Loweswater – One of the less-visited lakes

Many people today choose to look after themselves on holiday rather than stay in an hotel. There is an extensive supply of self-catering accommodation in Cumbria. Lake District cottages for rent are to be found throughout the region and provide excellent bases from which to go out and explore this beautiful part of the country which consists of far more than the traditional tourist “honeypot” towns and major lakes. The West Cumbria coastal region and the Eden Valley are just two examples of areas of both interest and beauty to which the majority of Lake District visitors never travel.

A Self-Catering Lake District Holiday? – Why?

Why rent a cottage rather than pay for a hotel? For some it might be cost. Even if the accommodation is not much different in price, you can control eating costs more closely – far fewer expensive meals out – and that can make a big difference to the total outlay for a week away. Yes, there is the downside of having to do the cooking and the washing up, and some would prefer to stretch the wallet to have that done for them, but there are other points to consider. With a holiday cottage there is much greater flexibility, especially if you want to bring along your children or your dog. Click here for details of the example above, Coachman’s Cottage, Witherslack.

Family Friendly Cottages

If you have children with you on holiday a cottage gives the benefits of more space, greater flexibility of timings (no need to worry about restaurant opening/closing times), choice and style of food, and no worries about noise or dress code. Most cottages come with a washing machine, so laundry is not a big issue if it’s needed. There’s no trailing a gaggle of muddy youngsters through a spotless hotel foyer to reach your room. Yes, provided you leave the accommodation as you found it on arrival you’re under your own control and don’t have to worry. So click here to see details of family friendly lake district cottages

Dog-Friendly Lake District Cottages

Another notable feature of Cumbria is the number of pet-friendly cottages. Lake District walks along the rivers and over the fells give wonderful opportunities to enjoy the company of your dog. Certainly there are many dog friendly hotels, and for some people these will be the preference, but self-catering accommodation gives much greater flexibility with no need to worry about the impact of your dog on other guests. The following link will take you to information on pet-friendly accommodation (because pet-friendliness is not limited to dogs).

Luxury Lake District Cottages

If you’re looking for luxury cottages Lake District villages have them. Cumbrian cottages are available in many different types, including for people who want that extra degree of luxury. Whether you’re spending your days looking at museums and historic houses or energetically clambering up the hills and over the fells, to return to a soak in a hot tub or to lounge in a comfortable armchair can put a nice finishing touch to a glorious day … or a wet one!

As elsewhere, Lake District cottage rentals vary widely. In addition to quality which is often indicated by a star rating (from one to five) location is a significant factor. The time of year also makes a big difference. An August holiday in a well-appointed property convenient for major places of interest is going to cost more than basic accommodation intended primarily for walkers at a remote location away from the main Cumbrian holiday centres out of season. Click here or on the picture for details of Bay View, Ulverston, or at this link you can browse through more luxury cottages in the Lake District.

Cheap Cottages in Lake District and Nearby Locations

In these days of financial constraints you might be asking, “Are there any cheap cottages?”. Lake District towns and villages do, yes, have accommodation lower down the price range. “Cheap cottages“, though, should not in any sense be taken to imply “substandard”. It is simply that the properties may not have all the facilities and decor that you could expect from a higher priced cottage. In some cases they may also be a little further away from the major tourist centres.

More Examples of Lake District Holiday Cottages

The photograph here shows a cottage (Water’s Edge – single bedroom first-floor apartment) in the small hamlet of Garnett Bridge at the foot of the Longsleddale valley. Although only a few miles from Kendal you might as well be on a different planet. This is wonderful secluded countryside with splendid walking opportunities away from the busy streets of the tourist towns.

In marked contrast is this Keswick “cottage” (Ptarmigan House) with six bedrooms on three floors and close to the popular centre of one of the busiest Lake District towns by the shore of Derwentwater. This kind of self-catering accommodation is ideal for a large or extended family holiday. Keswick is very convenient for the Western areas of the Lake District (including Buttermere, Crummock Water and Loweswater), for the West Cumbria coast and for Ullswater and the Eden Valley to the east.

