plan your trip
The Ennerdale area is great for walking, exploring, photography or just relaxing. Here are some other links about the area which may be helpful:
- 15 miles away is Muncaster, a magnificent historic house in a dramatic setting with extensive gardens and a world famous Owl Centre .
- 8 miles away is St Bees, a pretty coastal village with a fine beach. St Bees is the start of the "Coast-to-Coast" walk which heads up along the cliffs of St Bees Head.
- Nearby is Loweswater, a beautiful wooded lake with some our favourite walks, and our favourite pub.
- Whitehaven, (8 miles), is a Georgian town with a spectacular setting and interesting history. Once the third biggest English port it has seen decline and now regenerating. The Beacon (on the harbour), and The Rum Story tell the history of the town.
- Cockermouth is 7 miles away. This is our local market town, with good local shops (including a very traditional ironmongers ) and pubs.
- For many people Keswick (30 minutes from here) is the heart of the Lake District. It is a tourist centre with a splendid setting and many specialist shops, but it can be busy and expensive.
- The next valley south from Ennerdale is Wasdale (19 miles), a favourite of walkers and climbers with Scafell Pike - England's highest mountain.
- The next valley north from Ennerdale is Buttermere, a hamlet and lake in a wonderful setting. Buttermere lake has beautiful lakeside walking and of course dramatic fell-walking too - not to mention excellent home-made icecream! At the top of one of the spectacular drives out of Buttermere is Honister Slate Mine , which does interesting mine tours and more.
- Wordsworth House: is owned by the National Trust. It is a historic house and Wordsworth's birthplace. There are plenty of other historic houses to explore such as Mirehouse, Dalemain and Holker Hall.
- There are local theatres: Rosehill, The Theatre by the Lake, The Kirkgate.
- And local galleries: Thornthwaite Gallery , Percy House Gallery.
- The Eskdale Railway is a wonderfully scenic narrow-guage railway. It will take you up to the working mill in the village of Boot, in Eskdale. There is more excellent walking here and a fine pub.
- If you enjoy sports we have locally Golf, Riding, Mountain Biking, Scrambling and Climbing, and this if you are feeling brave.
- The steamers on Ullswater and and Derwentwater are a a great way to explore these two lakes, and can be combined with lakeside walks.
- Indeed you can hire boats on Derwentwater, Ullswater and Loweswater.
- Birdwatchers will know of the Osprey, nesting locally. The Solway Firth and Ravenglass are excellent for estuarine birds, and Ennerdale has ring ousels (which we have seen), and goshawks (which we have not!). There are tree sparrows here at Hawes Farm, among the lengthening list of birds spotted here (see the visitors comments).