Here's our listings of places to go and things to do in the Lancaster + Morecambe area.

LANCASTER | MORECAMBE | BEYOND!

Catwalks have been associated with Guided Walks in the Lancaster District and around the North West for many years. Catwalks has built up an excellent reputation for delivering a high quality service.
Visit their web site - www.catwalks-lancaster.co.uk - for the latest walks schedule or check our What's On Pages

Lancaster in Pictures
In 2000 DJ Clark took 1000s of photos around the area and of local activities and festivals too and published them in a lovely book called 'A Little English City'.
Click here to see these wonderful pictures (catalogued by place and event) - taken in co-operation with Lancaster Museum who are archiving the images.

ATTRACTIONS IN LANCASTER

J Atkinson & Co, Tea & Coffee Merchants
Web Link: www.atkinsonsteaandcoffee.co.uk;
www.thecoffeehopper.com
China St, Lancaster LA1 1EX (follow your nose!)
Tel: 01524 65470
A traditional tea and coffee specialist shop founded in 1837 - the year of Queen Victoria's coronation. Atkinsons supply many of Lancaster's cafes with their tea and coffee.
Purveyers of quality beans, leaves and blends worldwide - including Fairtrade. They roast fresh every day, filling the city with a wonderful aroma and have over sixty coffees and 100 teas - more than anywhere else in the region.
View coffee roasting in a traditional setting and hear a brief history of the company; every Wednesday in August & September at 3.00pm.

The Butterfly House
Williamson Park, Lancaster
The former Palm House in Williamson Park houses a tropical rain forest with flowers, trees, vines, foliage and colourful species of butterflies including brilliant swallowtails, and cleverly camouflaged Owl butterflies enjoying their natural habitat. The pupae of new butterflies can be seen in a special display case and you may even see a butterfly emerging from its chrysalis. In the stream that flows around the forest you may also spot a koi carp.
Adjoining a Mini-Beast (reptiles and insects) Zoo, an Animal Garden and a free-flying foreign bird enclosure, this is a popular destination for school trips and guided talks are available demonstrating the life cycle of the beautiful creatures. Bookings can be made by telephoning 01524 33318.

Lancaster Canal runs north/south through town just east of City Centre (lots of nice pubs!) See info on the local Waterbus.

Lancaster Castle
Castle Hill, Lancaster.
Tel. 01524 64998
If you could only visit one castle in the UK it should be this one. Open daily all year (ex-Xmas week) 10.30am-4pm. Guided tours at 30-minute intervals (Court sittings permitting - check by phoning 01524 64998) from 10.30am to last tour at 4pm. Some narrow, winding, old, stone staircases so not suitable for people with restricted mobility.
Themed evening tours available for group bookings. Tours available for pre-booked school groups. Gift shop.
Estimated Visiting Time : 1.5 hours
Until recently the castle was also used as a prison. If you have a new suggestion for its use, please don't hesitate to let us know.
• See What's On guide for special events and themed tour dates + times.

Lancaster Cemetery
just off Quernmore Rd (opp. Williamson Park), Lancaster
The district's finest Victorian cemetery is a fascinating place full of the best of Victorian Memorial Art and all the famous Lancastrians of yesteryear are laid to rest there. Who were Pythagoras De Nicteroy and Lasarus Threlfall Baines? Where is the largest Crimean War Memorial in England ?
Lancaster Civic Society presents occasional guided walks from the main gates.

City Museum and The King's Own Museum
Market Square, Lancaster LA1 1HT
Tel. 01524 64637
This splendid museum is housed in Lancaster's former Town Hall, built in 1781-3 to the designs of Major Thomas Jarrett and Thomas Harrison. The Museum itself was founded in 1923 and its newly redisplayed collections illustrate the rich history and archaeology of the city of Lancaster, the most northerly and rural part of Lancashire.
The Museum is home to The King's Own Regiment museum which offers a fascinating insight into army life.
The museum also hosts many temporary exhibitions.
For more about the King's Own, this site has a brief but thorough overview of its history: www.kingsownmuseum.plus.com

Cottage Museum + Roman Bath-House
Castle Hill, St Mary's Gate, close to Priory tel. 01524 64637
The Castle Hill Cottage Museum is a small museum furnished in the manner of an artisan's home, circa 1825.
Open from Easter to the end of September, 2 - 5pm.
The remains of the Bath House are in Vicarage Field, on the right as you go down Priory Lane, which runs from the Priory Green down to St George's Quay.

