Friday, 2 October 2009

Catching up from Carlisle


What a splendid way to round off the week – visiting captivating Carlisle! From the cheerful welcome I received today it is hard to imagine that in the 17th century Carlisle was the site of so many battles across the border.

I’m becoming quite a student of British history on my tour of the North West, and can’t wait to impress my friends and family back home with the fascinating facts I have gathered. Did you know that the first delivery of newspapers by air took place in Carlisle, or that the city was also home to the first letterbox on mainland Britain? (Better not tell my mum or she’ll say there’s no excuse not to send her a postcard!)

I’m happy to report that lots of the people I’ve met today are aware of our campaign from the television. I’m beginning to feel quite the celebrity as so many people have wanted to have their photograph taken with me – it’s very flattering! Here I am with Vera Sunley, just one of the many delightful people I met.

Then again, there is so much useful information on offer from the stop smoking team here – the team leader told me that 41 people signed up yesterday alone, and I’m sure there will be quite a few today too as we had plenty of takers for our informative leaflets on stopping smoking. Everyone has been so keen that it came as no surprise to learn that last year there were 2,771 successful quitters in Cumbria.

Well the weekend beckons and I’m looking forward to exploring some of the beautiful countryside around the Solway Firth. I’ve heard that it is home in the winter to plenty of migrating seabirds – seeing so many terns, skuas and petrels makes me feel right at home – although I’ll have to explain to them that I’m not migrating, just touring the North West with the lovely Smoke Free team.

If you want to quit smoking, do call the Penguin Stop Smoking Hotline on 0800 032 7252 … have a splendid weekend, and you can catch up with me again on Monday when I’ll be visiting Manchester.

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