Wings Over Wartime Waves: the Story of RAF Blackpool and the Spitfire Visitor Centre
Poodling Around
Born in Blackpool but largely unaware (until working on a new travel PR project), of the huge role that the popular seaside resort played in World War II, Jane Hunt interviews John Coombes, director of award-winning Blackpool visitor attraction, the Spitfire Visitor Centre. John describes how the atmospheric wartime-themed attraction came about and the history of its home - Hangar 42 - a largely untouched hangar, built in May 1939, where the steel walls might shake but also speak secrets of what happened here during the aerial conflict with Germany and World War II,...
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Paragliding Parachutes Into Grasmere Sports
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Ahead of the 2025 Grasmere Lakeland Sports and Show, Jane Hunt talks to Paul Abbott about a brand-new sport that is parachuting into the Grasmere Sports programme this year. This is the Grasmere Hike and Fly - a paragliding event that encompasses navigating between waymarks, to land and register a visit and then fly off again, around the course, and back to the starting point, on the Grasmere Sports showfield. Jane, again promoting this event with her company, Catapult PR, discovers why this is such an appropriate and suitable sport for inclusion at Grasmere Sports and what it will take to...
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No Stone Unturned With a Stone-skimming Champion
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Jane Hunt catches up with Alex Lewis, a Scottish student who also just happens to be a multi-title stone skimming champion, having won titles around the world. Jane first met Alex in 2018, as part of her travel PR and tourism PR promotion at Catapult PR. Having promoted the All-England stone skimming championships for about 10 years at that point, she soon recognised how Alex's performances on Lake Windermere, in Cumbria, were beyond phenomenal! Jane discovers all that Alex has done in his international stone skimming career since then, what it takes to be a champion stone skimmer and what...
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From Shipwrecks to a Sea Ogre: Undiscovered Cleveleys
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Jane Hunt delves into Cleveleys’ rich tapestry of history, myths and legends, as she provides insights into her very local coastal location of Cleveleys, on the Fylde Coast, near Blackpool, in England's north west. Jane highlights some of the amazing facets to Cleveleys that she has largely discovered in the course of her travel PR at Catapult PR. The podcast focuses on the numerous shipwrecks here, the tales that surround them and how these are remembered today, but also covers everything from a tsunami to the mystical world that can be explored by strolling along the promenade and...
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Longing to Visit Longwood Gardens, USA
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Ahead of World Topiary Day 2025, on May 11, Jane Hunt chats to Brianna Reid, a dedicated horticulturist at the glorious Longwood Gardens in Pennsylvania. The reason? Well, unlike many other gardens in the USA, Longwood has its own topiary garden, for which Brianna is responsible on a daily basis. Jane, on the scent of a great visitor attraction story as ever, as a tourism PR specialist at Catapult PR, discovers the back story of topiary at Longwood Gardens. With Brianna, she explores how the French origins, love of travel and lavish lifestyle of the gardens' founding father probably...
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The Pawsitive Power of Bubbles
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Jane Hunt, managing director of award-winning UK PR agency, Catapult PR, talks to the USA's very own Bubble Man, as John Reider becomes her guest and interviewee for this pet-focused podcast focusing on the pawsitive benefits of blowing bubbles for pets. Jane, as self-confessed bubble lover since her childhood days, makes an instant connection with John, who has shared the same love of bubbles since stumbling across a business opportunity that took him into the bubble-making sector. Jane discovers how this business started and then had to pivot fast during the pandemic, when its original...
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Snooping Into the Battlements Tour at an English Medieval Castle Hotel
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In her latest travel and tourism-focused podcast, travel PR specialist, Jane Hunt, chats to Eilidh Wise, a member of the team at the incredible and awe-inspiring Langley Castle Hotel in Northumberland, England, which can potentially be regarded as the most authentic fortified medieval castle hotel in England. Located close to the Anglo-Scottish border, and just a stone's throw from the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Hadrian's Wall, hospitality provider, Langley Castle, has seen 675 years of history pass by. This is all very much on show to visitors who stay at the hotel - and who travel from...
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Discovering the Secrets of the 'Other' Venice
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Jane Hunt, managing director of travel PR and tourism PR award-winning PR agency, talks to Ketty Zanutto, one of the business partners behind the inspiring Venice tour company operating in Venice, Italy and run by passionate tourism professionals who want to allow visitors to Venice to benefit from their personal insight, as people who have been born and raised in the city. Ketty explains the ethos of L'altra Venezia and gives a sneak preview into what lies in store for those who head to Venice and want to see beyond the classic tourism hotspots, whilst also having interpretation...
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Tracking Down Mountain Biking and Wintersports Fun in Morzine
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Jane Hunt, managing director of tourism and travel PR experts, , talks to the founder of businesses that have, over the years, absolutely snowballed, thanks to their ability to provide fantastic mountain biking and snow-based activity holidays to everyone from athletic pros to absolute beginners and families. All of this is down to the passion of Richard Wilford, the interviewee in this episode, and his business partner, Ben, who discovered a delightful place called Morzine, in the French Alps, and started to build their business dream there. Jane discovers all that Morzine...
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Discovering a Lake District Foodie Bolthole
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Jane Hunt talks to Robert Stacey, the executive chef for the Levens Hall Estate, whose role includes overseeing all of the foodie developments related to Levens Kitchen and Levens Bakery, two food-related venues associated with the visitor attraction of Levens Hall and Gardens. Jane discovers Robert's prestigious background as a chef in top London restaurants and culinary roles, explores how he came to be in the South Lakes and discovers how the vision for Levens Kitchen has evolved. They discuss the ideal location of the foodie bolthole, in the beautiful tourism destination of the South...
info_outlineTeenage athlete and fell running sensation from Yorkshire, Charlotte Rawstron, talks to Jane Hunt about her progress through the world of athletics and the fascination of running up the seemingly impossible steep fell at Grasmere Lakeland Sports and Show - and back down again!
Jane discovers how Charlotte got into running up hills and why it's something she loves to do, despite the commitment involved. She learns of her successes to date and which triumphs have really stood out in Charlotte's athletics career so far.
She also discovers more about Charlotte's future goals over the next few years, what events she will most enjoy watching at the Olympics and who has inspired her, so far, in her career.
The duo also discuss the forthcoming Grasmere Lakeland Sports and Show, at which Charlotte is the reigning Ladies champion in the Senior Guides race - the prestigious final fell race of the day, in which both men and women compete. They reference the current Ladies record, set pre-Covid and whether or not it can be broken, with a £500 incentive for any woman runner who can.
Charlotte also explains what being at this show means to her and the great day out that it comprises for anyone, whether taking part in the fell or track races, Cumberland & Westmorland wrestling events or hound trailing programme, or simply attending as a spectator or family wanting some outdoor fun for a full day in the glorious landscape of the English Lake District.