With packages tailor-made for both ‘him and her’, the Brooklands Hotel in Surrey is the perfect remedy for mind, body and soul.

If fast cars and fabulous spas are your passion, then why not check in to the Brooklands Hotel in Surrey. Situated on the site of the legendary racetrack and airfield, the hotel features a selection of simply stunning packages bound to satiate the most demanding spa divas and the most passionate petrol heads – perfect with the British Grand Prix fast approaching in early July.

If thoughts of indulgence and utter relaxation make you and your partner purr with pleasure, then the Fast and Fabulous Spa Experience is the package for you. You will be treated to two sumptuous spa treatments each, choosing from the signature Jane Scrivner High Velocity Massage, to the Body Brushing treatment or even the Butter LONDON 30 minute Manicure, you can be sure you’ll both be left quintessentially pampered!

Alternatively if your partner’s more of a thrill-seeker than a pleasure?seeker, and would prefer to race round one of the UK’s most famous tracks, rather than succumb to spa treatments, then the His and Hers Spa & Car Experience is bound to keep you both happy. As you enjoy a relaxing Full Body Massage in the hotel’s destination spa, your partner will be having the time of his life negotiating hair?pin bends and high?speed manoeuvres with an exhilarating 30 minute driving experience at Mercedes-Benz World.

The unique, design?led Brooklands Hotel opened its doors this March on the site of the iconic Brooklands race track.

Brooklands Hotel brings a sensational property to the market. The much anticipated opening offers the ultimate combination of contemporary design with a vibrant history. Predominantly glass, this super style-statement of a property has been designed for luxury, while embracing the rich legacy of the Brooklands race circuit. Complete with a destination spa, cocktail bar, restaurant, and state-of-the-art conferencing facilities, the 120 luxury rooms and suites offer unrivalled luxury within this area of Surrey. Priding itself on personality, individuality, and an unparalleled level of uniqueness – where else will you find a spa on a race track, with luxurious suites only thirty minutes away from central London?

The ‘Fast and Fabulous Package’ rate is based on two people sharing a standard room (single occupancy in a double bedded room is £179.00 per room, per night). Spa treatments times are subject to availability and should be booked at your earliest opportunity prior to your stay to avoid disappointment. For more information on the newest Surrey spa hotel visit http://www.brooklandshotelsurrey.com.

Dredging is required for various reasons including environmental, commercial and industrial uses.

Environmentally, examples of the use of dredging are to clear waterways also to collect sand in order to repair coastal erosion. Industrial and commercial uses dredging are for example the collection of materials used in concrete production and the dredging for valuable trace substances.

Dredging has become an essential operation in process of flood prevention through increasing an area’s capacity for holding or carrying water away.

Dredging requires not only the correct craft but also the correct dredging equipment which is mainly the dredging bucket. Each type of dredging project requires a different type of bucket as each location and material required to be dredged is different.

Dredging buckets are made by the process of the fabrication of steel through welding. They are either constructed in a workshop or onsite depending on the nature of the usage and location. Dredging buckets can range from 3m3 to 25m3. The first process is to design the bucket using CAD software and then the drawing service. It is these critical initial stages that enable the bucket to be fabricated.

The materials used in the construction of dredge buckets, excavator buckets and mining buckets are highly sophisticated. The steel is high strength and abrasion resistant with tungsten or chromium carbide wear protection systems. Each bucket is ESCO wear resistant encompassing their protection systems and are bushed and line bored.

As mining, excavation and dredging buckets are often used in challenging and demanding situations, it is important to keep on top of refurbishment. A professional dredge bucket manufacturer should also offer the service of repair and refurbishment.

The refurbishment and repair of mining and dredging buckets is as skilled a job as manufacturing. The welding & fabrication processes are as complex and so a fully equipped workshop is required with a lifting capacity in the region of 15 tonnes. The welding should be to ASMA 9 standard or higher with a mobile line boring facility. Once the welding and fabrication has been completed the process of the abrasion resistant and steel plate coatings can be implemented.

Cartmel is a medieval village situated on the edge of the southern Lake District. The 12th century Cartmel Priory typifies this village both in architecture and history. It is still used for worship today as it has been for over 800 years and attracts thousands of visitors each year.

The other main attraction for visitors to Cartmel is the racecourse. With the first recorded race said to have taken place on the mid 1800’s, Cartmel races continues to grow in stature and popularity year on year. The creation of a new grandstand, with the back drop of the beautiful southern Lake District coupled with catering to rival any top race event has really put Cartmel on the map.

Cartmel is very much becoming a gastronomic destination. Cartmel and its surrounding villages have some of the best examples of Lake District gastronomy in the whole of Cumbria and the Lake District. Even though many of the restaurants and public houses are located within historic buildings, the food served is right in the 21st century using the finest locally sourced produce that is found in an abundance in the south Lakeland area.

Cartmel Sticky Toffee Pudding is one of the most famous exports from Cartmel. The pudding is now sold all over the United Kingdom and even world with high class restaurants in London serving this still handmade in Cartmel pudding.

