“Lovely Property”
My sister booked this property. For 3 nights there were 7 adults, 1 teenager and 4 dogs (2 of which were small dogs), and for the remaining 2 nights there were 6 adults, 1 teenager, a baby and 4 dogs (the smallest dog had gone home along with 3 adults due to work committments and were replaced by 2 other adults, a baby and another dog),
The Lodge is a lovely property and very spacious and is in reach of many places (mostly by car).
The only criticism I have is that you are only left 3 dishwasher tablets, 3 days worth of washing up liquid and 1 toilet roll per toilet (so you need to take extra of these with you). Housekeeping could do with being picked up on slightly - One or two of the bedrooms had dust webs hanging from ceilings and on the walls behind beds, only spotted the ones under the beds when reaching to get something from underneath (also saw one or two webs on / around wooden furniture, which can be off-putting for some). The shelves in the fridge door are on the verge of falling out and the fridge door didn't always close (so double check when using the fridge). We found the hot water went off on an evening in the kitchen and upstairs (downstairs seemed to be fine) and we found out that by putting the emersion switch on upstairs that helped.
If you take dogs ensure you do not leave them unattended in the play area. This area does have fencing around, but there are sheep in the adjoining fields. We also saw a couple of ducks in/around the pond area where you can enjoy a picnic.
The Hot Tub is amazing (the light switch just to the left of the back door prior to exiting into the garden area). Fab way to relax at the end of the day. Someone comes in between 8.00 am and 9.00 am to check the hot tub so do not let dogs out during this time.
Best place we found for mobile phone signal - kitchen window behind the kitchen table.
The Greyhound Pub in the village (5 mins walk away). Very welcoming, dogs welcome and food was excellent when we ate there.
We went to the coast and a local resident gave us names of places of interest that we visited, including Kadampa Buddhist Temple (dogs allowed in the grounds), There is also a gift shop and cafe there and a wood walk, Coniston - found we could get supplies here from a local Village Co-Op Store and the Spar on the garage forecourt (a decent sized shop), Ambleside, Cartmel, Lake Windermere (free ferry crossing for blue badge holders), Hawkshead (Hill Top House - Beatrix Potter's house - dogs not allowed in, someone would need to stay outside with them). You can do the walk to the lake that Beatrix and William undertook, but if rained / is raining expect to get rather muddy - no cost to do this walk and it is a lovely walk (slightly up hill) and you can get a map from where you buy tickets to enter the house.
We stopped off in Morecombe on our way home (not so dog friendly) so if the weather is bad there didn't seem to be anywhere to go with dogs other than to stand under canapy's that only a few shops had in situ. Lovely cafe on the pier, but dogs not allowed in, and we sat outside - they have a nice menu to cater for most people.
We also went up onto the top of the mountains after leaving Ambleside (very narrow roads, some very, very steep (personally I would not recommend if you have a long vehicle as some of the bends are very tight and on one or two you need to go part way round then reverse back slightly to get round. Beautiful scenary once you get to the top.
Overall - great stay and would stay at Bank End Lodge again (especially if there are a few of us going). You gain access at 3.00pm on day of arrival and have to leave by 10.00 am on day of departure. They provide bedding and towels so you do not need to take these. First time of visiting the Lake District, but will definitely be going again and exploring further afield, just wish we had found the time to start going years ago.
- Maggie H, April 2018
