Lake District challenging walking holiday

Planet

It is safe to drink the water from the tap in England, however, for customers keen to avoid buying single use plastic bottles we encourage customers the chance to purchase a discounted filter Water-To-Go bottle which combines three different technologies to remove over 99.9% of all microbiological contaminants in water.

We operate a ‘leave no trace’ policy on tour; our tour leaders are trained to promote this message to customers. As the focus of this trip is primarily walking, we aim to leave a minimal impact on the areas as possible. This trip actively encourages customers to reduce the carbon footprint to a minimum.

We encourage our customers to not deviate from designated walking areas so as not to upset ecosystems irrespective of the size. We also provide encouragement to not to feed birds and the red squirrels that roam the local area as they become reliant on tourists.

Our country house is careful to separate waste for recycling. Much of the food is prepared on site to reduce the use of single use plastic. Recyclable containers are used for the packed lunches we provide.

We’re committed to running our business responsibly. In our office we reduce, reuse, and recycle whenever possible. It’s in a refurbished mill, and we’ve also installed a waterwheel to generate electricity from the river. It was the first of its kind in Britain, gives us our own sustainable source of power and any excess goes to the National Grid.

People

We stay in a country house on the shores of Buttermere in the Lake District. Customers make their own way to the start of the tour; we give clear instructions on reaching the house using public transport.

All meals are provided at the house using a combination of locally sourced food and whole foods, with the exception of dinner on one evening. Customers can walk to and from one of the local pubs in Buttermere Village for this evening meal, which in turn, supports the local businesses. We offer a range of holidays based from our country house, from 3 to 7 nights. All walks are reached either directly to/from the property or public buses can be used to reach the trailheads.

We have financially supported the rebuilding of bridges washed away and walking paths that have fallen into disrepair, this ensures paths are maintained for years to come.

Every Thursday the Cumbrian Mountain Rescue team visit the country house and they provide a presentation about what they do and offer items for sale to support their cause. As a business, we support this company financially (they are volunteers) on an annual basis.

We cap customers at our country house to a maximum of 19 so as not to impact the environment surrounding Buttermere. Our range of different holidays cater for both the gentle rambler simply seeking beautiful days out alongside the lakes and on gentler valley paths as well as energetic and adventurous high peak hiker seeking a real challenge. You’ll be walking amongst the Wainwrights, the 214 fells listed in the iconic pictorial guides to the hills and mountains of the Lake District written by the great Alfred Wainwright to document his experiences in the hills and to encourage others to discover the landscape for themselves. On a selected number of dates, we also offer self-guided holidays so customers can explore independently whilst staying at our country house on a full board basis.