Loving the Lakes District

Bob and I had lovely weather for our 2.5 days in the Lakes District of England.  The Lake Distract Park is huge, so you can base a trip out of any number of towns.  We stayed at a little B&B (3 rooms) in Windemere in the southern portion of the park.  However, we enjoyed the communities of Ambleside, Waterhead, Bowness and Troutbeck, as well, during our stay.  Windemere is the busier town with a nice quay area for catching a ferry to get onto Lake Windemere.  It also has plenty of retail, dining, and supermarkets and made for a good base for our stay.  The first afternoon of our visit, we climbed up to Orrest Point for a lookout over the town before exploring some of the town’s other walking paths along the lake, near streams, and around town.  We loved the local architecture almost as much as the beautiful scenery.

For our 2 full days in the Lakes District, we walked to Ambleside (about 4.5 miles) and then did hikes from there and/or explored the town.  The first day we did a short hike to a waterfall once we got to Ambleside and then continued onto Wansfell Pike before coming down into the little community of Troutbeck before heading back into Windemere.  Bob had picked up a book with some detailed hikes, and we were surprised to see that it came with translations!  This proved useful as we were told to follow a “beck” but had to look that up to learn that it meant “stream.”

The next day we again walked to Ambleside and did another short hike before going to the Armitt Library and Museum to learn about Beatrix Potter.  What a renaissance woman!  She wrote, she illustrated (not just her books but also plants — specifically fungi), she was an amateur mycologist (fungi studier), and she raised and showed sheep (and did very well!).  She also bought about 8,000 acres of land in the Lakes District to donate to the National Trust to help preserve as park land.

After the museum, we continued to explore some fun Ambleside shops before heading back towards Windemere via Waterhead and a stop for some yummy English ice cream.

We are currently in the principality of Wales for a few more hours before heading out early tomorrow morning for a train to Moreton-in-Marsh, England for our next house sit.