Standing in the heart of England’s Lake District is to be enveloped by beautiful countryside, rugged hills and peaceful dales.
Spend a short time sauntering through the quaint villages, pubs and old churches, and it’s easy to see why this area of the United Kingdom had a poetic pull for writers such as William Wordsworth and Beatrix Potter.
The Lake District, in the county of Cumbria, is the largest national park in the United Kingdom. It offers walkers more than 880 square miles of rambling, and hikers more than 150 mountains to climb.
This is, in large part, because Potter, of Peter Rabbit fame, believed so much in the preservation of the Lake District’s natural beauty that when she died in 1943 she left more than a dozen farms, a flock of sheep and 4,000 acres of land to England’s National Trust. Because of that gesture, people from around the world can enjoy the heavenly sights Potter loved so much.
For a visit with friends, we reserved rooms for two nights at the Coppice, a family-run bed-and-breakfast in Bowness-On-Windermere.
| If you go…
The World of Beatrix Potter Attraction: Bowness-on-Windermere Cumbria England LA23 3BX United Kingdom www.hop-skip-jump.com The Coppice: Brook Road Windermere Cumbria England LA23 2ED www.thecoppice.co.uk We paid about $150 for our family of three per night, which included a full English breakfast and passes to the local leisure club where we could swim. Prices are seasonal. Park Tours and Travel: The Mountain Goat Office Victoria Street Windermere Cumbria England LA 231AD www.parktours.co.uk Half-day tours are about $40 for adults with discounts for seniors and children under 16. Parks Tours offer full-day Lake District tours and they pick up at The Coppice. |
Of the more than a dozen lakes in the Lake District, Windermere is the longest one at 10.5 miles and probably the best known.
When visiting the area, be in the know about what to call the bodies of water: The word “mere” means lake in Old English. Just calling it Windermere is fine. You may also hear talk of tarns, which are smaller mountain lakes.
With four adults and three 3-year-olds, we decided that a half-day tour on a small bus would be a good way to see some of the sights. Our girls would have room to wiggle around and we could take in the scenery without stopping every half-mile to look at a map.
The trip was perfect. Our expert driver took us around lakes, up single-lane roads, and down twisty lanes. We stopped to take photographs of the miles and miles of “dry stone dykes,” the lovely mortarless rock fences that criss cross the green hills, and the wet and windy weather made us grateful to step back on board the warm bus.
Brave walkers and hikers could be found among the many sheep. They looked like hard core Lake District travelers, compared with our touristy troupe in the bus.
We stopped for a cup of tea (just say “cuppa”) in Hawkshead and saw the grammar school where Wordsworth had studied. This one-room schoolhouse sits in front of the church that Potter attended many years later when she lived in the area. We visited little English shops and bought toffee and Kendal Mint, made in nearby Kendal.
Our group was ready for lunch back in Bowness. We chose a pub in town that looked like it came straight out of a 19th-century English novel. The building was white-washed and the black framed windows open out to the street. We had a perfect view of the goings-on in that part of the town, the blooming flower tubs on the street below and locals filing out of a small country vicarage.
Our lunch included beef Wellington, a ploughman’s lunch with cheese and pickle, and a taste of a local brew for the guys. Our waitress had just spent time in Florida. She knew to ask if we needed refills and ice in our drinks.
This was important to us, because apart from the staff at our bed-and-breakfast and our bus driver, we found almost no good customer service. In fact, wait staff and those in banks were downright rude.
The following day we had only one objective: With our own version of Flopsy, Mopsy and Cotton-tail in tow, it was only right that we visit The World of Beatrix Potter exhibit.
This was a delightful morning spent ambling through scenes from Potter’s many children’s books, including “The Tale of Peter Rabbit,” “The Tale of Squirrel Nutkin” and “The Story of Miss Moppet.”
Each scene was whimsical and brought to life the characters that Potter made so lovable for children and adults. Visitors can enjoy the interactive exhibit at the end of the attraction. There they can read about Potter and watch a film about the writer and what the Lake District meant to her.
After all that fun and learning we retreated to The Tailor of Gloucester Tea Room to sip tea with milk and nibble chocolate cookies (just say “biscuits”).
It was starting to spit rain as we left the exhibit and headed to our separate cars for a final winding drive out of the enchanting world of the Lake District and back to the reality of the motorway and big cities.
Christina Harper is a freelance writer who lives in Snohomish County.
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