Opposite the wonderful Roman Army Museum on Hadrian’s Wall, an exciting new project is in the offing. The ‘Walltown Wider Horizons Project’ aims to transform the seventeen hectare site of a former quarry and countryside park, found just outside of Haltwhistle, into a lively yet sympathetic tourist attraction for visitors to the area.
Key aims of the project are strengthen the connection of the local and visiting population with the incredible landscape, and to raise awareness of issues that are facing Northumberland National Park alongside the wildlife and communities that call it home. The project aims to make the park fully accessible to people of all needs, abilities, and ages, and is being delivered – in this stage at least – by Glenkemp Landscape Architects, the architects who were responsible for the building of The Sill.
Jonny Gios on Unsplash
I visited during the very first stages of the consultation of the project when it was occurring at The Sill a couple of weeks ago. This consultation aimed to capture the community and visitors thoughts and comments about the beginning of the project, and what they would like to see as outcomes of the project. Visitors were invited to put stickers on things they would like to see, as well as leave voice notes and memos about what the National Park meant to them when they were visiting. The artist, Charlie Whinney, who was behind the ‘Coming Home’ installation and exhibition following the illegal felling of the tree at Sycamore Gap, is also involved in the project.
For my part, I chose that I would like to see areas that are truly wild and have a deep connection with nature; places where it feels totally natural and away from the buzz of it all, such as forest bathing, bird hides, and places to observe the dark skies at night. But that is just what I would like from such a project, and I know that that is not what would suit everybody – some people will inevitably want a much more family-friendly attraction, with elements that will keep children amused when visiting. I hope that they can come to a decent mix, satisfying both elements (and more!) without jeopardising the satisfaction of either.
Either way, this is a project that is just at it’s very beginning, and I imagine it will be many years before it comes to complete fruition. I look forward to following along with the progress of the project and seeing how it goes!
It’s the RSPB’s Big Garden Birdwatch at the end of January (23rd-25th), and it’s a great time for you to take part in one of the largest (if not the largest) citizen science* projects in the world. Last year, over half a million people took part in the birdwatch, counting 9.1 million birds in Britain’s backyards. That might sound like a lot, but sadly there has been a massive decline in Britain’s birds since the first bird watch – more than 38 million birds have disappeared from UK skies. That’s why the birdwatch is so essential – the first part of fighting a problem, is knowing the numbers. Only then can practical solutions be considered.
*Citizen Science is an activity by the general public where data is collected or analysed, and is most often done in conjunction with professional research scientists. Many projects rely on citizen scientists volunteering a little bit of their time in order to collect or record data because, simply put, scientists can’t be everywhere at once and need our help!
So what is the Big Garden Birdwatch?
Well, you’ll need an hour at some point on the dates 23rd-25th January to sit and watch your garden/outside space, and then count how many birds of different types you see at any one time, before reporting back to the RSPB using this website. So, for example, if at one point you see two blackbirds in your garden, you’d write down two, but if those blackbirds leave and three more appear, you’d only write down three – not five – as you record the maximum seen at any one time. I guess the point of this is that we can’t be sure that we’re not double counting if we just count the number of instances, rather than how many at any one time. Phew! Hope that made sense!
One of the questions that often gets asked is why do the RSPB do the birdwatch in January? I have to say, I’ve wondered this myself, but apparently the answer is because this is the month when our garden birds need us the most – it’s cold, and there’s been no fresh food around for a while. The RSPB encourages you to stock up on garden goodies (bird food/seed etc.) to tempt birds into your garden for the count.
Last year’s top 10 in England, respectively, was: House Sparrow, Blue Tit, Woodpigeon, Starling, Blackbird, Robin, Great Tit, Goldfinch, Magpie, and Long-Tailed Tit, with seven out of those ten seeing a rise in the average count since 2024… which I guess can only be a good thing? In the UK as a whole, the line up was the same, but only six of the ten had seen an increase (the UK as a whole saw a fall in the number of Great Tits, but they increased in England when viewed on it’s own).
I’ll be on the lookout for Long-Tailed Tits, my favourite garden bird!
