Sticklebarn and The Langdales

I suggested recently that if anyone wanted to start their own National Trust blog you could do worse than to choose National Trust Beaches. Well, here's an even better idea for you: National Trust Pubs. It turns out that there are around 40 of them, Sticklebarn in the Lake District being one. What a pub crawl that would be.

Anyway. Sticklebarn and The Langdales might sound like the band at Worzel Gummidge's wedding but it's actually a pub and a very scenic area:

• Great Landgale is a U-shaped valley containing the Langdale Pikes (a group of mountains) and two villages. It was the centre of the Lake District's slate industry and there are still slate works there today.
• Little Langdale is a valley containing a hamlet, as well as two tarns (mountain lakes created by glaciers); Little Langdale Tarn and Blea Tarn
• Sticklebarn is a pub (a place serving alcohol), providing food and drinks to weary walkers

I'm not sure why I took a picture featuring a drain-pipe, rather than the cosy interior
of the pub. You'll just have to imagine that part. 

You really do need a special dictionary in the Lake District - I only just discovered that a stickle is "a hill with a prominent rocky top." What with ghylls, fells, tarns, forces, thwaites, and meres, you really do need to pay attention to what you're agreeing to.

Anyway. If you like walking, cycling, and camping then you'll love this beautiful area of the country. There's a real buzz - people setting off on walks, or returning from walks, or walking into the pub having completed a walk.

Blea Tarn - surely one of the world's most beautiful spots

The Sticklebarn scone
But let's move on to the scone. This was the third (yes, third) scone of the day (after Fell Foot and Wray Castle) and it was still only 2pm. We decided to go crazy and have some lunch as well, so what with sausage rolls and baked potatoes thrown in to the mix it was all turning into a highly unusual scone mission. 

The scone itself was a lot smaller than the Fell Foot and Wray Castle ones, which wasn't necessarily a bad thing - if most people drop in to Sticklebarn for hearty meals to get them up the fells, then a scone-as-dessert might be appropriate. And it was definitely fresher than the one we'd just had at Wray. It just wasn't quite up to the standards of the legendary scone we'd had at Fell Foot.

Sticklebarn was my second National Trust pub, as I had been to The George Inn in Southwark in my previous life as a London pub expert*. If you'd like to see the list of all NT hostelries, you can find it here.

*I wasn't a certified or qualified London pub expert. I just went to a lot of London pubs.

Sticklebarn: 5 out of 5
Scone: 4 out of 5
Ticking second National Trust pub off the list: 5 out of 5

Other National Trust properties we've visited in the Lake District: Acorn Bank, Allan Bank, Fell Foot, Hill Top, Sizergh Castle, Wordsworth House, Wray Castle

Wray Castle

If I went to IKEA tomorrow and bought a flat-packed fortress, it would probably look just like Wray Castle. Or it would do if I got someone else to build it for me, as my efforts at flat-pack unfortunately tend to look like Dennis the Menace's tree house until they just fall apart completely.

Anyway. Wray is not an ancient castle. It was built in 1840 as a Gothic Revival place, so the turrets and arrow slits were never actually used for firing projectiles at Roundheads or invaders during a siege. It's also a very squat building when you see it up close, but the exterior is very impressive nonetheless.

It's very different inside. I mean this with the greatest of affection, but it reminded me of a cross between a town hall and the set of Why Don't You?, that iconic 80s TV show that was presented entirely by kids making Rice Krispie cakes and marauding around the place like a televisual Lord of the Flies.

Someone messaged me to say it reminded her of Byker Grove
rather than Why Don't You. She's right.

But before we get further into that, here's a bit of history for you:

• Wray Castle was built in 1840 for James and Margaret Dawson from Liverpool - he was a retired surgeon and she came from a wealthy background.
• Hardwicke Rawnsley, one of the founders of the National Trust, came to visit his cousin Edward who had inherited Wray Castle from the Dawsons. Hardwicke loved the place and became vicar in Wray church.
• In 1882, Hardwicke bumped into a young Beatrix Potter in the grounds at Wray Castle - her parents had rented the place for the summer and she and Hardwicke became good friends. She went on to buy nearby Hill Top.
• The castle was left to the National Trust in 1929 and had many uses subsequently.
• It was originally a youth hostel and then from 1931 it contained the offices of the Freshwater Biological Association. You probably won't be surprised to hear that the FBA is concerned with freshwater science and research.
• Bizarrely, Wray Castle was classified as a ship from 1958 and 1998. RMS Wray Castle was a training ship for radio officers. There was even a student bar in the room that had been used as an eel reservoir by the FBA.
• In 2011 it was opened to the public - apparently the National Trust had looked at other options for its use but it attracted so many visitors that they decided to keep it as a tourist destination.

