19/12/25 - The General Burgoyne, Great Urswick

What's in the Box?

Final day in Cumbria and we find out where the bad weather has really hit. This is a soggy, muddy walk where lakes are forming where there should be no lakes.

Lake District has a new lake

It's a tough slog across sheep fields. Some decent sea views and the main item of interest, the Bronze Age Stone Circle on Birkrigg Common. Of course Mrs M labels it "no Stonehenge".

Mrs M - no lover of piles of old rocks

The pile of old rocks

Only the pub can save the day. The General Burgoyne doesn't look as ancient as it actually is. The add-on conservatory making it not look out of place on a modern housing estate.

Robinsons Tied House

The guide book tells me to go looking for the beam, with the carved date 1631.

TW

The landlady noticed me mooching around and reveals its true hidden curiosity. The fine fireplace contains a cupboard dated from William III's time.  You'll never guess what it contains?

Dizzy Blonde, with the fireplace in the distance

What's in the Box, William?

Only a China-man's skull!

Questions need to be asked

Is it real? Yes!

How did it get there? Presented to a former customer in the 1930s on his retirement from the local munitions factory.

Does he always wear a hat? Yes, and it changes, dependent on season.

Only in British Pubs!

Walk Details

Distance - 7 Miles

Walk Inspiration - Best Pub Walks in the Lake District, Walk 24 

Geocaches - 1

18/12/25 - The Royal Oak, Bowness-on-Windermere

Stupid Spanish Sat Nav

We were meant to be walking from Ash Landing today. On the west side of Lake Windermere. If I had been more aware of my surroundings, I would have questioned why the SEAT was taking us up the eastern side of the water.

All is revealed as we reach Bowness-on-Windermere. Technology wants us to catch a ferry. No warning during programming, just selecting what it thinks is the best.

Having already paid for parking in the Lake District, I can only guess how much the ferry would cost.

Regardless. We can adapt on the fly. Komoot always provides routes wherever you are in the world and this is a cracker of a walk.

An up-and-over Brant Fell, with the excellent Dales Way taking us back to town. With a hardcore path, you wouldn't think that we had 24 hours of biblical rain yesterday.

The flooded Lake Windermere

Start of the Dales Way

Views from Brant Fell

Back on the Dales Way to return to town

I'd always dismissed Bowness as being a small hamlet during previous visits to Ambleside. I was wrong, if anything it's bigger. Certainly, if you use pub counts as a guide to size. 24 outlets, according to Pubsgalore. But only one is open at 11am on a Thursday. The Royal Oak wins the Mappiman dollar.

Budget Hotel, Pub

It's a simple affair, done well. A decent beer selection, with 5 hand pulls. With no other punters who are still breakfasting, I went conservative, with a perfectly conditioned Timothy Taylor Landlord to drown out the Christmas songs.

Landlord Tested. It passed.

Sorry Ambleside Best Western, with your spa facilities and comforts. I might be stopping here next time. There is plenty of pub ticking to be done.

Walk Details

Distance - 4.5 Miles

Walk Inspiration 

Geocaches - 10

16/12/25 - Ravenglass and Muncaster Castle

Ratty No More

When they are looking for a location for the next "28 days later" sequel, they could do a lot worse than pick Ravenglass. Talk about a ghost town. We don't see a living soul down the narrow main street. They even take pride in the repurposing of their pubs.

Never found a bad pub called "The Ship"

The lack of people doesn't mean there aren't things of interest. Not many places have three rivers - Mite, Irt and Esk - all meeting the sea. Not many places have Roman bath house ruins.

The muddy estuary of Ravenglass

Unsunken Bath House

The walk is a simple up and over to reach the incredibly impressive Muncaster Castle. The house has been owned by the Penningtons for 800 years and is known as the most haunted castle in Britain. We concentrated on the views - sea and fell - and made great use of the cafe facilities.

Sea Views

Fell Views

The Castle

A circuit of Miller Crag to Muncaster Mill and we are back in town looking for more refreshments.

The Good Beer Guide Tick - The Ratty Arms - is marked as "temporarily closed" on Google Maps. This is a shame, as it is a well known and much loved railway pub. Local Facebook pages suggest that it is down to lack of staff. The regulars we do meet in the pub that is open state that is simply not being run at a profit. Time will tell, and I hope it comes back to life.

