The sun continues to shine!

Well, the good weather continues and we have lots of visitors who are making the most of it. If you are planning to come for your first visit, there is no better place to start than here around the Borrowdale and Derwentwater area.  Regular visitors will be noticing that the Trust is introducing some new features that we hope will be enhancing your experience. A good place to start for family walks is by the Trust shop on the shore of Derwentwater.  Outside the shop there are some boards showing suggested walks that take in lake shore and woodland. 

You can also find similar boards at many of the car parks.

Another new venture can be found at Ashness Bridge. You might remember that I mentioned a small building called Bark House that was wrapped in sheep fleeces as part of C-Art last year. It was returned to the National Trust recently and we are currently working on the best ideas for its use. For the time being, we are opening it with some of our volunteers who will chat about the surrounding area. On cold, wet days you can also pop in and enjoy a nice log fire.

What we would really like is to hear ideas from you about how you think we could use Bark House to improve your visit. You can either tell the volunteers while you are there or email northlakes@nationaltrust.org.uk 

We would also like to hear from anyone who can tell us anything about the history of the building. We do know that it was used as a Scout base in recent years but we can find very little information about its earliest uses. Its name suggests that it might have been something to do with the tanning process but we have not yet been able to find any evidence of that. If you can add anything to our knowledge, we would love to hear from you – again at northlakes@nationaltrust.org.uk 

But, of course, there is nothing better than having you come and introduce yourself to us when you see us. That is one of the best ways for us to find out if you enjoy what we are doing.