I’m off to interview the Demon Barber of Fleet Street, a nickname which Lynn Barber gained through her so-called ‘hatchet jobs’ on figures like Harriet Harman and Rafael Nadal: invoke her wrath at your peril. So I arrive at her house in Highgate, clutching my voice recorder and notebook, and feeling pretty apprehensive. How do you interview a professional interviewer?

In fact, she’s lovely and reassuring, promising not to throw any tantrums like some of her past interviewees. She claims to have mellowed, calling her nickname “completely unjustified nowadays, because I’m an absolute pussycat. I mean I’m nice about people more often, much more often than I am nasty about them.”

These days, Barber is perhaps as famous for her own life as for her interviews. The film ‘An Education’ was very closely based on her memoirs, where she opened up about her relationship as a schoolgirl with a much older man, who turned out to be a conman. Simon came into her life when she was 16 and stayed for two years, winning her parents’ favour and whisking her off for exciting weekends – giving her a “breadth of cultural knowledge” which was his positive legacy. But though on her parents’ advice she agreed to marry him and give up her Oxford dreams, she found out he was married – and had to admit to herself that he was a conman, living a double life and taking part in shady property extortion.

This harsh introduction to the adult world left her damaged: “it made me quite suspicious of people, always suspicious of their intentions, always doubting whether they’re telling the truth… I wish I wasn’t like that, really.” However, her new-found scepticism was good for her later interviewing career, “because people always put the best possible gloss on themselves. And I’m constantly in my head thinking ‘huh, well is that right?’” With Simon, she didn’t ask questions; now, she asks questions for a living.

Telling the world about her unusual schoolgirl experiences seems to have been a good move. Barber says that “it did me a lot of good in all sorts of ways,” continuing, “I suppose up till then people had only known me as a journalist, so it probably made me more human.” Surprisingly enough, she also found that her experiences were far from unique. “An amazing number of women said that something similar with a dodgy conman, an older man had happened in their own lives. I got the impression after a bit that it had happened to more people than it had not happened to! And so that was interesting.”

Despite the diversion, Barber did indeed end up at Oxford, where she studied English at St Anne’s college – or rather, where she set about enjoying herself and not doing very much work: “actually I didn’t really take any advantage of the sort of academic life of Oxford, just parties and meeting boys and having fun.”

“Meeting boys and having fun” is quite a good way of putting it. During Desert Island Discs in 2010, Barber repeated something she’d revealed in her memoirs: she’d slept with 50 or so men during the course of two terms at Oxford, just “jamming them in.” 50 men! The press had a field day. Barber herself found the reaction “hilarious,” not thinking that it was particularly sensational news.

So why did she do it? “I’m still kind of quite surprised remembering and quite puzzled about why I did that. To be so promiscuous, in such a short space of time….” Before and afterwards, she was a ‘one man girl’, but then there was “this sort of huge slab of promiscuity.” It seems she was in search of something in particular: “at that point I hadn’t yet had an orgasm. And I thought the only reason I hadn’t was because I hadn’t found the man that would give it me. I thought that there would be Mr Orgasm walking around somewhere. And I mean I’ve subsequently learnt that that’s not how it works. That you can build up to an orgasm with somebody you’re with for some time. But I just sort of thought, ‘oh let’s see if this man does it,’ and it was extraordinary really. It was a weird thing to do.

“But anyway – I don’t regret it at all. I don’t regret either doing it, or talking about it.” In fact, she says, “I don’t think it did me any harm at all, actually, and I think it may have done me a bit of good.” It wasn’t that it was particularly fun (“l I wouldn’t even say that I enjoyed myself”), but it got it out of her system and taught her that “sex is something that you work on and develop with one person.” She has little time for those who judge her or try to make her repent: My generation was told ‘if you sleep around no nice man will ever marry you’. And I wanted to say, ‘well look at me, a nice man did marry me, and I did sleep around, so rubbish to that.’”

The odds were more in her favour when Barber was at Oxford: there were seven men for every woman. Not that this was a good thing in general, “I mean that shows how very unfair it was. And actually quite often if I’d met a rather thick boy, I’d think, ‘how extraordinary that you got into Oxford and there are at least two of my friends from school who didn’t get in.’ And I’d think they were 10 times brighter than you, and how comes some absolute dimbo like you is here.” Places for women were limited (most colleges were all-male) and with rowing and rugby scholarships, “you met men of astonishing stupidity. And obviously as well as some very clever ones.” But things have changed for the better, and as she says, “I doubt you get as many stupid men at Oxford anymore.”

