Photos and the City

Tag: travel

Hutton-in-the-forest

Before crossing the border to Scotland I made one final stop: the historic house Hutton-in-the-forest near Penrith, the home of Lord & Lady Inglewood set in an extensive garden and forest.

Originally a medieval stronghold with a pele tower, succeeding generations have altered and added to the house, and the outside and inside show a wide variety of architectural and decorative styles from the 17th century to the present day. (Visitcumbria)

Besides the medieval tower, today used as the main entrance, there was a gallery added in the 1630 – a very rare feature in the North of England. The hall with the cupid staircase was built in 1680, mid-18th-century rooms and even a private suite, drawing room from 1830 and a library from 1870.

If was kind of funny to hear about how important it was to have a safe space (the tower) whenever the Scots attacked as I heard the same story the other way around on the other side of the border, with the English attacking.

The walled garden was built in 1730 and contains many different flowers, herbs and plants and was busy with bees – the perfect place to sit down and just relax.

View in direction of the private apartments, more about the Fletchers is on their website.

The house is open from End of March to October and definitely worth a visit and I also recommend taking a tea-break in the cloister café and a little walk around the woods.

04/10/2018
Lowther Castle

It was time to leave the Lake District and England, but before crossing the borders to Scotland I just had to do two more stops. Just a short drive from Pooley Bridge lies the Lowther Castle.

The roots of Lowther Castle go back to the 14th century, when Edward III granted Sir Hugh de Lowther a charter to enclose a 200 acre tract of land for a deer park beside the River Lowther. Sir Hugh built a motte and bailey fortification beside the river, but later in the 14th century this was replaced by a pele tower to better defend against Scottish raides from north of the border. (Britainexpress)

In 1691 the medieval building was torn down and replaced with a Jacobean residence which was mostly destroyed by a fire in 1718 and remained mostly a ruin until 1806 when architect Robert Smirke created an impressive new house in the style of a medieval castle, incorporating the ruined house. Smirke later designed the British Museum in London.

The house was closed in 1936 and became an empty shell when the roof was removed in 1957 and it took about 70 years until a charitable trust started a huge restoration and the castle was opened for the public in 2011.

The castle itself looks like out of a fairytale and it´s a shame that I didn´t have more time to explore the gardens they must be stunning.

02/10/2018
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