#swinside inn

A couple of weeks ago, I went back to one of my favourite places in the world - the Swinside Inn, in the Lake District.

I love it for a few reasons. For one, it's an 18th century coaching inn and drinking ale in the oldest section is just awesome. 

Obligatory dog in picture

Like, this is where you eat your meals, and sit, and drink, and chat. It's just the best atmosphere. There's also a newer area (the Refuge Bar) with a pool table and massive tellies for all you folk who like your modern touches. 

No dog in this picture, I'm afraid.

Once you get up to the rooms everything is fairly basic - but nice. You get everything you'd generally need, but nowt fancy. Nicely presented.

The best thing about the rooms, though (at least the ones at the front of the building) is the view. This is the view from the 'Causey Pike' room - which is a view of Causey Pike, incidentally: 

Obligatory dog and mum in picture

You're also only an hour's walk(?) to the top of Catbells - and views like this:

Dog looking really shifty, here.

My favourite view from Catbells:

Mountains are mint.

The food at the Swinside is also absolutely fantastic. Proper pub grub, made really well, and lots of it. I had pate to start, and they actually gave me the correct pate:toast ratio - which almost never happens usually.

So: great food, good drinking, great walks, great atmosphere, great location... but the real reason I love the Swinside?

I've been going there since I was really little. It's just been in my life since I can remember! Each visit seems to correspond with different stages of my life too, like:

Going as a really little kid and 'accidentally' falling into the stream in one of the surrounding fields (read: jumping in while nobody was looking and pretending it was an accident)

Going as a tween and lamenting the fact that the phone signal was shoddy. I NEED TO TXT LOL.

Going as a 'young adult' (i.e. now) about to make my next fantastic career move, and really enjoying my time with my parents and my dog. Dad beat me at pool three times in a row. I was actually kind of gutted that there was (sparse) phone signal, and even wi-fi. It's nice being 'cut off' from the normal world sometimes. I also had my very first lucid dream (possibly due to the pitch dark, quiet nights?) and it was AWESOME. 

Swinside, I love you. I'll be back.