Our
Tours
English Lake Tours will
design tours to suit your own interests and time available or just
leave it to us to suggest an appropriate itinerary.
English
Lake Tours offers you:
- Spacious air-conditioned
Chrysler Voyager, fully insured for 6 passengers
- Guided walks of towns
and villages
- Talks to groups, clubs
and societies
- Coach commentaries
- Special interest tours
- Extended tours around
Britain
We look
forward to welcoming individuals or groups, on business or pleasure,
to this beautiful and unspoilt area.
Tours
can include:
- Visits to historic
houses, castles, churches, museums, gardens and galleries
- A boat trip or steam
train ride
- Short, easy walks
around a tarn or to a scenic viewpoint
- Special interest shopping
- Antiques, art and crafts, food
- Airport/station transfers
- Help with choosing accomodation:
- Bassenthwaite
Lakeside Lodges offer exceptional self-catering accommodation in
luxurious timber lodges on the shore of Bassenthwaite Lake. Enjoy
the wonderful lake and mountain views in this unique setting. For
further information visit www.bll.ac
or call 017687 76641.
-
Linthwaite House Hotel, awarded
3 Red Stars by the AA has a sublime hilltop setting overlooking Lake
Windermere and the surrounding mountains. Luxurious accommodation with
26 individually designed en-suite rooms with lake or garden views. Visit
www.linthwaite.com for further
information or call 015394 88600.
When
to visit:
|
Daffodils by Ullswater
|
Spring
- daffodils, baby lambs, lush green countryside, wildflowers,
Appleby Horse Fair |
Derwentwater
|
Summer
- long days, lakes like "limpid pools" glinting in the sun,
country shows, Grasmere Sports, Rushbearing ceremonies, Flower
festivals, Sheepdog trials |
Autumn on Derwentwater
|
Autumn
- Glorious golden colours, weather usually still warm and sunny,
Kirkby Lonsdale Victorian Fair |
Coniston in winter |
Winter
- crisp air, clear blue skies, snow-topped mountains, roaring
log fires, not many people, quiet roads |
There
is so much to see and do in Cumbria...
|
Whether
you are YOUNG:
Animal attractions -
- Trotters and
Friends, Armathwaite
- The Owl Centre,
Muncaster
- Lakeland Sheep
& Wool Centre, Cockermouth
- The World of
Beatrix Potter, Windermere
- South Lakes
Animal Park, Dalton-in-Furness
|
Trotters & Friends |
|
Or
OLD:
Roman Sites -
- Hadrian's Wall
- Birdoswald Roman
Fort
- Senhouse Roman
Museum, Maryport
- Tullie House
Museum, Carlisle
- Carlisle Castle
|
Birdoswald Roman Fort |
Or
a SHOPAHOLIC:
Art and Craft Galleries - traditional crafts
such as Wood-Turning and Carving, Swill basket making, Glass-blowing,
Weaving, Earthenware, Pottery, Ceramics and gifts made from
the local polished slate. Watch craftsmen at work using traditional
skills and materials. Many art galleries include the famous
Heaton Cooper gallery in Grasmere. |
Heaton Cooper Gallery |
English
Lake Tours are always….. Relaxed and Friendly, Entertaining,
Interesting, Informative, Punctual and Reliable.
|
Select
from the following tour suggestions:
| 1.
Historic Houses and Beautiful Gardens: |
|
Levens Hall
Mirehouse
|
South Lakes:
Guided tour of Levens Hall, a fine Elizabethan Manor
House famous for its original 17th century topiary garden.
Travel via the picturesque village of Cartmel for an
afternoon visit to Holker Hall, home of Lord and Lady
Cavendish. See the award- winning gardens, deer park and the
Lakeland Motor Museum.
North Lakes:
Visit to Holehird, the Lake District Horticultural
Society Garden near Windermere. Over the Spectacular Kirkstone
Pass to Ullswater and a visit to Dalemain -
see the Elizabethan knot garden and the display of old-fashioned
roses. Travel on to Mirehouse at Bassenthwaite - many
famous literary figures stayed here including Alfred, Lord
Tennyson. Hear his original recording of 'The Charge of the
Light Brigade'. Visit the tiny St. Bega's church by
the lake shore.
|
| 2.
Literary Lakeland: |
|
Hilltop
Gondola
|
Guided tour of
William Wordsworth's house, Dove Cottage, at
Grasmere. On to the picturesque village of Hawkshead
where Wordsworth went to school.
Visit the Beatrix
Potter Gallery and see her original watercolour illustrations.
Travel on a short distance to Hilltop, the house at
Near Sawry where she wrote most of her books.
Return via John
Ruskin's house, Brantwood, at Coniston, crossing
the lake on the Victorian steamship 'Gondola'.
|
| 3.
