It’s all been a bit quiet on here of late. The main reason being there is a LOT going on for the two of us right now! We have pretty much settled into our new home right on the cusp of the Peak District and within easy reach of the wonders of the City…the City being Manchester of course! In truth we absolutely love it here, out in the country with walks from our door step and fantastic hillside and valley views. We have found our spot, for the time being at least.
So what have we been up to? A trip to the Lake District saw us bring in Dave’s 30th birthday with a lovely spell in Ambleside. We stayed in a boutique B&B; The Waterwheel which with only 3 rooms really felt quite cosy! Our hosts Julie and Nigel made us feel very at home by leaving home-made chocolate cake in our room and rustling up a very tasty breakfast each morning. It was simply nice to be away from our work-related and home improvement environments. At this time of year it’s a stunning area to visit as all the leaves on the trees are turning into rich golden hues and vibrant reds.
Ambleside is well located for local walks and shops and has a pretty good selection of restaurants and bistros too, although with this comes a price tag. We are used to good grub, we are also used to fantastic vegetarian food so although we ate well at Lucy’s and Fellini’s we felt the food didn’t quite match the price tags at around £16 for a main in both.
We enjoyed a lovely walk up to Easdale Tarn from Grassmere, which again is a very twee, picturesque village and this can be appreciated even in the rain! After grafting our way along slippery paths and streams in a torrential downpour of rain we came to a very foggy tarn. We managed to take a few meter readings for our new friend; a Bronica Medium Format camera and then promptly took the loop path back down to Grassmere. Once back in Grassmere we enjoyed soup and drinks at Baldry’s tea room, great hot chocolate to be had there.
Something that was a nice little bonus during our stay was that the Ambleside Salutation Hotel next to where we were staying were offering a Sunday lunch and swim deal for £15.95 per person. This isn’t just a swim though, we had full use of the facilities including the gym, pool, sauna, steam and hot tubs, one of which is outdoors. Lovely for the cold autumn chill. The 3 course lunch was fine for what we paid and we spent the majority of our morning there so it was a worthwhile thing for us to do.
Earlier on in October we attended Sukie’s 4th Birthday party, wowee that was a whirlwind event. About 8 little girls from her pre-school came along, presents in tow and prepared for pass the parcel, sleeping lions (or something like that!), party food, a tremendous Tinker Bell birthday cake made by Emily and of course some crazy shapes on the dance floor. This was all over within a few hours! They have some fast energy those little ones! Love their group photograph too, they obviously didn’t find it a smiling matter!
Coming back to a more sobering note, we attended the Broadbottom Community Remembrance Sunday service on the 10th November. This is our first community event since we moved here and it was a beautiful site to see all the families and friends of the village come together in remembering lost one’s through war. This couldn’t have been on a more perfect Autumnal day, starting off with a low mist which by mid morning had cleared to a beautiful blue sky and bright streams of sunlight. A local brass band led the procession up to the cenotaph where everyone gathered in remembrance, singing hymns and offering poppy wreaths. Very atmospheric. We followed the service with a local walk which took in hills, paths, roads and more rivers! It is really beautiful around here!
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Autumn times
It’s all been a bit quiet on here of late. The main reason being there is a LOT going on for the two of us right now! We have pretty much settled into our new home right on the cusp of the Peak District and within easy reach of the wonders of the City…the City being Manchester of course! In truth we absolutely love it here, out in the country with walks from our door step and fantastic hillside and valley views. We have found our spot, for the time being at least.
Ambleside is well located for local walks and shops and has a pretty good selection of restaurants and bistros too, although with this comes a price tag. We are used to good grub, we are also used to fantastic vegetarian food so although we ate well at Lucy’s and Fellini’s we felt the food didn’t quite match the price tags at around £16 for a main in both.
Something that was a nice little bonus during our stay was that the Ambleside Salutation Hotel next to where we were staying were offering a Sunday lunch and swim deal for £15.95 per person. This isn’t just a swim though, we had full use of the facilities including the gym, pool, sauna, steam and hot tubs, one of which is outdoors. Lovely for the cold autumn chill. The 3 course lunch was fine for what we paid and we spent the majority of our morning there so it was a worthwhile thing for us to do.
Earlier on in October we attended Sukie’s 4th Birthday party, wowee that was a whirlwind event. About 8 little girls from her pre-school came along, presents in tow and prepared for pass the parcel, sleeping lions (or something like that!), party food, a tremendous Tinker Bell birthday cake made by Emily and of course some crazy shapes on the dance floor. This was all over within a few hours! They have some fast energy those little ones! Love their group photograph too, they obviously didn’t find it a smiling matter!
Coming back to a more sobering note, we attended the Broadbottom Community Remembrance Sunday service on the 10th November. This is our first community event since we moved here and it was a beautiful site to see all the families and friends of the village come together in remembering lost one’s through war. This couldn’t have been on a more perfect Autumnal day, starting off with a low mist which by mid morning had cleared to a beautiful blue sky and bright streams of sunlight. A local brass band led the procession up to the cenotaph where everyone gathered in remembrance, singing hymns and offering poppy wreaths. Very atmospheric. We followed the service with a local walk which took in hills, paths, roads and more rivers! It is really beautiful around here!
Related posts that may be of interest to you: