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GRANGE-OVER-SANDS
Holker Hall and Gardens
Grange-over-Sands (3 miles, 5 km)
Victorian stately home, set in 25 acres of stunning gardens and ancient deer park. Holker has its own cafe, brasserie, gift shop and food hall, and hosts an annual programme of special events.
Lakes Aquarium
Newby Bridge (6 miles, 10 km)
Discover a wide array of local freshwater and marine species including menacing pike, carp and rays. Plus discover creatures from around the world including piranha, otters and clownfish.
Windermere Lake Cruises, Lakeside
Newby Bridge (6 miles, 10 km)
Windermere Lake Cruises trace their origins back to Victorian days, steamers and launches carry over 1.35 million visitors each year. The steamers have saloons, promenade decks, teashops and licensed bars.
Lakeland Motor Museum
Ulverston (5 miles, 9 km)
Over 30,000 exhibits tracing more than 100 years of road transport heritage, including a new exhibition which details the history of the Isle of Man TT Races.
Cicerone Press
Milnthorpe (6 miles, 9 km)
Walkers, cyclists, trekkers and mountaineers have trusted Cicerone for nearly fifty years to ensure they have a great time on the hill, trek, walk or ride.
Predator Experience
Newby Bridge (4 miles, 6 km)
Challenge yourself by enhancing your experience day with the inclusion with some of the world's most tenacious raptors, the eagles.
Booths Milnthorpe
Milnthorpe (6 miles, 9 km)
Booths is a family owned and operated independent supermarket with over 160 years tradition of quality food & drink retailing.
River Deep Mountain High
Coniston (7 miles, 11 km)
Fun lake activity, ideal for those who like to play on water but don't want to go it alone. 2-3 people per boat.
Mere Mountains
Windermere (4 miles, 6 km)
We are one of the longest established specialist outdoor activity providers in the Lake District. We think we have something that will suit nearly everyone and if we don’t we’ll link you to someone who has.
Lakeland Segway
Cartmel (2 miles, 3 km)
We are the longest established authorised segway tour operator in the UK. We offer scenic segway tours in the stunning Cartmel area.
And so the adventure begins. Add some thrills to your holiday by fully experiencing everything Cumbria has to offer. Walk, run, climb, swim, get muddy, have fun!
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For events happening around the county, click below for our What's On page.
Grange-over-Sands offers a genteel way to take your morning coffee and the obligatory homemade slice of deliciousness. Cafes abound with outdoor sofas and chairs to sit on, while you watch the world go by, sampling anyone of the 80 different teas on offer! The craft bakers are hard at work from the early morning ensuring your artisan bread, freshly baked scones, home-baked pies and pastries are the very best they can be.
Why not try the local Morecambe bay Shrimps, they’re very tasty, with a steamed ginger pudding and Lakeland ice cream to finish? Most establishments have good disabled and baby changing facilities and wheelchair access too.
The atmosphere created in these little cafes are made from both visitors and locals alike, which is the way it should be. For an Edwardian town it also has a touch of the modern with its bistros, offering an exciting mix of foods, all exquisitely prepared.
Fine dining also has its place here where hotels jostle for position to provide exceptional food using the best of local produce. Restaurant décor is always beautiful, creating a delightful ambience while you partake in canapes, an amuse bouche, three courses, excellent cheese board, coffee and petit fours to complete a wonderful meal. Or what about a pub lunch from one of the pubs in the nearby villages, there’s traditional Cumberland sausage or steak and Ale pie, plus several tempting fish, vegetarian, vegan and gluten free dishes to choose from.
Sunday roasts are always popular and there is usually a children's menu too. Some of the pubs afford excellent views over Morecambe Bay, so what better way to enjoy good pub food, washed down with a pint of real ale or a refreshing glass of wine.
For more information on what Cumbria has to offer see Food and Drink
Allithwaite
To the south is the former Viking homestead of Allithwaite, leading to the limestone whaleback of Humphrey Head.
Flookburgh
Flookburgh, to the west, was once an important fishing and market garden centre. Fishermen still go out daily to fish for shrimps, cockles, mussels and flukes (flatfish); the latter earning the village its name.
Cark
Next door is Cark; now a quiet village, it once accommodated a large cotton mill and was a busy port in its 18th-century heyday.
Although the Romans under Agricola crossed the sands on their campaign to subjugate the Brigantian tribes of northern Britain, there is no evidence of settled occupation in the Cartmel peninsula. Around 678 AD, the Cartmel peninsula was granted to St Cuthbert, Bishop of Lindisfarne, by King Egfrith of Northumberland for the establishment of a monastery. An early church dedicated to St Cuthbert was built at Kirkhead near Allithwaite, although nothing now remains of the structure. It was not until 1189 that an enduring ecclesiastical presence was established with the founding of Cartmel Priory next to the River Eea (pronounced ‘Ay').
Farming and fishing were the mainstays of life for the local population, ably supported by the monks of Cartmel Priory. Limestone was crushed and burned to produce quicklime for spreading on the fields to ‘sweeten' the grass, woods provided coppice timber for agricultural implements and for charcoal burning, oats were grown, and the sea and rivers yielded good supplies of fish. The monks stored their grain at Grange (from the French word ‘graunge' meaning ‘granary') and may have had a small harbour here. The priory was at the heart of community life, until it was largely destroyed on the orders of Henry VIII in 1536. An appeal by the villagers to keep the church as a place of worship for the parish was granted, thus saving this impressive church (and the gatehouse) for posterity.
Up to the mid-19th century, the only viable link between the peninsula and the rest of the country was over the sands of Morecambe Bay at low tide. Individuals on foot or travelling by horse and cart would regularly make the perilous journey, fraught with danger from swift incoming tides, unsuspected quicksands or changing river currents. A guide appointed by the abbot of Cartmel Priory would conduct travellers from Kents Bank to Hest Bank near Bolton-le-Sands (9 miles/14.5 km).
The Furness Railway, built in 1857 to transport iron ore and slates from the Furness Peninsula, heralded the end of the over-sands route and the start of a new role for Grange as a seaside resort. The mild climate and proximity to the sea enticed visitors, who arrived by train and boat in ever greater numbers.
John Wilkinson (1728–1808)
The Cartmel Peninsula
The Cartmel Peninsula has an extensive network of public footpaths and peaceful lanes that are ideal for walking and cycling. Many have been incorporated into popular long distance walks, such as the Cumbria Way and Cistercian Way, but others are relatively undiscovered byways inviting exploration on foot or by bicycle.
Lakeland Miniature Village
The talented efforts of Edward Robinson have created an impressive collection of miniature buildings hand-made out of local slate and set in naturalistic surroundings. Alongside a replica of Hill Top (home of Beatrix Potter) is an assortment of typical Cumbrian cottages and barns with architectural detailing such as round Westmorland chimneys, wrestler roof slates, crow-stepped gable ends and mullioned windows.
Flookburgh Steam Gathering
The Cumbria Steam & Vintage Vehicle Society Ltd has been bringing together vintage vehicles to Cark Airfield in Flookburgh, for one massive summer gathering for over four decades.
Ornamental Gardens
Semi-tropical plantings of trees and shrubs surround the centrepiece pond with its colourful array of ducks and geese from all over the world.
Promenade Gardens
The promenade walk is backed by tropical palms and ornamental shrubs and overlooks the marshes of Morecambe Bay. Tennis, putting and basketball can be enjoyed along its length.
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