Kendal Calling...

In these strange pandemic-afflicted times I've barely ventured out of the West Midlands over the last year (an occasional incursion into Staffordshire and Shropshire excepted), so actually going away somewhere on a family holiday would be a real novelty. Our Whitsun escape therefore sees us based in Kendal, a Cumbrian town that would prove perfect for exploring the Lake District...

- Kendal Market Place - 

Day One - Saturday 29th May: an early start from Wolverhampton sees the M6 taking the strain, the traffic being mercifully kind so the journey takes a shade under three hours. Settling into our cottage, we get some Kendal bearings thanks to the Market Place - where the coffee shops seem permanently popular - the Westmorland Shopping Centre and main streets such as Stricklandgate. An interesting feature of the town's historic development is the presence of numerous 'yards', old passages named after bygone residents, tradespeople and professions. A couple of River Kent walks are also part of our induction process.

- Abbot Hall Art Gallery -

Day Two - Sunday 30th May: another day dedicated to Kendal as we pick out more prime local landmarks, most notably the Abbot Hall Art Gallery next to the Parish Church; the gallery is situated within a Grade I listed Georgian house and showcases the work of artists including the portraitist George Romney. The County Hotel with the railway station opposite are other top targets, even if the station house is these days a medical practice and the platform is an unstaffed facility. Naturally enough, I'm beginning to discover Kendal's pubs too whereby the Rifleman's Arms (worth the steep climb up to Greenside) and the New Union both make excellent first impressions.

- Sizergh Castle -

Day Three - Monday 31st May: blessed with brilliant blue skies, we indulge in some wider sightseeing by visiting Sizergh Castle. The castle interior is out of bounds due to Covid but the grounds are a pleasure to wander around, with a kitchen garden, an orchard and a lilypad-covered mirror lake. The surrounding parkland offers plenty of scope for a stroll so we opt for the route to Helsington Church and back, meeting a flock of inquisitive cows along the way. Monday's Kendal pub discovery is the Castle Inn, a traditional Tetley's branded tavern on the Gooseholme side of the river - perhaps I'm a sucker for a proper fishtank!

- Hughie McIlmoyle's Statue -

Day Four - Tuesday 1st June: a special day in more ways than one, for not only is it my birthday but I'm treating myself to a Carlisle classic. The briefest of branch line rides conveys me to Oxenholme from whence I make my mainline connection, arriving at Cumbria's flagship city to be greeted by Thomas Telford's Citadel towers. Castle photographs then precede a call at Brunton Park, home ground to Carlisle United FC complete with statue of star Scottish striker Hughie McIlmoyle (he had a productive spell at Wolves too). An unusual aspect of the city's history is that Carlisle's pubs and breweries were state-owned from the First World War through to the early 1970s, an 'experiment' initially introduced to prevent drunkenness among munitions workers. Several local watering holes were improved under the direction of architect Harry Redfern, one such being the Cumberland Inn on Botchergate which gives me an intriguing heritage insight into the scheme.

- Coniston Launch -

Day Five - Wednesday 2nd June: from nationalised boozers to the National Trust as Wednesday culminates at Fell Foot, a country park with Gothic boathouses on the southern shores of Lake Windermere. Prior to that we'd sampled the spectacular scenery at both Keswick and Coniston, not to mention negotiating various twisty lanes guided by a sat nav that kept on losing its signal. Keswick's Moot Hall and Friar's Crag were standout features from my morning photography whereas my afternoon snaps focused on Coniston's Black Bull Hotel and the John Ruskin Museum, not forgetting the various bodies of water. 

- The Swan Inn, Ulverston -

Day Six - Thursday 3rd June: the only grey day of the entire holiday but I still put it to good use with a bus ride over to Ulverston, a town famous for being the birthplace of comedy legend Stan Laurel. The X6 route is my steed for the day, connecting Kendal with Barrow via Grange-over-Sands, and somehow the brooding slate skies seem well suited as a backdrop to Ulverston's Hoad Monument (resembling a lighthouse minus an actual light, it was built in tribute to the geographer and writer Sir John Barrow). The Ulverston Canal meanwhile is a mile-and-a-quarter long waterway stretching out towards Morecambe Bay; I simply have to investigate that, rewarding myself with a pint of Hawkshead's Windermere Pale Ale in the superb Swan Inn afterwards - arguably my favourite pub of the whole week. 

- Sedbergh School -

Day Seven - Friday 4th June: our final Cumbrian fling involves a saunter over to Sedbergh, a market town that falls within the Yorkshire Dales National Park. Apart from the atmospheric Main Street, a defining item here has to be Sedbergh School as an independent boarding establishment founded in 1525; the cricket pitch alone is a picture postcard in the making, framed by craggy hills and fells. St Andrew's Parish Church likewise catches my eye, as does Morphet's Garage and a trio of coaching inns (Red Lion, Black Bull, Dalesman). We save our closing pints for when we're back in Kendal however, toasting our glorious getaway over a Swift Best at the Barrel House (Bowness Bay Brewery's on-site taphouse). All too soon our seven day stay has flown by but the holiday will live long in our memories - cheers!