Growing up in Carlisle, Cumbria, my weekends were full of hiking in the Lake District and exploring all the little towns and villages nestled in the hills. Today, I always look forward to my trips home from university so that I can pull on my walking boots and head out to the Lakes, often veering towards Helvellyn or the Langdale Pikes, which are two of my favourite places to hike. Although, during peak seasons – typically the spring and summer months – the Lake District can get quite hectic with flocks of tourists, bringing traffic congestion, noise pollution, and crowded footpaths. According to the Lake District National Park on average 18.1 million people visit the Lake District each year. And whilst tourism benefits the local economy and often generates a great buzz in the area, especially around Keswick, Ambleside and Windermere, my family and I prefer to avoid the hectic crowds and explore some of the quieter (and extremely underrated) places in Cumbria and the Lake District at this time of year.
The Solway Coast Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB):
A short and scenic twenty-minute drive from Carlisle City Centre begins the Solway Coast AONB, a beautiful stretch of coastline that is made-up of a patchwork of peat bogs, salt marshes, woodlands, and sandy beaches. The end of the Hadrian’s Wall Path is located here, in the small village of Bowness-on-Solway. But, even in the warmer months, I rarely cross paths with more than a few tourists and locals walking along the coastline and in the nature reserves. Lay-bys are interspersed along the coastal road, and my mum and I often park our car in one of these spots and wander the undulating marsh for miles. Scotland lies on the other side of the Firth, and small clusters of houses and farms can be seen along its coastline.
My favourite nature reserves in the AONB are Drumburgh Moss, Glasson Moss and RSPB Campfield Marsh. Each nature reserve offers circular routes that range in distance from roughly three kilometres to eight kilometres, with options to make the walks shorter or longer. Drumburgh Moss is the smallest of the three and it has a network of short earthen footpaths and wooden boardwalks to explore, alongside a viewing platform that overlooks the peat bog. I love to walk here during the summer months when you can observe butterflies and dragonflies amongst the plants, and spot lizards basking in the sun on the boardwalks. Exmoor ponies can also be found grazing in the grassland around the peat bog, as they are used by the Cumbria Wildlife Trust to manage the vegetation growth.
Glasson Moss and RSPB Campfield Marsh have much longer walking routes. From the car park at RSPB Campfield Marsh you can follow a route (the red trail) to a boardwalk that stretches over Bowness Common, “one of the largest peat bogs in the UK” according to the Solway Coast AONB. By the car park there is also an Information and Discovery Centre where you can learn more about the wetland wildlife and borrow binoculars to take a closer look at the birds that can be spotted there, including Lapwings, Curlews and Oystercatchers.
These three nature reserves are located within a few miles of Bowness-on-Solway and there are two cafes there that are great places to rest and eat after a long walk. The first is called Pear Tree Tea Room, which offers a delicious selection of homemade cakes, light lunches and hot and cold drinks. It isn’t open every day, but you can check their opening times by going on their Facebook page. The second is Hunter Leisure Cafe, and they’re open every day of the week. They offer a much larger selection of food, and their ice cream is fantastic! There is also a local pub called the Kings Arms Inn, and I recommend going there for dinner if you’re there in the evening. Their food is great, especially their fish and chips.
Lowther Castle and Askham Fell:
Located in the Lake District, Lowther Castle can get somewhat busy during the day, but if you head there early in the morning you can easily park your car and have the surrounding area virtually to yourself. The car park is also free to use. Lowther Castle is a great starting point for a number of walking routes, but my favourite is the Lowther and Askham Fell Loop, which is a lovely thirteen kilometre walk that only takes a few hours to complete. The walk offers beautiful views from Askham Fell of the surrounding hills and is a great way to start your day. Also, if you finish by 11:30am, which I often aim to do, you can reward yourself with a hot drink and a bacon roll from the cafe by the entrance to the castle. They’re delicious!
These are just a small handful of the places I love to go in the spring and summer months when the Lake District can get quite hectic. I hope that anyone who decides to visit them enjoys going there as much as I do.