And that's the thing about Wray; its location in the Lake District makes it a hugely attractive attraction for families. We arrived on a wet Saturday lunchtime and the very cheerful receptionist said "we have LOTS of children in today" in a way that left it very much open to our own interpretation. We could either take that piece of information and run a mile, or we could return to our people carrier and unleash 8 kids of our own into the melee.

As it was, we just stuck to having an enjoyable time wandering around the place. There's no original furniture in any of the rooms, which does make it ideal for children who want to run around a bit. However, for the first time in the six year history of my National Trust membership I did find myself questioning whether there's enough at Wray to really justify the £11 entry fee (or £27.50 for a family). It's undoubtedly a great property with a huge amount of potential, so hopefully they'll persevere with their events and continue to find good use for the space.

The estate includes lovely shoreline onto Lake Windermere:

And the view of the fells from the castle are beautiful, especially with a bit of sunshine:

The Wray Castle scone
But on to the scone. I was very impressed by the size of the Wray Castle scone but I think its size may have worked against it. It was very dry and it didn't taste very fresh. It had also followed hot on the heels of a sublime scone that we'd had earlier at Fell Foot - although each scone is taken on its own merits, it was a bit like when someone on Strictly does a show-stopping, jaw-dropping jive as the penultimate dance of the night and then the final couple have to come on and do a waltz to Three Times a Lady - it's just an extra challenge that they could have done without.

But Wray Castle is well worth a visit if you're already an NT member - it's impressive with very friendly staff.

Wray Castle: 4 out of 5
Scone: 3.5 out of 5
Surely the only room in the whole of the National Trust that was used as an eel reservoir and then turned into a student bar: 5 out of 5

Other National Trust properties we've visited in the Lake District: Acorn Bank, Allan Bank, Fell Foot, Hill Top, Sizergh Castle, Sticklebarn, Wordsworth House

Fell Foot

I ate A LOT of National Trust scones in August 2019. I had managed to visit 8 properties between January and July, but it wasn't enough. I had committed to finishing this project by December 2020 and 1.14 scones a month was not going to get me over the finish line.

I thought about hiring a personal scone trainer/scone coach to help me get closer to my goal, but unfortunately they don't exist. So I just went on a scone rampage. In the first 30 days of August I managed to visit 23 National Trust properties across Devon, the Midlands, and Northern Ireland, racking up a total of 19 scones. 

By August 30th I was fatter, covered in scone crumbs, and smelling faintly of jam when my phone pinged. I struggled out from under a pile of National Trust maps and guidebooks to find a text from my friend Sarah-Jane saying she was looking forward to seeing me for the weekend and that she was planning to drive us to the Lake District - but would I be able to manage three scones in one day?

WAS I ABLE TO EAT THREE SCONES IN ONE DAY? Did she know who I was?? Like Godzilla, I raised myself up from the depths of a scone-induced torpor and headed for Euston station.

And this is how, one rainy August Saturday morning, we found ourselves at Fell Foot, a shoreline park at the bottom of Lake Windermere in Cumbria.

The Lakeside and Haverthwaite Railway adding
a bit of Victorian glamour in the background

Fell Foot was once the site of a large lakeside villa. A man called Jeremiah Dixon from Leeds enlarged the original farmhouse after 1784, before selling up to a Francis Astley who in turn sold the place to Colonel George Ridehalgh in 1859. 

It was Colonel George who created the piers and the five Gothic-style boathouses that still survive today. To really see the boathouses, you can catch the Fell Foot Ferry from nearby Lakeside and approach from the water.

The Gothic boathouses -
a bit incongruous against the modern-day cruiser

The estate was then sold to an Oswald Hedley, who demolished the house and started work on a new neo-Jacobean mansion. But his wife died and he lost interest in Fell Foot. The property was given to the National Trust after he died.

Interestingly, the place was initially tenanted out to a man who ran it as a caravan park with holiday chalets. They're gone now but it's fascinating to think that the Lake Distrct has always balanced recreation facilities with the natural beauty of the area.

There used to be a large house on this site - it's not there now (obviously)

The Fell Foot Scone
Let's move on to the scone. I'd never been to Fell Foot before but it still seemed strangely quiet as we made our way along the path. We soon worked out why; everyone was in the tea room. It was packed.

This was the first of our three scheduled scones and after a couple of bites SJ looked momentarily troubled; "I think we might have peaked early - this is a great scone." She was right - it was sublime; slightly warm, extremely fresh, and very, very tasty indeed.

The Fell Foot scone - one of the best
ever encountered on the National Trust Scone Odyssey

She then proved once and for all that she is an exceptional human being with the words "and I haven't even eaten the top half yet and everyone knows that's the best part of a scone." There have been several occasions during the making of this scone blog when friends and family have proven themselves beyond all measure - this was one of those moments. 

Scone aficionado at work

The only disappointment was that anyone let Oswald demolish the house, but it didn't really matter. Fell Foot is now all about the lake and the paddleboarding and other activities that you can do before you enjoy one of the best National Trust scones that you'll ever eat.

Fell Foot: 4 out of 5 - I had to deduct a point for the missing house
Scone: 5 out of 5 (I'd give it more if I could)
Fitting another three scones in to August when I thought I was done: 5 out of 5

Other National Trust properties we've visited in the Lake District: Acorn Bank, Allan Bank, Hill Top, Sizergh Castle, Sticklebarn, Wordsworth House, Wray Castle

Wembury

I initially thought that Wembury would be a great place to visit, as I could make lots of jokes about how I sang "I...am-on-my-way-to-WEM-BRY" all the way there a la Chas n Dave in their 1981 Cup Final ditty, Ossie's Dream.

But Wembury was the 7th and final stop on this 2019 Tour of Devon and my long-suffering sister had been driving up and down tiny country lanes for four days straight, so I decided to spare her the spirited singing.

It turned out that Wembury is nothing like Wembley (obviously) - it's a lovely little spot not far from Plymouth that offers some of the best rock pools in the country as well as inland and coastal walks. There's also a Marine Centre that runs watersports and other activities.

If nearby South Milton Sands reminded me of Skiathos then Wembury reminded me of Cornwall - it was very rustic, as if it hadn't changed in fifty years.

The Old Mill Café is right on the beach (see below). I wasn't sure if it was tenanted (in which case I don't strictly need to include it in my National Trust Scone Quest) but to be safe I dropped in anyway and had a very nice cup of tea (they had no scones).

It was a beautiful hot day and the place was packed - we arrived at 10.30am and the car park was already 90% full - but I can totally see why. A beautiful little spot.

Wembury: 4 out of 5
Scones: didn't have any but I think is tenanted so is bonus stop anyway
Happiness at fitting Chas n Dave into a blog post: 5 out of 5

Other stops on the Devon Tour 2019 (Part 2): Antony, Cotehele, Lydford Gorge, Overbeck's.

Overbeck's

Some National Trust properties are very difficult to reach. Lindisfarne and St Michael's Mount are the obvious examples, what with the small hurdle of 'the sea' being in the way. A tide timetable is a basic requirement for both of those before you set off.  

But I'd also put Overbeck's in Devon up there. That sat nav that has never let you down? You'll be threatening to throw it into the sea as you inch up single track roads, swearing that surely no tourist attraction could ever be down this ridiculous path.

And then you find it and all is forgiven, Google Maps:

I hope the NT doesn't mind me saying this, but the house itself is probably fourth on the list of highlights at Overbeck's. The amazing views, the beautiful gardens, and the lovely tea-room would certainly be higher on mine. 

