Buttermere Travel Guide

 davesut Says:  At the end of a walk, what better way to celebrate than with a flavoursome ice cream made on site using the output from the resident Ayrshire herd. Very good but no photo which is criminal. There is also a small tea room in the farm yard, very enjoyable. Buttermere is such a... 

 davesut Says:  Buttermere is a very small village with about a dozen buildings, two of which are pubs, the Fish Inn and The Bridge Hotel. The Bridge HotelPictured at dusk appeared the more atmospheric of the twoThe Fish InnA little walk away has a pleasant garden to sit in. Note the car... 

 steventilly Says:  There is a lot of lake shore access at Buttermere, as there is for many of the lakes (with the sad exception of Windermere). You can bring a picnic along when the weather is suitable - or even if it is cold and wet if you are hardy enough - and sit by the waters edge to... 

 steventilly Says:  There are dozens of streams rushing down the hills around Buttermere. This one is at the far end of the lake from Sour Milk GIll and has no name that I know of. We climbed it once to see if it also comes from a tarn but it doesn't, it just springs from the moss on the... 

 steventilly Says:  When the sun is out there are not many more beautiful places in the lakes than around here. I'm not sure if it was in Bigs' book's Top 15 places to see, but it would be in mine. 

 steventilly Says:  The lake district's particular breed of sheep is the Herdwick. They're a hardy sheep with a dirty brown colour and have thicker, chunkier legs than most lowland and dales sheep. I think they're rather cute, some people think they're rather delicious ("kill it & grill it!")... 

 steventilly Says:  Eventually the Sun made an appearance and the middle part of our walk, down the far end of the lake, was made in some quite nice sunshine. Still bits of mist hung around the tops of the hills, like a warm fluffy blanket! 

 steventilly Says:  As we walked around the lake the mist gradually lifted, exposing more and more of the lake and the surrounding mountains. There was a new photo-opportunity around every corner, and we spent a lot of time stopped taking pictures. 

 steventilly Says:  The lakes are quite important wintering grounds for water birds. This flock of Tufted Ducks was on the lake when we walked past. They were just resting, waiting for the weather to improve I think before they started doing much. 

 steventilly Says:  The Lake can look great in all weathers and the fact that it was a misty day on the day we visited only added to the beauty of it, rather than detracting from it. I loved this view quite dark and brooding of the fence disappearing into the lake. 

 steventilly Says:  This is a common name for rapidly running streams like this. This one flows out of Bleaberry Tarn a little way up the hill and into the lake. You can take a path up to the Tarn that continues on up to the small peak called Dodd. From there there are some nice views over both... 

 steventilly Says:  There's a nice hike that you can do right around Buttermere. It follows the lake shore for almost all of its route. You set off through the village, passing to the left of the hotels there and go down a lane towards the hills beyond the lake. On your left will be Buttermere...