I haven't walked past here since last year so it was a nice surprise to see this 'Open' notice with its promise of things like tea, cakes and pizza. This was once the Hodbarrow Mines Offices (built in 1873) and it is the only building that remains of the enterprise. In more recent times it was the Commodore Club (a bar and restaurant) which closed a long time ago and was eventually put up for sale. We've noticed a lot of building work over the last couple of year and then managed to miss the actual opening of the Hotel and Bistro which I now discover was back in December.
Its new name is Herdwicks (the name of the local breed of sheep) and their
Facebook page says this door, kindly donated, is from the original Hodbarrow Mines offices, still with the 'Hodbarrow' lettering in place, although of course the paint is sparklingly new.. It always surprises me the amount of historical 'stuff' that people have squirreled away locally. As it was late in the day we didn't go inside but anticipate it will be a nice end to our circular amble in future.
Here is the other side of the building as seen from the sea wall over Hodbarrow Lagoon. I've had to dive into my archives for this photo which was taken in February 2016, a colder winter than this year's warm one when we have only had the occasional fine dusting of snow on the hills which soon melted away.
An entry to ABC Wednesday, a journey through the alphabet, this week sojourning at N
here
