I was not sure if the Algarve was the place for me, seeing as I didn't play golf, or have a young family, and I certainly wasn’t retired (writes Hannah Copely). But nonetheless I decided to see what I could discover in this southernmost region of Portugal.

What does a peaceful little riverside town in Devon (UK) have to do with law and order? Ottery St Mary (pop. 7,000) sleeps in a patchwork of fields and meadows around the River Otter, appearing to have fallen here from the higher ground at the top of the Otter Valley, collecting haphazardly as a glut of buildings, cobbled streets, and a smart town square (writes Jim Alexander).

As my fellow passengers endeavoured unsuccessfully to kick open windows, all I could think about, in the style of Captain Anson in ‘Ice Cold in Alex’, was a double Tanqueray, tonic and lime (writes Douglas Blyde). The 14:05 London to Brockenhurst had, as I much later discovered, smacked into a burning mattress. But rather than petty vandalism, many people suspected terrorism.

Photo of the Week

Bavarian Alps, with Lake Eibsee in the foreground