Our second day off took us to Arnside, by Morecambe Bay, where the local train connects the village to Grange-Over-Sands, across the other side of the bay. Why take the train? - well, the train journey takes 5 minutes, but to get there by car would be a round trip of nearly 20 miles.
The scenery around Morecambe Bay is spectacular, and the old railway viaduct has its own charm. The River Kent flows underneath, but twice a day as the tide rushes in, the river and the entire area becomes flooded in dramatic fashion.
Arnside is a popular destination for walkers; the hill overlooking the village, Arnside Knott, is a relatively easy climb and offers spectacular views. But not today. Instead, we'd planned to take the train across the viaduct and over to Grange for some easy walking along the sea front.
The one element outside our control was of course the trains, and in true British style, it was late. Then very late. Then, just to toy with us, the station display kept informing us that the train would be another minute, and another, and so on... After nearly an hour, when the next train was almost due, the display finally announced what we'd realised some time ago and confirmed it was cancelled. At least the following one arrived on time to get us across the Bay, which by this time had filled spectacularly with water rushing through on the incoming tide.
Over in Grange, there were plenty of ducks in the park to keep us company as we ate our lunches, and some were happy to be photographed in return for some pieces of bread.
Grange itself is perhaps slightly old fashioned, yet has character and lacks the hoards of tourists who head further north to the popular lakes, although in February it was never going to be busy. We walked through the town over to a second park containing a bandstand, which is still regularly in use. Although the wide-angle of this shot distorts the perspective, I quite like the effect.
From here we headed down to the shoreline and back towards the station. There was just time for a pot of tea in a nearby cafe before catching our train back - which at least was on time!
Our second day off took us to Arnside, by Morecambe Bay, where the local train connects the village to Grange-Over-Sands, across the other side of the bay. Why take the train? - well, the train journey takes 5 minutes, but to get there by car would be a round trip of nearly 20 miles.
The one element outside our control was of course the trains, and in true British style, it was late. Then very late. Then, just to toy with us, the station display kept informing us that the train would be another minute, and another, and so on... After nearly an hour, when the next train was almost due, the display finally announced what we'd realised some time ago and confirmed it was cancelled. At least the following one arrived on time to get us across the Bay, which by this time had filled spectacularly with water rushing through on the incoming tide.
Over in Grange, there were plenty of ducks in the park to keep us company as we ate our lunches, and some were happy to be photographed in return for some pieces of bread.
Carole has just been bitten by the cardmaking bug, so has spent the last week or two looking out for lots of sparkly bits and fancy pieces to incorporate into her designs. My job was to design a logo for her and shop around for some small labels to print them on.
After being in the house all day, we felt we needed to get out for a while in the afternoon by going for a stroll, but as the weather was set to turn for the worse with the prospect of snow, we didn't want to go far. There's a path through some pleasant woodland and general greenery round the back of the football ground, so we headed off to stretch our legs and get some fresh (very fresh!) air.
The council had tried to spruce up the area with a wooden sculpture, but this has now been completely pulled apart by local kids with nothing better to do. I did manage to get to snap Carole whilst sat on one of the remaining pieces just as the snow started to fall.
We made another visit to the Octagon tonight to see their latest musical play, 'Up Against the Wall'. It's the story of the 'Emperors of Funk', a band who managed a minor hit in the seventies but are now scraping out a living playing small town clubs. The lead singer still longs for a return to bigger and better days and his hopes soar when a talented new backing singer joins the band...
Lynne and John came up this weekend to see Mum and Dad, and as it's a good while since we last met up, we tagged along too. As the weather was set fair, we headed up to Bowness to take in the lake and mountain scenery. Mum was particularly keen to use her new camera and take some snowy mountain pictures.
After a little shopping, we enjoyed a bite to eat a Chiquitos in the Printworks, which serves Mexican-themed food. Suitably stuffed on a variety of nachos, tacos and other delights, we headed off to the arena for the highlight of the evening. The arena has a no cameras policy (killjoys - it's not like you could make any money out of your shaky shots from the back row), but despite this I had my little Nikon in my jacket and didn't generate any suspicion. Inside, there were flashes going off galore, so what the heck, let's snap away!
The dancers were familiar too with many of the celebrities from the last series there, plus a few recognisable faces from previous series. The only disappointment being Lilia and Jody Kidd were both down with the dreaded norovirus and couldn't be there, the net result being the show was one couple short.
Erin first realised something was up the following morning, when she was on the garden fence as Skip came bounding out of the back door, completely oblivious to her. It was enough for Erin to think twice about paying us a visit, at least for the time being.
The visitor centre in Sunnyhurst Woods
The woods form a fairly steep-sided valley, but the main paths stick to the valley floor and only climb gradually, all the time staying close to Sunnyhurst Brook as it bubbles through the woods. The main path meanders past the Visitor Centre, where local artists and photographers often exhibit, and is worth a look. Just a few yards further on is a cafe serving refreshments.
