Lake District 16th April 2012

Ambleside - Sweden Bridges
(Pathfinder Central Lakeland Walk #2)Monday 16th April 2012
3.7 Miles

We parked up in Ambleside main pay and display around 12:30 after travelling from Cleethorpes that morning. (£4 for 3 hours).

The idea was a short, low-level walk to break us in gently, and this walk out of Ambleside, visiting both High & Low Sweden bridges sounded OK.

"Sweden" as applies to bridges here, is thought to be derived from "Swithern" , a reference to land cleared by burning. The Scandale valley showed no evidence of that today, but perhaps the old packhorse bridges were once used as a through route to Patterdale in days of old.  

We soon found the Market Cross in the town centre, and headed off along lanes that opened out into countryside above Ambleside. 

The low-level track gave good views out to the Fairfield Horseshoe before heading through mixed woodland and a gentle ascent to High Sweden Bridge.

The way back crossed the bridge and ascended slightly to more open tracks with good views down to Ambleside and Windermere.

Near the end of the walk we crossed Low Sweden Bridge and back down to Ambleside, arriving back around 14:45.

A pleasant, short, low-level walk which whilst not offering amazing views was plesant enough and a good start for the days ahead. 

Our Walk Score: 6/10

We had booked our hotel in Windermere (Bowness) via KGB deals and arrived at The Belsfield to find a rather old but grand looking place located ideally looking down on Windemere, within just a few minutes walk to the town, lake and shops. We paid £75/night for the room including breakfast, which is around half the normal room rate. The hotel was perhaps a little dated and it looked like work was underway to renovate parts. However, the room was in a "large, classic" style and we could offer no complaints. There was a pool and good facilities, and the restaurant, in which we elected to dine both nights was very good indeed and not overly expensive. The views over the lake from the restaurant were stunning. We had 3 courses each for around £27.50 per person (Fixed rate), and the quality of the food and choice was very good. There were some small supplements above the £27.50 rate for some choices, but only a few pounds. A 2-course option was a little less. A free bottle of decent-ish wine was taken the first night as part of the KGB deal if dining.

The Belsfield Hotel - Windermere

Recommended at the price we paid and would stay again on a deal!