There’s a luxury canal boat smack in the middle of Manchester, and it’s available right now for you to hire.
You’ll all know that Manchester is famed for its winding canals and abundance of barges – but have you ever envisioned treating yourself, your friends, or your better half to a night or two of luxury in one of them?
No, you probably haven’t – but, low and behold, a ‘luxury barge’ now exists.
Prestige Worldwide
Courtesy of Prestige Worldwide, founded and run by friends and business partners Erin and Harry with the aim to create something a little different, we have perhaps the boujiest barge to ever grace Manchester’s waters.
Prestige Worldwide aim to eventually have a ‘fleet of floating luxury’, but for now, they’re just getting started with their debut canal boat, the Vätten Hüs. This barge, located in the heart of Castlefield locks, accommodates up to six guests in two plush king-sized bedrooms, with additional sleeping space in the main collective area.
It features a large, open-plan kitchen-dining and living-room – intended for sharing and celebrating, of course – with rich furnishings and an exclusive outdoor seating on the deck, perfect for those warm summer nights.
Harry and Erin also partnered up with local florists Frog Manchester for the most exquisite floral displays that are found suspended over the lavish kitchen island and adorn both bedrooms.
Prestige Worldwide
The interior designer, Claudia Chez, said of the boat: “The Vätten Hüs interior design is modern style with clean, crisp lines strategically softened by French Art Deco hints.
“Art Deco represented luxury, glamour and exuberance back at the 1920’s, and this is subtlety expressed throughout the boat with gentle undulating curves, scalloped furniture and bronze details all on top of a light oak herringbone floor.”
Now fully complete and on the water, the Vätten Hüs’ diary is open and ready for visitors – though for insurance purposes, the boat cannot be moved.
Check out its Airbnb listing here, and stay up to date on their official Instagram page.
Jet2 has announced plans to fly from Liverpool John Lennon Airport for the first time, offering 20 destinations.
The travel company will fly out of Liverpool for the first time from next year, operating 54 weekly flights to 20 destinations, including Spain, Greece and Turkey.
The holiday provider will start operating services from the airport in March 2024. Seven of the 20 destinations are exclusive to Jet2, bringing new routes to Liverpool.
Liverpool will become Jet2’s 11th UK airport when the first flights take-off on March 28th.
David Dixon / Geograph
A fleet of four aircraft will fly customers to a wide choice of destinations.
The airline’s first summer programme will have 565,000 seats on sale. Its seven exclusive summer routes are to Gran Canaria, Menorca, Rhodes, Zante, Madeira, Paphos and Bourgas in Bulgaria.
Flights and holidays are now on sale and can be booked via the Jet2 website, by phoning the Contact Centre, or through a travel agent.
The move is expected create more than 200 new jobs, with positions available across flight deck, cabin crew, engineering and ground operations.
We’ve landed in Liverpool! ✈️ Taking off from March 2024 to 20 destinations, including seven exclusive routes!
Steve Heapy, CEO of Jet2.com and Jet2holidays said the move ‘comes on the back of the enormous demand’ coming ‘from Merseyside and the wider region’.
Adding: “The announcement of our 11th UK airport reflects our long-term strategy to continue growing responsibly to become the UK’s leading and best leisure travel business.
“It also means significant investment in the region, with four based aircraft coming into operation and the creation of over 200 new jobs.
“Between now and Summer 24, our focus is on ensuring everything is ready to launch operations, so that from day one we can provide customers from Liverpool John Lennon Airport the same award-winning service which has delighted millions of other customers from across the UK for so many years.”
Phil Smith / Geograph
John Irving, Liverpool John Lennon Airport, CEO called it ‘a great day for the airport and for the region’s holidaymakers’.
Adding: “It’s also great to have seven new routes available that we know will be popular with holidaymakers and for our local independent travel agents to be able to sell, with customers taking advantage of all the convenience and hassle free benefits of flying from Liverpool.”
Disney is hiring youth staff members to work on their luxury cruise ships and set sail around the world.
If you love anything Disney and want to travel the world, are looking for a new career path or just simply want to get away from the humdrum of life, this unique role could be right for you. Disney Cruise Line is hiring for youth staff and it’s paying a minimum of £1,872 per month — you could save for a deposit on a house while having the time of your life!
