Do you shop when you go on vacation or holiday? What do you look for? What do you like to buy? Souvenirs for yourself? Presents for friends and family back home? The latest fashions? Gourmet goodies?

I'd love to know what kind of shopping attracts you when you visit the UK so that I can seek out and feature more of what you are looking for. Make your voice heard by taking the Shoppers' Poll.

Vote for your leisure shopping favorite

1. I don't shop on vacation unless I really have to
2. Craft shops, galleries and boutiques
3. Fashion and designer bargains
4. Souvenirs and gifts for friends
5. Gourmet goodies and cookware
6. Duty free

Find out how other people voted

A goat for a poor family in the developing world, at any rate. That's what 15 books donated to British charity OXFAM can buy.

As an author, I'm not sure I felt all that great when I learned that the UK's second biggest bookseller is OXFAM. But when you consider how much good a few good books, shared the second time around, can do in the world, it's hard to argue.

OXFAM raises more than £20 million a year in its shops and 87 pence in every pound goes directly to the people you'd want to help - not to middle men or into the pockets of the Robert Mugabes of this world.

This month, OXFAM have launched their first book fair - two weeks of special events at hundreds of OXFAM shops around the country. Between now and July 18, you can take part in celebrity events, crossword puzzle competitions, children's book fairs, book donation drives and more all over the place.

So, if you are looking for somewhere to leave those paperbacks you bought to read on the way over to the UK, or considering buying some new books for your holiday journeys to come, think about dropping into an OXFAM shop to see what's going on.

To find an OXFAM shop or an OXFAM Bookfest event, visit the online OXFAM Bookfest Eventfinder.

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On July 11, 1859, Big Ben chimed for the first time over London. That makes London's most famous landmark 150 years old tomorrow.

Originally the name Big Ben was only applied to the largest of the five bells in the tower - the one that strikes the hour. Now of course the title is also used for the four quarter hour bells, the clock and the tower itself.

The big bell, which sounds the note E, stands about seven feet tall and weighs 13.7 tonnes (about 15 tons). The hammer that strikes it weighs 200kg or about 450 pounds. There are four more bells - the quarters - weighing between 1.1 and 4 tonnes and striking the notes G sharp, F sharp, E and B.

• Find out more fun facts at Big Ben's official birthday website
• Watch a video of Big Ben striking 12

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Enjoy England, the official website for breaks and days out in England, has organized an enormous number of Kids Go Free offers all over the country this summer to help families take full advantage of the fine sunny weather that's predicted. The offers vary, but in most cases, one child goes free with each paying adult.

Here are a few examples:

• Historic cruises of the city of Lincoln with Lincoln Boat Trips in the East Midlands.
• A chocoholic's dream day out to Cadbury World in Bournville, near Birmingham in the Heart of England.
• A roaring time at Dinosaur Isle, Britain's first, purpose-built dinosaur museum, on the Isle of Wight
• Learning and playing at the same time at Eureka! The National Children's Museum in Halifax, Yorkshire

To get a voucher for one of these, or dozens more special Kids Go Free summer offers, visit Enjoy England's Kids Go Free Pages and browse through the selection.

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Long hot summers are not usually associated with UK travel but the weatherman has predicted an unusually hot, dry summer this year. If the first few days of this month are anything to go by, we're in for a really sweltering couple of months.

If you are looking at the reported temperatures, in the high 80s and low 90s, and thinking, "That's nothing much. It gets much hotter at home," it's time to think again.

Air conditioning and ceiling fans, both common in hotter climates, are still relatively unusual in the UK. Hot weather, without the occasional escape into chilled air, feels really hot and can rob you of the energy you need to go sightseeing and enjoy your vacation.

And no one has window screens in the UK. So when you throw open the windows for relief, everything that flies - and bites or stings - joins you indoors.

During their long years of Empire, in tropical climates, the British learned quite a few tricks for coping with the heat. Take a leaf out of their book and along with your layers for cool weather, pack a few "tropical" items to cope with the unpredictability of the British Summer.

Find Out How to Keep Cool in a UK Heatwave

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The British traveling public has relied on The Good Pub Guide to more than 5,000 pubs for more than 25 years. Independent and comprehensive, it includes yearly updates and loads of reader reports.

