Autumn didn’t just arrive quickly this year: it landed pretty much over night between the 31st August and 1st September. Being one to love the warmer weather and sunny days, I’m still holding out hope for an Indian Summer, but I will concede that the autumnal colours which have arrived early this year are very pretty.
At home in Yorkshire the leaves are just beginning to turn, but over in the Lake District autumn is well on its way. We were very kindly invited to spend the last weekend of September at The Forest Side in Grasmere, and it reminded me just why I love the ‘ber’ months so much for a last minute getaway.
The Forest Side is a beautifully renovated restaurant with rooms near Grasmere in the heart of the Lakes. The rooms were very, very nice and the food was very, very good: but that’s what you’d expect from a dining experience with a Michelin star and 5 AA rosettes.
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Elterwater and Cathedral Quarry
Before we checked in we went for a walk with the dogs (of course), aiming to tire them out ready for a night sharing a room together. The weather forecast was what I refer to as ‘iffy’, with heavy rain due in the afternoon and cloudy all morning. We debated a Wainwright but ultimately settled on a low level walk: no one wants to climb up a hill if there’s a more than slight chance of zero views.
The walk we chose was a 9km circular from Elterwater, which we found in our Pocket Mountains guide to the Lake District. The rationale being, there would be plenty of interesting things to look at despite not being a hill, and that we should (hopefully) be able to get parked in Elterwater without needing to leave home in the middle of the night. A similar route is available on WalkLakes, but if you follow this note the diversion around one section.
We just about managed to get parked at 10am, nabbing the last spot in the National Trust car park in Elterwater. Phew! We set off down the Cumbria Way at the start of the walk, which we really must walk in its entirety one day – Sam’s run it twice, but I’ve never done more than odd stretches here and there. An early lovely view across Elterwater to the Langdales set the tone of the walk: pretty Lakes countryside on good paths. Perfect! (I could’ve done without the cows chilling out in a dip by the lake, although as Sam pointed out, they were fast asleep and not remotely interested in the people or dogs walking past).
We stayed with the Cumbria Way for about half of the walk, following good paths in and out of woodland to visit the waterfalls at Skelwith Force and Colwith Force, before branching away from it as it turned south to Coniston and we continued on east towards Little Langdale. The scenery was very lovely, feeling remote and dramatic, with Lingmoor Fell (which we climbed back in June) providing a fabulous backdrop.
A short detour off the main route is well worthwhile to visit Cathedral Quarry. Requiring a bit more of a walk to get to than the caves at Rydal we were hoping it would be quieter, and while there were certainly a few other people knocking about, it didn’t feel busy or crowded. Formerly known as Little Langdale quarries, slate was mined here right up until the 1950s. The site was purchased by Beatrix Potter in 1929, who later gifted it to the National Trust.
The quarry has paths winding their way around the old spoil heaps and good views back down over Langdale, but the show stopper is the entrance cavern of Cathedral Cave. 40 feet high, the chamber has a window which allows daylight to stream in and illuminate the cavern, and I wish I was better at photography to properly convey how impressive it all was. You’ll have to Google it! We were treated to an impromptu rendition of ‘Bread of Heaven’ by one of the other visitors while we were in there: I appreciated it more than Sam did.
Some parts of the caves are blocked off due to rock falls, and always respect on site signage asking you to follow detours or stay out of certain places – it’s for your safety. Note that there is NO parking close to the quarry and you will need to walk from either Tilburthwaite, Elterwater or further afield.
We spent longer than planned wandering around the quarry – mainly because we missed the tunnel to get into the cave when we walked past it, and spent ages looking for it. Thank you very much to the nice guys who told me how to find it! Spending most of our lives dragging ourselves up hills for views, it simply didn’t occur to us that the entrance wouldn’t be at the top of the uphill path. Even for the entrance to an underground cave…
Back on our way, we crossed a very picturesque hodge-podge slate bridge (named Slater Bridge), which dates from the 17th century and was used by quarrymen on their way to and from work. After this, a quiet road led us to a farmyard, which had a lot going on! Geese, chickens, chicks and two dogs led to feelings of great trepidation as we walked through, but luckily we managed without any meltdowns and just had a bum sniff off a spaniel. Much better than I was expecting! Then, it was all down hill (literally, not metaphorically) on a stony track back to Elterwater.
Dog friendly rating: 3.5/5. Like many walks in the Lakes, you can expect to find sheep in many parts of this walk, and we also came across some (very, very chilled) cows by Elterwater. There are a few places where dogs can have a paddle in the lake or rivers, although the woodland sections often have drops off the side of the path, so I’d recommend using common sense when deciding whether or not to let your dog off the lead: we kept ours on. A big plus is that all of the ‘tricky’ stiles have dog gates built into them, which means no having to lift your dog over! There were dogs out in the farmyard when we walked through but they just wanted a sniff and to say hello.
The Forest Side
Pleasantly worn out, we made the 15 minute drive to The Forest Side to check in to our room. We stayed in Hazel, one of the master rooms, which was wonderfully spacious and beautifully appointed. Don’t get me started on the bathroom, which even had a mini waterfall by the window! And I must mention the welcome ‘cake of the day’ – blackberry and custard choux buns. They tasted even better than they sound!
