You won't go far without finding a watering hole in Appleby - I recall there are about 10! The Royal Oak provides fine ales and food, there are also a couple of lively places in the town centre (Hare & Hounds, Crown & Cushion) something to suit most tastes. In the surrounding area there are many more...Hoff, Brampton, Long Marton, Bolton, Dufton to name but a few. Appleby also has a wide variety of take-aways, including Chinese, Indian and good old Fish & Chips, plus a very good Pizza place (Pizza Roma). Restaurants - Appleby Manor (Country House Hotel) and the Tufton Arms both offer fine dining; The Royal Oak combines high quality dining and a pleasant watering hole, not too common these days. There are Chinese and Indian restaurants plus Bojangles Cafe/Bar - a recent, and more modern addition. During the day there are other tea houses to cater for lunch and high tea.

Assuming you might want to eat in occasionally, there are several shops to provide you with high quality ingredients (as well as a couple of small supermarkets open well into the evening). Don't miss Mr Ewbanks fine Family Butchers in the middle of town, a great place to buy the famous Cumberland Sausage, as well as locally produced Beef, Lamb and Pork. Mr. Ewbank senior is one of Appleby's characters - a fine story teller, if you can understand his Westmorland dialect! Stephensons Grocers and The Bread Shop should provide the rest of your locally produced staples.

Carlisle - the Border City - is the main shopping and commercial centre in Cumbria.   Carlisle has a compact, historic centre, including a fine castle, unique museum, excellent cathedral, and semi-intact city walls. Catch a train from Appleby station, and be there in 45 minutes.

The Romans established a settlement here - primarily to serve the forts on Hadrian's Wall. In the 12th century, King Henry I allowed the founding of a religious establishment, later making the town a diocese, and thus making the Priory into a Cathedral. The Prior's Tower is next to the Cathedral and houses a small exhibition in the pele tower.

Carlisle Castle is a great medieval fortress that has watched over the City of Carlisle for over nine centuries.

The Village Bakery - Since 1976 Andrew Whitley has been making outstanding organic bread and cakes using traditional baking methods and the retained heat of wood-fired ovens. A converted stone barn beside Melmerby's rolling green, with the Pennine hills behind, is the setting for the innovative village bakery and restaurant dedicated to baking bread and serving food with naturally vital ingredients.

The Restaurant enjoys a reputation for its good home cooking which makes use of produce grown on the 5 acre organic smallholding behind the bakery. Produce can be supplied by mail order, and also bought from shops throughout Cumbria, and further afield. Some of the flour used in the cakes comes from the nearby Little Salkeld Watermill.

Also available are two day training courses on bread-making, suitable for the experienced home baker, or the absolute beginner.