Friends Meeting House
Meeting House Lane, Lancaster
(next door to Lancaster train station) -
Tel: 01524) 62971
Dates from 1708, replacing earlier building of 1677. The tombstone of John Lawson, Lancaster's first Quaker, converted by George Fox in 1652, is in the porch.

The Grand Theatre
St Leonardsgate, Lancaster.
Tel: 01524 64695
Box Office open 10am-3pm
Extended opening until 6.30pm Wednesday
The Grand can accept credit card orders by phone.
Tickets are usually on sale two months prior to an event.
One of the country's oldest working theatres, the show has gone on for more than 200 years.
Tours of the exuberant Edwardian interior can be arranged by appointment via the box office. Running for 45-60 mins, they may include a glimpse of actress Mrs Sarah Siddons, the Ghost-in-Residence.
They will also take place throughout the days on the Heritage Open Weekend in September.

Humbugs Sweetshop

Humbugs Sweetshop
9 Marketgate, Lancaster.
Tel: 01524 581583.
Humbugs is one of the best old-fashioned traditional sweetshops in Britain, according to its customers! The shop gets sweets from all over the world and have a range of about 1600 different sweets and some seriously sinful Belgian chocolates.
The shop's website (www.humbugsuk.co.uk) is also their internet trading site. They send sweets everywhere in the UK & EU online.

Judges Lodgings + Doll Museum
Church Street, Lancaster, LA1 1YS
Tel. 01524 32808
Opening times:
From Good Friday - 30 June:
Mon - Fri 1-4pm, Sat + Sun 12-4pm.
1st July - 30th Sep:
Mon - Fri 10am-4pm; Sat + Sun 12-4pm
1st - 31st Oct: Mon - Fri 1-4pm, Sat + Sun 12-4pm
Lancaster's oldest town house, once the home of Thomas Covell, keeper of the Castle during Lancashire's witch trials of 1612. Later used as a residence for judges visiting Lancaster Castle, and now a museum displaying a wealth of furniture, porcelain, silver and paintings. In addition to displays of Lancaster's fine Waring and Gillow furniture the top floor of this former town house - which includes room exhibits of the house as it used to be - is turned over to a toy museum with artefacts from various periods from throughout the 20th century. There's also an impressive recreation of an Edwardian school-room. The Lodgings often runs events at half-term for school children, telephone for details.

Maritime Museum
Custom House, St George's Quay, Lancaster LA1 1RB tel. 01524 382264
local residents: free.
Open daily: Easter to October: 11am - 5pm
November to Easter: 12.30 - 4pm
(except Xmas and New Year)
This museum occupies two historic buildings on St. George's Quay, the main 18th century harbour. It was opened in 1985 and has won many awards. The former Custom House of 1764, designed by Richard Gillow, contains interactive displays on the history of the Port of Lancaster and the local fishing industry, including an excellent push-button audio/video show of Bay maritime history, with a gallery for exhibitions. In the adjacent warehouse are displays on the Lancaster Canal and the ecology of Morecambe Bay. Several preserved vessels are also displayed, including 'Sir William Priestley' and 'Coronation Rose'. There is a cafeteria and shop and parking is available at the rear.

Lancaster Leisure Park
Wyresdale Road, Lancaster LA1 3LA tel. 01524 68444
Previously Hornsea Pottery. Huge antiques centre with many dealers, factory shop with actual bargains, garden centre, play area, indoor soft play area, tearoom, dance studio, lots of free parking and it's practically next door to Williamson Park. On Saturdays there's also a Car Boot sale next door at the auction mart.

Lancaster Library
Market Square, Lancaster LA1 1HY
Following a fabulous refurbishment the library is well known, not just for its books and extensive multi-media but also for its popular Get It Loud in libraries gig nights with surprisingly big names. The library offers a 35 minute A-Z audio-guided walk that takes you on a tour of the history of the library movement via the collection at Lancaster Library.
The walk covers all the library's interior - the main space, the local history section and the sanctuary upstairs. You are guided to specific places and items, which throw light on the library itself and what it stands for.
From roots in the Chartist rebellion through to the library’s relationship to digital culture you will walk a map which draws this line back onto a locality.
How to take the walk: The audio walk is available on loan from Lancaster Library on a ready-loaded MP3 player.