This is the view of the Salcombe estuary from the top of the garden:

But there is a house and I will gladly give you some history of it:

• Overbeck's was originally called Sharpitor 
• The house you see today was built just before WWI - a man called Edric Hopkins had bought the place in 1895 and laid out the gardens 
• It was a convalescent home for soldiers during the War - the owners at the time, the Verekers, had lost a son at the Battle of Mons and ran the place using their own funds and voluntary contributions
• Fifteen of the 1,020 soldiers that stayed at Overbeck's ended up marrying local girls
• It was bought by Otto Overbeck in 1928 - he was a research chemist by trade
• He actually discovered Marmite before it was discovered, if that makes sense, and  he invented a non-alcoholic beer but the government taxed it, which stopped it being commercially viable
• His big invention was an 'electrical rejuvenator' - users applied electrodes to their skin and the years dropped off. He planned to live to the age of 126 using his ingenious device but he didn't quite make it, dying when he was 77. I imagine this might have made marketing a bit more challenging. 
• Otto died in 1937 and left the property to the National Trust, stipulating that it should be renamed Overbeck's

The gardens are fabulous. The Statue Garden is very structured and neat, with beautiful colours and fragrance: 

There's also a banana garden, where the shelter from the elements also supports other impressive tropical plants:

The Overbeck's Scone
But let's move on to the scone. I'm taking the education of future scone buffs very seriously as I enter the final year of my National Trust Scone Odyssey. I was therefore delighted to be joined on this expedition by two young aficionados called Olivia and Amy, who also brought their parents along.

In fact, very little training was required by the girls (the parents were a different matter). They were spot-on in their final assessment - the older fraternity wanted to award 5s willy-nilly, or try and take marks off for wasps (what??), but Olivia and Amy were firm on 4.5 out of 5. This is exactly what I would have given, and they managed it without six years of trekking around the country consuming 8 gazillion calories. Great work, apprentices.  

The Overbeck's scone: fresh, tasty and full of fruit:

The tea room is also inside the house itself, which is always a bit special, but this one has the added bonus of spectacular views down over the estuary. It really is the most perfect place to eat scones and drink tea on a sunny afternoon. 

Overbeck's: 5 out of 5 for the amazing views and gardens
Scone: 4.5 out of 5
The very Instagram-friendly plate: 5 out of 5

South Milton Sands

If anyone is looking to start their own National Trust blog, you could do a lot worse than focus on National Trust beaches. 

I went to South Milton Sands as part of my National Trust Scone Tour of Devon 2019 (Part Two). I knew there was a beach cafe there and although I wasn't sure if it was a) tenanted, in which case it's not mandatory for this project or b) a purveyor of scones, I decided not to take any chances. We were on our way to nearby Overbeck's anyway, so we dropped in.

Thank God we did. It's a beautiful beach. It was a baking hot day and I honestly felt like we'd been transported over to Skiathos.

The Mediterranean atmosphere was helped by the very nice food and relaxed vibe exuding from the Beach Cafe. They didn't sell scones but they did lunches, coffee, beer, wine, cakes. We had excellent ice cream.  

So if I have inspired you to kick off the National Trust Beaches Blog, here are a few other coastal places that I have chanced upon over the past six years. They're all fantastic and will get you started (Studland has a nudist section, so you might want to start there if you're looking for something a bit different):

• Baggy Point (North Devon)
• Birling Gap (near Eastbourne)
• Brownsea Island (near Poole)
• Chapel Porth (Cornwall)
• Dunwich Heath (Suffolk)
• Studland Beach (Dorset)
• The Lizard (Cornwall)
• White Cliffs of Dover (Kent)
• White Park Bay (Co Antrim)

South Milton Sands: 5 out of 5

Scone: didn't have any, but I think it's tenanted anyway so doesn't count

Cotehele

Cotehele, pronounced Coat-Heel, in Cornwall is a very dark place. I don't mean that it was once a brutal orphanage, or that it's run by the Addams Family. I mean it literally: there isn't much light. 

The reason for this lies partly in the number of tapestries in nearly every room. A lot of NT houses have one or two hanging about, but Cotehele has loads of them. They themselves contribute to the gloom, but they also need protecting, which means that the amount of daylight allowed into the rooms has to be rationed.

If you're wondering why I'm wibbling on about the dark so much, I need to explain:

• Cotehele had been recommended to me by many, many people and I badly wanted to love it. 
• It was the 200th stop on the National Trust Scone Odyssey and came on the back of a series of visits to bright, light, airy NT houses that I would live in tomorrow if I could (namely Arlington, The Argory, Springhill).