There is tremedous variety in Lake District self-catering cottages. Short breaks can be booked at many of them as well as full weeks, although these will often be easier to find outside the peak season.

Renting a self-catering cottage implies the wish for a kitchen, and today’s holiday cottages are usually well-provided for in this respect. Most advertised cottage details include a photo of the kitchen. This example is at one known as “Milkmaid’s Parlour” at Cartmel near Grange-over-Sands, just outside the boundary of the National Park.

An Oft-Forgotten Aspect of Responsible Visiting

In closing we must mention a practical point about self-catering supplies, such as food and household incidentals. In some areas of Cumbria there is now a problem with the high proportion of holiday cottages. Lake District visitors tend to be concentrated into the middle of the year and local families who would be there all year round often cannot afford the inflated property prices. As a consequence local businesses close. On this site we frequently appeal to visitors renting Lake District cottages to please patronise the village shops and other local businesses rather than driving miles to a supermarket, or they may no longer be there on a later visit.

More Lake District Accommodation

For pages on other types of accommodation in the Lake District. Hotels, B&B, camping, already are or will shortly be covered in our Lake District Directory. Click here for Lake District Accommodation.

From the end of October (Yes! that’s this month!) travelling by coach around England will become costlier for many people. Over 60s won’t benefit any longer from the government supported fare reduction scheme for the elderly and disabled. The “coach concessionary discount scheme” which currently allows people over 60 or with a disability to travel by coach for up to half price is being discontinued.

However, there is some good news. You can still use the scheme provided that you book by midnight on 31 October 2011 and will be travelling on or before 31 August 2012.

So if you’re planning a break, or visits to family, before the end of August next year and are thinking of travelling by coach make sure you click on either the banner at the head of this article or on the link here to book with National Express.

August 31st is well after the end of the holiday season for many over-60s so your holidays next year to the northern national parks, the Lake District, the Yorkshire Dales, Northumberland and the North York Moors can still include savings on the coach fares – providing you book by 31 October 2011. So book now at National Express.

Don’t delay! From October 31st it will all change – National Express.

There are wild places, described by poets, painted by artists and loved by country walkers which must be protected for future generations to enjoy. I suspect that most readers of Around-England will have no difficulty in agreeing with that statement. I fear, however, that this post may lose me some friends as I consider the question, “But does that mean they must be preserved just as they are?”

There is a majesty to the wide open moors and mountains, not forgetting the rivers. Wordsworth wrote glowingly, “Duddon! as I cast my eyes, I see what was, and is, and will abide; Still glides the Stream, and shall for ever glide.” Beautiful words! And beautiful landscapes must be protected. Furthermore, wildlife habitats need to be guarded from wanton destruction, especially where there is something rare or unusual, or endangered.

The North of England is well provided with National Parks (four of England’s ten), Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (seven of England’s thirty-four), and many Sites of Special Scientfic Interest. To this list one should add bodies such as English Heritage and The National Trust. All of these in their different ways provide protection for some of the most glorious areas of our land. I’m a great admirer of so much that they do.

My question, however, is about balance and competition. It is about striking a balance between environmental protection and economic sustainability for both present and future populations. It is also a competition of contrasting philosophies and the aspirations they generate, between the desire to protect the countryside from severe change and a wish to prevent almost any change at all. In other words we have to ask, are our beautiful areas to survive comprehensively as human habitats or only as landscape museums which reluctantly tolerate the presence and activity of people?

Wordsworth again conjured up deep emotions when he referred to Kirkstone Pass as, “These fraternal hills where, save the rugged road, we find nor hint of man;” poetic, but not accurate. The landscape even in his day had been substantially shaped by the activity of humans and their sheep for centuries, and we do well to remember this.

My interest in this dilemma dates back to the early 1980s when as a consultant I worked on economic development issues in the northwest and from time to time specifically on tourism. I quickly concluded that the concept of “sustainability” was often being promoted in far too narrow a sense, forgetting the need for the economic sustainability without which in the long term the environmental aspirations will become unattainable.

