Miller Howe Hotel is a classic country house hotel with far reaching views overlooking the shores of Lake Windermere and set in five and a half acres of its own grounds, leading down to the lake.
Miller Howe offers friendly and professional service with high class accommodation and the kind of efficiency you would expect from a great luxury hotel. You will find the resident proprietors, Helen and Martin Ainscough, to be friendly and charming and always on hand.
The original house dates back to 1916 as a private residence, and was built to take advantage of the outstanding views. A Victorian commentator described that particular location as ‘a view unsurpassed for beauty in the whole Lake District’.
The house has been extended and refurbished to provide accommodation that is supremely comfortable without being pretentious. There are large airy rooms and large windows providing natural light. The lounges are tastefully designed and beautifully furnished and offer artistic surroundings with log fires and a grand panorama from the windows.
There are fifteen rooms to choose from, each individually designed, with its own balcony and view. The Lake View rooms have extensive views across Windermere towards the Langdale Pikes and beyond. The Miller Howe Restaurant provides a variety of classical and modern cuisine emphasising local produce, prepared to the highest of standards by Andrew, the resident chef, whose dishes have made him renowned in the locality. The excellent menu is complemented by an expansive wine list, with vintages from both from the old and new world.
Newstead Guest House is the place for stylish, modern luxury bed and breakfast accommodation. You will find it between Windermere village and Bowness in the heart of the Lake District. The property is a fine example of a traditional Lakeland stone Victorian villa, retaining many original features including the Victorian rose terrace, marble fireplaces, mahogany woodwork, and even its serving bells. It has been stylishly refurbished to provide all the modern comforts to ensure a comfortable and relaxing stay.
I particularly liked the elegant Victorian lounge and its graceful, comfortable furnishings and also the garden, which has an original Victorian rose terrace. The bedrooms, doubles and singles, some with four-posters, are all light and airy and tastefully decorated, each in a unique style, but with a common theme of elegance and comfort.
Great care and attention is paid to breakfast with freshly perked coffee, eggs from the local farm and locally cured bacon. Newstead is particularly convenient for the pubs and restaurants around, where a wide variety of menus are available for lunch and dinner.
The Beacon (Whitehaven CA28 7LY) is a fantastic modern museum, not one of those dusty old museums but a great place for all the family to enjoy. It is in the shape of a lighthouse, so it is called The Beacon, and was purpose-built for the 21st century.
There are five floors so we started at the top and worked our way down. At the top, you get a fantastic view of the town and harbour. There are powerful telescopes you can use to get a better view, and plenty of objects relating to the town and harbour of Whitehaven.
There are flipbooks about the town’s harbour and historic buildings, and a display and pictures, including the famous pirate, John Paul Jones, who attacked Whitehaven in 1778.
At the Mezzanine level is the Weather Zone, where you can learn about weather forecasting. The kids took turns in being TV weather presenters. Further down is an exhibition of thousands of years of local history with stone circles, local place names, forts, abbeys and castles. Look out for the early industries like salt making, farming and fishing.
Whitehaven used to be a major port with merchant ships bringing exotic goods from around the world – to get a feel for this, you’re allowed to handle the exhibits and there’s some Roman armour and other clothing that the kids can try on.
On the next floor down are changing displays of paintings, prints and photographs. Also, there’s a display about local industries and life in Georgian times. The kids can play hopscotch, bar skittles and dance around while discovering how folks had fun in days gone by!
When you reach the ground floor, The Beacon Shop stocks gifts and souvenirs of Cumbrian origin. Also you’ll find The Wellington Bistro with a great harbour side view, as a wide choice of menu and service geared up for young children. The whole place is very well organised and they’re fully equipped for people with disabilities. www.thebeacon-whitehaven.co.uk
Holker Hall and Gardens (Grange-over-Sands LA11 7PL) is one of the best stately homes in Britain, magnificently situated a short distance from Grange-over-Sands and the expanse of Morecambe Bay.