If you’ve had experience and enjoy working with children, love Disney, and love travel, this job could be the perfect fit. Basic qualifications needed to apply for the role include:
3+ seasons (3 months each) of overnight or day camp experience
A minimum of 18 months experience working in a high-volume, fast-paced environment in recreation, resort, day care, classroom, or a before/after school care setting.
The candidate must be able to command the attention of a large group of children — up to 200 children at one time.
Must have strong English oral and written communications.
Bilingual or multilingual abilities are a plus.
@disneycruisline / Instagram
As well as travel, accommodation and a decent wage, perks of the job also include: company events, employee discount, free or subsidised travel, private dental insurance, private medical, insurance, referral programme, store discounts, and wellness programmes.
Part of the job description says: “Interacts with and supervises children by providing a safe and entertaining environment. Provides set-up, clean-up and program support to Youth Entertainment Hosts during facilitated programs and activities.
“Extensively cleans youth spaces throughout the day to uphold United States Public Health and company standards. Meets and greets all guests and could assist with onboard registration and check in/out process.
@disneycruisline / Instagram
“Preps food trays for children during meal or snack periods. Spontaneously entertains large volumes of children in absence of planned activities.
“Occasionally facilitates and presents smaller-scale activities to groups varying in size, requiring the use of a microphone. Functions as Nursery Counsellor during high volume periods.”
You can set sail on a magical experience and reap the benefits of a ‘supportive team’ and make it your ‘home from home’, as the website says about career life working on the cruise ship: “Join us at sea and receive unique benefits and the opportunities for growth you need to live out your dreams.”
If life at sea sounds exciting to you, you can read more about it and apply for the role here.
There’s a record breaking waterfall you can visit in the North of England but it’s only accessible twice a year.
Situated in the Yorkshire Dales, near Clapham — about an hour and a half’s drive away from Manchester — Gaping Gill is definitely worth a day trip out to see. It’s a really unique waterfall as it spills deep into the belly of a natural cave from the surface.
Although this Fell Beck waterfall is 110 metres tall — twice the height of Niagara Falls — it’s quite difficult to see and it is only accessible to the public twice a year. Those who are lucky enough to embark on this combined waterfall and cave adventure are lowered into the huge chamber on a winch by one of the two the local pothole clubs.
It’s certainly an adventure not for the faint-hearted and definitely made for daredevils as you’ll be lowered down from the surface until your feet touch the floor at the bottom of the cave — where, as your eyes adjust, you’ll suddenly find yourself surrounded by a breathtaking setting.
Phil Catterall / Wikimedia
The Gaping Gill chamber is 129m long, 31m high and 25 m wide, making it large enough to fit York Minster cathedral inside — we hope you’re not afraid of heights! When you look up, all you’ll be able to see is light pouring in from the cave’s opening resting on the slopes of Ingleborough.
For just £20 daredevils can be lowered into this underground world and marvel at its natural wonder. It’s only possible to descend into the cave two times a year: once in May – operated by the Bradford Pothole Club and again in August – operated by the Craven Pothole Club.
Gaping Gill was formed by thousands of years of erosion by the Fell Beck stream, which flows from the flank of the 2,373 ft Ingleborough mountain — the second highest peak in the Yorkshire Dales. In 1985 famous French caver Edouard Martel was the first person to make a successful attempt on the Main Shaft of the cave using wood and rope ladders. Martel stayed in the Main Chamber for about two hours and completed a remarkably accurate sketch plan.
Paul Green / Flickr
You can hike to Gaping Gill on a well marked but rough trail and you can only book a winch ride down once you get to the tent. Bookings can not be made in advance and there can be a bit of a wait but you’ll be given a decent time. The Craven Pothole Club says about this awe-inspiring Northern gem: “At first the darkness hides the bulk of this vast cavern from the visitor gliding down the Main Shaft in the winch chair.
“But as eyes slowly become accustomed it is possible to pick out a gentle arc of rock curving upwards to form a vaulted roof some 150 feet above. Nearby, two columns of water crash to the floor; fragmented to a myriad of droplets they whip the air into violent winds.
“Finally, aided by subdued artificial light the chamber appears, longer than it is wide and with a level floor of water washed pebbles, sand and silt. A walk in the pool of light provided by a guide’s light takes us first to the western end of the chamber with its silt floor and burbling stream, and then on to the foot of the East Slope. A glance back here reveals that the Main Chamber is indeed one of nature’s wild places.”