Cumbria

Cockermouth Woolfest

February 1, 2012

The Cockermouth Woolfest has been held annually since 2005. It takes place on a Friday and Saturday in June, and includes a great range of displays and activities relating to natural fibres, and especially wool. Spinning, dyeing, weaving, knitting and felting are just some of the craft themes covered by well over 100 stallholders. Woolfest [...]

Lake District Self-Catering Holidays

February 1, 2012

Loweswater – One of the less-visited lakes Many people today choose to look after themselves on holiday rather than stay in an hotel. There is an extensive supply of self-catering accommodation in Cumbria. Lake District cottages for rent are to be found throughout the region and provide excellent bases from which to go out and [...]

River Eden near Appleby on a Wintry Afternoon

January 17, 2012

Three more shots of the beautiful Eden Valley. Before reaching the centre of the town the River Eden passes Bongate (the place where in ancient times the ‘bondsmen’ used to live), down below the cliff where Appleby Castle stands proud. Here is a cold January midday shot of the river, reduced in level from what [...]

Protection of the North Pennines

January 4, 2012

The North Pennines, stretching from the Eden Valley up towards the Scottish Border, are characterised by wild moorland with long expanses of silence apart from the wind and the birds. This special landscape needs protection, and it is good that the staff of the North Pennines Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty have it under their [...]

Still More Wordsworth Places in the Lake District

January 3, 2012

Recently I’ve written several times about Lake District places associated with William Wordsworth, the great nineteenth century romantic poet. In addition to describing a visit to Wordsworth House in Cockermouth and seeing the tremendous work that has been done to recover from the devastating floods of November 2009, I posted a further article summarising the [...]

Happy New Year from the Eden Valley

January 2, 2012

I had not expected to be sitting at my keyboard this afternoon. The sun was shining, there was blue in the sky, and it would have been an excellent opportunity to drive to one or two of the places here in the Eden Valley where I’ve been wanting to take photographs but have been waiting [...]

Going to the Wordsworth House? Which one?

December 6, 2011

Wordsworth House, Cockermouth “We’re going to the Wordsworth House this afternoon.” “Oh good. You’ll enjoy that. Which one?” It’s easy to imagine that kind of conversation between Lake District visitors over a lunch table. Currently there are three houses with strong Wordsworth connections open to the public, and before long the three will be four. [...]

Splendid New Lake District DVD

November 17, 2011

Lake District Trails 1, features Mark Richards, the well-known broadcaster on BBC Radio Cumbria and author of many walking guides to the Lake Distrct and further afield. This first section of a week’s walk starts on the eastern fringes of the Lake District and has been named, “The Westmorland High Way”. “The opening sequence is [...]

The River Eden at Appleby This Afternoon

November 17, 2011

The sunshine attracted me away from the keyboard after lunch today. My target, with cameras, was the River Eden at Appleby (or, to give it its full name, Appleby-in-Westmorland). What the warplanes circling and thundering overhead were aiming at, in addition to making white trails in the almost cloudless sky, is anyone’s guess. Ignoring the [...]

Big Ben is Tilting to the North West

October 28, 2011

I read today that Big Ben, since it was built back in the 1850s, has been slowly tilting. No, it has not yet become the Leaning Tower of London but the rate of tilt has increased since the Jubilee Line was built nearby and now has reached almost one millimetre per year. Even more interesting, [...]

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