Brook House Blog

Bye Bye Hamilton

2011-08-29T09:22:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow sees the departure of one of our pigs, named Hamilton by Emma he is our first to go. I am a little bit sad but this was the plan all along. I only hope we can do him justice on the menu this weekend.
It is looking like a quiet week at Brook House Inn, with quite a few rooms available at the weekend so if you fancy a bit of Saddle back pork reared in Boot you know where we are!

Sleepy pigs, Hamilton on the left with Soxy

We have had a great time looking after the pigs, learning about all sorts of things like fencing, pig house building and how to give injections. On the downside pigs eat constantly so financially it is not really cost effective to rear them on such a small scale, especially when the vets bill and medicine is added into the equation. Having said that, would we do it again? Yes probably!

All 3 pigs watched warily by lesley

Beer, Art, Pigs and TA

2011-05-31T15:47:00.000-07:00

Well I'll start with the beer, it is once more time for the Boot Beer Festival, it kicks off on Thursday the 9th June with Curry and live music at Brook House Inn, the Band this year are called Diesel and are from the Ulverston area, they sound pretty lively so looking forward to that after a night cooking curry! We have some great beers to look forward to as usual, mainly from up north but a few from far flung places around the country.

The Eskdale Art Festival has just been held at which I am pleased to say I sold a couple of Photographs, bouyed up by the sales I have been out with my camera today, searching out some hidden waterfalls. I had a lovely walk up the valley to Wha House and then up the side of a pretty stream where I took the snap below.

Our three saddleback pigs are doing well, although not quite ready for the next step. I am amazed by how much feed they go through and find it hard to understand how pork can be sold so cheaply in the supermarkets, mind you in a supermarket you dont usually get to know the name of the pig! ( Hamilton, Podge and Soxy) We have also got a fair menagerie
with 20 odd hens and 3 ducks most of which are now laying, so along with Shirley and Claire we are supplying the pub with all its egg requirements.

Trip Advisor
Has TA changed the way we think about travel? Is nothing left to chance any more and do we believe everything we read?
Now I wrote this just after Easter but decided to let it sit on my desk for a while to kind of cool off. Trip Advisor (TA) is a website which has reviews about peoples experiences at travel destinations such as Hotels and Inns and would appear to have become quite a popular form of media.
TA seems to have altered the way we book holidays, once upon a time deciding where to go consisted of choosing a destination then checking the beer guide or similar list of places to stay like the tourist board, maybe looking at a map ( also being phased out in the coming years) Then we would chance our luck and our own ability to make the best of whatever happens and enjoy the holiday. I am sure we are all still capable of the last bit but now we have TA along with the internet in general, we can research till we know every last detail. For instance a negative review is written about a spider in the corner of room 8 at Incy Wincies BB. Maybe only 1 person saw the spider and decided to write a review out of hundreds of visitors, when the next guest arrives there may be a spider or maybe it will be gone, but if there are no good reviews arachnophobs would be put off!
I am not saying that TA is a bad thing, on the contary we have had some great reviews over the past few years and propably gained a fair amount of trade from it. But as happens from time to time we fail to hit the right note for a customer or group of customers as happened over the Easter holiday this year. We served over 1000 meals to happy customers but it is the 4 unhappy ones we remember and also it is those 4 not the other 1000 that decide to post reviews on TA.

Trip Advisor is there to be used but I always take the reviews with a pinch of salt, look out for reviews from people who have never posted before, these are often the bad ones and also any which seem too good to be true, that will be the owners Mother!
So Come on if you have had a good meal at Brook House Inn or anywhere else for that matter Please Please get on TA and reset the balance.
TA is not the only review site, we are also on icomparehotels, in fact you can find a review for just about anything. I am not sure if it is a good thing but it is here to stay so the more reviews, preferable positive the better.
I would like to say a big thank you to all the people who have written lovely reviews for Brook House Inn.
The links below should take you to our pages on TA
Brook House Inn Trip Advisor
Brook House Inn Restaurant Trip Advisor
We also have a facebook page

Feast of Strong Ales 11-13th March 2011

2011-02-23T05:32:00.000-08:00

Brook House Inn is hosting a tasting session so that CAMRA can decide which beer to send to the GBBF this year. So over the weekend of the 11th-13th March we will have at least 8 beers available ranging in strength from 4-6% This is a great opportunity to try some beers from around the region which due to their strength are not always on the bar in your local. We still have some accommodation available as do some of the other local BB's.

