Autumnal Scenes in the Lake District

In what was our first real holiday in the UK we ventured to the land of lakes, leaves and the retired for a week with the parents. Seb (stepfather) had calculated the precise time for the best of the autumn leaves to show so off we ventured to Keswick.

A 6 hour train trip up there took us to the gateway of the Lake District Kendal. From there we hired a car from the overenthusiastic 'Malc' and drove through to Keswick. We arrived on a rainy day (not an uncommon occurrence in the lake district- hence the lakes) but for the rest of the week the weather was perfect if a lot colder than London.
We stayed in a converted barn just outside of Keswick called Brackenrigg (which would have been great if not for the lack of heating, the awful bed and the strange emphasis put on the need for us to completely clean and scrub the place before we left, needless to say we would not recommend it). The area itself however was beautiful.

Paul and I after being away from the mountains for so long immediately took off up the nearest one and were rewarded with deer sightings which was quite exciting (though we later found out they were a bit of a ‘problem’ in the area). This was unfortunately to be the only wild life we would spot, if you disregard the stuffed Badger at the Badger Inn Pub. The Lake District is the home of Beatrix Potter and we were hoping that the elusive red squirrel (aka Squirrel Nutkin) would show himself, but this was not to be. The closest we got to a British wildlife encounter (excepting the deer) was throwing peanuts down what we thought was a Badger Sett (underground burrows where Badgers live). However, this was not to deter us and most days we climbed up various hills and mountains in the area and felt a little less homesick for it, as to some extent the mountain tops are like home especially with the beech tree forests, clear skys and grand vistas, excepting of course the large numbers of elderly or retired ‘ramblers’. To us, used to New Zealand outdoor activities we found rambling a strange pastime, not tramping, not hiking, really a kind of aimless wandering allowed by the fact that you can walk all over anyone’s land, it is pretty hard to get lost and the nearest pub is usually only a few kms away.

Mum and Seb took things a little more sedately and did various car trips and pub visits (much to Seb's pleasure). A daytrip to Durham cathedral was worth it (lovely building, but I think a passion for religious architecture is needed for true appreciation, something I feel I lack). For me the highlight was a visit to the arts and crafts house ‘Blackwell’, at Windermere; a stunning example of arts and crafts architecture, design, and workmanship. I would highly recommend a visit.

Food wise there were some great places. The best we went to was the Queens Head in a little village perched on the side of a valley in a place called Troutbeck. Fabulous food and a great pub atmosphere, with a roaring fire and all. The aforementioned Badger Inn was really quite nice too, and in Kendal itself the Dog and Gun lived up to its name with no less than 5 very large dogs in there at one time, but worth putting up with them for the food.

After a week in the outdoors it was pretty hard to come back to London to look for work etc, but we were really pleased to have had the chance to go to the area in Autumn when everything was looking so beautiful, and we had another week ahead of us of being spoilt by Mum and Seb.

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