Anyway, you can find out everything you need to know at the Big Garden Birdwatch website where you can sign up for a guide and all sorts of other things. Be sure to take part, as the RSPB can only work towards helping our garden birds if they know the numbers and the big picture of how things are looking all around the UK. So, get a wee bit of bird food, your binoculars (if you need them – our garden is small enough that we don’t!), and an hour of time to just sit and watch the birds. Enjoy the peace!
In need of a little bit of peace and quiet, or nature therapy? RSPB Leighton Moss, near Silverdale, is the perfect place to find it. There’s areas of the reserve that are accessible without an RSPB membership, such as visiting the Eric Morecambe Hide (found just off the Warton road (not accessible during very high tides)), and the Causeway and Lower Hides, found just along from the main reserve. The walk to the lower hide is about 3km each way, and a decent pair of welly boots is definitely recommended! Then again, it’s also the best place to see otters on the reserve (and apparently there are two cubs at the moment!), so I think it’s absolutely worth it!
The reserve itself is a varied habitat, but is most famous for its reedbeds – the largest in north-west England. This precious habitat is home to all sorts of species, including Bearded Tits, Bitterns, Marsh Harriers, Otters, Greenshank, Redshank, and many many others! It also provides an essential breeding ground for migratory birds that arrive here in the late winter or spring, finding cooler or warmer climes (depending on which direction they’ve come from!) in order to lay their eggs and raise their chicks.
There are seven hides across the reserve, with four being accessible to wheelchair users (you can download the trail map here). There’s also the skytower, which will take you up into the trees for a literal birds-eye view of the reserve, and view that stretches for miles in various directions. The tower is a great place to watch the incredible Starling murmurations that happen at dusk on lots of evenings – sometimes these formations have been estimated to contain over twenty-thousand birds as they undulate through the sky!
Bearded Tit (courtesy of the RSPB)
If you go during the week, or early in the morning, the reserve is generally quieter than at the weekends, which might afford a better opportunity to see some of the shyer birds and wildlife. One species that definitely isn’t shy, however, are the local robins, who are so used to humans and the birdseed they offer, they’re quite willing to fly onto your outstretched fingertips to take the seed, as long as you stand still for a bit. It’s amazing when they do it, and it was so cool seeing a robin up that close. Now, to just tame my resident garden robin to do the same…
Aside from the wildlife, there’s a cosy café in which to warm up after a walk at this time of year, and a wildlife shop where the proceeds, of course, go towards the RSPB’s mission of saving nature. If you know anything about me, you’ll know how passionate I am about the natural world. Nature is under threat and it needs our help and intervention so, if by my going for a nice walk and buying a cup of coffee, I can help do a tiny bit – count me in!
Marsh Harrier (courtesy of the RSPB)
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I don’t know about you, but I remember where I was when I heard that the tree at Sycamore Gap had been felled. It was a few weeks after my thirtieth birthday (September) and I was at Chester Zoo. It seems odd, because it wasn’t a cataclysmic event, nobody died, and yet it was something that shook the nation, created news stories internationally (I had friends overseas messaging me, asking me why this particular tree was so significant, and why they were seeing it on their news), and had people talking here for months afterwards. I’d only walked that section of the wall a few months before, when I’d been staying at Hideaway Huts in the June of that year, and had fondly taken pictures of the tree before wandering off, confidently thinking “I’ll be back soon.” Turns out it’ll be a decade or two before I’ll be able to see such a thing in that location again, and I wasn’t the only one deeply upset by that fact.
Because the Sycamore at Sycamore Gap was more than a tree. It was a symbol of Northumberland, and one of the iconic images of the UK. Standing between two steep hills with the spine of Hadrian’s Wall winding it’s way down the middle, the Sycamore (and the tiny offshoot next to it) stood as lone guardians of the Gap. People visited here from across the UK and around the world because of its extremely beautiful situation and because of its iconic status, and the tree became a place where people got engaged, where families bonded, where ashes were spread, and where memories were made. It was also famously featured in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves with Kevin Costner and Morgan Freeman. Despite the tree being conspicuously nowhere near Nottinghamshire, that film introduced Sycamore Gap to the world.