This weekend (25/26th Feb) we have rooms available for the Friday and Saturday nights which due to some rooms already booked on Friday can be booked just for the Saturday night.

Happy New Year

2011-01-25T12:06:00.000-08:00

This winter has been the quietest since we arrived, what with the snow and ice early on, the local paper writing the valley was snowed in for 2 weeks when most of our staff and deliveries got in every day! ( The newspaper editor got a bit of an ear bashing from Christine!) Some of the breweries are getting upset because we have not ordered their beer, but we just haven't needed more stock after New Year.
We have not increased any prices yet after the VAT increase but are starting to see some marked increases in wholesale prices whether vatable or not. Now the snow has melted it is time everyone flooded back to the valley!
Sorry that was a bit gloomy - but it will be nice to be busy again.

We have got a few events coming up including a Burns Night Whisky Tasting - on Friday 28th Jan 2011

A weekend of Italian themed cuisine for Valentines so book a table on Saturday, Sunday or Monday 14th Feb for a delightful selection of Italian inspired specials

On the 11/12th March we have got a feast of strong ales. We are playing host to the area CAMRA tasting session to pick the North Western representatives for the Great British Beer Festival in the category of "Strong Bitter" I can't tell you which beers will be available (it's a secret) but there will be at least 8 available in the 4 to 6% range - Enjoy

On the home front I am starting to feel like I am taking part in a remake of "The Good Life" I spend most of my time messing about with the eco-friendly tree eating boiler or trying to get the hens to lay an egg, but spring must be on the way because we got 4 small eggs today and one a little bit smaller than a cadburys mini egg, honestly smaller than a sparrows egg!

We added to our livestock this week with the addition of 3 ducks. People keep asking what sort are they, isn't it obvious - they are white ones!
Next week will see the arrival of our biggest animals ( Lesley says I am not allowed a cow) when we take possession and responsibility for three saddleback pigs. These should be on the menu later this year at brook House, maybe with a duck egg on the side.

Hunting gall bladders and other odd activities

2010-10-03T08:34:00.000-07:00

Someone said to me recently "I did not know you were a blogger". Well having not posted for over 3 months "blogger" is probably too strong a word for my occasional utterings. I thought It was about time I gave it another go, after all it can be added to the list of odd activities that I get involved in. Now for instance I am writing this, nursing a tender back from splitting logs a few days ago, but this morning I was chasing chickens round in circles, something I find I do quite often.
Lesley, Emma and I have moved out of room one at Brook House to a cottage up the road, which had some resident hens and some newly hatched chicks. We are really enjoying the sense of space and the partial outdoor life with the hens and the wood burning heating system.
At Brook House the year is quietening down rapidly, Dad and I have started work on room one bathroom, we were quite surprised to find it had a cast iron bath, we left it in the bedroom only to find that when we came back after lunch it had miraculously found its way outside -thanks to Owain and Phil!
We have had a bit of a change around with the beers on the bar, after 12 years on the bar, Tim Taylor's Landlord has been replaced, this was a hard decision but with prices increasing we decided it would be better to offer a cheaper local brew in these troubled financial times. "Cumbria Legendary Ales - Langdale" is now a permanent fixture, cheaper it maybe but the quality is excellent and at 4% it provides a good step up from "Hawkshead bitter", allowing us to have some stronger guests such as "Yates IPA".
In the kitchen we have a new supplier for butchery which has proven to be a good addition. The butcher has introduced some new cuts of meat including a "lamb cradle" which is cut from the leg, we pan fry then roast it and serve very pink with a minted port berry sauce. Also they supply Cumbrian pork which we have been curing and turning into our own bacon. Chicken livers are now also sourced from Cumbria but you do have to look out for those little green gall bladders, they can ruin a lovely batch of Pate!