As might be expected for any aspiring writer at Oxford, Barber dabbled in writing for Cherwell in her time at university, writing the occasional feature – “but I was never interested in news reporting. I preferred bits of frivolity.” Journalism was an obvious career for Barber – “it became apparent that writing was something I could do, and get paid for.” But it is interviewing which Barber loves above all else: “I think I’m incredibly lucky to have found something as satisfying as interviewing… it’s always been the form of journalism I’ve wanted to do.”

Barber is famed for her approach to interviewing; if she doesn’t like her interviewee, she (quite gleefully) pummels them with words, though admittedly more often than not she does get along with the person and writes a perfectly positive article. The ‘Demon Barber’ label may have scared off some of the people she would like to interview (“the one I pursued for years was Lucien Freud, I really really wanted to do him, and he always said no…. loads of people say no, and you just have to accept that”).

But others have relished the challenge, like Toby Young, who said he accepted the invitation out of “vanity, pure and simple,” and that he “naively thought I could charm the pants off her” (the subsequent article does not show him in a flattering light). Barber thinks this might be a common motivation, “I think in a way my reputation as Demon Barber might help that in a way, because people sort of think ‘oh I’m tough enough to take her on’, it’s a challenge, you know. So it’s not been a wholly bad thing, having that reputation.”

Does she feel sorry for them? Hardly. “I don’t feel guilty… well if you are the sort of person who might be destroyed by words, then maybe you shouldn’t give interviews.” Art Garfunkel once phoned her up after an interview to rant at her and say she’d destroyed his career; he’d never give another concert – “you know, I was so cruel, he’s just going to crawl away into a burrow and die. And I said well if your attachment to your career is so slender that it can just be demolished by one article perhaps you should be thinking about retiring. And that’s what set him off again.

Generally, Barber trusts her judgement of character, but this is not to say that she never reads someone wrong: “The one where I think I might have misjudged somebody is very early on, I wrote quite a hostile piece on Ben Elton. And quite a few people – I mean, enough people for me to believe them, said ‘oh but Ben Elton is just the kindest man in the world’…. and I thought oh, I did misjudge him, yes.”

Barber has worked for various different newspapers in her time, making her a true veteran of the British press (which she claims is the best in the world). So any qualms about working for the Sunday Times, a Murdoch publication? “Well I mean, post-Leveson obviously everyone has qualms about whatever paper they work for.” But Barber is quite reluctant to lay the blame with journalists themselves. “Where I did get shocked was the police’s very close relationship with the press.” in her time at the Sunday Express in the eighties she “spent a certain amount of time with the royal ratpack,” and was aware of a certain level of collusion with the police, but the revelation that the police had become far more involved with the press was a nasty surprise. However, defender of the press as she is, she readily admits that phone hacking has quite a history, though people were encouraged to believe that it was “a sort of rogue MI5.” Was it endemic? “Possibly, yes, all that time ago. Certainly I’m sure it started long before Leveson’s gone back to, as it were.”

Actually, she says, “I’ve always been a fan of Murdoch.” She admires him for breaking the power of the print unions (“they weren’t good unions, they were unions that were fighting for the rights of printers to sign their son in as Mickey Mouse”), which meant that “newspapers had freedom.” “And so I thought it was bold of him to do it, and then he made the Sun into a sort of exciting newspaper – so I think he’s been good generally.”

Rupert Murdoch is, incidentally, one of the people who has never agreed to be interviewed by the Demon Barber. So what is the future of journalism? “Yes well I don’t know, I mean it’s bad, definitely.” The move towards reading the news online may kill print media, but it’s more than that. Newspapers are cutting staff and paying journalists less, and “they’ve all wickedly I think used interns or work experience people to do what should be jobs” (a pain many aspiring young journalists will know well). “So I don’t quite see how it can come back from the brink.” On the other hand, she says, “I think there’ll always be jobs for journalists.” All is not lost: “as long as people read – and in a way I think the internet has been valuable from that point of view- they will want to have some idea of news, I hope. But it might not be newspapers.”

It is clear that Barber absolutely adores journalism – “it’s my profession, I’m very proud to be a journalist” – and has no plans to stop any time soon: “I want to keep going, as long as possible.” And so she should. She’s an intriguing woman – frank, quick-witted, honest – and yet the fact that she’s figured out the ‘narrative’ to her life, repeated so frequently to interviewers and in print, makes me wonder: have I got to the bottom of her at all? She of all people knows how to give a ‘good’ interview and send the interviewer away with a tape-recorder-full of exciting quotations.