Marc McGill on Unsplash
After it was felled people were shocked. It felt like a friend had been taken from us. Why would anyone do such a thing to a gentle giant? Apparently, because they could and they thought it would be funny. I’m not going to waste many pixels or brain space on the idiots who did it, suffice to say that they were caught and charged, and ended up in prison. Good.
But there is hope.
Since the tree was felled, offcuts from the felled monarch were taken by the National Trust and by Northumberland National Park, and propagated to create hundreds of Sycamore saplings, all related to that mother tree. Naturally occurring saplings are also shooting where the tree once stood. Communities pulled together and it was decided by local public decision that the main pieces of the felled tree would become art installations, the largest piece ending up at The Sill in an exhibition entitled Sycamore Gap: Coming Home. Many people contributed memories to the exhibition, writing about what the Gap had meant to them. Local schools were also involved in making art to be situated alongside the professional photographs and art that were commissioned to commemorate the tree.
Clement Proust on Unsplash
Beyond the art exhibitions, there is even more good news. The first of the propagated saplings have now been planted outside of their careful nursery environment. Two saplings have gone to Coventry and Staffordshire, whilst others are soon to be planted in Cambridge, Hexham, Leeds, Berkshire, Sunderland, and County Tyrone. Eventually, there will be forty-nine locations for saplings, chosen from over five hundred applications that were made.
“There are always good things worth fighting for, even after something so senseless” – Hilary McGrady, director general of the National Trust.
These saplings will become notable features at various charity and community centres around the country. These include the Rob Burrow Centre for MND in Leeds, the charity Veterans in Crisis in Sunderland, and in each of the UK’s National Parks (15 in total), which will be planted in early 2026.
It might be extremely literal, but I think this is a brilliant example of how hope, community effort, art, creativity, and determined spirit can be pulled from the wreckage of something senseless and shocking. I, for one, am looking forward to seeing these sturdy trees flourish and for Sycamore Gap to be once again back to its former glory.
It’s the spookiest time of the year if you celebrate Halloween, or one of the most important festivals – Samhain – if you’ve an interest in pagan or Celtic lore/history. Samhain traditionally marks the end of summer and the beginning of winter, where darkness overpowers day (in the Northern hemisphere at least) and communities look towards colder nights of enjoying the fruits that summer bore. It’s a time for the warmth of the fire, being indoors, and feasting. Sounds good to me!
If you’re into the spookier stuff, plenty of Halloween events continue on into November, including plenty of ghost tours, ghost hunts, and haunted sleepovers, as I mentioned in my piece about Spooky Places To Visit.
If that’s not your jam, then check out my foodie focused piece about how to cook up an amazing Autumn Feast using ingredients and produce from Northern suppliers.
To be honest, I lean more towards the latter part than the former. Whilst I do love the lighter summer foods, and the brightness of the days, I do find myself loving the “winter” food that we can now enjoy on a colder evening; casserole and dumplings; roast chicken dinner with yorkshire puddings; more pie than can ever be considered a good idea, and plenty more calorific things like that!
The fading of the year needn’t be a time for sadness, thinking that there nothing to look forward until the spring rolls around. Instead, I say we should lean in, and find the beauty in the dark and in the cold. Look out for wildlife that we don’t get to see at other times of the year; take brisk walks through countryside or along the beach, and enjoy the cosy fire (fake or otherwise) when you get home in the evening. Also, statistically, the better telly is on in the winter as well… so there’s always that!
However you’re welcoming in the fading of the year, I urge it to be just that; a welcome. Embrace the chill, and look for the wonder!
As the coldness creeps in and the nights get darker (remember clocks fall back for an hour this Sunday (26th October!)), it can be tempting to think that nature has gone to bed, that the flowers have died back, and she will only reawaken when the spring comes around in a few (and a bit) month’s time. But of course that’s not the case; there is a lot still to see, and unique things that nature shows us throughout the winter months, many of which can’t be seen at any other time of the year.
Throughout the winter, many birds call the British Isles home, with many coming south or west to escape the harsher climes of Scandinavia, Russia, and others coming in from Greenland and Canada. Some of these migrants come in for months on end; arriving in late summer – September-time – and potentially not leaving until April/May, whilst others fly in between October and November, before leaving us in February and March.