The valley is looking lush and vibrant. We have had about 40cm of rain since the beginning of August, which has made it difficult for campers and maybe put a few people off coming, hopefully the coming month will see a bit less water and a little more sun as the trees put on their autumnal cloak. All the pubs in the valley are in good shape now and with the ratty still running October is an excellent time to visit Eskdale. We have rooms available for some weekends and during the week.

Off back to my proper job now - time to do a bit of cooking.

Beer Festival and Beyond

2010-06-24T05:48:00.000-07:00

Another Beer Festival has come and gone, once more in fine style with good weather and fine folk drinking lots of Britains' finest ales, over 130 real ales in fact!.

This is quite some achievement for a small rural valley like ours. All 3 pubs had a good festival, although we thought that there may have been slightly less people about than last year, but the ones here made up for that by drinking a bit more - well done all of you and thank you for coming.
I would like to thank everyone for their kind messages of support after the terrible events of June 2nd. A few people have suggested they would stay away to give the valley time to settle down and us all time to recover, this is a lovely thought, but I hope I can speak for all the pubs, B+B's, campsites and cottages in the area and urge everyone to come and visit Eskdale. What we want is to see happy smiling faces back in the valley.
July is looking quiet at Brook House with some weekend vacancies available and plenty of space during the week, to book give us a ring on 01946723288 or go to our online booking page.

Wednesday 2nd June 2010

2010-06-03T09:41:00.000-07:00

A day that will be hard to forget for so many people from West Cumbria.
As I am sure everyone is aware a man killed and injured many people on this day. He terminated his journey near Doctor Bridge finally taking his own life.
Just past Brook House on the way to the campsite he fired shots at several people, injuring at least two, we brought one lady into the pub and looked after her as best we could until the poilce finally took her off for medical treatment. We brought everyone inside and locked the doors, this was a tense time as we were told by the police that the man was now on foot and armed with a rifle with telescopic sights. Five helicopters were up in the air and at least 15 police vehicles passed by Brook House.
There was a sense of relief when we were given information that the situation had been resolved and everyone could go back to their business, the tourists moved on, staff changed and we continued work. A busy night passed in a blur, avoiding press and helping the police as required.
As the full horror of the day unfolded and the death toll rose a sense of numbness has descended upon many of us as I am sure it has accross the country. When I got up this morning I went outside, the birds were still singing, the cuckoo calling, nothing has changed but the whole landscape seems softer, almost surreal.
Eskdale has got off lightly, only one death and that being the killer. Harry Berger from the Woolpack Inn has been seriously injured and is in hospital, he was shot whilst in Seascale and has recieved surgery on his arm/hand, as far as I am aware no one else from the Boot was injured.
Our hearts go out to the families and friends of all those killed and injured yesterday, a sad day for everyone.

Beer is Art

2010-05-28T02:05:00.000-07:00

The perfect pint, is it displayed in a gallery somewhere? If it was would it have a tight creamy head on top of a bright nutty brown body, or would it be frothy like it had been pulled from the bottom of a mountain waterfall, maybe it would be black as night or pale as a harvest moon. Like art what beer suits one may provoke an adverse reaction in another! Hopfully this years Boot Beer Festival will have something to please everyone.
It is getting towards that time of year when our cellar starts to strain at the seams, jam packed with beer for the festival and a busy week at half term. But first this weekend sees the Eskdale school turn into an Art Gallery for Eskdale Art, with hundreds of exhibits from local artists and the more famous such as Paul Hopkins. I have just dropped a couple of Photos off (late) and had a quick look at some of the other exhibits and I am glad to say the standard once more looks good.

I like this time of year when we stop worrying about having too much beer and start assessing if we have enough to last the week!
In general only having a small cellar creates an interesting project to mamage the beer, roatating stock, getting it racked etc, at the beer festival this is complicated by the shear volume of beer, this year we have to have 40 different ones on over the festival! so that should be fun!

