For the second day of our Ullswater Way challenge, we decided to catch a bus from Pooley Bridge to Glenridding, so that we could start our hike from where we left it off on the previous day. We walked from Waterfoot Park into Pooley Bridge and waited for a bus near the Ullswater 'Steamers' pier. It was a stunning morning: the bright blue sky was streaked with fluffy white clouds and the lake was still and calm. Words can't do it justice, so take a look at the photos below!! From Glenridding, we looped around the southern end of the lake, then followed it to Howtown, where we stopped at the Howtown Hotel tearoom for tea and cake. The main benefit of taking a pit stop here was so we could use their toilets! We also picked up some bottles of water here but they were extortionately priced (no doubt because they have a monopoly, being the only shop or cafe in this little village). We were kicking ourselves for not having brought more with us but the second day was hotter than the first, so we got through our water faster then expected. This day's scenery was gorgeous when we climbed high up and were able to look down on the lake. We enjoyed watching the 'Steamers' cruising up and down between Pooley Bridge and Glenridding. This day also included the best stile ever! Stone steps were built into the side of a dry stone wall and there was a little gate at the top. Jay is a bit fan of stiles and he was mightily impressed by this one! We were pretty weary as we neared the end of the walk, which followed the edge of the lake through Waterside House Campsite. This looks like a great place to camp and canoe as you are literally living on the lakeside - we'll probably try it out one day. ![]() I was a little worried about the kids' energy levels and interest flagging during what was probably the least exciting section of the walk but it was around about this time that our phones started picking up a 4G data signal and Jay was able to check out the local Pokemon wildlife. It turned into the most spectacular afternoon for him when he found a shiny magicarp and wild Dragonite in quick succession - both really rare occurrences, for those of you who are not familiar with Pokemon Go. Jay was keeping a scrapbook of the Pokemon he 'met' during the summer holidays for a school project and this was a great photo opportunity. It felt like an amazing achievement to have walked the full 20 miles in two days with the kids. They were brilliant companions - energetic, upbeat and fun company. It helped that by this time we were talking seriously about the possibility of getting a dog. Every time we saw a dog we talked about whether that was a good size or breed of dog for us and we got some great advice from the dog-walkers we met. (NB Border terriers: great for fell-walking!)
The following morning, we stopped by Reception at Waterfoot Park to share our success with Richard and pick up our prize!
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We decided to explore Ullswater in the Lake District National Park by walking the Ullswater Way, a 20 mile path that trails around the lake and conveniently passes through Waterfoot Park, where we were staying, so we were able to undertake the walk from our doorstep. We were attracted to the challenge of completing this walk, so as to feel that we had achieved something definable. Richard at Waterfoot Park recommended walking it over three days but unfortunately we didn't have three days, having already planned other activities for our time in the Lakes. Could we do it in two? We weren't really sure. It meant hiking 9.5 miles on day 1 and 11.5 miles on day 2, which was probably longer than we had ever hiked in a day as a family. We didn't know if we could do it but thought that maybe we could...it certainly didn't seem so unachievable that it wasn't worth trying. And if I'm honest, the added time challenge made it more attractive. We decided to walk the route anti-clockwise, from Pooley Bridge to Glenridding via Aira Force on the first day. The scenery was beautiful and we lucked out with great hiking weather (slightly overcast but dry and not too warm). The first section of the walk took us high up on the mountainside and gave us great views of the lake, before leading us to the Aira Force waterfall and then down to the lakeside. In order to prove we had completed the Ullswater Way, we had to take selfies with Ullswater Way signposts at each of the four sections of the route and share them on social media using the #UllswaterWay hashtag. It felt great to reach Glenridding (we were pretty tired!) and we were tempted to take a break in a cafe but given our plan was to take an Ullswater 'Steamer' back to Pooley Bridge and it was already quite late in the day, we hopped straight into the queue to ensure we got a seat on a boat. We didn't want to risk missing the last boat back and having to hike the rest of the route that day! All in all, Day 1 was a success!
