Lake District | Ambleside

Last week, I visited Windermere in the Lake District, and our first stop was the lake itself.

Stewart Park, Middlesbrough

Stewart Park is a 120-acre park in Middlesbrough, and there are llamas to visit there. If unlike me, you don’t like llamas, they have deer, goats and squirrels amongst other animals. We took peanuts to feed to the squirrels to entice them out for a photo or two, and it worked. I love the picture I got of him holding the food, and the slightly blurred photo of the cute waterhen chick on the pond. A word of advice – do not feed the geese. They will surround you!

Mallyan Spout

It was raining at the weekend when I visited Mallyan Spout. It’s the tallest waterfall on the North York Moors and made for a spectacular view even with the downpour. We started our walk at the Mallyan Spout Hotel in Goathland and made our way down to the river, where we followed the path before having to climb over some rocks.  There is an easier way down to the waterfall via some steps but they were on the other side from where we had come from.  

Upon reaching the waterfall, we stopped to take photos in front, before heading up the steps to continue the walk into Goathland which is just short of a mile from here.

Raby Castle

Last week, I visited Raby Castle, a 14th-century castle near Staindrop in County Durham. It was built sometime between 1367 and 1390 and is still a private home today. 

We arrived at midday and entry was £10 per car. While we were eating dinner, we could see a deer in the distance wandering around the castle wall. Raby Castle has almost 200 acres of parkland and there were a number of deer roaming about. We looked round the gardens first because it was supposed to rain.

Falling Foss

Falling Foss is a large waterfall near Ruswarp. We went to Falling Foss the other week but unfortunately, we couldn’t get to the bottom of the waterfall because they had a wedding party there, and the only other way down involved us risking our lives on a cliff edge. So, I had to make do with seeing it from the path at the side rather than standing in front of it.

Rowing Boats in Ruswarp

On our way to Falling Foss, we stopped at Ruswarp, a little village in North Yorkshire. We were able to park on the roadside right next to the River Esk and made our way over to the boats.

We paid for an hour and I was surprised how far along the river we managed to get before we had to turn back.

Brimham Rocks

Brimham Rocks is run by the National Trust. Entry is free but you need to pay to park. It’s basically what it says – rocks – a number of rock formations that you can climb up, and the views over Nidderdale are amazing.