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 – […]
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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, […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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, […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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