Trips to the UK - Lake District

by Siobhan Purcell

Why go walking in the Lake District?

Enjoying the Summit of Helvellyn

16 lakes in a radial pattern in Cumbria, England. Plenty of stone houses. Plenty
of mountains. The scenery is protected by the National Trust which owns a
sizeable chunk of the area. The area has charmed painters and poets over the
years and when you go there you’ll see why. the image of gentle lake steamers
and gentle landscape isn’t completely true, there are plenty of challenging
walks in this area.
Ullswater

Accommodation

Book well in advance as very popular area. There are plenty of hotels, guest
houses and B&Bs. Self catering is probably the best option for a group. We
stayed in youth hostels and they are of high standard

Eating out

In 2007 we ate in Jerichos and found it very good. 
http://www.jerichos.co.uk/

We also ate at Brackenrigg Inn which got our seal of approval
http://www.brackenrigginn.co.uk/

I’m told the following are good, but haven’t tried them myself.

'Lucy's on a Plate'
www.lucysofambleside.co.uk

'The Priest Hole'
www.thepriesthole.co.uk

Zeffirelli's is very popular
www.zeffirellis.com

Eating In

Self-catering. Booths in Windermere, beside the railway station, satisfied
all our supermarket needs.

Drinking.

The Drunken Duck Inn (near Ambleside). I haven’t tried it myself, but have
heard good reports.

Target participants, difficulty and terrain

All levels are catered for here.

Helvellyn by Striding Edge is an exciting walk with terrific views in clear
weather (13km, 900m, about 6 hours from Glenridding). An experienced walker
should find this manageable.

For a challenge walk complete the four mountains over 3000 feet in one go.
Skiddaw, Scafell, Scafell Pike and Helvellyn should take about 20 hours starting
and finishing in Keswick.

Another classic is the traverse of Lakeland from Shap to Ravenglass. It is long,
68km and should take about 18hours.

What maps should I use?

Hartsop

The OS Landranger Map 90, (Penrith and Keswick, 1:50000) and the OS Explorer
(1:25000) are excellent and give a lot of detail. They are readily available in
the UK in gear shops, book shops and hostels, and there is no need to shop
around, they cost the same everywhere. The 1:25000 gives a lot of detail, but 4
of them are needed to cover the entire area.

The Harvey maps are made with the walker in mind.

Guide Books

Many. The most famous of which are written by Wainwright.

I relied on Collins Rambler’s Guide Lake District by John Gillham and Ronald
Turnbull. The book describes 30 walks of all levels and is liberally illustrated
with photographs.


http://www.amazon.co.uk/Lake-District-Collins-Ramblers-Guide/dp/0002201364

Travel and costs.

1. Take the ferry from Dublin Port to Holyhead. It is a 3h 30m drive to
Windermere.

Save money by travelling mid-week, off-season, by cramming more people in the
car and by booking more than 4 weeks before travel.

Cost: approxmately €150 per person for 2 sharing.

pro: cheap, reliable

con: time consuming.

www.irishferries.com

Boat departs just after 8 in the morning, driving from Holyhead expect to arrive
in Windermere about 15.30.

Door-to-door Travel time: 9 hours approximately.

2. Ferry from Dublin to Liverpool.

Ferry departs at either 10.00 or 22.00 for an 8 hour trip.

Then a 1h 30 m drive from Bootle to Windermere.

Cost approximately €260 per person for 2 sharing

pro: most efficient use of time

con: expensive

www.poirishsea.com

Door-to-door Travel time: 12 hours approximately, but most of it may be spent
sleeping.

3. Fly and hire a car.

Fly to Liverpool, Blackpool, Manchester, Leeds Bradford. Then drive to
Windermere in about 1h 45m.

Door-to-door Travel time: 6 hours approximately.

Attractions

View from Helvellyn

Kendal Mint Cake. It is from Kendal, it is mint but, it is ‘cake’ in the
sense of hard slab rather than something you would have with afternoon tea. It
is made mostly from sugar and became famous after Hilary said he used it on his
Everest expedition.

There are plenty of other things to see and do there: Visit Wordsworth’s
cottage, drive up and down the steepest road in England, look at Roman ruins,
view the Honister slate mine

Here are a few webcams to give you an idea of what you are letting yourself
in for.


http://www.wasdaleweb.co.uk/wasdalewebcam.html

Scroll down the page to get lovely photos which give a good flavour of the
place.

http://www.lakelandcam.co.uk/

Disclaimer

The information provided here is presented in the hope that it is useful and
informative. It is believed to be correct however the Walkers Association or its
website or the author cannot be held responsible for errors. The Walkers
Association recommend that prospective users or organisers independently verify
the walk is suitable to their needs and check details or recommendations
themselves.

Copyright.

You may use this
information for non-commercial purposes provided you attribute to the Walkers
Association of Ireland.

Comments and Corrections.

Feel free to add comments using the automated system here.

If you wish to contact the author to suggest changes to the text do so at the
address above.