Now we got away from the city and went north to the Lakes and the break was everything we wanted.
As you do we took the journey slowly, passing through small villages and even smaller hamlets and stopping as all good tourists do to admire the scenery and take the pictures.
And we also struck gold with the hotel which was just outside Cartmel.
The Aynsome Manor Hotel is a gem. The house is late 18th century although there are bits dating back another century, and it commands magnificent views across the surrounding countryside.
The accommodation and the food are excellent and there was that interesting mix of guests which make breakfast just that bit more interesting.
Added to which Tina struck up a conversation with one of the staff in Italian who was from Romania and had spent some time in Italy. I rather liked the idea of being in the middle of the Lakes, sitting in an 18th century house listening to the two of them talk about Padua in Italian.
It was one of those delightful evenings which were enhanced by conversations with the hotel manager and the owner who recounted the history of the property.
The rest of the weekend was spent wandering the nearby town of Grange on the Sands more hamlets and that tourist trap which is Windermere, followed by a visit the home of Beatrix Potter.
Here I fully admit that her books did nothing for me when I was a child and still as an adult have little appeal.
But her commitment to the Lake District and her determination to save the surrounding farms from the developers and thereby preserve the way of life has to be admired.
And in turn The National Trust is to be praised for the way it has maintained her home of Hill Top and the cottage garden.
The Trust carefully manage the number of people who visit on any one day which given the size of the cottage makes sense both for the preservation of the building but also because it allows you to see the rooms better.
And above all it means the peace and the tranquilly of the place is not destroyed which I have to is always one of the real attractions of being in the Lakes.
So with that here ends the first of the Blog's travelogues.
Location; the Lakes
Pictures; the Lakes, 2017 from the collection of Andrew Simpson
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| Aynsome Manor Hotel, 2017 |
And we also struck gold with the hotel which was just outside Cartmel.
The Aynsome Manor Hotel is a gem. The house is late 18th century although there are bits dating back another century, and it commands magnificent views across the surrounding countryside.
The accommodation and the food are excellent and there was that interesting mix of guests which make breakfast just that bit more interesting.
Added to which Tina struck up a conversation with one of the staff in Italian who was from Romania and had spent some time in Italy. I rather liked the idea of being in the middle of the Lakes, sitting in an 18th century house listening to the two of them talk about Padua in Italian.
It was one of those delightful evenings which were enhanced by conversations with the hotel manager and the owner who recounted the history of the property.
 |
| Views from Hill Top, 2017 |
Here I fully admit that her books did nothing for me when I was a child and still as an adult have little appeal.
But her commitment to the Lake District and her determination to save the surrounding farms from the developers and thereby preserve the way of life has to be admired.
 |
| Hill Top, 2017 |
The Trust carefully manage the number of people who visit on any one day which given the size of the cottage makes sense both for the preservation of the building but also because it allows you to see the rooms better.
And above all it means the peace and the tranquilly of the place is not destroyed which I have to is always one of the real attractions of being in the Lakes.
So with that here ends the first of the Blog's travelogues.
Location; the Lakes
Pictures; the Lakes, 2017 from the collection of Andrew Simpson
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