham Gardens as part of the continued regeneration of Sandown, Isle of Wight.

Scheduled to open for Easter 2020, four nets will be suspended high up between timber posts with a treehouse in the middle and will be able to accommodate up to 400 people per day.

This new attraction is the latest addition to Sandham Gardens following the launch of ‘Dino islands: A Golf Adventure’ in early 2019 and ‘Sandham Karts’ in 2018.

Heritage Attractions Ltd, which also owns The Needles: Landmark Attraction on the Isle of Wight, has a 50-year lease with Sandown Town Council to develop Sandham Gardens.

For more information on Sandham Gardens please visit their website or follow on Facebook and Twitter.

The annual Mey Highland Games event at John O’Groats entered its third successive year and hit record numbers in both competing athletes and spectators.

According to the new chairman of the games, Councillor Andrew Sinclair, quoted in the John O’Groat journal: “Organising this year’s Mey Games has been a challenge but our organising committee has been absolutely fantastic and has really risen to the occasion. We are delighted at how successful the day was.

“The athletes and crowds were absolutely brilliant, and the weather couldn’t possibly have been better. The feedback we’re getting from many who attended is that this was the best games yet.”

To read the full article on the John O’Groat journal website, please click here.

For further information about staying at John O’Groats, please click here.

Photo credits: The John O’Groat Journal.

Liverpool’s Lord Mayor and the Mayor of Wirral help to launch a new range of Liver Bird inspired gins to mark the iconic Royal Liver Building’s 108thanniversary.

The gins have been commissioned by the operators of Royal Liver Building 360, which opened in April and has already proved popular with tourists and locals alike having welcomed over 20,000 visitors.

The luxury handcrafted range pays tribute to the history of the world-famous Grade I-listed building and its iconic Liver Birds, Bella and Bertie.

Nineteen Eleven, Bella’s Gin & Bertie’s Gin sees RLB360, Wirral-based “The Handmade Gin Company” and local artists “The Jones Boys” join forces to make the new gin a reality.

Bella’s Gin is infused with flavours of fruit salad sweets and ideally garnished with a pineapple wedge and a raspberry to enhance its tropical notes. Bertie’s Gin is infused with flavours of Apple and Elderflower, ideally garnished with a wedge of cucumber and mint sprig.

Nineteen Eleven, is named after the year the Royal Liver Building was completed and is a traditional Gin with a soft juniper notes to give a robust yet delicate flavour. Ideally served with a traditional tonic and garnished with juniper and lime zest.

Cllr Peter Brennan will be joined by Wirral Mayor, Cllr Tony Smith, to launch the luxury handcrafted range which pays tribute to the history of the world-famous Grade I-listed building and its iconic Liver Birds, Bella and Bertie.

Lord Mayor of Liverpool,Cllr Peter Brennan said:

“This is a good example of three city region businesses coming together to launch a new innovative product.

“This building is known all around the world and I’m sure visitors to Royal Liver Building 360 and in particular tourists will want a bottle of Bella, Bertie or Nineteen Eleven to remind them of their trip.”

Chris Devaney, Operations Manager for RLB360, said:

“We have been really lucky to work with a great local distillery in The Handmade Gin Company and with Andy and Phil (The Jones Boys) to create a bespoke product that looks as good as it tastes.”

“We always knew that when creating gin, it was important that it highlighted local suppliers and talent within the Liverpool City Region, whilst coupling it with the heritage of the Royal Liver Building and, of course, our Liver Birds.”

The gins and specially commissioned glasses are on sale at RLB360 along with Liverpool inspired prints by The Jones Boys.

Tickets and further information about Royal Liver Building 360 is available from rlb360.com or across social media @RLB360.

The First Minister of Wales, Mark Drakeford, has unveiled a plaque at Snowdon’s summit building to mark ten years since its opening.

Hafod Eryri, which loosely translates as ‘high summer dwelling on Snowdon’, was opened in June 2009 by former First Minister Rhodri Morgan and was built to replace the ageing building that had stood there since 1935.