Cumbria, including the Lake District, was an industrial county for centuries before tourists arrived. Windermere and Coniston were commercial waterways carrying not only woollen and wooden products but also materials extracted from the fells and mountains south to other parts of England and further afield. Ambleside was an industrial village, Stock Ghyll driving many a water wheel. Coniston Old Man was the site of copper mines and slate quarries. Graphite was mined in Borrowdale, firstly for military purposes and then for pencils, and many other rare elements were extracted from the Cumbrian hills.

Could the Mines Royal ever have opened if the present-day environmental protection system had existed then. (Or would the first Queen Elizabeth, aware of the severe economic challenges to her country, have overruled the objectors?) Could the dry stone walls, one of the glories of the northern upland landscape ever have been built, or would they have been viewed as a creeping fungus, blotting the otherwise “pristine” landscape. Even earlier, could Herdwicks and other hardy breeds of sheep ever have been introduced if viewed as non-native species threatening to change for ever the vegetation of the fells?

Today we view the relics of old industry as attractions, and cover them with protective regulation. Yet we block so much 21st century development as inappropriate. Is there not sometimes a degree of hypocrisy in promoting the ruins of industry from the 19th century and earlier as part of an interesting visitor experience in industrial archaeology, and yet objecting to far less dramatic change in the 21st?

Tourism was a relative late-comer to the North of England, but a very welcome one economically as traditional industries faded. Initially it was genteel tourism, the well-to-do wondering at the fearsome mountains. The introduction of popular tourism was resented and resisted by the well-heeled, but it was unstoppable. Down the years it has, of course, changed. The development of more indoor attractions, for example, has made it possible to lengthen the season. It must continue to change so as to keep up with changing patterns in society.

I cannot help wonder, however, whether far-future generations of archaeologists will look at the landscapes of our national parks and hypothesise that they must have been almost evacuated for a couple of centuries because they can’t find much that doesn’t look like a tidied up version of the 19th or earlier?

Having no doubt upset quite a number already I’ll now move on to popular campaigning. On this topic I do know what I’m talking about having been Deputy Chairman, 2000-2005, of the UK chapter of a major international campaigning body, Transparency International. I well recall having to work hard to curb overenthusiasm. A particular type of oil-related payment to foreign governments was often being diverted into the private pockets. Some newspapers then branded the oil companies’ payments as themselves being corrupt. They were not. It was the diversion, the theft, that was criminal. To make my point I recall once, at a meeting organised by the World Bank, deliberately sitting at the table with an American oil company executive rather than with others of the NGO group so as to emphasise that responsible advocacy must be scrupulously honest and fair. Campaigners should not be emulating sensationalist journalism.

What does this have to do with envirnomental protection in National Parks and AONBs? Just this, that campaigning can become excessive. Enthusiasm can take over from good sense, and sometimes even from honesty. High profile campaigns frequently go further than the facts can support. In my 1970s book on business ethics (Ethics in Organizations, Kogan Page, 1997) I used a then current example of an environmental campaign in which pollution figures were grossly distorted. Eventually there was an admission, but never an apology. Seemingly the misrepresentation was considered to be justified by the cause. This is not to claim that deliberate lying happens frequently, but sometimes enthusiastic exaggeration can be almost as bad.

Yes, the natural habitats of rare species need protection but that is not to say that nothing must ever be allowed to change within the area concerned. The question should not be, “Will this development have any adverse impact on the habitat?” It should rather be, “Will it have an adverse impact and if so, to what extent and over what timescale?” Proportionality in judgement must win over absolutism.

Inevitably from time to time one hears the cry, “These developments are just about making private profit,” or “Public interest must win over commercialism.” I could go on at length about the nonsense too often talked about the glorious “virtues” of public organisations versus the alleged “evils” of the private sector but will resist the temptation … except to say that I hope the people who object to private sector profit intend to refuse their pension payments when they come due. Where do they think the money comes from?

