This is a straight forward drive by if you want, or take time to eat at one of the very good eateries in the village.which lies along the A6. This used to be the main thoroughfare before the M6 was constructed. It is 10 miles from Penrith and about 15 miles from Kendal, and is on th C2C walk.
We chose this place because we enjoy perusing the books and other items left in phone boxes in a number of villages round about.
The cache is small and magnetic. You will need to take your own pen to sign log.
Shap is a village with a charter dating from the 17th century.
At one time, the granite works (which are situated about a mile outside the village) was in itself a separate community, with its own Co-op store. Shap polished pink granite can be found in many buildings in the UK, including outside St Paul's Cathedral.
The village has three pubs, a small supermarket, an award fish and chip shop (placed 2nd in the UK in 2020), a primary school, an outdoor swimming pool, a newsagent's, a most excellent coffee/gift shop, a fire station, a shoe shop(New Balance) an Anglican/Methodist church and 3 B&B/ Hostels. There is also a small library, which is in the process of being relinquished from local council control and being adopted by the community as part of a budget cutting measure.
Some of the scenes in the feature film Withnail and I were filmed around Shap.
Nearby is Shap Abbey - with is own interesting history.
On 22 October 1999, a Hawk-jet from RAF Leeming crashed into an empty barn in the village before disintegrating across the A6 and West Coast railway line, killing its two-man crew.