There are several species you can look out for in this part of the world as they fly in for the winter; Pink-Footed Geese arrive from Iceland and Norway, Barnacle Geese from the Arctic, you might see Teal ducks at RSPB Leighton Moss (they like wetlands and marshes), and perhaps Wigeons as well. Another prized sighting for a birder is some of our smallest migrant birds; Redwings, heard across the UK from October and Waxwings, which you might only see if there is a poor berry harvest in Scandinavia, and they choose to spend winter in the UK instead as a result.
Aside from our feathered friends, other treasured things to see come Autumn are the brilliant red leaves of Virginia Creeper or Ivy, climbing and crawling its way up the front of a building it scarlet glory; or beautiful beech trees glowing cooper in the bright early November sunlight. Mushrooms are abundant on the forest floor and growing through tree roots and bark. I would urge you to make sure you know exactly what you’re doing if you plan to forage fungi, and seek out an expert guide or handbook for precise information.
Of course there’s plenty of other life to find out and about in the woods and in the fields; throughout October and November you’ll be able to hear the bellows of stags in rut echoing out across the countryside, looking to secure breeding rights for the coming season. If you’re lucky, you might even see two stags go horn-to-horn and battle it out. Please be aware that stags can be more aggressive during this season, even those who are well used to humans (such as park dwelling deer). Keep your distance, and keep dogs on a lead/under control when around deer.
Photo by Charlie Newman
Other furry friends to look out for are wood mice, grey squirrels (busy burying acorns!), and hedgehogs preparing for the winter hibernation (okay, so hedgehogs aren’t fluffy per se, but they are still cute to look at!). This year’s fox kits will be being kicked out of the den by their mothers, so they’ll be lots of slightly-teenage looking foxes around for those who are patient enough to spot them, and badgers will be preparing their burrows for winter. Whilst these black and white denizens of the countryside do not hibernate, they will potential slow down as the months get colder, and spend more time underground, huddled together with the rest of the family!
So there you have it! A short and sweet version of things to look out for this Autumn, with so much beautiful nature still be amazed by. I don’t know about you, but I always get a little sense of wonderment whenever I see a little wood mouse, or a hedgehog, scurrying across the garden wall; a bird (be it a visitor or a resident) chirruping away on a branch that’s losing its leaves… I love this time of year, and love being out and about in the cool crispness, enjoying the freshness of a glorious Autumn.
Northumberland has some of the best stargazing locations and events in the UK. As an internationally designated Dark Sky Park since 2013 with “pristine skies”, Northumberland National Park and Kielder Water & Observatory are perfect for stargazers, both enthusiasts and beginners. The Dark Sky Park stretches over five-hundred square miles, making it the largest protected dark sky area in Europe. There has been some incredible photos of the night skies, including the stunning aurora borealis (Northern Lights) taken in Northumberland, and whilst I haven’t been lucky enough to see the Northern Lights myself yet, just looking at the photos is awe inspiring.
There are many options for how to experience Northumberland’s Dark Skies, with lots of venues offering dark skies experiences or stargazing events. One of these is the Twice Brewed pub, just up the road from the Hideaway Huts, that now has it’s own observatory (with large aperture telescopes), planetarium, and regularly hosts astronomy evenings with experts. The Planetarium hosts shows regularly throughout the Autumn and Winter, with various shows scheduled specifically for children, with extra around school holidays. You can find out more about the Planetarium and the astronomy events here.
The Twice Brewed Inn is in partnership with Kielder Observatory; located on the edge of the Kielder Water and Forest.
‘Say goodbye to summer constellations and hello to winter favourites like the Pleiades, Taurus, and Orion, which brings the spectacular Orionid meteor shower later in the month. For telescope users, the Ghost Nebula and the Swimming Alligator Cluster are October highlights. Plus, catch Saturn and Jupiter rising as the nights grow longer.’ – Kielder Observatory Website
Image from Kielder Observatory about which constellations are visible in winter.
