My home city of Manchester is a heady mix of historical architecture and shiny new skyscrapers.

Travel north by train for an hour and you’ll reach Lancaster, a historic city that owes a great deal to its past… CONTINUE READING BELOW

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From Lancaster train station it’s just a short walk to the city’s imposing castle, which was also a prison until as late as 2011.

Dark walls and deep crenellations give way to charming old houses around Castle Hill, some of them quaintly crooked, others with vine-covered porches.

As I wandered around the city centre on a sunny day, the dark sandstone of historical buildings persisted. There wasn’t a whiff of any new architecture, let alone the lofty glass and steel we have here in Manchester.

Lancaster may have an old shell, but it’s a thriving place filled with coffee shops, food stalls and everything needed by modern city dwellers. There was a pleasant hum of life walking around its historic streets.

Lancaster is also blessed with an old waterway and it’s well worth a diversion to wander along its towpath and under some low-slung bridges – they’ve been there some time too!