Designed by architect Ray Hole, the structure was designed to withstand the challenging mountain weather conditions, while blending in with its natural surroundings.

At 3,507ft above sea level it is Wales’ highest inhabited building, operated by Snowdon Mountain Railway, with more than half-a-million visitors each year.

The First Minister of Wales, Mark Drakeford, said:

“This is a significant milestone for Hafod Eryri, a place visited by millions every year, securing itself the title of the UK’s busiest mountain. It has proved to be a genuine Welsh landmark at a truly iconic location.

“We will continue to work with Snowdon Mountain Railway and our other partners to ensure Snowdonia remains a key destination for tourists from across the UK and around the world.”

Vince Hughes, from Snowdon Mountain Railway, said:

“We’re thrilled the First Minister agreed to unveil a plaque to mark this special occasion.

“It’s thanks to the Welsh Government that Hafod Eryri was built and there’s no doubt it has transformed the experience for people when they reach the top of Snowdon.

“Although its position presents challenges, it has become a vital resource for both walkers and those travelling to the summit by train.”

For more information about Snowdon Mountain Railway please visit their website or follow on Facebook or Twitter.

Sandham Gardens have submitted a planning application to the Isle of Wight Council to seek permission to install a new high nets adventure course worth between £700k and £850k as part of the continued regeneration of Sandown.

Four nets would be suspended high up between timber posts with a treehouse in the middle and could accommodate up to 400 people per day.

Proposals will now go to the Isle of Wight Council’s planning officers.

For more information on Sandham Gardens, please visit their website or follow on Facebook and Twitter.

The One Show star Alex Jones received a rather odd leaving present as she headed off on maternity leave last week. The TV presenter, 42, said a temporary goodbye on April 26th and was told that, as a parting maternity gift, she now has a train seat named after her at Snowdon Mountain Railway.

The show aired an old clip of Alex commenting that there wasn’t a Welsh train carriage bearing her name – an honour enjoyed by Welsh legends including Katherine Jenkins and Dame Shirley Bassey.

It was then revealed on the show that they had managed to pull some strings and get her name added to a train on the Snowdon Mountain Railway – albeit just a seat!

For more information on Snowdon Mountain Railway please visit their website or follow on Facebook or Twitter.

Snowdon’s Summit Building marks 10th anniversary as trains return to Wales’ highest peak.

Three Liverpool icons have come together to mark the opening of RLB360, the city’s newest tourist attraction.

After catching a Ferry ‘Cross the Mersey, Gerry Marsden MBE officially opened the new RLB360 visitor centre at the Royal Liver Building before enjoying views from the 10th floor.

RLB360 offers guided public tours of the Grade I-listed building and 15th floor for the very first time, unlocking breathtaking 360° views as well as an immersive audio-visual experience in the clock tower.

During his 60-year career in the music industry, Gerry enjoyed world-wide fame with his band Gerry and the Pacemakers and released 4 ‘number one’ UK singles.

Gerry Marsden MBE, said:

“What a day! I’m so proud to have officially opened RLB360, revealing such stunning panoramic views from my city’s most iconic building.

“The Royal Liver Building has always been a landmark that people around the world recognise and I’m sure people will want to come and enjoy the experience for themselves.”

Allan Leech, CEO of Heritage Great Britain said:

“We’re thrilled to finally unveil RLB360 after a great deal of effort from our team and the support of all our partners.

“We’ve been working hard, behind the scenes, to unlock the most iconic building of Liverpool’s world-famous waterfront and allow locals and tourists alike the chance to explore the clock tower and gain Liver Birds-eye views for the very first time.”

Tours begin in the new lower ground floor visitor’s centre where the building’s rich history starts to come to life, before guests access the Liver Building’s 10th floor balcony, and climb the clock tower to its 15th floor, just below the famous Liver Birds.

Tickets and more information about Royal Liver Building 360 are available from rlb360.com.

