The ups and downs of a day out in 2025

By Kate Simon

New Year, new things to see and do around the UK. And they come with ups and downs.

On the up side are The Kelpies, two colossal steel horse heads overlooking the Forth & Clyde Canal outside Falkirk in Scotland, sculptor Andy Scott’s visual play on the mythological beasts of the Scottish lochs. Now you can climb the 30-metre-high representations of the Clydesdale Horse, which towed canal boats and helped power industry and agriculture in these parts.

Ladders, walkways, and fact-dropping expert guides lead the way up inside one of the 300-tonne structures to the horse’s mouth. Although, at the moment, to make the ascent you’ll have to join one of the official charity fundraising events or be part of a large group booking the activity.

It will be a little easier to reach the battlements of Norwich Castle when the long-delayed multimillion-pound revamp opens to the public this spring. A new lift to the top makes this the most accessible castle in Britain, and a bridge has been installed across the roof of the fort. Other major changes include the restoration of the original floor levels and the recreation of the Great Hall and royal apartments. There’s also a new gallery exhibiting more than 1,000 medieval objects loaned by the British Museum.

Going underground, the Museum of Shakespeare will open in the bowels of Shoreditch, London, this year. Descend three metres below ground level to see the remains of the Curtain Playhouse, where it’s thought Romeo and Juliet was among the Bard’s plays first performed here.

There are ups as well as downs at the Sherwood Observatory in Sutton-in-Ashfield, Nottinghamshire, where a subterranean Victorian reservoir has been put to use as a Science Centre, showing permanent and temporary exhibitions. It sits below the dome of a new planetarium, which sets sights firmly on the heavens. Also looking up, the Royal Observatory Greenwich, in London, will celebrate its 350th birthday with events ranging from talks about the under-appreciated history of early female astronomers to the live-streaming of the partial solar eclipse on 29 March.

Can’t go over it or under it, why not go round it? Manchester, that is, on the new GM Ringway, which starts at the Metrolink Station in St Peter’s Square. It heads southwest through Sale to make a grand loop that touches Altrincham, Wigan, Littleborough, Glossop, Disley and other towns and villages. The 200-mile route links existing footpaths, parks and waterways in 20 stages, each with a handy public transport connection.

Also on firm ground, the V&A East Storehouse is due to open in May in Stratford, London, a repository for a quarter of a million objects, many unseen by the public. The ambitious quest of this new museum is to offer people the chance to request to see any object stored here. With artefacts collected by earlier generations using controversial methods among those newly available to view, the V&A says it is committed to telling the full story of how it came to acquire some objects as well as what it holds.

But for a grand overview head to Wales, where the Newport Transporter Bridge will reopen over the River Usk – Newport has the highest tidal range of any city in the world. You’ll be able to walk across the high-level walkway, once used by workers keen to save the price of a boat fare, and admire this piece of Edwardian engineering as well as spectacular views. There’s a lot to see in 2025.

Phil’s Beer Notes

It’s looking like a tough start to 2025 for pubs, but that hasn’t stopped the new openings. Only this morning I noticed that one of Birmingham’s most famous and quirky venues, the Jewellery Quarter’s Lord Clifden, had won the race to open its doors once more in time for the festive season after being closed since the summer of 2023. Local brews from Attic and Glasshouse feature on the craft taps plus rotating cask ales, and the splendid beer garden still sports its table-tennis table and pillar box.

And while you’re in the area, Indian Brewery’s magnificent new brewery and beer hall also finally opened in December after a short delay. It occupies a grand old building and serves ‘Indian pizzas’ alongside the full range of beers brewed on-site on keg and cask.

During the Christmas break I visited Bentley Brook’s new taproom, which is still in Lumsdale, Derbyshire, close to the waterfall but a little nearer Matlock. It’s double the size of the old place, split over two floors, and the beer from the new brewery up the hill is much improved.

Meanwhile, Londoners have a lot to look forward to this spring. In another delayed project, Guinness is now set to open its long-awaited Covent Garden microbrewery and taproom in March, while Derbyshire’s Thornbridge Brewery, which did wonderful things in 2024, is making its London debut at Easter with a pub in Fetter Lane called the Wild Swan.

Photo: The Kelpies, at The Helix, Scotland by Beninjam200, is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.