Staying at the Hideaway Huts is the only time in the UK I’ve been able to see the colours of the Milky Way when lying out in the middle of the night, looking up at the sky. The only other place I’ve ever been able to do that is in rural Australia! Whilst this does say something about the amount of light pollution we have around us at all times, it is nice to know that there are still places in the UK where you can get away from the incessant light that ruins the night sky, and find places that are truly dark. I said in a previous article that it is wonderful to stop and look at the stars, and it’s amazing that there are now more formal events to explore the solar system and beyond, for people of all levels of interest and knowledge in astronomy.
I’ll be doing another article later in the year (hopefully) after a night skies experience. Of course, this will be dependent on the weather (can’t do much if it’s cloudy!), but fingers crossed that the event will be able to go ahead.
It’s official; you can smell it in the air, and feel it in the coolness we’ve had this past week, the blackberries have been ripe for a while (we got five freeze-able boxes last week!), and the trees are just beginning to show their golden glow…
I love this time of the year… the heat of the summer is coming to a close (and this year we have had eight official heatwaves… which is a whole ‘nother issue that I really don’t want to think about it!), although we do sometimes get an Indian summer in September, and that feels like the last burst of summer before autumn officially draws in. Side story, a couple of years ago I was in York for my 30th birthday, and the whole weekend it was 28-31 degrees in the second week of September… that was warm. It made for a wonderful weekend, but it was a little bit weird for it to be that temperature in northern England in September!
But with the start of Autumn, people start looking to the cooler months, Halloween (if you like to celebrate spooky season), cosy jumpers, and homemade hearty soups. I’m definitely looking forward to stews and casseroles cooked in the slow cooker again, which have just felt too hot and heavy to eat throughout the summer. And, with the end of summer, it’s not like we going to run out of stuff to do – the calendar is absolutely packed for September, with plenty more to look forward to in the month’s following. I’ll be doing calendars for October, November, and December as well, pulling out the best of what’s happening in the local area for the rest of the year. If you’d like to keep up with what’s happening, sign-up for free to receive a weekly newsletter.
This time of the year has always been important throughout history. In the Northern Hemisphere it’s the time of the harvest and preparation, and the time to give thanks (whatever that means for different cultures) for food and sustenance before the winter comes in. In Celtic culture deities such as Danu and Lugh were honoured at the time of the harvest, with even more celebrations towards the traditional festival of Samhain, which has a heavy focus on the cyclical nature of life and death, and the transitions between worlds in different religions and cultures. For the Romans, the beginning of Autumn and the harvest brought holidays and festivals honouring the goddess Ceres (Goddess of the harvest), and Pomona (Goddess of fruit trees), amongst others. At the end of the season, the Romans celebrated the festival of Saturnalia, honouring Saturn, the God of time and renewal.
As for me, I’m looking forward to cooler days spent by the sea in Arnside, Silverdale, or Grange-Over-Sands, breathing in the crisp Autumn air. I love getting my jackets back out of the wardrobe, to not worry about overheating in my jeans or my leather trousers, and being able to wear my boots again. Autumn hits different to winter in this respect, because I’m not a huge fan of having to bundle up every time I step outside, but we haven’t reached that point yet.
And yes, sure, it rains more in autumn than it does in the summer, especially in the North-West. It comes with the territory… there’s a saying in Manchester that “if you can’t see the Pennines, it’s raining; and if you can, it’s going to rain,” which definitely has more than a grain of truth to it! Aside from anything else, after the spring and summer we’ve just had, we need the rain – our reservoirs are seriously low, and farmers have been saying that they’re on track to lose about 30% of their vegetable crop due to lack of water. So, in that vein I’d like to invite people to enjoy the rain. Of course, too much rain can be catastrophic, that’s not what I’m saying or trying to invite, I’m just talking about your typical rainy day. Find a way to enjoy it. Remember what it was like when you were a child and you’d splash in puddles and catch raindrops on your tongue, find things to do that don’t require going outside (there’s plenty of them!), and if it’s really not your thing, think about how much cosier the inside of your house or room is when it’s raining outside… take that nap with zero guilt because you can’t go out anyway. Win, win as far as I’m concerned!
