Coast time in Cumbria – and spring walking around Buttermere

This is the second of this Cumbrian two part post from our recent break and coast time in Cumbria in Cockermouth and the Solway Coast.

As with Part One (which you can read at this link), the post is split into three sections each with it’s own photo set.

The pictures in Set Two are some of my favourites from this trip.  Some are from a walk around the stunningly beautiful Buttermere Loop. Read on for more information.

The pictures in the first set include: a wander near the coast line at St Bees, a short wander around the harbour at Maryport and then later back in Cockermouth for a bite to eat and drink.

Picture set one – coast time in Cumbria

Click an image to open the picture gallery

Not all coast time in Cumbria – spring walking around Buttermere

Buttermere is located in the western Lake District. It’s a lake well known for its stunning and exceptional beauty and general ease of access.

The path around the lake is well‑made, easy to follow and generally pretty accessible for most people.

The ‘loop’ is less than five miles. At a steady pace it takes two to three hours. But it isn’t a place to rush.  If you stop often for photographs or to admire the views, you can easily add an hour or two without noticing.

Prior to our trip I had read plenty about the Buttermere Loop. It was on our ‘to do’ list and we only needed some decent weather to commit. We got it — and the walk didn’t disappoint. It’s genuinely stunning.

At times the scenery looked unreal, almost too perfect.  Best of all, for most of the walk, the route around the lake was almost empty.

The loop is an easy wander: woodland shade on one side, open water on the other. The views beyond the lake are breath taking and almost impossible to capture the absolute beauty in a photograph. Have a look through the set below and see what you think.

Picture set two walking the Buttermere loop

Check out the picture set below and click any image to open the picture gallery

Heading for home – via Ambleside

Decent accommodation

We stayed pretty centrally in Cockermouth and rented the Church Mouse cottage a conversion of an old chapel.

The conversion has retained original beams from its chapel days and they are blended with modern interiors.

It used to be a small local chapel with a couple of school rooms before being used as a local training centre for a local business.  With car parking and proximity to the town centre it was well located for our stay in the western lakes.

Ambleside – Bath buns and jewellery

We headed home a day earlier than we had originally planned. This change was because Manchester City were playing in the FA Cup Final the following day which in turn meant an early start for my son and I. Heading home on Friday just made sense. You can see a people watching photo set from that trip to Wembley at this link.

On the way home we stopped in Ambleside  It’s at the northern end of Windermere and is in the heart of the national park and is a busy sort of lived in town that’s forever a popular tourist destination.

It’s a decent place to wander around and there always seem to be lot of walkers ambling past the coffee shops and outdoor specialist shops as well of course the inevitable gift shops.

We were there with a purpose

Although we had stopped for a general wander around we also specifically wanted to call into the Silver Moon handmade jewellery shop – a favourite with my wife.  After a ‘successful’ visit there and a wander around we bought and enjoyed a decent coffee and bath bun from a local baker. If you don’t know what a Bath Bun is then read on …

If you missed Part One you can head there with this link