Read my Sunderland travelogue here.

The 34th city on my list is the Lancashire city of Lancaster. You read that correctly. Lancaster is city number 34 out of 35 on my list of cities to visit. I’m almost finished.

You will find Lancaster 228 miles north-west of London. As we all know by now, Caster means castle. The “lan” refers to the River Lune which formed the foundation of the original Roman city.

My journey began at 7.30 am from Euston. Yes 7.30am. This has to be one of my earliest starts ever. But I got cheaper train tickets, so it was all pre-planned. On the plus side, Euston is decidedly less hellish at 7am in the morning.

I boarded the train without complaint and at 10am, I was arriving to Lancaster. Thankfully, my Avanti West Coast train was a fast train which only stopped at four or five stops including Wigan and Preston. I quickly realised that Lancaster is a hilly city – a bit like Exeter where the station is on the hull and everything else is uphill. But the station surroundings were quite attractive with some nearby cherry blossoms being in bloom.

My first stop was Lancaster Priory, which lay adjacent to Lancaster Castle – a medieval fort built on the foundations of the original Roman castle. The castle had a £9 admission fee, but the Priory was free. Guess which one I went into?

Although I was disappointed to see somebody had vandalised a headstone

no doubt it was a proud Christian patriot who cares about his community. Onto the priory itself

it was definitely no Canterbury Cathedral, but it was impressive enough. Speaking of cathedrals, St Peter’s Cathedral would be my next stop. My tummy was also making the rumblies, but I resolved to wait until nearer lunchtime to eat.

Through the city centre I went. It was a delightfully historic city centre like St Alban’s. insert pictures As well as being historic, there was also a plethora of charity shops. I window-shopped in a few before finding a Brantano’s that was closing down. As such, EVERYTHING was 50p. I bought two books for a £1 – a self-published YA novel called Forget ME Not written by a local author and Revolutionary Road by Richard Yates. I aim to read three books a month: the YA book is less than two hundred pages, so I can easily finish this before May.

At elvenish, I found St Peter’s Catholic Cathedral, which was closed to the public as were its toilets. As was the nearby Baptist church. Thankfully, I was able to use the loo in the city library. It was nearing lunch now, so I went to the local bakery called Diggle’s where I bought a sausage roll, a Lancashire Pasty and apple juice for £8.25.

I was tempted by their full-English, but I wanted something local. You can’t get more local than a Lancaster pasty. Unfortunately, you can’t get any worse. It was dry and over-baked. What a shame. The nearby pigeons were interested in my lunch, but I don’t believe in animal cruelty so I ate everything myself.

What was I going to do next? The City Museum cost £5 to enter. Unlike Sunderland or St Alban’s, it was not free. Usually, I would be too cheap to pay this, but the same as Ripon, I was in a good mood, so I gladly coughed up the fiver. I’m glad I did, as it was an interactive and interesting museum. I learned that famed Lancastrian biologist Richard Owens coined the term ‘dinosaurs.’ The museum told the history of Lancaster from the Romans to the Vikings to the Normans. There were creepy mannequins and mock stocks – naturally I had a go in them.

There were exhibits on Lancaster’s many industries from furniture-making to shipbuilding to watch-making and agriculture. It also taught me that Lancaster only gained city status in 1937 – quite late in life. The final section of the museum detailed the military exploits of the Lancastrian King’s Own Regiment. Granted this could have been laid out more clearly, but it was interesting nonetheless.

At 1pm, I was finished, so I meandered down to the River Lune. Off I went on my nature walk quickly leaving behind any traces of civilisation. insert pictures The further I went, the further I realised I was really off the beaten path especially when the path had all been swallowed up by weeds and thorn bushes.

That notwithstanding it was still quite spectacular like the River Dee in Chester. And I loved how quiet it was. Although the other side of the river looked even more secluded. I wish I had walked there instead. Next time. I’m sure I could have walked along the Lune for miles, and while I was certainly tempted, I headed back to the city at 2.15.

But I returned a different way by crossing the railway bridge and taking a quick respite in Ryelands Park.

As they say, sometimes it’s nice to take the weight off your feet. I also started reading Forget Me Not, which tells the interrelated story of four teenage girls with their various dark and mysterious back stories. Unfortunately, I couldn’t read much as it started raining. Back to the city, where I bought a Cha Siu Bau

from the local Oriental supermarket – I had bought some in Sunderland and Preston after all. It wasn’t freshly steamed, so it was always going to be dry and soggy, but it was an adequate snack. I also spotted a burger van selling £2.50 burgers and a rotisserie chicken stop which sold …surprise surprise…rotisserie chicken for £3-£6. I wish I had eaten lunch here earlier, but, do not fear, dear reader, I would return here for dinner.

But, for now, it was half three, and I wanted to explore Williamson Park. The only problem? There was a freak hail storm. And I got soaked. Thankfully, St Peter’s Cathedral was finally open, so I took shelter here. It was impressive inside. Enough to put any Italian Catholic Church to shame.

After climbing the steepest hill ever, possibly even steeper than Lincoln, I reached Williamson Park. It was 4pm now and I realised the park was more than scrawny grass and a few goalposts. There was so much to see and do, like this viewpoint although I couldn’t do much viewing as it was already occupied by two stoners, their golden bong and the cloying smell of Mary J.

More accessible was the Ashton Memorial, which offered terrific views of the city.

Sadly, the butterfly garden and mini zoo were closed for refurbishment, but the duck pond was open for. And there were lots of hungry ducks to feed. I was only too happy to oblige. There were lots of ducklings too. They were so cute. Unfortunately, unlike Salford they weren’t brave enough to eat out of my hand.

It was a hilly park too with the base being rocky cliff-faces. My inner rock climber was dying to climb them, but my brain took over. When I climb in the gym, there’s a crash mat to stop me breaking my neck if I fall. But if I fell there, I would just break my back.

My neck intact and it being 5pm, I headed back to the city for dinner. Alas the burger van had shut up shop but I got 5 salt and pepper chicken wings and half a rotisserie chicken for £7.25. The wings were the right amount of spice, but the chicken was dry and burned. Very sad.

Anyway, I still had an hour and a half before my train home and my mouth was as dry as the desert, so it was time for a pint in the nearby merchant’s pub. This pub dated back to 1688 and like Ye Olde Jerusalem Pub in Nottingham, it appeared to be carved out of the side of a mountain.

Cool, but I couldn’t help but suspect it would be expensive. My suspicions were proven correct when I bought a pint of Dark Side of the Lune stout for £5.10. While this might be cheap for London, it seemed pricy for the North. Maybe that’s just the average nowadays. Anyway, being a big Pink Floyd fan, I couldn’t resist the word play. Neither could I resist the cold, refreshing taste. Well it was dark ale, not lager, so it wasn’t super cold, but it was nice enough.

I also realised had I come to Lancaster a few days too early, because there would be a Star Wars themed pie festival with all these glorious puns. insert pictures

Anyway, it was finally time to go home at 18.47. Or it would have been if my train wasn’t delayed at fifteen minutes. That wraps up my penultimate city: Lancaster. Tasteless graffiti aside, I enjoyed my time. I loved the wildlife, the nature and the attractions. Next time I have to walk the other side of the Lune. It was a day of nosy pigeons, freak hailstorms and feeding ducks. Time for my final city. Plymouth, you’re next!