With its soaring peaks and gorgeous countryside, the Lake District is one of the most beautiful places I know. Now, after a month’s average rain fell in 24 hours, the area around Cockermouth, Braithwaite, Keswick and Carlisle looks more like a mud swamp. The devastation wrought by Storm Desmond in Cumbria is truly shocking. Roads have been blocked, villages cut off from the outside world and many people won’t be ...keep reading
A glorious Lake District hotel is just about the last place I’d expect to start offering facials, massages and manicures to the over 12s. I’ve been to Armathwaite Hall lots of times. A magnificent castellated manor house with lawns bordering the shores of Lake Bassenthwaite, it has views as far as the fells and the dramatic peak of Skiddaw beyond. My in-laws held their golden wedding anniversary party there and ...keep reading