close

Can anyone recommend a site in the North West (I'm in Manchester) that would be a really good place to celebrate the Winter Solstice?

Yes. (Several)

This one will work well for the sunrise - http://www.themodernantiquarian.com/site/7203 - and it's near a regular bus route. Perhaps try the churchyard on the roadside for the sunset.

This is North Manchester. Bolton literally. If you get to the stone and back into town, please don't forget about the Man'n'Scythe on Churchgate.

if you have a car and don't mind travelling try swinside stone circle.

On the same theme -
I'm planning on a day trip to the Lakes, approaching via the M6 from the South. Bearing in mind I don't want to walk far and want to select places that are maximum wow factor in terms of their landscape setting, I'm thinking of doing a loop – Castlerigg, Copt Howe and Sunkenkirk.

Q; Are those the right choices? Bearing in mind I walk (and drive) slowly and want to spend about an hour actually on site at each place (and will ignore the "authorised vehicles only" sign at Sunkenkirk as I'll play the confused old fart card) about how long would I be spending off the Motorway? Are there any "must see" places near the loop that wouldn't add much to the total time?

Hi GGD
I believe that Swinside has a more interesting winter solstice sunrise alignment (sun rising over the SW 'entrance' stones ), while Long Meg is more aligned to the solstice sunset. (sun sets over the outlier).
Maybe you could go to both ?
cx