Destination Carlisle...

M.CASTELYNN

55 AMBERLEY WAY

ROMFORD

ESSEX

RM7 8BT

Another competition entry postcard (by the 1980s it seems we'd lost the art of correspondence altogether), but I've chosen it for today's post as it's a rare self-published advertising postcard showing the Swallow Hilltop Hotel, once the epitome of luxury.

News came this week that businessmen Simon Harrison and Robin Graham have delayed their opening of the new boutique hotel, The Halston, while they demolish the newly acquired eyesore that was once the Lonsdale Cinema, and convert it into a car park. It's an ignominious end for a building that was an integral part of many of our childhoods. I was one of many who thought that the Lonsdale was worth saving, either as a cinema, a theatre, a music venue or similar but even I'll now admit that after years of decay, this is now the best thing for it. What is really disappointing is that the site will become a car park, which will certainly pay back Messrs. Harrison and Graham for their outlay in acquiring the site at auction, but is a sign of the lack of investment and forward thinking which Carlisle so desperately needs.

Don't get me wrong, I applaud Harrison and Graham for having the vision to make swingeing changes to the city, and we need more like them, who are ready to put their hands in their pockets and regenerate the sites that have fallen into disrepair, but they admit that they bought the site due to it's proximity to their hotel and the detrimental effect it would have on their business. The car park option is a quick fix and it's just a shame some other like-minded businessmen didn't snap it up to create something a little more inspiring.

Back to the matter at hand.... this is the second hotel themed postcard I've blogged recently and whilst I was reading about the plans for The Halston it struck me that Carlisle is now awash with places to stay. It's always been a city for tourists, but I do wonder nowadays who the clientele are. I stay in hotels whenever I come home, and The Halston will be the third to open in the last ten years (after the Travelodge on Cecil Street, and the Ibis on Botchergate). Much has been said about Carlisle becoming a 'destination' but there's very little in the city itself that now warrants more than a day out. I expect the target audience are those using the city as a starting point for discovering The Lakes, the Borders or the sites along Hadrian's Wall. But I have to admit that the number of hotels in the city now seems a little over-enthusiastic considering what we have on offer. I shall continue to bleat on about an arts venue until someone puts their hands in their pockets, or I win big on the Euromillions.

The Swallow Hilltop Hotel is one of the many that are still soldiering on. When I was growing up in the 1970s and 1980s this, along with the Crown and Mitre in the city centre, were what we considered to be the luxury places to stay. Not that we ever did , of course (the only time I ever set foot in the place was for a record fair in the conference suite). The Swallow's reputation as the "Ritz" of the city was cemented in my mind when Kylie Minogue stayed there in the 1990s. It's location, out of the centre on London Road, always made it feel somewhat exclusive, and this 1980s multiview postcard shows some of that star treatment: a spa, a swimming pool and a couple of swanky bars. I'm afraid that this was probably it's heyday and reviews on Trip Advisor suggest it has lost most of it's charm these days. With new hotels opening I can only see stalwarts like the Swallow Hilltop fading away, and I doubt there'll be a campaign to save it.

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