THINGS TO DO IN CUMBRIA AND YORKSHIRE DALES
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Firepit Cooking
The thing we have had more time to do over the weekends recently, is some firepit cooking using our Kadai Firebowl. The most common use by guests, for what we call the 'Firepit' is simply having a fire. Not even many barbecues have taken place over on that grill. So...
Kendal Mountain Festival 2019
Yet again we took the opportunity to visit the Kendal Mountain Festival this year and as always came away so very inspired. We are so lucky to have this on our doorstep, so to speak, as it is only a 20 minute drive away and the atmosphere is so good. There is...
Mini Adventures
We are always up for a Mini Adventure and feel that is what keeps that 'holiday feeling' alive when you are back in day to day working life. So we were thrilled to see a list put together recently by the National Trust of "50 things to do before you're 11 3/4". We...
Yorkshire 3 Peaks
Having lived in the Yorkshire Dales National Park for 2 years 5 months now, we felt it was finally time to take on the Yorkshire 3 Peaks challenge. Having had several groups stay at St Marks Stays doing this particular challenge and often for charity, we get asked...
Walking The Howgill Fells
One of the common questions from guests is about what walks are there to do in the area and with St Marks Stays being located in the Howgill Fells, we are pretty spoiled for choice here. Being a walker himself, Damian has maps of the Yorkshire Dales and the Lake...
Via Ferrata
So you get a house booking for a group that includes a friend and think "yay" and then the friend mentions she is going to be doing a via ferrata and would love it if you could join in and you think "eeeeekkk!" Put it this way, if you are scared of heights -...
Scafell Pike
Having climbed two of the UK's three highest peaks, Damian and I still had Scafell Pike to trek up and so of course, now living in Cumbria, it was about time we finally ticked it off the list. Originally I had wanted to take a longer route on the journey to Scafell...
High Dam
Today on the blog, we bring you the simple beauty of High Dam. No activities, no adventures, but sometimes it is just nice to let the images show off what Cumbria has to offer. High Dam is a gorgeous place for a walk and easily accessed, even if you want to visit for...
Sedbergh Gala
Since we moved in to St Marks Stays, the Sedbergh Gala had never been held, so it was lovely to be able to see the return of it this May and understand what it means to the community to have it back. Featuring local businesses and the community, the gala had...
St Marks Wedding
It was already exciting when we knew one of our neighbours would be having their wedding at St Mark's church in Cautley, but when they booked St Marks Stays to stay in, it was pretty special. Our first wedding celebrations! Mary and Jonny, got married in our local...
Belly Dancing Hen Party
When a group of ladies ring to book St Marks Stays for a Hen Party and then say one of the planned activities would be belly dancing, well you know it is going to be a fun weekend. To be honest, Damian and I both said what a great hen party it was as they really made...
Winter Cold Water Immersion, Dipping and Swimming
For various reasons, I have titled this blog winter cold water immersion, dipping and swimming, because all three are different and I have taken part in all three at different times over the UK winter season. Many of you who follow our Instagram and Facebook profiles...
The Sedbergh Wilson Run Course
When a friend, who works for Sedbergh School, mentioned she was going to take the opportunity to walk the famous Sedbergh Wilson Run course the morning of the race, we knew we had to join her. Sedbergh School was established in 1525 and back in 1881 the school held...
Yoga and Rhythm Retreat
Yoga and rhythm are a great combination and it has been perfect to have this as our third yoga retreat here at St Marks Stays recently. Everybody loves a 'It must be fate' story don't they and this is how we came in to the awareness of Gillian who runs Yoryoga. On her...
Wickerfish Arts Painting Retreat
Having studied art herself and with books on our shelves about Monet and Van Gogh, Joanne was delighted to have a painting retreat using the studio at St Marks Stays. A big thank you to Ruth Clayton and Stuart Gray of Wickerfish Arts Studio for bringing us our first...
Book Club
How appropriate for World Book Day that we can share with you the story of our recent guests and the celebration of their Book Club Anniversary. When we had a request from the lovely Sarah, saying she wanted to reserve St Marks Stays for herself and her friends who...
Ennerdale Water
Situated in the Western Lake District, Ennerdale Water is a reservoir that has beautiful surroundings at every point of the walk around it. To walk around the whole of the water is approximately 8 miles and is fairly flat apart from one small section. You can park by...
A Buttermere Wainwright
With a total of 214 Wainwrights, we decided to tick off a Buttermere Wainwright over the New Year period. It wasn't the first Wainwright we have walked, but we have a long way to go to be able to say we have achieved all 214 of these walks. Starting from Buttermere,...
Sedbergh Book Town Festival 2018
Not everybody knows that Sedbergh is a Book Town and so when a community led initiative brought back the idea of a book town festival, it breathed a fresh lease of life in to the town, attracting quite a bit of media attention. The theme for 2018 was 'Our Landscape...
Wonderful Wild Women
It is obvious from the minute we moved to Cumbria that everyone embraces the outdoors and Wonderful Wild Women is a perfect example of that. Wonderful Wild Women is a group, a tribe, a gathering, a following and however you want to term it, that embraces all women and...