In The Shadow Of The Old Man....

Welcome to the second part of my recent visit to the Lake District, in which I call in a few familiar haunts in the village of Coniston, plus one or two places that I'd not been to for a number of years....

I resumed my journey on the A590, turning off at the roundabout where it meets the A5092 at Greenodd. This hillside village is a former port and shipbuilding centre which in its heyday in the late 18th and early 19th century exported copper, limestone, and gunpowder, whilst sugar, cotton, and coal were amongst the imports. In more recent times the now-closed Greenodd Brewery was based in the former Ship Inn in the village; they produced a large range of beers and on my one and only visit there a few years ago I had a rather excellent Sunday lunch in what was a pleasant and friendly local. Pubs that remain open in the area, which I came to know when I used to stay at a mate's static at a caravan site nearby, include the White Hart at Bouth, which I called in on my last visit to the Lakes, the Britannia at Penny Bridge, and the Manor House at Oxen Park, which I attempted to visit one time when it made a rare appearance in the Good Beer Guide. It is a little off the beaten track and is reached by driving along the narrow country lanes typical of the area,  but with the satnav bamboozled by every twist and turn, I eventually arrived only to find the place closed.

The countryside here is much gentler with woods and rolling hills than the rugged wild terrain in the heart of the Lake District but it does have a charm of its own. Further along the A5082 at Lowick Bridge the Red Lion has reappeared in the 2025 edition of the Good Beer Guide. This is a former Robinsons pub which I visited many years ago, but having been sold in 2014 to the present owners it now operates as a free house open primarily during the early evening. I drove on towards Coniston, at one point having to negotiate a flood where a stream in full spate had broken its banks and spilled on to the road. I carried on passing alongside Coniston Water without any further issues to Torver, where I could have stopped at the Wilsons Arms, a popular free house with a restaurant and accommodation where years ago there used to be a traditional red phone box outside which had been filled with water and converted into a fish tank complete with goldfish.

The village lies in the shadow of the prominent Old Man of Coniston, which rises to 2,633ft (803 metres) above sea-level, offering great walking and stunning views over the surrounding countryside and way beyond in a landscape of rugged beauty. Parts of the steep slopes on the Coniston side still bear the scars of industry with copper having been mined here for centuries.

I was booked in at the Sun Hotel where I have stayed many times before. As well as being a comfortable hotel it also has a cracking proper old-fashioned walkers bar with a slate floor, stone walls walls, exposed beams and an open range, which when it is lit is most welcome particularly after a cold day walking on the fells. This is the oldest part of the building, dating back to the 16th century, with the hotel part added on according to the date inscribed above the door to the hotel entrance in 1902. The bar features up to 8 locally-brewed beers on hand pump and the pub has been in the Good Beer Guide for many years.

I got checked in and dropped my bag off in my room and shortly afterwards I was sat in the bar with a pint of Loweswater Gold in front of me. This is a regular beer in these parts and is always good here, a clean and refreshing golden ale which I rated 3.5 on the National Beer Scoring System scale. I sat on a small table across from the bar as the light outside began to fade, as the last stragglers from the fells came in with rucksacks and a panting dog, making a beeline for the bar before grabbing the last seats in front of the roaring fire, with pumpkins and assorted spookybilia celebrating Halloween looking down from the shelf on top of the range.

I headed down the hill into the village, the lane pitch black for a short distance, the smell of dead leaves strong in the cold air. I went first to the Yewdale, a place which has been in and out of the Good Beer Guide over the years. At its best, it has been a great place for conversation with beer to match but unfortunately it has all too often reverted to bland hotel bar-mode which seemed to be the case this time. A random disco soundtrack from way back when was far too loud, There were only a few customers, a guy dining with his young son, a solo drinker who was ordering a pizza at the bar as I arrived, and a few bored-looking couples staring into space. The lad at the bar had his right arm in a sling but managed to serve me a pint of Loweswater Gold in a barrel glass which had a warm handle. Whilst the beer itself wasn't particularly warm it was distinctly lacking in character and consequently rather disappointing, particularly after the beer at the Sun, a 2.5 at best.

I crossed over to the Black Bull, a popular family-run hotel, bar, and restaurant which is also the home of the Coniston Brewery whose most famous beer Bluebird Bitter has won multiple awards including CAMRA Champion Beer of Britain a couple of times. The pub was built beside the stream that flows through the heart of the village around 400 years ago as a coaching inn, and whilst parts of the building have been updated or built on over the years, some parts of it still retain a more traditional look. I have been coming here regularly over the past 30 years or so and whilst the place fulfils much of what the visitor wants - pretty decent food, good beer, and comfortable surroundings - it has on occasion felt as if it has been going through the motions, serving a captive market with a limited number of alternative options in the immediate vicinity. 

