The festival gives visitors a real taste of the countryside and celebrates the regions excellent independant food and drink producers and suppliers. The Companion Dog Show is held on the Sunday and all dogs are welcome to take part. There will also be sheep dog trails, sheep sheering demostrations, childrens activities, chainsaw carving, maypole dancing, live music and a beer tent.

For further details and information about tickets please visit The Westmorland Show website.

If you require a lake district holiday cottage over the weekend then Wilsons Cottage is only a short drive from the showground.

The fair has all kinds of vintage exhibits including – Steam, Commercial, Military, Tractors and farm Implements, Cars, Motorcycles and Bicycles. There is also entertainment over the weekend including Flyin’Ryan’s Motorbike Stuntshow, and on an evening bands, disco, and a beer tent.

Over the bank holiday weekend, Rickerby Park is also home to Slaters family fun fair and Meshams Wall of Death.

Times:

Saturday and Sunday: 9am to midnight

Monday: 9am to 5pm

Admission is £7 per adult per day. Accompanying children under 16 go free.

Rickerby Park, Brampton Road, Carlisle, Cumbria, CA3 9AA

Carlisle is easily accessible from any of our cottages in the Eden Valley and cottages in Ullswater.

The collection goes back over 100 years and includes automobilia, motor cars, a tribute to the Isle of Man TT races, recreations of old shop windows with authentic advertising signs and content, the history of the bicycle, and childrens peddle cars.

A seperate building houses an exhibition dedicated to Malcom and Donald Campbell who between them set land and water speed records in the series of Bluebird cars and boats. The exhibition includes full size replica’s of the 1935 Bluebird car, the 1939 boat, Bluebird K4, and the 1967 jet hydroplane Bluebird K7.

Contrary to popular belief the sun doesnt always shine in the Lake District so this is a great wet weather attraction. Admission is reasonable with under 5s getting in for free, adults £7.80, 5-15 year olds £5 or a family ticket for £23.

If you are looking for lake district self catering cottages in the area then Tsukudu is less than 15 minutes drive away.

Goosemire Cottages has just extended its short breaks availability up to Friday 1st June. Spring is traditionally a very popular time for couples or young families to come away and enjoy all that the Lake District has to offer before the season starts to get very busy with the school holidays. Also the prices are lower at this time of year, so what better reason than to plan a last minute break.  

For those who are looking to come away for a week there is upto 15% off the weekly advertised rates, and you can even pick the arrival day that best suits you.

Please use the availability search option on the right hand side of the Goosemire Cottages homepage. You can contact us on 01539 731801 or book securely online.

Bassenthwaite – 4 miles long, 3/4 mile wide and only 70ft deep. The most northerly of all the lakes and very popular with sailing boats. Also the lake has a very rare breed of fish called Vendace which are only found here and in Derwentwater. Lakeside Lodge is only a stones throw from the lakeshore.

The other fifteen are actually ”meres” and “waters” often mistaken as Lakes. These are:

Buttermere – 1 1/2 miles long, 3/4 mile wide and 75ft deep. Many say it offers some of the best walking in the whole of Lakeland. Well known walks include the summits of Haystacks and Red Pike. The famous walker Alfred Wainright asked for his ashes to be scattered at Haystacks as it was his favorite place to walk.

Coniston Water – 5 miles long and at its deepest point 184 ft. Made famous by Malcolm and Donald Campbell.  In 1939 Sir Malcolm Campbell set the waterspeed record at 141 miles per hour. His son Donald aimed to better 300 miles per hour which he did in 1967. However his craft “Bluebird” shot up into the air then sank into the lake. His body wasnt recovered until 2001. Coniston Water is also where the book Swallows and Amazons is based, and was written by Arthur Ransome. Tsukudu is within a short drive of Coniston.

Crummock Water – 2 1/2 miles long, 3/4 mile wide and 140 ft deep. Crummock Water has breathtaking views with Mellbreak fells on the east side and Grassmoor on the West.

Derwentwater – 3 miles long, 1 mile wide and 72 ft deep. Keswick is at the northern end of the lake, and at the Southern end the valley of Borrowdale. Plenty of activities on the lake including motor boats and lake cruises.

Elterwater – 1/2 mile long and approx 46ft deep. Situated in the Great Langdale Valley a area popular with walkers and cyclists. During the winter months Whooper swans from Siberia and Scandinavia migrate here.

Ennerdale Water – 2 1/2 miles long, 1 mile wide and 148 ft deep. This is the only Lake not to have a road running along side the shore line. As it is very remote and Westerly it doesnt get a huge number of visitors.

Esthwaite – Although small it is well known by fishermen as it is a well kept trout fishery and regulary stocked throughout the main season. The lake also offers Winter Pike fishing and general coarse fishing. 

Grasmere – 1 mile long, 1/2 mile wide and 75 ft deep. One of the better known lakes due to its connections with William Wordsworth. He famously described this area as ‘The most loveliest spot than man hath found’. During the main season boats can be hired. Helm Crag has a fantastic view of the lake from the large picture window in the lounge and also from the grounds.

