Cartmel is a village in Cumbria, England located 2.2 miles from it's nearest town Grange-over-Sands. Formerly known as Kirkby in Cartmel, the village is the location of the 12th century Cartmel Priory Church, a Grade I listed building. The village is also located very closely to the Lake District and has become known as the "home of the sticky toffee pudding".
In September 1997, Rita Sullivan and her long term friend and business partner Mavis Wilton made plans to sell The Kabin newsagents and move away from Weatherfield to run a B&B in the Lakes. Rita visited the Bide a Wee Guest House in Cartmel on a viewing and took Alec Gilroy with her for company. Despite Alec's attempts to put Rita off, wanting to keep her in Weatherfield, she was taken with the house. After a disappointing viewing in Lytham St Annes, the pair discovered that the Cartmel seller, Mr and Mrs Groves, had dropped the price and Mavis hurriedly arranged a viewing of her own. Mavis loved the house too and encouraged Rita to put an offer in.
Unfortunately, when the pair decided to spend some time as guests at the B&B before they purchased it, differences of opinion soon became clear. Mavis had a great time while Rita now found much to fault and began to realise she didn't want to move away. The final straw came when Mrs Groves assumed that Rita and Mavis were a lesbian couple and Rita informed Mavis that she couldn't go ahead with the move. Mavis decided she was going to carry on alone and after bidding goodbye to her friends on the street, left for Cartmel on 10th October with her budgie Beauty. Since Mavis' departure, Rita as well as other old friends, have visited her in Cartmel on several occasions. Most recently, Rita planned to spend Christmas 2019 in the village with Mavis.