This proved to be doubly wrong; first because when it turned up it didn't actually give any indication where I live and so could hardly entitle me to vote; and (perhaps more significantly) we didn't actually have local elections here. It's England Jim, but not as we know it (Star Trek fans will get the reference). Anyway, I had this pass and so I decided to use it. Today it took me to Keswick, a remarkable town surrounded by some formidable hills or mountains and next to a large lake.
Since Millom doesn't actually have any bus routes I had to take a train to Workington to connect with the bus, but the return rail fare is only £8 so not a problem.
The bus takes less than an hour to reach Keswick and it's free. When you get there it is an entirely different part of the world to Millom or Barrow in Furness, the bits of Cumberland/ Westmorland I know best.
It's full of groups of young people wearing costumes to prepare them for hiking or canoeing or whatever.
Of course, there are the charity shops. They are everywhere. But there are also a remarkable number of camping, biking and hiking stores. It's a bit like a frontier town.
Fortunately, there are lots of coffee shops; some nice, some full of character, some downright eccentric.
At the museum I learn that the minor poet Robert Southey is a town hero. He wrote lots of worthy stuff and was a socialist, like many famous artists two centuries ago.
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The Goldilocks character got added later by a lesser writer, but a smarter businessman.
As you would expect in a vast valley with a fast flowing river running through the town (the oddly named Greta), Keswick suffers when it rains heavily.
They still talk about the great storm of 2015, which took out the large ornamental park next to the Greta. But as they say in Keswick it's no surprise that it rains in the Lake District. The clue is in the name.
Jonathan Brind