Must See Sights and Landmarks in Great Langdale Area

"White Cross Bay is less than 5 minutes by car to Brockhole, where you can catch a boat to the other side of Lake Windermere to visit Wray Castle. On the way out you have to go to Ambleside first, get off the boat for 20 mins, re-board, and then set off for Wray Castle but on the trip back you go straight across to Brockhole. The Woodland Nature Play Trail at Wray Castle is great."

"Families can explore the activity rooms inside the castle, where there’s plenty of space for creative play. With a natural playground in the grounds and a path to spacious grassy area on the lakeshore, its a great for the whole family whatever the weather."

"The poet William Wordsworth was born on 7 April 1770 at this handsome Georgian house at the end of Main St. Built around 1745, the house has been meticulously restored based on accounts from the Wordsworth archive: the kitchen, drawing room, study and bedrooms all look much as they would have to a young William. Costumed guides wander around the house for added period authenticity. Outside, the walled kitchen garden was mentioned in Wordsworth's autobiographical epic The Prelude."

"This old slate mine has been reinvented as a centre for all kinds of activities: you could venture underground into the bowels of the old 'Edge' and 'Kimberley' mines, tackle a via ferrata, or climb inside the mine along a system of fixed cables, tracing the route followed by the slate miners. A tour into the 'Cathedral' mine runs on Friday by request, but you'll need eight people and it costs £25 per person."

"A working mill built in 1835, Stott Park created the wooden bobbins vital to the spinning and weaving industries of Lancashire. Typical of mills across Cumbria, today you can see industry from a bygone age and watch as bobbins are made using the mill's original machinery. Although Stott Park worked continuously until 1971, it remains almost identical to its Victorian appearance of 100 years ago."

"Metres from Windermere’s northern shore is an archaeological site for the Roman fort of Galava, founded towards the end of the 1st century. This stronghold defended the intersection of three Roman roads, heading off to Ravenglass and Carlisle on Hadrian’s Wall to the north, and Papcastle to the west. The remains date from the 2nd or 3rd century, when it appears that the fort was demolished and reconstructed."

"Sitting above Stock Beck next to Rydal Road, Bridge House may be the whole region’s most photographed landmark. Like all of Ambleside this adorable, narrow dwelling is constructed from local slate and has been owned by the National Trust for nearly a century after it was bought and donated by a group of local residents. The Bridge House dates from the 17th century, when it was used as an orchard storehouse, and has since been a mill counting house, chair-maker’s workshop, cobbler’s shop, tearoom and a family home packed with as many as eight people."

"Rope swings on the grounds, picnics in atmospheric old rooms, free tea and coffee, and huge blackboards you can write on: Allan Bank…"