So having established that, while I appreciated the unique antiquity of Cotehele, its eerie nooks and crannies wouldn't allow me to ever sleep again if I lived there, let's move on and tell its story.

It was the home of the Edgcumbes for 600 years
In 1353 Hilaria de Cotehele, from an old and respected family, married William Edgcumbe. The early Edgcumbes all played a part in modelling the house - Richard I modernised it and his son Piers also made signficant changes when he inherited in 1489. Later on, in the mid 1600s, Colonel Piers Edgcumbe made further changes when he moved the family back to Cotehele for a time.

The antique furnishings were not always quite so respected
There's a great story in the guide book about James Lees-Milne, when he was the Country Houses Secretary for the National Trust. He visited Cotehele to begin negotiations about the NT taking on the estate. He was "incredulous" when Lady Mount Edgcumbe's puppy 'ate a good slice of Queen Anne tatting from the famous needlework sofa in the Punch Room. "You naughty little thing," she admonished in an amused tone as it scuttled off with a mouthful.'

Richard Edgcumbe I was quite a character
In 1483, Richard Edgcumbe decided to rebel against King Richard III. He was put under house arrest but he absconded. He made his way to Brittany and later fought with Henry Tudor at the Battle of Bosworth, where he was knighted. He later built the Chapel-in-the-Wood to commemorate his escape.

It's a big and complex house
In 1450 the house was a fairly simple hall with a chapel and service wing. As various Edgcumbes added new sections to the place, it became a bit of a warren. There are around 18 rooms that you can visit today and they're all spread out in various ranges and towers so you never know where you are (or you probably would - my sense of direction is sadly abysmal). 

It played second fiddle to Mount Edgcumbe House
In 1553, Piers's son Richard Edgcumbe III went to live in a grand new abode that he had built, Mount Edgcumbe House, which is down on the coast about 20 miles away from Cotehele. It became the main residence for the family, which meant two things: a) Cotehele didn't change as much as it might have done had it been a primary residence and b) old furnishings that were no longer needed at MEH were sent to Cotehele, giving it the very ancient atmosphere that it still has today. 

The family returned in 1941
Mount Edgcumbe House was destroyed by bombs in 1941, so Piers, the 5th Earl of Mount Edgcumbe, moved the family back to Cotehele. 

It has a famous Christmas garland
I had seen pictures of the Cotehele Christmas garland of flowers that goes up every year but I had no real concept of its size until I saw the Great Hall for myself. It's BIG. The garland involves an 18 metre-long rope and 15,000-30,000 flowers.

The tradition only dates to the 1950s when the National Trust introduced the idea. The seeds for the garland are sown every February and the flowers are cut daily throughout summer. The stems are bunched and hung to dry in the shed. The team then begins constructing the garland in November - the rope is hung and evergreens added and then the flowers are placed individually. It's a lovely idea. 

I didn't see the famous Cotehele garland as it's a yuletide thing,
so I borrowed this picture and will just hope that nobody sues me.
It's hugely impressive and must be quite a sight.

It has a working mill that produces flour for the scones
It's a 20 minute walk down to Cotehele Mill (or you can hop in a little minibus like we did). The mill was restored by the National Trust in 1973 and produces flour that you can buy in the shop. The NT also created four workshops to show how a saddlery, a wheelwright, and a blacksmith would have looked.

While we're on the subject of flour, let's talk about the Cotehele scone. It was a big chunk of a scone and it didn't disappoint. It was well-baked and very tasty. I also loved the tea room at Cotehele - it's in the barn and it's big and light, so a total contrast to most of the house. The staff were also very friendly.

I just went to close the guide book and saw a quote from Queen Victoria who visited Cotehele in 1846; "The old rooms are hung with arras [tapestry], & very cheerless I think." So I'm not the only one who struggled with the gloominess. 

However, the house reminded me very much of Knole in Kent - both hugely impressive buildings that could inspire a thousand ghost stories. I'm just not sure you'd want to live there.

Cotehele: 4.5 out of 5
Scone: 5 out of 5
Bonus marks for local production of flour in the mill: 5 out of 5