The advantage of rain in the Lake District, is that it provides a great excuse to go for a coffee.
I arrived at the New Dungeon Ghyll car park at 9.30am to torrential rain. Not my idea of a good time to go off walking.
Dungeon Ghyll is a beautiful, but rather isolated spot. Thankfully, there are a couple of coffee options. The National Trust has a bar/café adjacent to their car park. Before 11am they offer an honesty “coffee hatch” where you can help yourself to coffee and tea. It’s very reasonably priced and great if you’re short on time, but the coffee is only of the instant kind so unfortunately didn’t meet my coffee snob standards.
Next door is the New Dungeon Ghyll Hotel and Bar, where I found an excellent cappuccino. The kids even got some scrambled eggs on toast to keep them quiet. Dogs are welcome as long as, in the words of the barman, “they don’t smoke or swear”.
My cappuccino had a good rounded strength, although some may find it a little too strong. It was also lovely and hot and not scolded. An added bonus was that it came with a mini freshly baked shortbread – yum!. The barman informed me they use Farrers coffee beans from Kendal. Check out their website at http://www.farrerscoffee.co.uk. It certainly gave me the kick to get up the beautiful Dungeon Ghyll once the rain stopped.
The walk up the ghyll is very steep, climbing alongside a gushing stream. The recent rain had swollen the stream to provide magnificent waterfalls. These waterfalls entice the walker to keep going a little further to see the next cascade of foaming water. Eventually at the top of the stream is the beautiful Stickle Tarn, with Pavey Ark’s towering cliff face peering into the mirrored water.
Needless to say, another coffee was consumed on the return to the car, this time sitting outside in the sunshine, enjoying the views. All in all, whether it’s raining or shining, I would highly recommend a coffee stop in New Dungeon Ghyll.
Check out my facebook page for a few more photos of my day at fb.me/coffeegossipforyou.