I’ll return now to tourism. The industry has changed over the years, and must continue to change. The season in Northern upland areas is short. It has improved but much more needs to be done. What is more, the age-profile of visitors must be broadened. This year, since moving back to live in the county of my birth, I’ve had the opportunity of moving around many of the tourist areas. This is admittedly an unscientific impression, with no detailed statistical analysis, but it seemed very clear to me that even during the main school holiday period there was a preponderance of the over-50s. Now I’m well past that point myself, so I’m not arguing for an over-50s quota system, but much more must be done to bring in the 20s and 30s, and in addition to the traditional attractions of the countryside this inevitably must mean developments in the tourism product.

What is so special about keeping things looking like they did two hundred years ago? Hmm! Well! Sometimes it is difficult even to get permission to reinstate things as they used to be. A few years ago, in another part of the country my wife and I moved into a converted barn. The main part of the building dated back to the mid-1700s. The man who had converted it into a house ten years earlier had a lengthy bureaucratic battle over the rules of the conservation area. He wanted a brick-built chimney on the back of the house to allow for a solid-fuel burner in the large entrance hall. Refused! Why? Out of character with the area! After a considerable amount of argumentation he finally obtained a nineteenth century photograph showing the barn. And what was on the back of the building? A brivk-built chimney. He won his appeal.

The 1920s Lancaster Aerial Flight, Honister (Photograph courtesy of Honister Slate Mine)

I am so glad that the Ravenglass and Eskdale Railway, now one of the Lake District’s major tourist attractions, was converted from an industrial line to a tourist experience more than sixty years ago. If it had closed and reconstruction of the line from Ravenglass to Dalegarth up Eskdale toward Scafell Pike were proposed today I can well imagine the furore that would result, with arguments about the desecration of the fells.

I am fully aware that this is a complex question. Ever since my involvement in issues affecting the economic prosperity of this region back in the 1980s I have, however, been convinced that the remit of the UK’s national park authorities is skewed in an unwise direction. There should be a much better balance between economic prosperity and environmental conservation.

No, I am not advocating a free-for-all. There are beautiful landscapes and important habitats to be protected. From time to time insensitive development unfortunately is allowed in beautiful areas. Whoever could claim that the view over the Solway Firth from Maryport has been enhanced by the windfarm on the other side of the water? Yes, things do sometimes go wrong , but the answer is not to swing to the opposite extreme. There is danger also in the use of emotive phraseology such as, “The thin end of the wedge,” or “Give them an inch and they’ll take a mile”, or “Setting a dangerous precedent”.

Striking a sensible balance is not easy (dilemmas never are) but if protection is allowed to go too far and to turn into the preservation of a landscape museum then the viability of the region as a home for future generations will be put at risk.

The header photo of this blog shows Ullswater in the summer time. I took it myself three or four years ago during an beautiful week with my wife on a campsite by the lakeside near Pooley Bridge.  January and February are not, of course, the months for camping holidays unless you’re really into toughing it, but that does not mean you have to give up on Ullswater’s possibilities.

During January and February 2011 (except for Valentine’s weekend) Macdonald Hotels have a special offer of  B&B at only £39 per person per night at the Leeming House.  What’s more, if you want to book for dinner also, DBB will be only £49.

This 200-year-old country house is set in more than 20 acres of gardens and woodland on the shore of Ullswater and  has great views over the lake, and yet is only about fifteen minutes drive from the M6. So it’s easily accessible and, just in case you insist on combining business with pleasure, there’s wireless internet available during your stay so you’re not shut off from the wider world.

For all the details, terms and conditions, and to book, click here or on any of  the links in the body of this post.  Don’t delay.  The offer closes on Monday, 20th December.

Oh, and by the way, although I’ve focused here on Ullswater and the Leeming House, when you click through to the Macdonald Hotels site you’ll see that the same offer is available at many other locations around the country.

The Westmorland Gazette reports that plans are afoot for major changes to the provision of tourist advice in the Lake District.

Several existing advice centres are to close and in future it looks as though information provision will increasingly have to be funded by the tourist industry. I’m not going to express an opinion on the proposals as I have not been able to look at them in any detail. However, I hope that, whatever is eventually decided, there will continue for years to come to be adequate access for Lake District visitors to reliable advice in a wide range of locations.

