I can’t remember a time when I didn’t know about the Lake District, living as I do in the North West. From childhood adventures to school trips, it was one of the first places I took Mark to when we came up to visit my parents and we were living in London. But never has there been a time that I have loved it more than the last few weeks, as stunning as Italy, as friendly as Turkey and yet as uniquely British as the Cotswolds. In a world where international travel is getting increasingly difficult its an absolute godsend to have paradise an hour away and should definitely be on everyone’s UK bucket list.
One word of warning. In my opinion the Lake District is wonderful on all days apart from rainy days. Check the weather forecast before you book!
Grasmere Gingerbread
There are so many wonderful parts of the Lake District but we tend to explore Ambleside and Grasmere. You really can’t go to Grasmere without visiting the Grasmere Gingerbread Shop which sells a unique recipe first made in 1854 by a cook called Sarah Nelson. The Gingerbread is spicy and buttery and very moreish. I have remembered it since I was 11 years old on a school trip and I return whenever I can.
Covid means that the shop has extra protection in place and there is always a queue but the end result is still very charming and the smell of the gingerbread wafts through the queue as a major incentive. While I was queuing Mark and the children found the grave of the poet William Wordsworth and a daffodil garden behind the old white building of the shop. Its just charming (also the hand gel they make and sell is the only hand gel I have found that doesn’t smell horrible – it smells of gingerbread!).
Boating on Windermere
I can’t recommend the idea of boating on Lake Windermere highly enough! The little electric motorboats are super fun and easy to drive and you can hire them for one hour of two (one is enough with small children but two would be awesome if you were in a couple or with older people).
A boat on Lake Windermere is a magical thing, but if you have read Swallows and Amazons by Arthur Ransome then it becomes a whole different childhood fantasy in which you are called Captain and First Mate and Able Seaman and there is much talk of natives and pirates! To my delight Penny has been reading an Arthur Ransome book (set in the Lake District) and so was fully into the adventure. Even if the books are not something you know, you couldn’t find a better place to play pirates; Freddie told me he was fishing for mermaids.
Books and Shells
There are some gorgeous independent shops in Grasmere and Ambleside and my two favourite are the Book shop and the shell shop (which is just by the lakeside in Ambleside). I took Penny to the bookshop as she had just finished her current book called Winter Holiday by Arthur Ransome (I had lent her my old copy which is all about being in quarantine (mumps) and not being able to go to school). I was so excited to buy her another book in the same series called Swallows and Amazons which is set in Windermere and I don’t think the lake has changed much since was written.
The North Pole
You will have to forgive me for the sentimentality here. There is a sweet little park in Ambleside right by the waters edge. You remember that Penny had been reading a book called Winter Holiday by Arthur Ransome? Well, it was a big favourite of mine as a child and also of my late sister. In the book the children take a trip across the frozen lake to the ‘North Pole’ and so I could believe my eyes when Penny and I found the very spot of the North Pole of my childhood by accident! I felt very deeply that it couldn’t be a coincidence and that someone or something guided us there. I cried. It was magical.
On a less sentimental note – this is one of the prettiest parks I have ever been to. Take a picnic and stay for an hour of two!
On the Waterfront
One of my kids most favourite thing is to play by the lake side and to get an ice-cream. It requires no effort (beyond keeping an eye) and has the most magical effect. There is something very calming about the water and there are little beaches and exciting piles of drift wood to fire small imaginations. Some days you just have to turn up and adventures will find you!
I am not sure how to explain the Lake District… yes there are lovely pubs, boats to hire and ice creams to eat but… there is so much more than that. There are adventures and secrets… there is the purest of childhoods and the most thrilling of adventures. The Lake District is magical and I think you should head that way.