Lancaster Millenium Bridge and River Lune Millennium Park
St George's Quay
Walk or cycle along this newly constructed scenic route.
Click here for a virtual-tour of the bridge.

The Music Room
Sun Street, Lancaster tel. 01524 65470
Probably built around 1735 by Oliver Marton Senior as a Summer house. The striking 3-storey  building has a charming cafe on the ground floor but the principal room on the first floor has some of the finest Baroque plaster-work in the North West, attributed to Francesco Vassalli, with depictions of the Greek Muses - hence the name. It is usually kept locked except on special open days though and you need an appointment to view. The top floor is a flat and is let by the Landmark Trust, who owns the building. Access by arrangement with the Landmark Trust.
The Music Room Cafe is on the ground and 1st floor, with tables in the square outside.

Lancaster Priory Church
St Mary's Gate, Lancaster, next to the castle tel. 01524 65338
The Priory and Parish Church of St Mary was founded in 1094 by Roger de Poitou on the site of the earlier Saxon church. Exquisitely carved mediaeval choirstalls and the King's Own Memorial Chapel.

St Peters RC Cathedral
East Road, Lancaster LA1 3BT tel. 01524 384820
Designed by distinguished architect E.G.Paley in the style of 1300 and consecrated in 1859, the City's Roman Catholic cathedral has undergone a brilliant restoration.
In 2009 the Cathedral celebrated its 150th anniversary.
The Cathedral is open daily 8:30am-6pm (with occasional exceptions). There are information panels at several points around the Cathedral, and an exhibition space which houses a computer giving further background to the Cathedral and the Catholic faith.
Guided tours are available for groups, but must be booked in advance. Tours can focus on the history and architecture of the building, the liturgical life of the Church or any aspect of Catholic belief and practice.

Lancaster Town Hall
Dalton Square, Lancaster. tel: (01524) 582000
Contains The Ashton Hall
Opened in 1909 this neo-Georgian gift to Lancastrians from Lord Ashton is a fine Edwardian Grade II listed building containing: the imposing Council Chamber with the grand Mayor's chair; the Mayor's Parlour with the fine collection of civic silver and Gillow furniture including the magnificent centrifugal table; the majestic Ashton Hall with its grand concert organ and the fine display of heraldic art on the ceiling; the former Magistrate's Court Room complete with all the original furniture. From the prisoner's dock visitors will be "sent down" to view the atmospheric subterranean police cells, which in 1935 held Lancaster's notorious double murderer, Dr. Buck Ruxton. Check with Town Hall reception for summer tour times. (Max 15 people per tour)
Tel: (01524) 582000.

Williamson Park and the Ashton Memorial
Quernmore Road or Wyresdale Road, Lancaster tel. 01524 33318
Extensive superbly landscaped gardens, great Taj Mahal-shaped skyline folly, butterfly house, reptile & crawlies zoo!
• View an IPIX tour of Williamson Park by IPIX UK

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ATTRACTIONS IN MORECAMBE

Morecambe Prom
It's a lovely wide promenade walk - flat with good access, loos etc. A fantastic view across the immense sweep of the bay to Lake District and that BIG SKY feeling with the odd seagull doing the ambience. There's a cute little train that can take you from the Eric Morecambe statue up the Prom to the cafe at the end of the Stone Jetty and back if you're not a big walker. On the land side there's loads of shops - gifts, clothes outlets, cafes, pubs etc. There's the best market between Carlisle + Preston (maybe better than them) with a big open-air add-on on Sundays and during festivals there's good free live entertainments on the Prom - street theatre, live music and all sorts of wonders. The West End (toward Heysham) is special for the little shops that are NOT part of national chains - almost unique really.

Cross-Bay Walks
Morecambe Tourist Info Office lists scheduled walks tel. 01524 582808
Walks across the bay from Hest Bank to Grange-Over-Sands. You need a guide to avoid quicksand, riptide etc. The Maritime Museum has an excellent display about the cross bay route through history. More info on safe crossing

Happy Mount Park
Morecambe Tel. 01524 401140
Adventure playground, trampolines, swingboats, bowling green, miniature golf, putting, roundabout, picnic area, fabulous aqua park wet play area, miniature railway, cafe, sports field, gardens + the best bands from the NW take turns to play on Sundays from May to September from 2.30pm.

