Places to eat

There are many places to eat in and around Pooley Bridge and Ullswater. A few of the nearest places are:

• Pooley Bridge Inn
  • This Inn is just across the road from our guest house.
• The Crown
  • In the middle of Pooley Bridge. This pub has a lovely riverside beer garden for the sunny days.
• Sun Inn
  • The third of the pubs in Pooley Bridge, with a good selection of food, and beers from the Cumbrian Jennings Brewery. Large beer garden.
• Brantwood Hotel
  • Stainton (4 miles from Pooley Bridge close to A66). This is the best local restauratn we have and has never failed to offer excellent food.
• George & Dragon
  • Clifton (6 miles from Pooley Bridge on A6). Food using its own produce from the Lowther Estate
• Brackenrigg Inn
  • Watermillock (3 miles from Pooley Bridge). Another Jenings pub with bar menu and restaurant.
• The Queens Head
  • (Tirril, about 3 miles towards Penrith)
    A popular pub, with its own micro brewery, and excellent restaurant menu.

All these menus are available in our reception area.

Out on the Lake

If you don't have your own boat, you can still get out and enjoy the water, without getting your feet (too) wet:

• Ullswater Steamers
  • Three boats run throughout the day, from the Pooley Bridge Pier. Boats run to Howtown (half way along the lake) right down to Glenridding. Full details of sailing times are available from the guest house.
• Boat Hire
  • rowing boats can be hired from the lake side, school holidays and peak season weekends only. Glenridding also has boat hire.

Walking

The Lake district is full of walks, of varying length and difficulty. The guest house has walking guides and maps you can borrow, but a couple of popular walks are:

• Walking From Howtown
  • After taking one of the steam boats, a gentle walk up from the lake shore takes you up onto Martindale hills, where you can look down onto the lake and surrounding hills. If you have a few hours to spare, you can walk from here all the way down to Glenridding, where the steamer can bring you back to Pooley Bridge.
• Aira Force
  • Half way down the lake road, Aira Force is an impressive area of waterfalls. The low level walk are along well maintained footpaths, which eventually lead up onto the hills if you are keen enough. If not, you can always wander towards the tea rooms, and look out over the lake from there!
• Helvellyn
  • A day's walking, for those who bring their walking boots along. After a short drive to Glenridding, Helvellyn and Striding Edge offer a more challenging way to stretch the legs.

Wainwright

The Lake District and its fells are often associated with Alfred Wainright.

From Ullswater House you can tackle many of these without having to travel too far, you can even leave the car here and take advantage of the Ullswater Steamers and the local bus.

Many of the walks in books one the Eastern Fells and book two the Far Eastern Fells are within easy reach of Ullswater House, all of his seven books are available for loan from us as well as local books and maps of the area. We do ask that if you are walking that you leave details of your intended route of your journey with us just in case.

Rainy days

OK, so it happens sometimes up here - but when it does, we have a folder full of things you can do without worrying about finding the umbrella. A couple of suggests to wet the appetite, though:

• The Rheged Visitor Centre is about 5 miles away from Pooley Bridge and has lots of information about The Lake District, including a large screen cinema, which shows a range of films about the local area, natural history and famous intrepid explorers. There is also a range of shops selling local produce.

Keeping the kids happy

The lakeside, hills and footpaths should be enough to tire the most active of children, but there are plenty of other things to keep them occupied whilst your enjoying your break in the lakes:

• The Alpaca Centre
  • A couple of miles away, a small farm of Alpacas can be visited (not a native Lakeland animal, apparently).
• The Aquarium Of The Lakes
  • This requires a drive over Kirkstone Pass, down into Windermere - but the aquarium will keep the kids entertained for a full afternoon.
• Pony Trekking
  • Park Foot is only about 1 mile from the centre of Pooley Bridge, and has regular trekking with very tame horses for both adults and children.