For a complete change on Saturday we headed to the east of Cumbria, to a small town we'd never been to before - Appleby, or Appleby-in-Westmorland to give it its full name. Appleby lies on the River Eden not far from the Pennine heights of Cross Fell, Great Dun Fell and the like. It's famous [...]
Last weekend was the Heritage Open Days event, when dozens of otherwise inaccessible (or expensive!) historical properties fling open their doors to the general public. This doesn't just mean stately homes, but all sorts of smaller, less-well-known, or downright unusual venues. In previous years we've visited everything from Unitarian chapels to art installations in barns, [...]
What do you do on a damp September Monday morning, when you've had your latest novel rejected and are feeling a bit down in the dumps? In our case we stuck two fingers up at work and headed into Kendal to do a bit more poking about. And had a surprisingly fun time again. This [...]
Saturday was a day of what's optimistically described as 'intermittent showers', which means it alternates between thick drizzle and bucketing. We didn't fancy kicking our heels round the house all day, so buzzed into Kendal with our brollies to do a bit of poking about. Although the town is only around 10 miles away, and [...]
Although I'm originally from Liverpool, I hadn't been back for over twenty years, ever since a disastrous visit in about 1995 when the streets were piled with filth and everything looked so scruffy it broke my heart. That all changed yesterday, when a sudden realisation that my passport had expired meant a hasty trip to [...]
Bank holiday weekends in the Lakes can be a tad hectic, especially when the weather is as nice as it was last weekend. So we tend to try to get 'off the beaten track' and steer clear of the main tourist hot-spots. Luckily, there are still plenty of places to choose from. One we keep [...]
There are some stunning photographs of architecture in this gallery from the BBC web page yesterday. I particularly like the one of the Flatiron Building in a blizzard, but each one demonstrates a clever eye for spotting the unexpected view or the strange beauty in artificial, built environments. I just wish all the captions explained [...]
