Family And Pet Friendly Breaks

The weather has been just glorious recently with wall-to-wall sunshine and beautiful warm sunny evenings. Earlier in the week I was in Buttermere with my sister Amy and our dog Rosie. Now based in Florida, Amy is used to arid flat landscapes so she was completely bowled over by the lush greenery around the lake and the towering High Stile range above us.

We rambled round in a clockwise direction enjoying the cool shade of the trees and the tunnel on the near side of the lake. It was certainly busy with plenty of holiday makers enjoying the sunshine and scenery. So we found a spot on one of the pebbled beaches and settled down with our binoculars to watch climbers up above us on Grey Crag whilst Rosie paddled in the water.

Further round the lake we all did some paddling and discussed the ice cream selection we had memorised before setting off, ready to place our order on return to Buttermere village. With her unfeasibly strong jaw, Rosie picked up and ran with the biggest branch she could find, which spanned the width of the path and took out several pairs of unfortunate shins as she hurtled past.

Back in the village we had finally made our minds up for ice cream - Turkish delight, lime, butterscotch and Irish cream made for quite a combination! The newly rebuilt barn houses a lovely tea room and the ice cream which is made on the farm in a variety of interesting flavours.

Buttermere is barely big enough to call itself a village but it has two great pubs and two lovely cafes. Croft House is under new management and flourishing this year. The interior has been completely renovated with exposed beams and a bright airy atmosphere. There is an excellent range of cakes made on the farm accompanied by good quality coffee.

The Bridge Inn and The Fish Hotel offer traditional Lakeland fayre, good beer and a warm welcome. The Bridge also served breakfasts until 11am. Both have beer gardens filled with friendly (greedy!) sparrows and views to the high Buttermere fells directly opposite. Gaze up at Sour Milk Gill and promise yourself you follow the route up to Bleaberry Tarn if you didn’t make it this time round.

There are walks for all ages and abilities around the lake and even in the height of summer, there is little traffic compared to other hotspots. And best of all you don’t have to leave your beloved four legged friend behind in dreary kennels for there are plenty of pet friendly Lake District Cottages available for all. In such an area of natural beauty it would be unfair to leave your loyal companion at home and miss out on all the greenery, not to mention the children. It just would not be a family holiday or get away unless all the members of that family were present. So above is a small review based on a day in the Lake District, there are plenty of places to visit but I could only fit this much in for this instalment.