Manchester; Saturday, 11 November, 2006

With the conference having finished the previous evening I now had a long weekend to my self in the North West. However, by the time I finally got my act together and got out of the hotel it was already late morning.

Up to Manchester Piccadilly and then out on the train to Lancaster. Once the most important town in the region, the central focus for the county of Lancashire, which once boasted Liverpool and Manchester as small towns within it. The city now is somewhat dominated by its larger southern children, but is still a very pleasant small city.

Perched on hill, above the railway station, is the Castle. Uniquely, it is still a working prison, the only castle in the country still fulfilling this duty, and court complex, as well as being an historic building that can trace it’s current structure back 900 years to King John, and the site nearly 2000 years to the Romans.

Saturday, in the end, turned out to be the best day to visit. With the local crown court on site it is only possible to visit the court rooms and some of the old cells when they are not sitting, it’s not possible at all to visit the existing cells, without getting a criminal record!

Access around the castle is by guided tour, and the tour guide gives a good background to the history of the castle, it’s use as a prison and a court. There are displays on the methods of punishment used during the ages, as well as a visit to the site of the public executions (now the jury room, which is a little concerning)

I had a look around the area near the castle, taking in the Priory church (closed) and the remains of the Roman Baths (un-locatable!) I wandered back to the station to catch the train out to the seaside resort of Morecambe.

However, by the time I arrived in Morecambe the weather had deteriorated by quite a bit. What had been bearable light drizzle was now heavy driving rain with hailstones mixed in and a powerful wind, enough to stop you in your tracks and make walking difficult. I struggled the hundred yards or so from the station to the seafront, but then (now totally soaked) had to give up and walked back to the train to dry off.

It was still “Interesting” weather by the time I got back to Lancaster so I decided to call it a day and head back to Manchester, which in the end proved to be a good idea. The journey to Lancaster may have only taken a little over an hour; the journey back took nearly three with speed restrictions in place because of the weather!

Still slightly damp, despite all the time in the warm train, I headed back to the hotel to dry off, warm up and then have dinner.