New £300k plan to provide Lake District tourist advice centres
MORE than £300000 could be made available to help set up new tourist information facilities across South Lakeland.

Yesterday, 2nd November, the Lonely Planet Travel Guide company published its “Best of Travel 2010″ listing.

The English Lake District feautures as one of only two European regions in the Top Regions part of the listings.

Those of us who know and love the Lake District are not surprised that the listing is merited, but gratified that its excellence has been recognised in a global context. With its combination of outstanding landscapes, history and culture where better to visit in the British Isles than the Cumbrian lakeland.

Over the past thirty years of driving up to Whitehaven, I’ve often looked across the valley to Muncaster Castle on the hillside above the River Esk not far from Ravenglass. Last week, though, I had reason to stop there. On my way north in the morning, and looking for somewhere to spend the night before driving back south, I spotted a B&B sign outside the gate to the castle’s plant centre.

Muncaster Castle west front, c1955
Reproduced courtesy of Francis Frith.

During a long career I’ve spent much of my time out and about around the UK and further afield, staying overnight in everything from country village pubs and b&b acommodation to five star hotels. Rarely, however, have I experienced B&B to the standard of Muncaster Castle “Coachman’s Quarters”. I was welcomed warmly by the ladies in the office, and having been shown around and booked my room I drove on past Ravenglass to Egremont, Whitehaven and Workington before returning to Muncaster in the evening.

The room itself, with en suite shower room, was comfortable and scrupulously clean (and with a plentiful supply of tea and coffee – a key point with me). The substantial cooked, “full English”, breakfast with lots of options was just what I like when away from home. The accommodation can also be booked for self-catering, and there was a well-equipped kitchen and dining area just down the corridor from my room. I could have used it if I’d wanted (and had the food with me). My preference though was to sit back with a book in the comfortable armchairs of the spacious lounge which, being a winter night with few people travelling in this area, I had entirely to myself.

The castle and gardens are not open to visitors at this time of year (see correction in the comments below), so in the morning before heading south to my next appointment I did a small detour down to the coast to visit the famous narrow gauge Ravenglass railway. Sadly, being out of season there was not a puff of smoke or jet of steam to be seen but it was pleasant to cast my mind back to my first visit as a child with my grandfather almost sixty years ago and a later visit in my early twenties to introduce my fiancé to this less well known part of the Lake District.

Well that’s enough maudlin diversion; let’s get back to today! If you’re en route to the West Cumbrian coast or visiting the Western Lakes you’ll find it hard to get better b&b than the Coachman’s Quarters at Muncaster Castle – or close by take a look at Muncaster Country Guest House.

See also: Where to go on the West Cumbria Coast

Updated November 2011

My wife and I have just returned from another expedition to the English Lake District, this time to the southern lakes. We camped near the foot of Coniston Water with the intention of building up a better collection of photos of the Crake valley as well of the Coniston and Hawkshead area.

Well, things didn’t turn out quite as planned.  Several days and nights of frequent rain storms hampered the photography.  In spite of the damp, though, we had a great time and the limited number of good photos this time has the advantage of requiring another trip in the not too distant future.

Hill Top and Hawkshead – Beatrix Potter

On Friday we decided to have an indoor day and to visit the Beatrix Potter sites.  Why didn’t we take our National Trust handbook with us?  It would have told us that Hill Top is closed on Fridays.

I really don’t understand this.  Certainly the property has to be protected against too much visitor stress, and limitations on the number of visitors per day are fully justifiable, but closing the region’s leading attraction on a weekday during the height of the visitor season is beyond my comprehension.

Initially my frustration was personal, but of course as a member I ought to have checked my handbook.  However, a large proportion of visitors are not members and would never imagine that such an important site would be closed.  Sitting in the car eating an egg sandwich before driving back to Hawkshead I watched car after car arriving, unloading children.  They would walk cheerfully as far as the “Closed today” notice board only to return dejected, almost tearful, anticipation squashed.

