Go see: Bad Girls at Lancaster Grand Theatre – the first week of shows kicks off on Friday 13th! Buy tickets here.
To Eat
Try Holm’s Chocolate Cronuts – very naughty, but very nice!
It’s Holm’s 5th Birthday celebration today and tomorrow and they’re doing some fun giveaways to celebrate!
Added Bonus
King Charles III is visiting Lancaster Castle on Monday June 9th. If that’s your kind of thing, you can go and see the royal party arrive/leave the castle, and part of the ceremony of the keys.
Even if it’s not your thing, be aware that there will be road closures/car park closures on the day and in the days leading up to the event, so if you’re planning to be in/around Lancaster 6th-10th June, make sure you check your route/parking/access etc.
If you like this article and would like more information and articles about local events, small businesses, and other exciting things, SUBSCRIBE below for a weekly email from The North(ish) Lass. Thank you!
Go and see SIX: THE MUSICAL (LIVE) screened at The Dukes in Lancaster. (Link for tickets)
To Eat
Deep fried black pudding and potato stack (with added bacon if you wish), poached egg, and chilli jam @ The Quayside, Glasson Dock. Open Thur-Sun. Read about the café in my article here.
There’s so much to do in Lancaster, Morecambe and the surrounding area in June! The table below is a collection of events that I have gathered together happening in the local area throughout June. Check out the list and then head along to some of the events – our town is thriving and there’s always something going on, with lots of different genres and types, so there’s something for everyone. Note: This list is not intended to be exhaustive, and is just a selection of things happening in the area.
Start off the morning by having breakfast in one of our many independent cafes, which you can read more about in my ‘Cafe Culture in Lancaster‘ series.
Follow up the lovely breakfast by going for a tour of Lancaster Castle. This will need to be prebooked as the tour is guided, in small groups, by a knowledgeable tour guide. The castle has a history dating from the high medieval period right through to the present day (it ceased to be a HM Prison in 2011). Following that you can have a look around the Priory that is adjacent to the castle or have a wander down the hill towards the river to look at the ruins of the Roman Baths. There’s not a huge amount left of the ancient monument there, but it’s interesting to see evidence of just how long humans have been settled and building on the banks of the River Lune.
Front Gate of Lancaster Castle
If you need (or want) lunch after all of that, there are many pubs and eateries to choose from in Lancaster. I will be doing an article in the coming weeks about some of the pubs that can be found in the city, so keep your eyes peeled for that. Off the top of my head, I would suggest The Sun, the Three Mariners, Merchants 1666, or the Water Witch, which all do excellent pub food.
Afternoon in Lancaster
In the afternoon, depending on where your interests lie there are several different options. If you want to continue in the history theme of things, I suggest having a wander around Lancaster Museum, found in the middle of the market square. This fascinating museum takes you through the history of the region and the city from the earliest human occupation to the present day, including the links to the Wars of the Roses, the Witch Trials (the first convictions for witchcraft in the seventeenth century occurred in Lancaster), and the oft-glossed over involvement of the city in the English Slave Trade. For more information on the latter, a visit to the Lancaster Maritime Museum is also on the cards.
Ashton Memorial
If, however, you’ve been historied out by the visit to the castle in the morning, I suggest a visit to Williamson Park, the lovely open space to be found at the top of the city, with the in-situ Ashton Memorial looking out over the city and surrounding countryside in all direction. In the park you can also find a wildlife park and butterfly house, with lots of interesting critters and creatures to take a look at. If fauna isn’t necessarily your thing, then a wander around the park and surrounding woodland is a relaxing way to pass the time on a nice day, although it is worth being aware that the park and surrounding area is fairly hilly, and whilst it is accessible to wheelchairs and motorised scooters, those with ambulatory difficulties without aid might struggle a little, depending on conditions. If you’re up at the park as the sun begins to go down, you’re in for a treat, watching the sunset over Morecambe Bay with the Lake District Hills in the distance, a beautiful location to the end the day.
Lancaster itself sits on the main West Coast trainline, so as your day comes to an end there are plenty of trains to take you either North or South, depending on where you want to go next. The city is also adjacent to junction 34 of the M6 motorway, so is easily accessible by car.