Morecambe Festival Market
behind The Platform, Morecambe. The indoor market is open Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday. And on Sundays (mainly in the morning) across the carpark there is the largest open-air market in the area.
Disabled people should bear in mind that the main market carpark is council, but the open air market carpark alongside it is private - so you have to pay or get a ticket.
Market Office tel: 01524 414251

Morecambe Megazone
94/96 Marine Road, Morecambe tel. 01524 410224
The Ultimate Laser Adventure!

Morecambe Superbowl
Central Drive, Morecambe, LA4 4DW tel. 01524 400974
Ten-pin Bowling

Stone Jetty Morecambe
(1853 AD)
Lovely sculptures and bird games / riddles carved into the walkway. Fabulous scenery across the bay to the Lakes, plus (handy for the not-so-mobile?) a mini train that runs up & down the Prom from the Eric Morecambe Memorial (he said that without moving his lips!) to the cafe at the end of the jetty and back. What larks!

Morecambe Winter Gardens
On Morecambe Prom. This fine old theatre, venue for many stars of international repute, was left empty for years and deteriorated terribly. A local campaign group has formed to raise the money to buy the property and refurbish it to its former glory - and also give Morecambe a much-needed venue.
Come and see how the campaign to restore this historic venue is progressing and admire the remarkable architecture and decor of this fabulously ornate theatre.
Info tel: 01524 422180.

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ATTRACTIONS IN THE SURROUNDING AREA

See our villages page for lots more local links with more detailed info.

Walking: See http://countrywalks.defra.gov.uk/

Bridge House Farm
Main St, Wray, LA2 8QP.
Tel: 015242 22496 / 21309
Open Tuesday to Sunday from 10am - 4pm.
Tea room with regional and traditional home-made foods, gift shop and gallery with original crafts and artwork. Also gifts, plants and accessories for the garden. Artisans workshops available. Picnic and play area to rear adjoining riverside and woodland walks and Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB). Also offers themed weekend events.

Carnforth Railway Station
Tel: 01524 733165/735894
Visitors Centre open every day except Christmas Day and Boxing Day 10.00am - 4.00pm Admission: Free
Cafe open from 9am.
This local railway station has been refurbished and is proving a major tourist attraction because of its links to the classic film Brief Encounter.
Carnforth Railway Station was opened in 1846 by the Lancaster and Carlisle Railway Company as a roadside "second class" station, and was originally just a single platform. It is now thought that the original Lancaster and Carlisle station building, is the building that in later years became the Carnforth station refreshment room made famous in Brief Encounter.

Cobble Hey Farm & Gardens
Off Hobbs Lane, Claughton on Brock, Garstang PR3 0QN.
Tel: 01995 602643. Email: cobblehey@aol.com
Open from Easter weekend every Sat & Sun from 10.30am - 4.30pm. This large, tranquil garden contains a wide range of natural environments including a cottage garden, woodland, ponds and streams, rockeries and lawns. Patio, orchard and formal parterre with box and yew hedges. Habitats of lapwings, curlews, oyster catchers and red shanks are being protected and monitored. A lapwing walk has been created in partnership with the RSPB and the Countryside Rangers. This allows you to view these spectacular birds in their natural environment, and take a look at some breathtaking views over the Forest of Bowland and much of Lancashire.
Unusual plants for sale, tea rooms, gift shop, play ground, working farm with rare cattle breeds.
Admission: £2.50 adults, £1 children. Group bookings available for all groups and schools etc.
Wheel chair access to the cafe, toilets and the majority of the garden and some access to the farm.

Cockersands Abbey Chapter House
Remains of a Premonstratensian Abbey, home to an order of contemplative canons. Est. 1192. The most visible remains are those of the 13th Century Chapter House, re-used as a mausoleum by the Dalton family of Thurnham Hall from mid-18 to mid-19 centuries. The Chapterhouse is usually closed except for the Heritage Festival in Mid-September. Outlines of the abbey buildings can be seen in the adjoining field.
Thurnham. For access turn of the A588, opposite Thurnham Hall gates and down Moss Lane. Entrance to the abbey is signposted - it is the round(ish) building next to the farm. Access is across a field so appropriate footwear necessary. There are no steps.

