Lake District, March 2023, Day 3

We awoke early this morning as Thomas had to be away early for work.  Fortunately the toilet and shower block was open again, sadly not before the 'on board' facilities had been pressed into full service!  Although gloomy and with some drizzle in the air, the weather is brighter than yesterday so there is optimism in the team, especially as we half expected the site to close if the water situation hadn't resolved itself. Once Thomas had left we had our breakfast and then I set to to empty, clean and reprime the toilet and empty the waste water while Heather topped up the water barrel. While doing this it was good to note the busy bird life: yaffling green woodpecker, several calling chiffchaffs and a pair of mistle thrushes carrying food.  Thomas has reported that the weather is better further south so we are about to head to Lancaster to visit the castle.

We enjoyed a very pleasant day in Lancaster.  Despite the castle not being open we were able to get lunch at Atkinson's within the precincts and then we visited the Priory.  We found the park and ride here to be excellent. On our way home we called in at Sizergh Farm shop for some cheese and wine which we enjoyed for our supper.

Images: Stained Glass, Lancaster Priory.

Lake District, September 2018. Day 6

We had a night of torrential rain last night and this morning.  Eventually it stopped, however, and we set out to explore Lancaster and meet up with Thomas and have an evening meal with him.  We parked at his office on the outskirts and walked into the centre from there.  Our route took us alongside the River Lune on The Lune Cycleway and Footpath. The river is tidal at this point and as it was high tide and we had had a night of heavy rain it was extremely full and fast flowing.  I looked ominous and threatening, The impression being enhance by the fact that logs, branches and whole trees were being swept down on the turgid waters.  No wonder people in the north west live in fear of floods.  High above the beautiful Millenium Bridge we could see the priory and castle perched in an impressive position.  A steep climb from the bridge took us up to the priory.   We enjoyed exploring this beautiful building with its beautiful stained glass.
Having had a culture fix it was time to attend to more bodily concerns so we repaired to Atkinson's coffee roasters and cafe for coffee and cake.  Once revived we walked back up to the impressive castle but decided to leave the guided four for another day.  Instead we followed the city tour guide leaflet to explore the old part of the city.  The best of it we likened to Edinburgh, the worst to Grimsby.  Like Grimsby, the government's austerity measures seem to be hitting hard: many boarded up buildings and large numbers of homeless people huddled in doorways or in large groups drinking from cans in the street.  We did enjoy it though and there is an excellent Waterstones, Atkinson's coffee roasters and the very fine city centre John of Gaunt Pub offering live jazz.  We also had an excellent Indian meal at the Sultan of Lancaster with Thomas.

Lake District, March 2018. Day 2 Tuesday 27th.

The beautiful spring-like day of Monday was a rapidly fading memory when we awoke on the Tuesday.  It had rained heavily overnight and was still heavily overcast and drizzling.  Nonetheless we had booked our caravan service for today and I had planned to was it to get rid of the winter grime so after breakfast we were up and at it.  Servicing and cleaning went well and it was time to enjoy a relaxed lunch before driving into Kendal for some shopping and back south to meet up with Thomas for an evening meal in his local pub south of Lancaster.  Having an hour to spare and the weather having cleared, we drove up to Williamson park for a walk.  This is in a splendid location set in old quarries on top of the hill.  There are expansive views out over Morecambe Bay and back to the hills of the Lakes.  The Atkinson Memorial occupies a prominent spot right at the summit.