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THE FAMILY behind one of the UK’s most-loved piers has opened a luxury holiday park.

The team behind Clacton Pier – which is Europe’s largest pleasure pier – has launched a new holiday park on the Essex coast with luxury lakeside lodges.

Called The Tideaway, the holiday park is set across seven acres, which includes woodland and a lake.

According to its website: “The Tideaway is a new approach to holiday home ownership and coastal getaways from the family behind the award-winning transformation of Clacton Pier.”

There are a variety of different lodges available to book at the park, all sleeping up to six people.

For example, you could stay at The Victory Lakewood lodge, which has an open-plan layout inside, sits by the lake and also has a hot tub on the decking.

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The lodges aren’t cheap though, costing around £651 for two nights – working out at £54.25 per person per night, if six people are sharing.

As for things to do nearby, you can of course head to Clacton Pier, which is a historic Victorian pier with arcades, a soft play,tenpin bowling alley and funfair rides.

After exploring the pier, take a stroll along Clacton seafront and beach.

For a fun family day out, Hasty’s Adventure Farm is also near the holiday park, with a huge outdoor play area, go karts and a number of farm animals.

And then there’s also St Osyth Priory, just a few minutes from the holiday park.

This country estate is over 1,400 years old and is home to gatehouses and historic gardens.

YOU will soon be able to stay in luxury cabins right by a 17th century castle.

Crossbasket Castle, around 10 miles from Glasgow, is already home to a luxury castle – but new plans have revealed 12 additional cabins.

The cabins will be right on the banks of the River Calder, which is a short walk from the castle itself.

Each cabin can host up to four people, with a double bed and a sofa bed.

The cabins also have bathrooms found on the enclosed balconies, with freestanding copper bathtubs.

For breakfast, guests need to head to Foveran’s atrium, where they can grab a range of breakfast items including a breakfast grill, charcuterie and pastries.

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When it comes to grabbing something in the evening, guests can head to the hotel’s restaurant, Trocadero’s.

The cabins will welcome guests from the beginning of October, with a one-night stay including breakfast costing from £295.

In addition to the lodges, the hotel will also get a new spa – Four Angels Spa.

Due to open in the autumn, the spa will have four treatment rooms, ‘immersive experience showers’, a sauna, a steam room and heated loungers.

Products used in the spa will also be sourced locally, from the Isle of Harris.

Crossbasket Castle dates back to the 15th century and at one point was even owned by Charles Macintosh, the inventor of the raincoat.

It was then purchased by Alison and Steve Timoney in 2011, who spent £10million on restoring the castle for it to reopen in 2016 as a five-star hotel.

Alison Timoney, owner of Crossbasket Castle, said: “From the outset, our vision has been to create an experience that goes beyond traditional luxury hospitality.

“The introduction of the Four Angels Spa and Crossbasket Cabins further enhances our vision for the overall estate, offering guests a place to fully immerse themselves in the beauty of our surroundings whilst enjoying a moment of calmness and relaxation.”

IF you fancy a camping holiday but don’t want to skimp out on a bit of luxury, you’re in luck.

Sun Travel has found six campsites across Europe that definitely don’t qualify for a classic camping break with beautiful swimming pools, beach access and pretty lodges.

Alannia Guardamar, Spain

Eurocamp does tend to pull it out of the bag when it comes to its campsites, and this one is very impressive

On the Costa Blanca coast, Alannia Guardamar has palm tree-lined swimming pools, wellness areas, restaurants, and you can try out sports too.

The most impressive part is probably its tropical aquatic zone with water jets, splash park, mini slides and hot tubs.

Guests can choose to stay in large Safari Tents to premium cabins.

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For seven-nights, a family of four can stay in a Safari Tent at the Alannia Guardamar from £502.86 – or £17.95pppn.

Amadria Park Camping Trogir, Croatia

If you want everything in one, check out Amadria Park Camping Trogir which you can book with Jet2Holidays.

The Croatian getaway has views across the Adriatic Sea with secluded beaches minutes away.

For those who want to get on the water, you can take a punt on the enormous inflatable obstacle course just off the coast.

There are three restaurants and five bars including a beach bar, cocktail bar, pool bar and sports bar.

For seven-nights a family of four can stay here in a Standard Mobile Home from £546pp – this includes return flights to Leeds Bradford.

Cambrils Park, Spain

This beautiful Eurocamp Costa Dorada looks like a sprawling resort with its five pools – one of which is a recently opened Mediterranean pool.