The house is set in exceptionally beautiful countryside with gardens that merge into parkland framed by the Lakeland Hills. It has been lived in by the Cavendish family since the beginning of the16th century and you can see memorabilia of the family going back centuries. In the library are 3,500 books including works of the distinguished scientist Henry Cavendish (1731-1810), who was the first scientist to accurately calculate the weight of the earth. His microscope and other pieces of equipment can also be seen here.
In the dining room, you can see paintings of members of the family. They are all Cavendish portraits apart from the Van Dyck self portrait over the fireplace. About the house there are also photographs of the family, including Prime Minister Harold Macmillan, who was related by marriage.
The furniture around the house is truly amazing. Amoing othere things, you can see an inlaid black polished limestone table, a Regency mahogany and satinwood desk, and a nineteenth century English table with carved sphinx supporting an Italian top made up from 120 different squares of marble.
There’s porcelain, silk tapestries, a Carrara marble fireplace, Hepplewhite sofas, a Chippendale silver table, paintings of landscapes and much more. In fact it can be difficult to take it all in at one visit; Holker is one of those places you’ll want to visit more than once to take it all in! www.holker.co.uk
Black Horses – Village Carriage Rides will take you round the picturesque village of Cartmel in the Southern Lake District. The carriages pulled by magnificent black Friesian horses can collect you from your hotel and take you on a tour of the village and the surrounding woodlands. Here’s a Lake District attraction ideal for horse lovers and all the rest of the family alike: fun, ecological, and different. www.blackhorses.co.uk
World of Beatrix Potter Attraction is where you can meet Peter Rabbit, Jemima Puddle-duck, Mrs Tiggy-winkle and all the other enchanting characters created by Beatrix Potter. They’re all here at the only Beatrix Potter themed attraction in the world, which includes all 23 Tales by Beatrix Potter, brought to life in a fairy-tale indoor recreation within the Lakeland countryside, complete with sights, sounds and even smells.
You can see Peter Rabbit in Mr. McGregor’s garden, meet Jemima Puddle-duck in the woodland glade and visit Mrs. Tiggy-winkle in her own kitchen. In the Miss Potter Room, you can discover the life of Beatrix Potter with a Virtual Walk display and a short film presentation. The “World of Beatrix Potter” can be found at Bowness: www.hop-skip-jump.com
Lakeland Maze Farm Park (Sedgwick) is a working maize field with a maze in it. Yes that’s right - this Lake District attraction is an amazing maize maze. It is like one of those old fashioned hedge mazes but with a crop instead of a privet hedge, quite complicated but lots of fun. We were in there for two hours but we got out without help although if you want to give up, the staff will help you! www.lakelandmaze.co.uk
Also in the Farm Park are lots of animals to see and feed. As well as cattle, sheep and various breeds of pig, there are llamas, alpacas with soft coats, pygmy and angora goats, horses and Winston the donkey. Maize flakes are available so that you can feed the animals, which makes it a perect day for the little ones.
Acorn Bank Garden and Watermill (Temple Sowerby) is a working watermill powered by Crowdundle Beck, surrounded by long-established gardens and fruit orchards. In the mill, you can watch the machinery turning while the guide tells you all about the history of the mill from grinding oats to powering the estate gypsum mines.
In the gardens, there’s a collection of 250 herbs, sheltered by high walls, where you can discover the fascinating stories behind the plants in the herb garden. In the orchard, there’s a garden pond with great crested newts; you can take the kids along the woodland walk, following the nature trail, spotting wildlife in the woods.
There is a fantastic view of the old sandstone house with the Eden Valley in the background. In the tea rooms, culinary herbs from the garden are used in soups and salads, and fruit from the orchards is used in cakes and puddings. Delicious! www.nationaltrust.org.uk
High Head Sculpture Valley (Ivegill) is an exhibition of sculpture in the open air. There are specially created trails which allow visitors to experience the true pastoral beauty of the High Head Sculpture Valley, and the views of the historic High Head Castle and the Lakeland fells.
