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Lane Head
Apartment:
Cumbria - the
Lake District Self Catering Accommodation
The village of Bolton Low Houses is situated close to the
small town of Wigton in West Cumbria.
We are equidistant (12 miles) from Carlisle, ‘the great border city’
to the north and Cockermouth, birthplace of the poet William Wordsworth,
towards the south. Cockermouth
abounds in restaurants to suit all tastes and is a great place to stop for
a meal. The border to the Lake District National Park is just seven
miles away and an easy drive. The
closest entry points are the Caldbeck Fells (still one of our favourite
areas in the entire Lake District), the Skiddaw
range of hills or, slightly further along the A66,
the bustling town of Keswick with its backdrop of hills and forests.
Carlisle itself is home to the smallest cathedral in
Britain. The city is dominated,
however, by the dark and brooding castle which in past centuries has borne
witness to lengthy sieges and to many a bloody execution of Scottish
invaders and their local sympathisers.
You can wander the grim castle dungeons where these unfortunates
were held in squalid conditions before being taken to the gallows on Harraby Hill.
The castle was temporary home to Mary Queen of Scots when she began
her journey south. Nothing remains
now of the tower which housed her apartments but a remarkably beautiful oak
table survives which is said to have been used by the Catholic queen. The castle museum enables the visitor to
browse amongst exhibits connected with the long and distinguished history
of the King’s Own Border Regiment
and also to view the evidence of Carlisle’s Roman past when it was known as Luguvallum, even then an important stronghold against
the marauding tribes of the north.
If museums are your special interest, Tullie
House in Carlisle comes highly recommended.
The building itself belonged to a wealthy merchant and his
family. The museum provides a
comprehensive insight into Carlisle’s varied past as well as the violent and bloodthirsty story
of the Border Reivers who once inhabited the
desolate lands hereabout.
Hadrian’s
Wall is now lost to view beneath the streets of Carlisle but the city is a
good place from which to start your journey if you want to follow its
original course. To the west lie the
flatlands of the Solway Plain with its wealth of birdlife and marsh
vegetation whilst to the east the established Roman sites with stretches of
Hadrian’s original Wall still
standing await the intrepid explorer.
Unless you are visiting the area in the height of the summer, we do
suggest that you wrap up warm for expeditions to Hadrian’s Wall. The bleakness of the surroundings must
have come as quite a shock to legionaries from warmer climes!
If it is the Lake District itself that you have come to see,
then you will find that Lane Head Apartment is a comfortable base from
which to plan your excursions. You
will find maps covering the entire National Park together with plenty of
suggestions as to places to visit.
If you are keen on walking, cycling or just love the countryside,
the Lake District has something to offer everyone. Windermere is bustling with activity but
other lakes such as Wast Water are almost
brooding in their silence and tranquility. Whether you have come to find Beatrix
Potter’s Peter Rabbit or to
see Wordsworth’s
‘golden daffodils’ in the springtime, the Lake
District won’t disappoint you.
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