Woolly says – Our hosts had outdone themselves on the breakfast front and I could hardly move from the table, luckily our first destination of the day would involve some walking so hopefully I’d be firing on all cylinders after that. A ten minute drive from our lodgings took us to Aira Force a waterfall, although it sounds much more like something the RAF might use, at a height of 720 metres (2,362 ft) it flows to Ullswater and the pictures on google had looked impressive. Pulling into the car park we were met with the usual pay and display that the lakes provide for every place of interest, this time we came unstuck. Jo had managed to go through over £20 GBP in parking in the last two days and we were down to 2p’s, this machine required £5 GBP or a National Trust card which we didn’t have. Taking the incitive on our situation I suggested parking alongside the lake and walking back, sadly the nearest parking area was five miles on and none of us wanted to do that as well as the walk and everything else we had planned for the day. So, we contented ourselves with a stroll along the beautiful Ullswater.
Ullswater is the second largest lake in the English Lake District, being about 9 miles (14 km) long and 0.75 miles (1 km) wide, with a maximum depth a little over 60 metres (197 ft), it had been scooped out by a glacier in the Last Ice Age which meant that my distant relatives might well have seen it forming. It was stunning and well worth our time in stopping. With the barking boy muddy and hopefully tired we climbed back into the car and set off for the day’s main attraction.
Lowther Castle is a country house belonging to the Lowther family, the Earls of Lonsdale, since the Middle Ages. Documents show that Francis Knollys escorted Mary, Queen of Scots to Lowther Castle on 13th July 1568 on her way to Wharton and Bolton Castle. I was excited to see what it had to offer and having parked up it didn’t look as though I would be disappointed.
The front of the castle was splendid in fact truly magnificent, if you’re going to build a castle then this is how it should look. In the late 17th century John Lowther, 1st Viscount Lonsdale rebuilt the family home, then known as Lowther Hall, on a grand scale. The current building is a castellated mansion which was built by Robert Smirke for William Lowther, 1st Earl of Lonsdale between 1806 and 1814, and it was only at that time that the site was designated a “castle”. The castle was a grand affair boasting a room for every day of the year, its gardens were the envy of the north. Sadly, the family fortune was undermined by the extravagance of the 5th Earl of Lonsdale, a famous socialite, and the castle was closed in 1937. During the Second World War, it was used by a tank regiment. Its contents were removed in the late 1940s and the roof was removed in 1957.
The removal of the roof was the saving of the castle, strange as it may sound as no rates or bills needed to be paid and the building remained like that until 2011 after an initial £9 million restoration, when the castle and some gardens opened for public visits.
In 2016, the Lowther family again began to manage the property in advance of the official reopening for the 2017 season, making it a relatively new tourist attraction. Having checked in at reception we made our way through an exhibition giving details of the castle history and the Lowther family, showing some of the silver that had once graced the tables and cupboards and sharing some of the funny stories that had been passed through the generations. It was really well thought out but even better was to come as we stepped into the castle ruins themselves all three of us were stopped in our tracks at the magnificence that confronted us.
Inside what had once been the formal rooms including the library beds of plants crept over the brickwork, huge arched windows open to the elements stood high above us.
Holes in the walls showed where floors had once been with chimney breasts with no hearths looked down on us.
Crossing into the even more ruined area the former front entrance with its wooden door looked as though it was still ready to open and welcome people in.
Where the grand staircase had once stood, it was now open to the skies but this if anything made it even more splendid. We peered through the glassless windows to the countryside surrounding imaging the Lowther family watching out for friends to join them.
One of the towers was open to the elements and I wondered if stairs had once graced its walls.
It was hard to walk away but as we entered the Parterre, I knew there was more to see and we headed towards the gardens which are still being brought back to life. Poking our noses into the countess’s former summer house it was easy to imagine sipping on your tea and enjoying the cool delights of the yew trees surrounding it. White sheets lay under the trees and I wondered what they might be there for.
I did go and ask about this on our way out and apparently, they are collecting the yew berries to replant as well as sending some to other castles rather than import them.
Woolly says – The rock garden was just rocks covered in moss and still waiting for its makeover.
The Japanese garden was less than nothing but they had big plans for it over the next few years.
The Jubilee Summerhouse and Rose Garden were splendid, we strolled through the dying bushes seeing an odd rose that was staying strong, metal sculpture of thorns covered areas and the fountain happily pumped water out into a plume.
We headed into the woods and what looked like a fairy glen, a gap in the trees showed the views for miles over towards the lakes, it was impressive.
Crossing the lawns, we headed up a bank and found Jack Crofts Summer House, Jack wasn’t in and his nearby pond looked as though that still needed some work on it.
As we approached the rear of the castle, I was still staggered at how beautiful it was and how much they had already achieved in bringing life back to it. The café provided us with a well earned coffee and cake, although I was still full from breakfast it would be rude to turn cake down. We sat congratulating ourselves on such an amazing place knowing that our next call would not be anywhere near as impressive.
As Jo pointed the car to our next port of call the heavens opened and the wonderful views became obscured behind clouds and drizzle, as we pulled in Keswick the rain continued to lash down as we raced into our next place of interest.
The Derwent Pencil Museum opened in 1981 and is home to one of the biggest colouring pencils in the world, the idea of technical manager Barbara Murray which was completed on 28th May 2001 being 7.91 metres (26 ft) long, and weighing 446.36 kilograms (984.1 lb), which would take a bit of holding it if you wanted to colour with it.
We had visited the museum previously but given the wet weather forecast for the day I had to find something inside so back we went. The history of pencils was actually quite interesting, with the first pencil factory in Keswick opened in 1832 after graphite had been found locally which became known as ‘wad’. At the time it was more valuable than gold and was closely guarded, which didn’t stop the locals from scavenging for it and selling it to the Dutch.
The factory became part of a top-secret mission during the second world war when they were approached by MI6 to produce pencils which would hide maps and mini compasses. It was that secret that the management would sneak into the factory at night to handmake each one before sending them to a secret location.
Display cases showed us pencils and colours that had been developed through the years and which are still made and sold there today.
One cabinet held a selection of pencil sharpeners that every pencil user might need and along one wall was a fine display of artwork created using the Derwent pencils.
It didn’t take long to go round but by the time we had the rain had moved on and we headed to our last destination.
Derwentwater, or Derwent Water, is one of the main bodies of water in the Lake District National Park, it is both fed and drained by the River Derwent. It measures approximately three miles (five kilometres) long by 1 mile (1.5 kilometres) wide and is some 72 feet (22 metres) deep. There are several islands within the lake, one of which is inhabited. As we stood on the South Shore, I quite fancied the idea of a lake island, Alfie the Dog could have one and Jo another with a boat so we could meetup when we wanted to. Once Jo had captured the stunning splendour of the South, we drove the short distance to the home of the Theatre on the Lake and wandered along the North Shore.
Equally impressive I took picture after picture hoping that the light would show the wonderful autumn colours and the reflections of the lake.
Woolly says – We found ourselves at a large stone dedicated to Ruskin which seemed appropriate in the surroundings and as we turned to head back for a late lunch I wondered if I could convince Jo to move us here and buy at least three islands, a good conversation t have while we ate.