I’m heading to Holker Hall this weekend to go to their Spring Fair. I’ve been a couple of years in a row now and it’s always been great – it’s also the “dog show” weekend, which might have something to do with why it’s so awesome – I get to be around a load of puppies!
There’s going to be a lot going on:
talks and gardening advice
live demonstrations
expert and entertaining guest speakers
live music, street food, outdoor licensed bars
a fantastic range of shopping opportunities
We’re going down on Saturday, so I’m excited to see talks about local food culture from Simon Rogan’s Head Chef, and the history of Holker Hall’s Gardens from Lord Cavendish.
There’s so much to do in Lancaster and Morecambe in May! The table below is a collection of events that I have gathered together happening in the local area throughout May. Check out the list and then head along to some of the events – our town is thriving and there’s always something going on, with lots of different genres and types, so there’s something for everyone. Note: This list is not intended to be exhaustive, and is just a selection of things happening in the area.
Following on from last week’s post: Café Culture in Lancaster: Part One, this week it’s time for Part Two where I will look at four more independent (or smaller) coffee shops/cafés in Lancaster. The same pricing scale from last week still applies.
Journey Social
Features: Excellent Menu
Price: £££
Journey Social is a lovely café/restaurant to be found just behind the library in the town square. With a diverse menu and excellent coffee, it’s a great place to go for breakfast, brunch, or lunch, but you will need to take your appetites – plates are (in my experience!) quite large! Also be prepared to pay that little bit more for the great ingredients and the from-scratch cooking. Journey Social is one of the more expensive on this list, but definitely worth it as a treat or a special breakfast out. I particularly like the avocado and pea puree they add to various dishes, and from the cake display I’m a fan of their pastel del nata.
Holm
Features: Scandinavian Cuisine, Great Cakes (Fika!)
Price: £
A small café that is now looking to expand because it’s done so well, Holm is a café/bakery that specialises in Scandinavian food and fika. Fika is the Swedish name for cake and a hot drink taken in the afternoon, and Holm offers a deal on this Swedish tradition. The café is also in a moment of exciting expansion, as they’re about to expand to the empty shop next door, taking their capacity up from only three tables, to quite a few more!
Last time I was there, mum had a dish with Salmon, pickled cucumber, rocket, cream cheese, and dill, with a lemon flavour. She enjoyed it, but she did say the portion was very large (she has quite a small appetite!). I had a bagel with cheese and salami.
They also home bake all their cakes, and we took home a tart with berries and crème anglaise, which was delicious with a cup of tea later that afternoon!
Atkinson’s Coffee House
Features: Great Coffee (own blend), Social Tables/Space, Dog Friendly
Price: ££
Atkinson’s has been coffee blenders and tea sellers in Lancaster for nearly two hundred years. Thomas Atkinson opened his tea warehouse in Lancaster in 1837, at which time his shop was one of six.
There are also three different locations of Atkinson’s in Lancaster. There’s The Hall, which is the original café next to the coffee roasting shop; The Music Room on Sun Street; and The Castle Courtyard which can be found (unsurprisingly) in Lancaster Castle Courtyard. The Hall is a huge space on the main road heading towards Sainsburys out of town with smaller tables to work at, or bigger communal tables for chatting with friends or other coffee lovers. I like going into the hall and seeing all the coffee making experiments that they have going on – it looks like an alchemist’s lab in there!
The Music Room is a smaller venue with an outdoor courtyard space which is gorgeous to sit in the spring and summer. The Castle Courtyard is a lovely café in an amazing historical location, but it’s worth noting that whilst it is all flat or ramped, it is a bit of a trek from the road up to the castle and it might be a challenge to someone with accessibility issues.
The Storey
Features: Social Space/Laptop Space, Garden Seating
Price: £
The Storey is a council owned building dedicated to the arts and learning. There are always exhibitions, classes, workshops, and other things going on within the building. There is also a little accessible café space with plenty of comfortable seating and tables for either enjoying a coffee with friends, or plugging in a laptop and catching up on some work. My old singing teacher used to have a classroom and singing space in the Storey, so I would often have a coffee and cake before going to my lesson. There is a little courtyard area where I sometimes sat outside in the late afternoon sunshine in the spring and summer.