Northern Panorama - 8 lakes: |
|
Moot Hall, Keswick
|
From Windermere,
travel over the Kirkstone Pass to Ullswater. On to
Keswick via the Neolithic stone circle at Castlerigg,
a magical, mysterious place. guided walk around Keswick
and visit the Cars of the Stars Museum.
After lunch continue
along the shore of Derwentwater, 'Queen of the Lakes',
and over the high Honister Pass to Buttermere and Crummock
Water. Return via the tranquil Vale of Lorton,
the high Whinlatter Pass, England's only mountain forest,
to Keswick. Back to Windermere via three more lakes, Thirlmere,
Grasmere and Rydal Water.
|
| 4.
Industrial Heritage: |
|
Lake Cruises
Stott Park Bobbin Mill
|
Across Lake Windermere
by Lake Cruises Steamer to Lakeside. Guided tour of the
19th century Stott Park Bobbin Mill, restored to full
working order. Travel to Haverthwaite on the little steam
train once used to carry iron ore. Drive on through the
beautiful Furness peninsular towards Ulverston for a guided
tour of Gleaston Water Mill, a restored 18th century
corn mill. Visit to Duddon Furnace a restored 18th century
iron smelting furnace. Return via Skelwith Bridge and the Kirkstone
Galleries - local crafts including gifts made of polished
slate from the Kirkstone quarries. |
| 5.
Christian Heritage: |
|
River Kent & Kendal Castle
Cartmel Priory
|
Visit to Kendal
- the Auld Grey Town, once famous for is Kendal Green cloth.
See the 13th century church of The Holy Trinity - the
widest Parish church in England.
Visit the Quaker
Tapestry housed in the Quaker Meeting Room nearby.
Travel on via the
Edwardian seaside town of Grange-over-Sands to the
picturesque village of Cartmel. Visit the 12th century
Priory Church known as The Cathedral of the Lakes.
Continue towards
Ulverston for a visit to Swarthmoor Hall, home of George
Fox, founder of the Quaker Movement in 1652.
|
| 6.
'Back 'o Skiddaw' and Hadrian's Wall: |
|
Bassenthwaite & Skiddaw
Hadrian's Wall
|
From Windermere,
travel towards Keswick via Rydal Water, Grasmere
and Thirlmere. Continue along the shore of Bassenthwaite
with views of the "mighty Skiddaw" fell.
On to the pretty
village of Caldbeck cross the wild moorland "back 'o
Skiddaw". Visit to Priest's Mill, an ancient water
mill fully restored - see the grave of the famous huntsman,
John Peel, in the churchyard nearby.
Travel on through
the 'Debatable Lands' to Birdoswald, an excavated Roman
Fort on Hadrian's Wall. After lunch continue to Alston,
England's highest village. Stop to see the amazing Neolithic
stone circle known as Long Meg and her Daughters.
Return via Ullswater
and the Kirkstone Pass.
|
| 7.
Off the Beaten Track: |
|
L'al Ratty
Muncaster Castle
|
Travel around the
head of lake Windermere towards Coniston, stopping to admire
the beauty of Tarn Hows - one of the most picturesque
lakes.
Continue west towards
Broughton-in-Furness and then northwards along the
tranquil Duddon Valley to Eskdale. Take a trip
on L'al Ratty, a narrow-guage steam train which travels
the 7 miles to Ravenglass though the secluded Eskdale
valley. At Ravenglass visit the Roman Bath House and
Muncaster Castle, built around an ancient Pele Tower
and steeped in history. Visit the famous World Owl Centre.
Return across the
wild moorland of Corney Fell with wonderful views of
the Duddon Estuary and Morecambe Bay.
|
| 8.
A Taste of Yorkshire: |
|
York Dales
York-Shambles
|
A tour across the wild heather-clad moorlands of Swaledale and Wensleydale to the historic
city of York. Travel through the Yorkshire Dales National
Park via the ancient market town of Sedbergh to
Hawes, set 800 feet above sea level and famous for its sheep
market. Visit the Dales Countryside Museum and a chance to buy
some of the famous Wensleydale cheese made here. See Hardraw
Force, England’s highest single drop waterfall before driving on
over the spectacular Buttertubs Pass.
Visit the medieval town of Richmond with its 11th century castle. Nominated
as the typically English market town it has the largest cobbled market
square in England.
In York a visit to York
Minster, the famous Gothic Cathedral begun in1220 followed by a
guided walk around the ancient city walls and the narrow winding
streets known as The Shambles.
Return through the remote
and charming villages of Wensleydale, the largest of the Yorkshire
Dales made famous by James Herriott’s book “All Creatures Great
and Small”.
|
|