In the kitchen we are settling back into the routine of being busy, we have some great local suppliers, especially for Cumbrian meat, but one of the best things for me at this time of year is to be able to go outside and pick fresh herbs from the garden. Also Sarah and Shaun now have a garden full of rhubarb so Eskdale rhubarb crumble is back on the menu!
The Boot Beer Festival kicks off on Thursday10th June 2010 at Brook House Inn with a curry night and music from Leather and Lace.

Spring is in the air - my mistake it is just a passing shower!

2010-03-23T13:57:00.000-07:00

First off -a bit of breaking news, a few minutes ago I got an email which said simply "congratulations"! After a bit of digging I found out that we have been awarded CAMRA Branch pub of the Year for West Cumbria. It is always good to get an award, but this is a rare honor as the usual recipient is the Kirkstyle Inn at Loweswater - hard to beat such a good pub when it brews some of the best ale in the county! We are finding it hard not to have a beer from Loweswater on the bar, and when they are they dont stay long.

So now back to the title of the post, the daffodils are finally in bloom and the temperature rose above 10 C for the first time since the 20th November 2009, having said that the high fells still have deep snow lying especially on shaded slopes and the summits. The top of Scafell has had snow visible on top from the 20th December - a full 3 months, certainly ther longest period in the 12 years we have been here.

Here is Foxes Tarn just a couple of weeks ago, and below is Owain having fun in the snow

Spring may be just about here but it is still pretty cold on the tops so if you are coming up for Easter, pack the hats and gloves. I went for a dive in Wastwater yesterday and the water temp was still only 4 C, pretty cold hands after half an hour.

Valley News :- Congratulations to Clare on the birth of daughter Kimberley.
The Woolpack has now changed hands, Harry Berger The previous landlord of the Boot Inn is the new Owner. The pub is expected to re-open later this week.
The King George remains closed still with a for sale sign outside.
Snow and Ice is gone from the passes so all routes into the valley are now open.
Boot Beer Festival dates are 10th-13th June 2010

Brook House in the Paper!

2010-01-28T13:44:00.000-08:00

Just a quick post, ( two in one month seems a bit extravagant and a little wasteful, would n't want people to think I had nothing better to do.) to highlight an article written about Brook House Inn and the fact that someone persuaded me infront of the camera, which is pretty unusual. Anyway here is the link- Whitehaven News please have a read whilst the link still works. I would like to say a big thanks to Grainne Jakobson the author and owner of Woodend Cookery near Egremont, and to Mike the photographer for the great pictures.

Cheers
Gareth

Rhinos in the Bar

2010-01-23T02:57:00.000-08:00

First of all Happy New Year to everyone.
It is a bright sunny morning with a touch of frost up here in Boot, I was going to write about Hardknott and Birker fell roads both being open again but as it is so cold this morning I will leave that for another day!
We had our busiest night of the year so for on Thursday when the Leeds Rhinos first team came to Eskdale instead of Florida for their pre season training camp! The players were staying at the YHA and the staff were here at Brook House Inn. I hope they had a good night I know we did, none more so than Phil Baker one of our local chefs who is a serious rugby fan. He got to meet some of his heros like Great Britain captain Jamie Peacock

and a player for whom like Phil size is not an issue - legendary Leeds and GB scrum half Rob Burrow. Rob has played 270 games for Leeds, represented Yorkshire, England and Great Britain and was in the team in 2007 for the series whitewash of New Zealand.

The Rhinos came to the area not just because it is friendlier than Florida, sells Tim Taylors and Hawkshead Beers, and is several hours closer to Leeds, but to help promote rugby in the local schools, raise the profile of the game in Cumbria and to play Whitehaven on Sunday 24th Jan at the Whitehaven Recreation ground stadium. I am a bit split as to who to cheer for on Sunday, my daughter was born in Leeds when we lived in Otley, I've been in Cumbria for 12 years now but in my heart I'm still a Lancashire lad! maybe I should stay in the kitchen.
Anyway thanks to the Rhinos for entertaining us on Thursday and the safe return of the fox and squirrel! Good luck tommorow.

