Twenty-eight years ago we left England to return to Canada after 3 years living in Lancaster and with a new family member, our first child, in tow. Our trip to the UK this autumn was partly to revisit those old haunts.
Lancaster feels even more of a university town than it did when we left. Lots of students, lots of pubs and restaurants. Some changes made us a little sad – Waterstones moving from King Street to a location in the arcade, the John O’Gaunt pub focused on a different demographic with a totally different feel, but others were positive – good coffee shops, great men’s clothing stores, the active public library (with great quotes on the walls) . And there are some Lancaster places that still reflect our experiences. The castle and priory, the Ashton Memorial and Williamson Park, the view of Lancaster from the train bridge that I used to take my bike over on my way to work, the Whale Tail restaurant, the museums. And the friends, of course!
Another piece of our England life had been walking in the Lake District, particularly around Ambleside and Keswick. We had a couple of wonderful nights staying in Braithwaite (just outside Keswick) with my sister and brother-in-law. What a beautiful spot! We had a good hike up Barrow Fell and enjoyed exploring the Pencil Museum. It was too short (seems the story of this trip), but a reminder of the joy being there gave us and an incentive to go back again soon.
A year of discovery 