They say a picture speaks a thousand words, so for this post I thought I’d let the photos do the talking and see if I can tempt you to visit the Lake District in the near future! For this post I set myself the challenge of including photographs containing views from throughout the year, which…
15 great places to stop for a brew in the Lake District
When I recently discovered that January is ‘Hot Tea Month’, I thought, now there’s a subject for a blog post! Although I’m not entirely sure how or where Hot Tea Month first came about – online sources seem to suggest it may have been the USA – here are some of my favourite stopping off…
Gem hunting in 2016: A look back at the last year on the blog
It’s that time of year again when our TV screens fill with reviews of the past year – the political, the surprising, the sad and the amusing. It therefore seemed a rather nice idea to take a look back over the last year of gem hunting, and revisit some of the standout moments from the…
A stitch in time: The story of Annie Garnett and her Bowness spinnery
Have you ever wondered why the recently opened Arts Bar and Grill in Bowness-on-Windermere was previously a restaurant with the name The Spinnery? It turns out there’s an interesting piece of local history behind the name. Blackwell, The Arts and Crafts House, just outside Bowness-on-Windermere, is currently running an exhibition about historic figure and talented…
Last minute Christmas gift ideas for people who love the Lake District
We all know that feeling. It’s edging ever closer to Christmas and, when it comes to present buying, you’ve still got your head in the sand… you’ve successfully ignored the advertising that has been hounding you since October, and you really don’t want to buy something that’s going to end up as unused clutter. But…
Vote for Lake District Gems in the UK Blog Awards!
It’s hard to believe, but Lake District Gems will be two years old in February – where does the time go?! If you enjoy visiting the blog, I would love it if you could take the time to vote for Lake District Gems in the UK Blog Awards 2017 – voting is now open until…
A house for all seasons: Blackwell, The Arts and Crafts House
At the end of the season, a number of the Lake District’s historic houses shut for the winter, however, Blackwell, just outside Bowness-on-Windermere, is an exception that is well worth visiting at any time of year. Blackwell is a famous example of a house from the Arts and Crafts movement, and was built in 1900…
10 things I’ve learnt whilst photographing the Lake District
I first got the inspiration to write this post when I’d been working from home for nearly a week solid (…the glamorous side of self-employment!). By that time I’d almost lost the ability to hold a conversation with another human being, so I took some time out to frequent myself with the outside world again…
10 great ways to find discounts during your time in the Lake District
There’s no doubt that the costs of holidaying anywhere in the UK can easily mount up if you take into account admission prices, food and drink, public transport and parking. If you know where to look though, there are a few things you can be doing to save those pennies on your visits to the…
A peek behind locked doors: hard hat tours at Wray Castle
My fascination with Wray Castle started back in September this year when I visited the inside of this enormous mock-gothic Victorian house properly for the first time. It was whilst writing about Wray that I then came across its November ‘hard hat tours’ and thought what a great thing they too would be to share…
Just for fun: A Lake District quiz
Occasionally I come across an image in my photo library and think, ‘that would make a good picture for a quiz! I wonder how many people would know where it was taken…’. So following this line of thought, here are 12 photos I’ve taken on my gem-hunting travels, some of which have appeared on the…
In search of autumn colour in Coniston
Back in the summer I visited Coniston for the first time in many years. I absolutely loved it, so promised myself that I would return to see its legendary autumn colours before the long dark nights of winter finally draw in! I usually find the BBC weather app quite accurate, but at the weekend it…
Wray Castle: The many lives of a grand Victorian estate
Wray Castle is an unusual National Trust property in that you are told not to expect to find a well-furnished, pristine historic country house on a visit here. Children will love Wray however, and outside of the school holidays, I think there is plenty of intrigue to make it a destination for people of all…
Lake District walks at low level: the best FREE sources of inspiration online
If you’re a regular reader of the blog, you’ll know that I’m not a fell walker, and that exploring the mountains isn’t something I aim to write about, even though they are an important and beautiful part of the Lake District (there are other great bloggers who do that, so I’ll leave it to the…
Windermere Jetty: a new Lake District gem due to open in 2017
If you’ve been visiting the Lake District for some years, you may remember the Windermere Steamboat Museum, which was situated on the eastern shore of Windermere, just outside the centre of Bowness-on-Windermere, on Rayrigg Road. I must have been really young when I last visited, but I do have a vague memory of wandering round…
A gem in the Coledale valley: Force Crag Mine
I first came across the Force Crag Mine processing mill on the National Trust website, and it looked absolutely fascinating. Situated at the head of the Coledale valley, the building can be seen from the outside at any time, but on just five dates each year volunteers from the National Trust open up the mill…
A Bathymetric Atlas of the Lake District
The Bathymetric Atlas of the English Lake District is a fascinating book representing the contours beneath the surface of the area’s many stretches of water
Brantwood, Coniston: A haven of peace and tranquility
Recently I wrote about my rediscovery of the Coniston area after not having visited for some years. I enjoyed the scenery from on board the National Trust’s Steam Yacht Gondola so much that I returned just two days later to visit another of Coniston’s local gems, Brantwood. Brantwood is a house and 250-acre fellside estate…
In pictures: The Tour of Britain 2016
Today, the Tour of Britain once again passed through the Lake District, this time setting out from Carlisle and finishing in Kendal, and climbing the fearsome ‘Struggle’ up to Kirkstone Pass! It was a shame that once the riders reached the South Lakes they were greeted with rain, but it didn’t stop a number of us from…
In Beatrix Potter’s footsteps at The Lingholm Kitchen and Walled Garden
If, like me, you’re interested in all things Beatrix Potter, the Lingholm Kitchen and Walled Garden at Portinscale – which is on the north-western shore of Derwentwater, near Keswick – should be high on your list of places to visit next time you’re exploring the Lake District. The main house at Lingholm was built in…