Road Conditions

2009-12-26T03:43:00.000-08:00

Just a quick update about roads in the area. After several days with snow lying in the valley the road upto Boot is now clear of snow, a few spots of ice remain but it is passable in any type of vehicle.
Hardknott pass is closed, do not enter the valley from that direction!
The Ulpha-Birker Fell road should also be avoided, adventurous people have come over in proper 4x4's but as the snow melts there is the danger of sheet ice forming especially at night and in the mornings.
The best route into the valley is via Holmrook then Irton and on to the Bower House, this avoids the hill from Santon Bridge although it is raining at present and I expect that most low lying roads will be clear by lunchtime today.

Merry Christmas
Gareth

Seasons Greetings

2009-12-04T13:17:00.000-08:00

Well the decorations and Santas have been in the shops for a month now so I feel happy to pass on some Christmas cheer! This week has seen the first snow of the winter only on the fells, but that is the best place for it. Monday dawned cold and clear, a trip up Scafell Pike was already organised with the possibility of a winter route. Just to be clear "winter route" to me means a grade 1 gully filled with snow not an ice smeared precipice! So I was a bit perturbed when my mate Ben turned up with a boot full of shiny climbing gear and even a spare helmet for me. Not wanting to seem rude I offered to carry the helmet and let him carry the expensive climbing gear.

It really was a great day, we were at Hollowstones at the foot of Pikes crag by about 11.30am and the sun would have been shining if it wasn't on the other side of the mountain. That is the beauty of this crag, no sun in the morning to melt the snow! With about 6 inches of snow lying and more in small drifts we chose to ascend via Long Gully, this is the obvious line up the face that can be seen from the lake and turned out to be an enjoyable easy grade 1 climb.
Looking down from the top with the temp at -5c we were glad to be up there and not diving in the lake!

Back at Brook House Inn, the decorations will be going up soon, the damson vodka is maturing nicely and New Years eve menu is finally written

New Years Eve Dinner 2009
Appetizer
--------
North Atlantic seared Scallops with cauliflower puree & pancetta foam
Goat’s cheese Rarebit with beetroot chutney
Smoked Salmon tartare with fennel crackers & red pepper salsa
Rabbit & pistachio terrine with salad leaves & piccalilli
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Black vodka martini sorbet
Tomato soup
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Halibut fillet with home smoked brown trout mousse,
lime hollandaise, garlic potato cake and wrapped greens.
Roasted partridge with an air-dried ham coat, pheasant stuffing and duck leg confit jus, celeriac potato cake and honey parsnips.
Venison medallion with girole mushrooms, balsamic berry reduction, celeriac potato cake and honey parsnips.
Lightly smoked tofu marinated in Islay malt, served on a bed of spiced red cabbage with potato and almond tarts.
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Clementine Syllabub with Ginger Tuille crisps & shot of orange Muscat
Mille-feuille of Chocolate cream & crème patisserie with a raspberry coulis
Egg Nog Trifle with boozy berries, Chantilly cream & toasted almonds
Maderia Poached Pear tarte tatin with vanilla ice cream & espresso syrup
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Cumbrian cheese board
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Champagne at midnight
Please arrive 7 for 7.30pm
£47.50 per person

If you would like to come please remember booking and pre-ordering is required.

On another note the King George appears to have closed its doors for the time being and the Woolpack is closed until next season. Brook House is open all day every day except Christmas Day and The Boot Inn is open from 4pm daily.

