Heavenly Ullswater and a magical church

WAINWRIGHT is rarely wrong. The ‘finest shoreline walk in The Lakes’ is the seven mile stretch between Howtown and Glenridding. It seems longer when you’ve got a chihuahua in tow with ferns and moss and stones to sniff avidly along the way. Snout down and not for budging, Captain Smidge missed much of Ullswater’s stupendous scenic backdrop. We didn’t and couldn’t believe our luck.

Set in 18 acres of glorious gardens, Rampsbeck looks serenely down on Ullswater

 It helped that we’d set out from our lakeside hotel base, the Rampsbeck Hotel, on a supreme Indian Summer day, driving first to Pooley Bridge to catch the first Ullswater Steamer of the day at 9.45. 40 treacherously chilly minutes later we disembarked at Howtown, half way point along the lake as the clear Cumbrian morning began to warm up.

Once out of the woodland and heading up for Sandwick the panoramas opened out amazingly, Helvellyn rearing up in the distance. At Silver Bay we slipped down to the shore to skim pebbles (Smidge had a token paddle) before heading for the start of Patterdale.

Who said dog-friendly holidays were restrictive? The encourage you to get out and go the extra mile. Especially when there’s a dog-friendly pub at the end of it. Only in Glenridding, from where we caught the steamer back, there wasn’t.

 

Howtown Walk; below, Smidge checks out the lakeside

We made up for it later back in Watermillock with the excellent Brackenrigg Inn, dating back to the 18th century just a 10 minute trek uphill from the Rampsbeck. It has just started brewing its own beer and we road-tested the Brack'N'Brew Blonde enthusiastically, while the hound snoozed off his long day. Only for a moment did we feel guilty at not toasting Alfred Wainwright with the ale named after him, at the next pump.

This was a perfect hoppy refresher before dinner at the Rampsbeck, where head chef Ben Wilkinson is applying the lessons learned in Michelin-starred restaurants to some of the finest local produce you’ll find in the 2 AA Rosette restaurant. Herdwick lamb, naturally, but the fish is well sourced and sauced with a light hand. Afternoon tea, as you’d expect, is a major draw.

The dining room trails behind the cooking in contemporaneity but I’m sure regulars wouldn’t have it any other way. The hotel as a whole is upgrading discreetly while retaining all the traditional country house trappings of oil paintings and flock wallpaper, wood panels and ornate ceilings, dating back to the 1700s (or perhaps they were a Victorian addition). Furniture is on the solid side; Smidge was fascinated by the majestic four poster (down, boy) in our lake-facing bedroom, one of many, giving the family-owned Rampsbeck a unique selling point. 

 

Our steamer had passed Sharrow Bay on the other side of the lake, acknowledged as the first country house hotel when it was launched – at lake level – just after World War II. I recall in its heyday sipping an aperitif as the waters almost lapped against the lounge windows, but that was it. Rampsbeck is different. Set in 18 acres of glorious gardens, it look serenely down on Ullswater and across to the far fells. Its own whitewashed bulk is an unmissable landmark.

Tebay services

The homeward plan was just to drop in on Tebay Services food hall on the M6 (see factfile) to stock up on organic wines, produce from some of the 70 local suppliers represented and grass-fed beef from the Dunning farming family, who run this far cry from the usual motorway stop-off. 

But once we reached the Penrith junction I couldn’t resist driving 20 miles north to check out one of the most unusual churches in Britain. Sheer serendipity how I got to discover the story of St Mary’s Church in the village of Wreay, five miles south of Carlisle. The author Jenny Uglow wrote a book about its creator, a remarkable 19th century maverick called Sarah Losh. Born in 1785 into a wealthy but progressive landowning family, she was highly educated on the continent and after her beloved sister Katherine died she channeled her energies into innovative architectural projects, notably St Mary’s, completed in 1842.

Sarah Losh – architectural visionary

Uglow’s homage to her, The Pinecone (Faber pb, £12.99), was submitted for this year’s Portico Literary Prize, of which I’m a non-fiction judge, and it has made the shortlist. Reading it made me want to see the church in person. First we had to get in. Local schoolchildren were attending a harvest festival service, so for 20 minutes we were left outside, puzzling over the vaguely Romanesque exterior at odds with its Victorian origins.

Inside, though, is when you realise how magical it is, anticipating the Arts and Crafts movement but exotically unique, too. Indeed, more than a mite pagan. Instead of obvious Christian iconography, saints, crosses and the like, it features a cornucopia  of butterflies and flowers, ammonites and fossils, scarabs and poppies and – carved on the walls and beams, as well as the door latch – the pinecone, universal symbol of fertility and enlightenment. Most of it was carved by local unsung craftsmen, guided by Sarah, herself a self-taught architect.

 

A childhood friend, Major William Thain, killed in the retreat from Kabul in Afghanistan, had sent her a pinecone, which meant a lot to her. Was it a love token? She never married. The arrows that form a further decorative feature are said to symbolise his death. Few buildings are so thought-provoking. Go and see it – and read the book.

Throughout all this mingling with myth and symbol Captain Smidge stayed in the car, toying with a gravy bone. Well, not every moment of a dog-friendly holiday has to be canine-centric.

Check out Neil Sowerby’s other dog-friendly Lakes reports here and here. 

Roast fig dessert at Rampsbeck; below, roast pheasant, cheese trolley and afternoon tea