Docker Park Farm Visitor Centre,
Open from 10.30am - 5pm. Indoor adventure play area, llamas, rabbit world, tearoom, shop. Bottle feed the lambs in spring. Check out the chicks at Easter. Weekends + holidays there are tractor + pony rides. Book a one hour tour and learn about the farming year, feed the animals, stroke lots of animals, enjoy a nature walk around Swan Lake and meet Farmer Ford on the Free tractor ride.
Free parking. 90% disabled access.
Admission charge.
Arkholme, nr Carnforth. (M6 J35, then B6254 to Kirkby Lonsdale then follow brown signs).
tel: 015242 21331

Forest of Bowland
Area of Outstanding natural beauty

Hest Bank Beach
Just north of Morecambe. You can get to the beach via the railway level crossing where there's a free car park. You can walk a long way along the beach path and it's lovely. (At night it's a bit of a lovers' park-out.) The bay itself can be lethal - see our bay page. But you still have a lot of scope as there's lots of grass and miles of foreshore to enjoy.
Check the tide tables so you know what the bay is up to.

Heysham Head
Ruins from 800AD, St Peters Church and St Patricks Chapel. Very pretty, clifftop cemetery, Norse remains, overlooking the sea so nice walking too. Great for kites. Then you just go round a corner and BAM - two massive great nuclear reactors. And people moan about windfarms.

Heysham Heritage Centre
Open April - Sep 11am-4pm, Oct - Mar 12.30 - 3pm

Ingleborough Cave and nature trail
Clapham, LA2 8EE
Check if open, wheelchair access.

Ingleton Waterfalls Walk
For the fit and well-shod. £4 per adult, £2 for children under 16, and £8 for a family ticket (2 adults and up to 3 children). Cafe and gift shop at start and a snack bar near top of Thornton Force.
Tel: 015242 41930..

Jack Scout and Jenny Brown's Point
Arnside Knott, Silverdale and Arnside
Scenic walks along the coast and around Silverdale and Arnside.

Leighton Hall
nr. Carnforth LA5 9ST tel. 01524 734474
1246 AD. Home of Gillows - famous furniture family. 80 acres garden and park, falconery displays, caterpillar maze. Tours, gifts, tea room + plant conservatory. Open til September Tues - Fri + Sundays + Bank Holidays 2-5pm or (12.30-5pm in Aug). Admission + ticket prices may vary. Check for accurate info.

Leighton Moss Nature Reserve
Myers Farm, Silverdale, Carnforth, Lancs, LA5 0SW tel. 01524 601601
One of the RSPB's most important reserves. The largest remaining reedbed in north-west England attracts a wonderful range of wildlife. Among its special birds are breeding bitterns, bearded tits and marsh harriers, with water rails and pochards, and its mammals include roe and red deer. You can take your pick of long or short nature trails - shorter ones are suitable for wheelchairs and pushchairs. As are most of the hides.
Open daily from 9am to 9pm (or sunset, when earlier) and has an impressive Visitor centre & year round programme of events and activities (see website for details of events at the reserve and for summer Morecambe seafront events). Most events last 2-3 hours. £4.50 adults, £3 concs, £1 children, £9 familis. (discount for RSPB members) Events are FREE if you come by public transport on production of valid train or bus ticket.

Sizergh Castle
Sizergh, nr Kendal, LA8 8AE.
Tel: 015395 60951
Originally built in the Middle Ages by the Strickland family, who still live there, this imposing house has an exceptional series of oak-panelled rooms culminating in the Inlaid Chamber. Portraits, fine furniture and ceramics accumulated over centuries by the family are shown alongside their recent photographs. The garden includes two lakes and a superb rock garden. All this is set in a 638ha (1600-acre) estate crossed by public footpaths, providing short walks from the castle to dramatic viewpoints over Morecambe Bay and the Lake District fells.
See National Trust website for current house & garden opening hours and admission charges. Map

White Scar Caves
Ingleton, North Yorkshire, LA6 3AW tel. 015242 41244
Tours from 10.00am-5.30 pm every day except 25th Dec. last tour 3.30pm

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MORE INFO/LINKS

Lancaster & Morecambe Official Tourist Information Website

AboutBritain
lots of useful information for tourists and visitors to Britain.

North West Tourist Board
Tourist information site of the North West Development Agency