There’s plenty of weird and wonderful things taking place in the area this week. From tasty cakes and crafty artmaking to a mysterious Bronze Age floating spear and then there's Kendal getting all woolly again at K Village with the popular Kendal Wool Gathering fest. In other words there’s something for everyone.

THE Ravenglass & Eskdale Railway is back with more fiendish tricks than ever in 2016! Feeling brave? Travel the line in darkness and keep those eyes peeled for some of our beastly friends on Friday and Saturday (October 28 & 29). Travel on services all day, but make sure you reserve your special seat on the Ghost Train from Dalegarth. This event is very popular and must be booked in advance. Ticket includes all day travel and reserved seat on the Ghost Train from Dalegarth. The Ghost Train steams out of Dalegarth Hollow at 6pm (there is no return train to Dalegarth so please make sure you park at Ravenglass, and allow time to catch the train up the valley). Activities at Dalegarth include facepainting, spooky arts & crafts and GADS theatre.

Ticket price £16 adult and £8 child, ticket includes all day travel, a reserved seat on the Ghost Train from Dalegarth, meet Ratty and collect your spooky sweet goody bag when or if you return!

Please note: For this event child tickets will be required for those aged 3-15 years.

FAMILY friendly play ‘Cake’ plays on Saturday (October 29, 11am & 1.30pm), at The Dukes, Lancaster. This puppet theatre show features two friendly dinner ladies who have created and baked a delicious, mouth-watering cake. But, this is no ordinary cake – the first slice reveals a mysterious world and then a dramatic story unfolds on the tabletop to a soundtrack full of energy and atmosphere.

Performed by Whalley Range All Stars this is a story of valour and bravery in the setting of the dinner ladies’ kitchen which is as fresh as lemon-scented washing-up liquid! (Age 3+yrs).

Tickets £7; concessions £5.

LAKE Semerwater in the Yorkshire Dales National Park will be home to a brand new contemporary art installation called ‘Spear’, on Friday & Saturday (October 28 & 29) as part of a unique exhibition by artist David Murphy and the Dales Countryside Museum, at Hawes. 

Celebrating one of the museum’s most treasured exhibits and remembering the myths and legends of Lake Semerwater, Spear, will see an architectural-scale copper spearhead installed on the lake’s waters over two nights.

David’s fully-accessible installation will reach 30 metres across Lake Semerwater, connected to the shore by a floating walkway. Visitors will have the chance to explore the artwork and to view the landscape from a unique position on the lake itself.

Taking place during the UKs Museums at Night Festival, a series of events on Saturday will help bring the installation to life. Highlights include a new piece for solo voice by artist Sion Parkinson, specialist drinks by cocktail company The Gimlet, along with poetry readings, fire and song.

Artist David Murphy said: “Visitors to the Dales Countryside Museum will know that one of its most precious objects is a Bronze Age spearhead, found on the shores of Lake Semerwater in 1937.

“What many people won’t know is that - according to local folklore - a city once existed on the site of Lake Semerwater, but a curse sent it deep beneath the water.

“Spear reflects elements of Sir William Watson’s ‘The Ballad of Semerwater’, which famously recounts the tale of the lost city, and at the same time makes a physical link to the treasures the lake has bestowed on the area.

“In a way we’re returning the spearhead to the lake, where it was discovered and may, thousands of years ago, have been given as an offering.”

For further details visit www.semerwater-spear.co.uk

A RECORD number of stalls have been booked for this year’s Kendal Wool Gathering, which makes it twice the size as last year’s event. All 66 stalls will occupy five units at K Village shopping mall, Lound Road, Kendal, on Saturday and Sunday (October 29 & 30). In addition to the retailers there’s a whole host of wool-based, fun activities for young and old, with contributions from the Museum of Lakeland Life, Kendal Quakers Tapestry Museum, livestock farmers, Yorkshire Museum of Farming and many more. Activities include spinning and knitting, wool dying, demonstrations, talks and, for the third year running, Westmorland Agricultural Society has provided a marquee to house livestock and farmers will be on hand to tell their story of raising sheep. There’ll also be a gaggle of alpacas to keep us amused! The gathering is open on Saturday from 10am-5pm and Sunday 10am-4pm.

For more information go to www.kendalwoolgathering.co.uk.

AN UNFORGETTABLE spooky journey round Lancaster Castle is on offer this Hallowe’en (Monday, October 31), when the veil between the living and the dead is at its thinnest! Arrive through the main gate and join costumed guides as they direct you to meet the Witchfinder General who oversees the 18th century ‘hanging court’. Enter the darkest of prison cells and listen to tales of ghosts, witches, villains and gruesome executions. This tour is not for the faint hearted!

Children’s tours: 5pm, 5.30pm, 6pm & 6.30pm. Tickets £6.50 (children must be accompanied by an adult).

Adult tours: 7pm, 7.30pm & 8pm. Tickets £8.

THE National Trust have a whole bunch of spooky happenings at its various houses and estates during half-term this autumn. In short here are a few:

Wray Castle, at Hawkshead, invite you to make Pumpkin Lanterns and help decorate a giant web, as well as creating broomsticks a la the wicked witch of the north.

The 700-year-old medieval estate of Sizergh, near Kendal, has put together a creepy Hallowe’en-themed garden trail complete with clues and a tasty treat at the end. There’s also pumpkin carving on Saturday (October 29, 10.30am-3.30pm). £2 per pumpkin.

18th century spooky stories can be enjoyed by the fire in the Georgian Wordsworth House, at Cockermouth, straight from William & Dorothy’s era. A servant will share too-close-to-home for some ghostly Cumbrian tales.

Acorn Bank, near Penrith, invites you to follow the treacherous trail through the haunted woods. Allegedly, hidden horrors can be spotted lurking within the trees – and if you happen to escape then a special prize awaits! Also check out the abandoned gypsum mine and find out more about the little girl who is believed to haunt the house. (Closed on Tuesday, October 25). Trail: £1.50.

Grasmere’s Allan Bank has undergone a bit of a spine-tingling makeover this Hallowe’en – the tunnel of terror awaits – have you brave enough to venture inside! If not, then there’s always the woodland pumpkin trail; spot six or more to win a prize. £1.50.

For more details go to www.nationaltrust.org.uk/