The subject of today’s blog post is a true gem, but also an unusual one in that it isn’t actually in the Lake District at all! When I last visited this place for myself, I thought what a wonderful stopping point it would make for those of you travelling north […]
Author: Janine John
Just for fun: Another Lake District picture quiz
Just over a year ago, I designed a little bit of a quiz based on places I’d visited around the Lake District (if you didn’t see it at the time, you can take a look here). I know that some of you really enjoyed it, so I said I’d do […]
The best of 2017 on the blog
It’s hard to believe that we’ve reached the end of 2017, but here we are! And as I’ve done in the past two years, I thought I’d take a brief look back at some of the best of the past year’s gem hunting on the blog… Most unusual gem This […]
Kendal’s sparkling Christmas Lights
The market town of Kendal is situated just south of the Lake District, and is the nearest main shopping town I tend to head to, living in the South Lakes. This year, when I’ve been out working in Kendal and Christmas shopping, it’s been really lovely to see all the […]
A low-level walk from Elterwater to Skelwith Bridge
If you’re looking for a pretty Lake District stroll, at low level and mostly on the flat, the walk from Elterwater to Skelwith Bridge is ideal. In fact, it has all the ingredients you could possibly want… a lovely view over Elterwater towards the middle of the walk, a waterfall […]
A Christmas celebration in Windermere
The weeks leading up to Christmas are crammed with festive celebrations across the Lake District, including markets, fairs, Santa boat and train rides, charity events, and Christmas light switch ons in several towns and villages. But so far in 2017, I’ve been so busy with work that I haven’t made […]
A farming gem in Windermere: High Lickbarrow
High Lickbarrow Farm is a traditional Lakeland farmhouse set in a peaceful location just outside the village of Windermere. A relatively new addition to the National Trust’s collection of Lake District properties, it’s also a very unusual one. Although it isn’t open to the general public in the same way […]
What happened next? The ‘Grand Designs’ Dome House in Bowness-on-Windermere
If you’re a regular viewer of Kevin McCloud’s Grand Designs on Channel 4, you may remember that a few years ago the show visited the Lake District to follow an unusual build in Bowness-on-Windermere. The end result was the Dome House, an intriguing home situated on Brantfell Road above the […]
Gummer’s How: A ‘mini mountain’ in the South Lakes
If you’re a regular visitor to the blog, you’ll already know that whilst I love the Lake District’s fells, I usually like to appreciate their beauty from a safe distance, rather than admire them by venturing to the tops! But earlier in the year, I got the taste for photographing […]
Coniston Power Boat Records Week
Autumn is well and truly upon us here in the Lake District, and one of my favourite places to photograph the colours is Coniston Water. Last year I took an autumnal tour of Coniston on board Steam Yacht Gondola to find some lovely photographic subjects, and a couple of weeks […]
10 reasons to visit Sizergh Castle near Kendal
I’ve visited Sizergh Castle many, many times over the years, but have stepped inside the castle itself just twice. That’s because there are a whole host of reasons to spend time at Sizergh that not everyone may be aware of (although visiting the castle itself is a good start!). Here […]
10 easy-to-reach Lake District viewpoints
One thing I’ve learnt about the Lake District over the years is that however familiar you think you are with a particular area, there’s always something just around the corner that you’ve not seen before – and then you get home and read about it in a guidebook somewhere and […]