Arts based courses in deepest darkest Cumbria

Advantages: Small, friendly, relatively inexpensive.
Disadvantages: Does not offer a stereotypical "student lifestyle"

...Upon arriving at the main campus (the Fine Art department has a seperate, small campus) you will be struck by it's small size, but suprisingly modern design. A modern building, surrounded by trees and set above and just outside the city centre. The Institute offers a variety of Arts based degree courses, from Fine Art and Media Production to Journalism (full course details can be found at http://www.cumbria.ac.uk) and it also teaches a variety of post-16 educational courses such as ND's and A Levels, all in subjects related to the arts. All the course tutors and professionals in their own subject, but I will not go into too much detail about the courses as they are all so different, however I will say that most of them are practical in nature and all have specialist facilities within the campus. The campus has good facilities, all...

Missnaomi 16.08.2005 · Read review
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Review of Cumbria Institute of the Arts

Langdale Pikes Report

Advantages: Beautiful scenery, fresh air...
Disadvantages: None

...District National Park is set within Cumbria, in the North West of England. Here is housed England?s highest, Scafell Pike, but we are not going there today ? that is another review. You get here by heading up ? or down, depending on which way you travel, the M6 and taking Junction 36 for the southern end and 40 for the northern side. Okay? all happy? So, we are here ready to discover the Langdale Pikes further? The Pikes are: Harrison Stickle (2403 feet high) Pavey Arc ? and it?s famous rake Jack?s Rake (2288 feet) Loft Crag (2270 feet) Pike o? Stickle (2323 feet) Thunacar Knott (2351 feet) Wainwright said, ?No mountain profile in Lakeland arrests and excites the attention more than that of the Langdale Pikes,? and I quite agree. People of all ages grace its hill tops every day, from novice walkers, curiously following...

Borg 01.06.2009 · Read review
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Review of The Langdale Pikes, Cumbria

Marymoose meets some alpacas!

Advantages: I LOVE alpacas, they're so cute! A great place to meet some alpacas!
Disadvantages: Not so cute in the summer, no babies, alpaca wool is expensive, might get muddy!

............................................................................. Intro The best thing about having visitors (well, apart from that if you?re lucky they?ll pay for a nice meal for you) is planning an itinerary. Living in Cumbria we have a great choice of places to take our visitors, although as people come up again and again it can be harder to choose where to go, based on where we?ve taken them before! With my parents and friends coming up for a weekend I decided that we?d go to Rheged as they?d love the shops there, but I needed somewhere else for us to visit, and the Alpaca Centre was what I decided as it?s very near to Rheged, in Stainton just outside Penrith. The first time hubby and I visited the Alpaca Centre was in the winter a few years ago when we visited with my best friend and her husband. We all...

marymoose99 15.08.2009 · Read review
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Review of The Alpaca Centre, Cumbria

A very cheap day out for the family.

Advantages: A great day for the whole family.
Disadvantages: none

...I have lived in Cumbria for many years now and I have never visited the Aquarium of the lakes, until recently. It was my nephews birthday and he really wanted to visit, which is something that also pleased me as I had been meaning to visit for a long while now. ADMISSION PRICES Adult £5.75 Child £3.75 with a money off voucher obtained for a local news artical. I thought this was very reasonable, and I was told that I could have made a further saving if I had purchased a combined Aquarium and Boat ticket. So if you decide to go you may as well go the whole hog and go by boat, as it is still very cheap. The boats travel from Bowness, Ambleside and Haverthwaite, they will ferry you from either of these destination to Lakeside. I found the prices very reasonable for the boat trips, but I wish I had combined the aquarium and the boat as...

amberlevi267 19.08.2009 · Read review
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Review of Aquarium of the Lakes, Cumbria

Choo Choo! No One Horse Open Sleigh For This Santa!

Advantages: Fantastic Scenery, Unique Christmas activity, Just Wonderfull
Disadvantages: Just one, the carriages are tiny, which while it adds to their charm could be an issue for some

...As a Family we have built up a few annual family traditions, yearly must do's. I suspect most families do. One of ours, and possibly the most favourite and eagerly looked forward to is a Christmas visit to the South Tynedale Railway at Alston, Cumbria. About South Tynedale Railway The South Tynedale Railway is a 2 and a quarter mile track from Alston in Cumbria to Kirklaugh in Northumberland through the beautiful South Tynedale valley. Alston railway station sits 875 feet above sea level, in some of the countries most beautiful scenery, and is the highest narrow gauge railway in Northern England. The train which operates along this line is a steam and diesel hauled passenger train. The South Tynedale railway is operated, managed and maintained by volunteers. The railway operates a passenger service between April...