With its top quality food, beautiful historical buildings, race course and spectacular scenery, it’s not hard to believe that Cartmel attracts a cosmopolitan visitor. Luckily, Cartmel offers some stunning Lake District self catering properties including Hardcragg Hall which sleeps up to 14 people. When attending the races, what better place to stay in than a beautiful Grade II listed manor house or a beautiful double-fronted period property in Cartmel.

Nearby attractions also include Holker Hall (a stately home with lovely gardens and grounds and a cafe, Cark-in-Cartmel), the Lakeland Motor Museum (In addition to vintage and classic motors, the museum now features of faithfully recreated period shop fronts and also has a themed gift shop. It is now located at its new site in Backbarrow, on the main A590) and Brantwood (an historic house & gardens which used to be the home of John Ruskin with a shop, café and terrace on the east side of Coniston Water).

Lying to the west of the Coniston Mountain Range, between the southern reach of the Duddon Valley and the wide gentle plains of the Duddon Estuary, Broughton is a bustling town, full of activities, and a perfect base for exploring one of Cumbria’s most unspoiled and dramatic landscapes.

The history of Broughton dates back many centuries with the oldest building thought to be the church of St Mary Magdelene, first built as part of an eleventh century Saxon settlement. The church today is the result of a major restoration taken place in 1873 by the firm of Paley and Austin.

Over time, Broughton became an important market town, a centre of the wool trade and the manufacture of the oak baskets known as swills. Among the little back streets you would have found blacksmiths, millers, tanners, dressmakers and cobblers carrying out their crafts in readiness for the weekly markets.

During the reign of Elizabeth I the town was granted a charter giving permission to hold fairs. To this day, each year on the 1st August, there is the ceremonial ‘Reading of the Charter’, where pennies are thrown to the children.

Today many of the houses and buildings are Georgian, centred on the elegant town square, built by the Lord of the Manor to resemble a London Square. The Market Hall, a fine structure, was built in 1766, originally housing small lock up shops and is now the home of the Tourist Information Centre, exhibiting locally produced glassware, ceramics and paintings. In the centre of the square is a fine obelisk, erected to celebrate the silver jubilee of King George III in 1810, and stands next to both the ancient fish slabs, used to sell fish caught in the River Duddon and Estuary, and the village stocks for those who broke the laws or behaved in an unseemly manner.

For day to day needs Broughton is perfectly self contained with some good shops, inns and restaurants. On Prince’s Street there is Melville Tysons Grocer and Butcher. The shelves groan with preserves, chutneys, wine and pastas; the deli counter has a fabulous selection of cheeses, hams, salami, olives and pastries and the butcher sells the finest cuts, many from locally produced fell bred stock. Next door is the Village Bakery and Cafe. Using only the finest produce to bake their wonderful fresh breads, pastries and cakes the aroma as you pass is enough to draw anybody inside. Finally on Prince’s Street, is the Post Office selling local maps, books, ice cream and general goods.

To take full advantage of Broughton in Furness visitors should look to stay in one the area’s fine Lake District cottages and self catering holiday homes.

How can we conserve energy at home and in our garden offices and other domestic buildings? There has been much talk about renewable energy and new technologies such as ground source heat pumps and grey water recycling for use around the home. Most new domestic technologies are still in the development stage, and have twenty or thirty year pay-back periods.

A wind turbine in the garden would suffer from limited wind speed in urban areas, needs planning permission, and unless 2 or 3 metres in span produces very little electricity. However, if you live on the top of a hill in Scotland a wind turbine is a good idea. Solar panels for generating hot water are worth considering, and are cost effective on your house rather than on your garden office.

The investment in new technologies is definitely worthwhile personally and globally if you are building a new house or if you intend to live in your home for life. But there are simple measures that all of us can take in our homes and our garden offices to help reduce our carbon footprint.

So what are the simplest and fastest ways of reducing energy consumption in a new garden office, granny flat and in our homes?
Here’s an energy check list below: -

1. High levels of insulation. Is your loft insulated? Have you got cavity wall insulation in the house? Have you got building regulation levels of insulation in your garden office to help balance your carbon footprint?
2. In a larger garden offfice you could heat with a woodburning stove. Woodburners burn efficiently and the resulting ash can be compsted or spread straight onto your garden.
3. Double glazing. Have all the rooms in your house, including your garden office, got double glazing?
4. When choosing new domestic appliances and garden office equipment ask for an energy rating. Don’t leave any electrical equipment on stand-by. [Plasma TVs use more electricity than traditional televisions.]
5. Building materials. Have the building materials in your new extension, loft conversion or garden office been manufactured in the UK to reduce carbon miles and do the manufacturers care about their carbon footprint? Do they recycle, how do they fuel their manufacturing plant?
6. Small but effective measures are energy saving light-bulbs. Washing your clothes at 30 degrees. Walking!
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