Carlisle was quite a surprise! (Carlisle in General)

Member Name: SusanLesley

Product:	Carlisle in General
Date:	01/08/01 (55 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Nice shops, Cathedral

Disadvantages: None

I didn't expect much from Carlisle at all when we visited for a short stay as part of our Carlisle to Settle day on the train. I was, however, very pleasantly surprised, I had no idea that it would be such an interesting place.

We were only allowed two hours to explore the city before we had to return to the train, so it was a very brief look round.

To give you a bit of background to this city, Carlisle is at the north end of the M6, almost on the Scottish border. It was originally founded by the Romans to form part of the Hadrian’s Wall defences.

The sandstone keep, which was built by King William Rufus in 1092 changed ownership numerous times from English to Scots and back again, and it is now HQ to the Border Regiment and houses their museum.

I love to explore cathedrals and Carlisle Cathedral was no exception. Its beautiful architecture was severely damaged during the Civil War. It has now been restored to its former glory and still contains a fifteenth century screen, which survived intact. Unfortunately I didn’t have as much time to spend there as I would have liked as we wanted to have a quick look at as much of the city as possible in our short stay to get a feel for the place.

A Roman Road runs through the grounds of the fifteenth century Guildhall Museum and the Tulle House Museum tells the story of the border wars. I can’t give any further information about these museums as we were not in Carlisle long enough to visit either of them.

The city is very well laid out with a central pedestrian area complete with numerous seats, surrounded by shops and cafes and also containing the Tourist Information building. There are various shopping malls as well as the main shopping area, and all the major chain stores are represented. There is also an abundance of gift shops and specialist shops, so there’s plenty for the shopaholics!

We revisited Carlisle on our way up to Scotl
and for our main holiday later the same year. The reason for this brief visit was simple. When we first went to Carlisle we visited McDonalds for a drink and were treated to the most appalling service. I wrote a letter of complaint and received vouchers to the value of £10 but they were only valid in the Carlisle store! So we stopped off for a free meal on our way to Scotland! Who says there’s no such thing as a free lunch? I told you that it pays to complain didn’t I?

I would love to return and spend some time in this lovely city so that I could have a real look at the cathedral and the various other places of interest.

It would be an ideal base for a walking holiday. You could take a walk from Carlisle along Hadrian’s Wall either towards the coast, which is about ten miles away or you could head inland towards the National Parks. Carlisle would also be a good base for exploring the northern part of the Lake District, around the Skiddaw Forest area.

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