Lakes District UK

Old Oct 29th, 2014, 09:29 AM
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only uncouth Hillbillies eat grits! Well I guess that includes just about everyone in South Carolina!
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Old Oct 29th, 2014, 12:41 PM
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Where have you been, where did you stay, and what did you do?>

I stayed in Windermere simply because it is the rail head of the Lake District but it is also a nice place with lots of inexpensive hotels and B&Bs but if I had a car I'd stay in a more centrally located place like Keswick - if you like proper cities and all their amenities.

Or get a place in one of those cozy cottages in the countryside - I think Brits do that for a romantic get-away.

Things I loved: Beatrice Potter's House; Rydal Mount - home of Wordsworth; taking the old chain ferry across the lake from Bowness (Windermere's lakeside district that would be a neat place to stay as well) - cars accommodated if I recall correctly.
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Old Oct 29th, 2014, 01:26 PM
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Thanks PalenQ for the help!

We do like being able to walk to dinner so I am tempted by Keswick. But also tempted by a self catering cottage that is outside Keswick

And seriously, a Pencil Museum????

Morgana, where did you eat dinner when at Sandhills Farm?
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Old Oct 29th, 2014, 01:52 PM
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Keswick isn't a city - its a small market town but it does have lots of facilities including more tea shops than you can shake a stick at.
If you are self catering it has an excellent supermarket called Booths (as does Windermere).
Sandhills was fabulous but it is also in a rural setting so you couldn't walk to dinner.
We drove into Keswick and had dinner here - which I see has apartments!
http://www.morrels.co.uk/
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Old Oct 29th, 2014, 02:36 PM
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Well Keswick has a pop of about 4,500 so yes is no city - my mistake but that makes it all the nicer - I meant to say it has the trappings of what you would find in a city - lots of restaurants, supermarkets, cafes, etc as during the tourist season its population swells a bit.

It was a nicer town I thought than Windermere, which was all spread out without much of a focal point but Keswick being a market town draws locals from around it to shop, etc.

but no not a city by any stretch - I was wrong in saying that.

BTW If I recall correctly the 'w' is Keswick is not pronounced and it's 'kessick'? Not sure I remembered correctly so please correct me if not so.
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Old Oct 29th, 2014, 04:03 PM
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Thanks PalenQ, appreciate it as when you said "city" I thought ???????????? And I am still waiting to hear more about the Pencil Museum

Morgana, will check out Morrels. And how far did you drive from Sandhills for dinner?
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Old Oct 29th, 2014, 11:29 PM
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The title 'city' doesn't mean a place automatically has any particular 'trappings' - city status has nothing to do with population for instance.
An example is Ripon, a 'city' close to me but again a small market town with few trappings! A lot bigger than Keswick though.
However, the title does confer 'prestige' on a place and many large towns in the UK (places far, far larger than Ripon) would love to become cities.

Keswick is pronounced Kezzick.

The Pencil Factory can be a life saver on a wet day in the Lakes - my children enjoyed it when young.
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Old Oct 29th, 2014, 11:38 PM
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Meant to say - I think it took us about 10 minutes to drive from Sandhills into town to have dinner. The apartments might well be worth a look at although personally I like staying in a rural location rather than in town.
We were staying locally because Keswick has an excellent annual Literary Festival called Words by the Water - the theatre where many of the events are held is right by the side of the lake (Derwentwater). However this is held in March.
You can walk right around Derwentwater - the route clings to the lakeside in places and is generally pretty easy going. It's about 8 miles I think and very enjoyable.
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Old Oct 30th, 2014, 02:42 AM
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wrenwood - Keswick is more what we would call a "county town" rather than a city. There are lots of tourists of course, but it is still a "real" place, with lots of ordinary people going about their business.

if you like being able to walk to dinner [and back!] an apartment or one of the many B&Bs would be a good place to stay.
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Old Oct 30th, 2014, 11:08 AM
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but it is still a "real" place, with lots of ordinary people going about their business.>

Yes it is that market town aspect - a real town - that caught me and made me think I'd rather have been staying in Keswick than Windermere which seems more give over to tourists than being a 'county town serving the needs of residents around it.

