There is always plenty to do in the Lake District. Here are a selection of places to visit, eat and drink in the South Lakes this spring.
Tree Top Trek & Tree Top Nets Brockhole, Windermere, Cumbria, LA23 1LJ http://www.treetopnets.co.uk
Challenge yourself at Treetop Trek to 35 exciting treetop challenges designed to enable you to swing, climb, balance and fly your way through the ancient woodland canopy at Brockhole Visitor Centre, Windermere, whilst discovering views previously reserved for the squirrels and bats. Treetop Nets offers a whole different treetop experience! It is the UK’s first Aerial Netting adventure park. Featuring over 1500m2 of sky trampolines, aerial walkways, tunnels and slides.
Lakeland Segway Cartmel Village Car Park, Cartmel LA11 6QB http://www.lakelandsegway.co.uk
A unique way to explore the Lakeland countryside. Take a guided Segway tour around the prestigious Cartmel Racecourse, Holker Hall Estate and the surrounding ancient woodland. An enjoyable and fulfilling tour allowing you to enjoy the Segway and this scenic Lakeland Estate with your own guide close at hand.
4×4 Kankku Victoria Forge, Victoria St, Windermere LA23 1AD http://www.kankku.co.uk
A Kankku Self Drive 4×4 Safari is about discovery – finding normally unseen parts of the Lake District by specialist 4×4. Kankku’s tough and capable ex-army Land Rovers take you back to basics to simply enjoy the inspirational Lake District environment. For beginners, Guided off road adventures and expeditions allow you to experience a 4×4 journey off the beaten track.
Blackwell, The Arts Craft House Bowness-on-Windermere, Cumbria, LA23 3JT http://www.blackwell.org.uk
Blackwell is one of Britain’s finest houses from the turn of the last century. Designed by M H Baillie Scott, as a holiday retreat for Sir Edward Holt, a wealthy Manchester brewery owner Blackwell survives in a truly remarkable state of preservation retaining many original
decorative features.
Dove Cottage & the Wordsworth Museum, Grasmere Grasmere, Cumbria, LA22 9SH http://www.wordsworth.org.uk
William Wordsworth lived in Dove Cottage from 1799 – 1808, and during this time wrote the most famous and best-loved of his poems including, “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud” and his sister Dorothy Wordsworth wrote her, “Grasmere Journals”. Come and see what inspired them, the beautiful landscape and their simple way of life.
Abbot Hall Art Gallery, Kendal Abbot Hall Art Gallery, Kendal, Cumbria, LA9 5AL www.abbothall.org.uk
Abbot Hall Art Gallery is housed in one of Kendal’s most important buildings, a Grade I listed villa on the banks of the River Kent. The galleries offer two floors of light-filled spaces in which to see art, including a comprehensive collection of George Romney’s work. His paintings are hung in the elegant historical settings for which they were painted, amongst fine 18th-century furniture and porcelain. Abbot Hall also hosts the Museum of Lakeland Life and Industry in its renovated stable block. The Museum allows you to discover how people have lived in the Lake District and how the unique landscape has shaped their lives.
Wray Castle and Claife Viewing Station Low Wray, Ambleside, Cumbria, LA22 0JA http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/wray-castle
On the western coast of Lake Windermere, Claife Viewing station was a hot-spot for the very first tourists to the Lake District. Here they would come and dance, today you can walk to the top and enjoy the stunning panoramic views across Windermere. Four miles along the shore, you reach Wray Castle, a mock-gothic castle, a grand playground for children with dressing up and castle-building spaces, rope swings and den-building.
Lakeland Motor Museum, Backbarrow Old Blue Mill, Backbarrow, Ulverston, Cumbria, LA12 8TA www.lakelandmotormuseum.co.uk
Head down memory lane to the Lakeland Motor Museum and enjoy a unique collection of 30,000 exhibits, including 150 classic cars and motorbikes, all carefully assembled over 50 years. Star exhibits include the Isle of Man TT Tribute Exhibition and the Campbell Bluebird Exhibition. Open 7 days a week, the Museum is a perfect attraction whatever the weather. There is also a riverside café.
L’enclume Cavendish Street, Cartmel, Cumbria, LA11 6PZ www.lenclume.co.uk
Opened in 2002, L’Enclume’s idyllic riverside location in the historic village of Cartmel is the perfect setting for Simon Rogan’s distinctive culinary style. Simon and Head Chef Tom Barnes make the best use of the Cartmel countryside as well as vegetables, herbs, fruits and flowers from their own 12 acre farm to create their signature menus which has earnt them two Michelin Guide stars.