As well as all the extra touches you’d expect from a 4 star hotel, the dogs weren’t forgotten either. They were each provided with a comfy bed (which they proceeded to park themselves on and not move for the duration of the evening), a packet of treats each, and food and water bowls. For such a fancy hotel I was expecting strict rules about dogs on furniture: however, dogs are welcome on the bed as long as you put on the throw provided, and well behaved dogs are permitted to be left in the rooms while you dine downstairs. Perfect for reactive dogs like Coal, who really just want to be left in peace.
We spent a few hours chilling in our room, although the lounge downstairs is dog friendly until 6pm. We just don’t like to bother other dog owners with Coal having a meltdown, and he was happiest in the room. Safe to say we didn’t hear a peep out of the dogs after our walk earlier on. Then, it was time for the 8 course menu, which we’d both been keenly anticipating all day…
The food was excellent, as you’d expect from a restaurant with these culinary accreditations. The only thing wrong with a tasting menu is that you always want more! The menu was a mix of everything with all ingredients sourced locally as much as possible, finished off with some properly delicious puddings. It’s a true dining experience, with the 8 courses spanning about 3 hours, and the team were on hand throughout to explain where our food had come from and how it had been prepared. Dogs aren’t allowed in the restaurant, but I think ours were quite happy snoozing in our room on the very comfy dog beds provided by the hotel.
Dinner ended at about 10pm, and then it was straight to bed after an hour or so of editing on my laptop (the work of a blogger is never done!). Staying in a hotel with the dogs we’re always up bright and early to get them out for a wee and fed before we go down for breakfast ourselves: handily, there was a door into the grounds at the bottom of the stairs to our room, so we could nip out quickly without having to traipse past every room.
Breakfast was another lavish affair, with tea, coffee and fruit juice appearing at the table almost immediately, and a choice of breakfast classics to order from. I always try and order something I wouldn’t make at home when we eat out – and with breakfast I will always opt for Eggs Royale, because I’m absolutely rubbish at poaching eggs. As expected it was delicious, with perfectly poached eggs and smoked salmon about half a centimetre thick. It was so filling it set me up for our walk and then some – I didn’t even bother with lunch!
Alcock Tarn
Check out wasn’t until 11am but we are very much ‘get out early’ people: partly from having a reactive dog and walks being less stressful when we get out before the rest of the world does, partly from both of us struggling with waiting around – we’d much rather just crack on. The Forest Side‘s location on the edge of Grasmere is a fantastic spot, with multiple walks from the door, and the only question remaining was where to go for a walk before heading home. We so nearly hopped in the car to do the Langdale Pikes, but a walk from the door was too tempting to resist and so we opted for a wander up to Alcock Tarn.
We found the route in our Pocket Mountains guide but adapted it slightly. The book route starts in the centre of Grasmere, but staying at the Forest Side meant that we could cut out most of the road walking at the start and end: always a result. It’s similar to this route on WalkLakes.
Despite not being a Wainwright walk, there is plenty of uphill to get to Alcock Tarn, and it wasn’t long before I was stripping my layers off. It’s not massively steep, just enough to get you nicely warmed up even on a cooler day. The hike was made even better by a totally unexpected cloud inversion as we climbed up over Grasmere: it took me longer than it should have to get up there purely because I just couldn’t stop stopping to snap photos. I wasn’t even grumpy about getting wet feet! Trainers and dewy grass aren’t a great combination and really I would’ve done better in my walking boots – but the view was 1000% worth it.
It felt like we spent a long time climbing and I actually had a look to see if there was a Wainwright we could pop over and bag while we were up there – alas, only the Fairfield Horseshoe, and that is definitely not a quick out and back! So we contented ourselves with the walk up to the tarn. Alcock Tarn is a lovely spot, and the way up especially is stunning with views back down over Grasmere. The dogs enjoyed the opportunity for a paddle too.
We met another couple walking their dogs up by the tarn, but other than that we hardly saw anyone until we began our descent. There were a lot more people on the way down than up and I suspect this is a popular walk for families, offering a decent challenge and sense of achievement for littler legs, without being an all day commitment. I was glad we’d gotten there early at any rate.
Going down felt a bit steeper than going up, or perhaps I just had tired legs. The trail eventually leads to a quiet road, where I was kicking myself for not being fast enough with my camera when I saw a red squirrel scampering along a wall. They’re always too quick for me!
The road was very quiet and we just saw one or two cars. We very nearly missed the gate back into the grounds of the hotel to get back to my car: it looks like a (fancy) garden gate at first glance and I didn’t want to wander into someone’s garden and get told off! Realising we’d missed the turn we retraced our steps and spotted a permissive footpath sign by the gate, which had almost entirely washed out: more confident, we passed through the gate and were relieved to see we were indeed back in the hotel grounds near the kitchen garden. Phew!
Dog friendly rating: 4/5. This is a great dog walk: while there is the chance of encountering sheep (like most Lake District walks), all of the stiles encountered on the route have dog gates, and the tarn gives water loving pups the opportunity for a swim. The road sections (at least, on the version we did) are all quiet roads.
Thank you so much to The Forest Side for having us – we thoroughly enjoyed our flying visit (and so did the dogs). If you’re looking for a dog friendly hotel in the Lakes to celebrate a special occasion, or if you’re a foodie and you fancy trying somewhere with a focus on local produce and high standards, then it’s definitely the place to go.
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