“Oh this is great! I’ve not felt so liberated since I was a teenager and used to cycle for miles round here. Just look at that view.” Good friend Liz Mcgillivary, retired PR specialist, and I were standing at the top of Birkrigg Common looking out over a misty Morecambe...

The smell of freshly-baked bread mingles with the enticing aroma of chocolate, almonds, coffee and fresh flowers. I’m sitting by the window in the Three Hares Café in the little town of Sedbergh, just 10 minutes off the M6 in Cumbria. I’m on the first stop on a day following...

Hello. My name is Oxley. I’m a red squirrel and live at Underscar near Keswick. Now and again I’m taken out for the day by children who come to stay in this wonderful place and they write about our adventures together. This time I was lucky enough to accompany Zoe, the...

The sound of classical music drifts around walls decorated with golden pears. A pile of books including one by local author Hunter Davies and a cookery classic by Mary Berry are piled in a colourful heap on a table by the window.  A pot of white cyclamen heralds a spring...

Fire at Rose Cottage Elterwater There’s something very special about sitting by an open fire on a chilly night, logs crackling, coal sizzling, flames dancing brightly as the heat radiates out around the room. Maybe there’s a pre-historic memory of sitting in cave round a fire, protected from the sabre-toothed...

The hard work and commitment of a great many people has paid off and the Lake District World Heritage site now joins other renowned UNESCO World Heritage Sites such as the Galapagos Islands in Ecuador, Uluru (Ayers Rock) in Australia, Mount Teide in Tenerife and the Rocky Mountains in Canada. If...

“I’m coming to the Lake District on holiday. What book would you recommend?” Well, that really depends on what kind of book you’re looking for. There are so many Lake District books: traditional guide books, walking books, novels, biographies, photography books, children’s books … Here are four of my favourites....