Two and a bit days in the Lake District

Grizedale

I'm aiming this year to get away for as many short breaks as possible, partly to make up for lost time and holiday opportunities due to Covid, and partly because it's easier to leave the garden and allotment for a few days each month than to take one fortnight long break in summer. So, having visited Hertfordshire in March, at the end of April we set off for the Lake District. 

Hawkshead

This isn't an area that's totally new to me but we tried to work out how long it is since our last visit - and, although we visited Appleby-in-Westmorland a couple of years ago, it's probably over 30 years since we went to heart of the Lake District.

Windermere

We stayed in the quiet village of Broughton Beck, away from the main tourist spots but good for visiting the lakes of  Windermere and Coniston, walking in Grizedale Forest and around Tarn Hows, as well as spending most of a day at Holker Hall, near Grange Over Sands.  

Coniston sunset

Coniston Water

Holker Hall

Short trips away are almost as much about the journey as the overnight stays, so on the way north we stopped at Lyme Park for a picnic lunch, then Rufford Old Hall to break, while on the way south (though only as far as Manchester to see my daughter) we visited Sizergh Hall and the new(ish) RHS Bridgewater garden in Salford. 

Sizergh Castle

It was an excellent time to pick, after the Easter holidays, with hardly anyone around, and none of the half-expected Lake District traffic and parking problems. I'll like to go back, to the more northern lakes which we didn't have time to visit, but that might have to wait till next Spring

RHS Bridgewater