It was with a sense of excitement and, I confess, trepidation that I arrived at Waterhead for a weekend of Lake District Watercolour Painting. Signing up for something like this can feel a little like putting your creative neck on the line!
Testing the water over dinner on the Friday evening, I tentatively threw out a line about having not ever really done anything like this before. I was pleasantly surprised, and not a little relieved, to discover that we were all novices, and all nervous about our impending foray into the world of paint, colour, tone, perspectives and vanishing points.  Having established our common fragility, we relaxed and enjoyed a sumptuous three-course meal whilst Dawn Pretty, our artist in residence, outlined what the weekend might hold, promising us that we would all have a work of art to hang on our wall by the end of the weekend. (more…)

Real outdoor adventure in The Wild Boar Woods with our new full day Bushcraft courses where you will gain wilderness skills and the basic for survival in nature with our resident expert instructor, Kev. (more…)

Through our passionate people series with have introduced a range of passionate English Lakes employees! Not only are they passionate about going the extra mile for our guests but the also have many other passions, interests and hobbies. Sometimes the work-life interests coincide and we find ourselves sharing these things with our guests. As a perfect example of this, we’d like to introduce Rafael Garea-Balado, who works as a maintenance engineer at Low Wood Bay.

One of my hobbies outside of work is Photography especially landscape, Wildlife/Nature and Travel. This started at an early age spending a lot of time in the Lake District as a child. My craving for the outdoor lifestyle later led me to becoming a Snowboard Instructor and I travelled for many years to stunning countries all over the world, from Japan, New Zealand, Australia, Canada, Switzerland, France to name just a few. Along my travels my trusty point and shoot camera was always to hand to document and share my experiences by capturing many of the sights I had seen.

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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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Research has shown that visitors to the Lake District want to contribute to the beautiful environment that keeps them coming back time after time.
“Tourists in the 21st century are likely to base their choices in travel and tourism on environmental protection and social responsibility” British Tourism Framework Review.
We love where we live and work. Our family of hotels are all located in beautiful corners of Lancashire and Cumbria, with either stunning Lake views, ancient woodland, the Trough of Bowland on the doorstep and on Morecambe Bay an area of outstanding natural beauty. (more…)

Written by Maria Walker, Reservations Manager at English Lakes Support Office who tells us what it is like travelling to the office each day in the heart of the Lake District. (more…)