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Spectator
16-06-2025
- Spectator
Is the Lake District still as Wainwright described it?
The Lake District isn't really meant to be about eating. It's about walking and climbing and gawping. The guide one carries is not that by Michelin but Alfred Wainwright, whose seven-volume Pictorial Guide to the Lakeland Fells turns 70 this year. Food is mainly to be consumed from a Thermos rather than a bowl, and eaten atop a precariously balanced upturned log rather than a restaurant table. The culinary highlight should be Kendal mint cake, gratefully retrieved from the pocket of your cagoule. And so I was as surprised as anyone to find real gastronomic delights on a recent trip. Not from Little Chef, though that was where Wainwright religiously went for his favourite meal: fish and chips, a gooseberry pancake and cup of tea. While the fells may stand immutable, the culinary landscape of the Lakes is unrecognisable from Wainwright's day. Thus, in this polite slice of England, I found an operatic dollop of Italian gusto in Villa Positano, tucked off the high street in Bowness-on-Windermere. As with San Pietro nearby, it's all family-run charm with the odd culinary mishap waved away as trattoria rusticism in a way only an Italian can get away with. Together with a trendy sourdough pizza joint just up the road (Base Pizza), it appears a small group of Italians have decided they've had it with Lake Como and are making Lake Windermere home instead. Though no amount of tiramisu can surpass a sticky toffee pudding from Cartmel. Then there is the famed Sarah Nelson's Grasmere Gingerbread. Spicy and sweet, it is like the ginger nut of one's dreams. Wordsworth's grave is just around the corner, in the shadow of St Oswald's Church, and I wander lonely as a cloud through the wild daffodil garden planted in his honour. There is nothing wrong with cliché when it is this idyllic. In Ambleside there is lots to enjoy. The venerable Great North Pie Co (choose between chicken and Stornoway black pudding or 14-hour braised beef, Manchester union lager and Henderson's Relish). Serious fine dining is to be found at Lake Road Kitchen and Old Stamp House, both with Michelin stars. To enjoy a roast loin of the region's iconic Herdwick lamb, there is the beautiful restaurant at Rothay Manor. Or for ales brewed on-site and hunks of sourdough dipped into fir oil and stout vinegar, drop into the Drunken Duck Inn. You can munch on fish and chips at the Waterhead, overlooking Windermere. Though a sign advertises that the chips are fried in oil, not beef dripping, and the fish batter made without beer. That is nothing to show off about. What else? You can sit outside at the Windermere Jetty Museum's cafe, spotting fast jets on low-flying training manoeuvres from nearby RAF Spadeadam. In Grasmere, stop for coffee at Mathilde's, or on the little terrace of the Tea Gardens by the stream. Lunch at Lingholm Kitchen, walking off your meal in the walled garden as Beatrix Potter used to do. Dinner could be at Fellpack House in Keswick, The Schelly in Ambleside or Brackenrigg Inn in Ullswater, or more upmarket at Heft in High Newton, or The Cedar Tree at Farlam Hall near Brampton. Come morning, we report to a retro 1950s dining room, frozen in aspic. What follows is one of the best cooked breakfasts in the land The Lakes may boast the (three Michelin) starry heights of Simon Rogan's L'Enclume, but there are simpler culinary pleasures to be found from a rucksack. A picnic at Friars Crag in Keswick, or at Haystacks, Wainwright's favourite. A hunk of ewe's milk cheese nibbled under a tree near Cockshot Point. The contents of your hip flask while watching the sunset at Fleetwith Pike. Arriving in the driving rain to the Old Rectory near Coniston, there is complimentary hot tea and moist cake served from bone china. The lemon and poppy seed is homemade by Ann who runs the B&B assisted − or impeded − by her other half, Michael (half Falstaff half Manuel from Fawlty Towers). We fill out complicated forms for our breakfast order (I half expect a Farrow & Ball colour chart to pick my preferred tea strength) and, come morning, report to a retro 1950s dining room, frozen in aspic. A Japanese couple inspect the golden syrup with close fascination while a colossal Hyacinth Bucket holds a fan in one hand and skewers kiwi with the other. What follows is one of the best cooked breakfasts in the land – the Cumberland sausage dense, the Cumbrian back bacon just the right amount of crisp. Not even reading over breakfast of the sewage discharges into Windermere can ruin it. Ann troops out from the kitchen concerned my boiled eggs are too hard. They aren't; they are what all eggs should aspire to be. The eating options in the Lake District may be better now than in Wainwright's day, but the Lakes also differ in a way that would not have pleased him: the crowds. Alfred would go out of his way to avoid fellow hikers, seeking seclusion. 'There are boulders you can get behind,' he told Sue Lawley on Desert Island Discs. One can still find escape here thankfully (tip: the North Lakes are less crowded than the South) but nowadays, in peak season and good weather, to dodge other walkers you might have to hide behind your boulder for rather a long time before the coast is clear. Good food is good. But a soggy sandwich and a Kendal mint cake isn't bad, so long as it's consumed in the bliss of solitude.
