Off The Beaten Path - Lake District, England

The Lake District is a very popular place with thousands of visitors yearly, but the visitors tend to congregate in certain areas around the main lakes. Here are a few out of the way places that few travelers visit. 

The Grave of Arthur Ransome

Arthur Ransome (1881 - 1967) was a prolific writer of children's novels, the most famous being the "Swallows and Amazons" series. Many of the stories took place around Coniston Water and there are many landmarks around that feature in the series, notably Bank Ground Farm B&B which appears as "Holly Howe" B&B and Peel Island which appears as "Wildcat Island". 

Arthur Ransome is buried at St. Paul's Church, Rusland. According to the church's web-site, "Arthur discovered the Church in the late 1950's whilst exploring Rusland Pool during a fishing holiday.

He found the churchyard one of the most peaceful places on Earth, and asked if he could be buried there under a particular tree, with the sound of the wind in the pine needles.
It's a beautiful setting, very peaceful, great views, and indeed you can hear the pine needles rustling.

Long Meg and Her Daughters
Long Meg and her Daughters is a huge bronze-age stone circle that is little known and one of Cumbria's best kept secrets. Long Meg is over 12 feet tall and stands some distance from the rest of the stones, her daughters. Engraved on Long Meg are a cup and ring and spiral, clearly visible.

Originally there were over seventy stones in the circle but today fifty nine are left with twenty-seven of these still standing. The best known tale tells of the circle as being a coven of witches in the 13th c. who fell under a Scottish wizard's spell which turned them all to stone. 

Newlands Valley

The Newlands Valley is a relatively little visited, yet beautiful part of the Lake District. Only a couple of small roads and an old mining track run through the valley, meaning you can appreciate its beauty all the better without cars passing all the time. The valley contains a few small villages, and a number of scattered farmhouses, making it a great place to hike away from the crowds. There are two main trails in Newlands. 

The best known is the ridge walk, a 6-7 hour horseshoe walk, taking in the summits Cat Bells, Maiden Moor, High Spy, and Dale Head before finishing with Hindscarth and/or Robinson. This might be the best walk in the Lake District: the summits are nicely spread out at 1.5 mile intervals; in addition to great views of Newlands Valley, you also get great panoramas of Derwent Water, Buttermere, Borrowdale Valley, not to mention Skiddaw & Blencathra to the north. 

If you need an easier, lower level walk in the valley, there is the 5 mile walk from the Car Park below Cat Bells to the village (or hamlet) of Little Town. And after all that walking, there is a great pub called Swinside Inn where you can sit back, relax and enjoy great food and beer.

Penrith
It is not so far from all the main lakes, about 15 miles from Ullswater and near Long Meg and her Daughters, but the town of Penrith is worth a visit. There are some lovely little shops in the old town center which is always fun. The 14th century castle is lovely, it is across from the railway station. Go to St Andrew's church and see the strange hogback stones there. It is said that it is a giants grave! 

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