UK Tourist & Leisure Attractions

This was the first of two Cumbrian Fell walks we did from Staveley, a 12 mile one in and around the Fells of the Kentmere Valley.  Despite early rain, the day turned out fine and sunny and was the best day of the week weather wise.

Stopping to admire the beautiful Kentmere Valley scenery by this stream.  We'd done a few miles uphill and were looking for a suitable spot to consume our picnic lunches, it's amazing how hungry you get walking in the Cumbrian Fells!
 

We found a great picturesque spot for lunch by this stream in the Cumbrian countryside, here's Mike in mid mouthful.  See our UK tourist links page for websites giving details of walks in the Lake District and indeed the UK.

Another shot in the bag, a picture of Longsleddale.  Despite it being high summer and sunny, we still found it chilly in the Cumbrian Fells and also quite boggy underfoot owing to the large amount of rainfall the area receives.
 

In our Staveley holiday cottage enjoying a candlelit fish and chip dinner from the local shop, washed down with red wine.  This was the evening of our 12 mile walk, we were glad the cottage had a bath to soak in to sooth our aching legs!

Mike leans against the railing at Grange-over-Sands, looking out across Morecambe Bay.  But where's the sea?  It's just grass!  The town seemed rather uninspiring to us, so don't believe everything you read on tourist websites!
 

The one redeeming feature of Grange-over-Sands was the pub we found for lunch, we were able to sit outside which was just as well owing to the very smoky atmosphere inside.  Our links page lists the website that recommended this town!

This eating at pubs is getting a bit of a habit!  In the evening we went to 'The Watermill Inn' in Ings, the next village up the road to Staveley, where we enjoyed another good meal, washed down with plenty of the local ale.
 

An excellent evening meal in the Watermill Inn at Ings.  On our last night we did a pub crawl of all three pubs in Staveley after another yummy meal in The Eagle and Child where we'd dined earlier in the week.

On our last day in the Cumbrian countryside we did another Fell walk, the Dale Way, which mainly follows the River Kent.  It was rather wet, raining most of the day as you can see, but we set off despite the rain!
 

Belinda has her nose in the rather soggy guide book on the Dale Way walk, in fact she had her nose in it most of the time to ensure we didn't go wrong!  The book started to disintegrate later in the day due to the atrocious weather.

Here a suitably drenched Mike puts on a brave face for the camera, the point at which Belinda was tempted to push Mike into the river for deciding to go Fell walking on such a dreadful day!  See our video clips of our Cumbrian holiday too.
 

Fortunately we brought a bin liner to sit on while eating our lunch which was just as well as we couldn't find anywhere dry to sit.  We cut the Dale Way walk short owing to the rotten weather, only doing eight miles instead of the full twelve or so, longing to get back to the cottage for a nice long soak in the bath.

Belinda's case always seems to be bulging at the seams for the return trip!  This time it must be all that Kendal Mint Cake she bought stuffed in it!  Despite the 'iffy' weather we had a most enjoyable week in the Lake District, it's a vast area and we'd need far longer next time.  Websites relevant to the places we visited are on our tourist links page.