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Today we decided to branch out and go to the other side of Lake Windermere! So far, our adventures have focused on the northern part of Windermere, but today we explored the southern end - well, at least a bit of it!

We set off for Hill Top, the historic home of Beatrix Potter, creator of the Peter Rabbit tales. It was a pleasant drive there, and we even made an impromptu stop to photograph a bouquet of pheasants (I've just found out that this is a collective noun for them!). The males were being quite temperamental and squabbling a lot, but the colours of their plumage looked beautiful against the bracken. When we arrived, we managed to park our little car in a cheeky corner spot and headed to the ticket office, securing entry to the house for 20mins time. We 'pottered' in Beatrix Potter's garden for a bit, watching some birds and admiring the autumn colours, and having a quick look in the shop. From there, we went in the house. It was quite dark inside, quite typical for the National Trust, but lots of interesting things to look at, including a lot of original art by Potter's brother. There weren't a huge number of rooms to look at however, so we weren't there very long.

From there, we went to Claife viewing station, a castle-style tower, constructed to offer lovely views over Windermere, with coloured panes of glass to look through. Apparently, it was linked to the Picturesque movement - as it offered perfectly composed views of the lake. However, it was risky to offer the public such views as they might be overcome by the perfect beauty and faint... Risky business, looking at views... Getting peckish after all the perfect views, we decided to have lunch in the cafe. We shared a ploughan's sausage roll picnic lunch (with some cheese, cherry tomatoes and chutneys) and a scone with jam and cream. 

Then, we decided to head to Grasmere - mainly on a quest for Grasmere gingerbread. It took about 30 mins to drive, with only a couple of near misses on the narrow and winding roads! Found a place to park easily enough and then wandered into the town centre, trying to recall where the gingerbread shop was. And we found it! And the queue that streamed from it! Hmm... We didn't have to wait long through, and got some gingerbread! We then carried on wandering, seeing some nice bits and bobs in the local shops but only buying a couple of books from the local bookshop. Had a little piece of gingerbread in the car before setting off back to the cottage, stopping at Booths in Windermere for some more food.  

We decided to go to National Trust Wray Castle today. The sun was shining and the sky was blue and it looked like it might be a rathre nice day. Having had a look how to get there yesterday, we decided to drive to Ambleside and catch the cruise boat across to the castle as some reviews suggested the car park was pretty small. It was only about about 20 minutes drive to Ambleside and we pparked down by the pier. As we were leaving the car, we could see that one of the cruise boats had arrived, so we quickly bought tickets and managed to dash through the gate before it departed. We sat inside as we were the last people aboard and we were quickly on our way. There were some nice views across Windermere on the cruise to the castle with other boats silhouetted against the bright sunshine making for nice photos. As we neared the castle a couple of jets flew quite low across the lake, sadly I wasn't quick enough to catch them on camera. 

Having docked, we had a quick look at the return cruise times which seemed to be every 40 minutes or so and then made the short walk up the hillside to the castle. Wray Castle is a Victorian neo-gothic building dating from 1840, but is unfurnished inside. There were a number of rooms set up for children including a Peter Rabbit burrow that seemed to make use of the warren of rooms upstairs and a Forest Folktales room which featured a dark room with some fairly amateurish decorations. The castle interior was pretty underwhelming overall and we left feeling that it could be very nice if some more money and time was spent on it. I certainly would have been disappointed as a non-member paying over ten pounds entry. 

We had a wander around the surrounding land, skimming stones across the lake from the shingle beach, and clambering over rocks to get a selfie in front of the lake. The weather remained fine, although the sun kept dipping in and out behind cloud. The wander through the woods took us up to the cruise boat pier and to our suprise there again was a boat just arriving. We joined the queue and once again were the last people to get on the boat, this time scoring a seat in the front outside. On the journey back I kept my eyes peeled for the elusive jets but sadly they didn't appear, the cruise stopped off at Brockhole before continuing back to Ambleside. Feeling a bit peckish on our arrival we droppped into a fish and chip shop just behind the pier and wouldn't you know it, whilst we were queing the jets screamed by again!

We decided to have a wander around the shops in Ambleside before heading back to the cottage. There were lots of nice things and we ended up coming away with some glass Christmas decorations and a new lamp from a shop that had just opened and then a glass tea light holder for another place. Took a few photos of the bridgehouse before heading back for the evening.  

Half term has arrived at last after another busy start to the year. We've headed north for the break and are staying near Windermere in the Lake District. The weather today was a bit changeable with some rain and drizzle through the morning and some patchy sun later in the afternoon, we were however treated to a rainbow across the lake which was nice!

We had a wander around Bowness on Windemere and then a potter about Windemere town. Saw a few nice bits in the shops and enjoyed the views across the lake. The autumn colours are looking pretty spectacular and we're hoping to catch a bit more of it on some of our wanders later in the week. Enjoy the photos!