The Storey Gardens are also worth a visit, perhaps with a takeaway coffee. The Gardens are perhaps one of Lancaster’s best kept secrets, and beautiful to take a walk around. I’ll be doing a whole piece about the Storey Gardens and the history of the place at a later date.
Over the last decade or so, Lancaster has developed a wonderful independent coffeeshop scene, giving any punter a lot of options to choose from when seeking out an excellent cup of coffee, or a good ol’ brew. In this blog I’ll be exploring some of my favourite places to have a coffee, a spot of breakfast or lunch, or just to chill and relax in Lancaster for an hour or two. This list does not include any big brand coffee shops, not for any particularly hipster reasons, but because I believe that they get enough exposure as it is!
A note on pricing: I have used £-£££ to mark out whether I think a place is towards the cheaper (£) or more expensive (£££) end of the pricing points. I hasten to add this is subjective and only based roughly around a particular scale.
Where you can get a drink and a meal for around £10, I have marked it as £.
Where a drink and meal will cost between £15-20, I have marked it as ££.
For places where it will cost £25+pp by the time you’ve finished up brunch/lunch, I’ve marked it as £££.
In all of these places there are options that will be cheaper or more expensive, and these pricing marks are just a general guide.
Brew
Features: Dog Friendly, Excellent for Brunch
Price: ££
Address: 18A Brock Street, Lancaster
I go to Brew a lot. A little café found next to Sultan’s on Brock St.. Seating is limited and often involves having to queue for a little while outside in order to get a seat (the fact that there is often a queue highlights just how popular it is!).
The shop itself only has tables that seat up to four, and you can’t book. It’s ideal for intimate groups and a chin wag with friends, rather than for large groups. There’s also a small courtyard area which is lovely in the spring and summer, but the café also provides blankets in the autumn and winter – so if you’re feeling brave, the space is open all year round! The café itself is small and there is no step free access. The toilets are also up a steep set of stairs. This is the downside of being in a little old building, and through no fault of the business itself, but it is something to bear in mind if accessibility is a priority for your party.
The menu changes regularly, but Brew’s particular speciality is their French Toast, which changes flavour weekly. My personal favourite is the fruit-based options – when it’s summer fruits with vanilla mascarpone in June, or Apple and cinnamon in the Autumn… I am all over that. Just recently I had the Red Velvet French Toast that was the speciality for Valentine’s Day, and that was also delicious, without being overly sweet (surprisingly), whilst a friend of mine had Vegetarian Pho from the specials board. Well worth a visit for a coffee and chill – as I post this, I’m sitting in Brew enjoying a latte!
Whale Tail
Features: Vegetarian/Vegan, Child-Friendly Space.
Price: £
Address: Unit 1, 78A Penny Street, Lancaster
The Whale Tail has been in business in Lancaster for over twenty-five years and has recently undergone a full renovation. There is a large indoor café area, as well as ample seating outside which is found just across the road from the Sir Richard Owen pub. The café has a Vegetarian and Vegan menu, but with plenty of diverse options therein; I’m a particular fan of the vegetarian breakfast (despite not being vegetarian), it’s extremely filling and definitely sets you up for the day ahead.
There is an exhibition space for local artists, and there are also activities for children in a child friendly space. The café is above a Vegan Wholefood Co-operatively owned shop called Single Step where a sustainable shopper can be ethically sourced produce and provisions such as soap, sanitary products, and household goods.
Stonewell Spring (Quarterhouse)
Features: Deli-style, Licensed Premises, Later Opening
Price: £££
Address: 5 Stonewell, Lancaster
The newest option on this first list, the Stonewell Spring is a lovely deli with a collection of outdoor and indoor seating, just down the street from The Dukes Independent Cinema & Theatre, as well as The Grand Theatre (I used to pop down here to get a lovely coffee before the matinee performances of the pantomime in 2024!). The deli does take-out coffee and cakes, as well sit down options. The deli also offers a wine and cheese tasting platters and are open until 8pm at the weekend. They also run their own Cheese Club, where for a monthly subscription fee you can get a selection of cheeses and accompaniments.
Stay tuned for Café Culture in Lancaster: Part Two!
Features: Outside seating, dog friendly, excellent for breakfast.
