Last month, Mark & I ticked off another of my 25 by 25s and went back to the Lakes. This is Arnside, the quaint little village where Mark & I spent a lot of time together when he was working at the Youth Hostel in the last photos above. We'd spend our days wandering around the little village, eating cakes from the bakery, buying ice creams from the shop on the front and sending postcards to my family. When Mark was working I would sit painting, feeling inspired by how beautiful it is in Arnside (Arnside is where I first painted bears).
It was so wonderful to visit again, we loved spending time digging through the treasure in Past & Present, though sadly now it seems to have upped it's prices and become more of an actual antiques shop. It's still worth a visit, there are many curiosities to be seen. The binoculars had me at first sight, when I imagined myself as Suzy Bishop with them hanging round my neck. I resisted, just about!
The village itself is very picturesque, with the gorgeous houses and window fronted shops right on the front by the sea and the beach. We spent many hot (and very cold) days walking down on the beach, walking along the water's edge when the tide is out. One of our favourite things to do in Arnside was to go for midnight walks and sit on the end of the pier (windy as it was!), there's just something about being out at night in such a peaceful place (unless it's kicking out time at one of the two pubs!).
There's a lot of nature, and a lot of walking to be done if you're into that kind of thing. As our time was limited, we didn't venture out of the village but instead headed up to the Youth Hostel to relive the days we spent watching Coach Trip on a computer screen sitting on the single bed. Sadly, the Youth Hostel is up for sale and it may not be a Youth Hostel for too much longer. It's a beautiful building, with all the ivy growing over it and the old brickwork. It's certainly old fashioned inside too!
More photos & stories to come in part 2 :)
Facebook // Instagram // Bloglovin' // Pinterest
