An old-fashioned steam train, slow and steady, great experience, super relaxing. It just goes…read morebetween Lakeside and Haverthwaite, and there are plenty of activities on both sides to enjoy. Haverthwaite has a playground with a pretty impressive zipline for the kiddos, and the cafe is nice as well. Great lake-day activity. Only need to do once, I'd still recommend it for families.

My family and I visited this charming little railway on Sunday, August 4th, 2013…read more We started our journey from the town of Harrogate early in morning and it took a couple hours to get to the Haverthwaite Railway Station. The railway runs for 3 1/2 miles from Haverthwaite Station, along the banks of the River Leven, to Lakeside Station where passengers can board a boat to cruise across Lake Windermere. There is the Station Restaurant at Haverthwaite Station where you can purchase drinks breakfast, coffee or lunch. One of their specialialties are Giant Homemade Scones. I tried one and it was very good. It is definitely a giant scone and I split it with my son. Apparently, they are supposed to have a really good apple pie and sausage made by a local butcher. They also serve their very own locally brewed "Fairburn Ale". It was too early in the morning or I would have tried that. In addition, there is a Gift Shop that sells books, model locomotives and other souvenirs. Website: www.lakesiderailway.co.uk

Our cruise ship stopped in Gibraltar in mid-July and we had a super time on a tour we booked with…read moreGibraltar's Inside Out Rock Tours. I realized about a month before the trip that we had actually booked two tours. I booked the all-day tour with Inside Out Rock Tours - Gibraltar, Carl Mesilio and my wife booked a half day tour with Gibraltar Rock Tours, John Lopez. I needed to cancel one and we decided the full day tour would be the better option. I cancelled the tour with John Lopez. The tour was for a full van, party of 8. There were 3 of us, so to offset the cost I was advised that on the website, Cruise Critic you can post inquiries about the excursion to see if others that will be on the ship are interested. Sure enough, I filled the other 5 slots and we had a full van. Here's where it gets fun. We all met at the cruise terminal with a sign that had my name on it. We met our parties for the first time and met Carl. Carl assigned us to a van and a driver whose name was John. It seemed a little coincidental so I asked John what his last name was. It was Lopez. I thought now this is interesting and as it turns out Carl had more vans than drivers so asked John, who was not as busy as Carl that day for help. John was superb leading Carl's tour. Carl and John are both tour company operators and long-time friends and residents of Gibraltar who help each other out as the need arises. We had a great day and saw most everything there was to see on Gibraltar including the Pillars of Hercules Monument, St. Michael's Cave, Europa Point with fantastic views of Morocco, Pillars of Hercules (mountains), O'Hara's Battery, the monkeys, WW2 Tunnels, The Great Siege Tunnels, The City Under Siege, The Moorish Castle, 100 Ton Gun, Runway and lastly The Prudential advertisement rock shot near the border. We had a great day and very nice time. John provided excellent commentary and navigated the van perfectly through all of our stops. My only comment about the tour is that is was a full day and there were no stops for a quick bite or snack. Everything else was absolutely perfect including the weather. We give hats off to John Lopez who was working for Carl of Inside Out Rock Tours Gibraltar. I can give both companies 2 thumbs up.

British Waterways at Galgate has a marina with moorings for narrowboats and cruisers on the…read moreLancaster canal. There's a slipway and private parking for berth holders. My experience of the marina is as a user of the sanitary station which is available for boaters on the canal. Facilities include Elsan disposal, toilets, shower, pump out etc. The rubbish disposal facilities are up steps by the side of the sanitary station. The facilities are generally kept reasonably clean and aren't bad as sanitary stations go. There are extensive visitor moorings on the towpath side of the canal with one water point between the long term and visitor moorings. Galgate itself has two pubs, a post office and general stores so people who moor at the marina have everything they need only a short walk away.

Just one of our stops along the way. Nothing wrong with it. Very nice building with historic…read morecharm.

Lancaster Railway Station is a medium sized train station with five platforms (ok, six platforms,…read morebut platform six has been closed for years). It is handy for services to and through the city of Lancaster. Virgin run trains through here between London and Birmingham to Glasgow and Edinburgh. Transpenine express run a few more to Edinburgh and Glasgow, as well as to Preston and Manchester Airport. Northern operate local and regional trains to closer stations including Leeds. It's an old station and originally opened in 1846 but it was remodelled between 1900-1906 which gave it the mock-Elizabethan style it has now. It's quite nice and is bright and airy with indoor waiting rooms. However, there's a distinct lack of businesses on the platforms and it could very much benefit from an extra cafe (it has a Costa) or a pub. There is at least one shop, a small newsagents. The station is easy to get around and is accessible and well signposted. It has a car pack and plenty of space for bikes, including bike racks and lockers. There are no ticket gates here, as of June 2016. There also doesn't seem to be WiFi, but perhaps I just couldn't connect. I suppose if you needed to work your best bet would be in the Costa.

One of several Poulton travel agents and much like all the rest really. Friendly staff, a broad…read morerange of holiday brochures and a Bureau de Change. I used the Bureau de Change and they were efficient and friendly as you'd expect. There are always a few holiday offers advertised in the window too. Recent offers I spotted included long stay winter Malta/Costas style holidays, probably popular in a town with its fair share of affluent retired folks who can afford to leave Britain's chilly shores behind for a few weeks in the winter months. All in all a typical local travel agent.

The Wellington is most likely one of the best pubs in Dalton-in-Furness and that is saying…read moresomething as the village town was renowned for having the most pubs per population in the UK of any town. It is also a hotel and offer reasonably priced rooms including breakfast which is served in their upstairs room which also doubles as a function room for various events including poker, they offer a range of real ales, lagers and bottles and have a relatively small selection of spirits (Only one single malt whisky) They are currently host to the Wednesday Night Poker League which is a £20 No Limit Holdem tournament which sees numbers of 20+ which starts at 7.30pm and runs until after 12am. The front of the pub provides a concrete beer garden with benches and umbrellas and is a sun trap in the few weeks of summer.

My experience of Bridge House Marina is through the marina side of its business. This is the place…read moreto come if you're interested in buying a boat on the Lancaster canal. They always have a good range of both narrowboats and cruisers for sale. The marina has 160 moorings and facilities such as toilets, showers and launderette, slipway and hoist. They also have a couple of day hire boats available which makes for a fun day out. There's a well stocked chandlery too, it is on the pricey side but you can also get the benefit of their advice when buying which can be helpful for the boating DIYer. The caravan park has privately owned static caravans and also touring pitches and seems very popular in the summertime.

The pub where the crawl towards the nights final destination starts (and sometimes ends) for all…read moreBlackpool rockers. Friendly staff, a random cocktail bar for fishbowls in the back, a juke box/ live music/ open mic night (depending on the day) and sometimes some flapjacks for sale, when we're lucky. WiFi access for those of you who are truly surgically attached to your computers, and a pool table for the ones who get bored of just sitting around. Giant TV Screen for big sporting events too. Everything a pub needs, is here.

A great venue and pub! Probably the best music venue in Blackpool at the moment! Local bands such…read moreas Drop-out Wives, Kraul, Dinosaurs are sh*t dragons, Senton Bombs, Escape Artist, CSOD, Makers of Venice, Catlow, Goonies Never Say Die and many others all play there regularly and it's always fun! The price of drinks has gone up a bit but the door charge is only £1 and there is live music from tribute bands (such as Bob Marley, Nirvana, Stone Roses) local bands and touring bands every weekend.