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Spring Break at Netherwood

  • Date: 15th March 13 - 17th March 13

    Location: Netherwood Hotel, Grange-over-Sands

    Postcode: LA11 6ET

    Access:   

    Contact: Jane Black ARPS

    Email:

    Phone: 0191 252 2870

    Cost: £199.00

    Type: Other

    Region: Northern

Spring Weekend at Netherwood 15-17 March 2013

Cost £199 per person sharing £220 single. Price includes two nights dinner B&B and lecture programme. Deposit £40 per person

The hotel offers a special price for dinner B&B of £75 per person for Thursday 14 & Sunday 17 March

Please book direct with the hotel [Tel.No.015395 32552] but not before you have booked with the Region and not before 1 January 2013

Come and enjoy a Spring weekend at Netherwood Hotel, Grange-over-Sands. This Victorian former manor house built in 1893, provides an ideal centre from which to explore the area. There will, as usual, be a programme of speakers, which will include talks from John Webster ARPS MPAGB, Ken Bryan FRPS and Mark Mumford FRPS. See Who's Who 2013 for more details.


Grange-over-Sands, on Morcambe Bay looks southeast across the estuary to South Cumbria, hilly North Lancashire and the distant Pennines. Once a small fishing village, it became a fashionable seaside resort after the railway arrived in the 1850s. Today it retains much elegance from its Edwardian heyday, the railway station in particular providing good photo opportunities.

Thanks to the balmy influence of the Gulf Stream, Grange enjoys one of the mildest climates in the North. The Ornamental Gardens and Promenade Gardens provide a colourful walk stretching 1.5 miles, starting outside of the hotel. The mud flats and sand banks of the bay are important feeding grounds for birds such as oystercatchers, shelducks and curlews.

The village itself boasts England’s best butchers, Higginsons and the award winning Hazelmere café which is just 300 yards from the hotel.

The Cartmel peninsula and surrounding area provide a rich variety of places
to explore. You could walk over the limestone plateau of Hampsfell to Cartmell village, visit nature reserves, museums, stately homes, Lakeland’s miniature village, or consider more challenging Fell walks.

The area is also renowned for an array of Cumbrian food specialities, among which are Cartmel sticky toffee pudding, Morcambe Bay potted shrimps and traditional Cumberland sausage.

Cartmell village grew up around its famous 12th century Priory. The Priory Church has interesting and intricately carved choir stalls and misericords. The tower is unusual, being set crossways to its base, and is believed to be unique in England. The Market Square is very much the heart of the village made up of an assortment of old-world buildings serving, as they have for centuries, as inns, shops and private dwellings. There are many flower-filled corners to find in the narrow winding cobbled streets. Behind the square is the world famous racecourse.

Well worth a visit is Arnside and Silverdale, designated as an area of outstanding natural beauty, including Sites of Special Scientific Interest because of the rare butterflies and alpine plants to be found around the limestone pavements. At Gait Barrows, a National Nature Reserve, there is an impressive limestone pavement. The Reserve contains the most notable pavement flora in Britain. Around 800 species of moth have been recorded there along with dragonflies and damsel flies. The RSPB Leighton Moss Reserve is within easy reach. This is the largest remaining reed bed in Northwest England, and most famous for breeding bitterns, bearded tits, marsh harriers and avocets. The red deer that live on the reserve are best seen at dusk There is also an established colony of breeding otters.

The market town of Ulverston offers an assortment of independent specialist
shops, cosy pubs and traditional markets in streets with colourfully rendered houses, cobbled streets and side alleys to explore. The town’s most famous son is legendary comedian Stan Laurel who, with Oliver Hardy, became one of the best-known slapstick duos of the 20th century.

Another famous son is Sir John Barrow whose Monument on Hoad Hill stands as a gateway to Furness, overlooking Morcambe Bay. Sir John (1804-45), a naval
explorer, was a key figure in the foundation of the Royal Geographical Society. He also wrote the official report on the Mutiny on the Bounty and was responsible for sending Napoleon into exile in St Helena.

These are a few of the attractions of this part of Southern Cumbria. We hope you will find this Spring Weekend a stimulating experience. Although close to the Lakes, it offers opportunities which contrast with and compliment the Autumn break we will continue to enjoy in the heart of the mountains at Glennridding.