There are plenty of sunloungers dotted about and for drinks, check out the poolside café and bars with sun-trap terraces.

For activities, it also has a tennis court, full-sized football pitch and even trampolining.

If the resorts pools aren’t enough, the huge waterpark PortAventura is just a few miles away.

For seven-nights a family of four can stay at Cambrils Park in a two-bedroom bungalow from £691.33 – or £24.69pppn.

Camping Estival Vendrell Platja, Spain

On the Costa Dorada, or Golden Coast as it’s also called, is this campsite with a long swimming pool with a children’s play area and slides.

It is self-catering but there are still restaurants, bars and snack areas.

There’s also entertainment during school holidays from organised team games to arts and crafts

Guests can stay in a Classic Bungalow all the way to a Gran Safari lodge which comes with outdoor decking – perfect for al fresco dining.

For seven-nights a family of four can stay here in a two-bedroom Classic Bungalow from £417pp – which includes return flights from Birmingham Airport.

hu Park Albatros Village, Italy

You’ll never want to leave this Eurocamp with its six swimming pools, one being a lagoon and another Olympic-sized.

It’s considered one of Tuscany’s largest and best quality parcs – it’s spread over 30 acres and is surrounded by a pine forest.

It has plenty of places to eat too from its rustic Italian pizzeria to a snack bar and gelateria.

The campsite isn’t far from the beach with walkways and a cycle path leading down to the shore.

For seven-nights, a family of four can stay at hu Park Albatros Village in a Comfort Lodge from £175 – or £6.25pppn.

Camping La Forêt, France

For a luxe stay, head to Camping La Forêt on the west coast of France.

It has direct beach access to Pont d’Yeu Beach, a swimming pool as well as spa facilities from a sauna to a hammam, hot tubs and a quiet outdoor sun terrace.

The villas on-site have hot tubs, a bath, private entrance, with separate bedrooms and a terrace with garden views.

As it’s a small site it won’t be especially noisy either.

For seven-nights, a family of four can stay at Camping La Forêt in a Comfort Mobile Home from £523 – or £18.67pppn.

Alannia Els Prats Camping & Resort, Spain

Found on the Spanish coast, this campsite looks more like a Mediterranean-resort with a large outdoor swimming pool and pretty gardens.

On-site it also has a gym, spa, supermarket, bars, restaurants, sports pitches, a mini club, a teen club, a games room and children’s playgrounds.

Guests can stay in the wooden cabins, some of which come with small verandahs and sea views.

The nearby beach is a great spot for sunbathing and it has watersports facilities too.

For five-nights, a family of four can stay here in a Superior Bungalow from £405 – or £20.25 per night.

*Prices correct at the time of publication.

BAFTA-winning actor Micheal Ward has been found not guilty of raping a woman in the back of a car after a party.

The star, 28, was accused of repeatedly assaulting a woman in his friend’s car after meeting her at his New Year’s fancy dress event.

He has been found not guilty by jurors at Snaresbrook Crown Court.

Ward denied two counts of rape, two counts of assault by penetration and one count of sexual assault after the east London party in 2023.

The Jamaican-born actor made his name as one of the stars of cult hit Blue Story in 2019 and won the Rising Star prize at the Bafta Film Awards the following year.

Judge Rosa Dean, in her jury directions, said: “This is a case where two young people had sex in the back of a car and your job is to decide if there was consent.”

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The prosecution suggested he thought only about “his own pleasure come what may” and the alleged victim felt “pressured”.

In contrast, Ward stressed they had consensual sex and she was a willing and “active participant” in everything they did.

Ward told the court he and the woman flirted, had foreplay, enjoyed “passionate” kisses, and that an intimate act between them would not have happened if she did not want it.

Ward, from Cheshunt, Hertfordshire, met the woman for the first time at an “all-white party” at Infinity Lounge nightclub in Gants Hill, East London, in January 2023.

The court heard the pair kissed and hugged in a Mercedes outside the party, and later had an intimate encounter in another Mercedes outside an after-party event.

The judge said: “The prosecution case is that she did not consent to any sexual activity beyond kissing. Things moved out of control. She felt pressured.”

The prosecution suggested Ward “did not care less”.

Tracy Ayling, KC, prosecuting, said: “Micheal Ward was unknown personally to her at the time. She knew him to be an actor and had seen him on TV and in films. She knew it was his party.

“They met for the first time outside the party and he asked for her snapchat handle which she gave to him. She accepts in her interview that she was flattered that he had asked for her details.

