While you’re enjoying your hotel stay in the Lake District or North Lancashire, have you ever thought of helping out with some tree planting?

Celebrate National Tree Week with English Lakes Hotels

National Tree Week, an initiative spearheaded by The Tree Council, is celebrated in the UK every year at the end of November.

It’s a key time for trees as this time of year marks the beginning of the planting season.

Supporting The Local Environment

At English Lakes Hotels Resorts & Venues, we’re always looking for new ways to do our bit for conservation, the environment and to reduce our carbon footprint.

Whether it’s using natural, renewable resources through our hydro-electric turbine at Low Wood Bay Resort & Spa, or making the most of the sun’s energy with solar panels at Lancaster House Hotel, we want to help make a difference.

Tree planting in the Lake District and North Lancashire represents one of our core environmental commitments – our aim is to help breathe new life into those areas which have much less tree cover than they have in the past.

Planting new trees to create more future woodland cover is vital in terms of mitigating the effects of climate change, maintaining habitats and protecting land from flooding, as well as helping to preserve the beautiful scenes of the rural countryside for everyone to enjoy for generations to come. 

It’s why we recently donated £5,000 from the English Lakes Hotels Sustainability Fund to The Lune Rivers Trust to create new areas of woodland.

As part of an overall initiative to plant over 1,800 new trees, the funding will cover 0.33 hectares of the project along a section of Ellergill Beck, to the North of the Forest of Bowland.

Why Are Trees So Important In Your Hotel Stay?

Too often we take trees and woodlands for granted, despite the huge popularity in the tranquillity of rural, nature-based hotel stays.

It is often said that the UK has one of the highest concentrations of ancient trees in Europe.

Our guests always marvel at the peace and beauty of the 72 acres of ancient woodland we look after around The Wild Boar Inn.  These so called ‘Cathedrals of the countryside’ have been around much longer than anything we have built and are a life-giving feature of the landscapes across the Lake District and North Lancashire.

According to The Woodland Trust, the UK’s native tree species and woodlands are not in great ecological shape and are showing declines in wildlife.  But there is good news in that tree planting projects across the country are starting to bear fruit and to address these challenges.

Get Involved In Tree Planting During Your Lake District Hotel Break

At English Lakes Hotels, we’re determined to contribute to the national target quoted by the Committee on Climate Change for the UK to plant 1.5 billion trees – at least 30,000 hectares per year – and achieve net zero emissions by 2050.

You can get more involved and help make this happen with a simple decision.  When you check out after your stay with us, you automatically make a £1 optional donation to our local tree planting and sustainability projects administered through Cumbria Community Foundation.

Since establishing our sustainability fund in the late 1990s, we have raised over £250,000 for local conservation projects.

In 2019, we partnered up with Cumbria Community Foundation to target more of our fund raising towards tree planting projects.  Thus far we have committed over £30,000 for a range of initiatives.

Make A Difference For A Greener Planet

You can also get involved through The Tree Council itself, especially during the winter planting season.  Why not plant a few trees or a hedge yourself in the garden, or get involved with a community project or tree planting event by connecting with your local Tree Warden Network.

And if you cannot do some hands-on planting yourself, you can make a donation to The Tree Council for them to plant a tree or a line of hedgerow on your behalf.  In this way we can all make a contribution towards a more sustainable future.

Our hotels in the Lake District and surrounding areas have hundreds of miles of public footpaths, tracks and trails and hopefully a growing desire to make access easier for those using wheelchairs, mobility scooters or parents with buggies. We all have a right to enjoy the countryside. Here are five short walks which are accessible to all.  (more…)

Lancaster House welcomes Andy Lemm as General Manager. Andy has bags of vision for the future of the hotel, but he is also returning to a place that is a significant part of his past. 

Lancaster House has always been a special place for me. It was my home for nearly two years and I met Michelle, my wife, here when she was Restaurant & Banqueting Manager.  We married at Lancaster House and so it has been a huge part of my life already. Lancaster House was a great management training ground and prepared me for my first general manager’s position at The Wild Boar, also part of the English Lakes family of hotels.

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Whilst planning his recent visit to China, Colin Fox, Marketing Manager for English Lakes met other professionals linked to China and tourism. In the second blog in this short series, Colin talks to Helen Moriarty, Senior Development Officer for Groundwork North East & Cumbria. (more…)

The environment is an essential part of life in the Lake District and like most popular areas; it needs constant care to maintain the beautiful surroundings. Freddie Tedstone, a student from the Wirral, has been challenged with the question ‘Who should care for the environment?’
The Lake District is renowned for its breath-taking scenery, including the traditional towns and villages that are centres of regional culture and history. The lakes can provide stunning reflections on a still day yet are used for sailing when there’s a breeze. There were more than 1.2 million boat cruise passengers in 2012 which shows how well-used these wonderful resources are. Along the mountains of the Lake District National Park are many of the UK’s best walking routes and are used all year round come rain or shine. If these valuable natural sights are used by so many, who should look after them?
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It seems like an eternity ago, I was stood in my kitchen, glass of Balvennie Doublewood in hand, staring at PM Burgess’s Tubular Fells, contemplating whether I could walk all 214 ‘Wainwrights’ in the calendar year of 2012. I wasn’t a complete novice to the Lakeland Fells, so I was under no illusion as to the task ahead of me, but I’m sure the alcohol clouded my judgement!

It would be some weeks before a beautiful frosty January day in Great Langdale set me on my way.  All 5 peaks were hit on that occasion, just 209 to go! (more…)

We are pleased to announce we have scooped multiple accolades for our commitment to sustainability. Each of our four-star properties has achieved awards for excellence in the Green Tourism Business Awards. (more…)