Don’t be put off by the scientific name (although the promise of rich botanic information is certainly a plus if that’s what you’re into): the Botanic Gardens are perhaps the quietest place, outside of the libraries, in the whole of Oxford. In a tranquil oasis in the middle of this most hectic of cities, you can almost hear your own heartbeat thumping as you wander between the immaculate flower beds. As the plants grow peacefully you can enjoy the tourist-free quiet and ruminate poetically to your heart’s content. Another plus is that entry is free for Oxford students (although I did land myself in a predicament when asked if I was one by replying tentatively ‘Yes, I think so’, and promptly being lampooned by the highly satirical assistant), and a free map of the gardens is included for the less intrepid and more tepid explorers.

These are the oldest gardens in Great Britain, with a 380 year history. Indeed, from the outside the architecture seems almost like any other college. What really makes the Botanic Gardens stand out from other impressive green spaces in Oxford is the abundance of plants that are useful for medicinal and scientific purposes. This means that you can crib up on your flower knowledge and use it to impress your sweetheart. And it’s not all science: the gardens also have a rich literary history. Lyra, star of Phillip Pullman’s bestselling His Dark Materials tril- ogy, visited it in the first novel, and Pullman himself is rumoured to have had his moment of inspiration when reading Blake on one of the benches.

It’s worth noting that seasonal changes can make a big difference in the Botanic Gardens. In winter it can be a dark and gloomy place, the clouds looming over unimpressive beds and the cold wind sweeping up the expanses in the centre (the warm greenhouses are of course available all year round but might prove a bit sticky for a long term stay). But as summer rolls in the flowers blossom and the Botanic Gardens whisper to you invitingly. With the trees in bloom and the flower beds sprouting, it’s the perfect place to search for inspiration and feel awed by the majesty of Mother Nature. The only potential peril that faces visitors to the gardens is the risk of feeling rather insignificant in the presence of nature at its most glorious. But be bold! Fight this fear and remember that you too can have a part to play, however small, in this Edenic place. Bring a blanket and your most pretentious book, lie down and soak up the atmosphere.

Edinburgh

Edinburgh, Scotland – known for its kilts, its weather and everyone’s favourite Highland monster, this is a country which should be on the travel bucket list of any self-respecting UK citizen. You do live in the same sovereign state, after all. And what better way to experience a flavour of this high-altitude country, than to visit the capital city? Edinburgh remains the only place we have seen sell a haggis, curry and sushi in the same shop, a worthy feat for a city beginning to compete against London for diversity. It has a castle to rival Hogwarts (to appease your inner twelve year old), several flashy museums, and a striking landscape which really does have to be seen to be believed.

One thing the out of pocket student needs to consider when planning a trip to Edinburgh is the offensive price tag many hotels adopt come August. The reason? August in Edinburgh is engulfed by its notorious Fringe Festival, which if you didn’t already know, is the largest arts festival in the world and a showcase for up-and-coming dance, drama and comedy. Although undoubtedly the city will be overrun with melodramatic thespians of all varieties, this is the time to go for any student in search of culture and a giggle.

Hostels are your best bet to avoid a distressing credit card bill come September, and are ideal if you plan to travel with a group to. Edinburgh Smart City Hostel boasts itself as ‘redefining’ the traditional hostel experience with its modern atmosphere and cheap, cheap prices. It offers a combination of private or shared dorms, every room possessing an en suite, allowing you to avoid those awkward corridor trips to the shower that hostels are usually so lousy with. The 24 hour reception and no curfew policy grants the tourist more time to explore the ins and outs of the capital, with the knowledge help is at hand if required. As expected, private rooms are considerably pricier than shared dorms, with pric- es ranging from £26 to £36 per night for a dorm room in August, and private rooms ranging from £132 to £204. Equipped with a fully licensed bar, restaurant, and Wii console, Smart City has a young, fresh vibe which makes it the ultimate urban retreat.

The Lake District

There’s a lot to love about the Lake District. Where else would you find the world’s first usable pencil, the Batmobile and the highest mountain in England (Scafell Pike) all within driving distance? Suck on THAT, mainland Europe. Cumbria has a variety of attractions to satisfy a wide range of people, including, sur- prisingly enough, one or two lakes. Of the twenty ‘major lakes’, Lake Wastwater and Lake Windermere are probably the most well-known, being the longest and deepest in England respectively. Wet, wild and windy, the Lakes are really worth seeing at least once in your life, and they boast a wide array of great walks and mountain bike trails along which to enjoy them.