“During the course of the evening, she said that she had seen him intermittently; at one point he touched her bottom as he walked past her.

“He asked her if the three friends were doing anything after the event and invited her to an afterparty.”

She and her friends then went to an afterparty in Stratford but got a “weird vibe” so decided not to stay long.

Jurors heard she then bumped into Ward, who asked her where she was going.

The woman told him they were leaving as they had a long drive home but he suggested that she walked up to the Mercedes that was parked further up the road so that he could talk to her again, the court heard.

Ms Ayling said: “She said she was given specific instructions to walk behind him, and not to talk to anyone en route.

“Mr Ward then invited her to climb into the back seat with him claiming that he just wanted to kiss her a bit more.”

The woman said they could do that in the front seat but Ward allegedly became “quite impatient” and told her to “stop wasting time” and get into the back.

Ms Ayling continued: “She said that she felt a bit pressured, but she did what he asked.”

Snaresbrook Crown Court heard the woman “didn’t really feel like I had a choice”. She told police: “He said: ‘If I tell you to do it, you do it’.”

The court was told Ward then allegedly pulled down her trousers and knickers before raping her.

Jurors heard the actor then orally raped her then started talking “as though nothing had happened”.

Of the defence case, the judge said: “At the time she actively consented.

“This was not submission. Her friends were nearby, available and in telephone contact.

“She made a conscious decision to step into the car and was in control of her actions.

“All of her actions suggest she was consenting.”

Ward was arrested on January 18, 2023 and told police in a prepared statement: “I deny the allegation of rape. I want to put on record that we had consensual foreplay and consensual sex.”

Ward’s first on-screen appearance came in 2016 in movie Brotherhood.

His breakout role was in 2019 when he starred as Jamie in Netflix’s third series of Top Boy.

He also appeared in the Sam Mendes drama Empire of Light alongside Olivia Colman.

The star was nominated for the Bafta Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for the film.

He also won a Bafta Rising Star Award for his performance in British musical crime drama Blue Story.

Zurich, Switzerland

Zurich may be known as a financial centre, but it has a creative side, too. The Kunsthaus Zürich became the biggest art gallery in the country when its David Chipperfield-designed extension opened in 2021. Its collection spans 800 years of art, and includes old masters, Swiss artists such as Giacometti, works by Monet, Cézanne, Picasso, Van Gogh and Warhol, and contemporary artists.

The area around the Kunsthaus is now the Zurich Gallery Mile, best explored on the Zurich Art Weekend (12-14 June), held a week before the more famous Art Basel. Galleries have special exhibitions, guided tours and talks, and there are performances, art walks, screenings and parties.

In Zurich-West, a brewery built in the 1890s became an arts centre in the 1990s. The Löwenbräukunst-Areal now houses several modern and contemporary galleries, including a branch of Hauser & Wirth.

Near Lake Zurich, the Museum Rietberg showcases non-European art in three historic villas (one where Wagner wrote Tristan and Isolde), a modern extension and surrounding parkland. Current exhibitions focus on Indian paintings, Japanese woodblock prints and Chinese lacquerware.

Day trip In Baden, 15 minutes away by fast train, the Museum Langmatt reopened this month after two years of renovation. The art nouveau villa displays about 50 French impressionist masterpieces by Cézanne, Degas, Gauguin, Monet, Pissarro, Renoir and more.

Lille, France

Paris is the undisputed art capital of France, but Lille has some excellent galleries with lower prices and a fraction of the crowds, and can be reached even more quickly by Eurostar from London (just 1hr 20mins). The Palais des Beaux-Arts, in a beautiful 19th-century building, houses perhaps France’s richest art collection after the Louvre, by artists such as Rodin, Van Dyck, Rubens, Delacroix, Goya and Courbet (and entry is just €7 versus the Louvre’s €22).

LaM, a modern and contemporary art gallery that’s a 30-minute bike, Métro or bus ride from the city centre, reopened in February after an extensive renovation. The inaugural exhibition is a Wassily Kandinsky retrospective (until 14 June), while the permanent collection includes work by Modigliani, Fernand Léger, Paul Klee and Louise Bourgeois. Its sculpture garden contains 10 monumental pieces by Alexander Calder and more.

Day trip In Roubaix, 10 minutes away by fast train, an art deco former swimming pool is now La Piscine museum. The old showers and changing rooms now display ceramics (some by Picasso), paintings, textiles, jewellery and sculpture, all lit through stained-glass windows. In nearby Lens, the Louvre-Lens museum – a satellite gallery of the Louvre – has 250 artworks arranged chronologically from the third century BC to the mid-19th century.

