Autumn in the Lake District

Autumn in the Lake District. A beautiful time to visit a beautiful place.

We've finished Wimbledon, and we've packed away the World Cup. There are now just 7 weeks to go until September.

Are you thinking about an autumn visit to the Lake District? When the heat is over and the leaves start to turn there is no better place to go.

Brockstone Grasmere Cottage, our 2 bedroomed cottage with stunning views,  has been fully booked from March, right through the spring and summer. However, we do have some weeks available in September and October. Take a look at our website and our Facebook page  and see if this might just be the perfect spot for your autumn break in the Lakes

Here's the view on a winter's day.

and here are some photos taken on walks around Brockstone Grasmere Cottage in autumn last year.

For information about available dates and rates, please take a look at this page on or website.

The Lake District is now a UNESCO World Heritage Centre. Come a see what the Lake Dsitrict has to offer. Brockstone Grasmere Cottage could be your perfect base. Please get in touch if you have any questions. We'd love to hear from you.

Autumn Mist Grasmere

"Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness" John Keats wrote his poem "To Autumn" on 19 September 1819.

Today's weather in Grasmere certainly has the Autumn mist in evidence. This morning's walk from White Moss was my favourite one hour walk, round by Grasmere shore, Deer Bolt Woods, and back via Loughrigg Terrace. You can find a description of my walks from White Moss here- click on White Moss Walks.

The walk takes you to the shore of Grasmere , approached by a bridge across the River Rothay.

Autumn morning Grasmere Weir.

From the shore of Grasmere at 11am this morning, National Trust Allan Bank could be seen through the mist.

Allan Bank glimpsed through the mist over Grasmere

Twenty minutes later, this was the view from Loughrigg Terrace, a few metres above the shore of Grasmere .

Grasmere from Loughrigg Terrace- Allan Bank no longer visible.

The mist had come down and it had started to drizzle. This had not put off the walkers, who were out in strength on this mild, misty, moisty Monday morning. ( how's that for alliteration?)

If you want to visit this beautiful area, our cottage, Brockstone Grasmere Cottage could be just the place for you. We still have the week from 28 October available at a special rate, and we have short breaks and excellent value weeks available in November, December and January. You can read more about our Grasmere Cottage winter breaks here. 

Here's a photo showing the exact same viewof Grasmere as in the photo above, taken on a clear autumn day.

Same view, different day!

And here's one taken in winter, with a hint of snow on the fells. This photo is of Rydal Water. You can see Rydal Water from the terrace of Brockstone Grasmere Cottage.

Rydal Water on a winter's day.

As I headed up through Deer Bolt Woods, three sheep came charging at me. There are never usually any sheep in Deer Bolts, so I wasn't surprised when the farmer and his sheep dog rushed by me , the farmer bellowing at his dogs and the sheep in an attempt to get them back.

A group of visitors were entranced. They had obviously watched Countryfile on the BBC last night, which featured the One Man and His Dog competition. Here was One (very angry) man and his dog in real life! "Oh, it's just like on TV" they said. I don't actually remember the farmers on Countryfile sounding quite so cross!

Autumn and Winter breaks in the Lake District.

October is one of my favourite months in the Lake District. The summer crowds have gone, and the shorter days are often crisp and bright. The leaves are turning all sorts of amazing colours. It's a perfect time for walking in the Lake District ( now a UNESCO World Heritage Site)

If you stay at Brockstone Grasmere Cottage, which is in the White Moss area of Grasmere, here are some of the wonderful circular walks that you can do from the door.

Why not take a look at our Brockstone Grasmere Cottage website by clicking here  to see more information and photos about the Lakes in October? You'll also see that we still have two weeks available in our Grasmere Cottage with amazing views. What's more, we have reduced the rates for those weeks. Maybe you can take advantage of our special  autumn offer?

Here are a few photographs taken in and around Brockstone Grasmere cottage in autumn. Tempted?

From 4 November 2017 until 16 March 2018 we are offering short winter breaks ( excludes Christmas and New Year) We can be flexible about changeover days, but a 3 day weekend break or a 4 night midweek break will be at the special rate of £330. If you can stay a full week that would be £495. Why not treat yourself?

Why not take a Christmas shopping break in the Lake District. We've got lots of lovely independent shops offering original high quality clothing, gifts, food, drink artwork- all sorts. What's more, you could visit a Christmas Market in the Lake District  and have lots of fun whilst doing your shopping.
Here's a photo from last year's Windermere Christmas market.

Christmas shopping Windermere

We are fully booked for Christmas, but we can offer a special 3 Night New Year Break. Saturday 30 December, Sunday 31 December and Monday 1 January 2018 at the rate of £540. If you would like to stay longer, up to a maximum of 4 extra nights from 2 January can be booked for the additional rate of only £70 per night.

