Lakeside larks


A bit bizarre to confess this, particularly as a native Northumbrian, but until last weekend I'd never been to the Lake District (something to do with my parents always preferring to take us to Scotland on holiday to avoid the crowds). But three nights in Keswick turned out to be a brilliant way to lose my Cumbrian virginity, particularly as the Wordsworth episode of Owen Sheers' A Poet's Guide To Britain was still fresh in the memory.

I'm still not sure what was best: the amazing weather (rather like my first holiday in Wales, there's the very real danger of having got a false impression...); the place we were staying in (Berkeley House, a self-catering guest house on The Heads which we'd hired in its entirety and which looked out over the pitch and putt and gardens of Hope Park); or the Dog & Gun Pub (great for so many reasons - the environment; the range of real ales, including two or three from the town's own microbrewery; the dog friendly attitude; and the chef's speciality goulash). Oh, OK, it was the pub...

Mention must also be made of the white piano that plays by itself inside the cafe of the Lakeside Tea Gardens (come in after a few bevvies in the sunshine and you might be forgiven for thinking the Invisible Man's having a tinkle) and the "10 items or fewer" sign in the local supermarket Booth's (none of Tesco etc's grammatically incorrect "10 items or less" nonsense, oh no).

So thanks to Ang for organising it (and for the photo) and Phil for having such a well-timed 30th birthday - and no thanks to the Lodore Falls Hotel for charging £3.25 for a pint of syrupy Coke and to the guests in the hotels on either side of Berkeley House who complained about Sunday night's barbecue. Seriously, who doesn't like the smell of a barbecue?! I'll chalk it up to either jealousy or a severe case of killjoyism.

There'll have to be a return trip some time - after all, we never got to go to the Cumberland Pencil Museum...