Haweswater (Reservoir)- 4 miles long, 1/2 mile wide and at its maximum 200 ft deep. Originally two stretches of  water known as High Water and Low Water. In 1929 The Manchester Corperation built a dam raising the water level by 95ft to create a reservoir. Teal Cottage is only a short drive from Haweswater.

Loweswater – 1 mile long, 1/2 mile wide and 60ft deep. Often overlooked and home to Red Squirrels. The group of fells to the south of the lake are known as the Loweswater Fells and are made up of Mellbreak, Blake Fell, Gavel Fell, Hen Comb and Burnbank.

Rydal Water – 3/4 mile long, 1/4 mile wide and 60ft deep. Very popular with walkers partly because of its connections with William Wordsworth. The walks takes in Rydal Cave, and also Rydal Mount and Dove Cottage which were home to Wordsworth.

Thirlmere – 3 1/2 miles long, 1 1/4 miles wide, 158 ft deep. Thirlmere was originally two smaller lakes but in 1889 Manchester Corporation Waterworks built a dam making it into one large reservoir.

Ullswater – 7 1/2 miles long, 3/4 mile wide and a maximum depth of 205 ft. Although it is the second largest lake in the lake district it doesnt seem to attract the same masses of visitors Windermere does. Ullswater is traditionally the quieter side of the lakes and far more popular with walkers. Popular for sailing and also Ullswater Steamers. Beauthorn Cottage and Beauthorn Coach House are on the lakeshore of Ullswater at Watermillock. 

Wastwater – 3 miles long, 1/2 mile wide and 260 ft deep. It is surrounded by Red Pike, Kirk Fell, Great Gable and Scafell Pike, which is the highest mountain in England. As it is the deepest of the lakes it is very popular with divers.

Windermere – 10.5 miles long, 1 mile wide and 220ft deep. It is the largest natural “lake” in England and a mecca for tourists, with Bowness on Windermere being the Lake District’s most popular holiday resort. Popular for watersports, rowing boat hire and steamer cruises either to Fell Foot or Waterhead near Ambleside. Lake View is a two bedroomed apartment in the centre of Bowness with views of the lake from the lounge window.

Originally Haweswater was a small natural lake only about 2 ½ miles long, almost divided in half by Measland. The two stretches of the lake were known as High Water and Low Water. In 1929 Parliament passed an Act allowing The Manchester Corperation permission to build a dam which would raise the water level by 95ft and create a reservoir 4 miles long, so that they could supply water to Manchester and the surrounding areas. At the time there was public uproar as the farming communities of Mardale Green and Measand had to be relocated as the two villages in the Valley would be flooded. The stone from the village church was used in creating the dam, and the bodies from the graveyard exhumed and reburied in nearby Shap. During times of drought if the water level of the reservoir drops low enough the remains of the two villages can still be seen to this day.

Haweswater Valley is the only place in England where Golden Eagles nest. A pair of Eagles first nested at Haweswater in 1969, and since then 16 chicks have been born. In 2004 the female bird disappeared finally leaving the solo male bird in peace :-)  

Haweswater can be seen from the door of ‘Crow Crag’ in the 1987 cult film “Withnail and I” staring Richard E Grant and Paul McGann. “Crow Crag”, is actually Sleddale Hall, which is near Wet Sleddale Reservoir just outside the village of Shap. The telephone box where Withnail phones his agent is on the main road in Bampton.

The line drawings that feature in this blog are by Artist Robin Forster, and were used back when Goosemire Cottages produced a brochure. With the boom of the internet demand for brochures rapidly dropped, and therefore a brochure is no longer produced.

Goosemire Farm

Village of Bampton

Beauthorn Coach House on the lakeshores of Ullswater

Dairy Cottage, Newby in the Eden Valley

The Garden Flat Ambleside

Cranesbill, Morland

Tsukudu at Lowick Nr. Ulverston

The annual event is attended by Gypsies and Travellers mainly to buy and sell horses, but also to celebrate their history and folklore and meet with old friends. Traditionally the Travellers reside on Fair Hill, just on the outskirts of Appleby, and younger members of their families wash the horses in the River Eden to prepare them for sale. 

Appleby Fair attracts around 10,000 Gypsies and Travellers, and over 30,000 other visitors. Sunday is traditionally the main visitors’ day. Appleby normally only has a population of approx 2500, therefore the town is transformed for the week of the fair.

The fair is not classed as an organised event, however since 2008 several public sector groups including the Emergency services, RSPCA, and Highways Authority have taken over the organisation of the event so that it can continue to run as safely as possible. 

If you are looking for a self catering cottage in the Eden Valley please visit the main Goosemire Cottages website. 

Photographs courtesy of http://www.applebyfair.org/

If you are looking for lake district easter weekend short breaks then please look through our portfolio of lake district cottages or telephone 01539 731801 for short break prices and availability.