A world-class audio-visual experience within the Clock Tower of Liverpool’s Royal Liver Building has been revealed, ahead of the new RLB360 visitor attraction’s official opening early next month.

The immersive experience, backed by an original music score, is digitally-projected directly onto the walls of the historic clock tower within the 322ft Grade I-listed structure and explores the building’s significance to Liverpool and how the city has changed in the 108-years since the Liver Building was built.

The installation was created by experiential design company Holovis, the people behind high profile projects such as Wicker Man at Alton Towers and Justice League: A Call For Heroes at Madame Tussauds.

Allan Leech, CEO of Heritage Great Britain said:

“With the opening of RLB360 approaching fast we’re pleased to be able to reveal a taster of what will be a real highlight of the tour.

“We wanted to make use of the iconic clock tower structure, and needed to bring in a partner who could deliver an unforgettable, world-class experience, while remaining sympathetic to the building’s listed-status.

“The resulting show, beamed onto the interior walls around our guests, uses ultra-modern audio-visual technology to create an unforgettable experience, telling the story of the Liver Building’s place in the evolution of Liverpool, through its culture, sport, history and music.”

Peter Cliff, Holovis’ Creative Director, said:

“We were tasked with creating an original and engaging presentation which puts visitors at the very heart of Liverpool’s story.

“The entire 9-minute show – combining planning, research and creating the audio-visual content – has taken almost a year to complete, and we’re very proud of the results.

“Unlike traditional projection-mapped experiences, this show surrounds the viewer, placing them in the middle of 270° visuals, making it one of the most immersive projection-mapped shows ever created.

“With the accompanying surround audio, guests will become immersed into each scene and feel like they are a part of it.

“We can’t wait for people to experience it for themselves.”

The clock tower presentation is just part of the overall RLB360 tour which will take guests from the building’s lower ground floor visitor centre up to the 10th floor balcony, then visiting the clock room before climbing to the parapet of the 15th floor tower to gain 360° views across the River Mersey, Liverpool docks and the city beyond.

Tickets and information about Royal Liver Building 360 are available from rlb360.com and you can also follow on Facebook and Twitter.

A new £60,000 go-karting attraction is open at Sandham Gardens.

Sandham Karts is a 150m track on the seafront next to the boating lake and has 6 battery powered, electric karts to race at once, suitable for children aged 4-12.

It marks the latest phase of development at Sandham Gardens by Heritage Attractions Ltd, who also operate The Needles Landmark Attraction on the Island.

Christian Zanti operations manager, Sandham Gardens, said:

“Our first week has been a great success, and there have been plenty of happy faces leaving the track.

“Many visitors have already expressed an interest in coming back again, so it is certainly proving a big hit with kids.

“We’re thrilled to see that the latest addition to Sandham Gardens is proving so popular and we hope it will boost to the number of visitors coming to the area.”

Last month, the Isle of Wight Council backed plans for a new high-ropes course in Sandown scheduled to open next year.

For more information on Sandham Gardens please visit their website.

Dame Shirley Bassey DBE has been honoured in North Wales after Snowdon Mountain Railway named a carriage after the legendary singer.

Dame Shirley travelled on the historic Welsh railway to Waterfall station in the foothills of Mount Snowdon to unveil her carriage.

The honour is to recognise Dame Shirley as an international ambassador for Wales and for her glittering musical career, having been the first Welsh singer to have a number one single, and the only artist to record three James Bond theme songs.

The Cardiff-born entertainer is the fourth and final person to be recognised by the railway with the most recent recipient being classical crossover singer Katherine Jenkins OBE in 2015.

Dame Shirley Bassey DBE said:

“I’m so grateful to Snowdon Mountain Railway for this unique honour.

“It’s been a privilege to entertain audiences around the world and help put Wales on an international stage.

“I’m proud of my Welsh roots and this honour keeps me forever connected to Wales and one of its most iconic locations.”

Dame Shirley was presented with a commemorative medal by Vince Hughes from Snowdon Mountain Railway, who said:

“The carriage naming recognises outstanding individuals in their field and we wanted to save the best ‘til last.