For a short sweet flat walk trek east of Keswick on the footpath that now goes over the course of an abandoned railway line -walk say to a pub for dinner or lunch.
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Old Oct 30th, 2014, 11:42 AM
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Checking into a cottage just outside Keswick
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Old Oct 30th, 2014, 12:24 PM
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We visit relatives who live in Hawkshead and just love the area...it is so beautiful. Also don't miss The Drunken Duck pub/inn

http://drunkenduckinn.co.uk
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Old Oct 30th, 2014, 03:35 PM
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The Dunken Duck is one of those places which was momental before it was discovered. It is now a tourist rip off trap. Still good quality, just not the same feel about it.
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Old Oct 30th, 2014, 03:37 PM
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jamikins, doesn't the Drunken Duck look just so awesome!!!!!

If my sister-in-law doesn't travel with us, my husband and I may give up the thought of an apartment and stay there! THANKS!
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Old Oct 30th, 2014, 11:56 PM
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We enjoyed the Drunken Duck, but maybe not quite as much as we had hoped. We much preferred the Punchbowl, however we've not stayed at either, only eaten.
http://www.the-punchbowl.co.uk/
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Old Oct 31st, 2014, 01:49 AM
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We also enjoyed the punch bowl!

I don't know what it was like before but we were there with our relatives who live in Hawkshead in Sept and it is their go to pub with their local friends. It was filled with locals enjoying Sunday lunch when we were there. And of course there were some tourists as well (we were obviously tourists).

We had a great meal there and the atmosphere was lovely, views amazing.
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Old Oct 31st, 2014, 03:00 AM
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So is a week too long? We will plan some walks, but also are interested in history, National Trust Houses/Gardens, Castles, villages and small towns. We have been to England 5 times and love it, I'm thinking a week would not be too long, but I need to convince my DH

Hadrians Wall?

In such a beautiful area we don't mind an hour's drive each way.
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Old Oct 31st, 2014, 03:22 AM
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I think a week would be fantastic! Hadrians wall is easy to get to, the villages are charming and there always seems to be a market on somewhere, there are historic houses, museums, walks and of course the fabulous pubs!
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Old Oct 31st, 2014, 05:21 AM
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I've visited the Lake District all my life and still haven't seen all I want to. A week will fly past and will barely scratch the surface.
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Old Oct 31st, 2014, 11:51 AM
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We LOVED keswick! Some of the highlights from our four night stay include:

how we walked down to the lake, got on a ferry, got off when it stopped at Ashness and walked back. Beautiful!

We took a bus recommended by Rick Steve’s called the Honister Rambler. Bus #77. This route goes both clockwise and “anti-clockwise”. It takes 1 1/2 to two hours. It was awesome! If I had the chance to do it again, I would have done the following: I would have left early like 9am on this bus, then I would have gotten off at the Whinlatter Valley stop which is this gorgeous forest area. I would have brought a sandwich with me too and walked around one of the trails and then reboarded the bus a couple of hours later and finished the whole circle that the bus makes. But alas, we stayed on the bus and only did the circle with the driver. Don’t get me wrong-just the bus ride alone was awesome! In fact there is a man who was on the bus who said that he takes the journey every Saturday. TWICE! It is an eye candy ride.

On the main road they had a very large street fair every Thursday and Saturday which was fun.

A wonderful short hike is the “Castlehead Wood Trail” off of Spring St. I wanted to do this one because it was mostly linear and it promised to offer a stunning view of Keswick and the lake. It was true.

Old Station Road trail. According to the marker it is a 4 mile trail. It took us 1 1/2 hours to walk it, including the fact that we stopped numerous times for photo ops. This is a GORGEOUS linear walk!

In Keswick, it seemed like everyone had a dog except us. I'm happy to report that everyone picked up after their dogs too.

We LOVED Keswick! We stayed here: http://www.brundholme.co.uk/ but if we were to return we may stay at Allerdale because we would be interested in staying with our hosts again (Barbara and Paul) who sold brundholme and bought/operate this one: http://allerdale-house.co.uk
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