We're in the middle of a long-lasting and unusual heatwave here. There's been no rain at all for over three weeks now, and temperatures have been around 26c for at least 15 consecutive days. That might not sound like much but believe me, it's almost unheard of for Cumbria, where the weather often changes every [...]
It's taken me longer to read this book than I'd hoped. At first it all sounded fantastic, with an elderly bookseller hero and a plot involving spies, ciphers, hidden libraries and a missing (and extremely valuable) book. And at first, it bowled along with great vigour as Isaac Inchbold was asked to track down the [...]
The title refers to the pet name for our local newspaper, the Westmorland Gazette. It's based in Kendal and has just reached a rather impressive milestone - it's 200 years old this year! The paper was first set up in 1818 by William Wordsworth and a crony, to counter what they saw as the Whig [...]
Sunday was supposed to be the best day of the weekend, so we got the shopping out of the way on Saturday - and then woke to find everything hidden in a thick blanket of fog. Undeterred, we packed up boots and waterproofs and headed for Coniston, hoping that it would clear. Of course, it [...]
Just dashing in to say there's a wonderful collection of ghost stories, myths and legends with a historical edge (and quite a lot of screaming) over at historical novelist Annie Whitehead's blog today. Do pop over and take a look - these are 'real' stories, not fiction, and very entertaining!
A rather hasty exploration this time, for two reasons. One, there isn't really all that much of Hawkshead to explore (it's a small village) and two, it was absolutely freezing! However, the sun was shining and it was nice to get some fresh (okay, very fresh) air and a brief stagger round. Hawkshead is a [...]
We had a rare (genuinely rare) treat at the weekend - a trip to Abbot Hall art gallery in Kendal to see a painting by Claude Monet. The gallery is a lovely place to visit anyway, with a regular exhibition of local artist George Romney's works, links to local notables such as Lady Anne Clifford, [...]
