Photos and the City

Tag: my british summer

Ullwater Steamers

I continued along the Ullswater until I reached the charming Glenridding and the pier of the Ullswater steamers. Founded in 1855 the oldest one of their five steamboats was launched in 1877. “The Lady of the Lake” is probably the oldest working passenger ferry in the world and I was on it!

From Glenridding, I took the boat back to Pooley Bridge, this time I could enjoy the boat trip without rain and the view just was amazing! The company wasn´t that bad either!

The company originally transported workers, mail and grocery between the Greenside Mine at Glenridding and the village of Pooley Bridge and changed to pleasure rides later on.

From the new pier in Pooley Bridge, it´s just a short walk into the village. Pooley Bridge (like many other cities in Cumbria) was severely damaged by the floods in December 2015 caused by Storm Desmond. The historic stone bridge, which gave the village its name, collapsed on December 6th 2015 and Pooley Bridge was cut off for several months until a replacement bridge was installed in March 2016. A new bridge is still to be built.

Right next to the (temporary) bridge are some cafés, pubs and restaurants and they were definitely busy! I also enjoyed the view (and tea) from Granny Dowbekins Tearooms, they have such a nice garden & terrace looking over the river and bridge

27/09/2018
Aira Force

After breakfast at my hotel in Pooley Bridge, I walked for a minute to the bus stop and enjoyed the short drive to Aira Force. And on the short walk to the waterfall, I was greeted by this lovely elephant – aka tree.

Aira Force provides a glimpse of a landscaped Victorian park with dramatic waterfalls, arboretum and rocks scenery. The main force falls 70 feet from below a stone footbridge and is on land owned by the National Trust.

In the 1780’s the Howard family of Greystoke Castle had an old hunting lodge or Pele tower close to the Ullswater shore renovated into what is now Lyulph’s Tower, set among its own sporting estate. They landscaped the area around the force, and used it as a pleasure garden, planting over half a million native and ornamental trees, and established a network of tracks, footpaths and bridges.

In 1846 the Howards created an arboretum below Aira Force, planting over 200 specimen conifers (firs, pines, spruces and cedars) from all over the world, including a Sitka Spruce now 118 feet high.

(Visitcumbria.com)

Gowbrrow Park, including Aira Force, was bought by the National Trust in 1906 to save the area after it had gone on the market for housing plots. Aira Force was a well-loved subject for his poems by William Wordswort.

After a short coffee break in the cutest company, I started my walk along the Ullswater Way towards Glenridding. The Ullswater Way is a 20 miles long tour around the lake. The section between Aira Force and Glenridding is about 3 miles long and easy to manage – even I didn´t get lost or out of breath.

The Way now passes through the ancient woodland of Glencoyne Deer Park. Most famously, Glencoyne Wood was the place where, in 1802, William and Dorothy Wordsworth saw daffodils by the lakeshore. The encounter is described in detail in a celebrated entry in Dorothy’s Grasmere Journal and inspired William Wordsworth to write his most famous poem “I wandered lonely as a cloud, That floats on high o’er vales and hills, When all at once I saw a crowd, A host of golden daffodils; Beside the lake, beneath the trees, Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.” (Ullswater.com)

Already saying hi to my ride back to Pooley Bridge, but I still had a little bit of walk before me….

25/09/2018
Ullswater

Another pass – another day of low clouds – the view is supposed to be nice on Kirkstone Pass on the way to Glenridding. I left my lovely cottage in Little Langdale and was on my way to my next stop and base up north – Ullswater.

Ullswater is the second largest lake in the Lake District. My first stop was Glenridding on the south side of the lake to board one of the steam boats.

I took a short route from Glenridding to Howtown Pier and back – I had planned to do a little walk around Howtown but as soon as we were on the boat rain started to pour down. Cats and dogs! So I just took shelter at the pier. The trip was still very lovely – the clouds added some extra drama!

The landscape is quite different from the rest of the Lake District, higher mountains and somehow rougher.

Ullswater itself is of course the main attraction. Surrounded by gently rolling countryside at the northern end around Pooley Bridge, a trip south down the lakeshore gives way to sheer fellsides that drop away into the water below, culminating in the majesty of England’s third highest mountain, Helvellyn. (ullswater.com)

Back in Glenridding, the rain had stopped (at least for the moment – it was quite a wet day) and I made my way around the lake to my hotel in Pooley Bridge to enjoy a little walk along the shore.

And to do a little photo shoot with Emer who didn´t mind the rain at all!

20/09/2018