Activities

Winter by the Water at Ullswater

April 2, 2013

Last week I drove to Glenridding, the popular village close to the head of Ullswater in the Lake District. After a walk up the hill behind the village and a retreat as the snow started to come down quite steadily, I decided to stroll along the lake to St. Patrick’s boat landing by the side [...]

Lake District Goings On

April 11, 2012

Recent news from around the Lake District includes a story in the Westmorland Gazette that the National Park Authority is now looking forward to further plans for the future of its Brockhole visitor centre by the shore of Windermere. Much has been done over the past year or so but we can look forward to [...]

Always Carry Identification When Up In The Hills

March 29, 2012

I spotted this item today on the site of the Pennine Bridleway National Trail. It’s so important that I’m sure they won’t mind my copying it in full: Its something that makes sense to most of us but we probably don’t all do it – when using the Trail please remember to carry some form [...]

At the sign of the “Map and Compass”

January 11, 2012

Pub signs have provided a way of navigating through the streets for many a century. Instructions such as “Turn left at the Eagle and Child” or “Bear right at the Dog and Duck” have been commonplace. Yesterday I wrote on our Lake District in Books site a short piece about Ordnance Survey maps. The response [...]

Splendid New Lake District DVD

November 17, 2011

Lake District Trails 1, features Mark Richards, the well-known broadcaster on BBC Radio Cumbria and author of many walking guides to the Lake Distrct and further afield. This first section of a week’s walk starts on the eastern fringes of the Lake District and has been named, “The Westmorland High Way”. “The opening sequence is [...]

Scenic Route Closed To Cars – Good Policy?

November 15, 2011

An article in yesterday’s Yorkshire Post reports the closure of a popular scenic route. Forestry chiefs have permanently closed a North Yorkshire road that regularly tops lists of the best drives in the country, to restore tranquillity to the picturesque valley. The Forestry Commission has announced it has closed a three-mile stretch of woodland road [...]

Some Places to Visit in the Lake District

October 28, 2011

[Updated from a 2008 post]In addition to the lakes themselves there is a wide variety of things to do in the Lake District. There are places to visit ranging from the literary connections of Dove Cottage at Grasmere (home of the poet William Wordsworth) to the practicalities (although also with artistic potential) of the pencil [...]

Return to the Eden

October 3, 2011

How good it is to be back in the Eden Valley after a week in Brussels. A string of lectures, project supervision and a panel debate with Euro-officials and politicians were hard work but very enjoyable, especially the days spent with a group of twentyfive wonderful 20-25 year old students from countries all over Europe. [...]

What to do in Keswick … Indoors.

July 19, 2011

Keswick is a marvellous centre for Lake District outdoor pursuits, but also there are things to do and to see under the cover of a roof. Today, following a morning at the Keswick Convention, I walked past three very interesting places (well, more really, but I’ll mention three) all very close to the centre of [...]

Lady Anne’s Way – Walking the Yorkshire Dales & Eden Valley

July 1, 2011

Recently I’ve made several references to castles in the Eden Valley, Cumbria, which were rebuilt or considerably restored by Lady Anne Clifford in the 17th century. There was a post about Brough Castle and also a quick photo upload of Brougham Castle by the River Eamont near Penrith. I’ve still to add others, especially Pendragon [...]

← Previous Entries