Vintage Railway Poster - The Eden Valley

Here's another great British Railways travel poster - this time with a difference:
The Eden Valley. Up in the northwest corner of England is the Lake District. Until the county changes of the 1970s it spread across the boundaries of Lancashire, Westmorland and Cumberland. Today it is all in the "new" county of Cumbria. The Lake District National Park is not, however, the
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http://england.on-posters.com/vintage-railway-posterthe-eden-valley-westmorland-now-in-cumbria/

More Castles of the North [5]

Another extract from the "Around-England" blog:

Here is the next in our series on historic castles in the North of England.

Scarborough Castle from the North Bay

Today we have two Yorkshire castles and one in Cumbria sitting between the Lake District and the Eden Valley. Two are preserved ruins in

Read more... http://around-england.co.uk/castles-of-the-north-5/

Dog Friendly Hotels - Lake District

Very many people from all over the UK like to take their dogs on holiday with them. True, some prefer to leave them with family, friends or neighbours or use a local dog-hotel, but there is a considerably demand for dog friendly accommodation in holiday areas throughout the country.

The Lake District has a large number of pet friendly hotels, from Keswick to Coniston and from Ullswater to Wastwater. Some of these are small hotels in villages, but also a substantial larger hotels in the main centres welcome dogs. It is, of course, important to check before booking just exactly what kind of pet facilities are being offered.

You are not restricted to hotels. Dog friendly holiday cottages are also available in places all around the national park and the surrounding areas of Cumbria such as the Eden Valley and Furness Peninsula.

There is no need to leave your dog at home when you come to Cumbria and the Lake District on holiday.

1920s Southern Railway Poster - Canterbury

Another old railway poster on "England on Posters"

Canterbury first got a mainline railway station in 1846 when the South Eastern Railway launched its services to Ashford. The Southern Railway, to which the railway poster here relates, was created at the time of the 1923 rationalisation of the railways in Britain, known as "The Grouping". Several small railway companies were merged, including the South Eastern & Chatham
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http://england.on-posters.com/1920s-southern-railway-poster-canterbury/

Railway Poster - Norfolk Broads

Here is an interesting item from one of our associated sites in the Around-England family:   

Britain's largest area of wetland is The Broads. The area has National Park status, and although commonly referred to as the 'Norfolk' Broads actually extends into Suffolk, the neighbouring county to the south. It is an extremely popular area with holidaymakers .....

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http://england.on-posters.com/railway-poster-norfolk-broads/

Alfred Wainwright and the "Wainwright Walks"

It was in 1930 at the age of 23 that Alfred Wainwright, then a junior accounting staff member in the Borough Engineer's Department in Blackburn, Lancashire, went with his cousin for a holiday in the Lake District, and so began the "Wainwright walks". He had often enjoyed walking in the hills of East Lancashire but once he'd experienced Lakeland there was no turning back. From then on he took every possible opportunity to walk in the Lake District mountains.

In the early 1940s he applied for a job in the Borough Treasurer's office in Kendal. The pay was less than he'd been getting in Blackburn but it brought him close to his beloved mountains and made his Lake District walks so much easier to arrange without the journey up from East Lancashire.

His ideas for recording his walks appear to have developed slowly during the 1940s but it was in 1952 that he started to produce pages of maps and sketches systematically in a carefully planned format, initially for his own use. Having eventually decided to publish his work the first volume of "A Pictorial Guide to the Lakeland Fells, by A. Wainwright" appeared in 1955, privately published.

There were seven volumes in all, each covering one of his seven divisions of the Lake District, the last reaching the bookshops in 1966 by which time the Westmorland Gazette newspaper of Kendal, from the beginning his printer, had also become his publisher.

The style was unique with his combination of carefully drawn maps showing his recommended routes, sketches of the countryside around the areas of the walks, compass diagrams to indicate what peaks can be seen from strategic points, and his notes describing the routes and full of "typical" Wainwright asides.

The Wainwright Guides became the standard source of information of hill walking in the Lake District, but by the early years of a new century they were beginning to date, and demand had fallen away. In 2003 the first editions, the oldest of which had now been on bookshelves for almost fifty years, ceased publication.

Alfred Wainwright had died in 1991, but the Wainwright Guides filled with his detailed instructions for the now famous "Wainwright walks" would not die. The publisher Frances Lincoln bought the rights and Chris Jesty took on the role of reviser, updating the maps and instructions whilst retaining the distinctive Wainwright style almost in its entirety. A 50th Anniversary edition of the first edition was produced and became very popular, and by 2009 all seven revised editions were available.

Other walks, in areas close to the Lake District and further afield, were described in other books and these will be covered in a later article. He also published volumes of his sketches, including one on his adopted town, "Kendal in the 19th Century", and a volume entitled "Westmorland Heritage" in 1975 as the historic Lakeland county was merged into the newly created Cumbria. Regardless, however, of his many other publications the name Alfred Wainwright will surely continue to be associated chiefly with the "Wainwright walks" described with meticulous care in his Pictorial Guides to the Lakeland Fells.

More about Alfred Wainwright and the Wainwright Walks

Appleby on a Sunny-Chilly April Morning

The River Eden was looking splendid this morning. Although the temperature was a good 10-15 degrees down on last week's premature arrival of Summer the day was bright, the sky was clear and it was great to be able to walk along the river bank.

I wasn't out long. Lunch and a return to the computer screen called, but I couldn't resist stopping to take the following pictures.

The foal looked to me to be no more than a few days old and was drawing attention from just about everyone who passed. Then after a good feed, crash - a lunchtime nap.

What a privilege to be able to live in such a beautiful place as Appleby.