Sixty two years young and I had never been to the Lakes ,the thought of a 5-6 hr journey to the North West of England has never appealed to me .Coming from London, the South has always been the draw. I have always said ,without any evidence, that the South is 10 degrees warmer ,whatever the season.

However since I have retired I have become more open minded about travelling North of the Watford Gap . Previously I only travelled North to watch the Spurs and the odd course ,in  outdoor pursuits in Wales. To my amazement driving to Cumbria was easy M1 and M6 takes you there ,and if you don’t travel at the weekend and go on the Monday of half term, no school traffic .I hate driving.

Our Guest House was situated near a really nice town called Ambleside, which we found a great base for our holiday . The guest house was called Crow How and was originally part of a working farm .The Guest House nestles in the Rydal valley which is beautiful , and our room had great views of the Loughrigg Fell.

It takes around twenty minutes to walk to Ambleside from Crowhow  Its an easy walk but a little harder to get back after a couple of shandys, not that I have drinking problem . As you can see above its a lovely walk with many natural vistas.

Bridge house straddles Stock Beck and apparently was an apple store according to Eye Witness travel.

Ambleside is a very busy but atmospheric town. There are plenty of bars and restaurants which you pass walking down to lake Windermere, which is about a mile away. Tried a few bars but I found the best so called Gastro pub was Ambleside Tavern with great service reasonable prices, great choice of beer and food. Try the Steak Pie or beef Stew. yum.