With warmer weather on the way, many people are giving thought to where to head off for holidays so with this in mind we thought it was our duty to bring a possible destination to your attention.

This is a truly novel idea for holidaymakers seeking something new.

A five star hotel in South Africa has created a fake shanty town for rich tourists who will be expected to stump up over £50 per night to stay in the corrugated iron shacks.

The development mimics the lean-to shacks that are home to millions of impoverished black South Africans.

However guests at the Emoya spa and game reserve outside Bloemfontein, will not be uncomfortable since although being promised,”an authentic shanty town experience”, the accommodation boasts under-floor heating and wi-fi.

Although the hotel has been criticised by those who see it as grossly inappropriate for the very wealthy to pretend to be living like a pauper, owner Buks Westraad says: “Regular overseas visitors suggested that they would like to sleep in a real shanty rather than just seeing them from a tour bus, as you would in Soweto and Cape Town.

“We believe we’ve taken something with a negative connotation and turned it into something positive, which reflects the ingenuity of our South African people.”

Of course, being a Tuesday I was joined once again by Margaret Mills who took us back to the 17th century when highwaymen were apt to attack the unwary traveller.

One such knight of the road was Frank Osborne, who it turned out was a gentlemanly highwayman, far removed from the archetypical highwayman such as Dick Turpin.

Indeed he had actually been born into a very wealthy family of goldsmiths in Colchester, but after amassing huge debts from gambling, in about 1680, he turned his attention to robbing people aiming to take their valuables to the near continent.

It was for this reason that he operated on the roads between Colchester and Harwich. Initially this proved to be quite lucrative until around 10 years later, he moved his area of operation to Hounslow Heath.

This proved his undoing because in 1690 he was finally run to earth, caught and in September of that year, executed, aged at just 29!

You can listen again here to what Margaret told me today: –

Very much hope to have the pleasure of your company again next week,
Scott