Sunny break in the Lake District
STEVE HOWARTH holidays at a country estate
THEY say there is no better place to holiday when the weather is fine than in this country... and probably the pick of spots to take a break when the sun shines is the Lake District.
When you go, you find tourists from all over the world have made the effort to get there – so us lucky people who only live a two-hour car drive away should make more use of this beautiful region.
It was on one such (mainly) sunny late spring weekend that we visited the Lakes to meet up with a few friends for a celebration of my wife’s landmark birthday year.
And we were lucky enough to be invited to stay at the stunning Lingholm Estate near Keswick on the western shore of Derwentwater. Our accommodation was in a recently refurbished bungalow in the estate grounds, Silver Hill, which sleeps six in spotless and top quality surroundings.
It is one of a selection of self-catering holiday units in and around Lingholm – which range from luxury apartments in the grand house itself that sleep four to a number of character properties in the extensive grounds, all restored and converted to the highest standards and sleeping between 6 and 12.
Lingholm is a traditional Victorian country estate, at the heart of which is a grand, grade II listed Victorian house built in 1873 by the prominent architect Alfred Waterhouse. Waterhouse went on to build many notable public buildings and private houses, including the Natural History Museum in London and Manchester Town Hall in ‘modern’ Gothic style.
Lingholm was built over three years as a country retreat for Lt Col James Fenton Greenall and was named after the Lingholm islands on the lake, which are still part of the estate today.
Col Kemp was a wealthy man – at the time he built Lingholm he was Liberal Unionist MP for Heywood and had played first class cricket for Lancashire, being an accomplished batsman.
The second owner, Lord Rochdale, was a knowledgeable antiques collector and added many features to the inside of Lingholm that are much older than the house itself.
Lord Rochdale also added huge tracts of land and farms to the estate in the early 1900s, taking in a long stretch of the western shore of the lake, and the estate was a large employer in the area with many household staff, forestry workers and gardeners plus up to six gamekeepers who ran regular shoots.
During the First World War, with Lord Rochdale away commanding his regiment, Lingholm was given over by the family for use as a military convalescent home for officers.
It was following the Great War that Lingholm began an association with Beatrix Potter, who holidayed there on many occasions and used the original octagonal walled kitchen garden (which has now been rebuilt) as the inspiration for Mr McGregor’s garden in The Tale of Peter Rabbit.
After being closed to the public for 20 years, part of the estate has now been reopened with a new cafe-style restaurant which serves a range of locally sourced foods, artisan breads, home baked cakes and barista coffee (set next to that restored walled garden) and a footpath running through the grounds to the lake.
The reopening happened after the main house and immediate estate area surrounding it was sold in 2013 to the Seymour family.
With the main house and other properties in need of restoring, together with the overgrown grounds, they embarked on an intensive programme of building works and landscaping resulting in the beautiful, tranquil setting which can now be enjoyed again for holidays.
And Lingholm proved a perfect base for some great Lakeland walks, including the 10 miles around Derwentwater and to the top of nearby Catbells ridge, as well as to visit popular local attractions.
We had an enjoyable couple of hours touring the nearby Lakes Distillery before the non-drivers in our party enjoyed taster shots of their whisky and gin products.
A great location and well worth a visit, being only a 15-minute drive away at nearby Bassenthwaite Lake.
Another local tourist draw is the popular Lake District Wildlife Park near Keswick – home to more than 100 species of birds, reptiles and mammals across 24 acres of Armathwaite Hall’s wider estate. ‘Must sees’ include Red Panda, Mandrills, Grant’s Zebras, Black Wildebeest and an American Bald Eagle. A range of interactive experiences range from ‘Apprentice Keeper’ sessions to Lemur Encounters, Meet the Meerkats and Hawk Walks.
Framed by the silhouette of England’s sixth highest mountain, Skiddaw, this is the only wildlife park within the UK’s newest World Heritage Site. The park participates in six endangered species programmes, as well as actively supporting three charities and jointly managing two Sites of Special Scientific Interest on the shores of Bassenthwaite Lake.
Sadly we did not have enough time to take in more of the Lake District’s many attractions but you can be sure, having found such a perfect place to stay, we will be back.