Rhiana 22.08.2009 · Read review
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Review of South Tynedale Railway, Cumbria

Fall for a day by the lake

Advantages: An inexpensive day out that suits all the family
Disadvantages: Quite hilly

...towards the upkeep of the site and there is no entrance fee to the park and gardens, the price for car parking is £3.50 up to 2 hours, £4.50 up to 4 hours and £7 for the day - National Trust members are free. These prices are still reasonable for the area as parking in Bowness etc is difficult to find and expensive. The walk to and from the car park is quite steep but the rangers operate a golf buggy to ferry anybody who has difficulties with the walk. ~WHERE IS IT?~ Fell Foot is at the very southern tip of Lake Windermere at Newby Bridge just of the A592. ~HOW DO YOU GET THERE?~ BY BUS Stagecoach in Cumbria 618 Ambleside-Barrow-in-Furness (connections from Windermere ) CYCLING There are cycle routes on the National Cycle Network website (www.cycle-routes.org/ ) FERRY There is a ferry link from Fell Foot to...

oldchem 29.07.2009 · Read review
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Review of Fell Foot Park, Cumbria

Tea & cake in the lakes

Advantages: see review
Disadvantages: see review

...owned by the same people is a bonus, it means once i've finished my meal I can then nip to the bakery and buy yet more of their cakes to take home with me for later! I like the fact that the menu is varied and the staff are friendly too. If you want to visit this cafe the address is 1-2 Yewbarrow Terrace, Grange-over-sands, cumbria la11 6ED Below baby Hope and mummy enjoying her first trip (of many i'm sure!) to the Hazelmere...

lorriellah 04.11.2009 · Read review
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Review of Hazelmere Cafe & Bakery, Cumbria

A beautiful walk with stunning scenery

Advantages: Lovely scenery, safe walking, clean and tidy
Disadvantages: None for us

...which were joined together in the 19th century when a lot of the trees surrounding the tarn were also planted. The climb up to Tarn Hows would be a stiff one if you chose to walk it, but once up there the walk round the tarn is fairly flat. When the Tarns and the surrounding area came up for sale in 1929, they were bought by the author, Beatrix Potter who then sold the half containing Tarn Hows to the National Trust, and bequeathed the rest of the estate to the Trust in her will. Where is it? Tarn Hows is situated in Cumbria and is roughly between Coniston in the south and Ambleside in the north. Just turn off the A593 at Coniston onto the B5285, Coniston to Hawkshead road and Tarn Hows is well signposted from there. How do I get there? Obviously you can get there by road as I have just described or you could catch the Coniston...

SusanLesley 21.04.2009 · Read review
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Review of Tarn Howes, Cumbria

A Sizeable day out

Advantages: Family Friendly
Disadvantages: Closed at weekends

...Sizergh Castle is a National Trust property which is located in South Cumbria in England, about 10 minutes from the M6 motorway means it's easy to get to by car. Public transport isn't so good, there are buses from Kendal and Grange which stop in the vicinity, but they aren't regular and there's still a bit of a walk after that. The nearest train station is 3 miles away in Oxenholme. The Castle The castle is a beautiful medieval house, famous for its Elizabethan oak panelled rooms some of which was once housed in the Victoria and Albert Museum, and has now been returned to the castle. It has been home to the Strickland family for over 750 years. The Great Hall was added to the house in 1450, and was extended in 1770. You can either walk around the house at your own leisure or you can take a guided tour. If you have...

Fiver29 03.07.2009 · Read review
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Review of Sizergh Castle (Cumbria)

Lovely food, beautiful location

Advantages: lovely food, beautiful location
Disadvantages: little bit expensive, no outside area really

...feel as though you have stepped back in time and that time and effort to create a welcoming cosy atmosphere have been gone to. Food: Well what can I say? The food here is lovely! The menu is a la carte and has a great variety with some traditional foods but mainly dishes which are slightly more adventurous and often using local produce such as cumbrian lamb or cumbria sausages. There are nice warming wholesome foods like game pie and lamb shank. There are always vegeterian options too such as bean chilli and vegetable bake. All meals come with seasonal vegetables, potatoes and homemade chips which come served in a separate plate for you and your table to share. The starters are really good too, they include a variety from black pudding, hummus etc. The desserts are also amazing i recommend the home made lemon meringue pie! It's lovely...

lorriellah 22.07.2009 · Read review
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Review of The Sun Inn, Crook, Cumbria