Warsaw, Poland

Warsaw’s art scene had a huge boost in 2024 with the opening of the Museum of Modern Art (MSN Warsaw). The bright white building stands in contrast to Stalin’s menacing Palace of Arts and Science next door, and showcases Polish and international artists of the 20th and 21st centuries, including Sarah Lucas and Wolfgang Tillmans.

Other modern galleries include the Zachęta National Gallery of Art, which has 20th-century and contemporary art from painting to installation, video and performance. It has staged exhibitions by artists including Marlene Dumas and Luc Tuymens, and is currently showing the American abstract artist Barbara Kasten (until 7 June). The Ujazdów Castle now houses the Centre for Contemporary Art, with a diverse programme of exhibitions, talks, films and outdoor events in the surrounding park.

Warsaw isn’t just about modern art. The National Museum, founded in 1862, is one of the oldest museums in the country. Its six permanent art galleries range from antiquity through medieval art to the 19th century. One highlight is Jan Matejko’s enormous Battle of Grunwald (1878), one of the best-known paintings in Poland. A temporary exhibition of 30 paintings by the Krakow-born artist Olga Boznańska (1865-1940), who also has work in the Musée d’Orsay in Paris, runs until 5 July.

And at the Royal Castle, the two most prized paintings in the Lanckoroński Gallery are by an old master: The Girl in a Picture Frame and The Scholar at the Lectern by Rembrandt.

Day trip Łódź, a couple of hours away by train, has a trio of galleries covering 19th-, 20th- and 21st-century art respectively: the Herbst Palace Museum, MS1 and MS2.

Verona, Italy

Fair Verona, the home of Shakespeare’s star-crossed lovers, is overshadowed as an artistic centre by its neighbour, Venice. But this romantic city has more to offer than Juliet’s balcony. The Palazzo Maffei, a 17th-century baroque building on Piazza della Erbe, opened as a gallery in 2020. It is laid out like a cabinet of curiosities, displaying an incredible private collection of art from antiquity to today. There is a strong focus on modern masters, including Picasso, Miró, Kandinsky and Magritte.

GAM, the modern art gallery, is in the Palazzo delle Ragione, one of the oldest public buildings in Italy (built in the mid-1100s). The collection spans from the early 19th century to the present day, with a focus on the Italian avant garde. As well as the artworks, visitors can see the palace’s beautiful Cappella dei Notai and ascend the Torre dei Lamberti, the tallest building in Verona.

The Castelvecchio museum, housed in the 14th-century castle, displays Veronese and Venetian paintings from the medieval period to the 1700s, with work by Bellini, Tintoretto, Veronese and Rubens.

The Palazzo della Gran Guardia hosts temporary exhibitions – most recently the photography exhibition Human. The VisitVerona website has an events calendar with all upcoming exhibitions.

Day trip Book ahead to see the Giotta frescoes in the Scrovegni Chapel in Padua, 45 minutes away by fast train. The crowds here mean the city’s other attractions, such as the art gallery inside the Eremitani Museum next door, are often empty.

Oslo, Norway

Modern art lovers will find much to admire in the Norwegian capital. Edvard Munch has his own 13-storey museum, Munch, displaying three versions of The Scream and other renowned works including The Sun, Madonna, The Dance of Life and Love and Pain. The museum also showcases painting by Munch’s contemporaries, and holds temporary exhibitions – currently Paula Rego (until 2 August). Outside is Tracey Emin’s 9-metre high sculpture The Mother.

The National Museum, which opened in 2022, is the biggest gallery in the Nordic countries. It has a room devoted to Munch, and its own versions of The Scream and Madonna. The pioneering female artist Harriet Backer also has her own room, with many more Norwegian artists displayed alongside Berthe Morisot, Matisse, Picasso and others.

The Astrup Fearnley Museum, designed by Renzo Piano (the architect behind the Pompidou Centre in Paris and the Whitney in New York), has a leading collection of contemporary art, plus temporary exhibitions.

Day trip Munch owned a villa at Ramme, 40 minutes from Oslo, from 1910 until his death in 1944. The property has been restored and visitors can now book a guided tour, visit an underground art gallery displaying his work and that of other Norwegian artists from the 19th and 20th centuries, and follow an outdoor culture trail along the fjord.