Lancaster is..... [complete this sentence]

As a newbie to Lancaster, I am all-ears to what locals have to say about their city. I guess I'm looking for confirmation that I've made a good decision coming here. Here are 10 soundbites I've had so far:

1. "It's like a mini-Bristol"

Yes, I get that. A teeny tiny, less cool and buzzy Bristol. There is even a bridge and a quay of sorts.

2. "It's claustrophobic. Sometimes you just have to get out!"

It is super-small for a city. Population 52,000. Only qualifies because it has a cathedral. But there's a train station, a luxury I did not have before. I can be by the sea in 11 minutes, the Lakes in 30, Manchester in an hour, Glasgow or Edinburgh in two hours, and London in two and a half.

3. "There's just so much going on for such a small place."

Overwhelmingly so. Last Thursday eve, I couldn't decide between a Death Cafe in a pub and a talk in the library from a guy who has set himself the challenge of travelling to and photographing every single postbox in Britain. Couldn't go to either in the end because Jim was going to his Eastern European folk music course. See?!

4. "The people are wonderful."

Cannot agree more. I've lived in Scotland, the Midlands, the South Coast and East Anglia and they all have different versions of friendliness in varying degrees, but I sort of feel like the North has been secretly having a party of its own all these years and didn't tell me!

5. "It's an old hippy town."

You can say that again! I met Lola from school the other afternoon and passed a white middle-aged man and woman in robes walking through the town centre banging a gong and chanting. No-one was batting an eyelid.

6. "Everyone knows everyone."

I have been told this in both a positive way ("I love that you can't go to town without bumping into a million people you know") and a negative way (Sometimes you think, 'where's my privacy?' "). Guess it depends on your personality whether you like it or not.

7. "The weather is the hardest thing to get used to.....but you never ever waste a sunny day!"

Deffo. I have learnt that it will always rain at some point in the day. And if the sun comes out even for a few minutes, I'm straight out in the garden getting every drop of Vitamin D I can.

8. "People are very fond of it. The ones that leave often come back."

I met a woman in Office No.1 in my first week who moved away but said she missed it too much.

9. "You've got the Lakes, the Trough of Bowland, the Yorkshire Dales - and the sea. What more could you want?"

Erm.....nice weather to enjoy them?


And my favourite.....

10. "It's full of good people making good things happen."