We left Chatsworth and kept driving north towards the Lake District. We had a blue sky day and the countryside looked glorious in the sunshine. In no time at all we had arrived in Blackpool.

In case you’re not familiar with Blackpool, it’s a seaside resort town on the northwest coast of England. It’s a bit like England’s version of Las Vegas except on a much smaller scale and with significantly more stag and hen parties. It’s probably most well-known for its Pleasure Beach, an amusement park which is apparently the UK’s most visited tourist attraction.

We only had time for a drive down the main street and a stop in the Sandcastle waterpark. The Sandcastle is an indoor waterpark with slides, a lazy river and a wave pool. I don’t know who was more excited to be here – Rich or the kids. We had a good morning enjoying the water park with a quick stop in the amusements afterwards for some fun on the 2p machines. More about those later.

Now I’m not saying that you should visit Blackpool on a Friday or Saturday night, but during the day with the sun glistening off the sea it was actually quite a pleasant place to be.

From Blackpool we continued driving north until we hit the Lake District, where we would be staying for 3 nights with Rich’s parents.

We were staying in the town of Windermere in a little Airbnb stone cottage which was both cosy and modern. About a 20 minute downhill walk into Bowness-on-Windermere and a 10 minute flat walk into Windermere town centre.

For the first night we walked down into Bowness-on-Windermere and had dinner in the Flying Pig pub where I had another pie – this time cheese and onion. The climb back up to the cottage after dinner was a solid uphill slog but we made it!

The weather forecast wasn’t looking good for our Lake District stay, with rain forecast the next few days, but the next morning it seemed like the clouds would clear a little and we took the opportunity to do a hike. We chose Catbells, one of the most iconic and popular fell hikes of the Lake District. The parking for Catbells was practically non-existent for what is a such popular hike and people had abandoned their cars on the roadside making life difficult for everyone else, but after a lot of patience and determination not to miss this hike we got lucky and nabbed a space.

Once we started the hike we could see why it was so popular.

The scenery is absolutely incredible, the panoramic views breathtaking. It’s a steep climb up to the top of the fell, no doubt about it, and when we reached the top of the first section and caught our breath we were faced with another steep scramble up a sheer cliff edge to keep going. Even though there were plenty of other people (and their dogs) scrambling up on their hands and knees, Theo and I decided we wouldn’t go any further and left Rich and Rose to continue the last bit of the hike while we meandered back down the hill. On the way down the pathway did feel precariously close to the edge at times. But we were sufficiently distracted by the magnificent views, the fresh air, the people wishing us good morning and telling me how well Theo was doing, and the dogs running around so happy to be there. I don’t think there are many better ways to spend a morning really. Catbells is an unmissable hike, especially on a clear day, and is probably the best hike we did the whole trip.

We caught up with Rich and Rose back at the car and heard all about the rest of their hike, which by all accounts was just as stunning as the first part but involved a lot more scrambling on hands and knees up sheer cliff edges. Probably a good job Theo and I turned around when we did.

From here we drove alongside Derwentwater Lake with the scenery just incredible the whole time. We drove through another pretty town – Keswick – to our next stop of Castlerigg Stone Circle. I do love a good stone circle, there’s something so mysterious about them (even more so if you’ve watched Outlander). Castlerigg is no Stonehenge, but it is a 5000 year old stone circle sitting with a backdrop of beautiful Lake District scenery.

We played a little while in the stone circle – unlike Stonehenge you can walk among and climb on the stones. It’s a great spot for a game of hide and seek! We started to drive home but found a wonderfully quaint looking pub on the side of the road and we just had to stop. This turned out to be a 17th century coaching inn called The Kings Head and came complete with crooked beams, massive fireplaces and an atmosphere befitting its hundreds of years of history. Although actually, part of the pub had been turned into an upmarket hotel and fancy restaurant which is typical of the Lake District – it’s actually quite a foodie destination.

After blowing the kids’ minds with how old the pub was compared to how old Australia is we made our way back to Bowness and decided we had just enough time to pay a visit to the World of Beatrix Potter before it closed. Beatrix Potter lived in the Lake District for most of her life and she is very closely associated with this part of the world. The World of Beatrix Potter is an affectionate homage to her creations. It’s a delightful little museum with walk through exhibits of all the Beatrix Potter favourites. You’ll spot Peter Rabbit, Mrs Tiggywinkle, Jemima Puddle-Duck are more. There are trails for them to follow, secret animals to find and even a little walk through vegetable patch in Mr McGregor’s garden. Next door is a large Beatrix Potter gift shop where you can buy all manner of Peter Rabbit souvenirs. Dinner that night was in The Albert, a busy pub next door to the Beatrix Potter museum.

The next morning we all loaded into the cars and drove to Ambleside, another pretty but very busy little town with a stream running through it and a house sitting on top of it. The house is called Bridge House and is probably the most photographed building in the Lake District.

A side note on the Lake District – it’s really a victim of its own success. So pretty are the villages and so beautiful is the scenery that people come from far and wide to experience it. And the problem with this is it chokes the towns full of cars with nowhere to put them, making all the towns seem busy and congested. Ambleside was just as pretty and just as busy as all the other towns and villages we came across in the Lake District.

To read my full guide to the Lake District click here.

In Ambleside we separated, and Rose went for morning tea and shopping with her grandparents while Rich, Theo and I attempted another hike – the High Sweden Bridge walk. It was raining and wet but we were determined. It was another uphill slog and we did need to encourage Theo a lot. But we finally made it to the top, saw the bridge and waterfall and got to the part of the hike which involved climbing up a ladder, and after that Theo was very happy and running ahead of us, excited to see what was next. In general on this trip, the kids did phenomenally well with their hiking. Walking two or three miles with ease, and really engaging in their surroundings and all the small ways that England is different to Australia.

Thanks to the rain the stream at the top was strong and gushing, but it meant our visibility of the surrounding landscape was very low. This was a shame, I could tell that this hike would have stunning a clear day. On the walk down we started to see a number of cow pats on the path and then we saw the reason why. A small herd of cows were standing in front of us right on the path. Although some of them looked to be Highland cows – the cutest of all cows – this was not good news. Did you know cows are responsible for several injuries and deaths a year? Not because they are aggressive, but because of their sheer size. You really do not want to be chased by a herd of cows and unfortunately they are not uncommon when walking in the English countryside. So let’s just say we were pretty nervy walking past them. They stood their ground and watched us as we walked very swiftly past them, completely unbothered by our presence.

After our soggy but eventful hike we met up with the rest of the family for Sunday lunch in the Ambleside Inn. I had the roast beef and possibly the largest Yorkshire pudding I’ve ever seen. This was delicious and exactly what we needed to warm us up. Sunday lunch in a pub is a national institution in England.

We went back to the cottage and spent the rest of the day relaxing and enjoying being in dry clothes again. In the evening Rich and I left the kids and grandparents in the cottage and wandered into Windermere town. We had a drink in the Crafty Baa, a very tiny and eclectic pub with a large choice of beer and a hip and happening atmosphere.

And that concluded our stay in the Lake District. The Lake District was something of a late addition to our itinerary – we knew it would be touristy and didn’t know whether it would be worth it – but it turned out to be one of the best parts of the whole trip. The scenery was incredible, the towns quaint and the pub grub delicious.

Coming up…off to Northumberland.

Previously…Chatsworth. Read part 7 here.