Why it’s time to visit THE LAKES

The Lake District has long been a magnet for seekers of natural beauty. Now it’s a destination for food lovers too. The region had more than its share of weather-based challenges last year but, as Susan Low discovers, the community has rallied round to recover and there’s never been a better time to go

BY SUSAN LOW

ARTISTIC NATURE Sunset over Derwentwater

The Lake District has a stark beauty. The wildness of the fells and lakes is thrilling and humbling – you can feel small here. No wonder generations of artists and poets have been inspired by the landscape.

This is a place where talk about weather isn’t just a pleasantry. Misread the clouds and you can put life and limb at risk – as a series of devastating storms proved in the run-up to Christmas last year, when record rainfall washed away bridges and roads and flooded towns and villages throughout Cumbria.

Yet the Lakes draw nearly 16 million visitors each year. While the weather can’t be guaranteed to be warm, you can be sure the hospitality will be. The locals are resilient, and justly proud of their landscape and the food it supports.

COOKING THE COUNTRYSIDE

Chefs throughout the region (see box p119) have put the Lake District on the culinary map, making much of the local produce, from hedgerow to seaside. The hardy herdwick sheep that dot the Lakeland fells are more than just part of the landscape; they provide some of the best meat around. Anyone who’s not tried the deep flavours of herdwick hogget (lamb that’s 1-2 years old) is in for a treat – and Mark Teasdale, chef at Sharrow Bay, who comes from a family of sheep farmers, is a big fan.

“My parents had herdwicks and swaledales,” he says. “Herdwicks are not so commercially viable because they take much longer to mature, but they have incredible flavour. It’s possibly the most commented-on ingredient on our menu.”

There’s so much to inspire and enjoy in this windswept beauty of a landscape… Come for the views – and stay for the food.

SHARROW BAY

Ullswater, Cumbria (sharrowbay.co.uk)

BY SUSAN LOW

View from Sharrow Bay across Ullswater

PHOTOGRAPHS: ISTOCK, JOAN RANSLEY, SARAH KAY

WHY IT’S GREAT Sharrow Bay is not the new kid on the block. It’s not the place to come if you’re looking for cheffy whizz-bangery and hipster trend-worshipping. And that’s what makes this place special. It opened back in 1949 and is credited as the UK’s first country house hotel. Its then-owners, Francis Coulson and Brian Slack, wanted the hotel to be a home away from home for their guests. If you want to unplug, unwind and leave the modern world behind for a few days, this is the place to do it. It also helps that it’s slap-bang on the shore of Ullswater, possibly the most beautiful of the Lakes, and the views are nothing short of spectacular (see top).