In late October we travelled up to the Lake District for a weekend with old friends. Having left it late to book, as we usually do, our best choice for low cost family accommodation was YHA Hawkshead. Hawkshead is a lovely youth hostel housed in a grand old Regency style house across the water from Ambleside. Our room was in the main part of the house, and we had wonderful views over Esthwaite Water and out to the mountains.
Staying all together in one room was never going to be the easiest option with a 2 year old and a 2 month old and we learnt on the first night that for our older boy to go to sleep distraction had to be kept to a minimum. In the traditional youth hostels like this one, there is always somewhere to go aside from your own dorm or room, so I made use of the quiet lounge to feed the little one and get on with some needlework while Andy settled the larger one (with much difficulty).
Our days were magical, the toddler loved exploring the countryside (read throwing pebbles/rocks/sticks into lakes/streams/puddles). The autumn colours were absolutely splendid and transformed the countryside into a glittering jewellery box. By the second day I was growing tired of having to gasp in awe every time we turned round a bend in the car.
We visited friends at the National Trust campsite in Langdale - the same one the toddler and I stayed at last year, and had a barbeque - all the other campers were terribly jealous. We walked around Tarn Hows on the wonderfully buggy-friendly trail, discovering a herd of cows, a money tree and some of the most postcard worthy views in Cumbria. We strolled around Ambleside, and I thanked God for the friendly local library where I could retreat to feed the little one without having to buy yet another coffee - it's a hard life!
We rounded off the weekend with a visit to Grisedale, exploring some of their more accessible adventure options. The walk from the visitor centre down some mountain bike trails to Wood Moss Tarn was certainly a buggy adventure with some rough-ish paths and undulating terrain through the woods. Then the short accessible loop around the woods near the outdoor education centre proved a wonderful activity for everyone as we were able to appreciate some of the gorgeous sculptures that have been installed there. In certain places the trees have been turned into music boxes that play a pretty tune when you wind them up - can there be anything more magical?
All in all we had a fantastic weekend with our friends and were able to provide a taste of adventure for our little boys in a stunning environment. I relished the opportunity to take some landscape photographs as you will see below...
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| The accessible trail at Grisedale |
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| In the woods at Grisedale on the way to Wood Moss Tarn |
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| A view over Tarn Hows |
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| Part of the path at Tarn Hows - with herd of picturesque cows loitering in the background |
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| Resplendent autumn colours at a fork in the path |
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| Tarn Hows posing area |
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