A Little Bit of Opulence

Ah, well.  My sojourn to The Lakes is over - for this year, at least.

We're normally confirmed B & B people.  I don't really like hotels.  I find them over-priced for the facilities that they offer, and I dislike the fact that the staff - who are probably minimum-wagers - are trained to be jolly and polite when no doubt the poor souls are feeling anything but.

There are exceptions to every rule, of course, and the Lancrigg Vegetarian Country House Hotel is one of them.

We quite literally stumbled across Lancrigg about eight years ago when we were returning from a walk up Helm Crag.  It nestles in the shadow of the mountain, and one of its roles is in the provisions of teas, coffees and cakes for passing fell-walkers.  It also does vegetarian meals.  That day, we booked in for dinner, and once we'd experienced our first meal there, we were hooked.

It took another five years before we felt opulent enough to book a stay there, and now we try and squeeze a couple of days in off-season every year.  The dinners are to die for.  So too are the breakfasts - the potato cake and sauted mushrooms I had the last two mornings were lovely.  If you expect your hotel stay to be run with military precision, in an antiseptic soullesss living-cubicle, then forget it.  Lancrigg is not for you.  But if you like a quirky atmospheric hotel with friendly staff, astounding views of the fells and mind-blowing veggie cuisine, then it might be just what  you're looking for. 

Since it's located on the outskirts of Grasmere, there is, of course, a Wordsworth connection.  The house itself dates back to the 1600s, but it was 'house-hunted' by Wordsworth in 1840 for his friend, the social reformer Elizabeth Fletcher.  Under her ownership, it had the first of a series of makeovers - it now survives with a well-preserved Georgian interior, where the plasterwork is ornate, but not too in-your-face.  The dining room is particularly lovely.

This is a view of the house in its setting, taken on a previous visit in the summertime:-

 

Small wonder the well-known Lakeland artist William Heaton Cooper once said of it, 'a perfect example of a gracious country house in precisely the right place'.

Lancrigg has had its fair share of trials and tribulations.  Between 1972 and 1985, prior to its conversion into a hotel, it was used as a nursing home.  Thankfully, it appears to have escaped relatively intact from this phase of use, unlike so many other country houses that were gutted and altered beyond all recognition. 

I don't usually do adverts, but this place is worth checking out if you fancy an idyllic retreat in the Lakes with plenty of good walking nearby. I'm probably doing myself a great disservice by encouraging everyone to go and visit, because if it becomes too successful, no doubt the tariffs will start to go up, and we'll be priced out of the market.

But it is nice to help support a building that's had all sorts of literary worthies staying within its walls over the years, including Charles Dickens and Robert Burns.  Here it is at close quarters:-

 

Oh, and in case you're wondering... 

Yes, we did go for a walk.  A very, very nice walk.  All will be revealed in due course.

A Little Bit of Opulence

Ah, well.  My sojourn to The Lakes is over - for this year, at least.

We're normally confirmed B & B people.  I don't really like hotels.  I find them over-priced for the facilities that they offer, and I dislike the fact that the staff - who are probably minimum-wagers - are trained to be jolly and polite when no doubt the poor souls are feeling anything but.

There are exceptions to every rule, of course, and the Lancrigg Vegetarian Country House Hotel is one of them.

We quite literally stumbled across Lancrigg about eight years ago when we were returning from a walk up Helm Crag.  It nestles in the shadow of the mountain, and one of its roles is in the provisions of teas, coffees and cakes for passing fell-walkers.  It also does vegetarian meals.  That day, we booked in for dinner, and once we'd experienced our first meal there, we were hooked.

It took another five years before we felt opulent enough to book a stay there, and now we try and squeeze a couple of days in off-season every year.  The dinners are to die for.  So too are the breakfasts - the potato cake and sauted mushrooms I had the last two mornings were lovely.  If you expect your hotel stay to be run with military precision, in an antiseptic soullesss living-cubicle, then forget it.  Lancrigg is not for you.  But if you like a quirky atmospheric hotel with friendly staff, astounding views of the fells and mind-blowing veggie cuisine, then it might be just what  you're looking for. 

Since it's located on the outskirts of Grasmere, there is, of course, a Wordsworth connection.  The house itself dates back to the 1600s, but it was 'house-hunted' by Wordsworth in 1840 for his friend, the social reformer Elizabeth Fletcher.  Under her ownership, it had the first of a series of makeovers - it now survives with a well-preserved Georgian interior, where the plasterwork is ornate, but not too in-your-face.  The dining room is particularly lovely.

This is a view of the house in its setting, taken on a previous visit in the summertime:-

 

Small wonder the well-known Lakeland artist William Heaton Cooper once said of it, 'a perfect example of a gracious country house in precisely the right place'.

Lancrigg has had its fair share of trials and tribulations.  Between 1972 and 1985, prior to its conversion into a hotel, it was used as a nursing home.  Thankfully, it appears to have escaped relatively intact from this phase of use, unlike so many other country houses that were gutted and altered beyond all recognition. 

I don't usually do adverts, but this place is worth checking out if you fancy an idyllic retreat in the Lakes with plenty of good walking nearby. I'm probably doing myself a great disservice by encouraging everyone to go and visit, because if it becomes too successful, no doubt the tariffs will start to go up, and we'll be priced out of the market.

But it is nice to help support a building that's had all sorts of literary worthies staying within its walls over the years, including Charles Dickens and Robert Burns.  Here it is at close quarters:-

 

Oh, and in case you're wondering... 

Yes, we did go for a walk.  A very, very nice walk.  All will be revealed in due course.