Greenodd – Graham Chastney

Graham’s Guidelines: * Rating (1 to 5)

Coffee: 4*
Food: 4*
Conversation: 5*
People Watching: 3*

The Experience

We recently went to Coniston for the Bluebird K7 festival including a visit to the beautiful Brantwood. We wanted to make a full day of it because it wasn’t clear when, and if, the restored antique K7 and K3 would be running. The blustery weather didn’t make us overly optimistic that either would run at all, but we would have been disappointed if we’d decided to travel later and they’d run early on.

Our planned adventure gave us the opportunity to call into a small little business estate just off the Greenodd Roundabout on the A591 which is made up of small, grey pebbledash and slate, single story units. They have a utilitarian aesthetic.

In one corner of the small estate is a dark grey door alongside which is a circular sign stating that this is the home of Bakehouse Born & Bread. Once through the door the building opens out into a wonderful warm welcoming emporium of local fresh food and drink.

I have, on several occasions, called into Bakehouse Born & Bread to pick up something tasty to go in my backpack for a day of walking of which there are many options. There’s something deliciously rewarding about a good cake or sticky pastry at the top of a mountain.

On this occasion we were stopping for brunch having made good time on our journey.

There are several breakfast options on the menu, including the Bakehouse Brekky which is a full English including homemade beans, there’s also the now infamous Smashed Avo on Toast.

The three of us each settled upon a hot sarnie, two of bacon, one of sausage and egg (mine). The hot sandwiches come with local fresh fillings surrounded by thick cut homemade sourdough bread, baked on site. There’s nothing particularly fancy about the hot sarnies, they are what they say they are good quality meat and good quality sourdough bread with amble of each.

We each had coffee to accompany our food, brewed from beans supplied by Red Bank Coffee Roasters which is in nearby Kendal. The coffee was excellent.

Today wasn’t a great day for people watching though. There were only a few other people in and most of those looked like they were doing what we were doing – calling for food on their way to Coniston. To the side of us were two middle-aged men who approach their time in the cafe with such glee that they reminded me of children let out on their own for the first time. I wondered if this was kind of freedom was a bit of a novelty for them. there’s something glorious about a childlike expression on an older face.

As expected, it wasn’t a particularly successful day to see antique speedboats, the wind was just too blustery. There were a few grumpy people around, but we did have a wonderful time at Brantwood where the gardens were blooming with brightly colourful and fragrant azaleas.

Some words from John Ruskin, thinker and owner of Brantwood to finish with: