The strange case of the missing priest hole

24 Sep 2020

This is something I forgot to mention when I blogged about Levens Hall yesterday. I visited the house several times with my parents as a child or young teenager, and…

History, mist and mystery at Levens Hall

23 Sep 2020

The history is easy to see at Levens Hall. For starters, it's a medieval pele tower encased in a (slightly) later Elizabethan house - the largest in Cumbria. The original…

Friday Five: Lakeland Gardens

19 Jul 201919 Jul 2019

For such a northern county, Cumbria has some amazing gardens to visit. Perhaps because of all the rain they seem to be lush green oases in a sea of, well,…

Castles and ghosts, oh my

6 Jul 201510 Jul 2015

I see from the Westmorland Gazette that Appleby Castle has just re-opened to the public after a ten-year break.  The castle, which dates back to the 12th century and has…