It's nice to be able to report good news about an important service now and then. So I'm glad to say that the new-look National Rail Enquiries website is a great improvement in both appearance and utility.

The website, run by Britain's Association of Train Operating Companies (ATOC), enables you to plan a rail journey and find out train times and prices. It has always been useful but, in the past it was a bit of a dogs dinner to look at, confusing and difficult to use.

But take a look at National Rail Enquires now. Everything is organized to make it easy for you to get details of train journeys, find the cheapest fares and buy your tickets.

There are a lot more functions, including the Stations Made Easy web tool launched last week, which have all been streamlined and made easy to navigate and use. Good show and thanks ATOC.

• Find out more about National Rail Enquiries
• See a step-by-step guide to Stations Made Easy

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Brighton's Burning the Clocks light's the touch paper to this winter's season of fire and fireworks festivals. The primeval urge to light up the night comes into its own in the UK on the winter solstice, just a week away on December 21. On that day, the journey from sunrise to sunset in Britain will take only 6 to 7 hours (the shortest day of all at the top of Scotland).

With so much winter darkness, it's not surprising that so many of our winter festivals are centered on dramatic displays of fire. Festivals that today are seen as well-oiled, noisy nights out, have their roots in the Celtic and Viking fire rituals that were meant to encourage the return of the sun.

Fire celebrations kick off next Monday with The Burning of the Clocks in Brighton. There are loads more fire festivals and all that fire and brimstone is not only tremendous fun, most of the festivals are awfully photogenic. Read about some of the wildest festivals and see the videos:

• The Burning of the Clocks
• The Allendale Tar Barl
• The Stonehaven Fireball
• The Comrie Flambeaux

And winter solstice festivals are not unique to Britain. About.com's guide to Ireland, Bernd Biege, has collected a round up of Winter Solstice events around the world. Check out his Blog Carnival The Winter Solstice ... Not Just Newgrange. _{www.visitbrighton.com | UK Travel Blog | share on facebook | Twit This}

London's Trafalgar Square is multi-cultural this week as London's 30-foot tall Chanukah Menorah shares pride of place with its Christmas Tree, lit a few weeks ago.

The Menorah, an eight light candelabra and the symbol of the Jewish Festival of Lights, is lit to symbolize the ancient miracle of a night's supply of sacred oil lasting eight nights. Each night, another candle is lit until all eight are alight. London's Menorah, lit for the first night last night, will remain lit through December 18.

As a special treat, on the sixth night, December 16, you can join other Londoners in Trafalgar Square to celebrate the lighting with a Chanukah party featuring Chanukah foods and a live performance by Yiddish singer Shlomo Gertner.

Festivities get underway at 6p.m. with Deputy Mayor Richard Barnes lighting the Menorah at 6:20 p.m. Following the lighting, Chanukah Gelt (chocolate coins) will be distributed to the children and traditional Chanukah foods - doughnuts and potato latkes (pancakes), will be offered to spectators.

By the way, last year London Mayor Boris Johnson, pictured above, took a ride on a cherry picker and used a blow torch to light the Chanukah Menorah.

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Pamela Anderson and Henry "The Fonz" Winkler join a host of British and Australian soap stars, sports figures, reality television celebs and serious theatah luvvies to chew the scenery and generally make pratfools of themselves as the British panto season gets motoring

Now, if you don't know what a panto is, some of the above won't make much sense. But picture this, Pamela Anderson plays Aladdin's Genii and The Fonz dons Captain Jack eye make up as Captain Hook - in a traditional, British winter time family entertainment known as panto - or pantomime. Pantos, loosely based on familiar stories, have more in common with vaudeville and music hall than they do with the silent performers like Marcel Marceau.

This is the time of year that pantos get underway, entertaining families with riotous and slightly bawdy comedies all over the UK.

• Find a list of this year's top pantos around the UK
• Learn about what a panto actually is!

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I've just read the most wonderful new guide book of England...

...in the 14th century.

The Time Traveller's Guide to Medieval England: A Handbook for Visitors to the Fourteenth Century by Ian Mortimer, answers the questions you might have to ask if you were transported back to the Middle Ages. What would you eat? Where would you stay? How should you travel? What kind of crime exists - and what kind of punishment? What will you do for entertainment? For money? For medicine? For clothes?

"The past is a foreign country," the author says. "This is your guidebook." And, in fact, the book is written like a travel guide making it a fun way read the history of an age of chivalry, of good kings and evil ones, crusades, Chaucer and the anonymous author of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.

I picked it up to read on a transatlantic flight over the Thanksgiving holiday and, for the first time, actually stayed awake to read it through all nine hours in the air.

If you are heading for England for vacation, or know someone who is, this book should be required reading before leaving home. It will add an extra dimension of understanding and pleasure to all the castles, half timbered houses, cathedrals, ancient village churches and landscapes visitors can expect to see in Britain.

