Sunshine, Beer and more Beer

A little bit of sunshine really does make the world a better place, I am not sure if it is because spring has finally arrived and the landscape has turned green, or maybe, as we are busier there is less time to think about events in the wider world - ie outside Eskdale! Anyway me and the rest of the gang up here are happily getting on with preperations for events such as the Boot Beer Festival, which kicks off on the 5th of June at Brook House with our curry night and also excellent local band THE ROOSTERS will be playing from about 9pm.

This year we will have over 30 real ales over the weekend on 11 handpulls with at least another 45 at the other 2 pubs. Hollins campsite is fully booked but Fisherground just a mile or so down the road and Parkgate Farm (3 miles) still have availability. see http://www.eskdale.info/ for more accommodation

So cheers to a happy sunny summer

Thanks to Homer for reminding me to post a blog this month.

April Already!

I was in all honesty going to try and post ever month at least but at this rate I might just make 4 a year.

Easter came and went with a few flurries of snow but not the drifts and travel disrupting weather that was forecast. Over doing the severity level of the weather forecast is becoming more common. I often use metcheck and have noticed this year there seems to be many more severe weather warnings, even if it is just going to rain. Yesterday I was reading an old publication called "Preview of Lakeland" Which had an article on the great frosts of 1895, 1907, 1929 and 1959, during these winters the cold lasted long enough to freeze Windermere for several weeks.
This brought tourists from all over the North West to see the spectacle. I guess that the government of the day did not issue warnings not to travel and as many came by train they must have been able to deal with ice on the lines!

Windermere became a massive skating rink with all sorts of events including cars driven on the ice, ice dancing, races and fires lit for parties. This sort of behaviour would not be allowed today, a police cordon would be set up around all frozen water to keep us off and millions would be spent advertising the danger. Maybe this over-protection is not a bad thing, walking on thin ice can be very very dangerous but we all used to have common sense to tell us what was dangerous, in future generations this will have been eradicated and this country will have lost its spirit of adventure.

Rant 1 over.

I had a lovely walk up to Cam Spout on Tuesday last, I had hoped there would be some snow in the gullies onto Long Green but alas it had all melted away by 10am. There was still some on the tops but by then my boots last worn in 2005 had caused some blisters, so I put my slippers on and walked back home. Took a few nice piccies though.

The Beer Festival is fast approaching and it is time to think about our beer list, unfortunately the Government has struck again and increased beer duty etc so this year I am going to look for good value beers to have on during the festival. Hawkshead bitter is still on sale at £2.10 but Tim Taylors Landlord has now gone to £2.70

The general pub going public are once more being chastised for on the whole doing nothing wrong. The press coin the phrase "Binge Britain" and the government jump aboard like a child onto a roller coaster and up go the taxes on alcohol. I am just a layman and have no fictitious statistics to back my ideas but it does not take a great leap of faith to connect cheap beer with drunken behaviour and where sells the cheapest beer? supermarkets of course. So has the Government tackled the consumers heroes, our benevolent givers of cheap milk and alcohol, or is the beer in your local shopping giant still cheaper than bottled water? still cheap I would guess.

The Pub is a highly regulated place to drink where rules are adhered to, as demonstated by last years high profile campaign against landlords selling alcohol to drunken customers - only a handful of convictions from the 30 or more police forces involved. Quite rightly you can do pretty much what you please in your own home, but it is cheap alcohol which fuels binge drinking. Responsible publicans sell beer etc at a reasonable price to make a living, supermarkets sell beer at below cost price to entice customers into the shop.

Supermarkets make our hectic lives easier, there is no doubt about this but once upon a time everyone had a milkman, a village shop, a local baker and a local pub.

We are very lucky in Eskdale because spring, summer and autumn is full of holiday makers so business is good, but I feel sorry for the village and town pubs who I am sure feel they are bearing the brunt of the governments whims from smoking bans to taxes and I wont even go into the new rules and regulations which seem to appear nearly ever day!

Rant 2 over

What we want is a little sunshine and a breath of warm spring air.

Lo0king forward to 2008

Another year gone! Hard to believe this is our tenth year at Brook House Inn, sounds like a good excuse for a party, but thats not until the end of June. Working backwards from then, we have the Beer Festival from the 5th to the 8th of June. A whisky tasting in May if we get enough interest, please see the whisky page on our site. Easter is early this year so maybe the fells will still have a little winter dressing, always a pretty sight and as the nights get lighter some longer walks can be planned. February half should see an improvement in the weather (well it can`t get any worse, feels like it has been raining for months)

All Our websites are undergoing a little remedial work at the moment so please be patient and don`t get too upset if links take you to unexpected places.

Happy New Year to all

Gareth

Photos of Eskdale For Christmas

ONLINE SHOP

I have set up an online shop to sell my Photographs, if prints are ordered before 8th December they should be despatched in time for Christmas (assuming a normal postal service).

New Years Eve Dinner 2007

The New Years Eve Menu is now available, we have some tables but probably not for long.

Appetizer

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Carpaccio of Venison on crostini with horseradish and parsnip crisps

Trio of smoked fish with a dill and cucumber relish

and chilli hollandaise

Cambazola and avocado with vine tomato and roasted red pepper salsa

Crab ravioli in a seafood broth

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Wild mushroom soup

Tequila and lime sorbet

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Saddleback pork loin cooked under a sheet of belly pork, served on chive mash with a Bramley apple tart and calvados sauce

Fell bred lamb braised slowly with damsons and brandy

Poached fillet of seabass with halibut and scallop mousse served with a coral sauce, asparagus and duchess potatoes

Baked aubergine and fennel gratin with Gruyere cheese, smoked garlic and red pepper sauce

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Chocolate and ginger Pudding with crème anglaise

Cardamom pannacotta with poached pear in quince syrup

Cold soufflé of raspberries and blackcurrants

Baked vanilla cheesecake with blueberry compote

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Cumbrian cheese board

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Champagne at midnight

Please arrive 7 for 7.30pm

£45 per person

Changing Seasons

I like the start of every new season but especially autumn with its cold crisp mornings. When the fields are lightly dusted with frost and the mist hangs around the trees and deep hollows in the valleys. We have had a week or two of good weather this month, even the half term holiday escaped with only a couple of showers, visitors have enjoyed the special quality of light, and even I have managed to escape the kitchen to take a few photos.View from room 6

So now our quieter season begins.
The fires get lit, the roads are quiet, we drop down to only 3 or 4 real ales, but we now have over 150 malt whiskies to choose from and an updated wine list on the way.
So if you fancy a break in Eskdale now is a great time, we are still busy most weekends but have availability through the week.

We have 3 rooms available for Friday 31st Aug and Saturday 1st Sept, if interested please ring 019467 23288

Well summer is nearly over and has not yet arrived! although we had a lovely week for the beer festival in June, since then I do not think we have had 2 nice days in a row.

It has been good walking weather and lots of visitors have enjoyed this more temparate summer. The Esk has warmed up a little and the brave or daft have been swimming, me included!

We have had lots of new beers on over the summer but the best seller has been Hawkshead Bitter, still at £2 a pint, very popular with locals and visitors alike.

Many weekends are booked up through the autumn but there are a few rooms left on some and also during the week.


We will be closed on Christmas day this year but are open again on Boxing day. There is one room left for our new Year package and plenty of tables available for our New Years Eve banquet, the menu for which should be available soon.