A Quirky Local Guide in a quirky northern town

My first review was around three years ago as a result of a prompt by Google Maps suggesting others may benefit from my experience. I remember thinking at the time how amazing this was, that even my reviews and photos could be made public and have the potential to assist in helping others.

I’m very proud to say I live in Ulverston in the North of England, a smallish town with a population of about 12,000. We are fortunate that there are many independent shops and businesses here and haven’t been swamped with the usual big chain stores that dominate many towns and take their identity. It’s this quirkiness and uniqueness I like to showcase in my reviews.

It’s this aspect of being ‘up close and personal’ that I try to emphasise with my reviews, highlighting aspects of a shop or business that wouldn’t usually be seen by a casual visit, but something that would attract more visitors if it’s known about. Things such as the cosiness of an open fire in a country pub, or a little back street cafe that still uses china teacups, or the fact the local ice cream van offers 30 flavours of ice cream, and kiddies get chocolate flakes for free!

Ulverston’s famous son is Stan Laurel who was born here in 1890; we have a statue of him and fellow comedian Oliver Hardy in our town square. It’s a favourite place for tourists to have a photo taken. Reviews for such tourist spots, businesses and shops are essential in such a small town; I find many have only got single figure reviews, so I always try to be positive but honest in my comments. I pride myself in giving five stars to most places as the reputation of the establishment is at stake with the star rating too. As a business owner myself, I know the value of such positive comments. I try to reflect this same honesty with photos I take also.

Being a Local Guide has made me stop and think more about the community around me which is something I’ll always be grateful for.

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