“Never mind,” parents were probably saying, “there’s the Beatrix Potter gallery in Hawkshead.  We’ll go and see Peter Rabbit there.”  Hmm!  If I don’t fully understand the closure of the house, I certainly don’t understand at all the mentality of closing both of the Beatrix Potter locations on the same day of the week.  This is just incomprehensible.

We did eventually get to Hill Top the following day, and enjoyed it.  I am an admirer of the National Trust and its work, but do believe that it needs to give much more serious thought to its closure policy. at least during July and August, when so many children are being sent away disappointed from both places – not to mention the thousands of gallons of petrol being burned up each year on these fruitless trips along the country lanes; should this be added to the Trust’s carbon footprint?

The above photograph, taken last Saturday, shows the house as it is today, dressed in its summer greenery. This, however, is not as Beatrix Potter bought it. She added extensions to the original property. She was not a preservationist of the type that insists on keeping everything unchanged. She knew that one has to move with the needs of the times.

In this case, she wanted to install a farm manager so built the extension wing visible on the left of the photo to house him and his family (this part is not open to visitors). Internally, as well, she made changes. The sophisticated fire surround in the parlour was the first that I noticed; not at all typical of a small Lakeland farmhouse and apparently installed by Beatrix Potter after buying it at a local sale. She also added a room in which to hang some of her brother’s paintings. Preservation and progress were equal constituents of this phase of Hill Top’s development.

- David Murray -
England’s Lakes

What is now the Keswick Country House Hotel was originally built by the company that in 1865 launched the Cockermouth, Keswick & Penrith Railway. As their new railway line into the northern Lake District replaced the previous three-hour (minimum!) journey from the Penrith mainline station by horse-drawn coach, the tourist trade expanded rapidly. A new hotel was needed alongside the station. A hundred and forty years later the hotel has adopted twentyfirst century standards while the station house now houses several executive class rooms as an extension of the hotel. The trains stopped coming to Keswick more than thirty-five years ago.

Last night while searching through a pile of old Lake District brochures in my study, looking for something entirely different from what I eventually found, I came across a book I’d forgotten about but which I presumably bought on a visit to Keswick some years back. It kept me up late reading. Here it is, a fascinatingly detailed account of the history of the railway line that ran east to west across the northern lakes area.

I’ve created a page about it on our English Lakes site with the title, “By Train to Keswick“, but if you really want to know more about this piece of Lake District history, click on the book here to see whether there’s a copy available from Biblio.com. Alternatively, try Amazon.co.uk.

Note: This book seems now to be quite rare. Shop around between the two sources here, as each will probably list several alternative book dealers – and prices tend to vary widely.

- David Murray -
England’s Lakes

It seems that the predictions of British people holidaying in our own islands this year are coming true. For several decades the lure of reliable sunshine in Spain and elsewhere in the Mediterranean has been a greater attraction than the beauties of the English coastline or the grandeur of the Scottish and Welsh mountains. The same has been true to a lesser extent with respect to the Lake District although this has continued to be a favourite domestic destination.

Wastwater, from Strands
by A. Heaton Cooper,c.1905

The ever-present possibility (or more) of experiencing the rain which is at the root of their attractiveness is something of a turn-off for many; we like our lakes and streams, and the green grass, but we’d rather it rained at a different time or on someone else.

This year, however, although our pounds will still buy more dollars than has been usual for many years, the euro is even stronger, and therefore holidaying in the euro-zone becomes more expensive. Add to this the rapidly escalating price of oil and therefore of long-distance travel, and holidays in the home-country begin to have an economic attraction once again.

I hope the Lake District benefits from this, although I also have some other hopes, including that the increased load, if it fully materialises:

1. will be spread across the region and not concentrated too much in the “honey-pot” locations of Bowness, Ambleside, Grasmere and Keswick; there are so many other wonderful places to visit around Cumbria;
2. will include a large proportion of people moving around responsibly on foot over the hills, and not merely burning up the fuel on the Lake District roads that they’ve saved by not flying to Majorca.

If you’re thinking of the Lake District for either a long or short break this year, take a look at Coniston Water, Ullswater and Wastwater. And scan the National Trust web site for further ideas as to locations.

- David Murray -
England’s Lakes