Second Cousins in the Lake District

Cumbria, UK. Saturday/Wednesday 16/20-August-2025.

We had a great weekend with my Scottish second cousin Effie, up from her home in Bournemouth. We had a fabulous time showing her our favourite places and discovering some new ones. Our packed itinerary: 

Saturday 16: Morning for us was parkrun as usual. Effie arrived after lunch and I walked up to the station to collect her as we are only 7 minutes walk away. We spent the afternoon relaxing at home and catching up. We then went for supper dinner at Villa Bianca, our local Italian, with friends Sarah and Andrew.

Sunday 17: We took Effie on a drive around to show her the lakes as it was her first visit to this area. We drove around Ullswater then onward past Brothers Water to the scary Kirkstone Pass and down The Struggle on to Ambleside, a steep, single track road with passing places. Then on to the far side of Windermere passing Esthwaite Water. There we visited Hill Top - Beatrix Potter's home for many years.  

The interior was fascinating with lots of rooms set out as when Beatrix lived there with informative displays. Out in the garden were signs featuring illustration from the books next to their exact locations.

Heading back we had an abortive trip down another single track road. Lots of cars coming the other way meant I had to keep reversing back into a passing place. After several of these I thought "sod this for a game of soldiers" and did an approx 25 point turn and chose a better route. This included another first - the Windermere Ferry. A lovely sunny crossing with no queue.

Once home I lit a barbecue ready for the arrival of mutual friends who drove down from Glasgow to surprise Effie. An afternoon of food and chat. When the friends left we took Effie to our "local" and rounded off the day with a beer in Fell Bar.

Monday 18: A leisurely start with brunch booked at Bassenthwaite Lake Station with time to relax afterwards in their bird hide. Mostly ducks but the butterflies were out in force: Red Admiral, Small Tortoiseshell (in photo) and Peacock (too fast to photo).

This was followed by another scary road up to the stupendous Surprise View overlooking Derwent Water. This was a place Mary had read about and wanted to visit for some time. It lived up to its accolades.

Then back to Keswick for a spot of wandering and shopping, a beer at Craft Beer Keswick and a light supper of tapas at Bar eS. 

Our second highlight that day was the excellent comedic production of Pride and Prejudice at Theatre By The Lake.

Tuesday 19: We took Effie for a gentle wander around Penrith town. After lunch it was a visit to Brougham Castle, Brougham Hall and Tebay Services. Effie was keen to visit Tebay having seen the TV programme "A Lake District Farm Shop". 

Supper was at the excellent Four and Twenty taking advantage of their mid-week set menu deal. As usual we went with their recommended wine pairings.

Tuesday 20: Effie caught the train back to Bournemouth. Now time for a rest!