A pleasant weekend spent in the Lake District where the weather did us a small favour and was not to wet or cold which was somewhat fortuitous for February. We were stopping in a Travelodge in Cockermouth which was located on the road in, accessible straight off the A66 making it easy enough to find. As checking in was not until 3pm we went into Cockermouth for a look around and some lunch before going back to the hotel where we had to wait in the bar as it was still only 2:50pm. After getting sorted we went for a drive to Bassenthwaite after noticing it on the way with the A66 running along it's southern edge. I passed back the way we had come and with the lake behind us waited for a left turn to get around the other side presuming that there would be somewhere to pull in as a major 'A' road did not run on the northern side. However it was a few miles further on before I was able to come off the road and head back where I eventually found somewhere to pull in and walk down to the lake.
   The last time we went to the Lakes we went to Windemere and the lake (at Bowness) was more catered to tourists with restaurants, shops and boat cruises on Windermere so I was a little taken aback to see Bassenthwaite supplied with nothing. It was a pleasant surprise that you could simply pull up and walk down to the lake unencumbered by anybody else or other distractions but that only adds to its charms although it was getting dusky by this point and with it a bit chillier so a couple of snaps later we went back.

A similar situation faced us the following day when we drove out to Buttermere, passing Crummock Water on the way. Again the road skirted the lake only this time the road was windier and narrower with the lake not even separated from the road by any trees and the danger of going over the edge very real. After missing the turn for Buttermere village we ended up on the far side of the lake before turning back and finding the proper car park which was the obvious nod to tourism that Bassenthwaite couldn't be bothered with. We walked the bridle path to Buttermere where the wind whipped up at the water's edge to make us feel cold enough to head back rather than continue circumnavigating as others were doing, but the path was deteriorating further on and we had Bethany in the pushchair. Wanting to see Crummock Water as well I briefly walked down the other path, past the campers, until I could see it in the distance and headed back as my footwear was not particularly suitable.

   Alison had prepared a check list of various local attractions which we spent the afternoon ticking off with differing levels of success. The kid's play area and cafe was not so much an attraction as somewhere to entertain Bethany and get some lunch which we duly did before setting out to find the Wordsworth Gardens and Wordsworth House. We wandered not too lonely and there were no signs of daffodils; unfortunately there was not much sign of Wordsworth House either. The signs went so far before stopping and after a while we found some unprepossessing gardens labelled as War Memorial Gardens which we took to be close enough with Alison admitting that she may have wrote it down wrong. Shuffling back to Main Street we examined again the street sign pointing to Wordsworth House and followed it to the old building that had been there all the time but was shut as it was out of season.

   The sheep and wool centre was also shut so with some trepidation we headed for the Cafe / Nature Trail / Farm that warned wellies would be required to access certain areas. The nature trail was too muddy but we had a coffee and the local ice cream before taking Bethany to see the animals which she enjoyed, happily waving to the cows and llamas.

   Returning home today we stopped off at Keswick for lunch and a walk around our fourth lake of our trip, Derwent Water which ticked a few more of the tourist boxes having a cafe and boat cruises, but again it was a lot cooler by the water's edge so we did not stop too long.