I heartily recommend this - a great read and a fine present for someone on your list. (Buy Direct)

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Stations Made Easy a new web tool launched this week as part of National Rail Enquiries, is set to make rail station accessibility problems history.

A step-by-step guide to help passengers get around when they travel by train, Stations Made Easy is the first web tool of its kind, anywhere in the world. It includes more than 700,000 pictures of Britain's 2,500 rail stations, along with interactive maps and other functions, to help passengers with access issues plot the most suitable routes to their trains and connections.

The new tool is aimed at elderly and disabled people with mobility problems, mothers with young children, even travelers with heavy luggage. Funded by The Association of Train Operating Companies (ATOC), Network Rail, and the UK government transport departments, it took a year to develop at a cost of £1.2 million.

Individual routes were plotted through every station in the country with an average of seven stations photographed every day for a year. To give you an idea of the scope of this project, consider that 44,000 different routes were plotted around London Bridge Station alone...And that's not even one of London's bigger terminals.

• Learn how to use "Stations Made Easy"
• Find out more about National Rail Enquiries

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A growing "line of light", made up of hundreds of points of illumination, will travel across the north of England, from coast to coast, on March 13.

The spectacular Illuminating Hadrian's Wall project will follow the 84 mile long Hadrian's Wall Path National Trail, from Wallsend in the Northeast to Bowness-on-Solway, Cumbria in the Northwest.

A total of 500 individual points of light, spaced 250 meters apart, will mark the route of the wall as the line of light spreads across the country over the course of an hour.

A camera crew will film the line of light from a helicopter, beaming pictures to giant screens at two major events - in the Northeast and in Carlisle - to celebrate the dramatic illumination. Visitors will also be able to view the line of light from several stewarded points along the wall.

• Full details about the events and the viewing points will be posted on the Hadrian's Wall website soon.
• Or follow news and developments on Facebook (Illuminating Hadrian's Wall) and Twitter (@EmperorHadrian).
• Learn more about Hadrian's Wall

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If you've got the stamina, you can party for five days instead of four at this year's Edinburgh's Hogmanay. And fans of fire festivals have even more to celebrate this year as street theatre artists Carabosse, known for their magical fire installations, make their Scottish debut. Here's a quick round up of what to expect:

• Tuesday, December 29 - Torchlight Procession and Son et Lumiere plus Edinburgh Carnival kicks off and Off-Kilter's popular Get Tae Dance opens
• Wednesday, December 30 - The Night Afore becomes The Light Afore as Carabosse lights up the Royal Mile and loads of other cool light and fire events take place around town
• Thursday, December 31 - Edinburgh's Hogmanay Street Party plus loads of concerts, candlelight events, midnight fireworks and the world's biggest Auld Lang Syne.
• Friday, January 1 - Re:Formation Day includes The Loony Dook New Year's Day swim, a Re:solution Wall, the spectacular New Man Walking and loads more
• Saturday, January 2 - last chance to see the Off-Kilter's wacky Get Tae Dance, enjoy the Carnival and see vintage films.

Check out the full schedule, buy tickets or reserve a torch in advance at the Edinburgh Hogmanay website.

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Valerie France, our have-a-go girl in the Northeast, enjoyed being pampered at the Verbena Spa in Helmsley so much that she awarded the place 5 stars!

I guess she liked it...On the other hand, maybe it was that naked Pierce Brosnan look-alike.

Have you tried the Verbena Spa? Agree or disagree with Valerie's review? You can add your own two-cents (or tuppence as the case may be) by making use of our "Rate and Review" feature. Just scroll down to the bottom of any review with a star rating on About.com: United Kingdom Travel. That includes restaurants, hotels, attractions, books and, of course, spas. Click the "Write a Review" button and let 'er rip.

To get you started, here are a few reviews just waiting for your point of view:

• English Country House Chic at Verbena Spa
• The AA Bed and Breakfast Guide
• Brown's Cafe - Cheap Eats in Oxford Covered Market
• Kids Review Longleat Safari Park
• Simpsons - Fine Dining in Birmingham
• Ardanaiseig Hotel on Loch Awe in Scotland

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England's lofty cathedrals and ancient churches are superb settings for performances of the great oratorios and other choral works. The music of Handel ( a Londoner for much of his life - and death - he's buried in Westminster Abbey) has always been favored around the Christmas holiday season and no work more so than his Messiah. Traditionally, many of the UK's most beautiful churches and cathedrals host performances of the Messiah during the season of Advent, in the weeks before Christmas. All those rousing "Hallelujah!"s have got to get you in a celebratory mood. There are even a few sing-alongs where you can join in.

• Find out where to attend a performance of Handel's Messiah in the UK during the festive season.
• Hear carols in cathedrals around Britain

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