“I’m sure the other three won’t mind me saying that nobody’s done more to put Wales on the map than Dame Shirley.

“We’re truly thrilled that Dame Shirley agreed to come to Snowdon in person to accept the honour.”

For more information about Snowdon Mountain Railway please visit their website or follow on Facebook and Twitter.

A Swiss locomotive made a historic journey to North Wales in early September, offering visitors to Snowdon Mountain Railway free rides and a taste of the Alps.

For the first time, a train from the Brienz Rothorn Bahn (BRB) mountain railway in Switzerland travelled 900 miles from its Alpine home to meet up with its sister locomotives on Snowdon.

During September, visitors to the Welsh mountain railway enjoyed a 20-minute round trip powered by BRB’s No 2 steam engine, from Llanberis to Waterfall Halt.

Between departures, the train and carriage sat at the Llanberis arrivals platform where visitors could meet the loco, talk to experts from the Swiss railway and take photographs with the historic engine.

BRB’s engine was operated by a fully Swiss crew and undertook four return trips, part-way up the mountain, every day throughout September except Fridays, with carriage spaces allocated on a first-come-first-served basis.

Vince Hughes, Commercial Manager at Snowdon Mountain Railway, said:

“We carefully planned this event with our Swiss friends for some time, so it was great to unveil the BRB loco and see it steaming up Snowdon for the first time.”

Nick Robb, Project Manager at Switzerland Travel Centre said:

“It’s fantastic to have brought Loco No 2 across Europe to spend a month visiting our twin railway in Snowdonia.

“The BRB and Snowdon Mountain Railway use the same rack-and-pinion rail system and their steam engines were built in the same Swiss factory over 125 years ago.

“It felt right to reunite these historic steam engines after more than a century apart and we hope the public and rail enthusiasts alike enjoyed sampling a taste of the Swiss Alps in the foothills of Snowdonia.”

For more information about Snowdon Mountain Railway please visit their website or follow on Facebook and Twitter.

A new interactive family attraction is being unveiled at the westernmost point of Cornwall this half-term, starring much-loved characters from Oscar-winning animation studio Aardman.

The ‘Aardman Presents: A Grand Experience’, attraction is based at Land’s End and replaces the landmark destination’s successful Shaun the Sheep Experience.

Iconic Aardman characters Wallace & Gromit and Morph join Shaun’s farmyard friends within the attraction, which offers an entertaining experience for all ages, themed around some of the studio’s biggest TV and film successes.

Improving and expanding upon the Shaun the Sheep Experience, the new site gives visitors the chance to step into Wallace & Gromit’s living room, explore Wallace’s workshop and help build one of his Cracking Contraptions, before climbing on board a rocket to the moon.

Aardman Presents: A Grand Experience is part of a £200,000 investment in Land’s End this winter which will also see a new 4D film arrive at the venue’s 100-seat cinema, titled ‘Return To The Lost World’.

David Bryans, general manager at Land’s End, said:

“After a winter of redevelopment at Land’s End, I’m thrilled to be able to announce the opening of a new and expanded Aardman attraction in time for the half-term holidays.

“It’s great to be able to bring world-famous characters like Wallace & Gromit to Land’s End, along with old-favourites like Morph who will be as familiar to mums and dads as he is to younger children.

“Visitors will be able to enjoy a series of interactive games and experiences while exploring the venue, including drawing boards where guests can design their own inventions and video walls where they can take a selfie and then watch as their faces are ‘Morphed’.

“We’re also bringing a new movie to our 4D cinema for 2018 with ‘Return To The Lost World’, a sequel to our popular feature ‘The Lost World’ promising bigger and more exciting adventures on an island filled with dinosaurs.”

Aardman Presents: A Grand Experience opens at Land’s End Landmark Attraction on Saturday, February 10 and will remain open throughout half-term week until Sunday, February 18.

Find out more at landsend-landmark.co.uk or follow on twitter @VisitLandsEnd.