Grasmere in Autumn

October 2014

October 2014 and we journey up to the Lake District to walk in Westmorland and Cumberland. 

Askham

Friday lunch is at The Punch Bowl, Askham where we are well fed and watered – something we find throughout the Lakes. Though the car park seems to overlook a caravan park and a slurry pit the pub itself is welcoming.
Our short 4-5 mile walk takes us in front of Askham Hall, home of the Lonsdale family (originally a pele tower, later converted into an Elizabethan mansion), past their mausoleum

and their ruined Lowther castle (currently undergoing major restoration).

After this stroll in old Westmorland we drive on to our lodgings at The Horse and Farrier in Threlkeld, at the foot of Blencathra yet only 15 minutes from both Keswick and Penrith. This popular inn has a restaurant that is packed, with several sittings each night while we are there, and works in tandem with the nearby “Sally” pub which also has rooms.
They serve good Jennings beer and I was particularly fond of Sneck Lifter to accompany an ample portion of beautifully cooked guinea fowl.
Compact bedrooms and comfortable beds ensured a good night’s sleep.

GRASMERE

Sunday dawns misty but beautiful, with streams of lycra-clad and heavily advertised cyclists pouring through Threlkeld. Managing to avoid them we head back to Westmorland to complete our 8 mile haul started on Friday.
On the way the most beautiful mist drifts across the valley at St Johns in the Vale but we press on to Grasmere and a five mile stroll in Wordsworth territory. Tourists flock to this honey pot with their dogs, who are in a constant challenge to capture small branches and get them tangled in the lines of silently furious anglers.
Meanwhile autumn has turned the trees mellow and their reflections wash through low cloud and into the placid surface of the lake.

It’s impossible to avoid the tourist industry focused on Dove Cottage and we minimised our contribution by paying 20p each for a pee (but no soap) in the public toilets and circled both Grasmere and Rydal Water before taking lunch at the Glen Rothay Hotel in a dark panelled masculine room where a print of a Wordsworth portrait hung brooding in the corner. We acknowledged his gravestone in the church too before making the long journey home.

Cumberland and Westmorland were the 37th and 38th of our 39 counties to be walked; in April we head for Cornwall!