Life in Northern Towns

There were only two reasons why we visited Wigton: it wasn't far from Carlisle ; and it had charity shops.  Otherwise we hadn't a clue what to expect from this place other than Melvyn Bragg and Anna Ford come from here.. We parked up behind the Original Factory Shop as it had free parking and most of the street parking was disc permit only for residents. Wigton is quite an unassuming market town with lots of buildings dating back at least a couple of centuries.  The streets were quite narrow too and this made it a little dicey to negotiate in the car.  At the town centre they had a rather bling looking monument with a gold cross at the top and a well tended flower bed.  Clearly the locals take pride in their town.   We had a quick trot around the charity shops.  One shop had already closed for the day, so we just went in the Oxfam and Cerebral Palsy shop. The lady in the Cerebral Palsy shop was very chatty.  I don't think ...

On our trip to Cumbria we wanted to explore places outside of the Lake District for a change as it can get really touristy.   One place I’d only ever passed through, but never stopped at, was Carlisle .   Technically a city, it certain felt more like a town, and is the most northerly place we have visited for the blog. Thankfully to get to Carlisle from Cartmel is easy enough as you pick up the M6 and drive north.   Although Cumbria is a rather big county and it takes about one and a half hours to get from the south to the north.   It’s quite a desolate stretch of motorway and whilst the scenery is lovely when the weather gets bad driving is pretty torturous on this stretch of motorway. Getting to Carlisle is pretty darn easy as you just veer off at junction 43 and follow the signs into town.   However getting parked is an entirely different matter.   Maybe I was being dim, but the signs for parking around Carlisle send you round in circles and ...

Barrow.   What can you say about the place when only two words suffice? Thankfully the trip to South Lakes Zoo down the road fortified us with enough good vibes to cope with a trip to Barrow. A short trip down the A590 brought us into the town centre and we parked in the pay and display car park behind the impressive Town Hall.    It has to be said the Town Hall is the most beautiful building in town, although it’s doesn’t have much competition in that respect. We headed into the shopping precinct and passed the indoor market which was shut for the day.   The precinct was very quiet, although clearly there had been some regeneration work to bring it into the 21 st century.   Then again there were still plenty of shops empty and boarded up.   The Specials “Ghost Town” started to play in my head.   If there had been tumbleweed rolling through the town it would have set the scene perfectly. We pinballed along the precinct, from charity...

We’d never been to South Lakes Zoo on our many travels to the Lake District and as we knew we were going to Barrow-In-Furness we needed to do something cheery before heading there. Only a few miles from Ulverston we hopped on the A590 and turned off at Dalton-In-Furness.   We managed to miss the sign to the Zoo, however a U turn later we got there. Parking at South Lakes Zoo is straightforward as it doesn’t have the acres of parking like Chester Zoo has.   As it was a weekday we parked close to the entrance.   There was a lone attendant manning the box office as it wasn’t busy and the entrance fee was £13.50 per adult. Walking into the zoo the place seemed really quiet and we wondered whether there would be anyone there.   Thankfully when we got to the main part with the gift shop, toilets and the refreshment area, things were somewhat busier. We decided to visit the small animals first and we went through double gates and we had the shock of our lives....