It’s been a while since I wrote about our visit to Cumbria but at long last, here I go with Part Two of the story!
It’s the fourth day of our holiday and it was time to do some more exploring of the local area. There are so many walks around where we were staying it was hard to choose, however the maps in the Old Dairy gave us some options. This was our second fairly short, circular walk from our Airbnb and this time we were hoping to arrive back in the dry.
I love the stone bridges here and the white-washed houses and the stunning countryside. The hamlet of Millthrop is just down the road and is a pretty village. There’s a splendid row of cottages with a gentle curve of the frontages. This garden was so stunning although I wouldn’t have wanted to water all those pots!
After lunch and with the sun shining (at last), we decided to drive over to the market town of Hawes, stopping on the way to see ‘Cotter Force’ which is a secluded waterfall. The joy of this waterfall is that it’s easily accessible. You walk across a narrow bridge, along a stile-free public right of way which is suitable for buggies and wheelchairs and the short path leads from here to the waterfall. As you can see, it was well worth going to check it out.
The town of Hawes is a bustling market town in the Yorkshire Dales. Yes we had driven out of Cumbria, into a different county … but only just. The National Park Centre and the Dales Countryside Museum are both found there but Hawes is also famous for its Wensleydale cheese. The Creamery has a large shop and you can also go on tours to see the cheese being made. We did visit the shop which was packed full of people (it’s a popular tourist place), so we treated ourselves to some cheese and then headed back into the Main Street.
It’s a wide street, bustling on that afternoon with life – probably the good weather had brought people out. After looking in a few local shops we had a choice of at least three pubs along the street. We chose one and spent a pleasant time sat in the sun enjoying an excellent pint of beer and watching the world go by.
We rounded off a very pleasant day with an excellent Italian meal in Sedbergh at Al Forno. Warm, friendly service and delicious fresh pastas and pizza.
I should explain that neither my man nor I are steam train enthusiasts but the next day we decided to drive to Dent and then go by train to walk to the famous Ribble Valley Viaduct to watch a steam train going across. This doesn’t happen every day!
The drive from Sedbergh was interesting as the road winds through a narrow valley called Dentdale, which is on the western slopes of the Pennines. Dent village has lots of history and boasts a Museum and Heritage Centre, a few shops, a fine Grade One listed church and pubs which are also B&B’s. There’s stunning landscape all around and many walkers come to the area as The Dales Way cuts through the village. It was a superb day when we were there but I can imagine life is tough in the winter and was even tougher over the centuries.
If you are expecting to catch a train from the village of Dent …forget it. Anyone expecting to walk to the station would have quite a job. The road is steep and narrow and even in the car it felt further than the four miles.The station is perched high up on the hillside and is on the Settle to Carlisle line and is the highest operational station on the National Rail network in England.
The station house itself is now a private house and as there was no means to buy a ticket we had a free ride to the Ribblehead Railway Station There was more life here and thankfully the station master, who was manning a small shop had a key to the loo. Feeling relieved (quite literally!), off we set down the path towards the Ribblehead Viaduct.
The viaduct is very impressive and what a lovely day it was to sit around waiting for the train to go across. I’m rather proud of the picture below even though it’s quite a distant shot. Of course no sooner had we spotted the train coming it was over the viaduct in next to no time but it had been a great sight and we felt it had definitely been worth coming up here.
We didn’t get a free train journey on the way back and felt the price to go just a few miles and only one stop was expensive but as we had only paid for one way, we had no grounds to complain! Had another hearty meal that night at The Dalesman pub in Sedbergh, our second visit. Excellent reasonably priced pub food and good wine and beer.
For our last day in Cumbria we decided to drive to Ullswater, after all we were staying near ‘The Lakes’. It’s true to say that roads in this part of the world mean the journey takes quite a while irrespective of what is says on the map. Being on holiday we weren’t in a hurry but I imagine some of the locals get a little frustrated with tourists clogging up the narrow country roads.
Stopping en route to buy yet another excellent baguette for lunch from the friendly Spar shop in Sedburgh we headed off towards Ullswater, 35miles. We noticed lots of signs alerting us to red squirrels in the area, unfortunately the only ones we saw were on the signs. Our first stop was the car park for the National Trust’s wood and waterfall known as Aira Force. It’s a popular place and finding a space to park wasn’t easy but we managed it. The woods are lovely with lots of very interesting trees, mostly evergreen, loved by red squirrels but they weren’t coming out that day.
The river is so clear and although the path in places is a little tricky we thoroughly enjoyed the circular walk going across the river and down the other side. Before that we stopped to take pictures of the waterfall including from the viewing platform which at present is closed due to a fallen tree.
Leaving the woods and feeling ready for lunch we found a pleasant spot at the side of Ullswater. Our friend who knows the area well said we were lucky to find anywhere during the summer months!
We could have stayed there for the rest of the afternoon but decided to go over to Ambleside. It’s a narrow, twisty road up and over the Kirkstone Pass beginning in Patterdale and ending in Ambleside. With its 1 in 4 gradient, stunning views all round, it’s a great drive and is the highest pass in the Lake District.
As you can see it’s quite some road and probably not one to tackle in the ice and snow. I’m not going to say too much about Ambleside other than it seemed very crowded after all the other places we’d been to. The weather was starting to close in and was getting quite chilly so we decided to have a hot drink …a good idea you would think. Unfortunately both the tea and the coffee at this lake-side cafe were terrible so we left after a short while and headed back to the tranquility of Sedbergh and ‘The Old Dairy’.
The ‘poshest’ place in the town to eat is The Black Bull and as it was the last night of our holiday we booked a table. We weren’t disappointed; the food was delicious and the restaurant had a great atmosphere. It was the perfect choice for our ‘final’ meal of the holiday.
I hope this account of our holiday in Cumbria might inspire you to visit this area. We only saw a couple of the lakes and just explored a small part of this beautiful county but it was enough to whet our appetite for The Lake District and I know we’ll be back.
Travels with the Booths.blog 