Friday 17 July 2009

Bowness on Windermere & Ambleside




We arrived at Bowness on Windermere & found a bed & breakfast in a local pub. It was a beautiful sunny June day so we decided to go on one of the lake cruises to Ambleside. The journey was 40 Min's long and it was lovely having the cool summer breeze on such a hot day. when we arrived at Ambleside which is the centre of English rock climbing and the country's most popular upland walking area, we walked into the town centre. It is a beautiful town with lots of specialist shops, they were lots of high quality restaurants & pubs, with a sampling of the vast selections of real ale available.



We stumbled across the football museum which is well worth a visit if you like football (actually I'm not a big fan & found it really interesting). Entry is free but there is a donation box where you can show your appreciation if you wish. We spent a good hour looking around.

We headed back after a few hours & did the cruise back to Bowness-on-Windermere and spent sometime just chilling out and taking it all in.





Bowness-on Windermere is Cumbria's most popular destination & has a Victorian setting which can be seen everywhere. We decided to have our evening meal at the Belsfield hotel mainly because it looked out over the lake.





We sat here for a couple of hours watching the spectacular view, it was pure bliss & the hotel food was lovely.

Saturday 11 July 2009

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Tuesday 30 June 2009

Ullswater glenridding





We had a visit to Glenridding at Ullswater which I was really excited about, because I had watched the programme on BBC TV called 'The Lakes' (starred John Simms) and knew they were some beautiful views to be seen as this was the area where it was filmed. We tried to get a room for the night at the Inn on the Lake hotel which over looks Lake which is the second largest lake in The Lake District Cumbria. Unforturnately it was fully booked, which was not surprising as it looked so splendid, but the owner put us through to a close by B&B called Fairlight guest house which had en suite rooms available. After checking out our room we went for a walk which was recommended by the owner of the guest house. We set off up the hill towards the travellers rest & past the house which was used to film where one of the families in the Lakes lived, we both recognized it straight away. After a lovely drink in the pub which was very busy, we set off towards the campsite & followed the river back down untill we came to the village.

We decided to have our evening meal at this point & after checking out the best western hotel which has a traditional pub & restaurants we ate here in the pub restaurant. As you can see it looks it little bit like something out of a horror movie, but it was lovely inside. After our meal we sat outside in the beer garden right at the side of a flowing river, as it was still early evening & sunny.

Afterwards we set off walking down to the lake, and as soon we got to the boat yard we both recognised it out of some of the major scenes in The Lakes.





We decided to finish the evening off at the Inn on the lake so after a stroll by the lake we sat out the back of the hotel with a glass of wine.



The lawns at the back stretch right up to Lake Ullswater




Check out the couple snuggled up on the bench, they had the right idea with a glass of wine each they looked like they were in heaven.

It was the perfect end to a perfect day.

Wednesday 24 June 2009

Coniston




Coniston is set right in the heart of the Lakeland village and is a beautiful area to visit. We walked round the lake & watched many people either out on the lake enjoying the water sports from canoeing to wind sailing, or at the lake side Barbecuing, listening to music or just chilling viewing the old man of Coniston, which is a small mountain over-looking the lake. Once at the top of the mountain you have spectacular views of the lake, the south lake district and Morecambe bay.




The Coniston annual water festival is on 3rd & 4th July and has traditional and new event ideas. There's the ever popular duck race, lake shore BBQ and music, a great chance to relax before a fun packed Saturday of Canoe Races, Its a knockout, local market, music and much much more.

We walked round the village which was an old mining village. Now a centre for climbers, it offers a good selection of shops, inns, cafes and a variety of accomodation.

Coniston is also famous for Donald Campbell who had the world record for water & land speed. Unfortunately he died trying to break his record on 4th Jan 1967. He was doing 300 miles per hour when Bluebird K7 flipped and disintegrated. See the Donald Campbell video below of the crash

Friday 19 June 2009

Wast Water Britains Best View





Check out my pics of Britains best view 2009 at Wast Water, which was picked by the actress Sally Whittaker who plays Sally Webster in coronation Street. This is Englands deepest lake & is very impressive, as you can see we had glorious sunshine which made it all the more impressive. It is completely remote apart from the odd walker or hiker, at the head of the valley is wasdale head with just a few cottages & a lovely Inn which is popular with the walkers.





This place is only about a 15 minute drive from Eskdale & driving to the lake is on very narrow roads and can seem quite difficult, well worth it once there though.


Saturday 13 June 2009

Ravenglass & Eskdale railway




On one of our recent visits to the lake district we came across Eskdale by our adventure on the Ravenglass & Eskdale steam railway. Ravenglass is on the west coast of cumbria & when we arrived at Ravenglass station & parked up, got our tickets for the railway we had 30 Min's to spare so we went round the museum which was very interesting & had lots of historic facts about the railway. We boarded and set off full steam ahead on our 7 miles & 40 minutes adventure, and what a lovely adventure it was. On our journey they was spectacular scenery & wild life to be seen as the trains goes straight through the woods at some parts of the journey.


When we arrived at Dalegarth you have the options of all different walks, we walked half a mile to Boot which is a small village in the beautiful scenic valley of Eskdale. As you walk to it you will find it well sign posted, after passing a couple of pubs on the way 1 of them been the Boot Inn, you cross a 17th century pack horse bridge which leads to the Eskdale mill which dates back to 1578, where you can visit one of the very few remaining two wheel water corn mills, and learn more about life in Cumbria, its industry and its people.


We completely fell in love with Eskdale & spent a good few hours discovering it until we finally set off back on the railway to Ravenglass. We were in the lake's for 7 nights & was on our 6th night. We had not booked anywhere so after visiting Whitehaven which is a seaside resort on the western coastline about 30 Min's drive away (17 miles), my husband rang round a few of the numbers he had collected in his phone for any future visits. We managed to get in Stanley house at Beckfoot which is a 10 min walk into Boot. Stanley house is a fantastic place to stop if you are discovering the lake's, it is a big house with with 12 bedrooms & you can use the 2 living rooms, one with log fire & a large kitchen area to do any cooking. It is very big & modernised, ideal for walkers coming & going who don't want to be sat in there rooms resting in between walks. The owners live near by & are there in a morning to cook breakfast.


We were very lucky to get to stay at Boot because by coinsidence we had fallen up on it at its annual beer festival. These beer festivals started in 2001 during an outbreak of foot & mouth. Because the fells were closed to walkers, it was an idea to attract people to the beautiful valley of Eskdale. There are 3 pubs which stage the event jointly which are Brook House Inn, The Woolpack & The Boot Inn. Each pub has its own theme night over a 4 day period. We were stopping 2 nights so on Thurs we went to the Boot Inn & enjoyed a delious meal, then finished off in the Brook House Inn who had a great live band on The Roosters. Everyone was enjoying themselves & it was a full house. All the pubs have a selection of beers available & enjoyed a few half pints of different ales.







Friday we walked round and did a couple of the walks in the fells & discovered the valley a bit more. Friday late afternoon we tried a few more selections of the beers & ate at the Wool pack where the food was exceptional. The landlord does his own cooking & he did Dave's crazy outside kitchen in a marque for everyone to see. The live band Vortigern added to the lovely atmosphere whislt enjoying our food & were brilliant.





We would definately go back to Eskdale it is one of the best places in the Lake district & I highly recommend it, we were really sad to leave on saturday.