Price: ££
Address: Tithebarn Hill, Glasson Dock, Lancaster LA2 0BY
The Quayside at Glasson Dock is a charming little café on the side of the marina and lock at Glasson Dock. The café stands next to a little village shop and the famous Port of Lancaster Smokehouse Shop and has indoor and outdoor spaces to sit and eat. It is very popular on the weekend, especially with motorbike riders, cyclists, and other out-and-abouters. Once you get a load of the food you will understand why. Not only are the portion sizes for the breakfasts extremely generous, the food is also delicious. It’s all cooked from scratch (so at busier times it might take a little bit longer to get to you), but it’s well worth the wait.
My favourite is a Potato Cake Stack which is a potato pancake, black pudding (your choice whether you have this deep-fried or not, just to make it extra unhealthy!), poached egg, extra bacon if you want it, and another potato pancake on the bottom. This then comes with a little bit of sweet chilli jam, and hollandaise sauce (I choose to have it without the hollandaise as I’ve never really been a fan). It is delicious. I’ve had it so often in there that now when I sit down the lady knows exactly what I want and how I like (right down to the crispy bacon (can’t be doing with flubby bacon – yuck!)). Mum sometimes has a Small Breakfast when we come down here, but often just has a very tasty (and very generous) bacon roll.
I especially like going along in the summer months when I can sit at one of the tables outside and enjoy the sunshine whilst looking out over the marina. The café is dog friendly, both inside and out, so your pooches can come along for some breakfast or lunch with you. The café also does Fish & Chips on a Friday night which I am going to try sometime soon!
After you’ve finished breakfast, you can go for a wander down the quayside and have a look in the smokehouse shop, which as the name suggests has products from the actual smoke house found just down the road; everything from smoked haddock, to chicken, to cheese. There are also lots of other delicious things to be found in there like the famous Morecambe Bay Potted Shrimp in brown butter. I’m particularly partial to their conserves and jams, as well as their sweets and snack selection.
Had a delightful lunch at the Inn at Whitewell for my mum’s 70th birthday earlier this month. The Inn is a sixteenth century coaching inn that sits in the middle of the gorgeous Trough of Bowland next to the River Hodder. As a family, we’d been to the Inn before and had a wonderful meal, so it was a no brainer to go back again for mum’s special birthday.
The kitchen garden at the Inn
The Inn itself isn’t the easiest place to get to, and unfortunately driving is the only option as it is rather remote, on a country road halfway between Lancaster and Clitheroe. It takes about half an hour from Lancaster, and the road is very twisty and turny, but through some beautiful North Lancashire countryside. Just be aware that in many parts the road is narrow (so passing places are used) and also open to the fields where there may be sheep and lambs on or very close to the road.
Anyway, back to the Inn. I rang up before the day to ask for a bottle of Prosecco on the table when we arrived, and they were very happy to accommodate. In the eventuality we were early so it came just after we sat down – that wasn’t the inn’s fault that it wasn’t there, as I mentioned we were fifteen minutes early! I’d also asked whether they were able to do something with candles. As it transpired, they were able to put a candle in our shared pudding, so she could blow out a birthday candle and make a wish.
The Inn itself has a reputation for excellence in food and service, with head chef Jamie Cadman now in his twentieth year of being there, producing excellent cuisine and highlighting produce from the local area. The Inn is particularly well known for its fish pie, of which they were able to do a smaller portion for mum for her main. This was great because she can often become over faced by large portions of food and be put off, so it was great that they were able to accommodate a slightly smaller appetite and do a half-portion. She’d had queen scallops to start with. It must have been serendipity that scallops were on the special’s menu on her birthday, as they are her absolute favourite. Must have known we were coming! I didn’t have a starter, instead choosing to have the roast beef (with deliciously cut sirloin) and two Yorkshire puddings (my favourite!) and then having room to share a sticky toffee pudding with mum. Anyway, it was absolutely delicious and when I rose from the table, I was pleasantly full, rather than overly stuffed, which is sometimes a side effect of eating in these nice places.
The inn also has rooms, and other activities available for those who would like to stay. It is also very popular with walkers, as it is surrounded by beautiful rolling countryside, to go off for a nice amble or a more strenuous hike, before heading to the pub for lunch (Be aware that the pub serves lunch between 12pm – 2pm, so your party will need to order before 2pm). What a lovely way to spend a weekend morning and lunchtime!
