The Lake District
I moved back to London after graduating, and the summer’s been a bit of a whirl of catching up with folk, working several jobs and doing all the artsy things I missed about this place. However, I was thrilled to have any opportunity to leave the city and a few days in the Lake District seemed perfectly.
We stayed in the Great Langdale Bunkhouse, and it proved to be another successful Airbnb experience. The place was nestled in the hills down several winding country lanes, which are absolutely terrifying to drive down! However, once we got there we found it to be modest and snug as we expected, little more than a place to rest our weary heads. There were some pubs and hotels nearby so it didn’t feel completely isolated.
We arrived on Sunday evening to a misty and rainy day, but even so Lake Windermere at Waterhead looked lovely. The first full day we took a short trail to Old Dungeon Ghyll and then drove to Ambleside, which was the nearest town. It was very quaint, with lots of pubs serving homey food and adorable gift stores with seaside fare. After buying our share of postcards, trinkets and fudge, we made our way to Hill Top, which was once the home of Beatrix Potter. This was absolutely adorable, a tiny National Trust site run by lots of children’s book enthusiasts who were knowledgeable about the local area. I know very little about Beatrix Potter, but I was read was ‘The Tale of Jemima Puddle Duck’ as a child. There lots of tiny people playing in the garden, where they continue to grow vegetables, and the house itself was everything a country cottage should be. From Hill Top, we took another trail up to a lovely church and through some fields. Recurring holiday themes were cows, sheep and hills. Although the morning had been misty and damp, it turned into a glorious day of blazing hot sunshine and cloudless skies. We took one last ramble that day around Lakeside, another wee pier by Lake Windermere where boat enthusiasts were salivating over some moored vessels, and swans were threatening to chase us.
The next day we went to Wray Castle, another National Trust site. It was surrounded by even more lovely scenery so we had a putter about before heading back to Langdale, where we were staying. We decided to go for another wander but ended up climbing part of the Langdale Pikes. The route is an extensive ramble across several areas, but everywhere offers breathtaking views of the Lake District.
On our final day, it was again glorious weather, so we stopped by Bowness-on-Windermere for a final few hours basking in the view before making the long journey back down to London.