Be prepared to bring your waterproofs though – the Lake District is officially the dampest place in England, and to be honest if you’re not prepared for a little wind and rain it may not be for you. Still, if the outside gets too much you can partake of the wide range of indoor ac-tivities that Cumbria has to offer. The Lakeland Motor Museum can be surprisingly fun thanks to the large collection of iconic Film and TV vehicles, and you can’t really go wrong with the Keswick Pencil Museum. For those with a more literary bent, it’s just a hop, skip and jump to ‘The World of Beatrix Potter’, based in the writer’s old home and offering an array of stories and autobiographical tidbits. Alternatively, the Lake District offers a unique opportunity to ponce around pretending to be Wordsworth and company, inspired by the natural beauty of your surroundings.

No, it’s not the most exciting holiday destination in the world, and if you’re more for beaches than tea rooms then you might not have a huge amount of fun; but if you love the great outdoors and fancy sampling a little English character then there’s nowhere better.

St David’s, Wales

Croeso i Gymru: the road sign capable of generating such a deep feeling of patriotism. Sadly, when the television advert comes to an end, the short-lived concept of going to Wales on your summer holiday instead of jetting off to Antigua, is just that; short-lived. However, with 2012 being the year of ‘Jubilymic’ celebrations, it’s unsurprising that the new Rupert Grint, Judy Dench and Steven Fry campaign is doing wonders for the revival of the Great British holiday.

Having spent many a childhood summer vacation in the beautiful city of St David’s, on the south-west coast of Wales, it perhaps wouldn’t be top of my list for Magaluf substitutes. In spite of this, the Welsh city is an idyllic holiday location for anyone with an appreciation for art, beautiful landscapes and wildlife, looking for a budget getaway.

As part of the Pembrokshire Coast National Park, St David’s is renowned for its stunning coastal views and abundance of wildlife, including seals, dolphins and even puffins at certain times of the year. To make the most of this, there are numerous coastal boat ride tours, one of which is very fittingly named ‘Aquaphobia” (NB: not advisable for those who dislike high speeds/windswept hair). The stunning ‘whitesands’ beach also provides low-cost entertainment from rampant rock-pooling (yes, I was the kid who wouldn’t leave the beach until every rockpool had been excavated for crabs) to superb surfing for those looking to channel their inner hippy.

The City is also famous for its artwork and ceramics, and therefore one cannot possibly miss the opportunity to craft a vase (or caricature of your best mate’s face) with one’s bare hands, using a traditional potter’s wheel. Another popular excursion is the local cheese manufacturing farm, Caerfei Farm, where an educational journey through the cheese making process is nicely rounded off with a cheese tasting session. And, in keeping with the Welsh stereotype, it’s probably worth mentioning that the sheep-milk cheese is a best seller.

Devon

Camping, it’s a marmite thing. For some, driving off into the sticks and setting up base camp just isn’t their cup of tea, but for others this is the closest they can get to living the Indiana Jones dream. Love it or hate it though, you can’t fault the affordability of such a holiday, a holiday where the main expense is paying for a plot of land to pitch your (borrowed) tent upon. Booking a campsite as a student can be a fiddly proposition, many campsite managers putting their feet firmly down when they realise there’s more than two of you to terrorise the neighbours. Luckily for you then, we have found the perfect campsite which accepts large bookings of ungrads, and is set against the backdrop of idyllic Devon too, bonus.

Roadford Lake in Lifton, Devon isn’t just any campsite. No, Roadford Lake in Lifton, Devon is the M&S of campsites everywhere, boosting panoramic views, a thriving activity centre and, as the name so helpfully suggests, a 740 acre lake which makes Worcester’s look like a mere puddle. With a standard pitch costing just £15 per day for two people, and extra adults at a steal of £5.50, a group of skint students could easily set up camp here without feeling guilty about their bank balance.

A holiday perfect for the deadbeat student, Roadford offers an oasis of calm to unwind in away from the scare of collections or the several vac essays you’ve still got to do. You could easily spend a week here doing absolutely nothing, but if you’re the kind of person who must be doing something at all times, the Outdoor and Active Centre will keep your hands busy. Offering quite the impressive range of traditional water activities, in- cluding: angling, sailing, windsurfing, rowing, canoeing and kayaking, the centre caters for all abilities, whether water novice or seasoned sailor. And if you can handle more, why not try ‘WOWBALLS,’ where you too can experience the Jesus inspired feeling of walking on water. Just be sure to book soon, potential voyager, what with its location close to the coastline, pitches are filling up fast.