Changing Scenes

2009-11-02T01:25:00.000-08:00

Finally I have got round to updating my photo gallery, adding some more pictures and redesigning the web pages. I have even put them on their own site at www.gareththornleyphotography.co.uk. Bit of a mouthful that address but it does what it says on the tin so to speak!
Back at Brook House more changes are afoot, with Sarah, Shaun and the boys moving out of the carpark kennels and into a house in the village. This will give the boys a bit of space to grow up in and they should sleep better when not being disturbed by cars leaving the carpark late at night!
Lots of winter jobs to be done this year, not least of which may be a new kitchen floor, if this goes ahead we will probably be closed for the best part of a week in January.

We have had a pretty hectic season, especially through September which was the busiest one yet. So I would like to say thank you for supporting us through the year and if you have stayed in this country instead of going abroard, well done, give yourself a pat on the back and please come again next year! I know it can be a bit wet sometimes and you might not get an all over tan, but that is what makes it our green and pleasant land.

Whilst I am giving thanks it would be completely unjust not to praise our wonderful staff, we have a great bunch working for us here, always ready with a smile when serving customers, and grafting hard in the kitchen to turn out so much good food, thank you one and all.

Rain, rain go away

2009-08-28T09:10:00.000-07:00

So I have just looked back at last August and I see that this wet weather is becoming a bit of a trend, so, fingers crossed it should stop raining in about a weeks time!
I am pleased to report that the Great British public have not been put off by the inclement weather and this summer has been just about as busy as last, with the campsites packed for most of the holidays.
Owain and I once again managed a descent of the Esk in our "raft" which proved most entertaining especially to those watching from the banks of the river. The water level was higher than any previous trips and we came close to being flipped on several occasions! The water was moving so fast it was difficult to find places to stop and empty the raft, we did not hit any rocks on the way down but did have to fend off plenty of trees!

We have had 6 or 7 beers on for most of the summer with the beers from Loweswater brewery finding a place on the bar quite frequently, Loweswater Gold and LPA being most popular, but I am looking forward to trying some of their dark one which we should have on soon.

As Easter was my last post I should mention what a great success the beer festival was, we had over 40 beers on just at Brook House and not much left by Monday morning! Next year is the 10th Boot Beer Festival, it would be nice to mark it with something special, but I will be happy with the same warm weather and great customers which attended this years festival.
The beer of the festival was chosen by 2 stalwarts of the festival circuit from Preston who judged Rudgate Brewery Revel to be best.

The Roosters (great local band) played at the Festival this year and went down a treat, so we have provisionally booked them to come back in early November when we shall have a curry night with music and maybe a few extra beers (but not a winter ale festival!)

Dates will follow soon, as will Christmas and New Years Eve menus. Quiz nights are every other sunday, next one on the 6th September. Mid week breaks are available from 1st Nov please see here for details

Happy Easter

2009-04-11T07:02:00.000-07:00

Hi All,
Brook House Inn currently, as in Easter Saturday, has 6 real ales brewed in Cumbria, available on handpull. This is probably a record for us, but also shows that the standard and availability of locally produced beers has improved tremendously in the last ten years. When we took over in 1998 the bar had 2 handpulls (theakstons best and Xp) and 2 of those creamflow things, now gone.
In these times of ressesion we would like to think that we are helping the local economy by supporting local brewers, and thanks go to the brewers who price their beers keenly, so we are able to offer our session bitter at £2.10 a pint, only 30p more than it was 10 years ago!

Boot Beer Festival dates are 4th-7th June 2009
If you would like to see a specific beer at the festival please let me know and I will see if we can source it.

2009-02-03T11:39:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year
A bit late I know, but I have been busy painting, replacing ceilings and doing other winter type jobs around the place. Even so I have got out caving, diving and even walking on the fells a few times! So for anyone who has not been able to get out in some snow here is the magic of Upper Eskdale, as seen today.

Last Blog of the Year

2008-12-22T08:24:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas Everyone, (or to both of you, as I only know 2 people that read this blog!)

This year we celebrated our 10th anniversary at Brook House Inn, we are all still working hard. I am pleased to say that we are in the 2009 Camra Good Beer Guide, 8 years out 10 – not bad going. In June we had our eighth Boot Beer Festival and the busiest yet, with over 40 beers just at Brook House Inn.

