In January this year I was invited to take part in 6 Challenges by Dan Brown of The Kendal Courier, the newly relaunched local magazine for Kendal and the south Lake District, Cumbria.  For each edition I agreed to do an activity that would push me out of my comfort zone,...

Author Barry McCann is a writer and expert on the horror genre, tradition and folk tales.  He appears regularly on BBC Radio sharing quirky tales of mystery and imagination in Cumbria and Lancashire.  Here are some of his favourite folklore stories from the Lake District. The shires and counties of...

“The first thing which I remember as an event in life was being taken by my nurse to the brow of Friar’s Crag on Derwentwater.”  Victorian art critic and philanthropist John Ruskin described this view as one of the three most beautiful in Europe.  Friar’s Crag is a one of the most...

“I wandered lonely as a shroud …”. I know, not right, but I’d just told a friend we were filming along the ancient Coffin Road from Grasmere to Rydal and he came out with it… In olden times, the Coffin Route was used by locals carrying the dead from Rydal...

“She was probably a very fecund witch who produced lots of wild, attractive and subversive daughters, scandalising the locals and creating mayhem amongst the farmers and their sons …”  One of many wonderfully imaginative local legends given for Long Meg and her Daughters.  Few people realise that what is said...

To sit on that little bench overlooking Rydal Water and idly pass the time of day is one of the most magical experiences anyone can have in this area full of wondrously quirky and inspiring places … Rydal Water When you are looking for peace and quiet, for a spot that...

Do you know the Lake District, Cumbria UK? If so, you probably think of mountains, lakes, poets – and possibly a drop of rain! Well, there is a whole lot more to it than that, and you can experience the full-on quirkiness that the area can offer at Cumbria’s annual Chilli Fest...