About an hour or two's drive north of Manchester are some of the most sublime landscapes in England. There is the Lake District, of course, but don't neglect the Fells and woodlands around Morecambe Bay (Arnside, Silverdale, Cartmell etc.)or the Fells to the east of the M6 motorway (Kirby Lonsdale up to Appleby-in-Westmoreland in the Eden Valley). I'm a resident of Manchester and it's difficult to describe the buzz I still get from getting onto the motorway on a Sunday morning and waiting for those wonderful hills to appear on the horizon - highly recommended!