Now it has gone online. The new Good Pub Guide Interactive website is regularly updated, regionally organized and completely free. What's even better, you can add your own comments and share your growing pub nous as you travel. Of course, if you are on the move and not yet equipped with an internet enabled mobile phone (that works affordably in the UK - transatlantic visitors take note), the Good Pub Guide is still a worthwhile guidebook to toss into the glove compartment of your car or to pack in your backpack.
Find out more about The Good Pub Guide

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Antony Gormley's 'Field for the British Isles', a crowd of 40,000 hand-sized terracotta figures made by the people of St. Helens, will be on show in the Spanish Barn of the recently restored Torre Abbey until August 23. The exhibition is free and will be open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily.

Gormley has described the Turner Prize award-winning work as, "25 tons of clay energised by fire, sensitized by touch and made conscious by being given eyes ... a field of gazes which looks at the observer making him or her its subject'. 25 tons of clay energised by fire, sensitised by touch and made conscious by being given eyes ... a field of gazes which looks at the observer making him or her its subject."

While the installation visits Torquay, on the self-described English Riviera, related events will take place all around Torbay.

• Babbacombe Model Village, (one of our Best UK Family Attractions) will encourage visitors to make a Tiny Terra for a Field of Tiny Terras at the model village.
• Living Coasts, Torquay's coastal zoo and conservation charity, will create a colony of 800 plaster of paris penguins dipped in terracotta paint.
• During Tiny Terras on the Beach, on July 24, sandcastle versions of Field for the British Isles will be created on Torre Abbey Sands beach only to be washed away with the tide at day's end.

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Did you know that chickweed and goose grass make lovely salad greens? Or that fat hen (the weed, not the chicken) makes a tasty bhaji? Until I attended Wild Food in a Day, run by Suffolk company Food Safari, it never crossed my mind that I could feed my family and friends just by weeding my garden.

Food Safari's wild food outing is just one of several, relatively adventurous foodie days out. Other adventures include oyster harvesting and smoke house visits, deep sea fishing trips, pig butchery and sausage making lessons and other "field to fork" experiences. The outings usually end with a feast and a companionable beer sampling session with your fellow foodies. Tasty, fun and very informative.

• Read about Food Safari UK Foodie Adventures in Suffolk
• See Pictures of Wild Food in A Day, and Sample Recipes

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Yesterday, as players got ready for the fourth round on Wimbledon's Centre Court, a few raindrops were felt and heavy storm clouds hovered nearby. And, when Andy Murray, Britain's latest great hope in the world famous tennis championship, stepped up to face Swiss player Stanislas Wawrinka it was already nearly 7 p.m.

In the past, two things could have been guaranteed about this scenario - the match would have been interrupted by rain or called for bad lighting conditions. Instead, Wimbledon's new, multi- million pound, retractable roof was pulled over Centre Court and play continued well into the night.

It was a day for several firsts:

• the first points played indoors at Wimbledon since the tournament's founding in 1877
• the first full match played under Wimbledon's new roof
• the latest match - ending at 10:39 - ever played at Wimbledon.
• and probably the first time lots of people watched Wimbledon tennis in bed.

Oh, and Murray won his marathon, 5-set match, putting him into the quarter finals.

It's too late now to snap up one of the last minute Centre Court and Court 1 tickets. But, believe it or not, if you're still keen to soak up some of the Wimbledon vibe on Murrayfield, you can camp and queue for one of the 6,000 general admission grounds tickets available every day.

• Wimbledon - The Ultimate Lawn Tennis Grand Slam Tournament
• How To Get Last Minute Tickets to Wimbledon

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Rock and Pop entrepreneurs did not invent the music festival. Jazz festivals have been around a lot longer. And in the UK they're a lot less muddy than some of their big and famous raving relatives. Often, the locale is just as enjoyable as the music - gorgeous Highland scenery, sophisticated city centers, quaint seaside towns.

I've collected a bunch of the best UK Jazz festivals for you to consider. Being a grown up doesn't mean that music festivals are a thing of the past.
Check out the UK Jazz Festival Guide

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