The Lake District - July 2004
A family holiday (Hen, The Bids & H) in Millom for a week. Millom is on the south-west coast of Cumbria, just outside the Lake District National Park. It was a great place to stay, because it was quiet and 'normal' with proper friendly local facilities, yet it is in walking distance of the beautiful hills. It's on the railway, so we could take the train to attractions further a field.There's an excellent folk museum in the part of the station buildings. It covers the history of the town, local industry and people. It's well-worth a visit, but is closed on Sundays, even in July. This is even odder when you realise that this is the local tourist-information office!
I didn't take many photos during my stay, but here's a few.
I talk a walk from Millom to the wind farm by the beach, up Black Combe and down the other side. As soon as I got to the top, the cloud and rain came down. It was good to have the GPS to navigate by because the visibility dropped to nothing. Location of Black Combe.
The wind farm North of Millom, next to Haverigg Prison. The turbines are impressively imposing and almost silent.
The beach here looks like a lunar landscape.
Looking back down towards the sea.
The slopes of Black Combe.
The cloud and rain are just about to start rolling in ...Muncaster Castle
Muncaster castle is a little further north up the west coast. The castle is well worth a visit - the publicity leaflet I saw really undersold the place, making it appear much more tacky than it is. The castle has huge formal and informal gardens and woodlands that you could spend days exploring. The house is worth a quick tour, but the gardens were the real attraction for me. There is also a sanctuary for birds of prey, and various activities for families. See the official website http://www.muncaster.co.uk
The castle viewed from the end of the terrace.
Looking out from the front of the castle. What a view!
The view from the summerhouse
The view into the summerhouse.
From the house toward the informal landscaped gardens.
Part of the impressive terrace. The terrace is on a very steep hillside.
Looking down the slope from near the castle
Another view of the terrace, back toward the castle.
Whilst we were relatively nearby we took a trip to Lancaster and Morecombe. I took a walk from Lancaster to Morecombe, partly along the Lancaster canal. The Aqueduct carrying the canal over the River Lune is an impressive feature and is worth taking a peek.
Not a good photo but you've got to see the view down to the river below. Then the rain came and there were no more photos.