Ten years here also means that Emma is 10 years old, how time flies! She moves up to big school next year so we have had to choose which one. We picked Millom in the end because it‘s teachers seemed friendlier and more animated, it is slightly further away but they finish at 3pm so Emma will be back by about 4pm.

After spending May and June with a bad back, I have had quite an active year. Emma learnt to ride her mountain bike so we have been going on little rides up and down the valley. Ben, one of my diving buddies is also a canoeist so I have had my boat out a couple of times, down the river and on the sea at St Bees, and as of December I have taken up caving!

Sarah and Shaun's two boys are growing up fast, both are now in school which gives Sarah a bit of piece and a little more time to work without the help of Ben and Jacob! They both have bikes so with the help of Emma have spent most of the summer tearing round the car park and trying to drag us all out on bike rides, but Jacob is only 4 years old so that is a little scary on our narrow roads. Jacob loves to climb things and has just discovered the stone wall in the passageway - I think he needs a "no fear" tshirt for Christmas and I wish I had his strength to body weight ratio. Ben is a bit more sensible but likes to get his own way so there is plenty of arbitration to do between him and Emma. When it was not raining in summer, we spent time down by the river, I am glad to say that all 3 kids can now swim, but Jacob is not too keen on the cold water!

At the end of last year I was allowed away on my own so I jetted of to Florida to complete a cave diving course, after a week training and lots of diving I passed the course to become a certified cave diver. So from now on our family holidays will revolve around not only places where I can dive but also with caves to dive in! I have had a good year with some great dives, especially in Mexico at the beginning of the year, the cenotes and caves are truly amazing, incredibly peaceful in water so clear I imagine it's like floating in space with white stalactites like a thousand knitting needles suspended from the ceiling and the floor a bed of shining calcite crystals. Emma and Lesley really enjoyed Mexico too, we went to see Chichen Itza, now rightly one of the seven wonders of the world.

In Summer Lesley, Emma and I escaped for a week to Roccamadhour, in France, I met up with a cave diving buddy who brought my kit down in his car so I managed a few cave dives. We had a day canoeing on the Dordogne which Emma liked a lot. I will have to buy her a life jacket soon so she can come rafting down the Esk with me!

In November Lesley and Emma fancied going to Egypt where we have been before but only so I could dive, this time it was to be educational - to see Cairo, The Pyramids, Luxor and the Valley of the Kings, on a 2 day whistle stop tour.

The Temple at Karnack is immense, the workmanship is stunning, and some of the paintings are still clear and colourful on the walls, 4000 years on, we have to get our building painted every 5 years or so, they were damned clever those Egyptians! and the river Nile is pretty impressive too. After the tour we spent a few days on the coast near Marsa Alam and you guessed it I did a spot of diving, all very pleasant, no proper caves though. But I had forgotten just how reliant on the guide, holiday only divers are- no watches, no depth gauges that worked, it was only after 3 people had asked “what depth did we reach?” when I realised I was the only diver apart from the guide with a dive computer! We went through some lovely coral “caves” on the way through the reef and saw lots of Turtles. and a shark.

Although I do not get out onto the fells as much as I should, Owain and I did manage to climb Harter Fell in the snow last week, which brought back fond memories of winter holidays in Scotland. This was Owain's first trip out in the snow, we even managed to play with the ice axes and some frozen turf! Shame the weather has turned wet again.

Mum and Dad are now back from their trip of a lifetime down to New Zealand, with lots of tales to tell of scary aeroplane rides and beautiful mountains.