The Lake District has long been my favourite place in the whole world. Being close to these mountains and lakes bring me a sense of peace and 'being at home' that I just don't get anywhere else. So, going into this year, the Lake District was already my favourite National Park. I was fully willing to be convinced into loving another Park more though and, using this year to visit places that we might not otherwise have considered going to was a fabulous way to test my affection for the Lake. So, has another Park taken the top spot? Well, we have four left to visit (South Downs, New Forest and the two Scottish ones) but the answer is no, not yet. We've been to the Lake District so many times that we know parts of it quite well - particularly around Keswick and Derwent Water. We wanted to take this opportunity to explore somewhere we were less familiar with so we decided to stay near Ullswater lake this time. There are so many beautiful locations that it was hard to chose but ultimately we made our decision based on the ease of access from the M6. Given that our journey across from Northern Ireland was already quite long, we didn't want to extend it unnecessarily by staying too deeply within the Park. One of the downsides of all the gorgeous mountains is that it takes a darned long time to drive anywhere because you have to go around the mountains. ![]() We stayed in a self-catering cottage at Waterfoot Park caravan park, just outside Pooley Bridge. The cottage was a perfect size for us, clean and well kept, and had a dishwasher and washing machine. The latter was a godsend given we were away for over a fortnight (visiting four Parks and Northern Ireland) and most of our other accommodation didn't have laundry facilities. Richard, the staff member on reception, was friendly and helpful, and he gave us some useful advice on walking the Ullswater Way (more on that later). We even received free tickets to ride the Ullswater Steamers (a boat that travels the length of Ullswater) and the Ravenglass and Eskdale Railway for being guests at Waterfoot. We were really happy with Waterfoot Park and hope to return next year for my 40th birthday (because where else would I like to spend it but at my most favourite place in the whole world!). The icing on the cake is that some of the cottages here (including the one we stayed at, MV Western Belle, accepts dogs and we may well have one by then! It was during our five days in the Lakes that I really started to come round to the idea of having a dog. It finally started to dawn on me that now the kids were older and we had more flexible lives, the places we were chosing to spend our time were mostly dog-friendly - i.e. mostly outdoors. We still have to be tested through a winter and I will be keeping a careful eye on what we chose to spend our time doing this winter, to see whether we still have a dog-friendly lifestyle. ![]() We head northwards from the North York Moors and travelled to Snitter, a little village near Rothbury, on the outskirts of Northumberland National Park. We stayed at Silverdale Farm House, a lovely little B&B with ducks and chickens that the kids were allowed to feed in the morning. They also had a border terrier and, at the time, I was absolutely adamant that we wouldn't get a dog because I didn't want the added responsibility and wasn't sure it would fit into our lifestyle. Little did we know that I was going to start warming to the idea within a week and that within a fortnight we would be considering a border terrier as our ideal family pet! Simon still can't quite believe that I've come round to wanting a dog! Anyway, I digress... ![]() The Sill Our first stop in Northumberland National Park was The Sill: the UK's National Landscape Discovery Centre. It is a visitor centre with a focus on the importance of landscapes and includes an exhibition space and YHA hostel. It had only recently opened when we visited, replacing the old National Park Centre, and we visited it in part because the grant-making charity that I work for supported its construction and I was curious to see it. The exhibition was excellent (and Eve, in particular, loved it). Housesteads & Hadrian's Wall We decided to spend some of our time in Northumberland mixing the outdoors with history so after our stop at The Sill, we visited Housesteads Roman Fort and from there, hiked along Hadrian's Wall to Steel Rigg following a National Trust route. The walk had some amazing scenery and took us to Sycamore Gap, made famous in the film Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves with Kevin Costner. A word of warning on this route: the return journey on the north side of the Wall is a little unclear once you get to Hotbank Farm. We completely lost the trail at this point and ended up wandering across a field of thistles, with no idea of where we were supposed to be. We were clearly going in the right direction as we were walking parallel to Hadrian's Wall, but we were not clearly on a path. We were starting to worry that we wouldn't find the proper point for crossing back to the south side of the wall and that we would have to scale this tall, looming structure which was, after all, built to keep intruders from the north out! ![]() Fortunately, we spied a ladder stile in the distance with Simon's binoculars. (And for once I was glad he was lugging that weighty item around!) It turned out to be the point that the Pennine Way crosses Hadrian's Wall and I remembered seeing the stile from the other side towards the start of our walk. We decided to cut our hike short a little and struck out towards that feature - from fear that if we continued we might not find another crossing point. After that, the return journey was simply backtracking along our original route and we had no more hiccups! All in all, it was a great hiking country. There were lots of interesting historical features along the way, as well as beautiful views. We are quite tempted to undertake a long distance walk within the next few years and walking the length of Hadrian's Wall is right up there as one of our likely challenges. And maybe, just maybe, we will have a little border terrier companion by then... If you read my post on fossil-hunting in the North York Moors (4 August 2017), you will know that we found a rather large unindentified fossil in a rock. We contacted the Natural History Museum via the NaturePlus forum on their website and they helpfully identified it for us as a piece of fossil wood. Pretty cool (although secretly I was hoping it was a dinosaur bone!). Our thanks go to DrT and Colin for their help.
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