Along the trails are works by Cumbria artist, Jonathan Stamper, who came up with the idea of an outdoor sculpture park on the outskirts of his dairy farm. His sculptures are inspired by the natural world but he also creates religious sculpture and figurative pieces. The piece that we liked best was ‘Flying Inside’, a series of 13 discs that form a trail. Each disc is a circle with a silhouette of a human body shape inside it. The work allows people to pass each disc with their arms outstretched. The artist says that the journey is reminiscent of childhood and replicates the movement children make when they are pretending to fly.
As well as sculpture, you will find an outdoor play area for the kids and the Tree Stump Shelter where parents can relax. There is also an indoor gallery with a changing exhibition of traditional and contemporary art including sculptures, paintings, photography and ceramics. When we were there we saw works by Carlisle based artist Mark Gibbs, who makes sculptures of forest animals such as wolves and reindeer. His work has been exhibited internationally and in 2010 he received an award at the Wildlife Artist of the Year Competition. www.highheadsculpturevalley.co.uk
The Gincase (Mawbray Hayrigg CA7 4LL) is a Cumbrian tearoom, arts & crafts barn, an art gallery, a farm park and an aviary, all rolled into one! The tearoom is set in the Gincase building, where horses used to grind corn by walking round, turning the grindstones. You can see the cooking range dated 1760 and many other interesting items that were used on the farm in times past.
The tearoom provides home baked items using traditional recipes and local produce, and also morning coffee, hot and cold lunches and afternoon teas. In summer, you can sit in the orchard garden, a quiet and beautiful unspoilt area.
The Craft Barn sells high quality Arts & Crafts made in Cumbria. The items on display include paintings, ceramics, woodwork, jewellery, textiles, metalwork, glasswork, pottery, needlework, willow work, greeting cards and all sorts.
Outside you will find the Farm Park with some unusual farm animals and poultry. You can take a walk around the paddocks and see animals kept on farms in times past. There are Shetland Ponies, Tamworth pigs, Angora Goats, Bronze Turkeys, Wensleydale Sheep and others. The kids liked Frankie the donkey and the younger kids particularly enjoyed feeding the tiny goats and lambs, and playing with the rabbits and guinea pigs. There is also a large walk through aviary, with many colourful birds flying around you – they’ll even feed off your hands! The environment incorporates a waterfall, trees and shrubs and has parrots, parakeets, cockatiels, budgerigars, pheasant, quail and tiny ducks. The whole family really enjoyed these birds with their amazing and startling colours. www.gincase.co.uk
Birdoswald Roman Fort (Gilsland CA8 7DD) is a great place to stop for a family day out. There are extensive remains of the Roman fort, which can be explored, and you can see the longest continuous remaining stretch of Hadrian’s Wall, a magnificent World Heritage Site. Along the wall are spectacular views of the IrthingValley towards the Lake District and you will see a plentiful variety of wildlife in this nature haven. The visitor centre shows 2000 years of history with interactive displays and artefacts and a model of the Wall at its full height.
And what will appeal to kids? (Well, boys anyway!) The fact that on some days they have a display of the massed ranks of the warriors of The Ermine Street Guard. You can witness the colourful and armed Roman soldiers as they practice their combat skills, battle tactics and artillery firepower. Also the kids can join the Imperial Roman Army and take part in the drill and training with sessions throughout the day!
When they’ve had enough, in the tearoom, you can try the locally made cakes or take in lunch or afternoon tea. www.english-heritage.org.uk/birdoswald-hadrians-wall
Low Sizergh Barn (Sizergh, near Kendal) is a working farm with a real-life farm trail, where you can see all the aspects of a modern organic farm. You start the trail at the barn, a Westmorland stone building dating from the late 18th century. Along the trail, you see where your food comes from, passing the cows, hens, vegetable plots and fruit trees in the orchard. You also see a huge variety of plant, animal and bird life, which changes with the seasons and co-exists with the livestock.