These rates are for bookings made directly with us and are subject to availability.

It might snow-though it probably won't. However, if it does snow in the Lakes, the main A591 road is always kept clear. The snow goes fast on the lower ground, leaving beautiful snow capped mountains like those in these photos.

These photos of Grasmere and Rydal water were taken on a short walk, just minutes from Brockstone Grasmere Cottage.

Keep up to date with Brockstone Grasmere Cottage on our Facebook Page ( please Like the page), our Twitter account @GrasmereCottage or on our main Brockstone Grasmere website where lots more information can be found.

Looking forward to Autumn

I'm looking forward to Autumn. This may sound perverse, as schools have just broken up , and many of us are still looking forward to a sunny summer holiday. I love summer too- of course. We've got a family holiday to look forward to and hopefully some lovely sunny Lake District August days warm enough to eat out in the garden.

However, when summer comes to an end it's uplifting to have an Autumn break to look forward to. Last October the weather was superb. Here's a post I wrote on my blog at the end of that wonderful month. Please click here Here's a photo from that post.

Penny Rock Wood Grasmere, October

If you're thinking of taking a week's walking holiday in the Lake District this October, you might like to try making Brockstone Grasmere Cottage your base . We have the week 7-14 October available, and also the half term week 28 October- 4 November. The perfect Autumn break. Both of these weeks have been reduced by £100 for last minute bookings.

From 4 November you can stay for short breaks, with a minimum stay for 3 nights. Rates start at £330 for a 3 night midweek break. The best value is for stays of a week. We can be flexible about changeover days.

To check rates and availability please use the booking checker at the bottom of this page. 

I have a lovely Pinterest board with more gorgeous Lake District Autumn photos. You find it here. Take an Autumn break in the UK's newest UNESCO World Heritage Site. Get out in the fresh air. Walk yourself happy. If you stay at Brockstone Grasmere Cottage you can bring your dog.

One more photo of leaves in Penny Rock Wood, Grasmere, just a few minutes beautiful walk from Brockstone Grasmere Cottage.Find us on Facebook here

Penny Rock Wood, on a beautiful short walk from Brockstone Grasmere Cottage

Beautiful Autumn colours in the UNESCO World Heritage Lake District.

.

Goodbye October 2016- you were a wonderful month

Hasn't this been the most beautiful October?

Keen readers of this blog will see that I haven't written any blogs since early September, and one of the reasons is that it has just been such beautiful weather. I haven't felt the urge to sit indoors typing on a  computer. That's my excuse anyway. Beats "the dog ate my homework"

On the morning of All Saints Day I'm just taking a minute to post a few October photos. The guests who have stayed at our cottage, Brockstone, have just loved their holidays, and the fantastic weather certainly helped. We have had some wonderful reviews which you can read here.

Here then are a few photos taken yesterday on a short stroll- from White Moss along the River Rothay to Grasmere weir, turn right through Penny Rock Woods, walk a short stretch along the road to Bannerigg, go up through Banneringg Wood and back along the old road to White Moss. 45 minutes of beauty.

The autumn sun continues to shine in the Lakes

Those who've followed my ramblings in the past may remember that I'm partial to Dire Straits' "Why Worry" which includes the line "there must be sunshine after rain", and after a very dull wet summer we're finding that there is, indeed, sunshine after rain. This year September, and now October too, have been dry and sunny in the Lakes.

If you don't know "Don't Worry " by Dire Straits here's a helpful link to YouTube for you.

White Moss House early one September morning

Above is a picture of our garden taken early one September morning. Flowers that had been hanging back during the summer suddenly decided to open up.

Here we are now, on 12 October, and although some plants such as the hostas are giving up, others still look great.

White Moss House garden October 2015

Can you spot salvias ( grown from seed) nasturtiums (ditto)? - and at the front an osteospermum  (the lilac coloured daisy like one) which has flowered for months.

The guests who have stayed at our cottage this autumn have all just loved the views, the walks, the cottage itself.....we're quite well booked for the months ahead, but you might be able to fit in a visit in 2016, so here's a link to click on here which will take you to our Grasmere Cottage website

Grasmere looking very lovely today in its Autumn colours

At last, a dry sunny day. The poor half term visitors have had several days of heavy rain, but today ( Wednesday) has been beautiful.

Here are a couple of photos of Grasmere taken this morning - very still, beautiful autumn colours.

And here is one of Rydal Water. There were photographers with tripods everywhere. Maybe one day I'll get a proper camera, but even with my simple little snapper that Lakes still look good.

All taken on my favourite short walk from White Moss to Grasmere shore, up through Deer Bolt Woods, back down Loughrigg Terrace and home. One hour's glorious walking. You can find more about White Moss Walks here.

