As we are already almost half way through 2024, our next adventure was closer to home where Chris and I spent a week in Englands lush, green and picturesque Lake District.
After 4 years of consecutive Welsh holidays with Yvey and Matt, this time we had found a large holiday house in Hawkshead, a quiet village about 5 miles from busy, touristy Ambleside. The group changed slightly again as this year we were joined by Russ, Leigh, Dee, and two days later by Ray and Laura.
Itinerary
Day 1: arrive and dinner in the Red Lion, Hawkshead
Day 2: Little Langdale hike
Day 3: Cycle Derwent Water
Day 4: Tarn Hows and Langdale
Day 5: Buttermere hike to the plunge pools
Day 6: Grasmere and Rydal hike
Day 7: Grasmere paddle boarding and Ambleside
Day 8: go home
Throughout the week we generally split ourselves into 2 cars and drove from Hawkshead each day to participate in hiking, cycling and Chris and the others did some paddle boarding.
We had a fairly loose agenda and sometimes had a short 9 minute wander into Hawkshead village during the evenings where there was around 3 or 4 pubs and some restaurants. Hawkshead is a pretty village with cobbled streets and within the village is the Old Grammar School which was attended by William Wordsworth.
Tarn Hows is a “place of iconic beauty” and was about 1.5 miles from our holiday house in Hawkshead. There is an easy footpath which surrounds the lake and you can also include this as part of a longer walk. You can even hire a mobility scooter if needed by calling 07919 111620.
The Tarn Hows notice board explained it was gifted to the National Trust by author Beatrix Potter in 1930. This is a site of Special Scientific Interest as it has a rare mire system and water quality which support rare habitats and species, for example, it isn’t possible to swim in the lake as it contains rare leeches of scientific interest and they need protecting.
Ray and Laura had arrived late the previous evening so 9 of us and 5 dogs squeezed into 2 cars and drove to the National Trust car park which was £5 for 2 hours. The lake was still which provided great reflection views. Unfortunately it was somewhat cloudy but the views were quite spectacular especially when we climbed to the higher viewpoint.
The above photo was take from one of the highest viewpoints overlooking Tarn Hows. From here you can see views of Langdale Pikes and Coniston fells.
By now it was lunch time so we drove to Great Langdale Valley to the Old Dungeon Ghyll a famous climbers pub. This is the original inn and has been a welcome sight for walkers and climbers for many years.
We went inside the pub to buy drinks and I’m pretty sure Chris and I went into this pub during a long weekend in June 2015 when we hiked the famous ‘Fairfield Horseshoe’, a challenging ridge walk from nearby Ambleside.
This is the great thing that I now write everything up in this travel blog! It helps me to remember the places we’ve visited and the details that are soon forgotten 🙂
We sat outside the Old Dungron Ghyll which made a lovely break between the morning walk at Tarn Hows and the afternoon walk through the Great Langdale Valley.
So… following our pub stop we walked through the valley with the steep craggy sides of some of the Wainwright Fells towering above on all around us.
We walked towards Mickleden Valley through emerald fields dotted with the golden flecks of millions of buttercups.
We crossed a small stream as the footpath continued towards a farm.
Behind the farm, about half of us continued up the lower slopes of a Wainwright called Harrison Stickle, which opened up spectacular panoramic views of Great Langdale Valley.
We didn’t climb too high before we returned to re-group and walk back through the valley to the cars.
As it was such a bright sunny afternoon we decided to make the most of the lovely weather and not to return to the holiday house too early… so we had another drink in the courtyard garden of the Old Dungeon Ghyll…
We popped into the Drunken Duck on the way back for one more drink to finish off our day!
The Drunken Duck has a few tables overlooking the nearby fells. This pub got its name from a Victorian landlady who had found her ducks lying outside at the crossroads. She started to pluck them, presuming they were dead, however it turned out they had been intoxicated by beer which had seeped into their feeding ditch!
While sitting outside the Drunken Duck, the sky became dark and before long the bright sunshine had turned to rain so as we had just about finished our drinks, it was time to head back… After a quick visit back to the holiday house, on this evening we went to the Poppi Red Bistro in Hawkshead.
Restaurants
Hawkshead village has a small number of restaurant options which get booked very quickly during the summer so its advisable to pre-book especially for a large group.
We try to keep things fairly flexible while on holiday however its sometimes good to have a meal in a local place so that nobody has to drive so we pre-booked for a couple of evenings.
For our first evening on the Saturday I had pre-booked a table for 7 in the Red Lion. Here I enjoyed the best seafood tagliatelle ever but unfortunately I didn’t take a picture. It was delicious with heaps of prawns, mussels and chunks of fish all in a tasty sauce.
On the Tuesday evening we had pre-booked a table in Poppi Red, a small bistro restaurant in Hawkshead. There was a bit of confusion over the booking but they were quickly able to accommodate the 9 of us. The food and service was good although my meal was on the small side and wasn’t anywhere near as tasty as the seafood tagliatelle I enjoyed in the Red Lion!
Some days we had lunch or dinner while we were out and just made our own breakfasts and snacks while in the house.
Accommodation
We stayed in Hawkshead Hall, a large semi detached Victorian house located just outside of the main village. There was plenty of space for our 5 cars and we were able to park alongside each other with nobody having to move their car for someone else to get theirs out.
With 5 dogs to accommodate we had found Hawkshead Hall from the ‘Dog Friendly Retreats’ website. The house was a decent size for our group and was just a 9 minute walk from Hawkshead village with its pubs, restaurants and handy Co-op.
On the Friday evening we had a memorable last night in the lounge where all of us spent the evening chatting, drinking Prosecco, eating crisps and nuts with a mediocre film on in the background… the film was called ‘Fall’ and was about two friends who decided to climb a huge 2000 feet high tower before disaster strikes…
Summary
This initial post is a flavour of the next few Lake District posts. Overall we had a fabulous holiday again and this time in a beautiful part of England rather than Wales. We were thankful that the weather was generally kind to us with ‘sunny spells’ throughout the week. At an average of about 18 degrees, it wasn’t exactly hot however for Lake District activities especially hiking, this was the perfect temperature.
frombluetogreen.com 