The Herald Scotland
27-05-2025
- The Herald Scotland
Kate Middleton and I love the Lake District - here is where to visit
The first is Catherine, the Princess of Wales, who made a recent 'secret visit' to Lake Windermere, praising the restorative power of the great outdoors. Speaking to a group of Scouts, she described the Lakes as 'a place to balance and find a sort of sense of peace and reconnection in what is otherwise a very busy world.' She added that the region offered her a 'very spiritual and very intense emotional reconnection.' Read more Those sentiments resonated with me completely. Repeated visits to the Lake District have helped me truly appreciate the wellness boost that comes from being outside for hours on end, whether wandering through the area's labyrinth of walking trails, ambling beside a lake, or simply being in the moment, soaking in the sheer beauty of the scenery. Then there's Beatrix Potter, literary genius, conservationist, and total Lake District devotee. Though born in London and first smitten with the countryside as a nine-year-old during a family Scottish holiday, it was the Lakes that truly captured her imagination. They inspired her much-loved tales of Peter Rabbit, Jemima Puddle-Duck, Mrs Tiggy-Winkle and friends – characters who continue to delight children worldwide, with global book sales exceeding 250 million. Peter with the waxworks model of Beatrix Potter (Image: P Samson) Potter's success translated into remarkable real-world impact. As her books flourished, she reinvested her earnings from the books and the cleverly marketed merchandise into buying up swathes of land and an impressive property portfolio around Windermere and Derwentwater. Upon her death in 1943, she bequeathed around 4,000 acres of prime Lake District land and 14 farms to the National Trust helping to preserve much of the landscape we enjoy today. Whenever I return from my Lake District trips, friends often say, 'You do the big hikes, don't you?' My answer? Not always. You don't need to be super fit or kitted out in hiking gear to enjoy the area. There are walks for all levels. A gentle half-hour stroll along the banks of Derwentwater from Keswick centre can be just as rewarding as a summit scramble. When I first started exploring the fells, I'd puff and pant for Scotland. But I've progressed, and so far, I've proudly ticked off about 10 of the 214 Wainwrights — the iconic peaks catalogued in Alfred Wainwright's beloved Pictorial Guide to the Lakeland Fells. Only 204 to go! But in a place like this, there's no rush. Peter at the summit of Catbells Peak (Image: P Samson) For something flatter, the Keswick to Threlkeld Railway Path is a scenic and accessible route. Just over three miles each way, it's perfect for walkers, cyclists, wheelchairs, and mobility scooters. Originally a railway line opened in 1864, the route features old bridges and tunnels, and informative boards that detail its industrial heritage. The Threlkeld Coffee Shop makes a perfect halfway pit stop, and if you prefer not to walk both ways, a local bus can take you back to Keswick. Speaking of buses, the open-top double-decker service between Keswick and Windermere is a gem. For just £3 each way, you can enjoy sweeping views of lakes and hills from the breezy top deck — a budget-friendly way to see the area's sights and rolling landscapes. Back in Keswick, I indulged in a nostalgic visit to the Derwent Pencil Museum. As someone who remembers the thrill of opening a fresh tin of coloured pencils on several Christmas mornings, this was a true trip down memory lane. The museum - entered via a replica graphite mine - tells the story of how pencils became a global staple. One fascinating exhibit reveals how WWII pilots used pencils containing hidden maps. Visitors receive a pencil to complete a fun museum quiz. Bassenthwaite Lake (Image: P Samson) Keswick itself makes a great base for exploring. With its range of independent shops, cafes, regular street markets and an excellent Booths supermarket, it's both charming and convenient. From here, it's also easy to reach other Lake District favourites such as Ambleside, Grasmere, Buttermere and, of course, Windermere by car or bus. Foodies will also find plenty to love and devour. Cumbria boasts the highest number of Michelin stars outside London, including the famed three-starred L'Enclume in Grange-over-Sands, about an hour and 15 minutes from Keswick. I've yet to visit, but the Michelin Guide describes it as serving up a 'special brand of culinary alchemy.' One, perhaps, for a future trip. A particularly magical stop is the village of Near Sawrey, about an hour away - Beatrix Potter's cherished retreat. She once described it as 'nearly perfect a little place as I ever lived in,' and it's easy to see why. With rolling hills and timeless charm, it feels almost untouched by the modern world. It's not hard to imagine Beatrix walking those lanes in search of inspiration or in the fields tending to her flock of award-winning Herdwick sheep. To me, the Lake District really is picture-perfect and if blessed with good weather verging on the idyllic. Thanks to Potter's vision and generosity, so much of it has been lovingly preserved for everyone to enjoy. Every time I visit, I silently toast her and the enchanting world she created. Her stories may be fictional, but her impact on this landscape is wonderfully real. TRAVEL NOTES Peter drove from Glasgow to Keswick in around 2 hours and 20 minutes. He stayed at Elmcot Cottage, a two-bedroom, well-equipped self-catering property with garden and off-street parking for two cars (a real Lake District perk). Seven nights from around £600, booked via
