Breaks in the Lakes
With the Euro too strong for holiday fun in mainland Europe, why not stay nearer home? Frederic Manby and Terry Fletcher try Cumbria.
Martin Gott was just back from a cheesemakers' conference on Mull and immediately into workwear to tend his flock of 100 Lacaune sheep, nurtured on the southern tip of the Lake District. Lacaune is the breed used exclusively to make Roquefort cheese in the Millau region of France, now famous for Norman Foster's motorway viaduct.
That's where Martin went for his flock, now milking 70 of them on Lord and Lady Cavendish's Holker Hall estate, known for its gardens and annual festival.
"It's a hardy, milky sheep", says Martin, son of Peter Gott, a man at the forefront of championing Cumbrian produce at Sillfield Farm, near Kendal.
The Holker cheese is semi-soft, with a water-washed rind that adds texture and flavour. The result reminds me of Reblochon, a comparison which Martin is happy with. The sheep are milked for nine months and produce enough milk for six or seven tonnes of cheese, depending on the grass.
It is marketed as St James, after James Aldridge, a Suffolk cheesemaker who inspired Martin to become a cheesemaker during a visit to Sillfield Farm. Martin learnt the craft from Mrs Kirkham at nearby Goosnargh, and later in Somerset with Mary Holbrook. Then the Holker estate set him up with the dairy farm. The square, flat cheese sells well in the estate's food hall and to specialist shops. There is even an outlet in Spain, renowned for its sheep's cheese, remarks Martin. The Lacaune can cope with the climate in the South Lakes, often one of those drenching drizzles that sends casual walkers to the nearest caf. Half an hour to the north it is llamas that catch the eye of guests at Gilpin Lodge, one of only three Relais & Chateaux members in the North-West.
The small herd was taken on by Barney and Zoe Cunliffe when friends were selling up. They make an interesting backdrop to this rare family-owned country house hotel.
The family had owned the house from 1919 until 1961. John and Christine Cunliffe brought it back into ownership in 1987 and have spent several millions creating a 20-bedroom haven for the reasonably well-off. Christine did the interiors and their architect son, Ben, designed the new rooms and the garden. Barney, who had followed his father into the Marriott hotel group, came home to be managing director. This year they brought in a new head chef, Russell Plowman, whose CV includes the Michelin starred L'Ortolan and the triple-star Waterside Inn. He serves a five-course, 52 dinner which has had
hot reviews.
The Gilpin doesn't do weddings and says a polite no to young children. Dogs can be lodged on one of its farms. A spa, then?
No, but you can swim and gym nearby, or get excellent beauty treatment in your room.
This leaves a tranquil setting for its core clientele, who live within a two-hour drive and come back again and again.
With 45 full-time staff (10 of them with more than 15 years' service), and a wage bill of about 70,000 a month, it relies on a good rapport with a wealthier customer who appreciates the acres of garden and can pay between 145 for a standard room and 220 per person per night for one with an outside hot tub.
This hot-tubbing is a pleasure which escapes me. They are too small to swim in, make your legs look funny through the water, and reading a book soon has the pages damp and curling.
Apparently, though, they are a major must for some visitors.
The tariff includes dinner and breakfast with exemplary food and service – unruffled when a water jug canted sideways and tipped its contents on to the slate floor.
Lakeland: Go there for literary connections: Wordsworth, Potter, Ruskin. For unbeatable scenery. For hill walking, climbing and mountain biking. For lake sailing. The main route through Windermere and Ambleside gets choked with traffic at peak times.
Eating: No shortage of tea shops and restaurants. Lucy's in Ambleside has a wide reputation. The tearoom at Holker Hall is good value. In Hawkshead, the Grandy Caf serves fine home cooking or the Queens Head has a professional dining room. Local delicacies: salt marsh lamb, potted shrimps.
Staying: Plenty of choice from B&B to gastro pub to grand hotels and bespoke converted private houses. Gilpin Lodge is at the top end of prices but you get what you pay for and its reception rooms never feel like a hotel. More like the home of a wealthy friend. Twenty bedrooms. Windermere lake is a few miles to the west.
Reading: The monthly Cumbria Magazine and the weekly Westmorland Gazette.
Side-stepping: Ulverston is an interesting town, now with a statue of Stan Laurel (who was born there) and Oliver Hardy by Graham Ibberson. The Buddhist Peace Caf is a change of pace. Four old walking sticks were 2 each at the Oxfam shop.
Contacts: Gilpin Lodge, Crook. Tel 01539 488818. Holker Hall, Cark in Cartmel: 01539 558328.
Lake District Tourism inquiries. Tel 01539 822222.
A hotel with attitude...
From the outside it looks disarmingly like a normal Lakeland hotel. There are pleasant lawned gardens with a fountain gently dancing, heated swimming pool and white rendering glistening in the sunlight. So far, so traditional for one of the larger holiday establishments overlooking Windermere. So check in at the reception desk, pick up your key, unlock the door and step into your….er cave. Or ancient Egyptian palace. Or perhaps your American pioneer's log cabin. Or if you are feeling particularly adventurous, there is the magnificently tasteless Austin Powers Suite. With its pink fun fur circular bed, mirrored ceiling complete with glitter ball and geometric designs in bright green, pink and orange it is everything a Sixties super spy could wish for in a seduction pad. Provided, of course, that his partner was not susceptible to sudden migraine attacks.
Aphrodite's Hotel, high above bustling Bowness claims to be the national park's only themed hotel, and owner Will Howarth admits that some more staid Lakes hoteliers have turned up their noses at a style they probably view as more Las Vegas than Langdale. But he says there is no shortage of guests looking for more than daffodils, mint cake or even the Lake District itself on a mini-break.
The idea of themed rooms took root after he and his wife, Lynn, visited hotels in Dubai. He says: "A lot of hotel rooms in this country are very sterile and we thought why not offer guests a completely different experience?"
First came the Cleopatra suite, complete with sunken bath, pillared bed, Pharaoh's sarcophagus, and sacred cat, then a naughty, lacy Parisian boudoir and an oriental suite. They were quickly followed by a jungle-themed Tarzan and Jane jungle room before the most ambitious of all, the Stone Age Flintstones suite complete with sculpted cave walls, rock pool bath, and acres of animal skins.
Designed to bring out the caveman in any guest, it can apparently work too well. One couple arrived for breakfast in the dining room wearing animal skins and armed with a club. Other options include the American pioneer's log cabin – albeit with luxuries never dreamed of in the Little House on the Prairie, like a Jacuzzi and giant television – Robin Hood's den or a Victorian suite.
It's certainly different and with so much offbeat dcor to enjoy, many guests treat the hotel as a destination in itself and do not get much further than their room even though it means missing out on that magnificent Lakeland scenery all together.
Will says: "We do frequently find that guests stay in their rooms rather than getting out and about. We get a lot of people who are coming from very stressed backgrounds, they work long hours and are just looking for somewhere to totally relax for three or four days, often just staying in their rooms and drinking champagne."
Many are repeat visitors who have a favourite suite, while others are steadily working their way through the list, flitting from suite to suite. Other rooms go in an out of fashion, which means a constant need for fresh themes and ideas to maintain the novelty.
Quite how often anyone could relax in the garish Austin Powers suite is another matter. The hotel has already had to disable the rotating mechanism on the circular bed. No complaints from the occupants apparently, but it was very noisy for the people downstairs.
For more details, contact Aphrodite's Hotel, Longtail Hill, Bowness-on-Windermere Cumbria LA23 3JD. Telephone 015394 45052 www.aphroditeslodge.co.uk
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Saturday 11 February 2012
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