Sleeping elephants, books, fine food & wool: snuggled beneath the Howgills, straddling Cumbria and Yorkshire lies Sedbergh. Its address is Cumbria but we happily claim it as 'ours' since it's now within the Yorkshire Dales National Park.
Driving towards Sedbergh, it's hard not to get distracted by the incredible views. Wainwright said the Howgill fells look like a 'herd of sleeping elephants' and I'd agree, although when we were young we used to say 'the giant hasn't made his bed properly' when we saw this sort of landscape. No idea where the idea of the giant came from...
Whenever I reach Sedbergh, I think of the travellers of yesteryear arriving by horse or carriage after a long journey. How surprised and relieved they must have felt when they finally saw Sedbergh, realising they could dismount and enjoy a good meal and a rest.
Several years ago it proclaimed itself Englamds Book Town. Within Westwoods alone there are around 70,000 books choose from. Add the other smaller book shops, cafes selling books and even the bus stop book store- plenty to please any book lover.
Sedbergh has a massive appeal for anyone who loves wool and textiles. You can often see someone weaving through the window on the high street and buy woven and woollen goods. Farfield Mill is fascinating with excellent displays, craftspeople at work and a very good programme of workshops and events, tempting needleworkers, knitters, quilters, and weavers to make their own textile pilgrimage over the hills to Sedbergh.
Given its hilly location, it's not surprising that the sun doesn't always shine in Sedbergh but that's almost OK, thanks to the really cosy and welcoming cafes, pubs and restaurants. The quality of some of the food on offer lures many a visitor. Nina and James who run the beautifully re-furbished Black Bull Inn can be thanked for some of this appeal.
If that's not enough, you could use Sedbergh as a base to follow in Wainwright's footsteps, to Cautley Spout, discover the pub with no beer, or simply wander the streets in search of see the 'loose cannons' lying around Sedbergh's ginnels and alleyways...