Along the 2 mile trail, you can learn about the environmental and how organic farming principles are put into practice. En route, we saw a flock of 700 laying hens which they say produce hundreds of eggs each day. There is an ancient hedgerow which is at least 400 years old and contains many species of wild plant. You can see swallows in the summer looking for insects in the cow pastures. We passed by an ancient woodland called Low Park Wood. Part of it has been coppiced, which is the traditional art of cutting back growth from tree stumps to produce straight poles.
In the wood are some magnificent mature oak trees. As the branches die, they are left on the tree to provide wildlife habitats as dead wood provides a food source for insects and nest material for birds. The farm relies on birds which are natural predators that feed on insect pests that can damage crops. The stone walls are a traditional feature of the area. These are over 200 years old and provide a habitat for lichens, lizards and ladybirds.
The farm has 150 Holstein and Swedish Red dairy cows, which are milked three times a day. If you come at the right time you can see it happen.
The trail leads past the vegetable fields and orchards where they produce half a million plants a year and grow over 60 varieties of fruit and vegetables. At the end of the trail is the farm shop, where you can buy the produce of the farm. They have fresh eggs, milk cream and cheese and seasonal fruits and vegetables. It is all reasonably priced too. We have a large family so we packed the car boot! www.lowsizerghbarn.co.uk
The Ravenglass & Eskdale Railway runs for seven miles, from the picturesque coastal village of Ravenglass, through two superb valleys, to the foot of England’s highest mountains. The trains are pulled by genuine small scale steam engines, some of ancient vintage. The line was originally a commercial railway which opened in 1875 and closed in 1913. They have several locos which haul the carriages along the 15″ gauge line. They are all original nineteenth or early twentieth century engines, although some have been revamped and modernised. There are three types of carriage, what they call the ‘breath of fresh air’ open carriages, practical open-sided ones and cosy covered saloons.
2011 is the 50th anniversary of the very-near closure of the Railway. Happily, it was saved, developed by enthusiasts, and recently purchased by the Wakefield Family of Kendal, under whom “L’al Ratty” has enjoyed some big advances. The old station at Dalegarth has been replaced by the new Fellbites Cafe, a Retail Emporium and an outside Play Area. There’s also a brand new cafe at Ravenglass called “The Turntable” and another outside Adventure Playground.
But for all the family attractions, you’ll mostly marvel at the little steam engines: River Irt, 117 years old; River Esk, approaching 90; River Mite, a mere 45 years old; and Northern Rock, built in 1976. The railway boasts modern facilities and an inbuilt love of heritage steam – but provides modern comforts for all visitors!
And the views! The Ravenglass & Eskdale Railway takes you on a seven mile journey from the coastal village of Ravenglass through two glorious valleys to the foot of England’s highest mountains. Along the route you travel through the Lake District National Park, away from the road system, and you experience scenery and a view of pretty villages not normally seen by the average visitor.
We started at Ravenglass at the west end of Hadrian’s Wall and visited the Roman remains before we took the train. The train travels from Ravenglass near the tidal Barrow Marsh, home to numerous birds, including oyster catchers and ringed plovers. We passed by Muncaster Mill, an old water-mill, now a private house and Miterdale, a haven for red squirrels and far away from roads and traffic. You can see the craggy Muncaster Fell and Rock Point, a place where the line swings around a rugged promontory high above the river and affording good views of the Scafell range.
Along the route we saw Saddleback pigs foraging in the Esk valley and lots of Herdwick sheep and some deer. We were told that sometimes buzzards circle in the sky. Near the end of the line, there is Gilbert’s cutting, well worth a photograph or two. The railway runs on a ledge above the valley road, passing the old quarry face at Beckfoot. The last section of the line takes a steep climb through Beckfoot Wood, full of wood pigeons and red squirrels. www.ravenglass-railway.co.uk
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