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…

Happy birthday Beatrix! A celebration video from the Lindeth Howe

Today is 150 years to the day since the much celebrated children’s author Beatrix Potter was born, and to celebrate, a short film has been created to imagine how she would have spent the day. The video, which is six minutes long, has been created by a group of local film makers and photographers, led…

Pictured in bloom: Stagshaw Gardens, Ambleside

In a recent post, I visited the National Trust’s Stagshaw Gardens, near Ambleside, for the first time. Stagshaw Gardens is very much a spring woodland garden, with a host of camellias, azaleas and rhododendrons and other woodland planting, and although it was beautiful, it turned out I had visited a little too early and the…

Garden heaven at Holker Hall, Cark-in-Cartmel

If you visit the blog on a regular basis, you’ll know that I love to visit gardens, but despite having been to Holker Hall and the annual Holker Garden Festival on several occasions, I’d never actually visited the gardens until last weekend. I expected the gardens to be good, but didn’t realise just how much…

A secret haven near Ambleside: Stagshaw Gardens and Skelghyll Wood

You can also see more recent images of the beautiful Stagshaw Gardens in a further post, Pictured in Bloom: Stagshaw Gardens, Ambleside. I’ve been looking forward to visiting Stagshaw Gardens near Ambleside for some time now, and it turns out the garden really is a hidden gem. Owned by the National Trust, Stagshaw isn’t particularly…

Nine beautiful pictures of the Lake District in snow

Regular readers of the blog will know that I’m not that keen on snow – mainly for practical reasons, like staying on my feet! But there’s no denying it does look beautiful. Here are a few snaps I got first thing this morning of Windermere (and so far so good with walking in the snow,…

How does your garden grow? Images from Holehird near Windermere

As I’ve mentioned in one of my previous blog posts, probably my favourite garden in the Lake District has to be Holehird Gardens just outside Windermere. There is just so much to see at any time in the season – the gardens are peaceful and welcoming, the views are outstanding, and there are some great…

Your ultimate Lake District reading list: novels set in the Lakes

Whether you’re relaxing outside in the holiday sun, or snuggled up warm on a dark winter’s night, there’s nothing quite like the company of a really good fiction book. But, as this is a blog about the Lake District, did you know that the area has inspired quite a few novels of its own? Here…

Troutbeck Garden Trail 2015 in pictures

Thankfully the weather was dry for the 2015 Troutbeck Garden Trail, and the sunshine even made an appearance in the afternoon. Instead of writing about the trail, I thought I’d pick 15 of my favourite photos to share with you. They were quick snaps taken using my camera phone, and although I’ve still not learned…

Keeping up with the Joneses at Townend, Troutbeck

Townend, a National Trust property in Troutbeck, is one of those places that I’ve known about for years, but had never actually visited. Since starting my blog, however, I’ve been on the lookout for fun and unusual things to see, and my interest was piqued when I noticed an appeal for a rather unusual voluntary…