Scenically, the Lake District is as lovely as ever. But we have noticed some marked changes. In many ways, the area is a victim of its own success. Probably much exacerbated by the Covid pandemic.
Everyone is out to recoup money. Parking charges range from £5 – £9. It’s 50p to use the loo – and they brazenly admit that they will take credit card payment! Eating out is expensive and it’s often hard to find venues serving food. And if you want a cup of tea after 3pm, forget it (apart from at the National Trust cafe at the base of the Stickle Tarn path where they are happy to serve until 6pm!).
This is partly because of the dire shortage of affordable housing in the National Park (because ex-residents have sold out to wealthy incomers and second home owners or turned their homes into Airbnbs). But several potential employers told us that there is a general reluctance to go back to work after the pandemic restrictions. People have got used to excess leisure time and just don’t want to go back to 9-5 jobs (or 10-3 jobs in the case of tea-room employees!)
We had elected to stay at Laithes, just NW of Penrith – well out of the razz of the Lakes proper.
The Secret Garden at Pooley Bridge does a rather good breakfast right on the waters edge. So we starved ourselves the first morning and headed off for our morning feast. The quick way would be via one junction on the M6. But we want to avoid big roads so set the sat nav accordingly. We were soon shown our route to Greystoke …
No thank you so, staight on …
BMW – You have GOT to be joking! Greystoke is actually signed to the left here …
Got it at last! Just down the road. Don’t throw the hard copy maps away!
A quick deviation into Dalemain Mansion and Gardens for coffee …
… then on to Pooley Bridge. Easy parking on the street – miraculous! However it transpires that, because of staff shortages, they no longer serve breakfast. Also, as the waiting staff pointed out, because it was after 11am, breakfast would have been finished anyway, even if it had been on the menu! So, the waiting staff – all five of them – continued to wait with no customers to wait upon! Weird and mad!
Still, we had a free parking space for two hours so we walked along the East shore of Ullswater.
Past Gale Bay to Waterside House caravan park. Here we learnt from a couple of chatty caravanners that their waterside pitch was costing them £61 per night. They had a very nice view, but we won’t be enjoying it!
The Inn on The Lake at Glenridding is a superb location for teas, coffees, beers, snacks, lunches etc.. But we just hesitated there to admire the view of the lake from their back garden and to plot our walk up the opposite bank. The walk starts at Patterdale, crosses the Beck feeding into Ullswater up to Side Farm and turns left. For enthusiasts, it’s a mere 16 kms to Pooley Bridge. We didn’t get that far for two reasons. We are not that enthusiastic and we are not prepared to pay £7 to park for two hours!
The next day Ian and Lesley came to see us. Coffee at the caravan followed by a walk around Long Meg and her daughters. This is a stone circle comprising 69 standing stones in the middle of nowhere a couple of kilometres north of Little Salkeld and about a kilometre east of the River Eden.
It is acknowledged to be one of the finest stone circles in the north of England. It has a diameter of about 110 m, the second biggest in the country. Long Meg is the tallest of the 69 stones, about 4 m high, with three mysterious symbols, its four corners facing the points of the compass and standing some 20 m outside the circle. Ian launched his drone …
… to get a better view…
After a brisk walk around a triangular course with plenty of stinging nettles, we headed to the Fetherston Arms in Kirkoswald for their Pie Night. A huge range of pies – mainly with chips – available only on Thursday nights to those who remembered to book a week ahead! Which we had – even before we knew that Lesley and Ian were coming to visit!
Back home with the drone to get an alternative view of the campsite!
We decided to walk from the campsite the next day. The signpost for the first footpath was cunningly hidden behind a hedge. And after passing through a farmyard took us to a field full of inquisitive bullocks who challenged us to cross their field on the public footpath.
We didn’t. Back on the road we took the path marked the other way. After 5 m this led us to a gate taller than me with no obvious way of opening it. The neighbours paused their bbq to explain that we could open it from the other side, but that the “path” led to a set of stepping stones which had been below water level since they had moved in four years previously. Farmers around here are not keen for walkers to cross their land!
So, plans were made for a walk at greater distance on the remote Eastern edge of the Skiddaw Range (the Northern Fells). But first we had to get there. The final approach road was “gated”! Gated 50 times!! (Well, several times anyway!).
The target was the lane that runs beside the River Caldew from Mosedale End.
After two and a half miles the road peters out, via a very pot-holed section, into a walking trail into the largely unexplored interior of the Northern Fells. They were definitely going to remain unexplored by us! But at that point, the river runs through a series of pools which were being much enjoyed by youngsters (and not so youngsters) sliding down the “rapids”!
The bonus for us was that back where we parked the car there was a Friends Meeting House. This doubled as a charity tea room on weekdays, run by volunteers of the Northern Fells Group. This is a community charity which provides a variety of services and activities to help people live independently in rural areas. Excellent work – and, crucially important for us, it was still open and serving hot soup. It did seem a bit weird eating soup while perched on the Quakers’ uncomfortable benches!
But the soup was very good!
No visit to the Lake District is complete without a visit to Langdale. On the way, we hesitated in Grasmere to check out the art galleries and then took the back road to Elterwater. A very narrow and steeply winding road past the Youth Hostel. We were much looking forward to lunch at Chesters at Skelwith Bridge. The walk along Elter Water and the River Brathay is now a fully surfaced easy-access path.
Just before Chesters we passed Skelwith Force …
Probably not a good place for wild swimming! Sadly, when we got to the restaurant, the place was half closed. The restaurant was no more. The place now serves only takeaway food which punters can eat out of brown paper bags and plastic pots while seated in the “restaurant”. Not a good experience. And hopefully not a permanent one. They just need to find (and hire) a few more chefs. This is what I was talking about earlier! But at least we were treated to a great sunset back at base!
Because the way fuel prices are going, we are always on the lookout for bargain priced diesel. On the way towards the motorway, Glenda spotted a garage with what looked like a wildly attractive pricing strategy.
I wonder what the catch is! Ahh, yes. I see now. We are in a time warp!
I don’t think that filling station has sold any fuel in the last three years! As I write this, ASDA have started a price war, reducing their diesel by 2p per litre. Someone needs to deal with Putin. Surely there must be some sane, political leaders in Russia. Come on. Step up now!
Back to Cumbria… Another day we re-visited Ullswater, determined to do the walk from Patterdale which we failed to do the first time. But as we know the way and BMW doesn’t, we leave the sat-nav in park mode. As we skirted the lake (strictly speaking a “Water”) near Watermillock, we saw signs to “Another Place, The Lake”. I can’t quite come to terms with this modern trend of concocting multi-worded hotel names. However, I can overcome this problem for a swift look round, a wander down to their private lake shore and a potential coffee in their lounge! I’m easily bought! I must say it looks a very good (if very expensive) family resort.
Moving on, we get distracted again. This time by signs to Aira Force. Another waterfall we have not previously visited. The carpark was rather busy (well, they all are – I wouldn’t want to be here in the summer holidays). After a rather busy walk a mile up the hill, we were met by a sign saying that due to a land slip, the main viewing path is closed for remedial work. Excellent! Still we can just see the falls through the trees.
After that diversion, we hit Patterdale and located a free carparking space – free for two hours. That’ll do nicely. Plenty of time to do the planned walk.
And that is that. We are off to Cheshire tomorrow.
Beautiful scenery. Same challenges in UK as here. re. staff and petrol prices.