Items filtered by date: Monday, 16 April 2018

Many years ago I turned off the motorway in Cumbria to start a new life in this north west corner of England, swapping the flat lands of the east and a four hour round commuter trip into London with lakes and fells and a job that was virtually on the doorstep. It wasn’t difficult to fall in love with the place. The same landscape which has beguiled visitors for over two centuries did for me as well. 

I remember some years ago, heading along Ullswater early one morning. The trees on the slopes were parading their full palette of autumn colours while the clouds slowly eased along the tops, enveloping the crags and ridges in their soft white down before moving on to settle somewhere else. I had to stop the car and take the magic in.

Naturally it’s the Lake District, now a World Heritage site, that gets the mass of plaudits. But within Cumbria’s county boundaries - as I hope this website shows - there are plenty of other, different parts, each with their own charm and character. 

A few days ago, for instance, I was tootling around Sedbergh, relishing the drive through quiet country lanes and the sight of the lovely, rounded Howgill Fells. Thinking: ‘there must be heaps of people who come to Cumbria who’d love it here, if only they ventured east of the M6’. The Howgills picture by Nina Claridge says it all.