Photo by Brigette Tohm
What are you looking forward to the most as the cooler months roll in? Let me know, or come say hi on Instagram or TikTok (@thenorthishlass)! I’d love to hear from you…
It’s my birthday coming up, and this year I’m turning 32, so I decided to do a list of thirty-two places I’d like to visit in the North. This is not a list of things I’m going to do in the next year, as a sort of checklist, some of these are pie-in-the-sky dream places I want to go, whilst others are more attainable and I have concrete ideas and plans to actually do. So, that being said here’s my list of things I’d like to do in the North, just to illustrate how many things there are to do, and how amazing this region is!
Go to Walney Island
Walney Island is a wildlife haven that you get to from Barrow-In-Furness. Whilst some Neolithic remains have been found at Walney Island which in itself is interesting to me, I’d be going specifically for the nature reserves that are found on the Northern and Southern tips of the island; species to be seen include plovers, oystercatchers, otters, natterjack toads, grey seals and unique flora. Definitely a place to take a (well fitting) hat though, as it’s been named the windiest place in North-West Britain!
Courtesy of the Wildlife Trust
Stay at the Quiet Site
The Quiet Site at Ullswater has been on my list for ages. Named AA Campsite of the Year in 2024, it is a place that does what it says on the tin… it’s a place in that’s peaceful, to get away from the rush of it all. It’s also a great place to see red squirrels in the UK, and I can’t imagine anything more wonderful that waking up in my glamping pod, getting a cup of tea, and watching red squirrels as the early morning sun came up over the dewy grass. Perfect.
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Go to Hexham Book Festival
Every spring Hexham hosts a book festival with local, national, and international authors speaking, and I’ve been wanting to go for a while. I’m what you would call a book dragon, as opposed to a book worm. I hoard books… I don’t necessarily read them all (not the point I know!), but yeah I have hundreds of books. I just recently moved house, and not kidding, there must have been twenty+ boxes of books out of a relatively small flat. Although, to be honest, I see books kind of like wine, or good food, you’re not sure what you’re going to be in the mood for, so you might as well have a lot to choose from!
Anyway, this year they had authors and speakers such as L. J. Ross (crime writer), Jonathan Coe (author), Pam Ayers (poet), Mike Berners-Lee (author and climate activist), Wayne Sleep (author and ballet dancer), and Julie Beckett (writer for the Archers), so there was plenty to choose from. Can’t wait to see who they come up with next year!
See Dolphins off the Northumberland Coast
As any readers of mine from May know, I went on a trip to the Farne Islands that month, but I wasn’t lucky enough to see any dolphins or orcas that have been seen around that coastline. I am determined that I am going to see some, so I guess I’ll just have to go back.
I have been lucky enough to see dolphins a couple of times in my life – once or twice off the coast of Scotland in the Moray Firth, and another time when I was on a boat in Spain. Just because I’ve seen them before doesn’t mean I don’t want to do it again… you can never seen dolphins too many times, right?
Visit Beatrix Potter’s House
Courtesy of the National Trust
Growing up I loved Beatrix Potter. Loved. To the extent that one of my first sentences (apparently) was the slightly nonsensical “Pit Pat Paddle Pat… Pit Pat Paddle Pat,” which is what Jemima Puddleduck says as she walks along in the TV show. I also watched the VHS (showing my age now!) of the ballet by the Royal Ballet Company until it wore out. And, to this day, I have a whole bag full of Beatrix Potter plush toys with the tags still on. Sadly they sit in that bag in the under roof storage as I’ve got nowhere to store them out. I’d be very willing for a child who loves Beatrix Potter as much as I did to have them, because I’d rather that than them be hidden away forever. Anyway, that’s off the point a bit, I’d love to visit Hill Top farmhouse again, and wander through the gardens and buildings that so inspired her and her wonderful characters.
What was your favourite Beatrix Potter story?
Spend a weekend in Durham
I have never been to Durham. I know, shocking right? I have been all over the North, but for some reason or another, I have never made it to Durham, and I really want to go. As a complete history nerd, the city is fascinating to me, and aside from that it looks exceedingly pretty, with independent shops and eateries to explore. This one is pretty self-explanatory to be honest, it looks like a wonderful little city, and I’d love to go.
