St Paul's Cathedral shows new face
The first cleaned and repaired face of London's St Paul's Cathedral - the East End - is revealed March 31, after 13 months of work carried out by the Cathedral's team of skilled stone masons. The work is part of a £40m programme which will see the entire Cathedral cleaned and repaired inside and out for its 300th anniversary in 2008.

Free Trip to Wales Contest from Wales Tourist Board
The Wales Tourist Board has launched a new website aimed at encouraging overseas visitors to Wales. The launch of Homecoming Wales.com is marked with a contest to win a free one-week trip to Wales.

Chester Cathedral High Tech Guide
Visitors can hear about the chequered 1,000 year history of Chester Cathedral in a new hands-free, digital audio guide. The Guideport tour, which costs £3, allows visitors to tour at their own pace while listening to a narrative delivered by professional actors.

British Regional Food and Drink Guide
Although it is a small country on the world map, Britain has a remarkable range of regional foods. To help the British, and visitors from overseas, sample all these delicacies, the Guild of Fine Food Retailers has produced a 200-page guide "Eating British", sub-titled "the eating in, eating out guide to regional food and drink".

Devon and Exmoor Walking Festival 2004
The North Devon and Exmoor Walking Festival, now in its fourth year, is being enlarged to include a cycling programme. So the 2004 festival (April 30 - May 3) offers more opportunities to explore the varied scenery - dramatic coastline, tranquil countryside, and the wild expanse of Exmoor National Park.

Unearthed Exhibition Opens at Jorvik Viking Centre
Jorvik, the world famous Viking themed attraction in York, has launched a brand new ‘Unearthed’ exhibition for 2004. The exhibition will allow visitors to see, find and interpret interesting facts about the Vikings from skeletal remains that have been excavated from sites around York.

Gretna Green on the Romance Trail
Gretna Green in Scotland this year celebrates 250 years of the Marriage Act, which turned the little coaching stop in Dumfries and Galloway into a world-renowned capital of romance. The Dumfries & Galloway Tourist Board has made Gretna Green the start of a five-day Romance Trail, which includes places linked with the local romantic poet Robert Burns

Newtown Textile Museum
A typical example of an early 19th century Welsh weaving shop, with accommodation below and handlooms above, opens on May 1 as the Newtown Textile Museum. The building, in Commercial Street, comprises six back-to-back cottages, each home to a family on the ground and first floors, with two large rooms with looms on the second and third floors.

Bovey Castle opens hotel
A hotel described as “England’s ultimate luxury destination” opens in England’s West Country on April 8. Bovey Castle, an Edwardian mansion built in 1906 for Viscount Hambledon, son of the bookseller W.H. Smith – overlooking a championship golf course in Dartmoor National Park – has been transformed into a prestigious holiday retreat.

Castle Howard Mothers Day Events
On Mother’s Day, Sunday 21st March 2004 Castle Howard, near York, will examine the role of the Mother in the 18th and 19th centuries. From childbirth, health, beauty and managing the household, visitors will be able to sympathise, empathise and contrast the past with their lives today.

Lake District Cuisine and Food Festival
England’s Lake District is promoting itself as a destination for food lovers. The locals are keen to tell the world that they can produce more than Kendal Mint Cake, a sugary confection popular with walkers, and Grasmere Gingerbread, which is 150 years old in 2004.

Compton Verney House reopens
An 18th century mansion in the Shakespeare Country of Warwickshire has been transformed into a major new art venue. Following its restoration, Compton Verney House opens on March 27 as the historic home for a permanent collection of Chinese bronzes, Neapolitan paintings, German Gothic sculpture, British portraits and Folk Art.

Herefordshire’s Hidden Extras Audio Guide
An innovative new product for visitors to use in their own cars, which combines the knowledge of eight local tour guides, has appeared in Herefordshire in the form of a series of 45 mile circular AUDIO CAR TOURS called Herefordshire’s Hidden Extras.

Great Fosters for Garden Lovers
One of England’s outstanding Arts and Crafts movement gardens has been restored and short-listed for an Europa Nostra award as one of the most interesting landscape restorations in Europe. The gardens, with their Saxon moat, topiary, formal plantings and long avenue of trees, surround an historic hotel – the Elizabethan former royal hunting lodge of Great Fosters.

Mothering Sunday at the National Trust
Why not treat your mother to a National Trust lunch on Mothering Sunday this year? More than 20 of the Trust's houses and gardens will be offering special lunchtime menus on Sunday March 21. Some properties are also offering other treats such as lovely Mother's Day gift ideas or the chance to walk around the garden and admire the early spring flowers together.

Dust off the Dodo Exhibits the Best of Yorkshire Museums
Precious treasures, rare discoveries and unique creations from the collections of York Museums Trust are to go on display in a fantastic new exhibition starting in May at the Yorkshire Museum, York.Dust off the Dodo Fabulous Finds That Time Forgot will showcase some of the Trusts rarely-seen gems and will tell the fascinating stories behind an array of unusual artefacts, many of which have not been on public display for several years.

Borders of Scotland Celebrates the Reivers
A unique festival in the Scottish Borders region celebrates the areas turbulent past and a culture born of fire & steel - the spirit of the Border Reivers! The Hawick Reivers Festival runs from 26 - 28 March, with concerts and ceilidhs each night, with free street events, a 16th century market, torchlight procession and a fireshow.

Year of Gardening in Britain
This is the “Year of Gardening” in Britain, with many events planned. The Marquess of Bath, the Duchess of Norfolk and Benjamin Bunny are among those marking the occasion with garden events and new attractions.

Beaulieu Anniversary Events 2004
Beaulieu, renowned for its National Motor Museum, this year celebrates an event which occurred nearly seven centuries before the invention of the internal combustion engine. This is the 800th anniversary of the founding, by King John, of Beaulieu Abbey, one of the first Cistercian monasteries in England.