The pub that is thankfully open on a Tuesday lunch time is the imaginatively named Inn at Ravenglass.

It doesn't look much from the outside but what a joyous place it is.

The Inn at Ravenglass

It's the menu that I am going to wax lyrical about. A handwritten chalk board with just two mains listed - a seafood chowder and a beef wellington. Complete with Dauphinoise. And a sprout jus.

We peaked too early at Muncaster Castle Cafe.

Ulverston Brewery Laughing Gravy

Walk Details

Distance - 5 Miles

Geocaches - 5

Walk Inspiration - Jarrold Lake District Walks, Walk 16

15/12/25 - Dunnerdale for the Newfield Inn

Ford the Waterfalls

More than 10" of rain over 24 hours in Seathwaite. Our only surprise, the rain stopped 24 hours earlier than predicted.

Whopping rainfall totals for the Lake District.

Not that far off 2 day record (although not sure if strange rules around 9-9am timings come into play)

Surprisingly few impacts, presumably as high totals are confined to uplands and catchment totals much lower. pic.twitter.com/ftpJgr35iu

— Dave Throup (@DaveThroup) December 15, 2025

This walk is a fine example of why I should carefully study both the route guide and the OS Map.

After spotting a little car park at Seathwaite - hopefully high enough above the River Duddon - we abandon the car journey. There is just no point risking "white van man" on these single track lanes. The Evri driver - for it was sure to be an Evri driver - nearly putting himself up a hedge half a mile back.

A safe place to start - The River Duddon

For a route from "Best Pub Walks" - this is a remote challenge of some beauty. "Not for the unadventurous or the lily-livered" is the opening line.

We follow Tarn Beck up the valley and past Tongue House. It's squelchy underfoot, with Mrs M occasionally disappearing up to her knees. For a border terrier, Ruby makes light work of it on her little legs.

The livestock at Tongue House Farm

We can see the torrent of waterfalls ahead - and it's after a careful look at the OS Map, I start to have concern, that I bravely keep to myself. No point in worrying Mrs M, still chuntering about "Trench Foot". The crossing of the rapids simply shows the path stopping and restarting on the other side. Where are those magic letters "FB"?

The guide book;

"You'll soon reach a point where Tarn Beck plunges from your right over a spectacular series of waterfalls and shoots..... I'll leave you to find your own way across"

   

I have never been so pleased to see a bridge. Truly a case of "The trail will provide".

Relief

Things soon revert to type - the path becomes indistinct and bares no resemblance to the OS Map. Unnecessary climbs and descents and complicated fences and stone walls to try and find a crossing. The forested area of Pike How Close a disaster area. I am not sure what you can call a forest where every single tree has fallen down in a previous storm.  It makes for a very difficult crossing.

Relief, as we emerge at the top of the valley, through the forest

The return is far more pleasant - through a Dunnerdale Forest on proper rides. Where there is a stream, there is a bridge. To the side of the gloriously named Wallowbarrow Crag and a debate about whether to try the pub.

Around Wallowbarrow Crag

Incredibly, for somewhere so remote, I have been to the Newfield Inn before. It formed part of the Inn Way to the Lake District. My notes declaring it the cheapest pint of the week at £3. See if you can guess the year, without clicking the link.

Negotiations ensue... I put up a good case for going, Mrs M declares - and I quote - she is soaked through to the gusset and would rather head home.

We both agree that the chances of it being open at 1pm on a Monday in winter are slim.

2nd Time around for Mappiman

The trail provides for the second time today. The outer door is ajar and to placate Mrs M and her damp pants, the log burner is set to "furnace".

We might be the only customers - but the barman is ready and waiting - looking resplendent in a tie and waistcoat combo. We express our surprise at his opening but in a phrase that will bring joy to the heart of pub tickers everywhere he states "you have to keep consistent hours".

Unexpected Keswick Gold

I really should have explored more and brought better internal photos but we were kept enrapt by conversions about everything from graphite mining (boo Keswick for stealing the glory!), Napoleon, Americans on sheep safaris and how poor Sealskinz gloves are in comparison to their socks.

I need to rethink Mrs M's Xmas present.

Although they might do pants.

Walk Details

Distance - 7 Miles

Geocaches - 0

Walk Inspiration - Best Pub Walks in the Lake District - Walk 19