A beautiful September evening walk.

The weather this year has been amazing, and September has been warm and dry so far.

Tonight I walked up through White Moss Woods. Since the path was "improved" (not everyone agrees that smoothing it out was an improvement) there is a new view of Rydal Water. There used to be a tree here, and the path curled away from the wall. There's now a lovely view down Rydal Water.

Tonight at about 6pm the sun was just going down behind Loughrigg, and looking East towards Windermere, it looked like there might be some rain about. However, as Peter had gone to Windermere to play tennis, and is still not back, it seems that it didn't actually rain there. I walk on, over Loughrigg Terrace , down to Grasmere Lake shore and back along the River to White Moss. One of the many superb White Moss Walks.

You can see that the bracken is red/brown already, and the leaves are beginning to turn all sorts of oranges and reds. It will be a fabulous display this year. We still have the week from 18 October available at Brockstone , our Grasmere holiday cottage. The rate has been reduced to £650 for this week. It's a great October offer.

We're getting enquiries for Christmas and New Year now. We're offerings 4 nights minimum stay at £560, 5 nights £645, 6 nights £725 or 7 nights £790. We can be flexible about changeover days.

Our Autumn Lake District Bed and Breakfast Offers - can you resist?

Greetings from another warm , sunny day in the Lakes. September has been a cracking month here. With October arriving tomorrow, who knows what the weather will bring? What you can be sure of is a warm welcome at White Moss House; comfortable beds, excellent breakfasts, a log fire in the Wordsworth lounge, where you can enjoy your tea and home made cake on the afternoon of your arrival ( with our compliments) and great walks from the door.

White Moss Lakeland tea bread- served to you for afternoon tea when you check in.

We're offering some really great rates. Can you take advantage of our Lake District Special Offers before we close for our winter break on 3 November?

Here are the rates for our Autumn breaks.

Autumn Special Offer Breaks

Rooms 1, 3 and 5. Usual rate £118 per night
Autumn break rates.
1 night, (Sunday to Thursday) £98
2 nights £189
3 nights £269

Rooms 2 and 4. Usual rate £98 per night
Autumn break rates
1 night rate (Sunday to Thursday) £78
2 night rate £149
3 night rate £209

These rates are for the whole stay, for two guests , and they include breakfast.

We usually request a two night minimum stay at the weekend. One night stays may be available at the last minute.

Please ring (015394 35295) or email sue@whitemoss.com to make a reservation at these special rates. You may book via the online booking systems, but the rates may be higher than booking direct.

We hope to see you!

Autumn colours on a walk from White Moss House

We're very lucky to be able to walk from our door at White Moss House, and enjoy spectacular views of lakes and fells.

This week, the trees are turning glorious colours. Here's a photo I took as I walked through Penny Rock woods down to the bridge and weir at Grasmere lake- just a 10 minute stroll from White Moss House.

White Moss walk to Grasmere shore via Penny Rock woods

With a good forecast for the weekend, we're hoping to fill our last rooms. If you can get away for a last minute break, why not stay at White Moss House, leave your car on our car park ( for residents only- free!) and set out on one of these wonderful White Moss walks.

We've just added some new Grasmere bed and breakfast special offers for this weekend. Please pass this information on if you know anyone who might be able to take advantage of our last minute offers.

There must be sunshine after rain ....

One of my favourite Dire Straits songs- ( that dates me!)
Why worry,
There must be sunshine after rain,
These things will always be the same,
So why worry now?

At last, after so much rain, we're into a spell of gorgeous dry, sunny early autumn weather just perfect for walking , hiking and sightseeing in the Lakes.
For those of you planning to visit the Grasmere and Rydal area, my White Moss Walks gude is very helpful. Ideally, you would be staying at White Moss House, so that you can start the day with one of our award winning breakfasts, then leave your car in our free car park and walk from the door.

Yesterday I did the walk through Deer Bolt Woods, and, as is often the case, saw a couple of baby deer. These woods have been called Deer Bolt Woods for centuries, so today's deer are just following tradition, as are the swans who live on Swan Point, Rydal Water.

This week looked like it would be quiet, but it has filled up thanks to our special offer and the sunshine. We do still have rooms for the weekend though, and have reduced the rate. Please take a look at our White Moss House and Brockstone Grasmere cottage special offer page. Next week we thought we were 100% fully booked, but a Japanese guest has had to cancel a week, so if you can take up any nights in Room 5 from Tuesday, you can get a bargain.

Virginia Creeper on White Moss House, September 2011

The colours are already looking good- see our ancient Virginia creeper ( planted by the Wordsworths)

"Walking is therapy in boots" Not sure who said this, but it's true.Grab your boots and enjoy the early autumn sunshine.