Ilkeston Town Centre: Interesting/Varied Architecture

While visiting Cossall (a village of massive D.H. Lawrence significance in Nottinghamshire), I also visited the town of Ilkeston (Derbyshire) nearby as Lawrence did teacher training here between 1904 and 1906.

Walking from Ilkeston train station to the town centre, I noticed the kind of red-brick places that Lawrence sometimes mentions in The Rainbow:

And after a steep ascent in the town centre itself, I reached the Market Place Square where St. Mary's church holds pride of place:

Have just read that the church dates back to the mid-12th century.

In its high position, overlooking the Market Square, the church looked like a crown on the head of Ilkeston.

While trying to find an entrance, which bizarrely I never came upon, I came across a Memoriam to the Ilkeston men who fell during the First World War:

The whole of the top Market Place was pleasing to the eye:

But the building that possibly caught my attention the most lay a few streets away, the Scala Cinema:

Have just read that it dates back to the early 20th century.

And even an industrial-looking building, nearby, appeared photogenic:

Yeah, I found some interesting/varied architecture in Ilkeston town centre.

Camping in D.H. Lawrence Country

Before visiting the Lake District, I went for a few days in Cossall to look at a few sites which influenced D.H. Lawrence when he was writing his magnum opus, The Rainbow.

The campsite I stayed on was pricey but top notch, with state of the art bathrooms and the peace/almost solitude that I was after.

Being an organic farm, the place had a positive quirky side to it, for example, keeping chickens in a caravan:

But more than anything, it offered me the platform to explore both the Cossall countryside area and Ilkeston, the town nearby.

Saying Goodbye to the Lake District

After a hearty breakfast and passing the church building above, which seemed to have been converted into a house or flats, it was time to say goodbye to Kendal (the southern gateway to the Lake District) and the whole Lake District itself, as we made our way round to the train station:

Not being able to find a toilet at the station, I had to go looking for a suitable spot nearby to relieve myself (such is the state of modern-day Britain, sadly).

On the train journey south, we were able to reflect on our kind of circular, six-day (North-South) Lake District trip which had taken in:

* Passing through Windermere, Ambleside, Grasmere, Rydal etc. 

* Keswick (Greta Hall and Derwent Water)

* A Keswick to Workington bus ride (passing Bassenthwaite Lake and through Cockermouth)

* A Workington-St. Bees train ride along the coast, passing through Whitehaven

* St. Bees (the Abbey, village, and first few miles of Wainwright's Coast-to-Coast Walk), the jewel in the crown of our trip

* St. Bees-Barrow train ride, again along the coast (seeing lots of mudflats) and Barrow-Ulverston bus ride.

* Ulverston for the Laurel and Hardy memorabilia and warm, photogenic town centre.

* An Ulverston-Coniston van ride, seeing lots of gentle hills, streams, hamlets etc.

* Coniston (Donald Campbell memorabilia, visiting the Sun Inn, a kind of wild camp etc.)

* And finally Kendal with its great architecture and Wetherspoons 

After passing through Preston, the landscape started to become much bleaker and when I got off at Bolton (heading for Bury), the demographic disaster of modern-day Britain came into full view (my friend, Dave, stayed on the train until Manchester Airport (heading back to Ireland).

Kendal Town Centre

 As far as town centres go, I was well impressed with Kendal:

The 19th century Town Hall building seems to take centre stage in Kendal town centre, and for every historical building/feature we encountered, there was usually a plaque to explain things:

What a fantastic idea to have such a system for explaining things (although I can't remember if all the pictures and explanations above correspond correctly).

Everywhere you look in Kendal town centre, there seems to be an interesting building: 

The church-type building below, next to Holy Trinity Parish Church, is now a fencing club:

Passing Kendal Parish Church / the Ring O' Bells Pub

 Soon after getting off the bus in Kendal (from Windermere), we found ourselves crossing a bridge:

And coming across Holy Trinity Parish Church, which (almost) looks like a cathedral:

Have just read that the church dates back to the early 13th century, being built on the site of an earlier Anglo-Saxon church.

A stone's throw away, we saw the Ring O' Bells pub:

Of which, I've just read was built on consecrated land (presumably that of the Parish Church) in the 17th century.

Thus, we could quickly see that walking round Kendal was going to be a highly interesting experience.

Kendal: Brilliant Wetherspoons

Having travelled from Coniston (via Windermere) to Kendal, at a turning just off the High Street, we came across an old chimney and factory:

Which now served as the town's Wetherspoons.

In this place, I enjoyed easily the best vegetarian pizza I've ever had at any Wetherspoons and a wonderful pint of dark mild (4% - just right), while my friend, Dave, gulped his Theakston's Old Peculiar down with glee.

Coniston: Sweet Shop etc.

The sweet shop window above, in Coniston, always catches my eye, with the dolly mixtures, fruit salads, rhubarb & custards, and especially the jelly babies taking me back to my childhood (on the corner of Shaw Street/Gladstone Street in Bury, there was a shop selling all such sweets).

Another thing that caught my eye was the free food items offered by St. Andrew's church, for those possibly in need:

And as usual, I spent a little time at John Ruskin's grave:

And caught a quick look of the lake before our almost whistle-stop tour of Coniston was over:

Things didn't exactly go to plan in Coniston as we kind of ended up wild camping there, this time round.