An alternative guide to the Lakes: how to escape Cumbria’s twee side

03.06.2024 - 12:45 / theguardian.com / Cooper

You’d be forgiven, as a visitor to the Lake District, for imagining that the governing attractions are daffodils, Grasmere gingerbread, Herdy (the bleating fell-side variety and the brand), mountain watercolours and lake steamers. So fixed have these associations become with the region that it’s now the victim of its own twee, commercial image.

Millions of tourists tromp the same routes each year, seeking out waterside and lookout points, and bagging famous peaks. Queues at Sarah Nelson’s Grasmere Gingerbread stretch round the cottage bakery and past Wordsworth’s grave. Wainwright’s ridges become polished with footfall; the roads into the national park jam with holiday traffic. Windermere is now polluted with millions of litres of raw sewage.

As a native of Cumbria, I can vouch for the awe of its landscapes and the sublimity of its Romantic image. Despite the overcrowding and misconception of what was originally a radical artistic vision, the version of the Lakes hawked to tourists isn’t necessarily bad or boring. But the county has more to offer than the usual conveyor of sightseeing, the same old beauty spots, and doily-strewn tea rooms. It’s not simply a pleasure and leisure ground that requires weekend-warrior uniform and paddleboards. For those willing to think outside the box of trinkets, there are lesser-known and more interesting alternatives; many relating to the region’s hidden history and its contemporary working practices.

The county has brilliant contemporary art, gastronomy and microbrewing scenes, with hundreds of artisanal makers. Cumbria has the second highest number of Michelin-starred restaurants outside London – a sign of well-heeled visitors and wealthy second-homeowners. However, they’re not all elitist and unaffordable. Heft, in High Newton, keeps its bar un-bookable, serving Michelin-grade bar snacks, excellent, moderately priced wine, and wonderful local craft beer – such as those made by Fell, Gan Yam and Bowness Bay. The clue is in the name: hefting is a traditional way to manage grazing animals on un-boundaried common land.

On a similar front, recognising that pubs are under serious threat from big breweries and are vital to the social infrastructure of small rural communities, there have been several cooperative buyouts, including The Old Crown in Hesket Newmarket and The Mardale Inn in Bampton (village of my childhood, where parts of the cult film Withnail and I were shot). These cooperative pubs are, tellingly, in parts of the county less hit by mass tourism, where big business has not yet dictated prices and de-identified them – though the Lowther valley and the Caldbeck moors are equally beautiful, with substantial mountains and quiet lakes nearby. The pubs proudly