| Graham’s Guidelines | * Rating (1 to 5) |
|---|---|
| Coffee | 4* |
| Food | 4* |
| Conversation | 5* |
| People Watching | 4* |
The Lingholm Kitchen and Walled Garden sits near to the shore of Derwentwater just outside Portinscale which itself is just outside Keswick. It’s location sites it just off the circular walking route of the lake and not far below Cat Bells making it an ideal start, finish and stop-off point on several walks.
On this occasion we were meeting some good friends who were just finishing off a week’s holiday in Keswick. After warm hugs I was greeted by the words “‘You’ll struggle to get lost’ you said” as one of our friends lifted up her arm showing a graze on her elbow. It felt strange having my words repeated back to me. While in the area our friends had decided to follow my Tarn Hows Circular via Tom Gill guide, a confusion at the beginning had led them along a completely different path to the one I’d intended them to follow. It turns out that their route was a lot steeper than the one I’d guided and some water on a rock had resulted in a fall and the displayed wound. I’ve always regarded the beginning of any walk as the most dangerous part for navigation, get it wrong then and you are always going to be wrong.
We laughed a lot during our time together and it was wonderful to catch up.
There’s a good car park at Lingholm which you do pay for. The parking fee is currently £5 for 3 hours and has been for a long while, but you will get £4 of this back when you pay in the cafe. The car park is a short walk from the cafe itself, but there is also accessible parking which is accessed via some electric gates for which you need a code. The code is obtained by calling the cafe.
You access the car park from a driveway that is well signposted from the Portinscale to Grange road which winds around the ‘back of the lake.’ I’ve always known it as that as that’s what the Keswick locals call the area on the other side of Derwentwater. The car park is near to the end of the driveway with additional room running alongside the driveway itself.
Further along from the car park is an entrance through an archway which takes you into the grounds of the Lingholm Estate. Follow the path along the stream, around the field where there are often Alpaca, past the entrance to the walled garden and up onto the veranda entrance to the cafe.
Take time to look around as you walk though, this place has an interesting history. The large house behind the cafe was a regular holiday rental for the Potter family. From the age of 19, Beatrix Potter spent 10 summers here, over a 20 year period. These are the days when a summer holiday lasted a couple of months and the house had to be big enough for servants. Some of Beatrix’s most popular stories were inspired by these grounds. The drawings of Owl Islands in The Tale of Squirrel Nutkin were based on St Herbert’s Islands on Derwentwater which is just across from the shoreline. The cottage gardens at Lingholm was one of the inspirations behind Mr McGregor’s garden in Peter Rabbit.
It’s worth wandering around the walled garden and imagining being here at the end of the nineteenth, start of the twentieth century, before either world war.
The cafe itself is constructed with a glass wall down one side giving views of the Skiddaw range of hills and making them some of the best cafe views in the Lake District.
Lingholm Kitchen is another cafe that serves Carvetii, which is roasted just the other side of Keswick in Threlkeld, they know how to make a good coffee. The cakes are always good with the scones being a particular favourite. Sue and I have been known to order a cheese scone and a fruit scone then split them half-and-half. We’ve regularly used Lingholm as a lunch stop, there’s always something interesting on the specials board with the soup being a regular choice there’s also much that we like on the regular menu.
I’m a few cafe guides in now and I’ve realised that I need to do a better job of taking pictures that show the places themselves. Apologies if the few in this one don’t really give you a good view of what type of place it is. I do have lots of pictures of shelves of cakes, but that’s not very helpful if they have different cakes on when you go. Why do I have lots of pictures of cakes? It’s the easiest way of explaining to people what the options are without each one of us going to the counter to see. Did I mention that the scones are always a good choice?
The Lingholm Kitchen and Walled Garden
The Lingholm Estate,
Portinscale,
Keswick,
Cumbria,
CA12 5TZ
https://thelingholmkitchen.co.uk
https://maps.app.goo.gl/GKvMm1VV595duogP9
Graham Chastney 