Watendlath - a last look

I last visited Watendlath seven years ago this month.  The old Bat and I, my brother and his wife had rented a cottage near Grasmere.  Getting to the cottage from the village was almost as tricky as getting to Watendlath.  First there was a narrow lane to negotiate  with two gates into and out of fields to be closed before we reached a farmyard.  In the yard, we turned sharp left and descended to cross a narrow bridge before heading off-track across two more fields - with their attendant gates, cows and sheep.

Our home for a week.

While we were there - in the Lake District - we visited Dove Cottage (Wordsworth's home) and Hill Top (Beatrix Potter's home) as well as some of the most scenic parts.

Mr MacGregor's garden at Hill Top

Dove Cottage

And, of course, we went to Watendlath.  There had been changes since I took the Scouts there for tea.  Now there was a pay and display car park, courtesy of the National Trust who own the land, and the tenant farmer had added a bit onto the farmhouse to use as a cafe with picnic tables on the terrace outside.  But despite these changes, which were really no more than superficial, the place still exuded a feeling of peace.

Watendlath Tarn

I'd like to think I might go back again some day but, in all honesty, that does seem a bit unlikely.  In any case, maybe it would be better for me to remember the hamlet as it was rather than see what other changes might have spoiled it for me.