Carlisle

To return home from Hawick we took the western route – A7, M6, A66 – to take advantage of the sunnier weather forecast and to enable a stop-off in Carlisle, fast becoming a favourite city visit with its compact centre having a good mix of both national chain stores and small independent traders, like the coffee shop where we had our daily scone and the second-hand bookshop that, for once, I left empty-handed.