Thorney How Hostel

 When Shaun "thomas cook" bades booked the wrong dates to go on a hike to Grassmere i feared the worst! I had booked the 7th March off but not the 7thFeb! But not wanting to let him down as he's not really safe on his own, i decided to finish my shift and try to grab a few hours kip on the way, plus he had booked the train tickets and would of moaned for the next thirty years if i didn't pay him for them.
He had booked us in at an independent hostel called Thorney How which is ideally situated at the foot of Helm crag.
We were not traveling alone , we had my English springer spaniel Lizzy in tow and luckily the owners said that she would be fine. We jumped off the bus near the gallery in Grassmere and walked up the road opposite the corner bookshop with the field to your right , at this point i must say a plusbus ticket is much cheaper if your coming to Windermere via the train. Anyway once you've walked past some picturesque cottages you will see a sign on the right saying Thorney How 400m , i think the guy with the trundle wheel had been on the wobbly bob or something as its a wee bit further than that but you can't grumble with the scenes your taking in.
We were met by the owner Taylor who gave us a guided tour and showed Lizzy to her deluxe kennel, the hostel is short of nothing and unlike many i've stayed in before it has a pub like charm and not that stuffy atmosphere, the study is a leather clad reading room for the map readers and thinkers yet the dinning room is were you can share stories of conquering the Eiger, both rooms have open wood burning fires which are fueled by locally resourced sustainable logs, We decided to walk to the travelers  rest pub in the evening and plot our route for the next day, its only a ten minute walk away but if there's a few of you i would stay in the hostel and chew the fat as your not missing much in the pub.

 We had a great nights sleep in the end upstairs room overlooking Fairfield and i decided to take our lizzy for a quick walk before breakfast, just as i walked down to her woodland kennel i spotted a roe deer walking back into the woods after its nighttime jaunt, we walked down a new pathway which leads you to the base of Easedale and some crystal clear streams, on the way back i saw a good number of birds including green and lesser spotted woodpecker which is remarkable seeing i had a 200 mph gundog on the loose.

 I must suggest that you fuel up on the full English here, the eggs couldn't be fresher as you can hear the hens from the dining room and both me and shaun didn't need to eat another thing until mid afternoon.We said our goodbyes to Taylor and his family which includes a very friendly cat , an  inquisitive tortoise and of course the hens, then ambled up Stone Arthur and then onto Great Rigg.
There is no shortage of things to do here and if you have done a walk once before then do it again in another  season it will look completely different. Thanks again thorney How see you again soon.