This time though it was spot on. Whether it was because it was quieter with plenty of empty tables throughout the rambling building, the staff all seemed more relaxed than sometimes, laughing and joking with each other whilst dealing with customers quickly and efficiently when they came to the bar to order their drinks or food, From a cask beer point of view there are normally 6 regular beers available from the brewery round the back of the pub, with other beers from the Coniston range making an occasional appearance. I ordered a pint of Bluebird Bitter, the 3.4% session pale, and retreated to a small table opposite the door to kitchen to drink it whilst I deliberated over whether to have lamb hotpot of venison cottage pie. 

Bluebird was the name of the jet-powered hydroplane used by Donald Campbell to set the world water speed record which he attempted on Coniston Water in 1967 before he crashed and was killed. The pub walls feature many pictures of Campbell and Bluebird and framed newspaper articles from the time, being someone who had spent a lot of time in the village before his tragic demise. The Ruskin Museum in the village has plenty to see including reclaimed parts of the vessel.

The beer was in excellent form, the best I have had here in years. With only Maris Otter malt and Challenger hops involved it had plenty of flavour and was in excellent condition. I rated it NBSS 4, but despite it being the best beer of the day, for my second pint here I went for its bigger, punchier brother XB, which is brewed to 4.2% with the addition of US hop variety Mount Hood which brings in some juicy citrus notes. Again this was in excellent condition (NBSS 4). By the way, for those who are interested, I ended up going for the lamb hotpot which was delicious. As I was finishing my pint a lady from Preston who was celebrating her birthday asked me if I was local, probably because I was sat in the kind of spot where an old gnarled and wizened local would sit. She was bursting with excitement that she'd conquered the Old Man that day for the first time, and why not? I told her my days on the fells are probably behind me now but it was lovely to sense that feeling of achievement I'd experienced in years gone by. 

I'd had a lovely evening at the Black Bull: good food, some excellent beer, and a lovely atmosphere. I finished my pint here, and headed back up the hill to the Sun where I had a final pint of Loweswater Gold and grabbed a spot in front of the fire before I retired to my room for the evening for some much needed sleep.

The following morning was bright and sunny and after breakfast I wandered down for a potter around the village and then down to the lake, where there was some activity as a number of  power boats had arrived in readiness for the upcoming Power Boat Records Week. The event has been held in the Lake District since 1970 and in Coniston since 2005, an enduring legacy of Donald Campbell and others who have attempted to set speed records on the water here. A leisurely cup of tea followed in the appropriately-named Bluebird Cafe overlooking the lake and then it was time to set off on my journey home.

I had earmarked one place to call into on the way back, somewhere I hadn't been for years. Shortly after passing through Windermere and the village of Ings I turned off to the main road to the largish village of Staveley, the weather having by now become showery. The village grew up around the confluence of the rivers Kent and Gowan at the mouth of the very attractive Kentmere valley. The last couple of times I'd been here I had visited the taproom of Hawkshead Brewery but with that now closed and the brewery fully re-located to Flookburgh, my focus today was on the village pub, the Eagle & Child, which has a beer garden across the road from the pub alongside the Kent. A solid looking building, I walked in to a reasonably busy room with an open fire throwing out some heat. There were 4 hand pumps offering local beers from which I went for a Lakes Pale, brewed a short distance away in Kendal. Many of the tables were reserved for Sunday lunch but I managed to find one where I could sit and enjoy another very good pint (NBSS 3.5). There was a nice atmosphere in what is clearly a popular place, and which also has several rooms offering accommodation. When I was back home I bumped in to a couple of friends who had recently stayed here and had been most impressed.

Eagle & Child, Staveley

Like Staveley, Kirkby Lonsdale was in the former county of Westmorland until local government re-organisation in 1974 saw it absorbed into the newly-formed county of Cumbria. Here there is a Booths supermarket here which enabled me to buy in some provisions and allowed a browse through probably the most extensive selection of bottled and canned beers of any of the supermarkets. It also gave me the opportunity to visit the Royal Barn a short distance way, which is the flagship for the Kirkby Lonsdale brewery who are based in this attractive little town. The large building looks rather unassuming from the outside but inside there was a warm and lively atmosphere in what is a large single-roomed bar which had been decorated for Halloween. In the corner a DJ was spinning tunes, whilst he place was busy with most tables taken by a mix of families and couples, some eating, with several dogs in attendance.  The beers here all come from the brewery, with 6 regulars and 4 guests on cask and more on keg. I went for a 3.6% Tiffin Gold, a blonde session ale which was hoppy and bitter with a touch of grapefruit and a dry finish which was another very good beer (NBSS 3.5).

Royal Barn, Kirkby Lonsdale

And then it was back down the A65 and home after a great visit to one of my favourite parts of the world. I am already looking forward to coming back again in the not too distant future....

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