Windermere + Cartmel

And with a last day driving around Windermere and Cartmel we said goodbye to the lakes. We stopped by the Windermere pier, visited the nearby village of Troutbeck (very nice views of lake Windermere from our way up), and had lunch in Cartmel before heading to Manchester to catch our flight home.

Cartmel was a last minute surprise. It turned out to be a very charismatic village, with lovely pubs and nice (and original) shops. There's also Cartmel Priory, founded in the 12th century by none other than the famous William Marshall (if you're an historical fiction fan like me, you undoubtedly heard of him before, particularly from Elizabeth Chadwick's books). Cartmel is also the home of sticky toffee pudding, it even has a Michelin star restaurant, and the best village shop I've ever encountered.

All photos of this trip to the Lake District at Flickr.

:: at the pier

:: Views of lake windermere from Troutbeck

:: The home of sticky toffee

:: Cartmel Village Shop

:: From the window of a second hand bookshop in Cartmel - how very true :-)

:: Cartmel Priory

:: The priory had a really nice children's area, which Sara  loved. I think it's the first time I've seen this inside a church.