Nuneaton here I come!!!!

The news last week that Nuneaton is now part of the Lake District gave me good cheer. I've got relatives who live in Nuneaton. I can visit them of a Sunday afternoon now that it is a stone's throw from Windermere.

For those slightly confused by the above, allow me to explain. Last week, that esteemed travel web site "Trip Advisor" made a bit of a mistake with one of it's maps and gave the impression that Nuneaton was in fact, the gateway to the Lakes. It's an easy mistake to make, after all, there are huge similarities between the two. Both are quite close to the M6 and both have hills, although it is a fact that the hills in Nuneaton are not very high, or topped by cairns, but who cares about a mere technicalty like that?

Nuneaton also has 18 lakes. That's 17 more than the Lake District. And they are surrounded by trees, contain fish, and you can hire a rowing boat. Unfortunately, they are a bit short of Meres, Tarns, and Waters, but you can't have everythng.

It has a rich literary history though. George Eliot was from Nuneaton. And he was a lady, just like our very own Beatrix Potter, who may have actually been to Nuneaton, but nobody really knows for sure.

The town has several other famous sons. Like Ken Loach, the film director and Larry Grayson, who never shut that door on the town.

Now, the Lake District Hospitality Association, another esteemed organisation, has joined in by granting Nuneaton honorary Lake District Town status, thereby making the repositioning of Nuneaton official. It is no longer an Internet gaffe. It is now part of the Lake District. Evidently, someone in Nuneaton held a party to celebrate.

It would seem that quite a few people who live in Nuneaton have actually been to the Lake District on holiday. Now they won't have to. They can stay at home, enjoy the wonderful scenery and then truthfully tell their friends that they holidayed in the Lakes. And those of us that live in the Lakes can pop over to Nuneaton to do a bit of shopping, so watch out Kendal and Penrith, there's a new kid on the block.

It is also good news for house owners in Nuneaton, as prices are set to soar with new buyers flooding into the town to buy up cottages as second homes. This will also have a positive effect on the town's traffic problems, reducing the number of cars on the road and thereby doing away with the need to upgrade the one way system. And Christmas shopping in Nuneaton will now be a doddle as all the tourists will have gone home.

Nuneaton's tourist attraction will also find itself extremely busy as bus loads of Japanese descend on the town to photograph it from every angle. The Nuneaton Post Card Emporium will be taking on extra staff shortly.

Yes, it is good news all round for Nuneaton, in all but one respect. The good people of that fine old Warwickshire town are going to have to get used to the rain. And if they think that this year has been wet, they are in for a surprise when they experience a really good Lake District Summer.

And now I need to buy a new map, and get to work planning next years edition of "Walks around Nuneaton"

Watch this space!!