Well it is nearly Christmas eve so there I will end, is has been a good year for us all.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

Gareth and all the gang at Brook House Inn

New Years Eve Menu

2008-11-26T10:00:00.000-08:00

New Years Eve Dinner 2008

As of today we still have some tables available. Please note that you must pre-order, preferably prior to Christmas. The menu and a selector sheet can be downloaded from our events section on the website

Appetizer
--------
Poached asparagus with fried quails egg and minted hollandaise
Chicken, chive and pancetta ballotine with basil vinaigrette and roasted plum tomato
Smoked eel with wasabi potato cake and caper relish
Braised hock of ham timbale with homemade piccalilli and caraway crisp bread
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Melon and ginger sorbet
Scallop soup
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Fillet of brill with a lobster tail spring roll, tarragon and fennel sauce and saffron rice
Cumbrian salt marsh lamb with mutton & oyster sausage, lightly pickled vegetables and a smoked garlic and rosemary sauce
Wild mushroom and barley risotto, blue brie fondue and red pepper bread
Baked fillet of local beef with confit of braised oxtail, winter vegetable puree and fondant potatoes
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Warm dark chocolate fondant with liquid toffee centre and Baileys cream
Vanilla pannacotta with passion fruit coulis, and jewelled wine jellies
Clementine and pomegranate syllabub with chocolate shortbread
Hazelnut and raspberry roulade with laphroaig & honey cream
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Cumbrian cheese board
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Champagne at midnight
Please arrive 7 for 7.30pm
£47.50 per person

Summer is over

2008-09-21T08:56:00.000-07:00

Thank goodness for that, summer comes to an end and the rain has stopped! I do not know if this was our wettest summer but it has rained a lot, I even managed to get my kayak out for a trip down the river!

September is my favourite month of the year, I like the changing points of the seasons, and love the still, cool mornings when I get up to cook breakfast and the dew is thick on the fields, with mist hanging over the beck.
September is always a busy month for us, but this year the weekends have been exceptional, our real ale sales are well up and we have had some very dedicated malt whisky drinkers!
Hawkshead Bitter and Tim Taylors Landlord remain our best sellers but we have had some great guests from Yates, Cumbria Legendary Ales, Barngates and many other breweries.
Eskdale show is on the 27th of this month and is now all set to go ahead, a dry spell now should see the field in good condition, it is always a great event and was sadly missed last year due to a F&M scare. So if you get the chance pop down to the field by the King George, there will be lots of events, from fell running to carrot judging, stalls selling all kinds of practical out door gear, locally produced food and handicrafts.

Oh yes and a beer tent!

Boot Beer Festival

2008-06-22T08:43:00.000-07:00

I would like to start with a big THANKYOU to all those that attended the beer festival, we had a great time. The Roosters playing live on the Thursday night set the tone for the weekend which was very busy but we managed to keep the beer flowing and even had a few still on the bar on Sunday!
We were once again blessed with good weather which really does help so thanks for that!

We are now getting some much needed rain, 6 dry weeks were making the place look a little dry- (I was going to say like Spain in summer but that just would not have been true) Everything looks really green now through the mist and the Esk looks like a river instead of a series of puddles.

Next Sunday we have been at Brook House Inn for 10 years so I think there may be a bit of a celebration! and a special quiz from Lesley.

Sunshine, Beer and more Beer

2008-05-16T05:27:00.000-07:00

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!

2008-04-13T11:35:00.000-07:00

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

2008-01-14T15:05:00.000-08:00

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

2007-11-15T02:18:00.000-08:00

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

2007-10-29T01:35:00.000-07:00

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.

2007-08-29T13:50:00.000-07:00

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

2007-08-22T14:39:00.000-07:00

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.

Brook House Inn's first Blog Posting

2007-06-15T15:09:00.000-07:00

This is the very first post from Brook House Inn,
new technology is catching up with us even up here in the Lakes!
Hopefully we will keep this updated with relevant news and events throughout the year.

Through April and May (and into June) we have had scaffolding around the building for some much needed maintenance and painting. The day before the Beer Festival the scaffold was finally removed and the work completed (almost).
The Boot Beer Festival was a great event, even busier and better than 2006, with at least 100 real ales available over the weekend. Next years festival dates are 5th-8th June 2008 and more information will be availble on www.bootbeer.co.uk.
We now have Hawkshead Bitter Timothy Taylors Landlord and Jenning Cumberland on permenantly along side a beer from yates and other guests.
Sunday June 17th is quiz night.