Image by K. Mitch Hodge
So there you have it – six out of thirty two of things I’d like to do. This is going to be a bit of a long series I guess, but there are just so many things to do around the North and if I did them all in one go (or even in three articles) it would end up being so long you’d never reach the end! If you had to pick three places to go in the North, where would it be? What should be on my list? I guarantee there will be places you love that I won’t even know about, so drop me a comment below or an email at bryony@thenorthishlass.co.uk and let me know what I should feature!
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It’s that time of year where the finalists from the Cumbria Life Awards have been announced. I’ve been through the nominees and pulled out just a few of my favourites. You can vote for your winners here. You only have until SUNDAY 10th AUGUST 2025 to submit your votes! These are just some of my top picks…
Sandpipers, Arnside
Nominated for Best Café or Coffee Shop 2025
I go to Sandpipers a lot, probably at least once a week. It’s a beautiful café on the front at Arnside, overlooking the River Kent estuary and the viaduct. As their tagline goes: delightful views and bangin’ brews. They couldn’t be more right. The café is cosy and comfortable, and always has a friendly atmosphere. They’re also dog friendly, which a big plus for me, as I usually get to cuddle at least one dog when I go in there!
My favourites from the menu vary depend on what mood I’m in, but a regular staple is the American-style pancakes with blueberries, greek yoghurt, and almond flakes, drizzled with honey. Yum! If I’m feeling a bit naughtier I’ll go for the bacon and maple syrup option with the pancakes instead. The pancakes are always fluffy, and there’s an ample helping, which always sets me up for the day ahead. I’d also recommend their sausage rolls when they’re warm from the oven, as they’re equally delicious. The coffee is great, and mum recently discovered they serve iced vanilla matcha (with oat milk or otherwise), which has recently become a favourite of hers.
Holker Hall & Gardens, Cark-In-Cartmel
Nominated for Best Tourist Attraction 2025
I’m a frequent visitor to Holker Hall & Gardens. I love going there at different times throughout the year to see how the gardens have changed and evolved throughout the seasons. It’s brilliant to go in May when all of the rhododendrons are in bloom. Holker is famous for it’s rhododendrons, and if you wander around in May you can see why – the flowers are amazing, and the colours are beautiful. In late June/July the roses in the scented garden come out, and I love to sit and just take in the beautiful smell. Every year there is a different colour scheme in the scented garden and I love to see what they’ve planned.
Of course Holker also has it’s Spring Fair (you can read about this year’s here), and the most popular Winter Market for Christmas Crafts and Street Food in Cumbria (I’ll be attending this later in the year!)
RSPB Celebration Wood at Wild Haweswater
Nominated for Fundraising Feat of the Year 2025
The RSPB Celebration Wood at Wild Haweswater raised over £150k in order to expand an area of naturally temperate rainforest, to raise money for the RSPB’s restoration of Wild Haweswater, and to help residents and visitors reconnect with natural Cumbria. This was done by creating a “Celebration Wood,” which allowed visitors to plant a tree to celebrate an occasion, or to memorialise a loved one, whilst expanding on the edge of Naddle Forest.
Rainforest and Cumbria aren’t two ideas that normally fit together in one’s mind, but in fact it is one of the last enclaves of “Celtic Rainforest” in the UK. This uniquely special habitat is absolutely teaming with life, including lichens, mosses, fungi, and ferns, not found anywhere else. At one time large swathes of the UK would have been covered by this rainforest, but much of it was cut down throughout the centuries to make room for grazing animals/providing materials. It is essential that what is left is protected, not just from human activity but from invasive species such as wild rhododendron which crowds out the native species.
The other two nominees in the fundraising category also very much deserve mentions as extremely worthy causes. The first is Guide Over Sands Trust who bring 1000s of visitors to Morecambe Bay every year to walk across the sands with a trusted guide, sometimes running walks of up to 500 people at a time. The walks raise money for a variety of local causes. The other nominee in the category is the Kirkby Lonsdale Fire Disaster Recovery Appeal which was launched after a fire devastated parts of Kirkby Lonsdale in December 2024. The fund was established to provide aid for those who had experienced hardship because of the fire, with the entire community pulling together to support the town through the crisis.
There are many many other worthy nominees this year in the awards and this list is in no way exhaustive, it’s simply some of my picks. Which are your favourites from the list? Where should I visit and feature next?
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