We'd always planned to go away at Christmas - maybe India, the Bahamas or even the Canary Islands. However, time drifted on and we hadn't made a booking, and time drifted on some more, so we decided to stay in the UK. A friend suggested that we look at Landmark Trust properties and the first one that came up on the website was in Lancaster, so that's where we went.
The North of England in December doesn't sound that appealing, but our holiday home called the Music Room was certainly a bit different. To start with there were sixty stairs to get to our living room. Although this was exhausting there were great views. Here is a picture of me being exhausted:
The North of England in December doesn't sound that appealing, but our holiday home called the Music Room was certainly a bit different. To start with there were sixty stairs to get to our living room. Although this was exhausting there were great views. Here is a picture of me being exhausted:
More on the great views later. The main feature of the Music Room is - wait for it - its Music bedroom. This was only thirty stairs from the front door and is the grandest room I've ever slept in. It has plaster work of the muses on the walls, and a grand piano at the end of the bed. It was originally a garden pavilion built in 1830 and to add to the Baroque feel of the place there is a coffee shop on the ground floor. We could have been awoken to the delicious smell of coffee every day, except we were always up too early.
In order to restore the Music Room, the Landmark Trust first had to buy the surrounding buildings that had engulfed it, and demolish them. They established a pedestrian square with a couple of restaurants, and even in winter it looks pretty good:
So we were happy with our accommodation, but what would Lancaster be like? We set out to explore. On our first day the weather entirely matched up to our expectations, but that didn't stop us walking by the canal to the Lune estuary, because we are hardy people.
The scenery was spectacular but bleak; there was also the remnants of the recent flooding.
The city of Lancaster itself has a lot of very interesting buildings and picturesque streets. After Christmas the weather cheered up and we took a walk to the Ashton Memorial. This building is at the top of a hill in Williamson Park and has been featured by Paul Martin on Flog It. He went when it was snowing, but we had clear skies and lovely views. The building resembles a wedding cake more than a sombre monument but Lord Ashton had it built in memory of his second wife Jessy, who died in 1904. By the time the memorial was finished he was married again to Florence Whalley. Wikipedia doesn't mention how she felt about having a very big folly dedicated to one of her husband's previous wives dominating the Lancaster skyline.
There were a lot of young families in the café by the memorial, all of them from the South of England with children called Tarquin and Rupert.
There were a lot of young families in the café by the memorial, all of them from the South of England with children called Tarquin and Rupert.
There are some lovely places to walk that are very near Lancaster, so on one beautiful afternoon we went to Glasson Dock followed by coffee in the Midland Hotel in Morecambe. The weather was very bright, and the sun was so low in the sky that the scenery was spectacularly lit.
The Midland Hotel was named by its owners - the London, Midland and Scottish Railway and was built in 1932 in the Art Deco style. We had cake of the day which was a Victoria sandwich and enjoyed views of the sea and promenade. Afterwards we went and had a look at the other iconic landmark of Morecambe, which is the statue of Eric. A lot of Southern people don't believe he was born in Morecambe, even though he took the town for his stage name. It could be because he decided to support Luton Town rather than his home town Shrimps.
On our last day in Lancaster we walked to the largest all-masonry aqueduct in Great Britain. This magnificent construction was built in 1797 and spans the River Lune. The weather was delightful - bracingly cold and sparkling with frost on the ground.
The walk along the river starts off in a relatively dull way, but further on there is a weir and then the aqueduct looms into sight.
Now although there is a big clue in the fact that it is called the Lune Aqueduct, and I do know that an aqueduct carries water, I was completely unprepared for the sight which greeted us after we had climbed the fifty three feet from the river to the canal towpath.
It's one thing to know in your head that an aqueduct carries water but it's entirely different to actually see it with your own eyes.
We didn't feel we had climbed enough stairs while staying in the Music Room, so on our last afternoon we went up onto the roof to snap pictures of panoramic Lancaster and also to take some selfies. I like a challenge, so was undaunted by the task of climbing out of a small hatch onto a bird-dropping encrusted frost covered deck
We didn't feel we had climbed enough stairs while staying in the Music Room, so on our last afternoon we went up onto the roof to snap pictures of panoramic Lancaster and also to take some selfies. I like a challenge, so was undaunted by the task of climbing out of a small hatch onto a bird-dropping encrusted frost covered deck
However, as mentioned earlier, the views were worth it
So our Christmas break in Lancaster was extremely pleasant with great pubs and good restaurants; and they even have electricity and running water.