Grasmere Sports, Grasmere Guzzler Beer Festival and Westmorland County Show

Summer is coming to an end, which will be a sort of relief, as our expectations of warm sunny days will have gone, which means that we can put the disappointment of this cold wet summer behind us. How many of us have opened the BBC weather app this year hoping that somewhere along the line we would see a run of "22 and sunny" days, only to be met by "17, some rain" type forecasts?

As we head into Autumn, 3 of my favourite Lakeland events are on the way.

On Sunday 30 August it's Grasmere Sports Day, a day full of traditional Lakeland sports such as Cumberland and Westmorland wrestling and Fell races. There is food, there is a beer tent, there are stalls selling all sorts of stuff and there is fun for all. Lets hope the weather is kind.

The following weekend it's the Grasmere Guzzler Beer Festival at Tweedies. This great event is now in its 9th year and is loved by locals and visitors. Lots of beers and ciders, great music, BBQ, lots of chat and catching up with friends all on our doorstep. Brilliant. Its 4, 5 and 6 September this year, Friday, Saturday , Sunday. Be warned, by Sunday your choices of beer will probably be limited, and the favourite barrels will have been drunk dry!

On Thursday 10 September it's the Westmorland County Show at the county showground, Crooklands, Kendal. This is a wonderful event. If you're a fan of Countryfile you'll have a good idea about what to expect from a County Show. Our Westmorland County Show does not disappoint. There's a huge range of animals up for judging, horse and pony competitions, country skills, a huge WI show tent, and amazing range of local food to enjoy, and of course, there are beer tents too.Yes, there will be a queue to get in and out of the venue, but it's worth it.

Here are some photos taken by me on a visit to the Westmorland County Show in 2010.

Pig Judging Westmorland Show

Carriage Driving Westmorland Show

WI tent Westmorland Show

If you fancy a last minute visit to the lakes to sample the Beer Festival and the County Show, our Grasmere Cottage with amazing views is available for a week from 5 September. We're very surprised that this week has not been let, but we hope someone will take advantage of our offer of £200 off the usual rate of £790. Yes, for just £590 you can stay in this 5* cottage for a peak week. Can you or someone you know take advantage of our Grasmere Special Offer?

£200 off our Grasmere Cottage September 5th and £100 off available October weeks

Here's a photo taken by our guests last week of Brockstone Grasmere Cottage

Brockstone Cottage, on the walking path from Grasmere to Rydal, is many people's ideal holiday cottage. If you've walked the famous "Wordsworth Walk" also known as "The Coffin Route" you'll have passed right by Brockstone. Here's what it looks like to remind you.


We've had some very lovely messages from recent guests, and you can find these, along with some of our other reviews  over on our Brockstone Grasmere Cottage website

Brockstone Grasmere Cottage with amazing views

The guests who left last Saturday are on their second visit of the year. The guests who left the Saturday before had stayed twice before and have already booked for next year, and the guests the week before that told us that the stay at Brockstone Grasmere cottage was the highlight of their visit from the USA and they hoped to be back as soon as possible.

Our Grasmere cottage has been solidly booked since March, but we do still have availability for late summer and autumn. 

We don't like empty weeks, so we have reduced all our rates for September and October by £100.

The week from 3 September is now £690 (was £790), and the half term week in October from 24 October is also now £690 ( was £790) . Other October weeks have been reduced from £690 to £590.

For more photos and information you can see our listing and reviews on the HomeAway website and more on our Holiday Lettings Trip Advisor website.

I'll just leave you with a few more photos taken by happy guests at Brocktone Grasmere Cottage, and hope that you'll come and see for yourself why this is such a great location for a special Lake District Holiday. Take advantage of the Grasmere Special Offer and enjoy £100 off your Lakes Holday week

Winter Sunset from Brockstone Grasmere Cottage

Brockstone Grasmere Cottage from White Moss viewpoint

5 night August special break at our Grasmere Cottage.

The week mentioned in our last post has now been booked, and the first full week we can now offer is the week beginning Saturday  5 September.

However, we do have a special 5 night break for arrival Monday  24 August, leaving Saturday 29 August.

The rate for this 5 night stay is £500. Great value for August. We'd love to hear from you. You can email us via the contact page on our Brockstone Grasmere Cottage website by clicking here.

Ambleside Sports week still available at our Grasmere Cottage

The week from 25 July 2015 to 1 August 2015 is still available to rent at Brockstone Cottage ( did we mention that this Grasmere Cottage has amazing views?!)

We've written a new page about some of the things you can do in the Lakes this week on our Brockstone Grasmere Cottage website- click here to see it.

One of the very special things you could do this week is to visit Ambleside Sports on Thursday 30 July. It's a traditional Lakeland day out, with lots of events for all the family, plus a beer tent, food tent, stalls and lots to enjoy.

It's 1 June, and after a glorious April we've gone into a period of chilly weather, with high winds forecast for tonight, but we're assured warmer weather is on the way. We're really enjoying the bluebells and rhododendrons this year, and as it's a little cool they're lasting longer.

We can't offer you any accommodation at our cottage, and we've retired from B & B at White Moss House, but there are lots of other great B & Bs, Cottages and hotels in the area, so why not visit the Lakes in the next few weeks? For information on where to stay you can look at the GoLakes website, the official website of tourism in Cumbria and the Lakes.

It's a Bank Holiday and it's not raining in the Lakes.

So far this Bank Holiday Weekend we've had NO RAIN in the Lakes, at least not during the day. It may have rained at night, but that doesn't spoil anyone's enjoyment. Saturday was gloriously sunny, yesterday we had some sun, and although today is a bit dull it's not putting of the hikers. In fact, it's ideal hiking weather.

We've just updated our Brockstone Grasmere Cottage website, and there is a fabulous picture on there of a buzzard , taken by one of our guests. She gave us permission to use it on the website, but not on our blog here, so you'll have to click through to see it.

Here are some photos taken last year of the bluebells- they are looking wonderful right now, so get out and about in the Lakes with your camera and see what you can find.

Dry and sunny in the Lakes- time to get outdoors.

It would be untrue to say that the weather was warm in the Lakes right now. If we're lucky, we might make it to 10 degrees today, but it has been very dry, which is always a joy in this part of the world.

There's been a slight ground frost this morning, but the sun's out now. Time to sweep up leaves and tidy the herb garden. I'll be looking to see which herbs have survived the winter. Observations so  far suggest that the rosemary seems healthy, the sage is as tough as old boots, and the bay tree just won't stop growing.

The sorrel is peeping through, but as yet the lovage is being shy. If you don't know what lovage is and why you should grow it ( it's very easy) take a look at this page which I've just updated on "How to grow and use lovage."

Lovage in White Moss House herb garden

This fabulous view could be yours next week!

Thanks to a recent guest, we can show you a sunset taken from the terrace of Brockstone Cottage, looking at Loughrigg and Silver How , Grasmere, with the Coniston Fells in the background.

Winter sunset at Brockstone Cottage thanks to Deborah Newman

Our cottage is available for a week or a short break from now until 20 March. Please contact us for our best rates.

More photos and lots of information can be found on our website here.

We are also able to offer the first week of the Easter Holidays for just £690- it's a bargain!