After the hustle and bustle of the weeks leading up to Christmas and New Year, it’s lovely to return to the quieter months of January and February, and to return to finding enjoyment in some of life’s simpler pleasures. And what could be simpler but more thoroughly enjoyable than a gentle Lake District walk followed by a leisurely pot of tea in a nice warm tearoom? If this idea appeals to you, here are some popular – and less well known – short walks with tearooms you may like to add to your list in the next few weeks and months. To…
Tag: Wray Castle
10 places to enjoy autumn in the Central and Southern Lake District
In previous years I’ve visited various parts of the Lakes in search of the best autumn sights, so here is a selection of just some of my favourite places at this time of year.
Things to do for free in the Lake District with National Trust membership
If you’re a National Trust member, there are a number of places in and around the Lake District you might consider visiting during your stay in the area. Most are included in the cost of annual membership, which could make membership worthwhile if you don’t have it already, and all are really worth seeing (note:…
27 things to do on a rainy day in the Lake District
One of the very first posts I wrote for the blog was a list of 10 things to do in the Lake District on a rainy day. We do get quite a few wet days here, but, as they say, the Lake District wouldn’t be the Lake District without them! Since writing that post however,…
Record-breaking Lake District: 17 intriguing facts
Every now and again I’ll hear an interesting fact about the Lake District and think, ‘Another record belonging to the Lake District – I should collect them for a post!’ Well, having gathered a few facts now, the time has finally come, and although I’m sure I’ll have missed many more along the way, here…
25 views to convince you to visit the Lake District
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 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…
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…
A look through the square window: Claife Viewing Station on the western shore of Windermere
Claife Viewing Station, on the western shore of Windermere, has been on my gem-hunting list for some time now. The remains of this historic viewing station were recently restored by the National Trust, and last weekend I finally got to see it for myself. According to the National Trust, Claife Viewing Station dates back to…
12 little-known facts about Beatrix Potter
2016 marks the 150th anniversary since Beatrix Potter’s birth, and whilst most of us are familiar with her beautifully illustrated children’s tales, there are many aspects of Beatrix’s life that are less well known. Sadly many of these wonderful facts weren’t included in the film ‘Miss Potter’. I think the film makers missed a trick…