Went to the Lakes last week, stopped at Greystokes(of Tarzan fame) and it rained and rained and rained but there was one good day and the night before we'd booked to go to Pooley Bridge for a trip on the steamer up to Glenridding. Lovely day, parks in Pooley Bridge and costs £8, walks down to the landing stage a hundred yards away to find a sign saying all sailing cancelled for the day. £8 for 15 fecking minutes
Recommend the The Drunken Duck pub outside of Ambleside on the road to Coniston, food was lush.

I,m off to Coniston in an hour, may give that one a try out! How,s the bridge coming on in Pooley?

Bridge in place. If you give the Drunken Duck a try, it's off the Ambleside to Coniston road at Barngates. If you're heading south from Coniston it's only 10 minutes to the Wilsns at Torver, foods good there too.
I feel like a gastronomic pimp now

The bridge is only a temporary one though. They found a lot of the old bridge further down the river Eden (at Eamont Bridge nr Penrith) and there's a (TEN YEAR!!!) plan by CCC to rebuild it.

Unlucky there Snowy, I've never known the Ullswater Steamers not to run except in VERY bad conditions...

When I saw the sign I was giving off more steam than the steamer.

Drunken duck has had a great reputation for years.

It was hardly The Cruel Sea. Gorgeous day but they said it was .... too windy I bet they took the sign down and re-commenced sailings when we left. Admittedly I was with a motley crew, of whom I was the pick of the bunch, so that shows how fecking desperate they were..... And who'll read this

If the Drunken Duck is fully booked, try the nearby Outgate Inn

Ran past the front door during the Brathay Marathon last month, thought at the time "must come back and try that"!!!

Just booked a daft few days nearby mid-July so will give it a blast!

Better option of the 2 for me. Bit pretentious the Drunken Duck for my taste. You get crusty bread instead of chips......what's all that about

The last time we went to the Outgate Inn, the landlord's daughter was covering for the chef & she produced fabulous meals.

The King's Arms at nearby Hawkshead was also very good when last visited in 2014.

For a belting Sunday lunch, try the Yanwath Gate Inn on the Pooley Bridge road from Penrith

http://www.lakedistrict-stay.co.uk/tour ... -map-view/

If heading further west, The Wheatsheaf at Lorton is a must

Sorry if this sounds like Tripadvisor

Sad and non tech that I am, I browse throught the teletext transport pages and under 'ferries' the number of times that Caledonian MacBrayne (CalMac) ships that are cancelled due to high winds is common, the number of times they are cancelled due to 'technical' reasons must be quite disturbing for the users of such a vital transport link

So the chips I was eating last Wedneday were crusty bread, must get my eyes tested..... and my taste buds too.

Hopefully going on a Calmac to Orkney later this year, I'll look out for cancellations. They are cheap for locals, but pretty pricey for tourists.

The trouble with Cal Mac is the vessels aren't that large considering the environment they operate in. Obviously they're built to suit the business, but with smaller vessels you have to accept a compromise.

Fair enough, they must have changed chef or their menu since I was last there. Admittedly a few years ago like.

Always used to love the Duck but it turned very pretentious and served only crusty bread with meals and the customer base became a bit Cheshire. Shame cos it's a great location.

I might have to go again on your recommendations

Four of us went and while the two car parks were nearly full with a few smart motors, the atmosphere in n side was far from it. We run a mile from poncey places.
My biggest dread was last May when we went into what appeared to be a normal eatery for breakfast while waiting for a ferry. As we got inside I twigged it was a rather up market hotel. One of us asked if they did breakfast and we were lead into the Breakfast room with the words...."I'll inform chef of your arrival" The menu arrived at a table covered in more cutlery than a canteen of cutlery convention.... next shock was the menu which featured no prices at all. I wanted to leg it but no joy, so we ordered a full English and trimmings and waited for the bill to hit us . It was just over £14 a head, which given the circumstances, came as a very pleasant surprise ..... for the 'quartermaster'