Brockhole Garden Stroll & Lakeland Cruise

It's been a while since I last posted on here, a few weeks off quickly turned into a few months!  It became difficult to juggle real life and online life, and ultimately real life won.  So this blog is back but with a new name and a new look in the hope of simplifying my site and its intent, without the added pressure to do collaborations or to post each week and so on.  I just want to use this as a place where I can share the places I love, the food I enjoy and the pictures I'm proud of.

Today I thought I'd share a summer trip.

Summer in the North of England doesn't exactly mean sunshine, but it's fun nonetheless.  A few weeks ago the boys and I met some friends for a day out at Brockhole, in The Lake District.  The rain threatened all day but surprisingly we stayed dry, if not a little chilly!

Brockhole is a manor house turned Lake District Visitor Centre with over 30 acres of grounds that run right down to the shore of Lake Windermere.   We used to come here all the time when I was young, so it's always wonderful to bring Noah here to make some more happy memories with him too. With an adventure playground, a tree-top assault course, horse riding and boat hire to entertain the kids, as well as some beautiful gardens to stroll around, it's one of our favourite places to visit.

Brockhole

After a play on the park we strolled down to the lake to catch a boat cruise.  We took the Red Cruise, which goes from Bowness to Brockhole to Ambleside and back to Bowness.  You can jump on and off the boats at any of these stops throughout the day, or stay on for the full 70 minute ride.  If you want to beat the queues then Brockhole is definitely the best place to catch the boat - there's plenty of parking and no crowds to fight through, whereas Bowness can be utter chaos during the tourist season!

The Low Wood Hotel

Ambleside

Bowness

Lake Windermere is over 10 miles long, so these cruises are the perfect way to see all of the stunning scenery that surround it.  At each stop you can hop off to find a range of cafe's, pubs and shops.  If you stop in Ambleside, it's an absolute must to treat yourself to Chocolate Dip ice-cream! 

You might have heard that recently the area has flooded, leaving around 60,000 of us without power for days.  Many homes and businesses were affected, especially around the Lake District, with small communities like Ullswater becoming isolated.  I don't want to post pictures of the destruction, but rather of the beauty before the flood and which can still be enjoyed now the water has receded.  Don't let it put you off visiting!  The Lake District can be wild, and the weather can be unpredictable, but the community is wonderful and the area is beautiful beyond compare.

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