Last week I helped out on a project way up north nears the Lakes district located in Lancaster. I’ve never really been that far north in England – the furtherest place really being Milton Keynes (and that city’s definitely not very representative of England). Being pretty far north, I expected lots of rain and extremely cold weather so I was pleasantly surprised when I got off the train to semi-blue skies and a fairly moderate temperature. It did rain during my stay there yet it was still fairly light and didn’t last all day and night.

Lancaster has plenty of history and going out to dinner with one of the client staff told me much more about it all. Lancaster is located very close to the coast, leading to very moderate temperatures all season (never too hot in summer and never too cold in winter). The infamous Morecambe Bay (where the eighteen cocklefish pickers died several years ago) is also located very close there. Of course, travelling during the week and doing so for work meant that we never got to visit the vast stretch of sand where the tide will cause the shore water to move faster than you can walk, leaving you in plenty of deep water before you know it.

What I really enjoyed about the city was it’s pristine condition for such an old city. A small ring road encompasses the main part of the city and all the places within it are all walking distance apart. In fact most are no more than fifteen or twenty minutes from one side to another. All of the buildings in this area must be built from stone and the resulting look is simply stunning with store fronts, houses and office spaces simply looking like extensions to the Castle and Church located in the heart of the city. Like most English cities, Lancaster has plenty of pubs per person though forty within the tiny ring road still seemed a little excessive to me. We ended up in the Ye Old John O’Gaunt one night and enjoyed a little bit of live music amidst the buzzing mix of university and locals.

I stayed at the Penny Street Bridge Hotel for the couple of nights I was there and was definitely impressed. It’s definitely new and its modern finishings and fittings seemed to stand in bleak contrast to the older stone exterior. It’s only got 26 rooms yet I was the last person to check in that effectively filled it up. They offer a standard continental breakfast and free internet (both wireless and the standard network cable).

I think it would’ve been great to stay there for the weekend and check out all the local sights. I had slight difficulty understanding some of the Lancashire accents yet the people were extremely helpful and friendly in all the places I went.